Untitled Document

Printer Friendly Version

Health Service Forum South East

Minutes of a regular meeting of the Health Service Forum SE held on 10 March 2009 in the Larkfield Centre

These are draft Minutes, subject to confirmation at the next meeting

Contents

South Monitoring Group

Presentation by Richard Copland

Next Meeting

Welcome

Welcome from the chairman, Margaret Hinds

Apologies

Douglas McGregor, Alastair Glen, Eric Canning, David Smith, Betty Milne, Alva Caldwell, Irene Addie, Mary Hamilton

Minutes

Minutes of the 10 February 2009 having been circulated were adopted as correct proposed by James Sandeman seconded by Ruth Elworthy.

There were no Matters arising from the minutes.

Correspondence

a) A copy of our invitation to the Scottish Ambulance Service was requested and sent to Mr Kirkland’s secretary by e-mail.

b) Reply from Edinburgh University Sudden Death Tissue Bank asking for information on making a donation. To quote. ‘While there is currently no established mechanism for donating tissues to brain banks in Scotland, over the coming years there will be greater public clarity with regard to the value of Brain Banks and the mechanisms by which people may be able to donate their brain after death to valuable research programmes.’

c) Reply from Mr McLaws of the GG&C Health Board to our letter of the 11 February. ‘The 12 beds at the Victoria ACAD are within ward 3. They comprise 4 single rooms and 2 x 4 bedded rooms. Although the ward is mixed there will be scope to ensure the rooms are single occupancy only’.

Treasurer’s Report

In the absence of the Mary Hamilton there was no report.

RCGPS Consultation

The Royal College of General Practitioners Scotland has issued a consultation document ‘General Practice in Scotland: The way ahead’. Recently the Herald newspaper highlighted the disquiet felt by BMA in Scotland about the efficacy of NHS24 and whether it is value for money.

The Health Forum committee will consider and reply to the paper before 12 June 2009.

Euthanasia

Friends At The End (FATE) There was a discussion about the fact that anyone can be allowed to die if they so wish by refusing all food and water. This can be a protracted and painful way to end life. As there were a number of people unable to attend this meeting it was decided to leave further discussion on this matter till another time.

South Monitoring Group

The South Monitoring Group met on the 13 March 2009. Robert Calderwood was congratulated on his appointment as chief executive of the NHSGG&C Health Board.

The keys of the Victoria Ambulatory Care Hospital should be handed over to the Health Board on the first of April and the ACH should be open for business on 12 June. The community engagement team will be out and about speaking to the community about the new hospital set up. It will be an opportunity to ask questions, so look out for local meetings.

Presentation by Richard Copland

There followed a presentation by the Director of IT for the Health Board, Richard Copland, who spoke at our last meeting.

The Secretary and Treasurer attended a meeting on the 18 March in the Dixon Community Centre Cathcart Road, at which there was a presentation by two of the Community Engagement Team. The presentation covered the development of the new South Acute Hospital on the SGH site as well as the new set up at the Victoria and the ‘New Victoria Hospital’. This was quite confusing because it will be at least five years before the new South Acute Hospital is built and those asking questions were predominantly elderly who wanted to know what effect the opening of the ‘New Victoria Hospital ‘ would have on their immediate health care. It was not made clear that the Minor Injuries Unit would work out of the new building and A&E patients would be cared for at the Victoria Infirmary. When asked to clarify the purpose of the 12 overnight beds at the ACH, it was explained that these are to accommodate day surgery patients who do not have anyone at home to care for them and for patients who have not recovered sufficiently from the effects of anaesthetic. There are no plans at present to expand the number of these 23 hour beds.

Next Meeting

Our next meeting is on Tuesday 14 April 2009 at 7.30 p.m. in the Larkfield Centre. The guest speaker is Dr David Stewart, Consultant in Elderly Medicine, the Mansionhouse Unit, Victoria Infirmary. Following his presentation the Forum will hold its Annual General Meeting. A good attendance would be appreciated.