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Health Service Forum South East
Minutes of regular meeting of Health Service Forum S.E. held in the Larkfield Centre on Tuesday 9 March 2004 at 7.30 p.m.
Contents
Apologies
Apologies were received from Pat Lally, Dorothy Walls, Bill and Ena Montgomery, Irene Addie, Alastair Glen
Welcome
Margaret Hinds welcomed everyone to the meeting and introduced the guest speaker Dr Colin Hunter of NHS Education.
Dr Colin Hunter works part-time as a GP in Aberdeen and part-time as chairman of NHS Education in Edinburgh. NHS Education is responsible for the training of doctors, dentists, post graduate and undergraduate nurses and psychologists. He explained the time scale of the training of a doctor. After graduation 2 years in hospital followed by one year of GP practice or approved hospital posts plus GP training year. There are 300 training practices out of the 1013 in Scotland. Recruitment of trainees in rural areas is difficult. At present there are 280 GPs in training and this number is sufficient to meet our needs. Over the years the number of women trainees has increased to 2/3 the total number. Many women GPs work part-time. In the next 15 years a large number of GPs will retire. Various incentives to encourage them to continue are being considered. We will need a gradual increase in the number of GPs. In 25 years time the demography of the population will be different. There will be a large number of people aged 60-70 with a smaller number of young people to look after them. Dr Hunter answered questions from various members and remained at the meeting until 9 p.m.
This was a very informative talk which was presented clearly and without jargon and we are very appreciative of the time and effort which Dr Hunter gave to the Forum.
Minutes
The minutes of the meeting of the 10 February were approved and adopted as correct. There were no matters arising.
Correspondence
1. A copy of our letter of the 4 February addressed to Calum Kerr of the Scottish Ambulance Service regarding the employment of a paramedic in every ambulance has been sent in the hope of prompting a response.
2. A letter sent to Tom Divers Chief Executive GGNHS Board following the Herald article of the 7th February regarding ‘Emergency admissions to hospitals in Glasgow’ and the dilemma of patients waiting on trolleys for a bed to become available, has been acknowledged.
3. A consultation paper on Community Care had been received and Fiona Brodie agreed to analyse it and report back to Margaret with her comments.
Financial Report
Financial report; the balance in the bank is £1425.18. It was decided to send our membership fee of £10 to the Glasgow Society for Mental Health.
Reports
Meeting of the 10th February in the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons chaired by Kirsty Wark was attended by Margaret and James. Two questions were asked - a). “What effect will the loss of 1200 inpatient beds across Glasgow have on patient care and waiting times?” and b) “How do the Board intend to deal with viability and management of a very large hospital on the site of the existing Southern General Hospital?” The questions were not answered satisfactorily. The meeting was dominated by the problems of GPs. During the coffee break we expressed our disappointment to the consultant and GP from the platform party and they agreed that our questions had not been answered and very little had been said about patient care
The final Trust meeting of the 3 March was attended by Aileen Fyfe. The Performance Management report as at 31st Jan 2004 stated that there are real pressures on elective surgery. Delayed discharge is a problem and the Board must work with local authorities to help bed issues. In response to a question from a member of the Health Council Mr Calderwood stressed that there would be no reduction in A&E provision as a result of the acute strategy. By 2008 there will be MORE capacity in fewer locations. A&E attenders have been steady at 96,000 for some years. It is the number who require admission that is on the increase. Mr Calderwood felt that the ability to forecast is fairly robust. At the Victoria 18,000 will be seen at the minor injuries unit, 18000 at the Emergency receiving unit (via GPs) and 130,000 at A&E dept.
Waiting Times; The Trust has been allocated less than they requested via the Golden Jubilee Hospital at Clydebank. In particular resources are needed for medical beds. A third ortho theatre is to be created at the SGH.
ACAD Procurement Process and Next Steps; Clinical services are to be expanded. By the close of 2005 the final business case will be sent to the Scottish Executive. By July 2007 the ACAD will be built. After 8th March NOTHING will stop the ACAD project. The in-house bid for portering and domestic services is to be allowed. Some soft services (e.g. IT) will remain with the bidder.
Consultation on future of Maternity Services; The Board is holding several workshops for members to consider the responses. It is hoped they will come to a decision at the meeting on the 20 April, then to the Minister for approval. He may not announce his decision until Parliament resumes after the summer recess.
A petition which was submitted directly to the Health Minister and not to the Health Board will not be considered under their consultation process.
Acute admissions; Emergency admissions for February were even higher than expected. By 2010 there will be a significant increase in the over 80s and a decline in the under 65s therefore there is a greater expectancy of admissions within this group. Mr Calderwood, Dr Cowan and Mrs Smith are all very aware of the stress experienced by the staff at the Vicky and the need to address their worries.
A Survey of waiting times in A&E will take place in mid April. The Trust are aware that this is the least representative time but it is in response to staff concerns and will be less disruptive.
Our comment; To arrange this survey at the least representative time defeats the whole purpose of the survey. To be effective the surveys should be unannounced and at the busiest times in order to assess the quality of the service and the pressures on the staff.
A Health Council Award has been made to the Orthopaedic Dept at the Vicky and presented to Mr Mainds who was specifically mentioned and received it on behalf of the dept.
We must thank Aileen for attending and reporting on the Trust meetings on our behalf.
Report of the South Monitoring Group meeting - 5 March
Robert Calderwood chief exec of the South Trust was in attendance to give answers to some of the questions raised by Margaret and James and left unanswered at the pervious meeting. However the meeting was terminated promptly at 4 p.m. leaving several unanswered issues. Margaret was told that members of the group led very busy lives and their time was valuable. James was told to write down any remaining questions and submit them to the secretary. This was unfortunate as Mr Calderwood attended specifically to answer our questions which had been submitted in writing for the January Monitoring Group meeting. The next meeting will be a joint meeting of North and South Monitoring Groups.
Comment; In our view it is neither feasible nor appropriate to address South Group left over business at a joint meeting. Our concerns have been expressed to the Group secretary, John Hamilton.
Report on Pan Scotland Group meeting of Saturday 6 March held in Jury’s Hotel.
Congratulations to the Save Stobhill Campaign and Dr Jean Turner MSP for arranging the meeting which was chaired by Lex Gaston chairman of Save Stobhill Campaign and representatives from the following areas attended; Oban & Fort William, Fife, Perth, Medical Advisory Group, Wick & Thurso, Johnstone, Health Service Forum S.E., Vale of Leven, Save Stobhill, North Action Group, Queen Mother’s Hosp Yorkhill, Unison(Stobhill), Langside Battlefield and Camphill C.C. Northern Ireland. It was very important to hear representatives from all over Scotland and from Northern Ireland highlight their concerns on the threat to their health care provision either closure of their entire hospital or units within. We could all appreciate the anger and frustration of the speakers at the dismissal of their arguments under the discredited label of CONSULTATION. It was decided to write a letter to the First Minister on behalf of all the groups attending and request a meeting with him and the Health Minister.
The feasibility of putting up a candidate for the European Parliamentary election in June will be pursued.
Note; Our Chairman has been in touch with two of the above groups who are investigating the possibility of taking to the European Parliament of Human Rights their issue of being deprived of health care in their areas.
Dr Jean Turner is planning to put forward a motion in the Scottish Parliament that there should be a moratorium in changes to the health provision in Scotland.
We must plan together, work together and demand together.
Calling Notice for AGM
Calling notice for Annual General Meeting of Health Service Forum South East
The next meeting will be the AGM and all members are invited to attend the Larkfield Centre, Inglefield Street, Govanhill on the 13th April at 7.30 p.m. Nominations for office bearers should be sent to the Secretary Louise Laing, 433 Kilmarnock Road G43 2NT before the meeting. Audited accounts to the 31st March 2004 will be presented by the Treasurer.
The AGM will be followed by the regular meeting. It is hoped that the Royal College of Nursing will send a speaker to address the issues of staff shortages and stress on staff.
