Issue - meetings

Purpose of the item:

These reports outline the backlogs for cancer and elective (planned) care across Surrey Heartlands and Frimley ICS, the progress made in addressing these and actions being taken to reduce further. In addition, it outlines the work being undertaken to increase diagnostic capacity.

Witnesses:

Professor Andrew Rhodes, Professor of Critical Care at the University of London and the Chief Medical Officer for Surrey Heartlands Integrated Care Board (SHICB)

Lucy Hetherington, Associate Director of Planned Carefor Surrey Heartlands Integrated Care Board

Alexander Stamp, Deputy Chief Operating Officer– Planned Care Frimley Heath Foundation Trust (FHFT)

Orlagh Flynn, ICS Programme Director Elective Care, deputising obo Stephen Dunn, Director of System Flow and Delivery (Frimley NHS Trust)

Key point raised during the discussion:

1. The Chief Medical Officer (SHICB) provided a brief introduction to the report about the elective delivery of the waiting lists relating to outpatient surgery, diagnostics, and cancer.

2. The Chairman referred to the serious impact on those on the waiting list for long periods, and that there were further challenges to waiting lists over the past 12 months due to industrial action in addition to the impact of Covid. The Chairman asked if Surrey Heartlands Integrated Care Board (SHICB) had a system in place to cope with this and asked what the outlook was. The Chairman also asked whether SHICB expected to bring their waiting lists back to the required standards and how confident they were that the data available was accurate. The Chief Medical Officer explained that waiting lists had not recovered since the Covid pandemic. Industrial action further impacted waiting lists. SHICB’s hospitals learnt to manage and mitigate industrial action over time. Industrial action had since finished, and it was hoped it would not continue. Waiting lists were expected to take several years to return to required standards. This involved aligning capacity against demand, ensuring the right staff, facilities and infrastructure was in place.

3. A Member asked if there were any outstanding patients waiting over 78-weeks that did not relate to patient choice or conflicting medical needs. If this was the case, the Member asked how these patients were being prioritised. The Chief Medical Officer (SHICB) noted that a year prior, SHICB had patients waiting over two years, but had been resolving some of these long waits. The current aim was to see all patients within 65-weeks. The 78-week wait time had broadly disappeared. There were still a few patients at this wait time, usually due to the complexity of a patient’s caseload. Patients were prioritised against clinical need, by treating the most complex and high-risk patients first. The aim to get all patients seen within 65-weeks by the end of September 2024 was expected to be achieved by the end of 2024. The next focus would then be to reduce the wait to 52-weeks by mid2025.

4. The Member referred to NHS Frimley Integrated Care Board’s (ICB) increased waiting list and its increase post-EPIC system implementation. The Member asked what actions were being taken by NHS Frimley ICB to manage and reduce the waiting lists, and when they would be under control and exceeding expected standards. The Member asked how NHS Frimley ICB was supporting patients with long waits to manage their conditions.  The Member also asked for consideration to be given  ...  view the full minutes text for item 22