Agenda and minutes

The Committee noted its new Membership as set out below:

Conservative (10): Mr N J D Chard, Mr N J Collor, Mr G Cooke, Mr B R Cope, Mr A D Crowther, Mr K A Ferrin MBE, Mrs J A Rook, Mr C P Smith, Mr R Tolputt and Mr A T Willicombe.

Liberal Democrat (1): Mr D S Daley

Labour (1): Mrs E Green

District/Borough Representatives (4): Councillor J Cunningham, Councillor C Kirby, Councillor M Lyons and Councillor Mrs M Peters.

LINk Representatives (2): Mr M J Fittock and Mr R Kendall.

Mr B R Cope proposed and Mrs J A Rook seconded that Mr N J D Chard be elected Chairman of the Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

Agreed without a vote.

Mr N J D Chard thereupon took the Chair.

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the Meeting of 7 January 2011 are recorded and that they be signed by the Chairman.

(1)       Members had before them the information in the Agenda along with the additional information provided for them by NHS Eastern and Coastal Kent and East Kent Hospitals NHS University Foundation Trust concerning the review of maternity services in East Kent (see Appendix).

(2)       The Chairman undertook to provide further information when a reply was received from the Secretary of State for Health.

(3)       RESOLVED that the Committee note the attached correspondence.

Meradin Peachey (Kent Director of Public Health), Dr Robert Blundell (Vice Chair, Kent Local Medical Committee), Dr Mike Parks (Medical Secretary, Kent Local Medical Committee), Di Tyas (Deputy Clerk, Kent Local Medical Committee), Philip Greenhill, (Interim Chief Executive, Eastern and Coastal Kent Community Health NHS Trust), Mark Shepperd (Managing Director, West Kent Community Health), Phil Edbrooke (Interim Director of Corporate Services, Eastern and Coastal Kent Community Health NHS Trust), Oena Windibank (Interim Director of Operations, Eastern and Coastal Kent Community Health NHS Trust), and Bill Millar (Head of Primary, Community and Elective Care, NHS Eastern and Coastal Kent) were in attendance for this item.

(1)       The Committee had previously discussed the subject of the future of community service provision at the meeting of 5 September 2010. Representatives from the NHS provided an overview of events subsequent to that meeting along with an outline of future progression. Following approval in 2010 the community provider organisation within NHS Eastern and Coastal Kent to become a separate NHS Trust, Eastern and Coastal Kent Community Health NHS Trust was formally established on 1 November 2010. West Kent Community Health currently remains part of NHS West Kent, but following approval of the business case for a Pan-Kent Community Health Trust, this will join with Eastern and Coastal Kent Community Health NHS Trust as a single organisation from April 2011. This organisation will seek Foundation Trust status, which may be granted in 2013.

(2)       A formal consultation on these plans had been carried out, but it was reported that there had been more informal than formal responses received. The major concerns raised in these responses centred on the ability and willingness of commissioners, now and in the future, to commission services locally. To address these concerns, the organisation was being structured so that it could operate on a locality basis and local boards were being established involving stakeholders that would inform service delivery. Members felt there was an opportunity there to tie in these proposed boards with work going on within local authorities in Kent. The NHS said they would look into the idea. In addition, it was pointed out that there would be a public consultation as part of the application for Foundation Trust status and there would be Governors drawn from the public membership of the Foundation Trust.

(3)       Areas of the country such as Liverpool, Birmingham and Wigan were reported as seeing a similar size merger take place. Medway was pursuing a social enterprise model. In other areas of the country the community services were joined to a mental health or an acute Trust. One weakness of the latter was that during periods of budgetary constraint, the community services were often the first to experience reductions. However, there were some services for which this may be appropriate and the right option for community paediatrics and stroke services were still being examined.

(4)       The original policy proposal was for the community health estate, including community hospitals, to remain with the Primary Care Trusts.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.