Response to Andrew Slaughter MP’s comments on the Trust’s clinical strategy - 25 July 2014

Responding to comments by Andy Slaughter MP on service changes at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, Trust chief executive Dr Tracey Batten said: 

“A draft strategy setting out how we want to develop our services to meet changing health needs will be presented to the Trust board on 30 July. The draft clinical strategy was posted on the Trust website on Thursday along with other board papers.

A foreword to the draft clinical strategy (see Notes to editors), signed by myself and the Trust’s most senior medical and nursing leads, makes clear that the status quo is not an option if the trust is to respond to changing health needs and continue to provide high quality care.

The draft clinical strategy focuses on transforming services through the implementation of new models of care to ensure our services achieve the best outcomes, are joined up, tailored to individual needs and provide an excellent patient experience. It also reflects the wider service change programme for north west London, Shaping a healthier future. This programme, led by local commissioners, was approved by the Secretary of State for Health in October 2013 following a full public consultation and a review by the Independent Reconfiguration Panel. Everything in our draft clinical strategy is in line with Shaping a healthier future.”

Clarity on specific comments is as follows:

• We are developing an estates strategy to support the implementation of the clinical strategy. The current Charing Cross Hospital building is intended to be replaced with a £150 million development to be designed for future health needs. If approved by the Trust board on Wednesday, it will be at least one year before central approval and agreement on finances and a further period to complete design work and secure planning permissions. The Trust is publicly committed to major and ongoing engagement with local communities to work up the plans.
• If the finances are approved centrally, there will be new, purpose-built facilities at Charing Cross and St Mary’s. The design will make better use of the estate and so will free up some land to be sold to help fund the redevelopment.
• The draft clinical strategy is clear that there will be a continued 24/7 emergency service at Charing Cross Hospital, in line with the Secretary of State’s decision. The strategy states that “we are awaiting further guidance from NHS England on a national strategy to help guide the development of emergency services appropriate for a local hospital”.
• The budget for inpatient hospital care has to reduce – and can be reduced –so we can provide more and better care out of hospital and focus more on keeping people healthier. Currently, in north west London, a fifth of over 75s end up back in hospital as emergencies within 28 days of discharge from hospital. This is bad for patients and bad for the NHS, but it can be addressed through more joined up care and more tailored care, closer to home.
• A major public information campaign to raise awareness of the closure of Hammersmith A&E and the continued provision of a 24/7 urgent care service has been developed. The key messages for the campaign have been developed through public research and testing. Some aspects of the campaign have already begun, including a series of meetings with and letters to GPs and letters to parents via local schools. There is also a programme of meetings and communications with a wide range of community groups. The general public campaign via outdoor and print advertising, door-drop leaflets and media will begin on 28 July. It involves 285,000 leaflets and 312,000 pharmacy bags, putting ads on 30 bus routes, and over 100 poster and billboard sites.

ENDS –
For more information please contact:

Saffron Pineger
Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust press office
Email: saffron.pineger@imperial.nhs.uk
Tel: 020 3312 1475

Web: www.imperial.nhs.uk
Twitter: twitter.com/ImperialNHS
RSS feed: www.imperial.nhs.uk/aboutus/news/rss/index.htm
Youtube: www.youtube.com/user/Imperialnhs/videos?sort=da&view=u

Notes to editors:

The draft clinical strategy is available at http://www.imperial.nhs.uk/aboutus/ourorganisation/boardmeetings/index.htm

Foreword to draft clinical strategy
The NHS, like other healthcare systems across the developed world, is facing a massive challenge. While continuing to provide excellent urgent and emergency services, we have to transform the way that we care for the vastly increasing number of people with long-term conditions, such as diabetes or heart disease, and for our growing frail, elderly population.

Too many people with long-term or multiple conditions are simply not getting the right support. A fifth of over-75s end up back in hospital as emergencies within 28 days of discharge from hospital – this is bad for patients and bad for the NHS.

We believe we can respond to these challenges – but we have to have the right services, in the right place, in the right facilities. Our estate hasn’t had the development it has needed over the past decade or so – a large part of our building stock is now over 100 years old. We have to get it right this time.

This clinical strategy reflects the well-evidenced principles of what good future NHS care will look like. This means more local and integrated services, to improve access and help keep people healthy, and more concentrated specialist services where necessary, to increase quality and safety. We’ve already seen many more lives saved by centralising major trauma, stroke and heart attack centres across the capital, including at our hospitals.

We have had a huge input to this strategy from doctors, nurses and other clinicians and staff across the Trust. We recognise that to develop our strategy further and to implement it successfully, we need to do much more to explain our thinking and to listen and respond to the views and concerns of patients and local communities. And we have to make sure that we have community capacity in place before we reduce inpatient hospital services. But, as clinicians, we are certain that the biggest threat to the NHS – and to the great care we are here to provide – will come if we don’t change to meet new demands.

Dr Tracey Batten, chief executive
Professor Chris Harrison, medical director
Professor Jamil Mayet, divisional director of surgery, cancer and cardiovascular
Mr Steve McManus, chief operating officer
Professor Tim Orchard, divisional director of medicine
Dr Julian Redhead, divisional director of investigative sciences and clinical support
Professor Janice Sigsworth, director of nursing
Mr TG Teoh, divisional director of women’s and children’s

About Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust

Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust comprises Charing Cross, Hammersmith, Queen Charlotte’s & Chelsea, St Mary’s and Western Eye hospitals. With more than one million patient contacts each year, it is one of the largest acute Trusts in the country and, in partnership with Imperial College London, is the UK’s first Academic Health Science Centre (AHSC). It has an annual turnover of around £970 million. The Trust was created on 1 October 2007, by merging Hammersmith Hospitals NHS Trust and St Mary's NHS Trust.

Imperial College Healthcare is one of eleven NIHR Biomedical Research Centres. This designation is given to the most outstanding NHS and university research partnerships in the country; leaders in scientific translation and early adopters of new insights in technologies, techniques and treatments for improving health. Imperial College Healthcare has some of the lowest mortality rates in the country according to the Dr Foster Guide – an annual, independent report published 2012.

About Imperial Academic Health Science Centre

Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and Imperial College London formed a unique partnership and together they became the UK's first AHSC. On 9 March 2009, the Trust and College received official recognition as an AHSC from the UK government. An AHSC is a partnership between a healthcare provider and a university. The vision of the AHSC is to vastly improve the quality of life our patients and populations by taking scientific discoveries and translating them into new therapies and techniques and bringing them into an NHS setting in as quick a timeframe as possible.

About Imperial College London

Consistently rated amongst the world's best universities, Imperial College London is a science-based institution with a reputation for excellence in teaching and research that attracts 14,000 students and 6,000 staff of the highest international quality. Innovative research at the College explores the interface between science, medicine, engineering and business, delivering practical solutions that improve quality of life and the environment - underpinned by a dynamic enterprise culture.

Since its foundation in 1907, Imperial's contributions to society have included the discovery of penicillin, the development of holography and the foundations of fibre optics. This commitment to the application of research for the benefit of all continues today, with current focuses including interdisciplinary collaborations to improve global health, tackle climate change, develop sustainable sources of energy and address security challenges

Imperial Trust Website