Agenda item

Matters Arising

Councillor Zair referred to the minutes from the meeting held on 18 January 2019 regarding the closure of Ward 6 and a number of questions which he had not yet received a response to.

With regards to the minutes from 21 February 2019, the Principal Overview and Scrutiny Officer referred to paragraph 32 of item no. 5 was amended to read the following;

Sandra Burton was pleased to see that the document had changed and was now more transparent and noted that the existing Shotley Bridge Hospital accommodation was no longer an option. She felt that what was now been offered was a downgrade and more of a health facility than a community hospital when the statistics clearly showed a growing need due to an increased population and poor health demographics as compared to England overall.  She asked how this could be justified.  The Commissioning and Development Manager disagreed that this was a downgrade and confirmed that the main usage would be around outpatients and the urgent care centre.  As the hospital had a limited workforce the CCG were being open and honest about the situation.  There were no issues around waiting lists due to endoscopy services being delivered from main hospital sites over the last 12 months.  A new local facility was wanted providing local services from a community hospital setting.  The Medical Director added that it was not just a workforce issue but also a quality issue.  A much more therapeutic service was offered from the main hospital sites in relation to endoscopy that could not be offered from Shotley Bridge.

The minutes of the meetings held on 14 January and 18 February 2019 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman, and the minutes from 21 February 2019 were agreed subject to the above amendment, and signed by the Chairman.