APPENDIX A
East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust
Foundation Trust Status
Response to consultation questions
Response prepared on behalf of Luton Borough Council’s Scrutiny Board.
Relevant extracts from the consultation document are provided ahead of some of the questions to put the answers in context.
Extract:
1.2 Our vision and values Our approach to providing and developing our services is guided by a clear vision and a set of clearly defined and meaningful values.
Our vision The East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust is committed to being trusted by the community it serves to provide a comprehensive range of modern, convenient, high quality and caring acute hospital services.
Our values • We put our patients first • We work as a team • We value everybody • We are honest and open • We value diversity
Consultation question 1:
Do you agree with our vision for the future of the Trust as a NHS Foundation Trust?
Answer: YES 9 NO
Extract:
1.5 Our strategic aims With the help of our staff, community and partners, we will build on our strengths and achievements to provide responsive, convenient, modern, caring and high quality hospital services that meet the needs of the communities we serve.
Discussions held over the last year with patient representatives and senior clinical staff have identified particular priority areas that we wish to focus on over the next few years. These include:
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• Consolidating acute services for complex or serious conditions onto a single site; • enabling us to move ahead in providing high quality, attractive and sustainable acute services for the benefit of our community on the Lister hospital site in Stevenage; • Working with colleagues in primary care to expand local access to specialist acute services – we want to expand the provision of specialist services locally by working with GPs and other clinicians to offer a range of outpatient-based services in local and community hospitals including in the new £30 million local general hospital that will be built in Welwyn Garden City; • Undertaking more cancer care locally – expanding the amount of cancer care provided locally in east and north Hertfordshire by working with commissioners and cancer specialists to ensure that as many patients as possible can benefit from high quality cancer care as close to home as possible.
Consultation question 2:
Do you agree with our strategic aims?
Answer: YES 9 NO
Extract:
2.2 How will becoming a NHS foundation trust help us to achieve our vision?
We want to become a NHS foundation trust because:
• We will have stronger links with both our staff and our local communities – which means that we will be able to make more decisions about local priorities • Our staff, community and partners will be able to share responsibility with us for making decisions – this means greater local involvement in how our hospitals are run and what priorities we set for the future • We will have greater financial freedom – this means that any surpluses we create will belong to the Trust in the future rather than belonging to the broader NHS. Once we are a NHS foundation trust our surpluses will be reinvested directly into our local services, such as providing more midwives to support one-to-one care during labour or in improving hospital car parking facilities • We will be able to raise revenue and access capital funding in new ways – this means that we will be able to develop and improve our services faster than we can today.
Taken together, these benefits underline that becoming a NHS foundation trust means that we will be able to be more responsive to local priorities and have greater freedom to make decisions locally.
Consultation question 3:
10/5 APPENDIX A What actions should we take to build an organisation that is more patient-focused?
Answer:
• Work with PCT commissioners to establish health needs of the various communities; • Consult with and listen to users of health services; • Establish close working relationships with health overview and scrutiny committees and the new Local Involvement Network (LINk) when formed; • Have a robust complaints system to address issues raised by users.
Consultation question 4:
How can we best communicate with our members?
Answer:
Apart from traditional written communications ( newsletters, e-mails, etc.) and verbal briefings, consider the Internet, given the success of such sites as Facebook, U- tube, etc. in reaching large number of people, particularly younger people.
Consultation question 5:
How can we ensure that our membership is not over representative or under representative of those who live in our community?
Answer:
Attempting to prevent over representation could be counter-productive, by excluding and/or discouraging otherwise willing and good people for no apparent reasons. Tread with care.
Greater attempts should be made to increased representation from some groups that always seem to be under-represented and need to be positively encouraged to get involved. This could be done by proactive out-reach work by individuals who can identify with and go into the target groups and persuading interested people to get involved. Be mindful that under-represented groups go beyond the usual equality groups, i.e. gender, race, disability, sexuality, etc… The young and working people do not seem to get involved much.
Consultation question 6:
Do you agree with the proposal for the minimum age of members to be 14?
Answer: YES 9 NO
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Extract:
Proposed Council of Governors
STAFF Consultants and doctors (1) Elected Nurses and midwives (1) by staff Other clinical staff (1) members Non-clinical staff (2) PUBLIC (INCLUDING PATIENTS) PRIMARY CARE TRUSTS (Elected by Public members) East and North Hertfordshire Primary Care Trust (1) Bedfordshire Primary Care Trust (1) North Hertfordshire (4) Welwyn Hatfield (4) LOCAL AUTHORITIES East Hertfordshire (1) North Hertfordshire District Council(1) Stevenage (4) Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council (1) NHS St Albans (1) East Hertfordshire District Council (1) Foundation South Bedfordshire (1) Stevenage Borough Council (1) Trust Mid Bedfordshire (1) St Albans City and District Council (1) decides Other (4) (Covers remaining Bedfordshire County Council (1) with catchment including Mount Hertfordshire County Council (1) partners Vernon Cancer Centre areas) OTHER ORGANISATIONS Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce representative (1) POhWER representative (1) Hertfordshire Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) Partnership representative (1) University of Hertfordshire representative (1))
Total 20 Total 18
Consultation question 7:
Do you think our proposed arrangements for the Council of Governors will ensure that it is representative of our community and that our proposed governance arrangements are comprehensive, practical and reasonable?
Answer:
Luton Borough Council is a unitary authority, as is Luton tPCT a stand-alone Trust (separate from Bedfordshire). So, it is of concern that Luton Public/ Patients, Luton Borough Council and Luton tPCT have been excluded from proposed representation on the Council of Governors. The situation should be remedied or a full explanation given for the proposal.
Extract:
3.3.1 Transitional arrangements
10/7 APPENDIX A We recognise the need to ensure a smooth and effective transition of governance arrangements in line with becoming an NHS foundation trust. To support this development we propose to: • Transform the Trust Board into the Board of Directors for the NHS foundation trust, with the chair and chief executive continuing in their roles • Allow current non-executive directors to complete their appointed term of office or remain in post for a period of 12 months, whichever is the longer • Develop an aspirant governor programme to inform and support members who may wish to stand for election to the Council of Governors • Stagger the initial terms of office for governors for reasons of business continuity – this will mean that 50% of governors will be elected for a period of eighteen months and 50% for a period of three years on the following basis. The number of votes received will determine the initial terms of office – candidates attracting the lowest number of votes will serve for an initial eighteen month term • Commission the Council of Governors to establish a representative appointments committee to select and approve new non-executive directors against an agreed person specification
Consultation question 8:
Do you agree with the proposed arrangements to support our transition to a foundation trust?
Answer: YES 9 NO
Consultation question
Did you find this consultation document clear and easy to understand?
9 Answer: YES NO
Consultation question
Your name and address, or e-mail address (optional - this will be used for consultation purposes only)
Consultation question
Please let us have any suggestions about how we could have improved the content or style of this consultation document
None
10/8