Agenda item

The Committee considered a report of Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Clinical Commissioning Groups (LLR CCGs) which responded to a petition received by the Committee which raised concerns regarding the Lubbesthorpe and Forest House Medical Centre Development. A copy of the report, ‘marked ‘Agenda Item 8’, is filed with these minutes.

The Committee welcomed to the meeting for this item Andy Williams, Chief Executive, LLR CCGs, Sarah Shuttlewood, Assistant Director for Contracts and Procurement, Leicester City CCG, Richard Morris Deputy Director of People and Innovation, LLR CCGs, and Cllr. Bob Waterton, Braunstone Town Council.

The Chairman stated that it would have been useful for a map of the relevant area to have been provided to help those not familiar with the geography understand the issues.

The lead petitioners Cllr. Bob Waterton and Mrs. A. J. Hack CC made the following points:

(i)          The petition had received over 1,300 signatures which showed the strength of feeling in the area and it was questioned whether the CCG recognised this and had fully considered the needs of residents that resided in Braunstone.

(ii)         The decision to close Forest House Medical Centre had been made during the Covid-19 pandemic and insufficient consideration had been given to whether this was the right approach in normal times.

(iii)       Concerns were raised about the quality and extent of the engagement and formal public consultation which had taken place regarding the proposals to relocate the services from Forest House Medical Centre to the new premises at Lubbesthorpe. In particular paper copies of the documents had not been circulated and many elderly people did not have access to the online consultation documents. It was also noted that the consultation did not ask respondents to provide a post code therefore it could not be assessed whether the responses were representative of the whole area affected by the proposals.

(iv)       It was difficult to travel from Braunstone to Lubbesthorpe using public transport and those people that resided in the part of the GP catchment area that was furthest away from Lubbesthorpe needed to catch two buses to get to Lubbesthorpe. Braunstone residents that did not have smart phones were unable to access the ArrivaClick service. Some residents were having to resort to taxis to get to Lubbesthorpe which was expensive and unsustainable.

(v)        It was noted that one of the aims the Clinical Commissioning Group had set itself was to deliver services closer to home, and it was submitted that the proposal to relocate services from Forest House Medical Centre to the new premises at Lubbesthorpe was at odds with that. In response it was explained that the concept of having care delivered close to home was about having more care delivered outside of an acute hospital setting.

In response to the petition and concerns raised during the meeting Andy Williams and colleagues made the following points:

(vi)           The CCG did acknowledge the strength and breadth of local opinion regarding the proposals as was exhibited by the number of people that had signed the petition.

(vii)          The GP Practice needed to relocate to enable it to cope with the growing population and the additional residents in the area as a result of the new housing in Lubbesthorpe. It was intended that there would be a ‘one stop’ model for GP Practices going forward and a patient would be able to receive a variety of services at the same location. The premises at Forest House were not suitable for this type of approach.

(viii)        The CCG would continue to monitor the transport situation and work with the County Council to address those issues. Voluntary car provision was available.

(ix)           The CCG would give consideration to whether the GP Practice in Lubbesthorpe should have a satellite premises in the Braunstone area.

(x)             It was acknowledged that the consultation and engagement which was undertaken may have given the CCG a partial or misleading sense of the impact of the proposals on Braunstone residents.  Further discussions would take place with CCG colleagues and the GP Practice regarding the matter and the proposals for the Lubbesthorpe and Forest House Medical Centre Development would be given further consideration. However, the CCG  emphasised that realistic options were limited.

It was noted that with the pressures that all parts of Leicestershire were under to accept housing growth, other GP Practices in Leicestershire could go through a similar process and members sought reassurances that the CCG would learn the lessons from the Lubbesthorpe development.

RESOLVED:

(a)        That the contents of the report be noted;

(b)        That the offer of the CCG to give further consideration to the proposals be welcomed.