Agenda and minutes

To elect a Chairman for the 2019/20 Council year. Members are advised that the Constitution for the Committee stipulates that the Chairman is to be drawn from the Oxfordshire County Council members of the Joint Committee.

Councillor Arash Fatemian was elected Chairman of the Committee for the 2019/20 Council Municipal Year.

To elect a Deputy Chairman for the 2019/20 Council year. Members are advised that the Constitution stipulates that the Deputy Chairman is to be drawn from the District Councillors serving on the Joint Committee.

District Councillor Sean Gaul was elected Deputy Chairman for the 2019/20 Municipal Year.

Cllr Liz Brighouse attended for Councillor Laura Price, Councillor Tim Hallchurch for Councillor Sean Gaul, Councillor John Howson for Councillor Alison Rooke and Councillor Liam Walker for Councillor Mike Fox-Davies. Apologies were received from Councillor Paul Barrow, Councillor David Bretherton and Keith Ruddle.

There were no declarations of interest submitted.

There were no requests to address the Committee.

To consider the temporary closure of the 12 bed, Oxford City Community Ward in the Fulbrook Centre on the Churchill Hospital site (JHO6).

This Committee’s Substantial Change Assessment is attached at JHO6, duly completed, for consideration.

Prior to the start of the discussion to Chairman invited Rosalind Pearce (Healthwatch Oxfordshire) up to the table to air the views/concerns of patients and public of Oxfordshire. She stated that community hospitals had a big part to play in the heart of communities, who were now faced with two temporary closures at this and Wantage Hospital and four fewer beds. Rosalind Pearce stated that it was the view of Healthwatch that the time had come for the system leaders to work out exactly what was the role for community hospitals in the future. Furthermore, patients and members of the public needed to know, via this Committee, how the system would cope with fewer beds and what the future of bed provision was.

The Chairman thanked Rosalind Pearce for her address and welcomed the following representatives to the table:

-       Dominic Hardisty – Director of Community Services and Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Oxford Health Foundation Trust (OH)

-       Pete McGrane – Clinical Director, OH

-       Tehmeena Ajmal – Service Director (OH)

-       Louise Patten – Chief Executive, Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group (OCCG)

-       Lucy Butler – Interim Director of Adult Social Care, Oxfordshire County Council (OCC)

-       Benedict Leigh – Deputy Director of Commissioning, OCC

Pete McGrane began by informing the Committee of the following:

-       The City Community hospital, like other community hospitals, had two main focuses, firstly for people with sub-acute mental health needs and for rehabilitation (ie. for mobility, nutritionally and for generic rehabilitation purposes) after a stay in acute hospital;

-       It was located on the Churchill Hospital campus at the Fulbrooke site. Ward patients average stay was 25 days and medical cover was provided by sub-contract with colleagues from Oxford University Hospitals Foundation Trust (OUH on both a planned basis and an ad hoc basis, if more medical input was required);

-       Half the patients came from the local postcode area and the other half from further afield within the county and admissions were on the next available bed in the County’s community hospitals in order to ensure an adequate flow;

-       Staffing for the hospital was based on the Shelford model tool which addressed the numbers of registered/unregistered numbers of nursing staff required. However this varied depending on whether patients had higher dependency levels, thus requiring additional support. One registered nurse was required for every 6 patients within the environment;

-       Recruitment of registered nursing staff was a challenge for OH – conversations had taken place at Board level and with other partners during August/September last year. The Trust had carried 6.4 fte staff vacancies through last winter. The ability of the Trust to still look after the patients during this time was a testament of the ability and hard work of the staff and agency staff to keep the ward open;

-       At the beginning of April this year, of these 6.4 fte, 3 members of staff had given notice of their plans to leave thus raising the vacancy factor to 8.7fte. Efforts  ...  view the full minutes text for item 31/19

The purpose of this report is to set out the background to this emergency meeting of the Oxfordshire Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (HOSC) today and to propose a recommendation for the Committee to consider.

The Committee noted the Chairman’s report.