MINUTES OF THE TWENTY SECOND MEETING OF THE COUNCIL OF GOVERNORS OF PORTSMOUTH HOSPITALS NHS TRUST

Held on Friday 8 April 2011 – 10.00am to 1.10pm

Lecture Theatre, Education Centre, Queen Alexandra Hospital, Cosham, Portsmouth, PO6 3LY

PRESENT:
David Rhind (Chair)
Public – Fareham & Gosport:
Lucy Docherty
Mary Sheppard
David Gattrell
Public – Havant & East Hampshire:
Roland Howes
Jocelyn Booth
Kate Bowskill
Patient/Carer:
Dr Robin Marsh
Pepe Chisenga / Public – Portsmouth City:
Syd Rapson
Sarah Edmonds
Dr Isabel Pine
Staff:
Joc Wace
Les Jones
Appointed Governors:
Cllr Gwen Blackett – Havant Borough Council
Cllr Peter Edgar – Hampshire County Council
Norman Robson – West Sussex Primary Care Trust / Surgeon Commodore Noel Bevan – Ministry of Defence
Jackie Powell, NHS Portsmouth
IN ATTENDANCE:
Peter Mellor – Company Secretary
Ursula Ward – Chief Executive / Simon Holmes – Medical Director
Susanna Kayley (Minutes)
Allison Stratford – Associate Director of Communications & Engagement
APOLOGIES:
Richard Mackay – Fareham & Gosport
Stephen Arkle – Portsmouth University / Ken Thompson – Portsmouth
Nicholas Courtneidge – Staff Side
DID NOT ATTEND:
Lisa Mundy – Portsmouth City Council / David Joel – Chamber of Commerce
11/11 / APOLOGIES
The Company Secretary announced those apologies received in advance of the meeting.
12/11 / DECLARATION OF ANY CONFLICT OF INTERESTS
Syd Rapson advised that his son worked for Carillion.
13/11 / MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING
07/11 – Kate Bowskill advised that it was Mary Sheppard who had asked if it was appropriate for Governors to be invited to Chief Executive Forums.
The minutes were approved as a true and accurate record of the meeting.
14/11 / MATTERS ARISING
Jocelyn Booth advised that she could not find the ‘Employee of the Month’ details on the website. The Company Secretary confirmed it was indeed there, however Mary Sheppard asked for all Governors to have a look and to advise if they too had any problems.
Action: Governors
Lucy Docherty asked if Governors could be invited to attend the ‘Captains Rounds’ which took place on a monthly basis. It was agreed to send the Governors a list with all dates on and one Governor could attend each session. Governors are required to express their interest to Susanna Kayley so that a ‘master sheet’ can be kept.
Action: Susanna Kayley
15/11 / CHAIRS REPORT
The Chairman advised that concerns expressed by the Health Service Committee and others regarding reform of the NHS had resulted in a pause whilst the Government carried out a second consultation.
He updated on the recent Foundation Trust discussions with the Strategic Health Authority and the Department of Health and confirmed that the Trust had full commitment from both the Strategic Health Authority and the Department of Health in support of the Trusts application for Foundation Trust status. Membership would need to be refreshed and re-elections for Governors would need to take place in due course.
The Chief Executive was delighted to be able to brief the meeting on three contracts which had recently been awarded to the Trust. The Neo-Natal Transport Service had been renewed for the next three years. The Ministry of Defence contract had been renewed and the Bariatric service contract (surgical obesity service) has been awarded to the Trust for the Hampshire, Portsmouth, Southampton and Isle of Wight areas
David Gattrell raised an issue around a leaflet he had received from Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust (Care UK) promoting its services and asked how this might affect Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust ambitions. The Chairman confirmed that the Trust were in a good position with very good facilities and staff, however the Board were aware of the need to market ourselves better and, with this in mind, had agreed to appoint a Business Development / Marketing Director to move this forward.
Joc Wace asked fellow Governors to champion the hospital and to write to their local MPs, pointing out the shortcomings within the White Paper.
Norman Robson asked how interest rates might affect the financial plans for 2011/12. The Chairman confirmed that potential interest rates rises had been taken into account by the Trust; he offered to discuss this in more detail outside of the meeting.
16/11 / RESULTS FROM THE STAFF SURVEY
Samm Coley, Employee Engagement Manager, attended to give a presentation on the results from the recent Staff Survey. She highlighted some of the concerns identified from the results. An action plan had been developed to address these areas for improvement. The Chief Executive pointed out that the Trust had the lowest staff turnover of most NHS organisations. It was agreed that the Best People and Best Care TAG would pick this up at its next meeting and keep Governors informed accordingly.
Action: Lucy Docherty / Samm Coley
17/11 / FEEDBACK FROM TRUST ADVISORY GROUPS
Best People and Best Care
Lucy Docherty advised that the Trust Advisory Groups intended to choose five themes to measure the Clinical Service Centres against.
Best Hospital
Mary Sheppard reported that Julie Knight, Communications Manager, had attended the latest meeting and joined in discussions regarding the Trust website and how we might improve it and enlarge on the Ministry of Defence aspect.
Mary highlighted that an area of focus for the group was to be communications with patients and hoe to improve the standard of letters sent to them.
Mary advised that the typing pool had done tremendous work and were now turning around typing within five days. This was a real achievement and was noted by the meeting.
Mary asked for support from all Governors for the forthcoming Public meetings and urged as many as possible to attend.
Syd Rapson advised that the food tasting by the Portsmouth Pensioners had been cancelled as one of them had recently been a patient in the hospital and had enjoyed the food and had given very positive feedback. As a consequence the group felt that a food tasting session was no longer required.
18/11 / VASCULAR BRIEFING
The Medical Director attended to discuss his briefing paper which had been previously circulated. Allison Stratford, Associate Director of Communications and Engagement, advised that the Strategic Health Authority had asked for a communications and engagement strategy to be put in place and for a public consultation to take place.
The Medical Director reiterated that if local Vascular services were to be centralised at Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust, it would mean there would be no Vascular service between Southampton and Brighton and that this would have serious clinical implications for other services at Queen Alexandra Hospital.
Lucy Docherty suggested, and it was agreed, that a focused plan of action be developed to get the Trusts voice across. Peter Edgar emphasised the importance of getting the local Health Overview and Scrutiny Committees involved and to ensure that they were provided with all of the facts.
There was further discussion surrounding this topic and it was agreed that a small focus group be established to support the Trust.
Action: The Company Secretary
19/11 / INTERVIEW WITH MARK WALDRON, EDITOR, THE NEWS
Mark Waldron attended the meeting to provide Governors with an insight into his role and to give them the opportunity to ask questions of him.
Syd Rapson asked if The news was a supporter of one particular political party or other. Mark advised that the paper printed the views of readers and, although sometimes this could seem weighted towards one particular party, this did not reflect the opinion of the newspaper.
Lucy Docherty raised the issue of the Vascular centralisation and asked if The News would be supporting the Hospital’s position. Mark confirmed that this would be a matter of real concern for local people and that The News would strongly support the retention of Vascular services at Portsmouth.
The Company Secretary asked Mark if The News might do a profile of the Governors at sometime in the future and he agreed.
Action: The Company Secretary
20/11 / PROPOSED AGENDA ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING
After discussion, it was agreed that the following items would form the agenda for the next meeting.
·  Vascular Campaign Update
·  Foundation Trust Plan and Update on Progress
·  Patient Experience Council – Sarah Balchin
21/11 / ANY OTHER BUSINESS
Syd Rapson highlighted the problems in Cavell Drive, and advised that although it was not open to public traffic, cars were still driving through. He asked what could be done about this and the Company Secretary advised that it was the intention of Portsmouth City Council to erect cameras whereby motorists would be issued with a fine for using this road. The Company Secretary agreed to ask the Council for an update on their progress.
Action: The Company Secretary
Dr Isabel Pine raised the issue of car parking and penalty tickets. The Company Secretary confirmed that the Trust was entreating Carillion to address this, perhaps with a warning being issued rather than a ticket in the first instance.
There being no further business the meeting ended at 1.20pm.