Agenda and minutes

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Venue: Committee Room 'D' - The Henry Bolingbroke Room, County Hall, Preston. View directions

Contact: Janet Mulligan  Tel: 01772 533361, Email:  janet.mulligan@lancashire.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

1.

Apologies

Minutes:

*County Councillor T Aldridge attended in place of County Councillor M Iqbal for this meeting

 

Apologies for absence were presented on behalf of Councillor A Stansfieldof Blackpool Borough Council.

 

2.

Disclosure of Pecuniary Interests

Members are asked to consider any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests they may have to disclose to the meeting in relation to matters under consideration on the Agenda

Minutes:

None disclosed.

3.

Confirmation of Minutes from the meeting held 31 May 2012 pdf icon PDF 42 KB

Minutes:

The minutes of the Joint Lancashire Health Scrutiny Committee meeting held on the 31 May 2012 were presented and agreed.

 

Resolved: That the minutes of the Joint Lancashire Health Scrutiny Committee held on the 31 May 2012 be confirmed and signed by the Chair.

 

4.

Vascular Services Review pdf icon PDF 57 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chair welcomed guest speakers from the NHS:

 

·  Dr Jim Gardner, Medical Director, Lancashire PCT

·  Mr Simon Hardy, Consultant - Vascular Clinical Lead

·  Alan Stedman, Associate Director, Cumbria and Lancashire PCTs

·  Kathy Blacker, Network Director (Acting) - Cardiac and Stroke Network

·  Dr Hugh Reeve, Chair of Cumbria Clinical Commissioning Group

·  Mr John Calvey, Consultant Vascular Surgeon

·  David Rogers, Associate Director of Engagement and Communications, NHS Lancashire

 

The report explained that the aim of the service review was to reconfigure vascular services and secure improved outcomes for patients across Lancashire and Cumbria. The Vascular Service Review formed part of the wider review being undertaken simultaneously across England.

 

It was proposed to provide specialist intervention services for Lancashire and Cumbria from three centres with 24 hour, 7 days a week (24/7) facilities. Bolton, Wigan and Dumfries & Galloway were also included within the review area.

 

It was explained that bids from five hospitals had been carefully considered and three sites had been recommended. The recommendations of the procurement team had been made in line with recommendations from the Vascular Clinical Advisory Group, following short-listing, interviews and scoring, which included assessment of risks. The approach taken was also supported by the All Parliamentary Select Committee for Vascular Surgery. The three proposed specialist intervention centres were located at Carlisle, Preston and Blackburn.

 

The Committee received a presentation on the current status of the review which included:

 

·  A summary of the reasons why the review was being undertaken

·  The rationale for three specialist centres

·  Details of communication and engagement

·  The results of a patient and public survey

 

A copy of the presentation is appended to these minutes.

 

The Scrutiny Officer drew the Committee's attention to:

 

·  A letter from John Woodcock, MP for Barrow and Furness, which had been received by the Chair of the Committee on 23 July 2012, in which Mr Woodcock raised concerns about the proposals for vascular services across Cumbria and Lancashire; and

·  An email circulated to all members of this Committee which identified key points made in a letter from University Hospitals Morecambe Bay Trust (UHMBT) to Dr Jim Gardner, Medical Director, Lancashire PCT.

 

Copies of these documents are appended to these minutes

 

Councillors were invited to ask questions and raise any comments in relation to the report, a summary of which is provided below:

 

·  In response to a suggestion that the procurement model used by the NHS was generic and not appropriate for the geography in the Lancashire / Cumbria area it was explained that special dispensation had had to be obtained from the Vascular Society to have a centre in the north of the area that was smaller than recommended by them. The NHS said that the procurement process had been fair and all factors had been weighed very carefully.

·  Members questioned the location of proposed sites commenting that Blackburn and Preston were relatively close and only approximately 20 minutes travelling distance from each other. It was suggested that Lancaster would be a closer, more appropriate option for people  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

5.

Urgent Business

An item of urgent business may only be considered under this heading where, by reason of special circumstances to be recorded in the Minutes, the Chair of the meeting is of the opinion that the item should be considered at the meeting as a matter of urgency.  Wherever possible, the Chief Executive should be given advance warning of any Member’s intention to raise a matter under this heading.

 

Minutes:

No urgent business was reported.

6.

Date of Next Meeting

To be arranged as and when required.

Minutes:

A further meeting of the Joint health Scrutiny Committee would be arranged within the next 6-8 weeks.

 

Presentation and Copy Letters pdf icon PDF 900 KB

Additional documents: