Agenda item

The Chairman welcomed Angela Helleur, Site Chief Executive – PRUH to the meeting to provide an update on the King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

The Site Chief Executive informed Members that there was good news in respect of the data for Elective Recovery with no patients waiting over 104 weeks.  The aim was to now get the figures for 78 weeks down to zero by the end of March, and the Site Chief Executive was confident that this target would be met.  Bariatrics and orthopaedics were trickier to address, and work was ongoing.  The next goal was to focus on 64 weeks.

There was good recovery in relation to cancer treatment and the data was showing a month-on-month improvement for the 28 day Standard. In relation to the backlog, the Site Chief Executive was confident that the target would be met by the end of March.

In respect of Emergency Care, the Site Chief Executive reported that February had been challenging and performance had been affected by industrial action although there had been improvements in performance in March.  A range of initiatives had been implemented in order to drive these improvements.

The Site Chief Executive reported that there were still a number of delays with ambulance handover and there was a need to improve performance between 30 and 60 minutes.

The Sub-Committee was also informed that there was a set of initiatives in place aimed at reducing delays around 12-hour breaches.

In respect of Estates, the Site Chief Executive reported that work on the new Endoscopy Unit was due to complete in March 2025 and the new MRI Scanner was now in place.

In relation to finance, it was anticipated that the end of year deficit would be bigger than planned and steps were being taken to address this.

In response to questions, the Site Chief Executive confirmed that the DM01 pathway related to the ability to see patients in 6-weeks.  Results were not affected and both clinicians and patients could access results.

With respect to ambulance handovers, the Site Chief Executive highlighted that when Emergency Departments (EDs) were full this affected the ability of effectively see and treat patients.  The Trust had the ability to trigger a response and redirect ambulances to other EDs.  The Trust had a good relationship with the London Ambulance Service, and this helped to manage demand.  The Committee noted that it was important to establish good flow throughout the department and there was a need to plan for same day emergency care.

In response to a question, the Site Chief Executive confirmed that a range of interventions had been put in place to address the challenges with ambulance handover.  The Team was working on flow and the ambulatory pathway.  Since 2023, Epic had impacted the ability of clinicians to see patients, industrial action and winter pressures had also had an impact.

In response to a question concerning where the resource for the additional capacity was coming from, the Site chief Executive confirmed that she did not have the figures but would report back to the Committee

In response to a question around reoccurring delays with appointments, the Site Chief Executive confirmed that industrial action had had a significant impact and any patients affected by reoccurring delays were encouraged to contact the hospital for an update.

It was noted that the new model of same day emergency care would make a big difference to waiting times. It was also hoped that increased continuity of care would deliver further improvements. It was further noted that within the Trust it was acknowledged that further work was needed around demand and capacity.

The Sub-Committee noted that the Savings Plan needed to be agreed by the Regulator and the Trust Board and once this had happened it would be presented to the Health Sub-Committee for information.

The Site Chief Executive explained that the issue of NHS funding was very complicated and until the savings plan was in place and the impact of the cost-cutting and efficiency measures that were in place was understood it was not possible to answer whether it was possible to run the hospital within the funding envelope that was available. There was no simple solution, and the hospital was well supported by the national team and the Southeast London ICB with the development of the best possible plan. A Member highlighted the ongoing issue of fairer funding for Bromley, noting that the demography of the Borough had a significant impact on the funding available.

In response to a question concerning the impact of building works on local residents, the Site Chief Executive confirmed that she was not aware of any danger and had been informed that the buildings works were on track to complete in March 2025.  The aim was to deliver the building works with as little disruption to local residents as possible.

The Chairman thanked the Site Chief Executive for the update to the Sub-Committee.

RESOLVED that the update be noted.