Rotherham Foundation Trust - Update on Future Plans
- Louise Barnett, Interim Chief Executive to present
Minutes:
Louise Barnett, Interim Chief Executive, and Christopher Langley, Interim Chairman, Rotherham Foundation Trust, gave a powerpoint presentation setting out:-
- The background
- NHS financial challenge
- Key strategic principles
- The 3 Strategic options
- The preferred option, its financial challenge and clinical sustainability
- Delivering the preferred option
- Summary of forthcoming actions
The following additional information, incorporating questions by Select Commission Members, was given:-
Monitor
- 5 year financial plan and strategic options submitted by the 31st December, 2013, deadline
- The proposals had not been considered by the Trust’s Governors as yet
- The next step was to set the detail of the vision in conjunction with commissioners and the community
Financial Situation
- Challenges and risks faced by the Trust
- Organisation now on a more stable footing
- Clarification with regard to the Trust’s forecasted financial position at the end of 2013/14 financial year and the 2014/15 budget
- Inflationary pressures and continuing reduction in Government funding
Transformation Programme
- Financial situation improved by Bolt Partners through reduced corporate functions
- Involvement of workforce in finding efficiencies – key staff identified to lead on change
- Set of priorities agreed with commissioners to look at opportunities to work together across the region i.e. procurement for any potential efficiencies through economies of scale
- Need to ensure the best interests of the patient
- Clinically led systematic speciality based reviews would commence to understand what services were being provided and how
- Assessment of clinics and whether they were meeting patients’ needs
- Important that through general partnership working, there was a shared view with regard to the way forward – there was support for the preferred option
Workforce
- There were a number of vacancies where high cost locum and agency staff were used
- Assessment of clinics and whether they were meeting patients’ needs
- 7 day working would have implications for staffing
- Smarter use of rotas to anticipate absences and reduce the need for agency staff
- Continued commitment to recruit the extra nurses identified previously
- Important to have the right skills mix of staff such as qualified nurses and health care assistants
Governance
- Interviews for the position of Board Chair would be held shortly
- The recruitment process was to start for the Chief Executive Officer
Communication
- There would be a series of communications issued
- Patient groups would be targeted
- Communications Strategy being drawn up
Louise and Christopher were thanked for their attendance.
Resolved:- (1) That the Chief Executive Officer and Chair of the Rotherham Foundation Trust attend the 14th April meeting of the Health Select Commission to give a further update.
(2) That, once known, the Health Select Commission be informed of any comments by Monitor on the 5 year financial plan and strategic options.
Rotherham Foundation Trust - Update
- Michael Morgan, Interim Chief Executive to present
Minutes:
Michael Morgan, Interim Chief Executive, Rotherham Foundation Trust, gave the following update incorporating clarification of questions by Select Commission Members:-
Staffing
- Louise Barnett had been appointed as the new Interim Chief Executive Officer and would be taking up the position on 18th November, 2013
- Jan Bergman had been appointed as the Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Director of Transformation
- 3 new Non-Executive Board Directors appointed – Joe Barnes, Lynne Hagger and Barry Mellor
- The complete team from Bolt Partners would continue their work in the Trust until the Board meeting on 18th December, 2013
- All of the Non-Executive Directors were in place; there was still another group of Non-Executive members that had been with the Trust for several years. The new Directors were interviewed by both the Board and Trust Governors and would not have been invited for interview if it had not been felt they had the experience for the tasks facing them
Options
- There was no preferred option. The Trust, like any other Trust, would probably prefer to move forward on their own without other changes but whether the organisation would be able to do that had yet to be seen especially with the budget restrictions
- There may be services between other Trusts in the region that would work better grouped together. Often Trusts had recruitment issues for specialist clinicians. It may be that clinicians worked between 2 Trusts similar to the current way of Rotherham providing ENT to Doncaster. This could be done under Option 1
- All services would be looked at and considered
- No discussions had been held with the Council as yet. The options to be considered by the Board in December are high level and would take a tremendous amount of work in order to get a 5 year strategic plan in place from January onwards.
- There would be a consultation process to ensure the community were fully informed
- Privatisation had not been put forward as 1 of the options
- Since the turnaround team had been in place, 75 nurses had been recruited. It had also been established that a further 35 were required. A recruitment drive was underway
- The proposed changes to the 11 CSUs had been implemented and now consisted of 4 Directorates. The 4 Clinical Directors would now sit on the Board but would not have voting rights but it is important to have clinical input.
- Rotherham was not alone in facing financial challenges. All the regional Trusts would have to work together and do so in a way that was good for patients that prioritised excellent quality of care within the amount of funding available through the NHS for each of the Trusts
- A specialist had been brought in to work on the Electronic Patient Records system. Rotherham was now well on its way to having such a system and would be much further ahead than others
- There would be additional car ... view the full minutes text for item 39