The Health Scrutiny Committee was scheduled to meet to welcome new members, review its work plan, and receive introductory presentations from the Northamptonshire Integrated Care Board (ICB), Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (NHFT), and Kettering General Hospital (KGH). The presentations were intended to inform the committee about potential areas for future scrutiny.

Health Scrutiny Work Plan

The committee was scheduled to discuss its work plan for 2025-26, which included regular performance monitoring and review of several key areas. These included:

• GP performance and availability
• Dentistry performance and availability
• The Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust’s quality report
• The Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust’s quality report
• The North Northamptonshire Director of Public Health’s annual report
• The Northamptonshire Safeguarding Adults Board (NSAB) annual report
• The East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) annual report
• The Orchard Project: Dementia Research
• Health protection and winter preparedness
• Substance misuse strategies

University Hospitals of Northamptonshire (UHN)

Laura Churchward, UHN Chief Executive Officer, and Robin Binks, Director of Nursing, were scheduled to provide an update on University Hospitals of Northamptonshire. Items listed for discussion included:

• Collaboration between Kettering General Hospital and Northampton General Hospital (NGH) under a unified leadership, integrating clinical and corporate services.
• Working in a group model with University Hospitals of Leicester to create a joint clinical strategy.
• Integrating care with partners to address patient needs, including cross-site working for improved care, such as head and neck cancers, and transferring patients to reduce waiting times.
• Faster elective care through the delivery of national access targets, reducing waiting lists and time to treatment, and integrating care with partners.
• Improved urgent care access through system working to safely reduce ambulance and Emergency Department waiting times, and working with local authorities to support safe and timely discharge from hospital.
• Listening and learning from patient and colleague experiences, and developing the workforce and a learning culture.
• Focusing on financial sustainability.
• Expansion of the UHN robotic surgery programme to KGH, with a £1.7 million robot in use at NGH since mid-2023.
• Collaboration between UHN and the University Hospitals of Leicester on a digital strategy, with a focus on innovation and AI.
• The go-live of a new Electronic Patient Record (EPR) system at NGH in June.
• The aim to provide more care locally through two new Community Diagnostic Centres (CDC) in Corby and Northampton.
• A new state-of-the-art extension to the Rockingham Wing maternity unit to offset the impact of RAAC concrete¹ in the roof.
• A new Energy Centre to replace temporary steam boilers and ageing electrical infrastructure, with work started in September 2024.
• A new multi-storey car park to enable further construction work for the New Hospital Programme.
• Working with West Northamptonshire Council to improve mortuary facilities for bereaved families at KGH, with construction begun in March 2025.
• Improvements to Children and Young People's Services, focusing on leadership and culture, clinical pathways and guidance, family engagement and communication, safe environment and equipment, governance, incidents and learning, triage and initial assessment, and winter planning and escalation.
• Improvements to the Maternity Safety Support Programme (MSSP) at KGH, including addressing challenges related to Maternity and Neonatal Voices Partnership membership, leadership stability, and estate.
• The return to Level 2 status for the Local Neonatal Unit in May 2025, caring for babies with more than 27 weeks of gestation (28 weeks if multiple birth) that weigh more than 800 grams.

Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (NHFT) Introduction

Dave Maher, Managing Director and Deputy Chief Executive of NHFT, was scheduled to provide an introduction to the Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust. The presentation was expected to cover:

• NHFT's role as a provider of NHS community, mental health, and specialist services across Northamptonshire and beyond.
• The trust's commitment to delivering care to communities from pregnancy to end of life.
• The range of over 200 services delivered from over 100 locations, including health visiting, school nursing, physiotherapy, district nursing, community and inpatient mental health, palliative care, and prison healthcare.
• NHFT's partnership with Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust (LPT) as part of a Healthcare Group, including the launch of their first Group strategy, Together we Thrive, in April 2025.
• The trust's deep roots within the community, focusing on its people (91% local staff, good staff surveys, Council of Governors), its place (integrated care, joined-up care, collaborations), and its partnerships (collaborations, Associate University Group, national and regional secured services).
• Examples of NHFT's community involvement, such as Community Mental Health Transformation, 0-11 and 0-19 Contract Mobilisation, UEC Rapid Access to Primary and Community Care, Sexual Health Partnership, CAMHS Transformation, and Health Inequalities Programme.
• Primary Care Interventions funding, NHFT funding, NNC Public Health initiatives, and NHS England funding via Voluntary Impact Northamptonshire.
• Mental Health services, including Community Mental Health Teams, Crisis Services, Adult in-patient units, Mental Health Co-Production, Older Adult Community MH teams, Learning Disability and Autism services, and Psychological Therapies.
• Adult Community Services, including Urgent Community Response Specialist Community services, Community in-patient Specialist & Community Nursing, and Specialist Palliative Care services.
• Children and Young People (CYP) services based on the THRIVE model².
• Referral pathways, including the 111 mental health option, CAMHS consultation line, Single Point of Access (SPOA) hub, professional referrals, and direct referrals.
• Suggested agenda items for future collaboration, focusing on children and young people in schools and neighbourhoods, and integrating community mental and physical health services.

Overview of Health Scrutiny Committee

Raj Sohal, Scrutiny Officer, was scheduled to provide an overview of the Health Scrutiny Committee to new members. The overview included:

• The purpose, responsibilities, and terms of reference of the committee.
• A summary of the Scrutiny Procedure Rules, as outlined in Part 7 of the Council's Constitution.
• The committee's role in scrutinising health services for North Northamptonshire, as defined by the National Health Service Act 2006.
• The committee's responsibility to scrutinise the commissioning and delivery of local health and social care services, reduce health inequalities, improve access to services, and ensure the best outcomes for citizens.
• The committee's role in holding the Health and Wellbeing Board to account and responding to referrals from Healthwatch North Northamptonshire³.