Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED

That Councillor Matthew French be appointed Vice-Chairman of the sub-committee for the rest of the Council Year.

To approve as correct the minutes of the meeting held on 20^th June 2016

The minutes of the meeting held on 20^th June were approved as a correct record.

To receive any declarations of interest from Members of the Sub-Committee

There were no declarations of interest.

To receive any announcements from the Chairman or the Chief Executive

There were no announcements.

Presented by Dr Simon Dean, Clinical Director, and colleagues, from Horsham & Midsussex Clinical Commissioning Group

The Chairman of the sub-committee welcomed Dr Simon Dean, Locality Co-Chair Clinical Director and Dr Minesh Patel, Clinical Lead, of Horsham & Mids Sussex CCG, who had been invited to respond to questions and concerns regarding: Horsham Hospital, Primary Care Provision in Horsham and Patient Transport.  The focus of the meeting was on Horsham town and the surrounding more built-up areas.

Dr Dean gave Members an overview of services that were being developed:

-       The phlebotomy service at Horsham Hospital had been extended to help deal with demand.  An appointment system was required to improve the service and address parking problems at peak periods and funding for this was being sought (by SASH (Surrey and Sussex Healthcare)) with a view to introducing an appointment system after April 2017. 

-       Musculo-Skeletal services were being improved to include improved treatments for patients with muscle and joint conditions at Horsham Hospital and in approximately six weeks’ time an infusion service for rheumatoid patients will be introduced.

-       The Minor Injuries Unit at Horsham Hospital was currently being reviewed to improve the services offered there.    The Director and Chairman of CCG confirmed that a key part of the strategy that the CCG were pursuing was to develop Horsham Hospital into a hub that would offer a more integrated service, including primary care. 

Members were mindful of the growing population in and around Horsham and were advised that in order to build resilience practices were being encouraged to work together to share resources and increase efficiency.  

In response to concerns about current capacity, Members were advised that there was currently some GP capacity, with some surgeries actively recruiting.  Some surgeries had stopped taking on new patients, but this was a temporary measure. 

Members discussed the level and nature of investment that would be required and Dr Patel stressed that efficiency was the main drive for evolving services, together with re-educating the public to facilitate a culture change away from the traditional GP/patient relationship.  Whilst this was the case, seeking additional funding was an important aspect of the CCG’s remit.  Members discussed the NHS England funding process and noted recent bids for funding.

Members were advised that from April 2017 NHS England were introducing new funding arrangements which would allow the CCG more flexibility especially in relation to Primary Care.  This is called “Delegated Commissioning”, whereby some functions of NHS England would be delegated to the local area.  The CCG would take this on in April 2017, subject to NHS England meeting the CCG’s criteria regarding ring fencing of primary care budgets and some other issues.  There was also work being undertaken as part of the Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP) looking at the wider area and in particular secondary care services.  The placed based plan produced as part of a recent submission to NHS England was in the public domain.

The Director and Chairman of CCG outlined different models that could be adopted in the future, in particular: the merging of practices to form a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.