(a)   there were two specialist liaison nurses and a learning disability link who provided specialist safeguarding advice day and night;

(b)   it was the lead/link nurse’s role to up-skill colleagues and it was felt there were enough nurses to carry out this function;

(c)    there was a well publicised whistle-blowing procedure for staff;

(d)   the trust were developing their medium term financial plan which would require further input from the panel at a later date;

(e)   the savings target for the trust was £31.2m which equated to non-pay savings of £14m and pay savings of £17m equal to around 7% of the total pay budget;

(f)     there had been £27m of savings identified to date, these would be achieved through a reduction of 130 beds, two theatres, less outpatients, better procurement, a lower pay bill and fewer staff.

(g)   the £12m received last year was financial support from the South West Strategic Health Authority;

(h)   there would be changes to the model for provision of care as a result of the efficiency savings plan. The reduction in the number of beds in the hospital was based on patients being cared for in the community;

(i)     the number of readmissions was closely monitored and there were financial penalties for the Hospital if readmissions occurred soon after discharge. Discharge was not considered by clinical staff until the patient was fully fit and work was being carried out to improve the discharge process;

(j)     beds could be made available at short notice and the Trust has a good understanding of trends to plan for the availability of beds. Bed closures were linked to pathways of care and there was flexibility in the system to allow beds to open during the winter;

(k)    the threshold for discharge would not be lowered, patients would only be discharged when medically fit;

(l)     areas of the hospital are often ‘mothballed’ but the trust was able to activate beds and wards quickly;

(m)in order to tackle staff dissatisfaction the trust was focusing on the ward sisters’ and charge nurses’ role as leaders. The trust recognised that staff morale was integral to the success of the hospital and was working hard to address a difficult task however this could not be addressed directly from board level but providing support to ward sisters and charge nurses;

(n)   the requirement to make efficiency savings would continue year on year but would not be to the same scale as reported in the Annual Plan 2011 - 12.

(1)   to write to Plymouth Hospital NHS Trust requesting details of the status of the financial support provided by the South West Strategic Health Authority delegated to the lead officer, in consultation with the Chair and Councillor Dr Mahony;

(2)   to add Plymouth Hospital NHS Trust medium term financial plan to the panel’s work programme for the coming year.