You can watch the recording of the 23/24 Annual Members’ Meeting (AMM) on Microsoft Teams or on our YouTube channel. You can see the questions and responses by clicking ‘Show Q&A’ at the top of the screen on Teams or in the table below. You can also view the transcript here.
The Annual Report and Accounts for 23/24 is available to view here. The slides from the AMM are available to view here.
The questions and answers from the session are available to view below.
| Question | Answer |
| Will pension rights be changed under the Humber Partnership? | Jonathan Lofthouse – So because both parts of our group organisation, Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust and Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, are formal NHS organisations. We’ve not outsourced any workforce. We’ve not changed baseline terms and conditions within agenda for change or within our medical body. There are no changes to any of our 19,000 staff’s ability to access an NHS pension rights, retirement issues or payments, sickness or ultimately, death in service payments, within the new organisation moving forward. So none of our staff have any reason to be concerned that the basis of employment has changed and had an effect on their rights as a pension or service privilege. |
| Are you able to give any detail how you intend to improve the four hour emergency care and cancer treatment plans, with the current challenges around finance and staffing? | Jonathan Lofthouse – So as I reflected over the 22/23 operating year, our emergency care performance was run about 63, 64, percent, so far this year across both Grimsby and Scunthorpe. We’re now in the mid 70s, early to mid 70% in terms of emergency performance and in very many aspects. This is around improved and change model of care. So within both of our new emergency care centres, we have a blend of both urgent treatment facilities, standard emergency department facilities and then short stay intensive assessment facilities. And it has been found nationally that by co-locating the spectrum of emergency model, you can migrate in roads and prime, if you like, the speed with which we can respond to emergency undifferentiated patients. But it’s also important to recognise that whilst the actual performance is often allocated to the acute system, the strength of emergency performance is a pan health economy issue. So for us as a system to have strong and high performing emergency departments, we also need high quality, easily accessible GP services. As an example, we need pharmacy services that are accessible to the public. We need the public to be using 111 services for health issues that don’t require an acute hospital presentation. So, what I would say is our clinical model continues to evolve and evolve very well. Doctor Anwer Qureshi, our chief of service for our emergency service care group, continues to work with all of the emergency department staff. and enhancing emergency quality aspects for our patients. As I say, we’re now treating patients from about 71, 72%. But nonetheless, we need to continue working with health partners, both in the hospital and beyond, and with the ambulance service to sustain and bring about continued improvement with regards to the challenges of cancer treatment. If you look at cancer treatment as a diagnostic element and then potentially an operative element as we bring on board the new community diagnostic centres, which as I’ve reflected, will be coming on board both in Grimsby and Scunthorpe during October this year, we will start to be able to diagnostically assess a far greater pace. Patients who otherwise might be waiting for elements of cancer diagnostic. So the very sizable investment that we’ve made and continue to make in our wider diagnostic pathway will have a direct impact in the pace and speed in which we’re able to take forward our cancer treatments. So whilst the challenge continues around finance and strong financial stewardship, as Phillipa has reflected, we have made significant inroads into stabilising staffing. And as we go into the winter months round about November/December, this year, we will be technically fully established for registered nursing posts across all of our staffing sites. So we’ll have far less reliance on, a commercial agency for less reliance on bank and therefore sign up for greater financial spend control and far greater ability to enhance the quality of care provided to patients. |
| Can we get data for East and West Lindsey Councils by ward? | Diane Lee – Yes, I can certainly contact my colleague Derek Ward, Director of Public Health at Lincolnshire County Council |
| I would be very interested in similar demographic data for the East Riding area and have a general view of the future of Goole | Diane Lee – I will contact my colleague Andy Kingdom, Director of Public Health at East Riding, for that data. Jonathan Lofthouse – So as we continue to harmonise across the new group, Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust and Hull University Teaching Hospitals, in real terms, we have five physical hospital sites. So Grimsby, Scunthorpe, Goole, Hull Royal Infirmary and Castle Hill Hospital, and we also have changing pathways of care. At this point in time and for quite a long period leading up to this point, we use Goole in a very different manner to the manner it was originally envisaged maybe 20 years ago when it was constructed so we have very very few inpatients in the Goole facility. But we do have strong access for some aspects of outpatient service and ophthalmology outpatient service, some of our day care services and our partnered Urgent Treatment Centre. So whilst we’re working through the future direction of the wider group organisation as part of framing our strategic intentions for the next three to five years, I think it is right and proper that we’re with partners and interested members. We continue to challenge whether or not all aspects of our organisation are appropriate, right sized, right shaped and providing the right functional services to the demands of our patients. So I can very much say that as we move forward over the next 6/12/18 months, we’ll be seeking to engage both with elected members governor members and the wider population across all of our areas of service and all of our physical geographies around the future state of physical environment and service. So I hope that opens an avenue for conversation. |
| Will the Health Tree Foundation continue to succeed | Jonathan Lofthouse – At this point in time, both sides of our group so Northern Lincolnshire Goole NHS Foundation Trust and Hull University Teaching Hospitals, have separate charities supporting their endeavours. And at this point in time, there is no suggestion that that will change. So we would fully anticipate continuing to maintain the really excellent relationships that we have with The Health Tree Foundation who bring about, financial, cost-saving and charitable donations to all three of our North Lincolnshire and Goole sites and our community service. |