To receive a verbal update on the Memorandum of Understanding from the Chief Executive of the Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust.

(Note:  Councillor Stockman, Cabinet Member for Adults and Public Health has been invited to the meeting for this item.)

Liz Davenport, Chief Executive of Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust provided a verbal update on the proposal to implement a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the acute Trusts in North East Devon with South Devon and Torbay.  This had been done via an informal arrangement for a long time to ensure equal access across the region to acute services.  Since Covid-19 there had been a need to extend some of the arrangements to make best use of the total resources e.g. buildings and staff and the MOU was part of national policy to work together to make best use of resources.  Members noted that this did not change the responsibility of the Integrated Care Organisation for the people of Torbay, with the majority of people continuing to receive care at Torbay Hospital or other local facilities which had always been the case.  Ms Davenport responded to questions in relation to:

·                     Theatre space at Torbay Hospital – four theatres had been refurbished and all local theatres were currently in use, including the day operating suite which was now running at normal levels.  Indicative funding of £13.3m was expected to be provided through the National Team to extend ophthalmology and other key facilities.

·                     The impact on patients who were transferred to other hospitals and on those who were unable to travel outside Torbay – impact assessments were carried out in such cases and they look at how to make best use of the facilities, sometimes this involves clinicians travelling to treat patients locally and services such as vascular surgery may be treated by a hospital out of normal working hours.  Impact assessments will continue to be carried out on any future changes and they will make sure that they are open and transparent about any proposed changes.

·                     Were there any services still suffering from the pandemic – there were currently no Covid-19 positive patients which had enabled services to move back to business as normal.  Currently they were running at 70% of normal activity for elective pathways and expect this to move to 85% over the next three months.  The Government has provided extra funding to help organisations increase capacity to start addressing backlogs and they need to be flexible on how they use their buildings and staff to address this.

·                     Was a more formal process than the MOU intended to be introduced going forward such as pooled budgets – no, the MOU was intended to be clear about roles and responsibilities as part of National Policy and the White Paper around integrated social care.  Many elements of the White Paper in respect of collaboration have been done in Torbay for a while through the Integrated Care Organisation.

·                     Looking forward does the Hospital have capacity to support patients with Covid-19 from August 2021 to July 2022 – there was likely to be an increase in numbers during that time and the Trust works closely with colleagues in Public Health to regularly review the data, they continue to plan to maintain safety of services in light of Covid-19 and have designed pathways in all areas to minimise the impact on other services as a result of future outbreaks to ensure patients can continue to access health care when they need it.

·                     What was happening with the Nightingale in Exeter – this had proved to be a valuable resource working in collaboration with colleagues to manage safely the needs of Covid-19 patients and those without Covid-19.  There were currently no Covid-19 patients in the Nightingale but it was continuing to be used for Devon and the South West of England for diagnostic work, access to scans and other services which it was proposed would remain in place.

·                     Acknowledgement of the hard work and dedication of staff for the people of Torbay – it was as a result of all partners who had worked together to get the best outcomes for local people of Torbay.

Resolved:

(i)         that, the Board endorsed the Memorandum of Understanding; and

(ii)        that the Board thanked all the staff from the hospital and partners for their incredible work and dedication to support the people of Torbay over the past 12 months during the Coronavirus Pandemic (unanimous).