Agenda item

The Sub-Committee is asked to review the information provided, along with an update given by the Chair at the meeting, with a view to reaching a conclusion as to whether any further action is necessary.

The Chair of the Sub-Committee, Councillor Sean Fitzsimons provided an update on the work of the South West London & Surrey Joint Health Scrutiny Committee’s Sub-Committee that had been set up to scrutinise the Improving Healthcare Together plan (IHT).

It was advised that the three NHS Clinical Commissioning Groups (Surrey Downs, Sutton & Merton) overseeing the implementation of the plan had recently confirmed Sutton as the preferred location for a new emergency care hospital, which would result in the current facilities at the St Helier and Epsom hospitals being reduced.

The Chair highlighted that it had originally been expected that the JHSC Sub-Committee would reach a consensus on how to respond to the IHT, but this had not been the case. This meant that it was now within the remit of the individual boroughs to decide how they wished to respond. 

Given the potential impact of this decision on healthcare provision in their borough the London Borough of Merton had decided to refer the decision to the Secretary of State for Health for review. A copy of the Merton referral had been appended to the report for the information of the Sub-Committee. At this stage none of the other boroughs (Kingston, Sutton & Wandsworth) or Surrey County Council had confirmed how they would be responding. The Sub-Committee was asked to consider how it wished to respond on behalf of Croydon.

From the discussion of the Sub-Committee it was clear that Member welcomed the additional investment in hospital infrastructure from the Government, particularly as many years of uncertainty over the future of the St Helier hospital had resulted in a detrimental lack of investment in site.

However, there was also support for the referral made to the Secretary of State for Health by the London of Borough of Merton, with concern noted about potential impact upon the poorest families in Merton and North Sutton due to poor public transport links to the identified site in Sutton.

Concern was also raised about the consultation process as it had identified the Sutton site as the preferred option and did not include an option for investing in both the Epsom and St Helier hospital sites, which may have influenced any responses given. It was also highlighted that as the consultation had been run during the Covid-19 pandemic this might have limited the number of responses received.

At the end of the discussion the Sub-Committee reached the conclusion that although there was not grounds for Croydon to make its own referral to the Secretary of State for Health, it recognised there was a case for Merton and other boroughs more directly affected to do so. As such it was agreed to endorse the referral made by Merton, with the response from the Secretary of State keenly awaited.

It was also agreed that the Chair would explore the potential for a joint endorsement for the Merton referral from the JHSC Sub-Committee when it next met in October. 

Conclusions

Following discussion of this item the Sub-Committee reached the following conclusions:-

1.      The Government's investment in the local health economy was welcomed.

2.      Many of the concerns set out by the London Borough of Merton's in its submission to the Secretary of State were echoed by the Sub-Committee, particularly those regarding the accessibility of the preferred site and the possible equalities implications of the decision..

3.      The Sub-Committee agreed that it would endorse the referral made by the London Borough of Merton and keenly awaited the outcome.

4.      It was agreed that the Chair would seek to explore the possibility of the Sub-Committee of the South West London & Surrey Joint Health Scrutiny Committee reaching a joint conclusion to endorse the referral made to the Secretary of State for Health by the London Borough of Merton.