Notice of Meeting

 

Oxfordshire Joint Health Overview

& Scrutiny Committee

Thursday 12 July 2007 at 10.00 am

at Cherwell District Council, Bodicote House,

Bodicote, Banbury

Membership

 

Chairman – Councillor Dr Peter Skolar

Deputy Chairman – Councillor Rose Stratford

Councillors:

Gail Bones

Surinder Dhesi

John Farrow

 

Jane Hanna

Dr Christopher Hood

Joe McManners

 

Zoé Patrick

Don Seale

Lawrie Stratford

 

Robert Townley

 

 

Co-opted Members

Mrs Jessie MacLachlan

Two vacancies

 

 

Notes:            Date of next meeting: 20 September 2007

 

What does this Committee review or scrutinise?

·                     Any matter relating to the planning, provision and operation of health services in the area of its local authorities.

·                     Health issues, systems or economics, not just services provided, commissioned or managed by the NHS.

 

How can I have my say?

We welcome the views of the community on any issues in relation to the responsibilities of this Committee.  Members of the public may ask to speak for up to 5 minutes on any item on the agenda or may suggest matters which they would like the Committee to look at.  Requests to speak must be submitted to the Committee Services no later than 9 am on the working day before the date of the meeting.

 

For more information about this Committee please contact:

Chairman                                         -    Councillor Dr Peter Skolar

                                                          E.Mail: peter.skolar@oxfordshire.gov.uk

Committee Officer                             -    Julie Dean, Tel: (01865) 815322

                                                          E.Mail: julie.dean@oxfordshire.gov.uk

Health Scrutiny Review Officer              -    Roger Edwards, Tel: (01865) 810824

                                                          E.Mail: roger.edwards@oxfordshire.gov.uk

 

Tony Cloke

Assistant Head of Service (Democratic)                                                     4 July 2007


About the Oxfordshire Joint Health Overview & Scrutiny Committee

 

The Joint Committee is made up of 15 members. Twelve of them are Councillors, seven from Oxfordshire County Council, and one from each of the District Councils – Cherwell, West Oxfordshire, Oxford City, Vale of White Horse, and South Oxfordshire. Three people can be co-opted to the Joint Committee to bring a community perspective. It is administered by the County Council. Unlike other local authority Scrutiny Committees, the work of the Health Scrutiny Committee involves looking ‘outwards’ and across agencies. Its focus is on health, and while its main interest is likely to be the NHS, it may also look at services provided by local councils which have an impact on health.

 

About Health Scrutiny

 

Health Scrutiny is about:

·              Providing a challenge to the NHS and other organisations that provide health care

·              Examining how well the NHS and other relevant organisations are performing

·              Influencing the Cabinet on decisions that affect local people

·              Representing the community in NHS decision making, including responding to formal consultations on NHS service changes

·              Helping the NHS to develop arrangements for providing health care in Oxfordshire

·              Promoting joined up working across organisations

·              Looking at the bigger picture of health care, including the promotion of good health

·              Ensuring that health care is provided to those who need it the most

 

Health Scrutiny is NOT about:

·              Making day to day service decisions

·              Investigating individual complaints.

 

Health Scrutiny complements the work of the Patient and Public involvement Forums that exist for each of the NHS Trusts and Primary Care Trusts in Oxfordshire

 

What does this Committee do?

   

The Committee meets up to 6 times a year or more. It develops a work programme, which lists the issues it plans to investigate. These investigations can include whole committee investigations undertaken during the meeting, or reviews by a panel of members doing research and talking to lots of people outside of the meeting.  Once an investigation is completed the Committee provides its advice to the relevant part of the Oxfordshire (or wider) NHS system and/or to the Cabinet, the full Councils or scrutiny committees of the relevant local authorities. Meetings are open to the public and all reports are available to the public unless exempt or confidential, when the items would be considered in closed session.


AGENDA

 

1.                Apologies for Absence and Temporary Appointments

 

2.                Declarations of Interestsee guidance note

 

3.                Minutes

 

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 24 May 2007 (JHO3) (download as .pdf file) and to note for information any matters arising on them (to follow with next despatch).

 

4.                Link Members to NHS Trusts

10.10

It has been the practice of the Joint Committee to appoint at the May meeting link members to each of the Oxfordshire NHS Trusts and to the Thames Valley (now South Central) Strategic Health Authority. The appointment of link members was postponed until District Council members were appointed to the Committee. Members are requested now to appoint the link members up to the numbers shown in the brackets on the attached table (JHO4) (download as .pdf file). The table shows the existing link members together with dates and times of future meetings for 2007.

 

5.                Horton Hospital

10.15

Background Information:

Members will recall that in June 2006 the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals Trust (ORH) began a public consultation on substantial changes to services provided at the Horton Hospital in Banbury. The consultation ended in October 2006 and the OJHOSC, along with virtually all those who responded to the consultation, expressed concerns about the proposals. A copy of the OJHOSC response is attached at JHO5(a) (download as .pdf file) for information.

The OJHOSC called upon the Trust to either abandon their proposals or to call upon an independent organisation such as the Independent Reconfiguration Panel (IRP) to examine the proposals in detail and report publicly.

In response to this, and similar calls from other organisations, the ORH implemented a post-consultation process. Two clinical groups were set up; one related to paediatric and obstetric services and the other to maternity, gynaecology and neonatal services. These groups were asked to consider the ORH

 

proposals, to comment upon them and to produce alternative proposals where they considered that they were necessary. In addition, a stakeholder group was formed, including OJHOSC members, to examine the output from those groups and produce their own conclusions. The three groups have now completed their work.

Attached to this agenda are the following papers:

·        The OJHOSC response to the original consultation (JHO5(a)) (download as .pdf file)

·        A statement from the Chair of the Clinical Groups (JHO5(b)) (download as .pdf file), together with the report of the Clinical Working Group on Children’s Services (JHO5(c)) (download as .pdf file) and the report of the Clinical Working Group on Maternity, Gynaecology and Neonatal Services (JHO5(d)) (download as .pdf file)

·        The final report of the Stakeholder Panel (JHO5(e)) (download as .pdf file)

·        Information from the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals Trust (to be circulated to all when received) JHO5(f) (download as .pdf file)

·        A list of speakers and/or organisations who will be represented at the meeting  (JHO5(g)) (download as .pdf file)

Why has it been included?

This item will provide an opportunity for members of the Committee to discuss the issues in public and to ask questions of a wide range of people with an interest in the future of the Horton Hospital. Members will then decide their response to the latest proposals.

How is the Committee going to deal with it?

Representatives of the ORH will present the findings of the groups and identify any changes that have been made from the original proposals. Members will then be able to ask questions.

This will be followed by a series of addresses from a number of speakers (see attached list at JHO5(g)) (download as .pdf file) who form and/or represent a wide range of people with an interest in the future of the Horton Hospital. Each of these speakers will also be able to be questioned by members either individually or in groups.

  (JHO5(h) - download as .pdf file)

(JHO5(i) (part 1) - download as .pdf file)

(JHO5(i) (part 2) - download as .pdf file)

(JHO5(i) (part 3) - download as .pdf file)

(JHO5(i) (part 4) - download as .pdf file)

 

Pre-Meeting

There will be a pre-meeting at Bodicote House on the day of the meeting at 9.00 am for all members of the Joint Committee.

 

If you have any special requirements (such as a large print version of these papers or special access facilities) please contact the officer named on the front page, but please give as much notice as possible before the meeting

 

Return to TOP