Issue - meetings

To receive and consider the latest position re the North East London Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP). Update paper and presentation attached.

Note: The Committee will also be addressed on this issue by a representative of Save Our NHS.

Save Our NHS Group

The Joint Committee was addressed by two representatives from the Save Our NHS group. The group’s view was that the Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP) aimed to close the A&E department at King George Hospital where 115 acute beds had been removed since 2011. The group was concerned the closure of acute beds would lead to overcrowded A&E departments and hence to more acute deaths.

The group did not feel that the STP would be appropriately resourced to make the proposed changes successful and that the STP had been drawn up in secret with a lack of democratic accountability. In the view of Save Our NHS, key financial details of the STP were being withheld.

It was also felt by the group’s representatives that there needed to be better public engagement around the STP. The group was also concerned that the predicted population growth in London over the next 15 years had not been accounted for as no additional hospital was being proposed and it was still planned to close the A&E at King George. The representatives felt that the STP would be devastating for the Ilford South area where a lot of new housing had been proposed but no details had been given of where new health facilities would be located.

There were also concerns that surgeries were forming into larger networks but that there were insufficient GPs to support this. The group felt that the public wished to have care close to home and to trust health professionals.

Presentation from STP team

The STP officers accepted that there been challenges in the STP process. There were a total of 44 STPs across the UK. In North East London, the STP aimed to support local delivery systems.

Work had been undertaken with Local Healthwatch and Community Council organisations and it was accepted that the current health system was not giving the right outcome for patients. The STP aimed to create a new way of working based on a partnership model. It was hoped that North East London would become a place where people wished to live and work. The STP would also seek to establish a career pathway for staff.

Questions and discussion

Councillor Zammett from the London Borough of Redbridge addressed the Committee and felt that the shortfall in NHS beds would not be sustainable in the future. He also asked when bed forecast reconciliation figures would be provided. Officers responded that the decision to close the A&E at King George had been made by the Secretary of State rather than BHRUT. Bed modelling data was likely to be available by the end of April but officers would confirm the timescale for this.

Members asked for clarity over what services would be retained on the King George site if A&E was closed. It was felt important that A&E continued to provide the required standards in terms of both skills and staff numbers.

Other concerns raised by Members included  ...  view the full minutes text for item 27