Agenda item

Sukh Singh, Director of Primary and Community (Out of Hospital) Care, NHS Kent and Medway and Natalie Davies, Chief of Staff, NHS Kent and Medway were in attendance for this meeting

1.    Mr Trevor Bond (Local Member for Deal and Walmer), raised his concerns that three years had passed since the service withdrawal and no solution had been identified. He noted that no equality impact study had been carried out before the change, and he considered there had been a service reduction because GPs had also been providing blood tests previously. Patients needing to use public transport to access phlebotomy services at Buckland Hospital or QEQM often had to use three buses which was not practical. Also, booking through GP surgeries was difficult because of getting through on the phone and some had 4 week waits. He noted some surgeries had closed since the service withdrawal. For those requiring frequent blood tests, this was ineffective. He was concerned that despite going to tender twice, the ICB had failed to procure a replacement service.

2.    Ms Davies responded that the decision to withdraw the service was not a commissioning decision, but because the provider handed back the contract as they were no longer in a position to provide the service. One of the reasons cited by KCHFT was that the service was needed for inpatient individuals, and staff were being pulled away for walk ins. The (then) CCG considered options and decided to expand the provision from GP surgeries, meaning patients could access services from the 4 GP sites. This was intended to be more convenient for residents and saw an extra 400 blood tests carried out a month. The ICB recognised the service withdrawal was at pace and communication with the local population could have been better.  Provision was equal to the best in Kent, but they accepted it was not perfect. However, they needed to balance the needs of the population across Kent and Medway and worked to ensure people received the service they need. The decision to bring back a service in Deal was not made on the basis of clinical need or addressing inequalities, but on the advocacy of residents. Two procurements had been carried out and no provider had yet been identified. An option was to reduce the GP service to make the market more attractive, but that could lead to the destabilisation of GP service provision. The ICB were now looking at a direct award. Mr Singh added that work had been carried out with Deal GP practices to make getting through on the phone easier for patients.

3.    Members of the Committee had received an email from a resident containing several questions. The Chair requested that answers to the questions be provided when the ICB return with an update.

4.    Members had a discussion which included:

a.    There was concern that some residents were relying on public transport which could be costly. The ICB agreed no one should have to access multiple public transport routes to access services.

b.    There was a lack of consistency across Kent as GPs in West Kent did not provide phlebotomy services.

5.    The Chair wanted the ICB to return once a new provider had been identified. He also wanted to understand the phlebotomy offer across the county.

RESOLVED that the Committee considered and noted the report and invite the NHS back at the appropriate time.