This meeting will include reports on a range of local health services, including an update on the new Edenbridge Memorial Health Centre, 12 months after it opened. There will also be a report by NHS Kent and Medway, the local Integrated Care Board (ICB), setting out their preparations for the winter of 2024/25.

Edenbridge Memorial Health Centre

Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust (KCHFT) will present a report on the Edenbridge Memorial Health Centre, one year after it opened. The report explains that the centre supports around 4,500 people a month. It provides information about the services offered, including an Ageing Well clinic, Wound Centre, and Wellbeing Centre. The report outlines the positive outcomes from the Ageing Well clinic:

Early outcomes for those who have gone through the clinic indicate an overall improvement in quality of life, with capability for earlier identification of deterioration and timely support.

The report also describes how feedback from the public has shaped the centre:

There were initial concerns about the location and size of the wellbeing centre, but it is working well. Users like to see the outside; the memorial garden is used well and the traffic continues to flow.

NHS Kent and Medway Community Services review and procurement

The ICB will provide an update on their procurement of community health services across Kent and Medway. This follows a decision in February 2023 to re-procure the main community provider contracts, which are due to end in October 2025. The report explains that at circa £1.1 billion over 5 years, this is one of the largest procurements to ever take place in Kent and Medway. The incumbent providers are:

• HCRG Care Group
• Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust
• Medway Community Healthcare
• East Kent Hospitals University Foundation Trust
• Medway Foundation Trust. The ICB has divided the services being procured into six Lots :
• Dartford, Gravesham and Swanley Adult Services
• East Kent Adult Services
• Kent (excluding Swale) Children's Services
• Medway and Swale Adult Services
• Medway and Swale Children's Services
• West Kent Adult Services. The report sets out the ICB’s proposed timeline for the procurement: | Milestone | Date | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------- | | Publication of notice inviting offers under the Competitive Process | 5th December 2024 | | Deadline for receipt of clarification questions from the market | 31st January 2025 (5pm) | | Deadline for receipt of Competitive Process Submissions / Offers from Providers | 14th February 2025 (12pm – Noon) | | Bidder Presentations (virtual via Teams) | 3rd & 4th March 2025 | | Evaluation Period for evaluating Competitive Process Submissions and Clarification | 14th February 2025 - 17th April 2025 | | period (clarifications may be sent to Providers at any point; however, this is the | | | anticipated time this will occur) | | | Providers notified of outcome | w/c 21st April 2025 | | Publication of Intention to make an award notice | 22nd April 2025 | | 8-working day Standstill Period commences | | | Advise Preferred Provider(s) of completion of Standstill Period | w/c 6th May 2025 | | Contract Award (inc. signature and publication of the award of the contract notice) | From May 2025 | | Service commencement | 27th October 2025 | The report explains that a key objective for the ICB is to improve access to community health services in Kent and Medway, and that: > Many of the current contracting arrangements are based on historic agreements dating back to the eight individual clinical commissioning groups across Kent and Medway, which ceased to exist in 2022. These contracts have grown organically over a period of more than 10 years, resulting in an uneven spread of services and access for patients.

NHS Winter planning 2024/25

NHS Kent and Medway will provide a report on their preparations for winter. This is a statutory requirement for all Integrated Care Boards. The report explains that there will be a particular focus on delivering in four key areas:

1. Vaccination and immunisation of eligible patients and staff.
2. > Segmentation of the population and wrap around support for patients to keep them well and avoid admission in a crisis.
3. Ensuring sufficient capacity exists within Single Points of Access.
4. > Work is in place to reduce the average length of stay for non-elective pathway 0 patients by an average of one day at system level and to reduce variation across clinical specialties. The ICB has identified 13 workstreams that will be the focus of their winter plan:
   • adult and paediatric respiratory
   • identifying the top one per cent of people who need support, including frailty
   • primary care hubs
   • better use of beds
   • VCSEF engagement
   • Pathway 0 Discharge Taskforce
   • nursing home and care support
   • high-intensity users
   • single point of access (SPOA)
   • same day emergency care (SDEC)
   • two-hour response/urgent community response (UCR)
   • virtual wards.

Thanet Integrated Care Hub

KCHFT will present a report on their proposal to establish a new integrated health hub in Thanet. The report explains that:

Thanet has one of the highest levels of health inequalities, ranking 34 out of 317 local authorities for deprivation, with the lowest life expectancy from birth for both men and women.

The ICB are seeking funding for the scheme from the Department of Health and Social Care and aim to have the centre open by Quarter 4 of 2024/25. A range of services could be offered from the new centre, which would be located in the Carey Building in Broadstairs. They include:

• a range of community services, including health visiting, podiatry, cardiac and respiratory services
• an expanded base for community nursing and potentially mental health teams
• the relocation of St Peter’s Surgery from its existing premises in Broadstairs
• a Community Diagnostic Centre, run by East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust, offering MRI, phlebotomy, respiratory and echocardiogram services.

Specialist Children's Cancer Services

NHS England have provided a written update on the planned relocation of the Principal Treatment Centre for Children’s Cancer to the Evelina London Children’s Hospital. The new centre will bring together all specialist children’s cancer services from the Royal Marsden Hospital and St Georges Hospital, and is not expected to be open before October 2026. Children will continue to receive conventional radiotherapy at University College Hospital, where they currently have Proton Beam Therapy.

Kent and Medway NHS Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee - Terms of Reference

The Committee will consider a report on proposed changes to the Terms of Reference of the Kent and Medway Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee. These changes are required to bring them in line with the Health and Care Act 2022. The Committee is being asked to agree to two options:

• That the JHOSC should retain the power to submit call-in requests to the Secretary of State for proposed variations to local health services.
• That the JHOSC should have the power to respond to the Secretary of State on any reconfiguration proposals that have been called-in .

Work Programme 2024

The Committee will consider its draft Work Programme for 2024. It includes a report on the Urgent Treatment Centre Strategy, to be heard in January.