Issue - meetings

Report attached.

BHRUT officers explained that the Trust provided one of the largest oncology departments in the UK and offered care for patients during the acute phase of treatment as well as beyond this. The Trust had met the national 62 day cancer treatment standard for the last 13 months. Initiatives such as the Enhanced Supportive Care Team and the EMPOWER Programme – a course on dealing with cancer treatment, had been nominated for awards.

The Trust also offered a state of the art radiotherapy facility at Queen’s Hospital and the introduction of two halcyon machines had halved treatment times as well as making radiotherapy treatments more accurate. The Trust covered a catchment area of more than one million people and expected a 6% yearly increase in patient numbers.

Current treatments offered included radiotherapy at Queen’s, chemotherapy at Queen’s and King George, an inpatient ward at Queen’s and outpatient facilities at both sites. The Trust wished to centralise chemotherapy treatment at Queen’s to improve efficiency, care and experience due to the access to specialised medical cover and the removal of the need to transport chemotherapy drugs between sites. This would allow better access to clinical trials and would offer better outcomes for patients requiring chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Current treatment pathways meant that more complex cases were seen at Queen’s whilst all pre-assessment and clinical trials also took place at Queen’s.

Some 600 patients per month were given chemotherapy at the Sunflower Suite at Queen’s (compared to 450 previously) and 150 patients at the Cedar Centre at King George (comparted to 200 previously). More choice of appointment times could be offered at the Queen’s unit which was open six days per week. There was also a dedicated pharmacy production unit at Queen’s whereas chemotherapy had to be transported four times a day to King George. The Trust therefore felt that just having chemotherapy at Queen’s would reduce patient delays. Longer term plans included a phone triage service for chemotherapy patients which would allow those patients needing urgent help to go straight to the cancer unit, rather than wait in A & E.

Some 20% of patients receiving chemotherapy at BHRUT would be affected by the proposed change. The expected rise in more complex cases over time (which would be seen at Queen’s) was likely to reduce this figure. It was accepted that some people would experience increased travel times but officers felt that the better patient experience would outweigh this. Hospital transport would continue to be provided as necessary and there remained a dedicated free car park at Queen’s for oncology patients during treatment. Reduced waiting times would mean that car park capacity was unlikely to be an issue.

The Trust wished to implement the changes by the end of October and BHRUT officers did not feel that this was a significant change to how services were delivered. Engagement had been undertaken with patient groups and, once the changes were agreed, leaflets about the changes would be distributed across both hospitals and a frequently  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13