Agenda and minutes

Venue: Virtual

Contact: Madeleine Shopland  Democratic & Electoral Services Specialist

Media

Items
No. Item

36.

Apologies

To receive any apologies for absence

Minutes:

An apology for absence was received from Jim Stockley.

37.

Minutes of Previous Meeting pdf icon PDF 248 KB

To confirm the Minutes of the Meeting held on 18 November 2020.

 

Minutes:

The Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 18 November 2020 were confirmed as a correct record and will be signed by the Chairman at a future opportunity.

38.

Declaration of Interest

To receive any declarations of interest

Minutes:

Councillor Jones declared a Personal Interest in item 41 An update on the redevelopment of Royal Berkshire Hospital, on the grounds that he was a member of the Royal Berkshire Hospital NHS Trust Board of Governors, and a family member worked at the hospital.

 

Councillor Frewin declared a Personal Interest in item 41 An update on the redevelopment of Royal Berkshire Hospital, on the grounds that a family member worked at the hospital and also as he was a First Responder.

 

39.

Public Question Time

To answer any public questions

 

A period of 30 minutes will be allowed for members of the public to ask questions submitted under notice.

 

The Council welcomes questions from members of the public about the work of this committee.

 

Subject to meeting certain timescales, questions can relate to general issues concerned with the work of the Committee or an item which is on the Agenda for this meeting.  For full details of the procedure for submitting questions please contact the Democratic Services Section on the numbers given below or go to www.wokingham.gov.uk/publicquestions

Minutes:

There were no public questions.

 

 

40.

Member Question Time

To answer any member questions

Minutes:

There were no Member questions.

 

41.

An update on the redevelopment of the Royal Berkshire Hospital

To receive an update on the redevelopment of the Royal Berkshire Hospital.

Minutes:

Nicky Lloyd, Chief Executive, Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust, Andrew Statham, Director of Strategy, Transformation and Partnerships, Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust and John Underwood, Freshwater, provided an update on the redevelopment of the Royal Berkshire Hospital.

 

During the discussion of this item, the following points were made:

 

·       Nicky Lloyd informed the Committee that the hospital was experiencing a lot of activity through Covid.  She thanked South Central Ambulance, the Community team, GPs, care homes and the voluntary sector, amongst others, for their support at this difficult time.  The hospital was in a state of escalation and whilst staff were taking a calm, orderly approach, the situation was being kept under review.

·       Whatever built environment was planned for needed to be adaptable and flexible.

·       Members were advised that the Strategic Outline Case had been submitted to the regional team on 21 December.  There was a number of next steps that the Trust had to work through, including keeping stakeholders informed of the process.

·       Members were reminded that the Trust was one of 21 Trusts that has received seed funding to develop ideas for new hospital facilities.

·       All redevelopment opportunities were currently being considered.

·       Possible scenarios included:

1.     ‘Do nothing’ – addressing only the most high-risk backlog maintenance.

2.     Do minimum – addressing more backlog maintenance

3.     New Emergency Care Block – expanded A&E, new ICU and theatres.

4.     New Emergency Care Block plus new Elective Care Block and a new women’s and children’s facility – grow clinical services, better address developing local needs.

5.     Substantially new hospital on current site – supports growing demand, greater integration of health and care services, medical school and research centre.

6.     Completely new hospital on a greenfield site – could address all local needs and provide the blank canvass for a zero carbon health facility.

·       Options 1 and 2 were more for benchmarking purposes.

·       Pros and cons of the options that were being considered included:

Ø  Adjacencies – those services that needed to be situated near each were co-located.

Ø  Environment – developing a green and low carbon environment.

Ø  Economy – supporting the local economy and creating jobs.

Ø  Compliance – considering which option ensured greatest compliance with modern safety guidelines.

Ø  Cost – developing the most cost-effective scenario.

Ø  Convenience – considering which scenario could be easily and conveniently delivered.

·       The Committee was encouraged to visit the Building Berkshire Together microsite.

·       In response to a Member question as to whether a combination of options had been considered, Andrew Statham indicated that some split site options had been looked at.  There was a strong clinical view that there needed to be the retention of as much mass as possible because of the interdependencies of services.  This did not preclude the potential replication of successful parts of other sites such as at West Berkshire and Henley, particularly in a new site.

·       Patient and staff views and accessibility were important considerations that would be taken into account.

·       Members noted the increase in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 41.

42.

Future commissioning of NHS Hydrotherapy services in Berkshire West pdf icon PDF 254 KB

To consider a report on the future commissioning of NHS Hydrotherapy services in Berkshire West.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Katie Summers, Director of Operations, NHS Berkshire West CCG, Caroline Tack, Head of Planning and Transformation, NHS Berkshire West CCG and Dr Debbie Milligan, NHS Berkshire West CCG, provided an update on the future commissioning of NHS hydrotherapy services in Berkshire West.

 

During the discussion of this item the following points were made:

 

·       James Kent, Accountable Officer, NHS Berkshire West CCG, would be writing to the Chairmen of the Berkshire West Health Overview and Scrutiny Committees, to update them on the future commissioning of NHS hydrotherapy services in Berkshire West.

·       The hydrotherapy pool at the Royal Berkshire Hospital had been closed on numerous occasions due to maintenance issues.  Since the advent of Covid, the pool had been closed.

·       The pool was also used by private patients as well as NHS patients.

·       In Berkshire West, NHS hydrotherapy services were provided as part of the physiotherapy service within the main Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust (RBFT) contract with the CCG.

·       Berkshire West commissioned circa 107,000 physiotherapy appointments per annum (across acute and community settings), of which a very small number, approximately 1800, or 1.2% represented hydrotherapy.  The service was used by approximately 300 patients per annum at a cost of £240,000 per year.

·       It had been agreed in July 2020 by the Berkshire West CCG Governing Body that a 12 week public consultation be undertaken to seek a broad range of stakeholder views in order to help inform the CCG in determining whether it should continue commissioning hydrotherapy services for NHS funded patients.

·       498 responses had been received.  Only 59 of these identified as being an NHS patient who had been prescribed hydrotherapy by a clinician.  Members were reminded that only a consultant or physiotherapist could prescribe physiotherapy.

·       Available evidence regarding the clinical effectiveness over land-based physiotherapy, was currently limited.

·       Based on the clinical effectiveness, value for money and analysis of the consultation, the CCG had agreed to not routinely fund NHS hydrotherapy services apart from on an exceptional basis via an Individual Funding Request (IFR).  The Committee was pleased that the service would still be available for those with a particular clinical need.

·       The CCG was looking for alternative hydrotherapy pools in Berkshire West to ensure that those patients who had a clinical need for the service, still had access to it. 

·       In response to a Member question, Katie Summers emphasised that the hydrotherapy service was not being decommissioned.

·       A Member questioned how funding for an individual patient could be applied for and if there was a limit to this funding.

·       Members questioned the date of the research regarding hydrotherapy and asked if there was more recent research on the benefits, available.  Caroline Tack advised that the Chartered Society of Physiotherapists would be working with the CCG to develop the critical criteria for hydrotherapy.  They would also advise on suitable alternative pool locations and be undertaking research on the benefits of hydrotherapy.  The Aquatic Therapy Association of Chartered Physiotherapists would also help identify alternative pool sites.

·       A Member questioned whether  ...  view the full minutes text for item 42.

43.

Update on the work of Healthwatch Wokingham Borough pdf icon PDF 478 KB

To receive an update on the work of Healtwatch Wokingham Borough.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Members considered the update from Healthwatch Wokingham Borough, including the response from the CCG in relation to Healthwatch’s review of GP surgery websites and the review report around experiences of perinatal services.  The Committee requested that Healthwatch be higher up the agenda at the next meeting.

 

RESOLVED:  That the update on the work of Healthwatch Wokingham Borough be noted.

44.

Forward Programme pdf icon PDF 337 KB

To consider the forward programme for the remainder of the municipal year.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee considered the forward programme for the remainder of the municipal year.

 

Members were reminded that the extraordinary meeting previously scheduled for 17 February, was cancelled.

 

RESOLVED:  That the forward programme be noted.