Hampshire County Council Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee - Hampshire Together Meeting

No apologies were received, all Members were in attendance.

Members were mindful that where they believed they had a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest in any matter considered at the meeting they must declare that interest at the time of the relevant debate and, having regard to the circumstances described in Part 3, Paragraph 1.5 of the County Council's Members' Code of Conduct, leave the meeting while the matter was discussed, save for exercising any right to speak in accordance with Paragraph 1.6 of the Code. Furthermore Members were mindful that where they believed they had a Personal Interest in a matter being considered at the meeting they considered whether such interest should be declared, and having regard to Part 5, Paragraph 5 of the Code, considered whether it was appropriate to leave the meeting whilst the matter was discussed, save for exercising any right to speak in accordance with the Code.

No declarations were made.

The Minutes of the meeting of the Joint Health Overvew and Scrutiny Committee on Hampshire Together held on 18 December 2020 were agreed as a correct record.

The Committee did not receive any deputations.

The Chairman made no announcements at this meeting.

The Joint Committee received a report and presentation from representatives of Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and the Hampshire Clinical Commissioning Groups (see Item 6 in the Minute Book) providing an update on progress of the ‘Hampshire Together: Modernising our Hospitals and Health Services’ programme since the last meeting.

 Members asked questions for clarification and heard:

·         The project was seeking government funding and had received indications of the level of funding available, and based on estimates to date both options under consideration could be achieved within those funds. More detailed costing would be undertaken following the consultation.

·         While cost was one factor in comparing options, this would be weighed up against other factors such as the benefits for patients and future proofing services for years to come.

Members commented that the public were likely to be interested in factors that affect them such as parking charges and public transport for accessing any new site. Officers responded that discussions were underway regarding issues such as transport, however with the new hospital not due to open until 2028 it was difficult to make firm plans at this stage.

RESOLVED:

The Joint Committee:

1.    Note the update.

2.    Will request any information that they would like shared in advance of or as part of the next or future meetings.

3.    Note that once the programme has been assured to proceed to consultation, the Trust and commissioners will discuss with JHOSC members the proposed date by which they would require the JHOSC to provide any comments on the proposals.

The Joint Committee received an updated version of the Consultation Plan document and supporting presentation (see Item 7 in the Minute Book) from the Trust and commissioners, providing an update on how it was planned to consult the public and stakeholders on the proposals.

Members heard that it was planned to undertake a 12 week consultation. There remained uncertainty about the covid restrictions that would be in place at the time of the consultation, so the plans were flexible. It was planned to put on in person public meetings if these were allowed, and to facilitate online public meetings if not. Consideration was also being given to how to reach those groups who couldn’t access digital consultation methods.

It was highlighted that the consultation was not a vote and therefore the option with the highest public support would not necessarily be taken forward. The feedback from the public consultation formed one strand of the evidence being considered as part of the decision making process.

It was planned to update the Joint Committee during the consultation period and to provide the Joint Committee with the report on the consultation being prepared by an independent organisation following the conclusion of the consultation period.

Members commented on the consultation plans and indicated that they were satisfied the plans gave due consideration to relevant aspects.

RESOLVED:

The Joint Committee supports the Consultation Plan for the public consultation on the proposals.

RESOLVED:

The press and public were excluded from the meeting, as it was likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of proceedings, that if a member of the public were present during the item there would have been disclosure to them of exempt information within Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, and further that in all circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exempt information outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information, for the reasons set out in the report.

It was noted that the pre-election period would be starting on 22 March 2021 and the AGM of the County Council would be taking place on 27 May, at which point the membership of the Joint Committee would be reviewed pending any changes resulting from the county elections taking place on 6 May 2021. Therefore, the next meeting of the Joint Committee would likely take place in June 2021. The Chairman highlighted that he would be standing down at the election and therefore a new Chairman of the Joint Committee would need to be appointed.

Regarding information requests for future meetings, it was requested that this include patient flow modelling for the different options and feedback from the ambulance service regarding travel times to different urgent care sites under consideration. 

RESOLVED:

The next meeting would be scheduled once the membership of the Joint Committee had been confirmed at the County Council AGM and was likely to take place sometime in June 2021.