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Notes of the meeting held on Wednesday 6th February 2013 at 5:30pm in the Community Room, LCH

Present: Ross Mackenzie (RM) District Manager, Caithness & Sutherland

Christian Goskirk (CG) Quality Improvement Lead

Mary Nicol (MN) Golspie Community Council

Alan Tubb (AT) Health Voices Rep

Ishbel Clarkson (IC) League of Friends

Campbell Port (CP) Golspie Community Council

Lorraine Coe (LC) Community Hospitals Development Manager

Maimie Thompson (MT) Head of Public Relations & Engagement

Charlotte Gibson (CGn) East Sutherland Community Care Forum

Carl Lemkes (CL) Sutherland Access Panel

Gerry Lemkes (GL) Friends of Cambusavie

Christine Ross (CR) Voluntary Groups East Sutherland

Kathleen Cunningham (KC) League of Friends, LMH

Action
1. / Welcome & Apologies
RM welcomed all to the meeting.
Apologies were noted form
Allison Mackay (AMac) Charge Nurse, LMH
Lee Bright (LB) Brora Community Council
Cllr Deirdre Mackay (DM) Highland Council
Ivor Campbell (ICll) Estates Officer
Dr Janet Mair (JM) Clinical Lead for Community Hospitals, Sutherland
Catherine Sutherland (CS) Brora Community Council
Marie McIlwraith (MMc) Scottish Health Council
Sandy Allison (SA) Lairg Community Council
Mary MacRae (MM) League of Friends, LMH
2. / Notes of the meeting of 9th January 2013
The notes of the meeting held on 9th January 2013 were approved.
3. / Matters Arising (not otherwise on the Agenda)
Ø  Name – CP, on behalf of the Golspie Heritage Society handed over a petition regarding the proposed name change (from Lawson Memorial Hospital to Lawson Community Hospital) to RM. The petition had been circulated widely throughout East Sutherland and online via the society’s facebook page.
RM reported that as discussed at the previous meeting he had attended the January meeting of the Brora Community Council. He had used the opportunity to outline the work which had been done to date and the plans for the future. While the issue of the name change had come up, it had not been the main issue he said. KC echoed this saying that while it had been raised it was felt that it should not be allowed to cloud the work being done.
LC said that a similar visit to the Helmsdale Community Council had also been held recently. There were no comments re the name.
It was noted that MT is to attend a meeting Golspie Community Council to be held on Mon 11th Feb ’13. This will allow a further opportunity to explain to the community the work which has been taking place over the recent months and the plans for phase 2 and 3.
It was agreed that until further consultation is complete e.g. Golspie Community Council no decision would be taken on the name of the hospital. The status quo will remain. MT to make clear that there is a “pause” to allow further consultation and that a final decision will be taken in the next few months.
Ø  Artwork – LC confirmed that the paintings which had some time ago been removed from the Outpatients Dept were no longer on site. As noted at the previous meeting the Steve MacGruer painting which had previously been on display in what had been the Day Room of the Cambusavie Unit is now on display in the outpatient unit.
Ø  Opening – LC confirmed that she had discussed the opening of both the new inpatient area and the Greenspace with the Lord Lieutenant. LC will continue to keep the group informed.
Ø  Hospital Site Entrance – RM confirmed that he had highlighted the problems to estates. Some remedial work has been done. / MT
LC
4. / Update on Progress
Ø  Building Warrant – RM confirmed that an application for a Building Warrant for Change of Use had been submitted to Highland Council. There were one or two issues the council wished to clarity before the warrant is approved.
It was noted that unfortunately during the work to complete the conversion of the day room into bedrooms/kitchen there will be some disruption to staff and patients. All attempts to minimise will be in placed but unfortunately there will be noise and dust. LC confirmed that the four bedded room closest to the area affected will be closed for a period until the work is done. A provisional date of 11th March has been given for completion.
Ø  Kitchen Area – until such time as the building warrant is approved the work to complete the kitchen area cannot take place. However a temporary fix is in place.
AT queried plans for food preparation and laundry on site. RM confirmed that food is prepared on site and will continue to be so. Laundry is not done on site it is taken to Wick or Inverness. There are no plans to restore this service. RM said that there are plans to use the old laundry as a cleaning area for equipment.
Ø  Front Door – The new automatic doors have been installed at the entrance to the inpatient area.
5. / Next Steps
LC said that as part of the preparatory work she had met last week with the estates and IT departments. The plans which had previously been drawn up for the former inpatient area are being updated. It is hoped that copies will be available for the next meeting.
RM said that it is now planned to look at turning the upstairs area into office space. While this wasn’t part of the original plan it does make sense to do it now.
No capital allocation has as yet been made for the project however he stressed that there is a commitment to complete the project.
6. / Timescales
As noted above there are no firm timescales for phase 2 and 3 of the project. Preparatory work on phase 2 has begun. There is a commitment from NHS Highland to complete the project.
7. / Communication
MT confirmed that she will update the Northern Times following this meeting. Copies of the press release will also go to VGES and CVS North. MT said that she is compiling a list of community newsletters and websites.
RM said that he had found it useful to visit the Brora and Helmsdale Community Councils recently and would welcome the opportunity to do so again. He suggested that it would be helpful to visit all the Community Councils approx annually. It was agreed that this was a good idea.
AT said that on the NHS Highland website there is a paper which outlines the process of setting up and role of a participation group. RM noted that a couple of meetings ago he had agreed to take advice on participation groups, which he had done. He noted that this group was set up for a specific function and that it was still fulfilling that function. There is a role for a participation group which would have a wider role than this. There is a process to go through to set that up though he noted.
8. / AOCB
Ø  Open Day – LC said that plans are in place to hold an open day (provisionally set for 19th March). Invites etc will be circulated in advance.
Ø  Appointments/Transport Issues – KC said she had been made aware of a couple of issues around appointments and transport issues. She asked if it would be helpful to get something in writing. RM said that it would.
Ø  Thank You – GL thanked everyone for all the hard work in getting the project to the stage it is now at.
9. / DONM
The next meeting will take place on 5th March 2013 at 5:30pm in the Community Room, Lawson Memorial Hospital, Golspie

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