Agenda item

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

i)             Wainfleet GP Surgery – Temporary Suspension of Registration

On 10 November 2016, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) temporarily suspended its registration of Wainfleet Surgery for a period of three months due to concerns for patient safety.  The 2,200 patients on the Wainfleet list had been advised to register temporarily with other local GP practices, such as Hawthorn Medical Practice in Skegness.

Lincolnshire East Clinical Commissioning Group had provided support to the Wainfleet Surgery and further information on the role of the CCG in supporting the surgery and its patients would be provided to the Committee as part of Item 8 – Lincolnshire East Clinical Commissioning Group Update.

ii)            Meeting with Lincolnshire West Clinical Commissioning Group

On 8 November 2016, the Chairman met with Richard Childs (Chairman), Dr Sunil Hindocha (Chief Clinical Officer) and Sarah Newton (Chief Operating Officer) of Lincolnshire West Clinical Commissioning Group.  The discussion included the inspection of GP practices by the Care Quality Commission and the CCGs financial position.

iii)       Working Group Meetings

The Chairman thanked eight Members of the Committee who had participated in the two working group meetings in the last month.  On 2 November 2016, Councillors D Brailsford, R L Foulkes and T M Trollope-Bellew attended a working group at Stamford and Rutland Hospital which responded to the full business case for the merger of Peterborough and Stamford Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust with Hinchingbrooke Health Care NHS Trust.

On 10 November 2016, Councillors C J T H Brewis, Mrs R Kaberry-Brown, J Kirk, R C Kirk and Mrs J M Renshaw attended the working group which responded to the Medicines Management Consultation.

The full responses were set out, for information, under Item 11 – Work Programme and Responses to Consultations.

iv)          Final Business Case for the Merger of Peterborough and Stamford Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust with Hinchingbrooke Health Care NHS Trust

Further to the submission from the working group on the Merger of Peterborough and Stamford Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust with Hinchingbrooke Health Care NHS Trust, Board papers for both Trusts had been issued for meetings taking place in the following week and these papers included the Committee's submission.  Each Board was expected to ratify the proposed merger on the basis of the business case.

v)            Sustainability and Transformation Plans

As at 22 November 2016, it was understood that 30 of the 44 Sustainability and Transformation Plans (STPs) had been published.  On 21 November 2016, the Chairman had received a copy of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough STP which, like the other published STPs, was a five year strategy document rather than a consultation in its own right.  The Cambridgeshire and Peterborough STP contained a commitment for public consultation, where necessary, on substantial variations to services.

The Chairman reported that there was an intention to publish the Lincolnshire STP no earlier than 8 December 2016 (the date of the Sleaford and North Hykeham by-election) and it was expected that an item would be included on the Committee's agenda at an appropriate time.

vi)          Repeat Prescription Arrangements in Lincolnshire West Clinical Commissioning Group Area

On 21 November 2016, Lincolnshire West Clinical Commissioning Group announced a change to its arrangements for repeat prescriptions.  Patients who chose to use a pharmacy to order repeat medicines on their behalf would instead be asked to order these prescriptions directly from their GP Practice.  Designated carers, relatives or friends could also order on the patient's behalf.

NHS Lincolnshire West Clinical Commissioning Group stated that this would make prescribing safer and more cost efficient as some patients had acquired excessive stocks of unused medicines which needed to be stored safely and used within their expiry date.  In extreme situations, patients had medicines which would last for months or even years, however the new system would enable GPs to keep a much closer eye on actual medicine usage by patients.

vii)      Proving Nationality to Attend NHS Appointments

The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee had been considering how the NHS could recover costs from overseas patients who used its services.  On 21 November 2016, Chris Wormald (the Permanent Secretary to the Department of Health) as part of his evidence to the Public Accounts Committee, cited Peterborough and Stamford Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust as an example of a Trust where patients who attended certain clinics were required to present a passport and one other form of identify in order to be treated.  More information had been requested from the Trust but media reports suggested that the Trust had significantly increased this category of income since introduction of these arrangements in 2012.

viii)        Lincolnshire Health and Care (LHAC)

A meeting had been arranged to take place on 8 December 2016 to discuss the LHAC.  The Chairman advised that this meeting had been deferred to 25 January 2017.