Agenda item

Patricia Davies (Accountable Officer, NHS Swale CCG), Ken Pugh (Cabinet Member for Community Safety and Health, Swale Borough Council) and Andrew Bowles (Leader of Swale Borough Council and KCC Member for Swale East) were in attendance for this item.

(1)      The Chairman welcomed Ms Davies to the meeting and asked her to introduce the item. Ms Davies began by explaining that the provider of the  out-of-hours contract had been changed on a temporary basis following recommendations from the Keogh Review relating to Medway NHS Foundation Trust and listening exercises with the public and Swale Borough Council. The original out-of-hours contracts were commissioned in 2010 by East Kent and West Kent PCTs where IC24 won the contracts. The contracts were due to expire in March 2014; most CCGs in Kent had extended their contract with IC24 until 2016.

(2)      Recommendations from the Keogh Review and the Emergency Care Intensive Support Team at Medway NHS Foundation Trust indicated the need for coordination of non-elected out-of-hours care in Medway and Swale. Prior to 31 March 2014, out-of-hours services in Medway were provided by Medway On Call Centre (MedOCC) whilst the service in Swale was provided by IC24; this had caused problems with inappropriate admissions and discharge.

(3)      In addition, NHS Swale CCG was encourage to look at a review of community services, community nursing and out-of-hours services as part of the Keogh Review recommendations. The CCG had held a series of engagement events and governing body meetings where members of the public raised concerns regarding the difficulty accessing IC24 services at the weekends and evening; travelling long distances to Canterbury for out-of-hours appointments and the perceived lack of access to visiting services on the Isle of Sheppey.

(4)      NHS Swale CCG had therefore transferred the out-of-hours services to MedOCC for twelve months. This would enable further public engagement and the procurement of the out-of-hours services to link up with other procurements including MIUs and Walk-In Centres. Ms Davies congratulated IC24 and MedOCC for their tireless work and reaching a solution together.

(5)      The Chairman invited Cllr Pugh and Mr Bowles to speak. Cllr Pugh explained that Swale Borough Council had worked extremely closely with the CCG to review out-of-hours and community services. As Cabinet Member for Community Safety and Health at Swale Borough Council, he fully endorsed the report and approach of the CCG to engage with the public as part of the full procurement.

(6)      Mr Bowles explained that as Leader of Swale Borough Council and Chair of the Health and Wellbeing Board in Swale he welcomed the way forward proposed by NHS Swale CCG. He believed that there would be genuine consultation with the public, the decision would not be rushed and would result in the right decision being made for Swale.

(7)      A Member asked about the NHS England review of the walk-in centre at Sheppey Hospital. The Committee had been involved with the set-up of the walk-in centre and the Member believed that this was something the Committee should continue to be involved with. Ms Davies explained that the contract for the walk-in centre was currently held with NHS England. The provider of the walk-in centre also held the primary medical services contract which was commissioned by NHS England. The contract would be split and the walk-in centre element would come under the CCG. The contract had been extended until 2016 to enable the CCG to successfully procure and consult with the local community.

(8)      RESOLVED that the Committee determines the proposed service change as a substantial variation of service and that a timetable for consideration of the change would be agreed between the HOSC and NHS Swale CCG after the meeting. (The timetable would include the proposed date that the NHS Swale CCG intends to make a decision as to whether to proceed with the proposal and the date by which the HOSC will provide any comments on the proposal).