Agenda item

The reports are attached.

David Cheesman (Director of Strategy, North West London Hospitals NHS Trust) introduced the item and explained that the Executive summary was currently in draft form which did not differ significantly from the previous draft.  NHS London was broadly in support of the proposals but with conditions as outlined in the report, including securing funding of £96.5m additional funding from NHS Commissioners and the Department for Health.  It was anticipated that the merger would be completed by January 2013 at the earliest. 

Dr William Lynn (Consultant Physician, Ealing Hospitals NHS Trust) added that the clinical strategy involved bringing together community services into the same team to help facilitate out of hospital care and both clinical and acute services would be located together.  No service changes were proposed in the merger’s business case, however it was possible that the outcome of the shaping a healthier future programme may result in some changes later.  Dr William Lynn advised that the business case was viable if there were to be no changes to services, however in the event that there were, the Trust would be in a better shape to accommodate these.  The committee noted that the Cooperation and Competition Panel had decided that the merger presented no bar to competition. 

Councillor Hunter queried why £96.5m costs were associated with the merger and was this inclusive of the £72m savings.  Councillor Harrison enquired whether any service changes resulting from the shaping a healthier future would require additional financial resources.  Councillor Leaman asked if the top slicing of PCT funding would have any impact on services.

The Chair enquired who would fund the merger costs and whether this would impact upon services and did Northwick Hospital remain in deficit.

In reply, David Cheesman advised that the £72m savings would be made within two years of the merger being implemented.  The £96.5m merger costs were a one-off cost to help fund transitional support arrangements and provide the necessary liquidity for the Trust to achieve foundation status.  Transitional costs included those associated with an IT merger, changes to the switchboard system and any redundancies.  The Department of Health, North West London cluster of health trusts and the Strategic Health Authority would provide the funding for the merger costs and there would be no impact on services.  One of the benefits of the merger was the recurring savings that would be made on an annual basis and in effect the merger was a ‘spend to save’ initiative.  David Cheesman advised that the merger would make it easier to accommodate any changes to services, although at this stage it could not be predicted whether the shaping a healthier future programme would lead to such changes.  Members noted that Northwick Park Hospital remained in deficit and action was being taken to remedy this before proceeding with implementation of the merger.

The Chair requested that an update be provided on this item at the next meeting and that if any significant information emerge prior to this, that it be sent to Andrew Davies to disseminate to Members.