Apologies were received from Zina Etheridge, NHS.

There were no disclosures of interest.

To agree as a correct record the minutes of the previous meeting held on 15^th April 2025 and authorise the chairman to sign them.

The minutes of the meeting held on 15 April 2025 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

BHRUT

Officers reported that May had been the second busiest month on record at the Trust’s A & E departments. Meetings had been held with the Health Minister to seek funding funding in the A & E at Queen’s Hospital. An extra 700 ambulances per month were seen at Queen’s. The numbers of patients at A & E with mental health conditions remained a major issue.

The Trust was required to make £61m of savings this year and for example spending of agency staff had reduced from £47m to £7m in two years. Pharmacy costs were also under review. The electronic patient record was due to commence in BHRUT in the autumn. This would allow access to patient records by staff across all BHRUT and Barts Health sites. There would also be a move to electronic prescribing.

It was also noted that a one stop neurology service was being introduced and that the Trust’s chief nurse was due to retire shortly.

NELFT

NELFT had now moved services into the new Hornchurch hub facility and also ran the A & E triage service at Queen’s Hospital. There remained a waiting list for acute mental health beds but facilities were now easier to access and community services had also been strengthened. The Goodmayes hub had extended to offer an overnight service but private bed facilities were used while the completion of new wards was awaited. It was wished for the Police to start using the hub services when dealing with people exhibiting mental health issues.

A crisis house for London Borough of Redbridge had opened near the Goodmayes site. Work was also under way with ELFT in order to share best practice for different pathways. Some changes had been introduced to the acute mental health pathway and there had been service user input into the layout of wards etc.

A number of services were available for sleep apnoea including the provision of CPAP machines implants in the chest wall to regulate breathing. Dental implants could also be used.

The Trust was currently operating at 115-120% of capacity and wished to return to a figure around 85%.

Finance Issues

The Integrated Care Board (ICB) was currently considering the 10 year plan for the NHS with an overall objective of having more patients outside the hospital environment. The introduction of strategic commissioner roles for pathways such as diabetes and mental health would lead to better health outcomes. It was however accepted that finances were very challenging.

A Member raised concern at the allocation of funding for modernisation of GP surgeries and that none of this had for example gone to Practices in Waltham Forest. Concern was also raised over the planned reduction of 2,400 whole time equivalent staff. Officers responded that it was hoped to minimise numbers of substantive redundancies and that some reductions in headcount would be in corporate functions and other non-clinical roles.

The number of consultants at BHRUT had gone up from 400 to 490 and officers emphasised that overall staff reductions did not necessarily  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

Due to technical issues, it was agreed that this item should be deferred to the next  meeting.