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Health Service Forum South East
Minutes of a regular meeting of the Health Service Forum S.E held in the Larkfield Centre on Tuesday
10 October 2006 at 7.30 p.m.
Contents
Reports; GG and Clyde Health Board Meeting 24 October;
Welcome
Margaret Hinds welcomed everyone to the meeting.
Apologies:
Alastair Glen, Eric Canning, Elizabeth Bashir, Betty Milne, May McLelland, Rhoda Ritchie, Aileen Fyfe
Minutes
Minutes of 12 September were adopted as correct.
Matters arising
The Herald of the 28 September once again featured an article on the fact that not enough posts exist to train doctors for increased needs in the future quoting Sir Graham Teasdale and Professor Neil Douglas, presidents of the Royal Colleges in Edinburgh and Glasgow. Although the expenditure on health is increasing the service to patients is diminishing. It was resolved to write to Robert Calderwood to ask him
a) How many elective procedures were carried out in the Board’s hospitals, the Jubilee Hospital and private hospitals on behalf of the Board and
b) Was the Board required to pay the Jubilee Hospital as well as the private hospitals?
Correspondence;
No reply to our further letter sent to Sir John Arbuthnott re the traffic survey commissioned by the Health Board. We have now received a response dated the 2 November from Niall McGrogan that Strathclyde Passenger Transport has commissioned the traffic study from MVA Consultants and we have been advised to contact them.
Letter sent to Alex McIntyre ACAD Project manager raising safety issues in the ACAD re heating/cooling system and fire alarm system.
Treasurer’s report.
Dan Macphail reported a balance in the bank of £2538.76
Issues
Both Margaret and James are dissatisfied with the South Monitoring Group. They both feel that the Group is not monitoring. They have suggested on several occasions that the North and South groups should have joint meetings. There is no logical reason why joint meetings should not be the format.
With the demise of the Trusts there is only one Health Board, the six Glasgow Health Councils were reduced to one and we now have one Scottish Health Council replacing it. To have two Monitoring Groups for Glasgow seems perverse taking account of the drive for centralisation. The only reason must be that it suits the Board on the grounds that - ‘United we stand divided we fall’. James put forward a formula for monitoring at the last meeting but it was not adopted. A report was subsequently sent to the Health Minister and a reply is awaited.
Reports; GG and Clyde Health Board Meeting 24 October;
There were 31 items for consideration on the agenda. Of these we have the following comments;
In the Finance Report and Clyde Financial Plan it was noted that in Clyde £30 million in savings will be required to achieve financial balance. This would be helped by revenue from land sales (Woodilee).There was some concern that deficits should be funded by land sales. The response was that the Board was addressing a single non-recurring situation.
Niall McGrogan did not speak to the paper on Transport Issues instead he publicized the Evening Visitors Scheme, a free bus service for residents within the Glasgow boundary operating in the evening between 6 -9 pm to transport visitors to Glasgow hospitals. Priority will be given to the elderly and disabled. Niall was asked what support there had been over the Bike Users Group and the level of uptake for cut price travel among staff. The response was that ‘this scheme has had a slow start’. When asked if it was possible to secure EU funding for transport issues Niall said he would explore this but the general feeling was that funding would have to relate to employment issues. Forum members, as will all Glaswegians, not register surprise that the Bike Users Scheme has had a slow start. When Niall first reported the scheme to a Forum meeting we thought he was joking. It was never a goer and the Board must accept it is dead in the water. Back to the drawing board Niall. Just a word of warning ‘we don’t care for scooters either’.
Independent Advice and Support Service providing advice and support by Citizens Advice Bureau to all NHS users, their relatives or carers should be available from December 2006. CAB has asked that this is not publicised until the spring of 2007 as they still have recruitment issues.
The Gas Board Meeting
The Gas Board Meeting was attended by Margaret, Louise, Dorothy and Dan. It was well chaired by Pennie Taylor who had accompanied Prof Kerr on his tour of Scotland. The speakers included Prof. David Price, who was a colleague of Dr Matthew Dunnigan and Alyson Pollock. He spoke well on PFI funding and the eventual costs which will have to be met by tax payers. The questions we had submitted were not specifically addressed but that did not stop us asking them and commenting on the panel’s answers.
One of the questions raised by a member of the public was the health care given in prisons, especially those prisoners who are mentally ill and should not be there. Older members of the Forum will remember our very much respected Ian Munro. He and Margaret took an interest in provision for the mentally ill. In the case of prisoners the term used by people who cared, was that they were in a ‘revolving door’ situation. Obviously that is still the case. It was not right then and it not right now! The other current problem now getting much publicity is alcohol and Ian tried very hard to get a campaign to stop Alcopops. These drinks are aimed at kids as they are sweet and so easy to drink, therefore so easy to get them hooked. The Forum fully supported Ian. It’s a great pity that the people in authority didn’t!
The really important news that broke in the press this week was “NHS to open first private care centre in Scotland”
It will be based in Stracathro hospital in Angus and will be run by AMICUS Healthcare, part of Netcare, a South African firm. It will receive £15m and should carry out 8000 operations. A number of questions arise:
1) Would the South African health professionals not be of greater use in their own country where many people do not have access to even the most limited health care?
2) Why are we investing in a private centre? Do we have a guarantee that they will not poach our NHS staff whom we have paid to train and in whom we have faith?
3) Will they pay rent for the use of Stracathro wards and equipment and any resulting wear and tear?
4) If they are contracted to carry out 8000 operations and fail to carry out the contracted number will their money be reduced. We understand that in England the contracts with these private companies are so loose that they are paid for the contract not for the number of operations carried out.
In August of 2005 we were advised by John Connaghan, Director of National Waiting Times Unit, that at Stracathro ‘there is currently spare capacity in term of theatre space and beds. The difficulty is that the NHS does not have the appropriate available staffing resource.’
‘The facility will contribute significantly to delivering waiting time targets for 2007-08 and beyond. It offers an opportunity to support and promote both undergraduate and post graduate teaching. This is an opportunity to test partnership with the private sector, continue to develop Stracathro as a flagship Regional Treatment Centre and introduce a new dimension in health care delivery.’
The date of the next meeting is 14 November at 7.30 p.m.
