Issue - meetings

Mr A Horne, Medway NHS Trust will be in attendance for this item.

(Item 3 – Mr A Horne, Chief Executive of Medway NHS Trust was in attendance for this item)

(1)       Mr A Horne, Chief Executive of Medway NHS Trust made a presentation to the Committee on the Trust’s proposed application for Foundation Trust Status.  A copy of Mr Horne’s presentation is attached as Appendix 1.  The Committee were reminded that they had authorised the Overview and Scrutiny Manager, in consultation with the Chairman, Vice Chairman and Liberal Democrat Spokesman of the Committee, to arrange a meeting and invite colleagues who represented an electoral division in Maidstone Borough Council and Swale Borough Council areas to meet with Mr Horne and other Trust colleagues regarding their application for Foundation Trust Status.  This meeting had taken place on Monday 22 January 2007 and a copy of the note of that meeting was attached to the report.

(2)       At the conclusion of his presentation, Mr Horne responded to a range of questions.

Emergency Care

            a)         In response to a question about taking on more emergency care and the capacity of the Trust to do so, Mr Horne said that the Medway NHS Trust was already taking a number of vascular emergency cases from Maidstone and Pembury hospitals.  He added that, after April 2007, the Trust would also be taking vascular emergencies from Darent Valley Hospital at Dartford.  He was confident that Medway NHS Trust could deal with, and had the capacity to deal with, transfers from neighbouring Trusts.

Flexibility and Freedoms of Foundation Trusts

            b)         Asked about the benefits of Foundation Trust Status and the role of ‘Monitor’, Mr Horne responded that if Foundation Trust Status was achieved it would enable the Trust to operate within a more flexible framework.  Foundation Trusts also had freedom to borrow money from a wider range of lenders, in addition to the NHS bank.  Monitor had been established approximately three years ago and was the body set up to assess and accredit Foundation Trusts, primarily from a financial point of view.  It was a regulatory body – as such, it was similar to the Healthcare Commission, which was responsible for looking at quality standards across NHS Trusts.

Consultation Process

            c)         Asked how widely the consultation had been undertaken and the percentage of responses received, Mr Horne acknowledged that, whilst the consultation document had not been sent to London Boroughs, it had been widely distributed amongst the catchment area for the Medway NHS Trust – including the western part of Swale and the Isle of Sheppey.  He did not have with him detailed figures regarding the rate of responses to the consultation, but would make them available to the Committee. 

Car Parking and Transportation

            d)         Mr Horne said that the car parking at the Medway Maritime Hospital was not privatised.  The car parks were run by the Trust and there were no plans to change the charges for car parking.  The Trust was continuing to look at environmental strategies, including the promotion of walking and car sharing, as well  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7