Agenda and minutes

(1)      Apologies were received from Cllr Belsey, who was substituted by Cllr Davies.

(1)      There were no declarations of interest.

(1)      RESOLVED that the Minutes of the meeting held on 14 December 2018 are correctly recorded and that they be signed by the Chair.

·         Previous JHOSC Feedback (pages 69 – 79)

·         Kent and Medway Stroke Review Decision-Making Business Case (pages 81 – 291)

Rachel Jones (Senior Responsible Officer, Kent and Medway Stroke Review), James Pavey (Regional Operations Manager, South East Coast Ambulance NHS Foundation Trust (SECAmb)), Glenn Douglas (Accountable Officer, Kent and Medway CCGs) Dr David Sulch (Medical Director, Medway NHS Foundation Trust & Stroke Physician) and Dr Stephen Fenlon (Medical Director, Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust) were in attendance for this item.

(1)      The Chair welcomed the guests to the Committee.  The Chair acknowledged receipt of a letter that had been circulated directly to JHOSC Members from Save Our NHS in Kent (SONIK) and a separate letter from Craig Mackinlay MP.  The Chair informed the Committee that a supplementary paper had been circulated that morning, as requested by Medway Council and the meeting was adjourned to allow time to consider the paper.

(2)      Following the adjournment, the Chair reminded Members that this meeting would be the last meeting prior to the Joint Committee of Clinical Commissioning Groups (JCCCG) on 14 February 2019.  The Chair confirmed that another meeting of the JHOSC would then take place to consider formally the outcome of the JCCCG meeting.

(3)      Two Kent County Councillors, Mrs Game and Ms Constantine, had made a formal request to deliver statements to the Committee. The Chair had given her agreement and the statements were delivered.

(4)      Mrs Game informed that the Committee that during the consultation period all options being considered were rejected by Thanet and Thanet District Council. She believed that residents of Thanet were being treated unfairly and were not being listened to.  Mrs Game raised concerns about population forecasts in Thanet in comparison to Ashford, disproportionate travel distances and peak periods of travel particularly as Thanet was a tourist destination, a factor which she believed had not been taken into consideration.  She continued that health service staff recruitment was difficult in the Thanet area and that the introduction of a state-of-the-art centre of excellence would increase levels of staff interest in the area as a result.  Mrs Game emphasised that the NHS consultation stated that it had a duty to bring life improvements and increase health expectancy and that Thanet would fall short of these requirements in the preferred option.  She said that the preferred option placed two units in west Kent and close to London centres of excellence and that there would be a disparity in service across the County.   Mrs Game concluded that the residents of east Kent should be given the same life chances as other areas in the County and that consideration should be given to a fourth Hyper Acute Stroke Unit (HASU) at the Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital (QEQM).

(5)      Ms Constantine informed the Committee that she concurred with Mrs Game.  She emphasised that the call to needle time was of great concern to the people of Thanet, questioned the Decision-Making Business Case’s (DMBC) travel data and was concerned that this placed people close to the ‘danger zone’.  She said that she had met with many residents and the vast  ...  view the full minutes text for item 18.