Agenda and minutes

Venue: East Ham Town Hall, 328, Barking Road, East Ham, London, E6 2RP

Contact: Anthony Clements  Email: anthony.clements@oneSource.co.uk 01708 433065

Items
No. Item

19.

DISCLOSURE OF INTERESTS

Members are invited to disclose any interests in any of the items on the agenda at this point of the meeting. Members may still disclose an interest in an item at any point prior to the consideration of the matter.

Minutes:

There were no disclosures of interest.

20.

DEVELOPING A RESPONSE TO THE NHS LONG TERM PLAN pdf icon PDF 22 KB

Report attached.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Joint Committee noted with regret and frustration that NHS officers had not attended the meeting due to legal advice that they could not discuss this item during the pre-election purdah period. Members disagreed strongly this non-appearance was justified. It was felt that the draft long term plan should not be submitted to NHS England without its having been subject to appropriate scrutiny first and that NHS England should be asked to defer any decision on this matter until such scrutiny had first taken place.

 

It was agreed that the clerk would draw up letters on behalf of the Joint Committee to the Accountable Officer for the North East London Commissioning Alliance and to NHS England expressing the Committee’s frustration and displeasure at the refusal of NHS offices to attend the meeting. It was also agreed that a further joint meeting should be arranged in order to scrutinise the Long Term Plan.

21.

MOORFIELDS HOSPITAL PLANNED RELOCATION pdf icon PDF 636 KB

Report attached.

Minutes:

Moorfields officers explained that it was proposed to move Moorfields Eye Hospital from its current site in City Road to a new location in St Pancras in 2026. The current site was felt to be too small and restrictive and could lead to appointments taking the best part of a day to complete. The Institute of Ocular Ophthalmology would move with the hospital to combine with Moorfields on the purpose-built St Pancras site.

 

A lot of engagement work had taken place during the consultation to date had included how visually impaired people could navigate the new site itself as well as the distance from the nearest transport hubs to the site. 73% of respondents to the consultation had agreed or strongly agreed that the move should take place although this was slightly lower in the North East London area, principally due to concerns over travel times. Travel analysis had however shown only a 3 minutes increase in journey times overall compared to the current site.

 

The St Pancras site was located close to partner organisation such as the Royal National Institute for the Blind, the Crick Institute and UCL Partners. The proposals would go to joint scrutiny for the North-Central London area on 39 November and a final decision was expected on 19 December.

 

The private theatres at the Moorfields site were part of a private business owned by the NHS. All profits from the private business were reinvested into the Moorfields NHS Trust. Investments made in private theatres would be recouped by the time of the move.   

 

It was accepted that the children’s department was in a newer building compared to the rest of the hospital but it was not feasible to leave this on the current site. Many hospital staff worked across both the adults and children’s departments.

 

The valuation of the City Road site was based on current value and officers accepted that this may change to the effects of Brexit. This would be reflected in the full business case which would be submitted in 2021. Moorfields operated a b=networked model of care covering 30 sites which would not be affected by any move of services based at the main hospital site.

 

Some 71% of respondents to the consultation survey were current users of the hospital services. Quality assurance for the consultation had been undertaken by the Consultation Institute and the proposals would also be scrutinised by the Mayor of London.

 

The nearest station to the current site (Old Street) was not step free whilst this would be available at from Kings Cross station for the new hospital location. A group of visually impaired patients had already tested the walking from Kings Cross station to the site and work on the route had also been undertaken with the Royal National Institute for the Blind.

 

Officers wished to have more bus routes serving the new site and to encourage better signposting to the new hospital both from the station and at street level. Engagement work with Transport for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 21.