Harrow PCT Board Meeting, 9 December 2008

Apart from the usual business there were three highly interesting matters, involving major cooperation between PCTs. Brief accounts of these follow.

Proposals for a Medium Term Financial Strategy for London
NHS London now has a surplus of about £300 million but the local situation varies greatly. It is expected that by 2011 the historic debt will stand at £373 million for hospitals and one PCT (Hillingdon) will still have a debt of £19 million. A steering group of CEOs has developed an approach as an alternative to the top slicing approach used by the SHA, to tackle residual debts.

Basically, the proposal is that over the next 2 years PCTs are to invest from existing resources in a collaborative fund to help clear the debts of financially challenged Hospital Trusts and Hillingdon PCT. Five financially challenged PCTs (Bexley, Enfield, Hillingdon, Hounslow and Kingston) would not be required to invest in this fund until their debts are cleared. A Challenged Trust Board (CTB) of PCT and NHS London Directors would assist the local PCT in ensuring that a Hospital Trust receiving such funds was using them appropriately. In the case of Hillingdon PCT, which itself would be a beneficiary, it could expect to be monitored by this body.

London Clinical & Business Support Agency (Business Case)
A huge item, of about 140 pages! The aim is to provide a common agency for the supply of certain services and cooperative help. Very laudable, spelled out in great detail, in terms of legal contracts. If it all works as intended, PCTs will be able to give better services at reduced cost.

Provider Alliance with Ealing
Harrow and Ealing intend to form a joint agency for providing certain services (not exactly specified at this time). Again, the hope is that there will be improvements at lower costs.

James and Paul