Agenda item

To receive a presentation on the new proposals for the Chase Farm Hospital site. 

The Board received a presentation on the new proposals for the Chase Farm Hospital site from Maggie Robinson, Head of Property and Angela Bartley, Assistant Director of Public Health at the Royal Free London, NHS Foundation Trust. 

Copies of the presentation slides are attached to the agenda. 

1.               Key Points of the Presentation

1.1     Maggie Robinson, Head of Property highlighted: 

·       The current buildings on the site were in a poor state of repair and would not be suitable for future health care needs.  Therefore it had been decided that the best solution was a wholescale site redevelopment.

·       An outline planning application had been submitted and was due to be considered by the Council’s Planning Committee on 12 March 2015. 

·       If the application was approved, a reserved matters application will be submitted in summer 2015. 

·       The masterplan includes, for the 39 acres of the site, a new hospital campus (17 acres), residential units (18 acres) and a new school (4 acres).

·       Clinical services proposed were set out on the slide.  Further detail would be provided on request.

·       Consultation had been taking place and feedback on a number of areas received.  All feedback would be considered, responses to queries made and adjustments incorporated. 

·       The consultation period had been extended to allow more time for the Royal Free to respond, to allow for greater clarity and further detail.  Two weeks of consultation remain. 

1.2     Angela Bartley, Assistant Director of Public Health, highlighted: 

·       The Royal Free was unusual in having a public health section.  Its role is to support and complement local community initiatives and it had been involved in the early development of plans for the Chase Side site. 

·       Deprivation and health were linked and it was the role of the service to do what it could to improve health, to reduce the life expectancy gap and address health inequalities. 

·       Research had been carried out into outpatients to identify reasons behind the life expectancy gap and to work out how to shift resources to the most deprived areas.

·       They were plans to create a health promoting clinical and community environment on the site which would include support for work around cycling, enforcing no smoking regulations and providing and promoting healthy food options.

·       Every contact would be used to try and prevent ill health, starting with maternal and child health.  In Enfield 54% of under 16’s are growing up in areas that are amongst the most deprived communities in England. 

·       The Royal Free had had success at increasing referrals as part of a domestic violence initiative.  They would look to introduce a similar initiative at Chase Farm

·       Providing opportunistic immunisations on the spot to those who had missed them was an example of successful practice.

2.               Questions/Comments

2.1     Enfield was the tenth most physically inactive borough in the UK.  It was suggested that the Royal Free could link into Council initiatives such as the provision of free exercise in parks which had been recently launched.  A similar project in Birmingham had revealed that for every £1 invested £26 cost savings were made. 

2.2           Local hospitals would also need to be involved in the council’s key priority, reducing child poverty.

2.3           More detail on the clinical services could be provided on another occasion.  At this meeting they had focussed on public health.  The Royal Free wanted to know what else they could do to support local initiatives.

2.4           Concerns were expressed about the lack of availability of borough level and site specific data.  It was felt that this data would provide greater clarity on the quality of clinical services provided. 

2.5           Conversations had started to see how contractors could be encouraged to employ local residents and to offer mentoring and work experience placements.  Local people would also be employed to deliver services as part of the Social Value Act. 

2.6           There had been a large amount of public involvement and engagement at the start of the process but concern was expressed that but this had tailed off recently.  In response there had been a large amount of local stakeholder and resident engagement around at the start of the process and around the planning application which was continuing.  Two more consultation/engagement events were planned towards the end of March.  In addition, a temporary building had been placed in front of the Clock Tower which would house a facility containing information about the proposals and there would be people will be on hand to answer queries.  Comments were always welcome.  Details of ne initiatives would be sent to Deborah Fowler to add to the Healthwatch website. 

2.7           The majority of the proposed public health initiatives would be provided as part of the trust’s normal services, from the trust’s own resources, but others would depend on alternative sources of funding. 

2.8           This twenty first century facility was welcomed by local GPs but questions were asked about how the local population would be segmented to help address some of the wider determinants of health.  The Royal Free would work with Public Health officers to work out what was needed.

2.9           A fine balance would be made, when setting parking charges, between what was fair and reasonable, as well as being aware that this could be a means of encouraging people to cycle or use public transport.  The plans included a reduction in car parking spaces from about 1,200 to 900. 

2.10       Encouraging the payment of the London living wage would be something which would be kept in mind. 

2.11       The suggestion was made that interventions would need to be targeted at specific communities.  Smoking levels amongst the general Enfield population was about 15.8%, but this was 50% in the young Turkish population. 

2.12       Local Authority land had been set aside within the proposals for a reasonable sized NHS GP practice. 

2.13       Measuring blood pressure was seen as a very important preventative measure. 

2.14       The question was asked as to how many more patients had presented at North Middlesex following the changes to Chase Farm.