Agenda item

The Chairman invited Mike Rich, Head of Healthwatch Barnet, Amani Fairak, Policy and Research Officer, Healthwatch Barnet, Brent and Newham and Janet Tawsig, a Healthwatch Barnet Volunteer, to the table. 

Mr. Rich introduced the item and noted that the reports looked at healthcare provision across the borough.  Mr. Rich informed the Committee that the Hospice report had aimed to do a “shallow dive” into hospice services available in the Borough.  The Committee noted that Healthwatch Barnet had carried out the report as a result of soft intelligence, such as people telling Healthwatch Barnet about their experiences.

Referring to the maternity report, Mr. Rich noted that the majority of people had seemed generally happy with their experience in Barnet.  Mr. Rich noted that one of the themes that had come across clearly from the people interviewed was they saw midwives were very under pressure. 

The Committee noted that resourcing the community midwifery service could be a challenge and that patients sometimes found it difficult to get an appointment, the result of which often meant that women could be pushed back into hospital services, which reduced their choice. 

Referring to the report, a Member noted that 38% of mothers had reported that they did not have a named midwife and questioned if there was a shortage of midwives in Barnet.  Mr. Rich informed the Committee that the feedback had indicated that appointments with midwives are often brief and therefore it had been assumed that there was shortage of community midwifes.  Mr. Rich commented that it appeared that with pressure of the numerous things that midwives had to do during an appointment, such as taking blood and urine samples, it left little time for patients and community midwives to get to know each other. 

A Member noted that despite the maternity report analysis highlighting that 38% of mothers do not have a named midwife, this was not supported in any of the recommendations resulting from the report.  Mr. Rich informed the Committee that the Royal Free, who are the maternity provider in Barnet, have advised that they plan for every woman to have a named midwife.  The Chairman requested whether Healthwatch Barnet had received a formal response from the Royal Free, and if so, it  could be provided to the Committee.  Mr. Rich undertook to contact the Royal Free and provide evidence that they have a plan which would then be circulated to the Committee.  The Chairman also requested that the Royal Free be asked to provide any further comment on the research set out in Healthwatch Barnet’s maternity report. 

The Chairman further noted that 6% of the maternity survey respondents had reported that their baby had a tongue-tie condition which they felt had not been taken seriously or recognised and she commented that the figure seemed abnormally high.  The Chairman asked that Healthwatch request that the Royal Free also provide comment on this statistic. 

Referring to the hospice report, Mr. Rich informed the Committee that their local research had shown that people facing end of life care wanted choice and one of the challenges people had found was a lack of available information, making it hard for them to make choices.  The Committee noted that Healthwatch Barnet felt that there was a need to join together with the community and voluntary sectors to make sure that this information was available.  Mr. Rich informed the Committee that the report had also shown the following:

·         That hospices are facing considerable financial restraints

·         That very few places are available at the North London Hospice and that the triage process is such that it is very hard to access a place

The Vice Chairman noted that the Committee received the Quality Account from the North London Hospice on an annual basis.  The Vice Chairman questioned the rationale for the hospices chosen for the report and commented that he would understand if a comparison was going to be made between the services received at each.  Mr. Rich noted the point and commented that each hospice was one that Healthwatch Barnet thought would have patients from the borough.  Mr. Rich informed the Committee that there was a need to do some comparison work and reiterated that the report before the Committee was a “shallow dive”

Ms. Tawsig informed the Committee that the Marie Curie and St. John’s Hospices referred to in the report deal with some extremely specialist cases due to their location next to the Royal Free London Hospital.  Ms. Tawsig also informed the Committee that the Peace Hospice in Watford has a good reputation and that that sometimes, managerial staff from the North London Hospice will visit the Peace Hospice to consider best practice. 

The Vice Chairman commented that the report contained interesting points but noted that the report was not clear as to whether hospice care in the area was good or not.  Mr. Rich noted that this was an important point but that the report should be seen first and foremost as a mapping exercise. 

The Chairman referred to the hospice report and noted the comparisons between training for volunteers at different hospices.  Ms. Tawsig informed the Committee that research had been undertaken to compare the continual training for volunteers, including how people work on inpatient units, health and safety training, and if health and safety e-learning is a useful tool.  Ms. Tawsig advised the Committee that volunteers at the Watford hospice would give a choice of training to volunteers, some of which was face to face.

The Chairman noted that general requests for more face to face learning for volunteers had not been taken on board by all hospices.  Mr. Rich advised that Healthwatch Barnet had some concerns about the work on training needs that was done with e-learning. 

The Chairman informed the Committee that in the last financial year, 2,323 patients had been treated by the North London Hospice at the Barnet and Enfield sites and that they reach a huge number of people.  The Chairman noted that the requirements of washing down and cleaning rooms between patients resulted in a certain amount of lost bed days.  

RESOLVED that:

1.       The Committee notes the reports from Healthwatch Barnet.

2.       The Committee requests that Healthwatch Barnet contact the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust and provide the information as set out above.