Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors G Rapley and N A G Richards.

It was noted that in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 4, Councillors B J Glayzer and S F Bannister had been appointed as substitute members for Councillors G Rapley and N A G Richards respectively.

To receive any declarations of interest from Members in respect of business to be transacted on the agenda.

There were no declarations of interest made by Members.

To receive a verbal report from Liz Shutler, Director of Strategic Development and Capital Planning (East Kent Hospitals University Foundation Trust).

The committee welcomed Liz Shutler and Natalie Yost from the East Kent Hospitals University Foundation Trust (EKHUFT) and Karen Benbow from the South Kent Coast Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) to answer the questions it had set on the issue of the emergency transfer of acute medicine from the Kent and Canterbury Hospital (K&CH).

Q1.    What happens to patients who would normally be taken to the Urgent Care Centre at Kent & Canterbury Hospital?

Patients needing emergency medical care who would previously have been brought to the Kent and Canterbury Hospital were taken directly by ambulance to hospitals in Margate or Ashford instead, whichever was closer, for initial assessment.

If the patient needed to be admitted, patients were treated at these hospitals while they are very unwell. This was because EKHUFT needed patients to be seen in the place where they would receive the most appropriate treatment. For the moment this meant being treated at Ashford and Margate for the initial stages of their care. Patients that were well enough, but need to remain in hospital to continue their recovery and rehabilitation, could be brought to the K&CH to be closer to home.

EKHUFT had up to 30 patients a day in total going to either Ashford (the William Harvey Hospital) or Margate (Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Hospital) who would have previously gone to the Urgent Care Centre at K&CH. The majority of patients who were attending, around 90 a day, are still being seen in the minor injuries and illnesses service at the K&CH which remained open 24/7. Around 850 patients were still being seen and treated at K&CH with most services unchanged e.g. surgery, chemotherapy, renal services, vascular, urology and outpatient appointments.

Q2.    Are the changes to services at Kent & Canterbury Hospital permanent or temporary and if temporary, what is the end date for the emergency transfer of acute medicine?

The changes to acute medical services at the K&CH would only be made on a temporary basis, to protect patient safety. Permanent changes to services would only be made following a formal public consultation process.

Over the past few years EKHUFT had been unable to fill a number of gaps on the Consultant HCOOP, Stroke, Acute Medicine, Endocrinology, Cardiology, Respiratory, Gastroenterology and Rheumatology rotas across its three hospital sites. These gaps were creating significant difficulties in ensuring that appropriate senior clinical cover and training support was provided to medical trainees. During the early part of this year, these difficulties were further compounded by vacancies on the K&CH site due to key clinicians leaving the Trust and serious long-term absence. As a consequence, services were heavily dependent upon a large number of locums to fill vacant posts in order to deliver services. A series of visits by Health Education Kent Surrey and Sussex (HEKSS) dating from March 2014 identified significant concerns with the provision and oversight of core medical training at K&CH. Despite the completion of an action plan (which included making  ...  view the full minutes text for item 57.