Agenda and minutes

To approve the minutes of the previous meeting and note any outstanding actions.

That the minutes of the previous meeting held on 26^th March 2019 be agreed.

None.

If a Councillor has a disclosable pecuniary interest in a particular item, whether or not it is entered in the Authority’s register of interests, or any other significant interest which they consider should be declared in the public interest, they should declare the existence and, unless it is a sensitive interest as defined in the Member Code of Conduct, the nature of the interest at the commencement of the consideration of that item or as soon as it becomes apparent.

At meetings where members of the public are allowed to be in attendance and speak, any Councillor with a disclosable pecuniary interest or other significant interest may also make representations, give evidence or answer questions about the matter. The Councillor must then withdraw immediately from the meeting before the matter is discussed and any vote taken.

Where Members of the public are not allowed to be in attendance and speak, then the Councillor with a disclosable pecuniary interest should withdraw from the meeting whilst the matter is under consideration. Councillors who have declared other significant interests should also withdraw from the meeting if they consider their continued participation in the matter would not be reasonable in the circumstances and may give rise to a perception of a conflict of interest.

Councillors are not obliged to withdraw from the meeting where a dispensation to that effect has been obtained from the Audit, Pensions and Standards Committee.

Councillor Ben Coleman expressed a declaration of interest in respect of Agenda Item 5, as a former school governor of Jack Tizard Primary School.

This report presents Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust’s Draft Quality Account 2018-19. The draft account document (appendix 1) is exempt at this time and can be found in the exempt part of the agenda.

Discussion of this item was entirely exempt and appears in the exempt minutes of the meeting.

This report sets out the proposal to change the way physiotherapy services are provided at Charing Cross Hospital and asks for feedback before reaching a decision.

Councillor Richardson welcomed Toby Hyde and colleagues from Imperial.  Imperial employ 140 qualified and unqualified physiotherapists, across the Trusts five sites. An inpatient and outpatient service is provided, ranging from acute care, to rehabilitation, hand therapy, musculoskeletal, for all age groups.  The hydrotherapy pool was part of the outpatient’s service and had approximately 22 staff members (an exact figure would include part-time staff).

It was explained that the referral process worked in two ways.  Within the hospital, a patient could be referred by their consultant.  Outside the trust, a patient can be referred by their GP.  If a patient’s condition was urgent it could be red flagged, for example rheumatoid arthritis or a musculoskeletal condition.  Such referrals would be to a consultant, with a recommendation to the outpatient service.  The service could only accept patients through the referral process, and not a direct referral from a GP. 

All patients received an initial assessment at their first appointment.  Following assessment, a treatment plan was agreed.  There were several types of treatment.  “Land based” exercises included fitness classes, exercise using weights and work with physiotherapists.  The hydrotherapy service was based at Charing Cross with 3 part-time staff members.  There were three half-day sessions per week, which equated to one full-time staff member*.

The hydrotherapy service predominantly treated post-operative patients who usually experienced chronic pain from conditions such as fibromyalgia.  The Trust indicated that there were benefits to patients in terms of pain relief, improved range of movement, improved muscle tone and improved quality of life. However, while this was difficult to evidence as the true benefit of the of the therapy could not be ascertained; it was found that there was no discernible difference in benefit between the two different types of provision. 

The Trust proposed that the staff members that currently work in pool be redeployed.  They could be assigned an increased number of patients, and there could be a corresponding increase in the number of classes.  This would also allow for a smoother transition in terms of post-operative care and greater consistency in treatment. 

The intermittent closure of the pool resulted in an increased rate of cancelled appointments because of issues with the pool.  The rate of cancelled appointments had increased from 7% to 18%.  This had an impact on patient care, so that it could take longer to reach improvement targets, given the inevitable gaps between appointments, which became more staggered as a consequence.

The Trust reported that it had gone through assurance and governance protocols.  The consultation had been agreed, a quality improvement programme assessment had also been undertaken.  The Trust had written to the Chair of the PAC in March, to inform of her of the intention to engage with stakeholders.  The Trust had publicised the consultation using social media and leaflets and planned to hold patient focus group meetings.  The Trust had also written to private pool users and planned to meet with them over the coming weeks.

Councillor Coleman reported that the trusts CEO  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

This is the final meeting of the municipal year. Dates of future meetings can be found on the Council’s website: www.lbhf.gov.uk/committees

The date of the next meeting was noted as 17 June 2019.

The Committee is invited to resolve, under Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972, that the public and press be excluded from the meeting during the consideration of the following items of business, on the grounds that they contain the likely disclosure of exempt information, as defined in paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A of the said Act, and that the public interest in maintaining the exemption currently outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

RESOLVED

That under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, that the public and press be excluded from the meeting during the consideration of the following items of business, on the grounds that they contain the likely disclosure of exempt information, as defined in paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A of the said Act, and that the public interest in maintaining the exemption currently outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

This item presents the exempt aspects of Item 4 – Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust’s Draft Quality Account 2018-19.

Discussion of this item was entirely exempt and can be found in the exempt minutes.