The NHS has announced today that Stephen Harrison has been appointed chairman of the Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Primary Care Trust cluster.

The PCT cluster is the executive and governance function of the three PCTs for Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire, who collectively commission £1.5 billion worth of health services for their populations of around one million people. Mr Harrison was previously chair of NHS North Somerset, the local Primary Care Trust for North Somerset.

Deborah Evans, chief executive of the cluster said:

“I am delighted to welcome Stephen as chair for our cluster. He has already been doing an excellent job as interim chair and helping the three primary care trusts come together to work smoothly.”

“Stephen brings his wealth of experience from being chair at North Somerset and his previous council roles and I am glad to have him on board as we carry on the important work to get ready to hand over a well run health service to the Clinical Commissioning Groups in 2013. I would also like to thank the former chairs of NHS Bristol, Richard Weatherhead, and NHS South Gloucestershire, Melanie Gibbs, for all their much valued work and continued support during our transition into a cluster of PCTs.”

Mr Harrison added:

“I am very pleased to be appointed to this role. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the outgoing non-executive directors and the two chairs for their gracious support and contribution.”

Mr. Harrison has been involved with the NHS for over ten years, having been Audit Chair of Bath and West Community Trust and Chair of Mendip Primary Care Trust before his initial appointment as Chair of NHS North Somerset in 2006. Mr. Harrison’s professional career centred on the manufacturing and retailing sector. He also has experience as a local Councillor and Council Leader as well as being a member of the Board of the YMCA.

His appointment will run from 7th December 2011, and his remuneration will be £39,406 per annum. Subject to the Health and Social Care Bill becoming law, PCTs are due to be disbanded in April 2013.

Mr. Harrison’s appointment has been made in accordance with the Commissioner for Public Appointments’ Code of Practice. All non-executive appointments are made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process.

However, in accordance with the original Nolan recommendations, there is a requirement for appointees’ political activity (if any declared) to be made public. Mr. Harrison has declared his political affiliation as a member of the Liberal Democrat Party. He does not hold any other ministerial appointments.

A vote forcing a local NHS U-turn on the new Frenchay community hospital has been narrowly defeated.

Labour councillors tabled a motion at last night’s South Gloucestershire Council meeting calling on the local North Bristol NHS Trust (NBT) to overturn its decision to involve an independent provider, such as St Monica’s Trust, in the new Frenchay Community Hospital – similar to the previous Labour government’s Independent Sector Treatment Centre (ISTC) at nearby Emersons Green.

Before the meeting, NBT’s Projects Directorate had warned councillors that if this happened then the scheme’s timetable would be “compromised and we will not have the new facilities in place to coincide with opening of the new Hospital at Southmead … if we are not able to progress our proposed procurement strategy, the project is very much at risk.”

When it came to the vote, only the Conservatives voted as a whole group in favour of NBT’s plans, which was enough to defeat the motion.

Speaking during the debate, Cllr Kathy Morris (Con, Downend) said:

“I want to draw the Labour Group’s attention to comments made by Liz Kendall MP, current Labour Shadow Minister for Care and Elderly. She said:”

“I’m a long standing supporter of Independent Sector Treatment Centres and of the need for commissioners to be able to bring in private and voluntary sector providers, as well as alternative NHS provision …”

“This is from a speech she made at the Reform think-tank in December 2010. It’s available on her website. Are Labour councillors aware that they are out of step with their own Party’s policy?”

Cllr Brian Hopkinson (Con, Bradley Stoke Central & Stoke Lodge) said:

“I think it’s important to remember that we wouldn’t be having this debate about a community hospital and external providers if the previous Labour government hadn’t taken the awful decision to downgrade South Gloucestershire’s only acute hospital and ignoring the 50,000 people who signed the Save Frenchay Hospital petition.”

And Cllr Erica Williams (Con, Bitton) added:

“It really is the height of hypocrisy for Labour to suddenly get ideologically hung-up with external providers in the NHS when it was the previous Labour government that built the Emersons Green Independent Sector Treatment Centre, which definitely didn’t feature in the Bristol Health Services Plan.”

Speaking after the debate, Cllr John Godwin (Con, Winterbourne), a former member of the Save Frenchay Hospital group and who has also been working on the community hospital project, said:

“I am relieved that this threat to the new Frenchay community hospital has been defeated.”

“A huge amount of work has been put into successfully reducing the scale of the previous government’s downgrading of Frenchay Hospital and securing more services than originally planned.”

He added:

“This is the only game in town and so I am hugely disappointed that Labour councillors and, more surprisingly, most LibDem councillors put all this at risk by voting against the project – their actions were an unnecessary and reckless gamble with our local health services.”

The new Frenchay Community Hospital is at risk because of Labour politicking, according to health campaigners.

The criticism of Labour councillors follows their decision to table a motion at tonight’s South Gloucestershire Council meeting calling on the local NHS to overturn its decision to involve an independent provider in the new Frenchay Community Hospital – similar to the previous Labour government’s Independent Sector Treatment Centre (ISTC) at nearby Emersons Green.

But – in advance of the meeting – the local North Bristol NHS Trust has warned councillors that if this happens then the scheme’s timetable will be “compromised and we will not have the new facilities in place to coincide with opening of the new Hospital at Southmead … if we are not able to progress our proposed procurement strategy, the project is very much at risk.”

Although contracts to downgrade Frenchay Hospital and stripping it of its acute services were signed by the previous Labour government shortly before the 2010 General Election, local Conservatives have been campaigning for the maximum possible health facilities to remain at Frenchay.

As a result, the range of services now envisaged for Frenchay is greater than that proposed in the original Bristol Health Services Plan drawn up by the previous Labour government in 2005 – and this has been acknowledged by the group overseeing the community hospital project.

Cllr John Godwin (Con, Winterbourne), a former member of the Save Frenchay Hospital group and who has also been working on the community hospital project, said:

“I hope that Labour councillors seriously heed the warning from the local NHS that their actions could put our new community hospital at risk.”

“Just when we had reduced the scale of the previous government’s downgrading of Frenchay Hospital, we are now faced with a delayed scheme at best, a cancelled scheme at the very worst.”

“I’m concerned that we may have just hours left to save Frenchay Hospital.”

He added:

“If this was principled opposition by Labour then residents might understand, but it was a Labour government that authorised the Emersons Green Independent Sector Treatment Centre, so it’s a bit late to start having an ideological hang-up with independent providers in the NHS.”

Labour’s leader in South Gloucestershire will challenge the other political parties to join him in asking the local NHS to overturn a decision to hand nursing care at the new Frenchay community hospital over to the private sector. Bosses from the North Bristol NHS Trust told councillors last month that they do not see themselves as running the new community hospital when it opens in 2014, and that the running of the new hospital and the nursing staff would instead be provided by an external company.

Now Labour’s leader, Councillor Andy Perkins (Labour, Woodstock), has tabled a motion for debate when South Gloucestershire Council meets on Wednesday 19th October. The motion will call on the Council to lobby the Trust to rethink and overturn this decision. It also asks the district’s three MPs to add their pressure to retain an all-NHS facility at Frenchay.

Commenting on the move, Cllr Perkins said:

“Most local patients will be shocked to learn that the Frenchay community hospital will not be an all-NHS facility when it opens in 2014. This part-privatisation was never part of the original plans for redeveloping Frenchay. It is a worrying and unwelcome development which I fear is a sign of what the Tory-led government plans to do with our public services. Political dogma and the Tories’ love of the market must not be put before patient care and staff conditions.”

Responding to accusations that the previous Labour government supported private health provision, in particular building the Independent Sector Treatment Centre (ISTC) at Emersons Green, Councillor Perkins pointed out:

“This latest move is totally different from the ISTC which complements existing NHS provision in our area. This new proposal for Frenchay will remove NHS provision in our area.”

Under an agreement introduced by the previous Labour government in 2008, each Primary Care Trust had to provide a GP-led health centre that was open to all patients from 8am to 8pm, seven days a week – whether registered or not with that practice. South Gloucestershire PCT, now re-branded as NHS South Gloucestershire, awarded their contract to the Orchard Medical Centre in Kingswood and for the past two years anyone resident in South Gloucestershire has been able to access Orchard Medical Centre with or without an appointment.

However, at a meeting of the local council’s Health Scrutiny Committee last week, it emerged that as part of an overhaul of urgent care services, the local PCT has changed the contract without consulting anyone. Since May, any patient who is not registered with the practice and whose needs are not deemed to be “medically urgent” will not be treated and will be told to go and see their own GP.

Commenting on the changes, local councillor Andy Perkins (Labour, Woodstock) and a member of the Health Scrutiny Committee said he was angry at the change:

“We were told that the local PCT has had to make these changes because the new government is not giving it enough money to meet the demand for urgent care in the South Gloucestershire area. In order to meet demand they are having to cut budgets elsewhere and in this case it means that they are going back on its commitment to widen access to GP services.”

Councillors on the committee were also angered that the changes had been introduced without any consultation. Councillor Ian Scott (Labour, Filton), the party’s spokesperson on health issues, added:

“The PCT introduced these changes in May but failed to consult adequately or early enough.  To make the change, they must have made preparations earlier in the year and should have consulted before making the changes.”

Ref: Para 4a of the report on the Common Approach to Urgent Care [PDF, 291kB]

Conservative campaigners have welcomed the local NHS’ plans for Frenchay Hospital and accused of accused Labour Councillors of “gross hypocrisy” over their opposition to plans for employing nursing staff provided through an external company.

It follows a recent meeting of South Gloucestershire Council’s Health Scrutiny Committee, where representatives from North Bristol NHS Trust presented the next stage of plans for a new community hospital on the existing Frenchay site.

Services to be provided include:

• 68 community rehabilitation beds including GP access beds (plus support for an additional 47 patients cared for in the community);
• Outpatient facilities for pain management, care of the elderly, respiratory medicine, gastroenterology, diabetes, orthopaedics, rheumatology, neurology and urology;
• Diagnostic tests including bloods, x-ray, ultrasound and echocardiograms;
• Therapy services such as occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, dietetics, podiatry and physiotherapy;
• Complementary services such as the Head Injury Treatment Centre and the Disablement Services Centre;
• Extra Care Housing, a nursing home and a site for a GP surgery.

Although contracts to downgrade Frenchay Hospital and stripping it of its acute services were signed by the previous Labour government shortly before the 2010 General Election, local Conservatives have been campaigning for the maximum possible health facilities to remain at Frenchay.

As a result, the range of services now envisaged for Frenchay is greater than that proposed in the original Bristol Health Services Plan drawn up by the previous Labour government in 2005.

But Labour councillors have criticised the improved hospital plan, particularly for bidders to be invited to run the facility – branding it ‘part-privatisation’’.

This is despite the previous Labour government in 2006 giving the go ahead to an ‘Independent Sector Treatment Centre’ at Emersons Green. That facility opened three years later.

Cllr Trevor Jones, who represents Frenchay and sits on the Council’s Health Scrutiny Committee, said:

“As a Frenchay councillor, I very much welcome these plans to retain so many services at Frenchay because the previous Labour government had actually proposed less.”

“In particular, a GP surgery site is really positive because local residents currently have to travel to neighbouring areas if they want to see a GP.”

Cllr Colin Hunt (Con, Emersons Green), a former member of the Save Frenchay Hospital Group, added:

“First Labour councillors enthusiastically back stripping our beloved Frenchay Hospital of its acute services and now they are criticising the involvement of an independent provider even though this is what was used at the Emersons Green Independent Sector Treatment Centre.”

“This is gross hypocrisy from Labour councillors and yet another Labour blow against Frenchay Hospital.”

At a meeting of South Gloucestershire Council’s Health Scrutiny Committee on Wednesday, bosses from North Bristol Trust (NBT) who currently run Frenchay said that they do not see themselves as running the new community hospital when it opens in 2014. Instead they intend to put the running of the hospital out to tender and confirmed that the successful bidder would also be expected to provide the nurses to look after the 68 patients undergoing rehabilitation that the new hospital will cater for.

Speaking after the meeting, Labour’s spokesperson on Health, Cllr Ian Scott (Labour, Filton), said;

“This revelation came completely out of the blue. I don’t think anyone ever expected that the new community hospital at Frenchay would not stay entirely within the NHS. It goes to show that the NHS is clearly not safe in the hands of a Tory government.”

Fellow councillor Andy Perkins (Labour, Woodstock), who is the Leader of the Labour Group on South Gloucestershire Council said that local Conservatives should be ashamed that their government is allowing this to happen:

“When the Bristol Health Service Plan was approved in 2005 and Southmead was chosen as the site for the new acute hospital for northern Bristol and South Gloucestershire, local Conservatives were highly critical of the Labour government for allowing it to happen. The Tories promised at local and national elections to save Frenchay hospital if they were ever elected to government but have since failed to live up to their promise. And now their hypocrisy has gone even further and they are allowing Frenchay to be part-privatised.”

Representatives from NBT at the meeting on Wednesday told councillors that the NHS would still be providing the doctors, therapists, staff operating diagnostic equipment and secretarial support but that the running of the new hospital and the nursing staff would all be provided by an external company.

NBT expects to sign a contract with the successful bidder at the end of 2012 and the new building is expected to be ready in the spring of 2014 at the same time as the new Southmead hospital opens.

More info: Progress Report on the Health and Social Care Centre for Frenchay [PDF, 127kB] presented to the meeting of South Gloucestershire Council’s Health Scrutiny Select Committee on Wednesday 14th September 2011.

A local health and social care watchdog group composed of service users is holding a stakeholder event on Thursday this week (15th September) in Emersons Green.

South Gloucestershire and Bristol Local Involvement Networks (LINks) are linking together to become the joint Local HealthWatch ‘Pathfinder’ (one of 75 announced by the Department of Health on 3rd August 2011).

The LINks will are to evolve to become the Local HealthWatch in October 2012 and will be tasked with providing a collective voice for users of health and social care services and their carers.

Becoming a Pathfinder will ensure that South Gloucestershire and Bristol LINks are at the forefront of becoming a network of networks for collecting the views of local communities which will be used to advise the new Clinical Commissioning groups on the shape of local services to ensure that their future plans are informed by the views of the community.

The event will share an update on HealthWatch and the South Gloucestershire & Bristol LINk Pathfinder role and discuss targets and planning for the transition year.

The meeting takes from from 10am to 3pm at Emersons Green Village Hall, Emerson Way, Emersons Green, Bristol BS16 7AP.

To book a place and in order to ensure you have a light lunch, please contact :

Genise Hilton
South Gloucestershire LINk Administrator
Phone: 0117 589351
Email: infsouthglos@linksouthglos.org.uk

The event, aimed at people who are interested in maintaining good health and keeping active, is being held at Yate library between 11am and 3pm.

On offer will be information from more than 30 organisations and health professionals.

You can have a free blood pressure check, get information about the council’s handy van service for minor repairs to your property, find out about our programme of walks in your area and for older people who find it difficult to cut their toe nails, you can get them done for free if you turn up at the library on June 30th. Free eye screening is also available.

Celebrating Age aims to raise awareness amongst older people of the wealth of interesting and stimulating activities that are available to them, from Tai Chi to IT, not to mention song, dance, art, books, motorbikes, conversation, local history, days out and much more.

The festival closes on Friday 1st July with a free finale event at The Folk Centre in Filton.

The good progress reducing teenage pregnancies in South Gloucestershire reflects the strong partnership effort across a wide range of local agencies to provide better education and information to young people about relationships and sexual health, and to provide better access to local sexual health services. Reduction of teenage pregnancy remains a priority for the council and there is a determination across local agencies to further reduce this figure.

Cllr Sheila Cook, executive member for children and young people, said: “I am delighted that the work done by the council and its partners is having a positive effect in reducing teenage pregnancies.”

The multi-agency South Gloucestershire Teenage Pregnancy Partnership implements actions and initiatives to reduce conceptions and support young parents. The partnership will ensure that successful interventions to reduce teenage pregnancy are included within the development of more integrated services for young people over the coming year.

The council’s partnership officer for teenage pregnancy, Lottie Lawson, said: “Our local partners are committed to earlier identification of vulnerable young people, a more holistic approach to assessment, and coordinated multi-agency support for young people and their families. More integrated ways of working will help sustain lower teenage pregnancy rates and support young parents in the future.”