Agenda item

Jackie Moran, Head of Quality Performance and Contracting, NHS West Lancashire Clinical Commissioning Group provided the committee with an update on the Shaping Care Together (SCT) Programme.

Members were informed that SCT was run by NHS leaders across West Lancashire, Formby, and Southport, which sought to ‘futureproof’ the local NHS by looking at new ways of working and new ways of delivering services.

It was reported that since January 2021, SCT listened to the thoughts, opinions, and ideas from residents, patients, staff, and stakeholders. The programme received more than 2,500 responses through an online questionnaire and hard copy feedback forms, which was followed up by a series of online and face-to-face in-depth discussion groups with local community organisations and delivered electronic newsletters and information videos about the programme.

Some of the main themes which emerged from the engagement included:

·  Concerns around the accessibility of primary care services

·  A need to focus more on preventative measures and use community services better to help patients before they present to hospital

·  Some issues around public transport in certain areas

·  Staffing levels and the recruitment and retention of key staff needs to be improved

·  A need to improve patient journeys and support patients to better navigate their own care.

An updated version of the presentation provided at Appendix A is set out in the minutes.

Comments and queries from the committee were as follows:

·  It was acknowledged by the SCT team that there were lessons to be learnt from St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust at Southport and Ormskirk Hospitals NHS Trust, in terms of community outreach services.

·  It was noted that from 1 July 2022, West Lancashire Clinical Commissioning Group would be abolished, and the services should become part of Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB). The SCT programme would also come under the Cheshire and Mersey ICB, with input from Lancashire and South Cumbria ICB.

·  On the transparency of the Travel and Transport Advisory Group, the SCT team would welcome input and involvement from members of the county council.

·  It was recognised that West Lancashire residents travelled to Liverpool for specialist one-off care, with 80% of secondary care referrals into Liverpool hospitals. The SCT team would undertake a detailed analysis at the end of the engagement phase to know more about how travel times and accessibility affects different parts of the West Lancashire population.

·  In terms of timescales, the SCT team aimed to have a shortlist of options ready by May 2022. Their next steps would then be to have a pre-consultation business case prepared and submitted to NHS England by September/October 2022, to seek approval to move to formal consultation. The team would be looking to have reached the approval stage by the end of the 2023/24 year, with work starting in 2025. It was suggested that the SCT Programme returns to the Health Scrutiny Committee alongside the New Hospitals Programme, to be considered at the same time. It was acknowledged that if the New Hospitals Programme chose a new location north of Preston, and the Shaping Care Together Programme moved services away from Ormskirk, there could be accessibility concerns and a potential gap in service provision for people living in the Chorley and South Ribble areas. It was confirmed that representatives from both programmes were working together as plans were being developed.

The Chair thanked Jackie for her presentation and attending the meeting.

Resolved: That an update on the Shaping Care Together Programme be presented to the Health Scrutiny Committee at its meeting scheduled on 28 June 2022.