Agenda item

2.10 pm

At its last meeting the Joint Committee asked the Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group (OCCG) and the Oxford University Hospitals Foundation Trust (OUH) for the following information for consideration at this meeting:

·         A revised programme plan for addressing the recommendations of the Secretary of State.

·         A comprehensive engagement plan that demonstrates a focus on the voices of local people and gives sufficient attention to mothers in Northamptonshire and Warwickshire.

·         Further information about the approach to recruitment and retention of midwives and doctors at the Horton.

A report is attached at HHOSC5.

The Horton Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee is asked to:

•      Confirm that in the opinion of the Committee the proposed approach and plan outlined will address the recommendations of the Secretary of State/Independent Reconfiguration Panel.

•      Confirm that the Engagement plan presented is comprehensive and allows for full engagement in the work streams and appraisal process.

•      Note and endorse the revised timeline which has extended to ensure fuller engagement throughout the work streams as requested by the Horton Joint OSC and the period of political restriction prior to the local elections.

•        Note the revised timeline would indicate that further meetings of the Horton Joint OSC for the proposed gateways should be held in February and June 2019 (previously January and April 2019)

•      Agree that the priority now is for OCCG and OUH to proceed to implement the plan.

At its last meeting the Joint Committee asked the Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group (OCCG) and the Oxford University Hospitals Foundation Trust (OUH) for the following information for consideration at this meeting:

·         A revised programme plan for addressing the recommendations of the Secretary of State.

·         A comprehensive engagement plan that demonstrates a focus on the voices of local people and gives sufficient attention to mothers in Northamptonshire and Warwickshire.

·         Further information about the approach to recruitment and retention of midwives and doctors at the Horton.

The Chairman welcomed the following representatives to the meeting: -

Richard Bailey, NHS Nene CCG and NHS Corby CCG

Sarah Breton, Head of Commissioning, OCCG

Ally Green, Head of Communications, OCCG

Kathy Hall, OUH

Anna Hargrave, Chief Transformation Officer, South Warwickshire CCG

Veronica Miller, OUH

Catherine Mountford, Director of Governance, OCCG

Louise Patten, Chief Executive, OCCG

Catherine Mountford presented the report, drawing attention to the table setting out how points raised at the meeting in September were to be addressed. She also drew attention to paragraph 3.6.3 that proposed that 2 options be removed. The paper gave a more detailed scope for the work and a realistic timeline. Responding to the points raised by Mr Strangwood she clarified that the original option 5 had been omitted from the updated options list by mistake and should be included giving 10 options in all. There was specific work on finance included in the workstreams.

Ally Green presented the draft engagement plan set out at Appendix 1 which had been further developed using the useful feedback at the previous meeting. She referred to a small workgroup that had met to discuss what information was wanted from the survey. A decision on the company to deliver the survey would be made in December.

The Chairman thanked representatives for the work undertaken and the greater detail included in the paper. Referring to the timescale he noted that the final Board decision was scheduled for September 2019. He understood the need to ensure that the work was done properly but would like to see it progress quicker. He found the table useful and hoped that there would be no further delays.

During discussion the following points were made:

·                Members expressed disappointment that the review of transfer times requested for this meeting was not available and was included in a future workstream instead. This was a vital question for local residents and it was hoped that the work could be progressed and come back quickly.

·                A member queried when the CQC report of the maternity unit at the John Radcliffe Hospital (JR) would be available. Kathy Hall advised that the report was expected in January.

·                Members queried the timeline and in particular challenged the delay due to local elections. Catherine Mountford indicated that the position on election purdah was the result of clear instruction from NHS England.

·                A member who had attended the workgroup commented that it had been a good meeting looking at the patient survey. They had looked at the criteria and had not set the questions although he was clear that the survey should get at the whole patient experience. He referred to the patient experiences included in the information supplied to members by the Keep The Horton General campaign group  and asked that the survey reach such a fine grained level of detail and include red flag incident

·                There was support from a member for training accreditation who expressed the view that there was no magic number that made training viable but instead it was about support and supervision. If options were revisited he hoped that training be included.

·                When looking at point (b) on page 12 there should be consideration of how mothers going into labour at night and without their own transport would get to the JR. Catherine Mountford confirmed that time of day and access to transport would be included in workstream 5c.

·                Asked whether given staffing issues at the JR Option 4 on page 34 of the papers was viable, Veronica Miller accepted that staffing was a national challenge. Choices had to be made about where to place staff to provide care. Recruitment continued. However, she stressed that there was the capacity to run a safe service at the JR.

The Chairman in moving the recommendations commented that the original option 5 was to be included, that it had been confirmed that there was flexibility to add options if the training model was considered, that focus groups would be flexible and take account of sensitivities. The Chairman added that in agreeing the timeline it should be clear that this represented the maximum time it should take and not a minimum and he hoped that a decision would be possible before September 2019.

The Horton Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee:

•      Confirm that in the opinion of the Committee the proposed approach and plan outlined will address the recommendations of the Secretary of State/Independent Reconfiguration Panel.

•      Confirm that the Engagement plan presented is comprehensive and allows for full engagement in the work streams and appraisal process.

•      Note and endorse the revised timeline which has extended to ensure fuller engagement throughout the work streams as requested by the Horton Joint OSC and the period of political restriction prior to the local elections.

•        Note the revised timeline would indicate that further meetings of the Horton Joint OSC for the proposed gateways should be held in February and June 2019 (previously January and April 2019)

•      Agree that the priority now is for OCCG and OUH to proceed to implement the plan.