Agenda item

14:50

To discuss outputs from the work with local stakeholders and plan next steps.

Maggie Swain, representing Save Wantage Hospital Campaign Group and a member of the Stakeholders’ Reference Group, noted that the hospital had 18 beds before it was reduced to only 12.  People from outside OX12 have difficulty accessing Wantage due to a lack of public transport.  She said that the claim that re-opening the closed beds was not viable was not substantiated in the report.

Bill Faulkner, Clerk, Wantage Town Council, had circulated a letter to members of the Board in advance.  He said that the report had failed to identify the needs of the area.  The process failed and the Town Council called for the report to be withdrawn.  It was supported by Grove Parish Council in this.  The Town Council wished to work with the project team on solutions.

Bernard Connolly, representing Wantage and Grove Campaign Group and a member of the Stakeholders’ Reference Group, said that the report ignored the views from the consultation process that people wanted the beds reopened.  He believed that the process was driven by the desire to save money.  There was nothing to help with the shortfall of GPs in the area.  He asked for the report to be withdrawn.

Julie Mabberley, Chair of the Stakeholders’ Reference Group, was unhappy that she was only able to see the report on 22 January and had no opportunity to comment before publication.  The report only includes plans for Wantage Community Hospital and yet people were told on several occasions that it was not part of the project.  She criticised the lack of evidence behind the proposals and supported the Town Council request to withdraw the report.

Terry Knight, representing Save Wantage Hospital Campaign Group, said that he had been involved in all the discussions since the closure but did not recognise some of the issues in the report as ever being discussed.  He believed that the report was a top-down exercise and the decision had been made to close the hospital.  The process was deeply flawed and the report should be rejected.

Councillor Jenny Hannaby, Grove and Wantage, said that despite her reservations about the process she decided to participate.  It was very disappointing that there was only one question about the hospital on the questionnaire.  One thousand people marched and ten thousand signed a petition to say that they wanted the hospital back.  She believed that the report was not fit for purpose but she wanted to work with the team towards solutions.

Jo Cogswell, Director of Transformation, OCCG and Senior Responsible Officer for the OX12 project, introduced the report.  The Board had approved the Framework.  The premise was to understand the needs now and in the future, assess gaps and identify strengths.  She was grateful for the hard work and insight of the stakeholders’ group.

A parallel report was going the Joint Oxfordshire Health and Overview Scrutiny Committee (HOSC) the following week.  There will be a need for consultation on specific issues and no decisions have been made yet.

They would have liked to do more modelling of future population health need but this wasn’t possible.  Colleagues in Public Health provided information on trends.  The report is just 35 pages but it includes links to background information and data which can be explored in full.

Tehmeena Ajmal, Oxford Health, who worked with the Information and Data Group, described how work started in June on structuring the data.  Information from other sources was added in October.  The group did not have the specialist skills available for data modelling.

Councillor Louise Upton asked if the stakeholders’ group would have a chance to input before the HOSC meeting.  Jo Cogswell responded that the report was from the project team, but the Stakeholder group had played an important role in the project.  She commented that maybe they could have done a better job of explaining where the group had influence.  The report was previewed for the stakeholders’ group a couple of weeks ago.

Councillor Lawrie Stratford said that, while the report looked good, it will not satisfy the needs of local people.  Louise Patten responded that it was important to look at the hospital in terms of services rather than beds.

Jonathan Montgomery noted that the report was supposed to include future health needs but was mostly about current needs.  Jo Cogswell responded that the team did not have access to projection tools but they had used the national trends.  One trend is a reduction in use of community beds with more focus on home services.  This report focuses on services including the use of the hospital as a venue.  The in-patient beds are a separate issue that needs more work.

Tracey Rees expressed concern that the perception of the stakeholders’ group was that they had not been listened to.  She asked if there was clarity on what they were being engaged about.

Stuart Bell commented that the report included a more thorough examination of health needs than he had seen anywhere else.  Some issues emerged that might not have been expected, such as public transport and young people’s mental health.  Important work is needed to link the issues of beds and needs.  He stated that there seem to be two processes – a decision on in-patient beds and further work on the range of services needed for local health needs, taking the ideas from the report and developing a clear plan.

The Chairman asked if the Board agreed to the recommendations.  He noted that the third part of the recommendation was that the Board would consider the findings when completed.

The Board thanked Jo Cogswell for report and AGREED the recommendations as follows:

Oxfordshire Health and Wellbeing Board

·         Reviews and notes the findings of the OX12 Project Summary Report

·         Extends thanks to those members of the public and representatives of community groups within OX12 who volunteered their time and expertise to support delivery of the project

·         Considers the findings of the formal evaluation of the health and care needs framework when completed