Agenda item

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

i)          United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust – Appointment of Chairman

Councillor Mrs C A Talbot had attended a Stakeholder Event at Pilgrim Hospital in Boston on 21 January 2016 to meet candidates seeking to become the new Chairman of United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust (ULHT).  It was understood that the formal interviews took place on 28 January 2016 and an announcement was expected shortly.

ii)         New Maternity and Gynaecology Unit – Pilgrim Hospital Boston

On 9 February 2016, United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust (ULHT) announced that a new purpose-built modular maternity and gynaecology unit would be 'arriving' at Pilgrim Hospital in Boston this week.  ULHT had invested £5.2 million in to Pilgrim Hospital for creation of new wards to replace the existing maternity and gynaecology wards.

The new unit would be an extension to the main hospital and had been built at a factory near Beverley, Yorkshire and would take approximately 10 days to construct on site.  This innovative method of construction was an off-site build to reduce the construction time and disruption to patients.

iii)       Britain Imbalanced – Why Now is the Time to Tackle Obesity in Britain

The Chairman referred members to a report authored by Olympic rower, James Cracknell, which was published on 10 February 2016 by the Policy Exchange Thinktank and which received some national media attention.  The report, entitled Britain Imbalanced – Why Now is the Time to Tackle Obesity in Britain, made a number of recommendations including the introduction of a tax on sugary drinks.  Additionally, the report recommended that children aged 4-11 should be measured although the report argued against issuing "fat-shaming" letters to parents as these were often counter-productive.  The emphasis, therefore, should be on improvements to a child's wellbeing and reduced portion sizes. The Chairman looked forward to further developments in the national debate on reducing obesity.

iv)       Sue Noyes, Chief Executive – East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EMAS)

On 15 February 2016 it was announced that the Chief Executive of the East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS), Sue Noyes, would be leaving EMAS later this year.  The decision had been made due to personal and family reasons but Sue had been requested to stay until June 2016 to continue to lead EMAS through the introduction of phase three of its quality improvement programme, Better Patient Care – Driving Forward for 2016.

The Chairman of EMAS, Pauline Tagg, would be discussing the future leadership arrangements with the EMAS Board and the NHS Trust Development Authority (TDA).

v)         East Midlands Health Scrutiny Network – 17 February 2016

A meeting of the East Midlands Health Scrutiny Network was taking place at Leicester City Hall at the same time as this Committee.  The Chairman advised that the meeting was to cover the approaches of health scrutiny committees in the region to topics such as health inequalities; the integration of health and social care; and commissioning and reconfiguration.

It was regretful that the meeting coincided with this Committee meeting and therefore there would be no representation from Lincolnshire present.  Feedback would be sought from the network meeting and attendance at future network meetings would be considered.

vi)       Peterborough and Stamford Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust – Seminar on Delayed Transfers of Care – 2 March 2016

On 2 March 2016 Peterborough and Stamford Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust would be holding a seminar on delayed transfers of care.  The Trust had stated that it had complex discharge arrangements, as its patients were from different local authority areas, and were to explore the complexity with representatives of health scrutiny committees to provide improved outcomes for patients.  The Trust had, therefore, extended a formal invitation to the members of the Committee to attend the seminar.  Members were asked to advise the Health Scrutiny Officer of their intention to attend.