The referral and supporting evidence are available on the West Sussex County Council website.
The Committee made the referral on the basis that the decisions made by West Sussex Primary Care Trust (PCT) on the future configuration of acute services were not in the interests of the health service in West Sussex and the surrounding area.
The Heath Secretary has asked an independent panel of experts, the Independent Reconfiguration Panel, to conduct an initial investigation into the referral before he agrees whether or not a full review is required.
Joint Committee spokesman Andrew Barrett-Miles said: “Following the detailed scrutiny of the proposals undertaken by the committee, we have urged the Secretary of State to commission a full review of the issues raised in our referral to ensure that our concerns are given the most thorough examination possible.”
The committee agreed to make a referral on the following grounds:
- There remains insufficient clarity about the way in which the service model of one Major General and two Local General Hospitals (LGH) within West Sussex will be implemented, in particular exactly which services will be provided at each hospital and the impact on services provided at hospitals outside West Sussex.
- There is a lack of clinical consensus for the proposals, which makes it impossible for the committee to be assured that the proposals are clinically safe and sustainable – key objectives identified by the PCT at the outset of its consultation on the changes.
- The decision leaves the Royal West Sussex NHS Trust (St Richard’s Hospital) in a position which the PCT considers may not be financially sustainable and unlikely to meet the standards required of a Foundation Trust in breach of government policy. This would also have applied to Worthing and Southlands NHS Trust had Worthing Hospital been chosen as the LGH.
- The PCT has failed to satisfy the committee that it has fully explored alternative options for the retention of consultant-led maternity services at Princess Royal and St Richard’s Hospitals. The PCT has not taken into full account recent evidence regarding the potential clinical and financial sustainability of smaller consultant-led obstetric (maternity) units (CLU) which could make CLUs at St Richard’s, Worthing and Princess Royal Hospitals viable.
Notes to editors
A Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (JHOSC) is formed when NHS proposals affect more than one area and in this case comprises those local authorities consulted by the West Sussex and Brighton & Hove PCTs. The JHOSC has the power to scrutinise the proposals, make recommendations to the PCTs and if not satisfied by their response, to refer the disputed issues to the Secretary of State for Health.
The JHOSC is made up of councillor representatives from:
- Brighton & Hove City Council
- East Sussex County Council
- Hampshire County Council
- Portsmouth City Council
- Surrey County Council
- West Sussex County Council.
Reference:
2098
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