Agenda item

North West London Hospitals NHS Trust and Ealing Hospital Trust are working on plans for a proposed merger. The Health Partnerships Overview and Scrutiny Committee has previously considered a report on this issue at its meeting in June 2011. An update has been provided by the two hospital trusts on the proposed merger for members to consider (see appendix 1). It should be noted that the original intention was for the committee to consider the Outline Business Case for the merger at its meeting in September 2011. However, this will not be completed until October 2011.

David Cheesman (North West London NHS Hospitals Trust) introduced the report and explained that the timetable to develop the outline business case had been extended from August to October to allow more time to highlight the benefits of integration and the organisation’s vision, as well allowing more time to work with local GPs and other key stakeholders.  In addition, NHS London had provided further guidance regarding the level of detail the outline business case required and as a result the financial modelling will be extended to 2015/2016.  This would also allow NHS North West London’s Quality, Innovation, Productivity and Prevention plans to be taken into account.  It was anticipated that the full business case would be submitted between March and May 2012 with a view to the potential merger taking place between July and October 2012.  David Cheesman advised that three deliberation events for local stakeholders had taken place across Brent, Harrow and Ealing, however the numbers attending had been relatively small.

Mansukh Raichura (Chair, Brent Local Involvement Network) added that discussions were taking place with Brent Local Involvement Network (LINk) with regard to how consultation would be undertaken.

During committee discussion, Councillor Daly enquired whether there had been any consideration of other NHS Services in respect of the merger and whether there was a risk of duplication of service.  She asked whether an assessment impact on existing Brent Health Services had been undertaken and would any financial difficulties that the Imperial College NHS Trust may be experiencing have any bearing on the situation.  Councillor Hunter sought clarification as to whether statutory consultation would be required with regard to any merger proposals. 

The Chair asked for further information about the future of Central Middlesex Hospital in light of the potential merger.

In response, David Cheesman advised that Ealing Hospital was particularly strong at providing integrated services and the intention was to provide much closer integration across Ealing, Brent and Harrow.  David Cheesman understood that there would be no risk of duplication of services in Brent and there was no intention for medical centres to be competing amongst each other.  He confirmed that a statutory consultation was not required as there were no proposals for changes to services, however it was intended to be as open and transparent as possible with regard to the proposed merger.   With regard to Central Middlesex Hospital, David Cheesman advised that this was a private finance hospital that was liable for rent payments for the next 30 years and it would continue to operate, although there may be some future changes to the way some services were provided.

Jo Ohlson stated that although both Brent and Ealing provided diabetes services, consideration would be given to ensure the services complemented rather than competed with each other. 

Rob Larkman added that the aims of the merger included more integration of services and to improve efficiency and the patient experience across all services.  At present, no detailed impact assessment for existing Brent health services had been undertaken.

David Ashley (North West London Hospitals) advised that the merger would present the opportunity to make services more sustainable and accessible.  He acknowledged that there was room for improvement in respect of public transport links to health facilities and both the NHS and the council could play a role in encouraging Transport for London (TfL) to look into this.

RESOLVED:-

that the update on the proposed merger between North West London NHS Hospitals Trust and Ealing Hospital Trust be noted.