The Chief Executive and Director of Finance and Performance of Burton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust will be in attendance
Minutes:
The Committee welcomed Kevin Downs, Director of Finance & Performance from Derby Teaching Hospitals and Alison Wynne, Director of Strategy & Partnerships from Burton Hospitals NHS who presented an update on the merger of Burton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Derby Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. They advised that clearance for the acquisition (merger) had been given by the Competition & Markets Authority at Phase 1 and all appointments had now been filled on the Executive Teams. It was reported that the name for the new Trust was to be “University Hospitals of Derby & Burton NHS Foundation Trust” and the date for the merger set as 1 July 2018. The presentation illustrated the journey so far and the time line as well as the principles for the merger. A question and answer session then followed the presentation and discussions on the major problems within the hospitals took place.
It was asked if residents would still have the same choices as offered now and it was reported that there would be no change to the costs but a better offer for care provided. It was noted that there were some efficiency savings taking place and Members expressed their concerns regarding the quality of services that would be experienced. When asked if quality could be compromised, it was reported that anything that affects patient care was considered by the Care Quality Commission and it was envisaged that quality would improve with the joining of the expertise of two Trusts. Continuing with questions around financial matters, it was asked if Consultants would have access to specialist equipment and it was reported that they would and the use of artificial intelligence would be a great improvement for outpatient care. Examples given were the electronic distribution of x-ray and scanned images across sites.
Much discussion centred around bed blocking and it was reported that there had been the equivalent of two wards obstructed at Derby Hospital by patients in acute beds who were really in the wrong place and there had also been a need to cancel elective surgeries to accommodate these acute patients as there were not enough beds available. It was suggested to alleviate this issue, a ‘discharge to access beds’ model would be introduced and this would free up acute care beds but still allow for the right care packages to be in place before discharge. It was asked who would pay for aftercare as the Health Department say it is for Social Care and Social Care say it should be the Health Department. It was noted that this was a national issue, however, there had been a newly appointed Chief Executive for Public Health and hopefully this problem would be rectified over time.
An update was requested regarding the proposed Urgent Treatment Centres at both the Lichfield Samuel Johnson Community Hospital and The Sir Robert Peel Hospital in Tamworth which should be taking over from the Minor Injury Units and it was reported that this was still on track to happen although further discussions were needed with Commissioners and a need for a sustainability and transformation plan.
When asked, it was confirmed that no redundancies were due to take place and there would be no negative impact or duplication of staff. They would be looking at the logistics of the staff and plan ahead. They were even looking at a dedicated bus service between Derby and Burton for patients as well as staff. Mr Downs also confirmed he was awaiting planning permission for a new multi-storey car park as well.
Mr Downs and Ms Wynne were thanked for their attendance.
RESOLVED: It was agreed to circulate the Presentation and ask the visitors back to this committee in either January or March 2019 for another update.