Discussion with the project director on latest developments concerning hospital reconfiguration and integrated care in North East London.
Minutes:
The NHS NELC officer thanked the Committee Chairman, Cabinet portfolio holder and Group Director for their assistance with the options appraisal process in relation to St. George’s Hospital. It was emphasised that there was no immediate problem with the hospital boiler and heating for the building would continue. There were however breaches of health and safety rules that would be addressed.
The officer felt that St. George’s was not suitable as a rehab facility due to a lack of toilets, showers, laundry facilities and space on the wards. Immediate action needed to be taken due to the service being isolated and vulnerable. The provider board (NELFT) therefore had to decide if it could continue to run services safely from the site and had concluded that it could not. The changes were considered to be temporary and so could be implemented without public consultation. Four options for the relocation of rehab beds had been considered and Foxgolve ward at King George had been assessed as the best temporary option for the frail elderly beds at St. George’s.
All other facilities would be staying on the St. George’s site for the present and 24:7 security and boiler cover had been brought in. In the longer term, future plans for care were being considered as part of the Health and Wellbeing Strategy. Options for the longer term future of services would be brought both to the Committee and the Health and Wellbeing Board.
The ten stroke beds at St. George’s would be replaced by seven beds at Greys Court in Dagenham – a centre of excellence for stroke services. This would allow NELFT to invest more in temporary community services. What services would be based at St. George’s in the future was currently being considered. A new GP surgery was one possibility.
The Chief Operating Officer at NELFT added that an unannounced enter and view visit by Havering LINk had found the standard of care at St. George’s to be of high quality. This would continue at King George and where it was likely many of the same would continue to deliver the service. Staff had been briefed on the location change and it was accepted that some staff may not wish to move to King George. Any surplus travel expenses incurred by NELFT would be covered by NELFT.
There were current 35 frail/elderly beds and 10 stroke beds at Saint George’s and these would be replaced by 30 frail/elderly beds at King George and 7 stroke beds at Greys Court. It was felt that greater flexibility in how the service was provided would mean these lower bed numbers would be sufficient.
As regards the longer term plans for St. George’s, a business case was scheduled to be completed by the end of November 2012. This would detail which services would remain on site and include as outline time line for the changes. It was emphasised that NHS NELC was committed to keeping a health presence on the St. George’s site. It was hoped to conclude the plans before responsibility for the site was handed to NHS Property Services at the end of March 2013. Urgency provisions could be used if necessary. Plans for the nursery on the St. George’s site were uncertain at this stage.
Members emphasised that, in some cases, they had been approached by St. George’s staff wanting to know what was happening. They felt that there was a need to communicate to people more clearly what was happening and the reasons for the changes. The NHS officers responded that the recent briefing note from NHS NELC did cover these points. The process of engagement on St. George’s would include links with the local community. The process would be led by the current NHS NELC borough director who would report directly to Heather Mullin. It was agreed that the NHS NELC officer should give a weekly update to Members giving the latest position regarding St. George’s. It was accepted that NELFT staff morale had lowered due to not being engaged previously due to not being engaged previously but this would be addressed.
A representative of Havering LINk felt it was essential for developments with St. George’s to be communicated as soon as they were known. The key message to convey to residents was that only part of the site would be sold and that the money gained would be reinvested in local services. The NHS NELC officer responded that some of the capital receipts would cover the upgrade work at queen’s Hospital. The previous plans for St. George’s had only gone to pre-engagement consultation although this was questioned by the LINk representative (a former NHS Havering director) who stated that the PCT had approved previous initial plans for St. George’s.
The Chairman had been assured that facilities at King George would be better than the equivalent at St. George’s with greater availability of showers, toilets etc. There would be a day room in the unit where patients could have meals if they wished and patients would be able to go to physiotherapy on site at King George. Being located on the King George site would also allow easier access to diagnostics.
The quality of the estate at Brentwood Community Hospital was an aspiration for rehab facilities in Havering but NHS officers felt the hospital’s location was too inaccessible from Havering. The Chairman added that access from Havering to King George Hospital was also difficult and she would be asking the Council’s transport planners to make representations on this. It was noted that there was now a direct bus route from Barkingside to Queen’s Hospital.
Efforts would be made to move any staff not relocating to King George Hospital into community services and there would not be any redundancies as a result of the move. Further details would be given in the business case.
The Committee noted the updates.