Ruislip Residents' Association

1. Judicial Review:

Sadly the Royal Brompton Hospital was unsuccessful in defending its case that the public consultation on paediatric heart services in London was flawed.  It was initially encouraged by a favourable judgement from judicial review, but that finding has been  overturned on appeal.   It is unclear what options may still be open to the Trust but we will monitor closely and update this item when more information is available.

The Trust's priorities for 2012-13 include

• Improving advice and information given to patients about their medication
• Improving communication about tests and treatments
• A focus on outcomes from treatment

The Joint Committee of Primary Care Trusts who produced the Safe and Sustainable recommendations for Paediatric Cardiac Surgery have succeeded in their request for an appeal in respect of the Judicial Review Judgment. Their appeal will be held on the 19th, 20th and 21st March 2012. This is disappointing and the hearing is a lot earlier than anticipated.

The Trust continues to consider sites for the relocation of the Royal Brompton Hospital and it currently favours a number of sites in the White City area of London because of their adjacency to the Imperial College NHS Foundation Trust with whom they anticipate closer co-operation in the future.

The review into Services Configuration in North West London continues and it is anticipated that public consultation on the recommendations is anticipated to commence in June 2012.This seems very optimistic.

Imperial College have invited the Trust to nominate a representative to join their Court. This is seen as a considerable compliment to the Trust and Sir Robert Finch has agreed to be the nominee.

No further information is available on the possibility of Project Diamond funding in the current financial year.

There has been no case of MRSA in the current year and still only 10 cases of Clostridium Difficile.  This remains a truly excellent performance.

The Trust is still forecasting an end of year surplus of £2,980m. Any Project Diamond Funding would obviously improve this already good result.

The next meeting of the Trust is on Wednesday 28th March at 10.30 in the Concert Hall at Harefield Hospital.

Judicial Review of the process leading to the proposal that Royal Brompton Hospital be stripped of its children's heart surgery ended in success on 7th November.  The process was deemed unlawful and its findings therefore quashed.  However, most of the Royal Brompton's objections were dismissed and its success hinged on the fact that its research was not sufficiently considered.  Its opponents regard that as a technical issue and have already announced that an appeal will be lodged.

Also, the current verdict only opens the way to fresh review and consultation, since Judicial Review applies only to the process and has no impact on the merits of otherwise of the recommendations.  So, we can rejoice that a battle has been won but, sadly, the war is likely to continue and for those who want the Royal Brompton to continue to provide its excellent children's heart surgery, success is not yet achieved.

The Trust’s November Board Meeting  focused on the various cardiothoracic reviews that are currently taking place in London and nationally, all of which could impact significantly on the Trust.  These include:-

1. Paediatric Cardiac Surgery – the decision of the Judicial Review was still awaited.
2. National Review of Cardiothoracic Transplant Services.
3. London Review of Cardiac Services.
4. National Review of Congenital Heart Disease.

The Trust has been awarded Respiratory and Cardiovascular Biomedical Research Unit status for the period 2012-2017 which brings an income of £19.5m over the five year period. This compares with the £9.1m awarded in 2008, so is excellent news.

The Board is actively considering relocating the Brompton Campus in order to generate cash for the redevelopment of the Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospitals.  It is looking at a number of sites including four in North West London.

At its October meeting Hillingdon's  External Scrutiny Committee focused on local NHS services.  Representatives from all the local NHS bodies were present including Royal Brompton & Harefield FT.  The burning issue for the moment for that trust is the “Safe and Sustainable” consultation on proposals to remove paediatric cardiac surgery from the Royal Brompton Hospital. 

It was good to learn that Hillingdon Council responded to that consultation by vigorously defending retention of the Royal Brompton Hospital amongst the London providers.· However around 75% of consultation respondents supported the proposal to reduce London’s providers from three to two, preferring that these be Great Ormond Street Hospital and Evelina Children’s Hospital, part of the Guys and St Thomas NHS FT – but the options given did not include the option to retain all three London centres.·

 It is the view of the Royal Brompton Trust that the three current centres should co-operate in continuing to provide children’s cardiac surgery on all three of the current London sites.

The Chief Executive of Royal Brompton & Harefield FT, Bob Bell, circulated an email after the Judicial Review of paediatric heart surgery noting that the Review had taken place and that the ruling was awaited. The Trust was urging a three-site network to provide services for children’s heart surgery in London.

The Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Foundation Trust has been granted a Judicial Review of the process proposing to rob it of its paediatric heart surgery.  This is very welcome news, the first step towards preserving this important service.  It will take place in the High Court in the Strand, London, over three days starting on 26th September 2011.

Click here to read more on the Trust's website