Agenda item

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

i)          Councillor Mrs Lesley Rollings and Councillor Gordon Gregory

The Chairman confirmed the two resignations from the Committee by Councillor Mrs Lesley Rollings and Councillor Gordon Gregory.  On behalf of the Committee the Chairman asked that formal thanks be noted for their contribution to the activities of the Committee.  It was also confirmed that, as reported, Councillor Mrs Angela White was in attendance as the representative for West Lindsey District Council.  The Committee looked forward to each council confirming their permanent replacement representatives in due course.

ii)         Dr Peter Holmes

It was reported that Dr Peter Holmes had resigned as the Chairman of the Lincolnshire East Clinical Commissioning Group Governing Body in order to focus on the management of his own Stuart House Surgery in Boston.  The Chairman advised that she had written to Dr Holmes to thank him for his support of the activities of the Health Scrutiny Committee for Lincolnshire.

iii)       Wainfleet GP Surgery Update

At the last meeting the Committee received information on how Lincolnshire East Clinical Commissioning Group had been providing support to Wainfleet Surgery, whose registration had been temporarily suspended by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

On 7 December 2016, Lincolnshire East Clinical Commissioning Group advised that the two partners at the surgery would not be seeking re-registration with the CQC and, as a result, the CCG was now reviewing the options for GP provision in Wainfleet.  The CCG was also seeking the views of patients, a part of its consideration of all available patients to acess services at another local practice.

iv)       Arboretum GP Surgery Lincoln; Burton Road GP Surgery, Lincoln; Pottergate Surgery, Gainsborough; and Metheringham Surgery

On 28 November 2016, Lincolnshire West Clinical Commissioning Group announced that the Arboretum and Burton Road Surgeries in Lincoln, the Pottergate Surgery in Gainsborough and the Metheringham Surgery would all close on 7 January 2017.  Lincolnshire West CCG had stated that the 11,000 patients across the four surgeries would have an alternative option within 0.2 miles of their existing surgery.

Lincolnshire West Clinical Commissioning Group had sought to secure a long-term provider to take over the management of the four practices but was unable to offer a contract to any of the bidders.  Patients had until 7 January to register with a different GP practice.  If patients did not register by that date, the CCG would automatically allocate those patients to a surgery on their behalf.  If patients were unhappy with their allocated surgery they would still be able to choose an alternative at any time, based on where they lived and the practice boundaries within which they reside.  An update report from Lincolnshire West Clinical Commissioning Group was expected at the Committee on 18 January 2017.

v)        Working Group Meetings

On 20 December 2016, a working group meeting provided initial views on the United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust Five Year Strategy. The Chairman thanked Councillors S L W Palmer, Mrs S Ransome, Mrs J M Renshaw, Mrs S M Wray and Dr B Wookey for joining her at the meeting.

Nine councillors across two committees also wished to participate in the Delayed Transfers of Care Working Group.  This working group would be discussed further as part of the Work Programme item but it was planned to arrange a meeting at the end of January/early February 2017.

vi)       Lincolnshire Sustainability and Transformation Plan

The Lincolnshire Sustainability and Transformation Plan had been published on 6 December 2016.  The County Council had considered and passed two motions on the STP and further information on the motions would be provided as part of item 6.

vii)      Lincolnshire Sustainability and Transformation Plan and NHS Contracts

There had been some concern that the CCGs were required to sign two year contracts with their providers no later than 23 December 2016, prior to public consultation on services changes.  CCGs and local providers were bound to meet the national framework which governed the timing of contracts.  The Chairman reported that these contracts reflected the provision of services in line with the STP but only where this had already been agreed and where consultation was not required – for instance integrated working at neighbourhood level between GPs and community health services.  The contracts were not specific in relation to potential changes to hospital services because the options for possible changes had not yet been agreed and had not been through formal public consultation yet.  If there were service changes following consultation then the CCGs would go through the normal process of contract variation to reflect the new service provision.

viii)    Grantham and District Hospital – Accident and Emergency Department

On 15 December 2016, the referral letter and accompanying statement was sent to the Secretary of State for Health on the overnight closure of Grantham and District Hospital's Accident and Emergency Department.  As a first step, it was expected that the Secretary of State would seek initial advice from the Independent Reconfiguration Panel, an advisory non-departmental public organisation set up for this purpose.  The Secretary of State would then take account of the initial advice from the Independent Reconfiguration Panel prior to making a decision on whether a full review would be required.

ix)       Medicines Management – Outcomes of the Consultation

The four Lincolnshire Clinical Commissioning Groups had announced the outcomes of the Medicines Management consultation which closed on 18 November 2016.  With effect from 12 December 2016, the four CCGs had approved restrictions on the prescribing of over-the-counter medicines for short term, self-limiting conditions, together with restrictions on prescribing baby milk, including specialist infant formula; and prescribing oral nutritional supplements in accordance with national guidelines.

The Clinical Commissioning Groups had also placed restrictions on prescribing gluten-free foods, with the exception of bread, flour and bread-mixes, which may be prescribed by GPs up to the recommended limits from Coeliac UK.

x)        Non-Emergency Patient Transport

The four Lincolnshire Clinical Commissioning Groups announced that a new provider would take over the management of non-emergency patient transport across Lincolnshire:  Thames Ambulance Service were to take over from the current provider, NSL, on 1 July 2017, following a procurement process.  The service provided eligible patients non-emergency transport to hospital appointments, community surgery units and theatre slots and home again after they had been seen or discharged.

The scheme benefitted so many people across the county with around 200,000 journeys undertaken each year.

xi)       Meetings

The Chairman reported that she had attended three briefing meetings from the management of the following organisations:-

·       Lincolnshire West CCG – 2 December 2016;

·       South Lincolnshire CCG – 14 December 2016; and

·       St Barnabas Hospice – 20 December 2016