Agenda item - Chair's Communications

3.1      The Chair gave the following communications:

This is the first meeting of the HOSC since our May Annual Council meeting and my first meeting as Chair. I’d like to express my thanks for all the work done by the previous Chair, Theresa Fowler. Some committee members have changed also, and I would like to welcome Sam Parrott and Jacqui Simon to the committee.

We have 3 items for discussion today:

 The HOSC had a report in November 2024 on what the Sussex health and care system planned to do to manage additional demand across winter 24-25. Partners have come back to committee today to update members on how the system coped and what lessons have been learnt for future years.

In September 2024, the HOSC held a special meeting to look at Sussex Partnership Trust plans to close its specialist in-patient dementia ward at Mill View hospital, re-purposing the space as an acute mental health ward. The Trust is returning to HOSC today to provide an update on how these plans are progressing.

We also have a report on children & young people mental health services. I know that this is an issue that is of concern to HOSC members and to many families across the city. Young people’s mental health is also a Sussex and a Brighton & Hove priority for improvement, so I think it is important that the HOSC has opportunities to hold partners to account for their performance and to learn about improvement planning.

In addition, there has been lots of recent national activity in the NHS which will have local implications. There is a letter from Cllr Hill about changes to Integrated Care Boards on the agenda today. We have also had the publication of the NHS 10 year plan. I will ask for members to be briefed on this important strategic document.

Some of you may already have seen that Dr George Findlay, CEO of University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust has just announced that he will be stepping down as Trust Chief Executive. I’d like to take the opportunity to thank George for his engagement with the HOSC; he has consistently found the time in his incredibly busy schedule to attend HOSC meetings and to answer our many questions with patience and good humour.

We have also recently learnt that it is likely that both Healthwatch England and local Healthwatch organisations may be abolished. This is concerning news. Healthwatch Brighton & Hove provides really important services locally, ensuring that local people have up to date information about health and care services, sharing people’s experiences of services with commissioners and providers, and supporting individuals to navigate their way through a very complex landscape. I know that members of this committee, as well as many other local individuals and organisations, feel very strongly about the abolition of Healthwatch. If members feel it would be helpful for me to write to the Secretary of State on behalf of the committee, I would be happy to do so and will ask support officers to coordinate something.

Finally, I know that many people are worried about the tender process for primary care services for people living in Whitehawk. These services have been provided by Wellsbourne Healthcare Centre, but the contract is currently being re-tendered.

This is a live tender process, and there are legal restrictions which mean that the commissioners and the potential providers of the service are currently unable to discuss details of the contract or the tender in public. This is frustrating, as I know people have questions that need to be answered, but I recognise that the legal position is clear.

I will nonetheless consider whether there is anything that the HOSC can do in the short term – I’m conscious that if we wait until commissioners are able to talk to us, the contract will have been awarded and it will be too late to make concerns known.