Agenda item

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the Committee and made the following announcements:-

i)          Norovirus at Lincoln County Hospital

At various times over recent weeks, several wards at Lincoln County Hospital had been closed to new admissions owing to an outbreak of the norovirus.  It was reported that of 15 January 2016, the norovirus outbreak at Lincoln County was declared over as there had not been any associated cases reported for 72 hours.  Although three wards were still affected, these were being cleaned and would be fully open within the next few days.

ii)         Lincolnshire Community Health Services NHS Trust – Meeting

On 11 January 2016, the Chairman met with Elaine Baylis (Chairman) and Andrew Morgan (Chief Executive) of Lincolnshire Community Health Services NHS Trust (LCHS).  Several issues were discussed including progress with the Trust's application for Foundation Trust status.  It was understood that the predicted date for the Trust's authorisation and establishment as a Foundation Trust would be late 2016.

Two changes to senior management had been made at LCHS:  Danni Cecchini had been appointed as the permanent Director of Finance and Lisa Green had been appointed as Director of Nursing and Operations in place of Sue Cousland, who retired in December 2015.

iii)       Healthwatch Lincolnshire – 17 February 2016

The Chief Executive of Healthwatch Lincolnshire, Sarah Fletcher, had contacted the Chairman regarding the content of the item from Healthwatch scheduled for consideration at the Committee on 17 February 2016.  It was suggested that the report be an overall Mental Health Report from Healthwatch rather than having a CAMHS focus and to give consideration to CAMHS later in the year.

iv)       East Midlands Congenital Heart Centre – Stakeholder Meeting

The first local authority stakeholder meeting of the year for the East Midlands Congenital Heart Centre took place on 14 January 2016 at Glenfield Hospital in Leicester.  The Chairman was unable to attend the meeting but advised that NHS England had found overlap in the geographical areas where congenital surgical centres intended to provide a service.  In order to address this, NHS England were to divide the country up into 'parts' and then ask the centres to bid for areas to which they wanted to provide the service.

The East Midlands Congenital Heart Centre continued to work towards the national standards.  For example, they were on track to complete approximately 330 cases in the coming year; to co-locate their congenital heart services with all other children's services by 2019; and to have four surgeons, each undertaking 125 procedures per annum by 2021.  The next stakeholder meeting was scheduled for 17 March 2016.

A full report would be circulated to the Committee.

v)         Lincolnshire Integrated Volunteer Emergency Service (LIVES) – Appointment of Chief Executive

Lincolnshire Integrated Volunteer Emergency Service (LIVES) had announced the appointment of their first full-time Chief Executive Officer.  Nikki Silver would take up the position with effect from 2 April 2016.  Nikki was previously the Deputy Director of Operations, Family and Healthy Lifestyle and Urgent Care at Lincolnshire Community Health Services NHS Trust (LCHS) and had previously presented to the Committee on 20 May 2015 on School Nursing and Health Visiting services.

vi)       United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust (ULHT) – Appointment of Chairman

At the last meeting of the Committee it was report that Ron Buchanan would retire as Chairman of United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust in March 2016.  The Chairman had been invited to attend a stakeholder event on 21 January 2016 to meet applicants for the Trust's new Chairman.  The Chairman would then be asked to provide feedback to the panel prior to the formal interviews.

vii)      Hospice within a Hospital, Grantham

The Chairman had been invited to attend the formal opening of the Hospice within a Hospital in Grantham on 21 January 2016.  The Hospice was to be opened by the actor, Warwick Davis.  Unfortunately, this event coincided with a stakeholder event at Pilgrim Hospital which the Chairman would attend and therefore this invitation had been, regretfully, declined.

viii)     Special Care Dentistry Engagement Briefing Report

On 21 December 2015, NHS England Central – East Midlands issued a briefing paper to the Health Scrutiny Committee on Special Care Dentistry.  Special Care Dentistry was concerned with the oral health of individuals with a physical, sensory, medical, emotional or social impairment or disability.  The briefing paper reported the findings of an engagement exercise with patients during 2015 and would inform NHS England's procurement  of the service in the coming year.  The Chairman highlighted the fact that engagement activity found that the majority of respondents confirmed that the existing services exceeded their expectations. 

The briefing paper would be circulated to the Committee.

ix)       Acute Trust Financial Position

Recent coverage in the national press had highlighted the financial challenges faced by acute hospital trusts.  The Chairman had requested research be undertaken and had found that, based on figures available in December 2015, the six acute trusts most used by Lincolnshire residents were, between them, predicting a deficit in the current financial year of £220 million.  United Lincolnshire Hospital NHS Trust predicted a deficit of £59.9 million which comprised the largest single element of the total.  This remained a concern but the Committee looked forward to hearing how these financial challenges could be addressed in the coming year.

The paper would be circulated to the Committee.

x)         Delivering the Forward View:  NHS Planning Guidance 2016/17 – 2020/21

A key document had been published on 22 December 2015 entitled:  Delivering the Forward View:  NHS Planning Guidance 2016/17-2020/21.  The Chairman had requested a specific report to be prepared on this document and this would be considered by the Committee at Item 9 of the agenda.  It was expected that several aspects of the document would affect the future work programme of the Committee.