Issue - meetings

The Panel considered the report of the Scrutiny Manager which enabled the Panel to discuss developments relating to Project Fusion, the programme of work to create a single new NHS Trust to provide community, mental health and learning disability services across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight

Ron Shields, Chief Executive, Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust; and James House, Managing Director, Southampton Place, Hampshire & Isle of Wight Integrated Care Board; were in attendance and, with the consent of the Chair, addressed the meeting.

The Panel discussed a number of points including:

·  The new trust would be a large organisation that would benefit from improved economies of scale and an increased pool of resources that can be used to deliver services.

·  There was a wide variation in service delivery across the footprint of the new organisation. There were good reasons for some variations in service delivery but there were instances where variation was not warranted or beneficial.

·  The new trust would provide services designed to be delivered locally to meet the identified needs of residents in each community.

·  Frontline delivery in areas where services were efficient and effective would remain the same. Changes would be focused on improving and developing services where performance was poor, services were inefficient, or where gaps in provision had been identified.

RESOLVED 

1)  That the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust would be invited to provide an update on the Trust’s first three months of operation at the Panels meeting in June 2024.

2)  That, reflecting the focus on reducing unwarranted variation across the wide footprint of the new organisation, assurance would be provided to the Panel that, when the newly formed NHS Foundation Trust is operating, the Southampton local operating system would have the flexibility and financial protections required to deliver high quality services that met the needs of the residents of Southampton. 

3)  That, the public communications planned to accompany the launch of the new NHS Trust would be shared with the Panel in advance to enable members to sense check the information.