Peterborough NHS officials working closer together - but ‘much more can be achieved’

Caroline Walker, speaking on behalf of the NHS Sustainability & Transformation Partnership (STP), said: “Not only does the board of directors of each trust meet, discuss and publish issues in public, something they never used to do, it is obvious from the levels of cooperation and the amount of work done that there is still much more that can be achieved.

Speaking at the meeting of Peterborough City Council’s Health Scrutiny Committee, where she presented a report outlining the STP’s strategic direction for 2018/19, she added: “Our short term priorities remain the same – to improve performance at A&E.

“Beyond that the NHS is suffering from a chronic shortfall in quality staff, and while recruitment drives are promising all of the hospitals in our area need more doctors and nurses.

“The Cambridgeshire & Peterborough health and care system faces significant, on-going financial pressures, and our previous level of overspend was simply not sustainable, which is why we have formed a system budget, part of an amalgamation of partners, working together to deliver the service expected.

“But we made the decision to meet in public so that everybody can see on a month-to-month basis what we are doing and why we focus on certain issues.

“Key to the future is the new NHS 10-year plan, published in January, which will see an additional £20.5 billion by 2023/24.”

Cllr Nick Sandford asked: “With Brexit potentially days away, what contingency plans have the STP made?”

Ms Walker, who is chief executive of North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust, replied: “The organisation has never stopped planning ahead for the use of drugs, and to my knowledge there has been no hoarding; but the basic contingency we are working to is a ‘no-deal’ Brexit.”