Agenda and minutes

Purpose: To receive apologies for inability to attend the meeting (if any)

Purpose: To remind Members of the need to record the existence and nature of any personal, disclosable pecuniary or other registrable interests in items on the agenda, in accordance with the Members’ Code of Conduct.

There were no declarations of interest received.

To provide an update on the status and activities of the redevelopment programme and the creation of a JHOSC.

Andrew Statham, Director of Strategy, Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust (RBFT) presented the report on the Royal Berkshire Hospital redevelopment programme – Building Berkshire Together (Agenda Item 3).

It was explained that the Royal Berkshire Hospital was on the Hospital Development Programme. There were three stages and they were now starting the Outline Business Case stage to narrow down the preferred options of location and scale. This would be followed by the Full Business Case.

Mr Statham highlighted the work being done to get to the Outline Business Case stage. This included reflecting on the Clinical Services Strategy (Agenda Item 5) and other aspects about the scope and future location of the site. This would involve a multi-faceted analysis around resident’s access, staff access, the cost of the redevelopment and the number of services needing to be located on the site. RBFT were looking to engage members of the public and key stakeholders to get it right for the residents using services going forward.

Councillor Alan Macro asked for detail about the timescales on the location decision. It was advised that the Trust wanted to complete the work for the Outline Business Case this financial year.

Councillor Tony Linden asked four questions:

·         When were the Trust anticipating their engagement with Local Authority Health Scrutiny Committees and calling for a Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (JHOSC) to be set up?

·         What were your patient flows?  This data would inform the composition of the JHOSC.

·         How would the Trust engage and consult with residents in West Berkshire?

·         Would they be holding open engagement events in West Berkshire?

It was confirmed that the engagement would take place in West Berkshire as with all communities. That would involve holding events with members of the public in West Berkshire. This had started already online and future events would be published. There was also a website to take individual questions and reflections from members of the public and stakeholders.

It was confirmed that the majority of patients came from Berkshire West. Less than 10% of total patient flow was from East Berkshire and most of that went to Bracknell and Wexham Park Hospital. There was some cross-border flow from South Oxfordshire and North Hampshire.

Councillor Andy Moore asked for clarification on the three options of the Outline Business Case.

It was confirmed that the Strategic Outline Case had 6 options of which doing nothing was one option. A second was to fix the backlog maintenance and a third option was the backlog maintenance and then a minimal build. The Board felt these did not satisfy the needs of the population in the future. There were then two options on the current site. One to make use of the buildings built in the 2000’s and one to reconfigure all the buildings. A final option was to find a new site and relocate away from the current site.

Councillor Macro raised concern about the South Block and its suitability for development. Secondly Councillor Macro asked if the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

To consider the motion raised at Council on 17 March 2022

Councillor Alan Macro gave an overview of the Motion made at Council on 17 March 2022. Councillor Macro highlighted the condition of existing buildings, the parking issues and concern that sites proposed must be accessible for West Berkshire residents. Councillor Macro’s request was for West Berkshire Council to resolve for the hospital to be built on a new site.

Councillor Graham Bridgman agreed that a new site would be preferable but that options would be constrained by the funding available. There would also be benefit in keeping some elements within Reading. Councillor Bridgman advised that he was supportive of the Motion, with the consideration of the funding being available.

Councillor Andy Moore noted that he would have seconded Councillor Macro at full Council on this motion. He stated this was a once in a century opportunity and that the residents of West Berkshire would want West Berkshire Council rooting for them. Councillor Moore agreed with Councillor Bridgman’s comments regarding the resources being available.

Councillor Macro confirmed that it was important to make the views of West Berkshire Council known.

Councillor Jeff Beck noted that to redevelop the existing site, whilst keeping services available, would be very complex and expensive. There would also be re-sale value in the current site. Councillor Beck agreed the concern regarding the funding being available.

Councillor Bridgman invited Members and anyone watching to go to the website BuildingBerkshireTogether.co.uk to view the options under consideration. Councillor Bridgman noted that the purpose of the JHOSC would be to look at the formal proposal, not a range of proposals. It was therefore not wrong for this Council to make its general views known.

Councillor Macro agreed with Councillor Bridgman and highlighted that it would be to state a preferred view. Councillor Moore noted that the Council’s view on this matter would be useful to the JHOSC and would like to see the Motion go forward.

The Motion was supported with the caveat regarding the funding being available.

To provide an update on the refresh of the Trust Strategy

Andrew Statham, Director of Strategy, Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust (RBFT) presented the report on the Trust Strategy refresh and the new Clinical Services Strategy (Agenda Item 5). The context for the refresh was explained and followed by an overview of the new Strategy. It was explained this was not a change to the mission of the hospital which still resonated and was a strong message to staff and partners. The objectives had been tweaked; the first strategy to stress ‘for all’; the third a shift to delivery in partnership instead of integrated care; and the fifth to include environmental sustainability and to recognise the significant contribution of the Trust to the environment in communities. Work was being done on how they would track their progress. Metrics would be reported on through RBFT Board and progress tracked on an operational basis.

The Trust presented the final slide on the Clinical Services Strategy. It was noted that the priority about the quality of care remained unchanged; to aspire to outstanding services every day. Secondly it was highlighted that services were to fit around patients, rather than patients around services to provide seamless care. There was merit in organising the building around level of acuity. The third objective was to get more services into the wellbeing space and more expertise of professionals in supporting primary care and social services in the community. Finally it was highlighted that the need was recognised to meet patients where it was best for them. This meant making use of technology, all hospital sites and other places where people could receive care. It was noted that different thinking was required about the workforce for tomorrow, use of technology and buildings provided.

The Chairman asked for clarification on the changes to the first priority to be ‘for all’. The Trust confirmed whilst the services were available for all, they might not have fully understood the difference in support they might need to provide for all to benefit from them. They were exploring some of the impacts around health inequalities. They had undertaken some research around their outpatient appointments with NHS England. The ‘did not attend’ rate was double for the two lowest socio-economic groups. They had held focus groups to understand why that might be. It appeared very simple but was not incorporated into their operational process. Those groups had higher rates of household instability, changing phone numbers and employment circumstances making 9-5 appointments difficult for them.  The Trust need to think differently to support the outcomes the NHS promised and made it explicit in the Strategy.

Councillor Linden asked for clarification around staff satisfaction in the Strategy, how the Trust would engage with those digitally excluded and how the Trust would provide the highest quality of care for all whilst living within their means. It was confirmed that the Trust regularly tracked staff satisfaction and also found retention data useful. Staff engagement was a key indicator also. Regarding digital exclusion, the Trust advised that digital was an  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.