Agenda item

Report of Chief Operating Officer , Harrow Clinical Commissioning Group.

The Committee received a report which provided information on the progress and plans for the design and delivery of a functionally integrated Urgent Care System for Harrow residents.

The Chief Operating Officer of the Harrow Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) introduced the report and made the following points:

·                     When representatives of the CCG had last attended the Sub-Committee’s meeting, it had talked about plans in creating an urgent care system to meet the needs to Harrow residents.  The progress in relation to this was now being reported;

·                     The North West London Collaboration of CCGs were currently re-shaping their NHS 111, GP Out of Hours and wider urgent care services with the aim of an integrated urgent care service;

·                     The integrated urgent care service would be based on 4 elements: 111 services, GP out of hours service, wider urgent care services programme and urgent care and walk-in centres;

·                     Every CCG would have some form of urgent care system.  Following an open and competitive procurement process, two walk in centres had been commissioned to deliver services from August 2016.  These were the Pinn Medical Centre and the Ridgeway Surgery from Alexandra Avenue;

·                     The CCG were unsuccessful in selecting a preferred provider for a third new walk in centre in the East of the borough as the minimum criteria of the service specification had not been met;

·                     A further procurement to commission a walk in centre in the East of the borough was currently underway.  This was planned to be delivered from the Belmont Health Centre and would replicate the service specification for The Pinn and Alexandra Avenue Walk in centres.  The implementation date for this service would remain as November 2016;

·                     The CCG were confident that a preferred provider would be identified as part of the new procurement process for a Walk in centre from Belmont Health Centre;

·                     The North West London Collaboration for Clinical Commissioning Groups was leading on a central procurement process to re-commission NHS 111 services for the 8 CCGs across North West London.  The original date for the new contract to take effect had been delayed until June 2017 due to a significant programme of patient, stakeholder and CCG engagement;

·                     Brent, Harrow and Hillingdon were scoping the benefits of what a single model for NHS 111 would look like for their residents if the majority of clinical telephone assessment and navigation to appropriate services was delivered by a local Clinical Hub called a Clinical Advice and Treatment Service (CATS).

·                     The current contract for Harrow CCG for the delivery of Urgent Care Services to be delivered at Northwick Park Hospital expired at the end of March 2017. The model would continue to be primary care led and would work to replicate the CATS model in a physical environment;

·                     A Sustainability and Transformation Plan was being developed. This would be a 5 year plan and would focus on three key areas: health and well-being, care & quality and finance & efficiency;

·                     The STP would be a place based plan and required a partnership approach to deliver better outcomes and a sustainable model of care. The CCG had received a clear commitment from all of its partners on this and would be leading on its development;

·                     There would be a lot of engagement on the STP including with the Council, the voluntary and community sector and HealthWatch Harrow. This would include events where ideas and feedback would be collated and reflected upon.

The following questions were made by Members and responded to accordingly:

·                     Could more detail be provided on the plans for a Hub at Belmont Medical Centre in addition to the Walk-in centre?

As part of the Shaping a Healthier Future Programme and the funding proposed, a hub identified for Harrow was located at the Belmont Medical Centre. The Hub was distinct from the Walk-in centre and would deliver wider services relating to out of hospital, diagnostics, MRIs and X-rays;

·                     What would a single model of the 111 service look like?

In the proposed single model for the 8 CCGs across North West London, this would drive efficiencies and how outcomes were delivered to patients. It essentially would act as a Triage service. Another model would be to shift clinical resources to CATS to care plan patients.

·                     When the urgent care contract ended in March 2017, what were the implications for Northwick Park Hospital and the Shaping a Healthier Future Programme more broadly?

There had always been an intention to revisit the specification and enhance it and the CCG were currently liaising with Northwick Park Hospital on developing this. It presented a good opportunity to have a good urgent care centre.

·                     Would the Belmont Medical Centre have enough space physically for a Walk-in centre and acting as a Hub for other services?

There would be some re-arrangement of the space used in Belmont Medical Centres. Some services would move out and there was a lot of space which was currently unused.

RESOLVED:  That the report be noted and the CCG and Council’s Policy Team liaise to arrange for members to visit the borough’s walk in centres.