COM/2011

Central and North WestLondon

NHS Foundation Trust

Council of Members Meeting

14 December 2011

Draft Minutes

Minutes of a meeting of the Council of Members, held at 5pm in public on 14 December 2011 atTrust Headquarters, Stephenson House.

Members Present:

Dame Ruth Runciman (Chair)Mr. Robin Walker

Mr. Henry ArthursMr. Paul Byrne

Mr. Sean Bell-BriggsDr. Alicia Etchegoyen

Ms. Charlotte GreenMs. Irene Leeman

Cllr. Ketan ShethDr. Mike Crawford

Dr. Cathy WieldMs. Monique Klang-Voves

Ms. Janet SealeMr. Timothy Seale

Ms. Ann SheridanMs. Shalinie Tewarie

Dr. Alicia EtchegoyenMr. Barry Gibbins

Mr. Joseph AnekeDr. Lina Christopoulou

Mr. Stephen ChamberlainCllr. Peter Kemp

Ms. Laura Chatterton

In Attendance:

Mr. Ian HolderNon-Executive Director

Ms. Helen EdwardsNon-Executive Director

Mr. David WalkerNon-Executive Director

Prof Dorothy GriffithsNon-Executive Director

Ms. Mandie CampbellNon-Executive Director

Mr. Laks KhanguraNon-Executive Director

Ms. Claire MurdochChief Executive

Mr. David BrettleDirector of HR

Ms. Robyn DoranDirector Operations and Partnerships

Dr. Alex LewisMedical Director

Mr. Andy MattinDirector of Operations and Nursing

Mr. John VaughanDirector Strategic Planning and Community Services

Mr. Richard VergezAssociate Director, Corporate Governance

Ms. Christine BaldwinsonTrust Secretary

Ms. Anna ShawHead of Communications and Marketing

Mr. Chris BumsteadHead of Patient and Public Involvement

Mr. Nick BellDeputy Trust Secretary

  1. Welcome

aThe Chair welcomed attendees to the meeting and noted this was the first meeting at the Trust’s new headquarters.

  1. Apologies

aThe Council of Members received apologies for absence from Jill Patel, Sara Balabanoff, Margaret Davine, Kostas Agath, John Kerslake-Dunne, Beverly Dawkins, John Muolo, and John Parkinson.

  1. Welcome to the new Lead Governor

aThe Chair welcomed Cllr Ketan Sheth as the new Lead Governor for the Trust. Cllr Sheth introduced himself and thanked Kostas Agath as previous Lead Governor for all his work. Cllr Shethsaid he was looking forward to taking on the role and working with Governors to progress the work of the Council of Members.

  1. Governor Election, Appointment, Resignation and Termination updates since last meeting

aThe Trust Secretary informed the Council of Members that the Trust had had two resignations since the last meeting, Public Governor Russell Healey and Staff Governor Kay Robertson. In the case of the Staff Governor post this was contested at election, and Laura Chatterton as the candidate with the second most votes has therefore been appointed.

  1. Minutes of the meetings held on 15 September 2011

aThe minutes of the last meeting were considered for matters of accuracy. It was noted that Stephen Chamberlain should be added as an apology. Subject to this correction, the minutes were approved as an accurate record.

  1. Matters Arising

aThere were no matters arising from the minutes.

  1. Research Project – Service User Involvement

a Dr Mike Crawford introduced the item and advised that the project was to look at how best to use service user involvement and feedback to improve the quality of care provided. The project involves three Mental Health Trusts: South London and Maudsley, CNWL, and Sussex Partnership Trust. Part of the project would be for a project worker to attend the Council of Member meetings to see how the public, Governors and the Directors of the Trust interact, and the outcomes from this. It will also involve focus groups at the start and end of the project with service users and service user Governors. A report will then be written which the focus group will have an opportunity to review prior to being published. The report and data gathered would be gathered anonymously.

bThe Council of Members gave its assent for the project to be taken forward with CNWL and the Council of Members.

  1. Self Appraisal

aThe Trust Secretary introduced the item and provided a presentation to the Council of Members. This considered feedback from the questionnaire provided to Governors. The Trust Secretary advised that feedback was broadly positive although there had been some bits of negative feedback. All feedback was being reviewed to see what could be taken forward to improve the Governor role for future years.

bThe Trust Secretary particularly requested that any Governor who was unsure of their role and what it entailed should let her know and she will arrange either a group meeting or individual meetings to try to ameliorate this. It was also reiterated that if Governors do feel that there are other elements of work they could do then they should feed this back to the Trust to take forward. The Council of Members agreed that a skills audit should be taken forward to identify areas of CNWL’s work Governors would like to contribute to or develop their knowledge about.

cA Governor requested that further clarification on how to respond to queries or contact from constituents be developed. The Trust Secretary agreed to arrange this.

CB

dOne element of feedback was that name badges were requested and it was clarified that this would be useful for various Governor activities. The Trust Secretary advised that badges would be produced.

eThe presentation also considered the current statutory responsibilities of Governors and new responsibilities that would be introduced as part of the Health and Social Care Bill, which made it clear that Governors already carried out a number of the responsibilities it recommended, and others were refinements of the current role.

fA Governor queried whether there would be an evaluation of service lines to see whether they are working well or not, and to feed this back to Governors. The Chief Executive advised that the Trust is still in the process of implementing the service lines, and the next financial year would be the period to evaluate them. However she also noted that some service lines have already gone live and a mini evaluation could be carried out and shared with Governors on this and the key issues that could arise in the coming year. It was therefore agreed that there would be a fuller review and report to the next Council of Members meeting. It was also requested that an information sheet be developed on the service lines. It was agreed that the monthly Trust Change Programme Board provide its summary report to Governors as well.

  1. Chief Executive’s report

a The Chief Executive introduced the item and advised that, as CNWL already provides some services outside London and may consider further expansion, the Trust was looking to extend the remit of the Greater London Authority Governor constituency to include the rest of England and Wales, and rename the constituency title accordingly. It was noted that Henry Arthurs currently occupies this Governor position, and it was clarified that his term of office would be unaffected. It was queried whether the Trust might overstretch itself through excessive expansion. The Chief Executive clarified that each opportunity would be considered on its merits and the service only undertaken if it could be delivered safely with the Trust’s resources. The Council of Members therefore agreed to the change of title and responsibility.

bThe Director of Strategic Planning and Community Services introduced the business planning element of the report and advised that a number of dates are proposed for further meetings of the annual planning sub-group. Past contributions by Governors have been extremely useful in the development of the annual plan and he encouraged more Governors to attend these meetings. If there are a number of Governors who would like to attend the sub-groups but cannot make these dates then they should advise the Director of Strategic Planning and Community Services,and if sufficient numbers cannot attend, he will seek to rearrange. He also asked for Governors who have attended in the past to suggest any further topics or areas for consideration.

ALL

cIt was queried how future commissioning bodies will be represented on the Council of Members. The Trust Secretary advised that the Trust had raised this with Monitor and wasinformed that the constitution could not be changed to accommodate this until the law is changed. The Trust is however engaging with all the emerging commissioning groups.

  1. Performance Report

a The Medical Director introduced the item and advised that this is the same report that the Board of Directors considers, and is a combined quality / performance report. All of the main areas and quality priorities are provided in the report. The Council of Members indicated their satisfaction with the report and that they would be happy to continue receiving this on a quarterly basis.

bIt was queried whether Hillingdon and Camden Provider Services were required to report against the same standards or against their own. The Medical Director advised that they had not produced a quality account prior to joining CNWL, but that they still had detailed measurements of their own, and were also required to report against external standards.

  1. Finance Update

aThe Chief Executive introduced the item and advised that it provided a picture of the current financial situation in the Trust. The Chief Executive advised that the Trust is currently on track to achieve this year’s financial targets, and is also now busy planning for 2012/13. At the next meeting the Trust will have a much clearer picture of the financial situation it will face in 2012/13.

bA Governor queried how the relationship with Harrowcommissioners was progressing given reports of past difficulties over contract negotiations. The Director of Operations and Partnerships advised that the relationship was much improved and that agreement had been achieved last year through a mix of cuts to CNWL funding and helping find savings in commissioner budgets. This year will be challenging as well but negotiations are well underway.

cThe Chief Executive advised that commissioner cutbacks are in addition to the CIP programme the Trust undergoes each year, which this year had been £19.6m. With all combined together this made savings each year very challenging and forces the Trust to find innovative new ways to provide quality services.

dA Governor queried what progress there was with North Central London and the debt owed to the Trust. The Chief Executive advised that payments are coming in slowly and erratically. Part of the reason for this is that effectively what was previously five separate organizations in place has now been collapsed into one organisation, and this had resulted in severe disruption to their processes.

eA Governor queried what the impact of the new Health and Social Care Bill will be on Trust services and service users. The Chief Executive advised that one of the biggest elements that has changed is the commissioning landscape, with part of the issue being the collapse of the previous PCT structure in all but statutory responsibility. In their place are the cluster bodies which have delegated responsibility for commissioning services, however this may also only be a temporary measure as it is anticipated that the GP commissioning groups will be taking over responsibility. This therefore resulted in a very fluid commissioning landscape that was difficult to predict. The Chief Executive noted that they could provide a number of benefits to try to ensure focus on the correct areas of patient care, but there are also a number of risks with the new commissioning landscape. The Chief Executive suggested that it would be useful to have a separate seminar on the Bill once it has been signed off. The annual planning sub-group would also be looking at these issues.

fA Governor queried the role of the third sector and its development. The Chief Executive advised that there were both opportunities and threats with the development of the third sector. The Trust is bidding for a lot of new business in partnership with the third sector, but equally the Trust’s Addictions services are currently under threat from third sector organisations.

  1. Appointment of Non-Executive Directors

aHenry Arthurs introduced the item and advised that the Appointments Committee met to consider the reappointment of three Non-Executive Directors, Helen Edwards, Ian Holder, and Dorothy Griffiths. The Committee considered a number of facets of the proposed reappointments, and recommended the council endorse the reappointment of Helen Edwards for a further period of three years from 1 April 2012, Ian Holder for a further period of one year from 30 September 2012, and Dorothy Griffiths for a further period of one year from 10 May 2012.

bA Governor queried what sort of skills and responsibilities are required of a Non-Executive Director, and how the candidates are sought. The Chief Executive advised that each time a vacancy comes up, the Appointments Committee consider the skill set being sought in a new NED particular to the Trust’s needs. The vacancy is then advertised, and interviews taken forward. It was agreed that the job description for Non-Executive Directors would be made available with the minutes.

cThe Council of Members endorsed the reappointment of Helen Edwards for a further period of three years from 1 April 2012, Ian Holder for a further period of one year from 30 September 2012, and Dorothy Griffiths for a further period of one year from 10 May 2012.The Chair reiterated her thanks to the Appointments Committee for their work in the process.

dThe Appointments Committee also requested permission to review the appointment process with the aim of allowing more flexibility in timescales and timeframes for appointments and reappointments, and come back to the Council with any proposed changes. The Council of Members agreed that this would be a valuable review.

  1. Member Engagement Update

aStephen Chamberlain introduced the item and noted that all Foundation Trust members have a very important role in engaging with Trusts, and this membership engagement group functions very well.

bA Governor queried how the membership in Camden and Hillingdon compared to the rest of the Trust. The Head of Patient and Public Involvement advised that the next membership campaign would be within these areas, and there was still a lot of work to do on engaging members despite the good progress so far.

  1. Questions from Members of the Public

aThe Chairman invited questions from members of the public in relation to those items discussed on the agenda.

bFollowing a question regarding the minutes, the Chair clarified that this issue had been discussed and the response circulated to Governors and had been raised at numerous previous meetings. It also did not feature on the agenda of the present meeting and therefore no further discussion would be held on the matter.

  1. Any Other Business

aThe Chair thanked all Governors for their work during the year and the value and benefit the Trust derives from their contributions and commitment to their role.

  1. Date of Next Meeting

aThe date of the next meeting is 22 March 2012, at Trust Headquarters, Stephenson House.

The meeting was declared closed at 6.30 p.m.

Chair

1