Agenda item

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

i)             Membership: Boston Borough Council and West Lindsey District Council

The Chairman referred to the appointment of Councillor Paul Gleeson to the Committee as the representative of Boston Borough Council and welcomed Councillor Gleeson to his first meeting.

The Chairman also referred to the appointment of Councillor Paul Howitt-Cowan to the Committee as the representative of West Lindsey District Council and welcomed Councillor Howitt-Cowan to his second meeting of the Committee.

ii)            Agenda Order

Owing to the availability of NHS colleagues, there had been a change to the agenda order for the meeting.  Items would be considered in the following order:-

·       Congenital Heart Disease Services (Item 7)

·       Lincolnshire West Clinical Commissioning Group Update (Item 5)

·       Lincolnshire STP – Response of the Health Scrutiny Committee (Item 6)

The Chairman confirmed that the afternoon session would run as planned.

iii)          Circulation of Additional Documents

Since the publication of the agenda, four additional documents had been circulated to the Committee via two emails.  The first email enclosed the Draft Response of the Committee to Lincolnshire Sustainability and Transformation Plan.  The second email enclosed the Minutes of the Extraordinary Meeting of the Committee held on 12 January (which would be confirmed at agenda item 4); information from Will Huxter dated 17 January 2017; and information on neighbouring Sustainability and Transformation Plans.

All Members of the Committee confirmed that they were in receipt of these documents.

iv)          Congenital Heart Disease Services – Letter from Will Huxter, 17 January 2017

At the last ordinary meeting of the Committee, on 21 December 2016, the Committee requested the attendance of Will Huxter (Senior Responsible Officer at NHS England) at this meeting to present the additional information requested by the Committee.  Mr Huxter indicated on 4 January 2017 that he was unavailable but would provide the information in writing.  The Chairman wrote to Mr Huxter on 9 January 2017 to express disappointment at his non-attendance and to ask for confirmation of the date of the public consultation, as well as reiterating the request for additional information.

On 17 January 2017, the Chairman received a letter from Mr Huxter with an enclosure which detailed the additional information requested by the Committee on 21 December 2016, which was circulated to the Committee on 17 January.  The Chairman stressed that there was still no confirmation of the public consultation date, although the additional information referred to the Department of Health sanctioning consultation during the Purdah period.

v)            Congenital Heart Disease Services – All-Party Parliamentary Group on Heart Disease and East Midlands Councils

The Chairman was of the understanding that colleagues from University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust were to attend a meeting of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Heart Disease, chaired by Stuart Andrew MP.  The remit of the groups was:-

·       to inform and educate parliamentarians about heart and circulatory disease, the single most common cause of death in the UK;

·       to encourage and promote work undertaken to prevent heart disease and improve its diagnosis and treatment; and

·       to inform parliamentarians about the work of the Cardio and Vascular Coalition and issues concerning cardiac and vascular death.

On behalf of the Committee, the Chairman had submitted information to Stuart Andrew MP for consideration by the All-Party Parliamentary Group.  A report would also be submitted to the East Midlands Councils on 15 February 2017 which would highlight the latest position with regard to the consultation.

In addition, the Committee was asked for their support in writing to the Department of Health, Secretary of State, NHS England and the Prime Minister to express disappointment dissatisfaction at the decision by NHS England to hold the public consultation during the Purdah period.

RESOLVED

          That the Chairman be given authority to write to Department of Health, Secretary of State, NHS England and the Prime Minister to express disappointment and dissatisfaction at the decision by NHS England to hold the public consultation during the Purdah period.

vi)          Stamford and Rutland Hospital – MRI Scanner

On 8 January 2017, an MRI scanner was delivered to Stamford and Rutland Hospital.  The scanner, which weighed 27 tonnes, was lifted by crane onto the south-eastern side of the Stamford Hospital site from the car park of the neighbouring supermarket.  Once installation had been completed, c.8000 patients per year were expected to benefit from the scanner which would operate twelve and half hours per day five days per week.  Formal confirmation of the date when patients would be offered appointments for the scanner was to be advised.

vii)         Wainfleet GP Surgery

As previously reported to the Committee, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) temporarily suspended Wainfleet GP Surgery for three months from 10 November 2016.  Following a subsequent decision by the GPs at the Wainfleet Surgery not to seek re-registration with the CQC, Lincolnshire East Clinical Commissioning Group consulted with patients at the surgery on the options for the future.  The consultation report highlighted the concerns of patients who found it difficult to access transport to travel to GP surgeries in nearby towns.  Consequently, the CCG was looking into whether a branch surgery or outreach service could operate in Wainfleet.  Further information would be presented once available.

viii)        Arbortetum GP Surgery, Lincoln; Burton Road GP Surgery, Lincoln; Pottergate Surgery, Gainsborough; and Metheringham Surgery

A report from Lincolnshire West Clinical Commissioning Group would be considered at agenda item 5 – Lincolnshire West Clinical Commissioning Group Update, which referred to the Arboretum GP Surgery, Lincoln; Burton Road GP Surgery, Lincoln; Pottergate Surgery, Gainsborough; and Metheringham Surgery.  The Chairman confirmed that these four surgeries closed on 13 January 2017 and understood that a significant number of the 11,500 patients from these four surgeries were yet to re-register with another GP.  An update would be sought as part of agenda item 5.

ix)          Dental Services Procurement Stakeholder Briefing

On 13 January 2017, the Chairman received a briefing paper from NHS England (Central Midlands) on dental services procurement.  The paper referred to NHS England's plans to commission eight new General Dental Service contracts using the "8 to 8" service model.  The 8 to 8 practices would provide services between 8am and 8pm, seven days per week, 365 days per year.  The 8 to 8 service model was designed to offer routine as well as urgent care for patients not linked to a dental practice.  A copy of the briefing would be circulated with the announcements.

x)            Working Group Meetings

There were two forthcoming working group meetings:

·       On 24 January 2017, there would be a meeting of the United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust Five Year Strategy Working Group; and

·       On 2 February 2017, there would be a meeting of the Delayed Transfers of Care Joint Working Group

The Chairman explained that although not under the aegis of this Committee, there was also a meeting of the STP Working Group on 30 January 2017 which had been tasked by the County Council (at its meeting on 16 December 2016) to consider the financial and other impact of the Lincolnshire STP on County Council services.  The Working Group would report directly to the County Council's Executive and would comprise of Councillors C J T H Brewis, Mrs J Brockway, S Dodds, C E D Mair, D C Morgan, Mrs M J Overton MBE, S L W Palmer, R A Shore and M A Whittington.