County Councillor Steve Holgate will attend the meeting as Chair of LCC Health Scrutiny Committee to talk about that Committee’s role in scrutinising the recent temporary closure of Accident and Emergency Services at Chorley Hospital.
Minutes:
At the invitation of the Chair and Vice of the Committee, Councillor Steve Holgate, Chair of LCC Health & Adult Social Care Scrutiny Committee attended the meeting to talk about the temporary closure of the Accident and Emergency Department at Chorley Hospital. Also in attendance was Councillor Hasina Khan as the Council’s representative on that Committee
County Councillor Holgate provided the Committee with a summary of the investigation that the Health Scrutiny Committee had undertaken on the downgrading of Chorley Hospital’s accident and emergency service to an urgent care centre.
The downgrading had taken place in early April with no warning. The Lancashire Teaching Hospital NHS Trust had not advised or consulted local authorities on the change and it came as a major shock to staff and residents. The inquiry undertaken by the Health Scrutiny Committee has focused on why the change had taken place, its impact and what local hospital services would look like going forward. There had been a series of three meetings to gather evidence:
1. The Committee met with representatives of the Hospital Trust and heard about the shortage of trained staff and the use of locums. There had been a long term problem in attracting and recruiting suitably qualified staff, culminating in the decision on temporary closure. The Clinical Commissioning Group for Chorley, South Ribble and Preston had also been interviewed as the funding provider. It appeared that they had not stepped in early enough to deal with the staffing issues.
2. The Committee then met with the NHS Education North West (formerly known as the Deanery) who provide training places for health clinicians and whose responsibility it is to ensure there are enough trained staff coming through the system to meet future service needs. The Committee heard that only 50% of staff who undertake training actually complete it and are available once qualified, due to career changes, family commitments etc. Training places had also been reduced in recent years. On qualifying, a significant number of staff relocated to countries like Australia. Recruiting trained staff from Europe was often of limited success as the training structure was different. Staff from the Indian Sub Continent were more likely to remain as the structure of health services, and therefore their training, was similar to the UK. Recruitment from abroad also required improved support from the Home Office.
The Committee also met/heard representations from local MPs
3. The Committee had looked at the position going forward in attracting staff. Those looking to advance their career, would choose to apply to hospitals who provide services for trauma; paediatrics, surgery and intensive care. Chorley Hospital was not in this position and this was a clear obstacle to successful recruitment. Early August would see the Hospital deciding whether or not they had sufficient staff to reopen accident and emergency services. A request had been made for information on how the closure had impacted on other local A & E services in Preston, Wigan, Bolton and East Lancashire but this hadn’t yet been received.
It was anticipated that the final report of LCC Health Scrutiny Committee, including recommendations, would be published before the end of July.
Members asked a number of questions of Councillors Holgate and Khan including why there hadn’t been earlier notification of the recruitment problems and an action plan to address this; whether the gradual downgrading of the services at the Hospital was a deliberate strategy; whether there had definitely been a danger to patient safety in the decision to close Chorley A & E services; and whether the services were likely to reopen.
In response, County Councillor Holgate did think there had been a failure to put together an action plan for recruitment at an early enough stage and that there was a longer term strategy of downgrading. Closure of the service had been on medical advice about patient safety and that couldn’t be challenged. If the service did reopen in August there would still be questions about its longer term future.
Councillor Walker, Chair of the Committee, thanked Councillors Holgate and Khan for their attendance and information, Members would await their final report and the decision of the Hospital Trust on the reopening of accident and emergency services at Chorley Hospital.
RESOLVED – that the final report of the LCC Health Scrutiny Committee be circulated to Members of the Committee as soon as it is publicly available, with a view to holding a Special Meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee in August.