Agenda item - Chair's Communications

3.1       The Chair gave the following communications:

I’d like to welcome everyone to the HOSC. All of the items on today’s agenda are issues that have been considered in one way or another at previous HOSC meetings. I’m conscious that most of our members didn’t sit on the previous HOSC, but hopefully the reports explain the context for the items.

One thing I wanted to explain in a little bit more detail is the background to today’s first item on children’s cancer services. This initially came to HOSC in March where members were asked whether they wanted to be formally involved in scrutiny of these plans, and members agreed that they did.

Normally, formally scrutiny of a big regional service like this is undertaken by a Joint HOSC of all the committees that want to be involved. This is what was expected to happen here and we took a report to April Council to get permission to set up a Joint HOSC. However, the other committees involved have told NHS England that they wouldn’t be able to set up a Joint HOSC in time to meet NHS England’s planned timetable, and rather than delaying its plans, NHS England have agreed to consult separately with Brighton & Hove HOSC, with the standing South East London Joint HOSC and with the standing South West London & Surrey Joint HOSC.

On the plus side, this does mean that Brighton & Hove HOSC is able to concentrate on the impact NHSE England’s plans will have on local people, and we have NHS England here today to talk us through their plans.