Home > Agenda item

Agenda item

Winter Preparedness

The Sub-Committee is asked to review the attached documents together with information arising from the discussion of this item at their meeting with a view to forming conclusions and recommendations.

Minutes:

The Sub-Committee considered the information set out in the agenda, including a presentation on the CHS Winter Plan which would ensure that the hospital had the resources and capacity to cope with the expected demand over the winter. The item was introduced by a presentation from the Chief Operating Officer at CHS, Lee McPhail. A copy of the presentation can be found here:-

https://democracy.croydon.gov.uk/documents/s18797/Appendix%20A%20-%20Winter%20Preparedness%20-%20Presentation.pdf

Following the presentation the Sub-Committee was given the opportunity to ask questions on the Winter Plan. The first question related to capacity in the A&E department and whether it was sufficient to cope with a serious incident such as a flu outbreak. In response it was advised that there was a 30 bed contingency capacity built into the service, along with extra flexibility delivered through reducing elective care should there be a period of particularly high demand. There was also ongoing work outside of the hospital with partners which focussed on keeping people out of hospital, with conversations being had over wider health determinates such as poverty and heating.

As a follow up it was questioned whether the 30 bed contingency was being used at the present time. It was confirmed that the additional capacity was currently being used, but the approach set out in the Winter Plan which directed the focus towards reducing the length of a patient’s stay in hospital would, if managed correctly, reduce the impact upon bed capacity.

As the Winter Plan set out the Operational Pressures Escalation Levels (OPEL) Framework, it was questioned at what level CHS would have to stop elective surgery in order to manage capacity. It was advised that only non-elective surgery would be carried out should OPAL4 be reached and in the event of this happen it would be reviewed on a daily basis.

It was questioned how the demand for mental health care provision was being managed and in particular people with mental health related issues presenting themselves at A&E. It was advised that representatives from the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust were members of the A&E Board and a specific task force had been created to focus on this work stream.

In response to a question about the support available for homeless patients over the winter, it was advised that there was a Homeless Health Team based at the hospital. CHS was in the process of creating a Homeless Health Hub within the hospital that would provide additional support and shelter for homeless patients.

It was questioned whether the availability of GP appointments was monitored as limited availability could lead to increased attendance of patients at A&E. It was confirmed that there was regular communication between primary and secondary care providers to help prepare for demand. There was also a coordinated communications programme that was aimed at informing the public of their options when engaging with healthcare.

At the conclusion of this item the Chair thanked the officers for their attendance, acknowledging that much of the work set out in the Winter Plan would be ongoing rather than one off measures.  It was agreed that it would be useful to have included in future reports on winter preparedness information on spikes in certain types of patient so the wider determinates could be reviewed.

Conclusions

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

1.    The ongoing work of the Croydon Health Service NHS Trust and its partners to manage capacity for winter demands was to be commended.

2.    That Croydon Health Service NHS Trust would be invited back to the Sub-Committee meeting in March 2020 to provide an update on the implementation of the Winter Plan.

Supporting documents: