Agenda item

The Committee scrutinised a report of the Place Lead which updated the Overview and Scrutiny Committee for Health on the progress to disaggregate clinical services from the previous Pennine Acute Hospital Trust (PAHT) footprint and establish clinical pathways between the Northern Care Alliance (NCA) and Manchester University Foundation Trust (MFT).

In 2021, MFT acquired the North Manchester General Hospital (NMGH) site, and Salford Royal Foundation Trust (SRFT) acquired the remaining sites of PAHT, creating the NCA. Since then, due to the way in which digital systems and clinical rotas operate, there are some services which operate across the two providers which have not yet been ‘disaggregated’. This means that the services still need to be split between the two organisations using an agreed set of principles: including splitting of the workforce, budget and waiting lists.

The report provides an update about the work to date to split key services between the providers, and in particular to highlight those areas where this could potentially mean a change to the location where patients access services. It describes the process and criteria used to determine the best solution that ensures services previously part of PAHT continue to be safely delivered by the NCA and MFT respectively. Fundamentally, this process aims to deliver better care for patients through establishing services that are safe and sustainable, but also that use the best evidence available and operate as close to the patient as possible.

In the coming months, there are some key services that will go through this process of disaggregation including Cardiology, Gastroenterology, Urology and Rheumatology. Largely these changes will mean patients can choose to access services from an NCA site or from a MFT site. Initial assessment suggests there is minimal change for Oldham residents for these services.

The Committee was informed of the services that are affected, paragraph 4.1- Phase 2 of the report refers. At this stage it appears that there would be minimal changes in the way that the Oldham population access the services listed in Phase 2, and table I in paragraph 4.3 summarises the current understanding of the impact on Oldham patients.

The Place Lead informed the Committee that the report sets out the current position on Phase 2 with a finish target date to complete of March 2024. A further report will be presented to a future meeting of this Committee setting out detail on Phase 3. He advised that Phase 2 is evolving and further changes will take place between now and its completion.

A Member referred to the Joint Scrutiny Committee (JSC) which had previously been set up prior to the Pennine Acute Hospital Trust ceasing to exist and was dissolved which gave feedback to the Northern Care Alliance (NCA). The Member suggested that it would be beneficial to establish a new JSC comprising Member representatives from Bury, Rochdale, Oldham, Thameside and Stockport Councils to receive reports detailing progress on Phases 2 and 3 and would provide a vehicle for these authorities to give a combined approach and feedback to the NCA and participating authorities on progress.

The Place Lead supported the Joint Scrutiny Committee approach and was of the view that a combined coordinated response from the those Councils representatives to Phases 2 and 3 through that Committee would be advantageous to the Councils involved and the NCA.

Resolved:

1.         That the report be noted and welcomed; and

2.         That the officers explore the possibility of establishing a Joint Scrutiny

Committee comprising representatives from Oldham, Bury, Rochdale,

Thameside and Stockport Councils with a view receiving progress

reports on the disaggregate clinical services from the previous Pennine Acute Hospital Trust (PAHT) footprint and establish clinical pathways

between the Northern Care Alliance (NCA) and Manchester University

Foundation Trust (MFT) enabling a combined approach to the NCA on Phases 2 and 3.