Hillingdon Hospital seeks Foundation Trust status ...

At a public meeting on Wednesday, The Hillingdon Hospital NHS Trust outlined its plans to become a Foundation Trust Hospital, possibly as early as 2008. Its glossy brochure giving the details and an application form for membership can be obtained by ‘phoning 0800 8766 953.

After a brief introduction, questions were invited. The answers were interesting – and revealing.

There was reference to the Trust’s “Vision for Mount Vernon”, which includes replacing old sub-standard buildings with new accommodation. This is just a dream at present, but Foundation Trust status would allow the Trust to sell a small part of the site to raise capital to pay for rebuilding – an option not currently available. However members of the audience stressed that local people would want full consultation before any sale of land, and appropriate assurances were given by the Trust.

A less satisfactory response arose from a question about whether Board Meetings will in future be held in public, as now legally required. With meetings in public anyone can see the agenda (and know what is being discussed), can see the papers on which decisions are based (and know what papers to ask for if not actually provided), can hear the Board’s debate (particularly awkward points from Non-Executives!), and can ask questions which the Trust must answer. The alternative is to take decisions behind closed doors, with no opportunity for the public to challenge anything! Sadly the Trust Chairman, Tony Valentine, gave only the ominous comment that “The Board has not yet made up its mind” - in marked contrast to some other Trusts that have readily agreed to hold Board Meetings in public.

It was noted Foundation Trust status would remove the Trust from the control of the London Strategic Health Authority, but it would be answerable to Monitor instead and would still be subject to some national targets. However, the Trust would become much more independent, providing its services according to legally binding contracts with Primary Care Trusts.

The Trust wants two or three thousand local people as members of its Foundation Trust – and promises to provide such members with regular information as well as opportunities to become personally involved in future plans.

There is one more public meeting on this issue, on Tuesday 11th September, 7.30pm – 9pm, at the Education Centre Hillingdon Hospital. Responses to the consultation must be received by the Trust by 30th September. If you want your say in future developments, apply for membership without delay!

Joan Davis

West Herts Hospitals move forward with plans ....

Today’s West Herts Hospitals Board Meeting was jam packed with interest.

For the first time ever the Trust, at month 3 in its year, is making a small surplus! This encourages hope that perhaps it really will make £5m surplus this year, to start repaying its huge historic debts

The Trust’s decision to downgrade Hemel Hempstead Hospital led to the Dacorum Hospital Action Group taking the Trust to Judicial Review, but the campaigners lost – and also lost their subsequent appeal, so they have to pay 40% of the Trust's legal costs. Now they are considering going to the European Court of Human Rights.

However the Trust can now start to implement its plans. The first stage is upgrading St Albans City Hospital for elective surgery, due for completion in September.

The next stage is to build the £41m Acute Admission Unit at Watford Hospital, with its 120 short stay beds, due to be opened in August next year.

Changes to Hemel Hempstead Hospital come last, leaving it with an Urgent Care Centre, outpatient and intermediate care services, and diagnostics.

All moves forward as planned. These changes should net £10m revenue benefit annually, but the main advantage is clinical eg separation of elective and emergency work, and more single rooms, both of which will reduce infections.

The Trust still cannot meet its targets for MRSA and clostridium difficile infections, but is battling on. It is working on isolation rooms in both A&Es. It has bought peroxide nebulisers to disinfect isolation rooms. It has a vigorous hand washing campaign, with electric taps for all staff wash-basins.

In July the Watford Observer contained a report from a junior doctor that doctors are forced to work at Watford Hospital when ill, because of concern about care of their patients if they are absent - also quotes from a nurse that “patients will suffer” and “people will die” because of cuts to A&E staff.

However, the Chief Executive dismissed these reports as irresponsible and unprofessional, causing patients anxiety without cause. Three reviews and two independent reports have looked at Watford staffing levels. One report showed Watford as having 120 more nurses than in other similar hospitals and 5% excess admin staff!

Joan Davis

Lively meeting on healthcare for Londoners!

NHS London’s Board Meetings held in public are usually staid, but yesterday's was different. The Board received Professor Lord Ara Darzi’s report “Healthcare for London: A Framework for Action”. (NB Many of the items in that report are noted on this web site in the entry about Hillingdon Hospital on 29th July.)

At yesterday’s meeting there was only limited discussion from Board Members before opening the topic to members of the public in the audience. Then the fireworks began!

Board Members noted that this report has complex proposals that need more work. Members of the public were more forthright.

Our own Vice Chairman, Paul Samet, set the ball rolling with a raft of questions and comments. He noted that the report says services should be closer to home, but that actually many will be further away! Polyclinics serving 50,000 people will be further away than GPs are now. New major acute hospitals will involve longer journeys. Time, cost and inconvenience will cause stress for patients and visitors.

Paul also highlighted the huge costs and asked where the money would come from. He noted too that GPs are independent businessmen, not NHS employees, so they will take a lot of persuading to work together in big polyclinics shared by 25 GPs.

There were heated exchanges about public involvement in forming these proposals. The report claims lots of meetings, surveys, wide discussion – but the audience was unanimous that this was badly done. We were not invited, despite The Community Voice having 54 organisations in membership, representing around 100,000 people – and we did ask to be involved too!

There were many criticisms - of Mori polls, lack of consultation with Patient and Public Involvement Forums (which are supposed to represent the public), Overview & Scrutiny Committees that do not do justice to health issues – the list went on and on.

The Board responded with a mixture of careful consideration of points raised, good humour, and varying degrees of tolerance.

Public consultation on the proposals, led by local Primary Care Trusts, will run from November 2007 to February 2008, so there will be lots of opportunity for public input before the Board decides how to move forward on controversial proposals.

Some proposals will probably be welcomed by everyone, such as provision of first rate stroke services, trauma services, heart services so that every such patient gets best treatment – which does not happen now.

The report will undoubtedly have huge impact in the NHS as a catalyst for further work. So keep your eyes open for the consultation meetings that lie ahead.

Joan Davis

The Petition Gathers Pace- 2200 Over 2 Weekends

The petition is going well with over 2,000 signatures added over the last two weekends.

On Saturday 28th July, Joan Davis and I went to the Denham Car Boot Sale. We set up the table at the entrance to the ‘sellers’ site. Joan stayed at the table collecting signatures from those going in and the others leaving the site. I went down one row of stalls; there was no time to go round anymore. Between the two of us we collected 625 signatures. If we had more collectors we could have collected many more.

On Friday 3rd. August, Joan, Margot Barnikel, Jean McFarlane and I descended on Tesco, Pinner Green at 10.30am and stayed till just after noon. In that time we collected about 400 signatures.

On Saturday we returned, this time the team consisted of Joan, Margaret Ross, Martin Plummer and I. We stayed till just after 2pm and collected a staggering 1,165 signatures. Once again we could well have had many more signatures if we had more volunteer collectors as there were so many people we missed.

We hope to go to Tesco, Watford next weekend and possibly Sainsbury, Harrow. Dates for these visits are yet to be confirmed but have already been agreed by the stores.

If you would like to volunteer to join us with the collection please call Joan on 01895 636095 or me, Donald, on 01895 634015 all help will be gratefully accepted.

Donald