Health Scrutiny Panel (Special Meeting) – 22 July 2020
Chairman: Cllr Mitchell
Venue: Virtual meeting Microsoft Teams
Time: 9.00 a.m.
E-mail Address: dean.gillon@northlincs.gov.uk
AGENDA
1. Substitutions.
2. Declarations of disclosable pecuniary interests and personal or personal and prejudicial interests and declarations of whipping arrangements (if any).
3. Public speaking request (if any).
4. Haematology Services
4.1 Presentation and discussion with senior NHS representatives
4.2 Further updates and next stages (if applicable)
5. Added item (if any).
6. Any other items which the Chairman decides are urgent by reason of special circumstances which must be specified.
MINUTES
PRESENT:- Councillor Mitchell in the Chair.
Councillors Robinson and Wilson.
Councillors Bainbridge, Hannigan and O’Sullivan attended the meeting in accordance with Procedure Rule 37(b).
Penny Spring, Director of Public Health, and Karen Pavey, Director of Adults and Community Wellbeing also attended the meeting.
The panel met via MS Teams.
538 DECLARATIONS OF DISCLOSABLE PECUNIARY INTERESTS AND PERSONAL OR PERSONAL AND PREJUDICIAL INTERESTS AND DECLARATIONS OF WHIPPING ARRANGEMENTS (IF ANY) – There were no declarations of disclosable pecuniary interests, or personal or personal and prejudicial interests.
No whip was declared.
539 PUBLIC REQUESTS TO SPEAK – There were no requests received.
540 HAEMATOLOGY SERVICES – The Chairman welcomed Dr Simon Thackray, Consultant Cardiologist, and Shaun Stacey, Chief Operating Officer, Northern Lincolnshire & Goole NHS Foundation Trust; Alex Seale, Chief Operating Officer, North Lincolnshire CCG; and Professor Russell Patmore, Medical Director Cancer & Clinical Support, Hull University Teaching Hospital, to the meeting. The Chairman explained that the representatives had been invited to update members on the local situation regarding recent urgent changes to local haematology services.
Dr Thackray and Professor Patmore described the background to the issue, outlining some more recent changes to the clinical model and local specialist workforce make-up. It was explained that the local clinical model of lifelong support didn’t correlate with guidance from NICE to discharge and support in primary care. In addition, the move to locum-only consultant leadership at NLaG had led to a number of other changes to sub-specialties.
The representatives stated that, due to the lack of consultants, it was required that all new face-to-face referrals would take place at Castle Hill. The potential impact on local people and next steps.
The Chairman led a detailed question and answer session with the representatives, querying models of care, referral pathways and workforces matters. The Chairman raised concerns about consultation and engagement, and queried that centralisation appeared to be contrary to the CCG’s stated aims of providing care closer to home. Dr Thackray, Professor Patmore, Alex Seale and Shaun Stacey responded accordingly to the queries, and Penny Spring, the Director of Public Health, and Karen Pavey, Director of Adults and Community Wellbeing, contributed to the discussion.
Resolved – (a) That Dr Thackray, Professor Patmore, Alex Seale and Shaun Stacey be thanked for their attendance and for providing answers to members’ questions; (b) that the situation be noted; (c) that a further update be provided to the panel in the coming months, and (d) that the panel’s concerns around consultation and engagement, locality of services, ensuring local consistency of communication and strategic approaches to delivering care, and future sustainability of services be communicated to the witnesses so they can be addressed and the panel assured into the future.
541 ADDED ITEM – There was no added item for consideration at the meeting.