NHS Chief Executives minutes: July 2021

Attendees and apologies

NHS board chief executives

• Hazel Borland, NHS Ayrshire and Arran
• Ralph Roberts, NHS Borders (Chair of CEs Group)
• Carol Potter, NHS Fife
• Cathie Cowan, NHS Forth Valley
• Caroline Hiscox, NHS Grampian
• Jane Grant, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde
• Pam Dudek, NHS Highland
• Heather Knox, NHS Lanarkshire
• Calum Campbell, NHS Lothian
• Michael Dickson, NHS Orkney and Shetland
• Grant Archibald, NHS Tayside
• Gordon Jamieson, NHS Western Isles
• Jann Gardner, NHS Golden Jubilee
• Robbie Pearson, Healthcare Improvement Scotland (Vice Chair of CEs Group)
• Jim Miller, NHS 24
• Karen Reid, NHS Education for Scotland
• Mary Morgan, NHS National Services Scotland
• Angela Leitch, Public Health Scotland
• Pauline Howie, Scottish Ambulance Service
• Gary Jenkins, State Hospital

Scottish Government

• Caroline Lamb, DG Health and Social Care/Chief Executive NHS Scotland
• John Connaghan, Chief Operating Officer NHS Scotland
• John Burns, Chief Operating Officer NHS Scotland
• Jason Leitch, National Clinical Director
• John Harden, Deputy National Clinical Director
• Gillian Russell, Director of Health Workforce
• Richard McCallum, Director of Health Finance and Governance
• Donna Bell, Director of Mental Health and Social Care
• Christine McLaughlin, Director of Testing
• Christine Ward, DCNO Designate (attending on behalf of Amanda Croft)
• Anne Armstrong, DCNO Designate (attending on behalf of Amanda Croft)
• Jo Swanson, Population Health (attending on behalf of Michael Kellet)
• Colin Sinclair, Director of Covid Vaccination Programme
• Tim Mcdonnell, Director of Primary Care
• Jonathan Cameron, Director of Digital Health and Care
• Alison Strath, Chief Pharmaceutical Officer
• Tom Ferris, Chief Dental Officer

In attendance

• Nicholas Fluck, Co-Chair of MDs/NHS Lothian
• Alan Gray, Chair of Directors of Finance/NHS Grampian DoF
• Ann Gow, NMAHP Director and Deputy Chief Executive/Chair of SEND
• Colin Briggs, Chair of Directors of Planning/NHS Lothian
• Heather Campbell, Deputy Director of Primary Care
• Andrew Fleming, Head of NHS Board Sponsorship
• Hugh McAloon, Deputy Director for Children & Young Peoples Mental Health
• Helena Jackson, Sustainability and Value Programme Director
• Fergus Millan, Head of Out of Hours, Urgent Care and Optometry Team – for pressures on system discussion
• Helen Maitland, Unscheduled Care Director - for agenda item 5
• Stephen Lea-Ross, Director of Health Workforce – for agenda item 6
• Yvonne Summers, Head of Operational Planning – for agenda item 7
• Laurie Whyte, Office of the Chief Executive
• Hannah Mackay, Office of the Chief Executive
• Roz Barclay, executive support
• Jenna Stone, executive support

Apologies

• Jeff Ace, NHS Dumfries and Galloway
• Jill Young, NHS Louisa Jordan
• Jacqui Jones, Chair of HRDs/National Services Scotland HRD
• Graham Foster, Chair of Directors of Public Health/NHS Forth Valley DoPH (Valerie White attending)
• Richard Foggo, Covid Director
• Michael Kellet, Director of Population Health (Jo Swanson attending)
• Amanda Croft, Chief Nursing Officer (Christine Ward and Anne Armstrong, DCNO Designate attending)

Items and actions

Agenda

1. Welcome, introductions and apologies for absence    
2. minutes of the previous meeting – 2 June 2021 NHSCE/21/22/11

3. Matters arising
4. Overview of recovery plan (John Connaghan)

5. Update on urgent care and redesigning urgent care (John Burns and Helen Maitland)    

6. Update on workforce (Including contact tracing and isolation policy) (Stephen Lea-Ross)

7. Update on RMP4 planning timetable (Yvonne Summers)

8. Any other business    
9. Date and time of next meeting

• Chief Executives Business Meeting - Wednesday 18 August 2021 at 14:00 

Minutes

Welcome, apologies for absence and attendees

Caroline Lamb, DG Health and Social Care/Chief Executive NHS Scotland, welcomed everyone to the meeting.  The welcome was extended to John Burns who took on the role as Chief Operating Officer from 1 July alongside John Connaghan for the month of July.  Thanks and warm wishes were expressed to John Connaghan as he will be leaving the role at the end of July to take on the role of Chair of NHS Lothian from 1 August 2021.

A list of attendees and apologies for absence are provided. 

Minutes of the previous meeting – 2 June 2021 – NHSCE/21/22/11

The minutes of the meeting held on 2 June 2021 were approved. 

Matters arising

John Burns, Chief Operating Officer NHS Scotland, displayed slides and provided a high level overview of the current system pressures.  The pressures around Elective activity was recognised and a further future discussion on this was suggested. An overview of the current situation and pressures in various aspects of the system was provided by the following colleagues: 

• Primary Care – Heather Campbell, Interim Deputy Director of Primary Care;
• Care Homes – Donna Bell, Director for Mental Health and Social Care Directorate; and
• Covid-19 Modelling for Hospitals and ICU, Covid-19 Hospital Bed Projections and Covid-19 ICU Bed Projections – Helena Jackson, Sustainability and Value Programme Director.

5. Following on from the Chief Executives meeting which took place on 25 June 2021, Caroline Lamb provided an update on the progress of the release of the requirement for Health and Social Care staff to self-isolate when identified as a close contact.  It was highlighted that staffside had mixed feelings towards the change.  Further discussions with Ministers would take place early next week and Chief Executives would be kept updated with the outcome of discussions.  Chief Executives were asked to provide any further data which would help assist quantify the impact of changing the guidance.

 

6. John Burns emphasised to Chief Executives that Scottish Government Officials were doing everything that they could do to progress this key issue and for a decision to be made to assist Boards.

 

Action:  Future discussion on Elective Activity to take place.

 

Action:  Chief Executives to provide any further data which would help quantify the impact of changing the guidance for releasing Health and Social Care staff from the requirement to self-isolate when identified as a close contact.

 

 

Overview of the Recovery Plan (John Connaghan)

 

7. John Connaghan provided an overview of the draft Recovery Plan.  It was  highlighted that John was meeting with the Cabinet Secretary early next week and following this, John planned to share the Recovery Plan to allow for a more in depth discussion with Chief Executives.  It was agreed that Ralph Roberts, Chair of Chief Executives Group, would assist with producing the section on Recovery and Renewal and what it means for patients, staff and leaders. 

 

8. In discussion, the Directors of Planning group offered their input to the plan and it was agreed that John would attend the Directors of Planning meeting on Thursday 15 July.  It was also raised that it was important to portray the severe challenge which NHS Scotland faces in relation to Workforce and it was felt that this needed to be expressed stronger throughout the plan.   

 

Update on Urgent care and Redesigning Urgent Care (John Burns and Helen Maitland)

 

9. Helen Maitland, Unscheduled Care Director, provided an update on Redesigning Urgent Care, which included:

 

• Communications on Redesigning urgent care had launched on radio and there would be a TV advert in the next couple of weeks. 
• The 4 hour target was a measure of the pressure across the system; and
• Funding has been allocated.

 

Update on Workforce (Including contact tracing and isolation policy) (Stephen Lea-Ross)

 

10. Stephen Lea-Ross, Deputy Director of Health Workforce highlighted that the majority of the Workforce update was covered under Matters Arising.  In addition to this, an expected increase of annual leave has been seen in the last week across the workforce.

 

Update on RMP4 planning timetable

 

11. Yvonne Summers, Head of Operational Planning, updated that the RMP4 timetable would be issued shortly and emphasised that this was not a new plan, it was an update to RMP3.  Boards would be asked to submit RMP4s by the end of September.

 

Any Other Business

 

12. Caroline expressed her thanks to Chief Executives during this challenging time and re-iterated that an update following discussions with Ministers, on self-isolation policy for Health and Social Care workers would be shared early next week. There were no other items of business raised and the Chair closed the meeting.

 

 

 

Date and Time of Next Meeting

 

• • • NHS Chief Executives Business Meeting - Wednesday 18 August 2021 at 14:00

 

 

Office of the Chief Executive NHS Scotland

12 July 2021