Centre of Public Scrutiny 2012 Awards Transforming Services

Centre of Public Scrutiny 2012 Awards – Transforming Services Gillian Blenkinsop Corporate Development and Policy Manager

What we did? • Reviewed the plans for future service delivery at Bassetlaw Hospital • Carried out the review at a time of intense public and political interest in the Hospital’s future • Worked in a new way for scrutiny – holding extra-ordinary meetings of our Overview and Scrutiny Committee to hear evidence from senior managers and clinicians – working in closed session with our health select panel – working with a co-opted health clinician

Some of the challenges? • Knowledge base • Ensuring an impartial, informed and evidenced based approach – keeping the politics out of the review • Nervousness of health partners • Technical nature of the review • Understanding and managing the information • Dealing with scrutiny in a two-tier area • Ensuring there was an end product

What did we achieve? • More clarity in communications with the wider community from Bassetlaw Hospital • More pro-active marketing of hospital services • Cultural change amongst health service professionals in recognising the value of democratic challenge • More focus on planning the patient experience • A commitment to more effective communication and dialogue with the local community over current and future plans for service changes

What did we achieve? • Improved relationships with the health sector • A commitment to hold an Annual Health Summit to review the key structural changes in health and changes in commissioning arrangements in 2013 • Members were actively engaged in re-shaping part of the maternity service • Members were significantly up-skilled – in their questioning skills, their knowledge of health service commissioning and service delivery

What happens next? • We face the same challenges as everyone else in terms of “selling” the benefits of scrutiny • The external recognition was positive • Now we have got to review what we do and how we do it • There is a case for more external scrutiny • But equally a focus on issues that are taking priority internally may secure a more sustainable future for scrutiny

Are there any transferable lessons? • It is all about building relationships – Internally – • getting “buy-in” for external scrutiny from Members and officers – Externally – establishing a credible process and a relationship that works – co-operation counts