Agenda item

Progress on planning application

CPZ and permits for staff

Update on investment in A&E ahead of winter following discussions with Barnet CCG

The Chairman invited the following to the table:

·       Deborah Sanders, Group Chief Nurse, Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust and Interim CEO, Barnet Hospital

·       Kay Matthews, Chief Operating Officer, Barnet CCG

The Chairman thanked Ms Sanders for stepping in at short notice. She explained that Ms Sanders had taken over from Dr Shaw who had left the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust on 28 October 2019. 

Progress on Planning Application

Ms Sanders reported that a Pre-Planning Application for the car park would be submitted by the end of December 2019. The broader work was being led by a Clinical Director as part of a masterplan for Barnet Hospital (BH). She would ask Andrew Panniker, Managing Director, RFL Property Services, to update the Committee after the meeting.

Action: Ms Sanders

CPZ and Permits for Staff

The Chairman noted that Barnet Council had agreed to provide 100 parking permits for BH staff to park in streets which are in a CPZ near the hospital and asked whether these had been issued. Ms Sanders expressed her gratitude for these permits on behalf of BH and noted that a meeting would be held on 4 November with Barnet Council’s Director of Environment to arrange rollout. 500 members of BH staff had applied.

A Member noted that he and other Underhill Ward Councillors awaited a response on the review of the CPZ. There was tension over this between residents and hospital staff in the area. He asked what the criteria were for staff to receive a permit. Ms Sanders responded that it depended on where the staff live and staff would have to pay for permits. The same criteria would be used as for the hospital staff car park and costs were based on earnings. There would be no charge for night shift and weekend parking.

A Member enquired how much effort BH made to try to persuade visitors and patients to use buses rather than attend by car. He stated that access by bus to BH was good with three frequent direct bus routes. BH could put notices up about this. Ms Sanders said that more could be done, although details were on the BH website. She would feed this back. The Chairman commented that patients were often too ill to use public transport and therefore needed to attend by car. She also mentioned that the buses did not run all through the night.

Action: Ms Sanders

Update on investment in A&E ahead of winter

Ms Sanders reported that extra space was being created at the front door of Barnet Hospital for an Urgent Treatment Centre. The building work was currently in progress and should be finished by December 2019. Offices currently in this part of the building were being converted to clinical space with seven additional patient bays and an extended waiting area. Funding for this work was accessed by the CCG from S106 health infrastructure monies provided by developers in line with planning requirements.

The Department of Health had provided an additional £4million to increase capacity at the Acute Medical Unit (AMU) at BH by an extra 19 trolley spaces. This was a larger project due to finish by summer 2020 with minimal disruption over the coming winter.

The Chairman asked whether additional ward beds would be needed for those extra patients. Ms Sanders noted that many were treated and then discharged but there was continued focus on reduced length of stay so this should free up bed capacity on the wards.

Ms Matthews reported that several projects had been undertaken to maximise resources in preparation for the winter:

·       The NCL-wide piece of work around last phase of life had resulted in a 9% reduction in admissions of this cohort already.

·       The Rapid Response Service provided by CLCH had increased uptake by around 28 patients per week. This helped to avoid admissions or to help with earlier discharge.

·       The IV Drug Therapy Service for discharged patients had been increased from three to seven days.

·       A new Non- Weight Bearing Pathway had been commissioned through CLCH to care for patients at home and free up beds in the hospital and in Adams Ward at Finchley Memorial Hospital (FMH).

·       An increased level of nursing and physiotherapy had been provided in Adams Ward so that it could accept more complex patients that currently remained in acute hospital.

A Member asked what preparations were in place for A&E at BH in terms of discouraging patients from attending unnecessarily, given that there were warnings of an increase in flu this year.

Ms Matthews noted that, as well as the increased capacity previously described, there was a strong campaign to educate the public using several channels. This included social media to try to influence patients not to go to A&E unless appropriate, but to call 111 or their GP. There was also a strong ‘flu campaign in Primary Care and high-risk patients were being approached to encourage vaccination.  It was noted that there are an additional 48,000 extra access appointments, which can be flexibly moved around during peak times to meet patient needs.

A Member asked whether most Barnet residents were registered with a GP. Ms Matthews noted that the majority would be, but she did not have figures at the meeting. Barnet CCG was working hard to encourage those who were not registered to do so. The more transient population and homeless people were less likely to be registered. Homeless people could use their GP’s address, instead of a home address, and the CCG was also working with homeless shelters to try to solve this issue. Walk In Centres were open to all.

RESOLVED that the Committee noted the verbal report.