Agenda item

An update on the Pennine Acute Transaction Programme.

The Committee was provided with an update on the transaction

and future arrangements for Pennine Acute Trust (PAT)

hospitals.

The key messages highlighted to the Committee were that:

·         Since the previous update to the Committee, there had been significant inroads towards the completion of the transaction, and there now remained no significant risks to transaction completion.  SRFT and PAT had worked closely with the NHSE1 review team to submit a range of documentation and undergo a number of review meetings.

·         SRFT had undertaken a number of meetings with the NHSE1 review team as part of the transaction progress.  The NHSE1 review team had also met with PAT colleagues.  These meetings had been positive and constructive.

·         SRFT and PAT executives and non-executives had met regularly to discuss the delivery of services under the management agreement and operation issues.

·         The NHSE1 review team will submit their recommendations on the transaction to the Provider Oversight Committee on 14^th September 2021.

·         As a result of the transaction being phased, there had been additional opportunities to reduce any remaining risks prior to transaction taking place.

·         There remain no significant risks to transaction completion.  There is one risk scored at 10 – Financial and operation performance falling across both SRFT and PAT may fall further before the transaction takes place, mitigation of continuing QI programmes and Oldham CQC improvement plan.

·         In terms of operational risk following transaction, there remains one risk rated at 10 – Capital funding for transformation, discussions are ongoing between NCA and NHSE1 NW/other system stakeholders.  This risk is expected to be closed as part of the agreement of the ICS capital control total for 2022/23.

Post-Transaction Changes and Impacts on Patients were detailed as below:

·         Immediately following transaction, there will be no changes to any services. Our key focus will be the delivery of a “safe landing” for all services and for patients in order to ensure a seamless transition to the new organisation.

·         SLA exit timetables have been agreed between NCA and MFT. Exit plans have been agreed for the SLAs concluding in September 2021 following the NCA transaction completion, with plans for the rest in development. There may be some changes as services disaggregate, and relevant partners will be engaged as appropriate.

·         The key visible change will be the organisational name change from SRFT / PAT to Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust. A new email address will be put in place for all staff as of transaction, ending @nca.nhs.uk rather than @srft.nhs.uk or @pat.nhs.uk. Existing email addresses will continue to operate for an extended period of time.

·         The new NCA website (www.northerncarealliance.nhs.uk) will be launched on 1^st October and PAT and SRFT old websites decommissioned. Public, patients and external stakeholders will be able to access all information as before in one place and updated content and guidance.

·         The four Care Organisations (Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford) will continue to have distinct identities, and with no changes to the leadership or clinical teams.

Details of the Dissagregation Plan beyond September 2021 were also detailed within the presentation.

Organisational Capacity was detailed as follows:

·         As part of routine assessment processes in preparation for a transaction, NHSEI asked the question “how does the Board ensure that it has the right bandwidth to deliver BAU and the busy strategic agenda the organisation has, including the transaction?”. This question has been posted particularly in the context of COVID and COVID recovery

·         A paper was considered by Group Board on 26th July outlining how the Board assesses bandwidth against objectives & requirements, and what is being put in place to deliver these, so that it can assure NHSEI that appropriate oversight and risk assessment is undertaken to match bandwidth to objectives & requirements.

·         This will ensure that there is enough capacity to deliver patient benefits through existing programmes of work alongside dedicated programme management capacity for disaggregation.

·         Contingencies can be quickly set up in case of capacity gaps.

Scrutiny arrangements were detailed as follows:

·         It is not anticipated that there will be any changes to the overall scrutiny arrangements between NCA and local authority partners as a result of transaction completion. The NCA will continue to proactively engage with local authorities and scrutiny committees as valued partners.

·         There will however inevitably be a reduction in focus on the transaction itself and increased attention on the disaggregation of services and their impact on patients/local residents.

Members asked for and received clarification on the following:

·         Separations of Services?  The Committee was advised that there were plans to separate services within the following few years.  Options would be available.

·         Staff Uniforms?  The Committee was advised that the NCA uniform had been shared with staff.  A lot of work had been carried out on branding.

·         Sustainability due to lack of resources?  The Committee was advised that a lot of work had been carried out to improve processes/services.

·         Staffing issues?  The Committee was advised that more colleges would be come involved and apprenticeships were being considered.

·         NCA website, jobs, grading system unclear.  Can the process be simplified?  The Committee was advised that these points would be conveyed to HR and NCA.

RESOLVED that the report be noted.