Agenda item

14.15 pm

 

Jonathan Coombes, Geoff Rowbotham, Chief Executive of CHO and Moira Logie, Director of Operations, Division A, Oxfordshire Radcliffe Hospitals Trust, will give an update and respond to questions from the Committee on progress in developing the new Oxford City Community Hospital. A report which has been prepared by Jonathan Coombes, is attached, for information, at JHO12.

Prior to consideration of this item the Committee received an address by Councillor Larry Sanders, a local member. He stated that the following issues should be given consideration in relation to Ox Comm. These were:

 

-                      With regard to medical cover, the staff were concerned about the rapid re-tendering which was required. He added that if the outcome of this was to hire cheaper suppliers, there would be less expertise available, less time available and the service could be less conveniently situated;

-                      Assurances should be given that there would be good continuity of service into the community;

-                      The situation with regard to the premises appeared to have been solved with the signing of a 7 year contract. The staff did not feel that this was a perfect solution, but that it was manageable. He was aware that many places that were suggested were not manageable;

-                      He declared that he was not 100% clear with regard to the delivery of a full service to the population of Oxford when 21% of patients would be non Oxford citizens. This was not a small figure. He asked if the situation could continue to be reviewed;

-                      Most community hospitals had lovely, communal gardens, something this hospital did not have, being urban in nature; and

-                      He asked if somebody would take the lead in the setting up of a functioning friends/supporters group.

 

Geoff Rowbotham, Chief Executive of CHO, Jonathan Coombes, and Dr James Price, Lead for Gerontology, Oxfordshire Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust, attended the meeting in order to present the paper JHO12 and also to respond to any question the Committee may have had.

 

Geoff Rowbotham introduced the paper commenting that a number of colleagues and organisations, including local GPs and the Oxfordshire LINk had all played a part in the proposals.  They had challenged with three major questions:

 

-                      Would the quality of provision be improved, in light of the Oxcomm experience?

-                      Are 20 beds sufficient?

-                      Was there long term commitment to having a permanent community  hospital within the City?

 

He took each in turn, commenting as follows:

 

Quality of Provision

 

Very good feedback had been received from patients and other links. There had also been very good support from colleagues at the ORH. The scores had indicated that they considered the environment to be good. The quality would be judged on whether they would be successfully rehabilitating patients and were getting them home within a particular period. Over 95% were within the period set for them.

 

Is 20 beds sufficient?

 

This had been discussed within the paper. He stated that it was currently it was believed that 20 was sufficient. On the privacy issue, male and female wards had been separated.

 

Commitment to having a community hospital within Oxford City environs

 

It was believed that it was the right thing to do to commit to a 7 year contract for people in the City. With regard to the question about whether it was in the right place, ideally it could be on a lower floor so that there could be direct access to the gym, but this could be worked around.

 

With regard to GP cover for the hospital, ideally local GP support would be best, but ORH facilities do give direct access to GP support. There is an intention to look at how the GPs might interface.

 

Comments put forward by members of the Committee, and responses received from the Panel, included the following:

 

-                      Is a capacity of 20 sufficient? There is still a problem with delayed discharge in the JR Hospital and there is also the problem of the ageing population. The Committee has already heard that the current accommodation is squashed. Geoff Rowbotham responded that 20 beds were considered to be right at the moment. A home environment  was the preferred  place for patients where they could be provided with the appropriate care. Dr Price added that some work previously delivered in the acute sector could safely be done in the community. Work done with some patients in their own home could free up the capacity to treat some patients in the community hospital who would previously have had to be admitted to the JR;

 

-                      City Comm might not be able to offer specialist facilities compared with the bigger community hospitals such as Abingdon – Geoff Rowbotham commented that there will be more opportunity to send people to other community hospitals for more specialised care;

 

-                      In Thame, local GPs had been priced out of the bidding for GP bed cover in the Thame Community Hospital, might this happen in Oxfordshire? Geoff Rowbotham assured the Committee that this would not happen. There was a standard approach in Oxfordshire to have a weighted tender process giving an obligation for the provider to use local GP provision. He added that there was to be an announcement during the following week of who had won the tender contact  for provision. Jonathan Coombes also added his assurance that the contract would ensure that a high quality medical cover would be delivered at the time that it was needed;

 

-                      What about future provision following 7 year contract? Geoff Rowbotham responded that there was indeed a 7 year commitment with the ORH, however a 1 year break clause had been included in the contract in case there was a need to relocate, within the City;

 

-                      Have you plans to set up a League of Friends, or similar? Jonathan Coombes undertook to ensure that a member of staff was tasked to set up a staff link between the staff and a League of Friends body.

 

In conclusion, assurances were given to members of the Committee that this was the correct model. City Comm had excellent diagnostic facilities and was  a good, strong model overall. There was an aim to deliver the greater proportion of admissions locally, though there was a need to weigh up the pros and cons of this in relation to the condition of the individual concerned.

 

The Committee AGREED to:

 

(a)               thank Councillor Larry Sanders for his address;

(b)               thank Jonathan Coombes, Geoff Rowbotham and Dr James Price for attending the meeting and for responding to questions from members on progress in developing the new Oxford City Community Hospital.