Meeting documents

This will include an update on the Chairman’s meeting with the Chief Executives of Chiltern and Aylesbury Vale Clinical Commissioning Groups,  key findings from the review of Learning Disabilities Services and the response from NHS England to the Committee’s concerns around local dental NHS provision, outlined at the Committee’s meeting on 2nd February 2016

Attached is the letter sent from Chairman and reply from the Regional Lead Commissioner for NHS Dentistry.

Buckinghamshire Hospitals Trust

Following discussions at the February meeting of the Committee, Buckinghamshire Hospitals Trust were asked to submit the strategic plans for Wycombe Hospital to the 22 March meeting of HASC. Members of the Committee expressed disappointment and concern that the strategic plans had not been submitted as requested.

The Chairman reported that she had communicated with the Hospital Trust regarding their Estates strategy in relation to Wycombe Hospital and had been informed that ‘a rebuild had never been spoken about and their Strategy is linked to the development of their clinical strategy which will determine how the future estate develops for the Trust’.

The Chairman had also been informed that the Clinical Strategy was still in the development process and needed to go to the Trust Board for approval before submission to the HASC, which was unlikely to be before mid-spring.

A member whether it was correct to say that there was no plan to develop the Wycombe site in terms of its estate and buildings? The Chairman explained that the Trust had not used the term ‘rebuild’ and the focus was on how services were going to be deployed at the site, perhaps including reviewing how the space could be used differently.

Harlow House

The Chairman reported that the following response had been received from Oxford Health Trust:-

‘Two years ago Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust made significant improvements in the design of adult and older adult mental health services in Buckinghamshire. These changes included providing seven day services from High Wycombe (Valley Centre, Shrublands and Harlow House), as well as our services operating out of Amersham.

We will be continuing to provide seven day mental health service at the same time as creating three distinct service hubs in High Wycombe.  The Valley Centre will provide all of our adult services, Shrublands, our older adult services and Harlow House, our children’s services.  Oxford Health will be investing £1m in capital to improve these three bases and expect that they will be fully refurbished by the end of June 2016.

We will be continuing to provide services in Amersham and are in the process of relocating from the Haleacre site there to newly sourced accommodation’.

Julia Wassell advised that adult mental health services had moved to the Valley Centre and services had been combined with the Acute Day Hospital. Julia Wassell went on to say that children’s services would be commencing which would mean there would not be a loss in facility; however it was believed that there was a reduction in service for adults at the Valley Centre.  There was also the increase in pressure to discharge patients from the acute day hospital and from patients requiring rehabilitation from the Whiteleaf Centre. This issue needed to be followed up.

The Mandeville Practice

The Chairman reported that there had not been any real change since February and that a new interim provider would be in place from April 2016, once the existing GP Partnership had dissolved. The Chairman explained that NHS England was stating there would be significant change, with ‘many’ of the existing staff transferring over. The Committee was told that once the interim provider was in place NHS England and the AVCCG would commence a project during 2016 ‘to determine the future scope of services and potential opportunities for integration and innovation to improve access to services and health outcomes for patients.’ It was noted that NHS England had stated that ‘Public and patient involvement in this process will be critical and the feedback will be used to shape the commissioning of future services and it will be helpful to share this with the HASC.’ The Chairman said that recent telephone conferences had not identified what plans are proposed nor volume of staff who are transferring.  The Chairman added that a year was a short amount of time for planning, any integration and implementation. It was proposed that HASC was involved from the early consultation phase and consider proposals before any option was decided upon.

The Bedfordshire and Milton Keynes Healthcare Review

The Chairman reminded Members that from the initial stages of the Review two options for the provision of acute care in Milton Keynes and Bedford had been formulated, with one hospital becoming an Integrated Care Centre, and the other remaining a Major Emergency Centre. The Chairman explained that as the Review progressed, the Bedfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group, Bedford Hospital and Bedford GPs came forward with a third option for an Integrated Acute and Community Services (IACS) model, which would provide streamlined urgent care across primary, community and acute care provision. The Committee heard that a consultation timetable had now been issued and a monthly newsletter would be issued to Councillors. The Chairman explained that the Healthcare Review team had agreed to provide details of the population data being used to formulate proposals in the public consultation documents once they had been produced. Members were told that a list of local contacts had been provided to the CCGs after concerns were raised about the lack of consultation in North Buckinghamshire and that the pre-consultation with key stakeholders on the business case proposals would run from April to June. The Chairman had requested for an update at the June meeting.

Dentistry

The Chairman highlighted the response from NHS practices included in the agenda pack.

A Member of the Committee expressed concern about the response for funding for dentistry in Buckinghamshire as local dentists were closing their books and funding was being reduced in Buckinghamshire compared to other counties in the Thames Valley. It was noted that the growth agenda for housing in Aylesbury Vale also needed to be taken into consideration.

ACTIONS

·         The Chairman is to write to Bucks NHS Trust as the Committee raised further questions about why future plans for Wycombe Hospital estates had not been received in time for this meeting.

·         Further clarification would be sought on whether the statement received about Harlow House would mean a reduction in services (Committee and Governance Advisor to action)

·         A letter is to be sent to NHS England requesting further clarification about the dentistry provision in Bucks & understanding of the growth agenda for local housing (Chairman to action)