13:15 pm
The Chief Executive of the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre will speak to the Committee on the Centre’s present position and its possible future position.
Minutes:
Jan Fowler, Chief Executive, Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre (NOC), together with Sarah Randall, Director of Operations & Performance, had been invited to speak to the Committee on the Centre’s current position and its possible future.
Jan Fowler made the following points:
· She had been in discussion recently with the Chairman of this Committee and Roger Edwards;
· The last time she had attended the Committee it had been to discuss the underlying issues relating to a shortfall of £8.5m. Since then and significant amount of work had been undertaken and high levels of performance had been delivered;
· The Board had considered what would constitute the best clinical and financially sustainable service in the future which was most unique to the NOC, but also wide reaching;
· The decision to merge with the ORH to form a new acute organisation for Oxfordshire had been taken within the context of the NHS White Paper and its inherent financial pressures;
· There would be a new name, which was symbolic of the new organisation, but individual sites would retain the same name;
· The change was not about changing services – they would continue to be delivered from the present site – but there would be better resilience for the service;
· A new business case was now being developed which would be signed off by the Trust Boards at the beginning of next year. It would then need further approval by the SHA and finally by the DoH;
· A new Foundation Trust application would hopefully be submitted in 2012/13;
· The merger would be likely to happen in mid 2011;
· The NOC Trust Board had decided to run a public consultation from September to the end of November, even though the SHA had advised that this was not required. The NOC had very strong stakeholder support. The Chairman commented that whilst this Committee did not require the NOC to hold a public consultation, it required continuous informal consultation.
Questions asked, and issues raised by the Committee and responses received were as follows:
- What savings would be made by the merger? (response) There would be one Board. The NOC were already cross working with the ORH looking at opportunities to deliver improvements within a larger organisation – the merger would enable them to be provided more cost effectively. The NOC’s contribution in the face of huge financial pressures have been made very clear to staff;
- What would you be consulting on? (response) Plans to create a clinical division within a bigger organisation which would work in a semi-autonomous way. An exploration of what it would look like and what is important to the clinicians;
- By merging, will the patients be seen quicker? (response) We will be working with the JR to support more complex cases. There will be a requirement to be confident that there is a strong clinical infrastructure in place. We will be streamlining trauma cases with the JR, giving better access for patients;
- Do you envisage sharing staff with the ORH? (response) Specialist staff will continue to provide services on site. We already share staff and give specialist support. There will be opportunities to look at pathways of patient experience with the ORH and identify where we can provide the expertise. We will be sharing skills across both organisations;
- Will the GP consortiums have an impact on the NOC? (response) This will be an opportunity to look at the patient pathways. Staff were coming up with ideas about how we can deliver services in a different way and how they can be better managed;
- Could the transport facilities be better organised? (response) This is a very valid point – we need to take that forward;
- What are the major threats and weaknesses to the new plans? (response) The major concern would be of staff recognising the ORH itself and impact on the current quality of services the NOC provides. The new Chief Executive of the ORH has a good track record of bringing organisations together. There will be much tension for staff, particularly for those working in corporate services as there will be some rationalisation;
- What is the total PFI repayments? (response) For the NOC it is £6m per annum, the ORH £34m in total. Approximately £40m per annum will be top sliced off the budgets. The NOC and the JR offer excellent facilities, but the ability to generate savings will be limited. It is an issue and part of the challenges we face.
The Committee thanked the Chief Executive and the Director of Operations & Performance for attending and explaining the situation with regard to the merger with the ORH to form a new, acute organisation for Oxfordshire.