Agenda item

Chairman's Announcements

Minutes:

The Chairman made the following announcements:-

i)          Grantham Accident and Emergency – Temporary Overnight Closure

On 22 February 2017, a letter from the Secretary of State for Health was received by the Chairman which indicated that he had passed the Committee's referral on the temporary overnight closure of Grantham Accident and Emergency Department to the Independent Reconfiguration Panel (IRP) for initial advice.  The IRP was asked to submit its initial advice to the Secretary of State by 22 March 2017.  Two courses of action may be open to the IRP:  it could make a recommendation to the Secretary of State for a full IRP review or recommend that the matter be resolved locally, thereby requiring no further action on the IRP's part.  It was reported that full IRP reviews involved a wider invitation for evidence which was then tested at IRP hearings.  A decision was awaited.

 

ii)         Community Pharmacies

A response had been received from David Mowat, the Parliamentary of Under Secretary of State for Community Health and Care, dated 20 February 2017, to the Chairman's letter raising concerns on the impact of Community Pharmacy 2016/17 and Beyond.  Mr Mowat referred to the Pharmacy Access Scheme, which provided support to 17 pharmacies in Lincolnshire, who met the criteria of the Pharmacy Access Scheme.  Pharmacies not on the Pharmacy Access Scheme list, which was published in October 2017, were able to submit an appeal to the Department of Health by 28 February 2017.  At this stage, it was not known how many pharmacies had submitted an appeal.

 

iii)       Motor Neurone Disease Charter

On 24 February 2017, Lincolnshire County Council adopted the Motor Neurone Disease Charter which was promoted by the Motor Neurone Disease Association.  Motor Neurone Disease affected up to 5000 adults in the UK at any one time and the Motor Neurone Disease Association was aware of 43 people in Lincolnshire living with the disease.

 

iv)       United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust – Financial Position

On 7 March 2017, the Board of Directors of United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust (ULHT) considered the monthly report on ULHT's financial position.  The Board of Directors was advised that ULHT would not attain its agreed deficit target of £47.9m for the current financial year and was now forecasting a deficit of £54.9m for the year.

The reasons for missing the target included:  ULHT would not receive £3.9m in sustainability and transformational funding from NHS Improvement; and ULHT's expenditure on agency staff remained high, as it had prioritised safety over finance this winter.  Like many acute hospitals, ULHT had stated that it had experienced unprecedented pressures and had needed to open more escalation beds during times when demand for beds was high.

 

v)         St Barnabas Hospice

On 7 March 2017, the Chairman met with Chris Wheway, Chief Executive, and Michelle Webb, Director of Patient Care, from St Barnabas Hospice Trust, both of whom would be addressing the Committee during the afternoon session of the meeting.

 

vi)       East Midlands Health Scrutiny Network

On 9 March 2017, the Chairman had been scheduled to attend the East Midlands Health Scrutiny Network to consider two issues relating to the East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust:  the Strategic Demand, Capacity and Pricing Review; and the recent re-inspection of EMAS by the Care Quality Commission.  As there was no available information on these two items, the meeting had not proceeded.

 

vii)      Draft Living With and Beyond Cancer Strategy for Lincolnshire 2017-19

On 10 March 2017, the Chairman received a copy of a summary of the Draft Living With and Beyond Cancer Strategy for Lincolnshire 2017-2019.  This strategy had been prepared with input from MacMillan Cancer Support.  There was evidence that people who were offered good support before, during and after a cancer diagnosis and treatment often had better outcomes than people who received no support.  In Lincolnshire, the support people received was patchy and services were sometimes disjointed.  The strategy aimed to change this by placing an emphasis on replicating existing services across all parts of the county; and improving communications between health and care professionals.

 

viii)     Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

On 14 March 2017, the Chairman met with John Brewin, Chief Executive of Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (LPFT), at the Trust's new headquarters at St George's, Long Leys Road, Lincoln.  A number of issues were discussed including the forthcoming re-inspection of LPFT in the week beginning 3 April 2017.

 

 
 
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