Issue - meetings

Karen James OBE, Chief Executive of Tameside & Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust and Stockport NHS Foundation Trust; Ged Murphy, Acting Chief Executive at East Cheshire NHS Trust; and Katherine Sheerin, Director of Transformation and Partnerships at East Cheshire NHS Trust all attended the meeting to present the item to the Committee and answer any questions.

The Committee heard that four parties: Stockport NHS Trust, Stockport and Cheshire CCGs and East Cheshire NHS Trust had circulated a statement of intent to all partners that outlined the continued intention to work collaboratively for acute services with NHS partners, and support clinical teams to continue working together to develop a joint clinical strategy that would set out new, single clinical pathways, as well as innovative solutions to best meet the growing care needs of local populations.  Especially post-pandemic, when specifically reviewing the services provided and how people access those and the impact of covid. 

Partners had embarked on a six-week engagement exercise with the public, staff and partners, to gather peoples’ experiences of the trusts acute services based on some specific services; Cardiology; Critical Care and Anaesthetics; Diabetes and endocrinology; Gastroenterology and endoscopy, General Surgery; Imaging (X-ray and radiology); Trauma and orthopaedics; Urgent and Emergency Care and Women’s and children’s services along with broader experiences of planned care and community services. 

The Committee were given the example of The Christie at Macclesfield as positive partnership working as a direct response to consultation. 

There was an awareness that some patients do prefer the hybrid model of working but others could be disadvantaged through digital exclusion for a number of reasons.

There was an opportunity for the Committee to ask questions, there was some discussion on:

·         The challenges of deciding when to roll out consultation exercises during/post-pandemic;

·         GPs had reported activity levels being 10% more than pre-pandemic and the same being seen at A&E level and Mental Health demand.  This had created a  lot of pressure in the system;

·         The importance of understanding communities especially those hard-to-reach or facing inequality with health outcomes; and

·         Some Committee Members noted the engagement questions were generic and difficult to answer meaningfully.

RESOLVED: That the officers from East Cheshire Trust be thanked for their attendance and update to the Committee and that they return after the six-week engagement period with the consultation results and planned next steps.