The Bromley Council Health Scrutiny Sub-Committee virtually met on 16 September 2025 to discuss general practice (GP) access, receive an update from King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, and review a patient experience report from Healthwatch Bromley. Councillor Mark Brock, Chairman of the Adult Care & Health PDS Committee and Health Scrutiny Sub-Committee, was scheduled to chair the meeting. Members of the press and public were able to view the meeting by contacting the clerk to request joining details for the virtual meeting.

Healthwatch Bromley - Patient Experience Report

The Healthwatch Bromley Patient Experience Report for April to June 2025 was scheduled to be reviewed. Healthwatch Bromley is the local health and social care champion.

The report included:

• A snapshot of the number of reviews collected about local services and how residents rated their experiences. During the period, 541 reviews of health and care services were shared with Healthwatch Bromley, and 54 visits were carried out across the borough.
• Experiences of GP services, including what has worked well (quality of treatment, telephone appointments, staff attitudes) and what could be improved (access to GP services, appointment availability, getting through on the telephone).
• Experiences of hospital services, including what has worked well (appointment availability, staff attitudes, quality of treatment and communication between services) and what could be improved (waiting times, getting through on the telephone).

The report included a breakdown of the top five themes mentioned by patients in relation to GP services:

The report also included a breakdown of the top themes in relation to hospital services:

The report also compared experiences across Bromley's eight primary care networks (PCNs): Beckenham, Bromley Connect, Crays Collaboration, Five Elms, Hayes Wick, MDC Mottingham, Downham & Chislehurst, Orpington, and Penge.

Update from King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Angela Helleur, Chief Delivery Officer at King's College Hospital, was scheduled to provide an update from King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

The update included:

• PRUH and South Sites update
  • Emergency Department (ED) Performance update
  • Elective recovery
  • Cancer performance update
  • Workforce
  • Estates and service updates
  • Chartwell Ward
• Trust-wide update
  • Epic and MyChart uptake
  • Finance update

With regards to emergency performance, the report stated that average daily attendance volume remained comparable to the previous quarter due to sustained increase demand for Urgent and Emergency Care (UEC). Ambulance arrivals remained high, but a consistent improvement trend had been maintained regarding handover delays. Overall performance against the 4 hour wait target for A&E remained challenging, but the PRUH had maintained an upward improvement trajectory. The site had continued to experience ongoing pressure with an increase in stroke activity and mental health delays, together with ongoing delays for those requiring care homes as well as homelessness.

With regards to cancer performance, the submitted position for June was:

• 28-day Faster Diagnosis Standard (FDS) performance: 75.8% (target = 75%, rising to 80% March 2026)
• 31-day performance: 93.4% (target = 96%)
• 62-day performance: 69.1% (target = 70%, rising to 75% March 2026)

The update also included proposals in development for inpatient cancer care, including changes specific to haematology cancer patients and for other cancer patients. Proposals being developed involved bringing the haematology inpatient service together onto one site at King's College Hospital. Therefore, haematology patients currently on the Chartwell ward at PRUH would be treated at KCH. Other cancer patients currently treated on the Chartwell ward would be treated on other speciality wards specific to the type of cancer they have, and the vacated ward would be used in an alternative way.

Regarding finance, as of the end of July 2025, the Trust recorded a year-to-date deficit of £1.5 million, which was £800k worse than planned. The Trust needed to deliver cost-savings worth a total of £82.4 million during the current financial year (April 2025-March 2026), and £60.7 million worth of cost-saving initiatives had been agreed so far.

GP Access

The sub-committee was scheduled to discuss contractual changes relating to general practice access.

By 1 October 2025:

• Patients must be able to contact the practice via their online consultations tool, throughout core hours (8am-6.30pm, weekdays).
• Practices must respond to the online query within one working day.
• Practices must publish the patient charter on their websites, You and Your GP.
• Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) must establish an informal feedback mechanism for patients via a dedicated email ICB address.

The aim of the change to online consultations access is to put this route on the same footing as telephone and in-person access channels, which is expected to be available from 8am until 6.30pm, with the ambition to stop the '8am scramble' for appointments.

The report stated that for many practices across England, this presents a significant contractual change and a potential major pressure point for practice teams ahead of the peak winter period, requiring a shift to a different way of working for the majority of practices (triage¹).

There are three online consultation software service providers currently used by practices in Bromley.

The report stated that Bromley GP practices are already operating, or preparing to introduce, their localised model of triage for all requests received by phone, in person or online, and are already offering access via an online consultation tool, with the majority having this open through core hours now. They are also redesigning their duty doctor, admin and front desk teams to handle all contacts consistently and according to clinical need.

The report also included results from the 2025 GP Patient Survey (GPPS), an England-wide survey providing data about patients' experiences of GP practices. The 2025 results were published in July. The majority (47%) of respondents were in the 45-74 age bracket, 39% were in the 16-44 age bracket and 13% in the 75+ age bracket. Overall experience had slightly improved in Bromley, remaining in line with the South East London average.