Welcome to the first edition of the bulletin designed to provide you with a progress report from the Yorkshire and the Humber Clinical Senate. The bulletins will be issued on a regular basis, likely to be quarterly.
This bulletin is provided for anyone working with, or interested in, the Senate in Yorkshire and the Humber.
What is the Senate?
The Senate is a body designed to provide a source of independent strategic advice across Yorkshire and the Humber. It is comprised of trusted and experienced clinical experts across health and social care who can support commissioners in the transformation of their health services. The
Senate can be called upon by commissioners to advise on any aspects of care where there is the potential to improve quality and outcomes.
How do you get in touch?
Commissioners can approach the Senate to ask for advice, review and an independent expert opinion. Please contact the Senate Manager or Senate Chair (contact details below) if you have a topic which you wish to explore with the Senate. We will work with you to frame the question you wish the
Senate to consider.
Appointment of the Chair
Chris Welsh has been appointed to the position of Senate Chair working 1 day a week in this role. We are very pleased to have such an experienced and well respected clinician to lead the Senate. Chris’s contact details are chris.welsh@nhs.net Chris is keen to meet with stakeholders across Yorkshire and the Humber and will be meeting with senior colleagues including Area Team Directors, Area Team Medical Directors, Chairs of the Collaborative Commissioning Groups and with colleagues in Regional Office in his first round of meetings.
The Senate team
Joanne Poole works as the Senate Manager and can be contacted on the email joanne.poole1@nhs.net. Jo is supported by Stephanie Beal who provides administrative support to the Senate. Steph works 2.5 days a week from Tuesday – Thursday and can be contacted on the email stephaniebeal@nhs.net or 01138253467.
Appointments to the Council
The Senate is comprised of a Senate Council and a Senate Assembly. The Senate Council is the core multi-disciplinary steering group to oversee Senate business, receive objective data and information and co-ordinate the formation of advice by seeking and obtaining views, perspectives
and expert opinions.
The Assembly will be a diverse multi professional forum that will provide perspectives, ideas and expert opinions encompassing the birth to death spectrum and provide a source of experts for the Senate Council to draw from.
We are currently focusing on the establishment of the Council and are pleased to announce that we have completed our selection and interview process.
The appointed Council members are confirmed as:
Steve Ollerton Clinical Leader Greater Huddersfield CCG
Matthew Fay GP Principal Westcliffe Medical Practice
Jon Ausoksby Consultant Surgeon Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS FT
Johnson D’Souza GP and Medical Advisor to NHS England West Yorkshire Area Team South Elmsall
Cathy Wright AHP Lead Bradford District Care Trust
Jayne Hawkins Consultant Clinical Psychologist Leeds and York
Andrew Phillips Urgent Care Clinical Lead Vale of York CCG
Sewa Singh Medical Director Doncaster and Bassetlaw NHS FT
Nisreen Booya Medical Director South West Yorkshire
Partnership NHS FT
Phil Garnett CCG Clinical Chair Scarborough and Ryedale CCG
Richard Parker Director of Nursing, Midwifery and Quality Doncaster and Bassetlaw NHS FT
Caroline Hibbert Clinical Director Hull and East Yorkshire NHS FT
Mark Withers Medical Director North Lincolnshire and Goole NHS FT
Jeff Perring Director of Intensive Care Sheffield Children’s Hospital NHS FT
We also have a number of nominated representatives who are confirmed as:
Paul Twomey Medical Director North Yorkshire Area
Team
Sue Cannon Director of Nursing West Yorkshire Area Team
Jon Hussain Deputy Post Graduate Dean West Yorkshire Locality of YH Health Education England
John Radford Director of Public Health Rotherham MBC
We are still seeking representation from Director(s) of Social Services and will continue discussions to secure a representative. The AHSN are also still to confirm their representative. We wish to secure two patient and public representatives on the Council and have commenced a campaign in the local press. We may also have an ambulance service representative on the Council.
Council Meetings
Our first Council meeting will be held in the first week of March at the Cedar Court Hotel, Wakefield. The Council will meet bi monthly and dates for the remainder of the year will be set shortly.
Governance and Ways of Working
It is important that the Senate develops clear principles and values, terms of reference and guidance on its topic selection. It will also require a clear policy for the management of conflict of interest. A suite of documents have been drafted for the Council to consider at its first meeting. Once agreed by the Council these will be available to our wider stakeholders on our
website which is currently under development. Contact joanne.poole1@nhs.net for further information.
Topics
The Senate has completed its first review on behalf of the Mid Yorkshire Health and Social Care Transformation Programme. The Senate was asked to review the Outline Business Case which set out a strategic case for transformational change and the development of a range of health and social care services within the Mid Yorkshire footprint. The Senate was still in development in December 2013 when the request for review was received and the advice was therefore developed from a bespoke group of clinical experts from within Yorkshire and the Humber, independent to the organisations
under discussion, with areas of expertise particularly related to the issues within the business case.
The Senate has also been asked to review the proposals developed in “Healthy Lives, Healthy Futures” for the reconfiguration of services across Northern Lincolnshire. This work is scheduled for March/ April 2014. We are also working with North Yorkshire and the Humber Area Team to define the Senate’s role in two further proposals within their geography.
The Senate is currently in discussion with colleagues in specialised services regarding their potential involvement in the review of morbid obesity services.
Engagement
Chris Welsh and Jo Poole are very keen to continue to meet with colleagues across Yorkshire and the Humber and we welcome the opportunity to attend any meetings to discuss the role of the Senate and the opportunities for working with you. Please contact joanne.poole1@nhs.net if you would like to
make arrangements.
The Senate’s role in Assurance
We have been advised that in April 2014 the Senates will take over from the National Clinical Advisory Team in its role of providing independent clinical assurance of reconfiguration proposals. A national task and finish group is currently working through the implications of this transition
and proposals will be discussed at a national meeting on 26th March. This does represent a
departure from the original proposals on the function of the Senate which is recognised by the national team and the implications are being discussed in detail. We will keep you informed on the development of these discussions. The Senate’s role in the service change assurance process will only be a part of our wider remit. The Senate is a resource to commissioners and can provide advice and guidance on a range of topics including best practice, acceptable variation and early advice on proposals.
NIHR CLAHRC Yorkshire and Humber 