Improving Healthcare Together: Joint Health Scrutiny Committee meeting, 19 March 2020

They are consulting on their proposal to invest in both Epsom and St Helier hospitals and build a new specialist emergency care hospital which could be located at Epsom, St Helier or Sutton hospital.

The Improving Healthcare Together consultation runs from 8 January to 1 April 2020. 

The Improving Healthcare Together Joint Health Scrutiny Committee (IHT JHSC) is meeting during the NHS public consultation period so that it can gather information and hear views to help inform its consultation response. 

The meeting will take place on Thursday 19 March at 19:30 at Sutton Civic Offices. The meeting will be open to the public. 

The IHT JHSC members would value the opportunity to hear the views of the public. The agenda will include ten speaking slots of three minutes each for members of the public to make representations to the Committee on the subject of the current Improving Healthcare Together consultation. The Committee members and witnesses will not respond directly to comments made, but will use the comments to inform their discussions.

The speaking slots will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. These slots will be strictly limited to three minutes each. For those not allocated a speaking slot or unable to attend on the evening, there is an opportunity to submit written comments. These will be published with the meeting papers on Sutton Council’s website (anonymised). It is important to note that comments should be directed to members of the Scrutiny Committee, not to the expert witnesses. No representations (written or verbal) will be considered as formal responses to the consultation, and individuals are responsible for submitting their own responses directly to the Improving Healthcare Together consultation. 

Anyone wishing to make a representation to the IHT JHSC must send a written statement to scrutiny@sutton.gov.uk by 5pm on Tuesday 10 March 2020. The email should clearly state whether they wish to submit a written statement only or wish to bid for one of the speaking slots at the meeting. They will be informed on Wednesday 11 March whether they have been allocated a speaking slot. 

The Improving Healthcare Together Joint Health Scrutiny Committee is formed of members of the Scrutiny Committees of all the local authorities affected by the current consultation proposals. It was set up in June 2018 in order to scrutinise the work being undertaken by the three local NHS Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs). These are NHS Surrey Downs, Sutton and Merton CCGs. The CCGs are responsible for the NHS plans to explore the ways we can address local health challenges, and make sure NHS services are sustainable and fit for the future. The IHT JHSC is made up of members from Sutton, Merton, Croydon, Kingston and Wandsworth Councils and Surrey County Council. It is the body to make the joint formal response to the consultation.

It is important to highlight that no decisions will be made at this meeting. The purpose of the meeting is for the Committee to gather information and listen to opinions. This will inform the Committee’s formal response to the consultation. 

We welcome anybody who wants to watch the proceedings to attend the meeting on 19 March 2020.