Annual Report and Accounts - The Great Western Hospital

3.29 Health and Overview Scrutiny Committees (HOSCs)
HOSCs (known as the Adult Social Care Select Committee in Wiltshire) are a statutory function of
Local Authorities comprising elected representatives whose role it is to scrutinise decisions and
changes that impact on health services in the area.
The Chief Executive of the Trust, along with other senior officers, routinely attends both Swindon
HOSC and Wiltshire AHSC to provide updates and respond to issues. During the course of the
year a formal report is now provided to Swindon HOSC and presented at each meeting which has
been well received.
Key topics covered at Swindon HOSC during the course of the year include:
• Changes to patient, public and staff car parking at the GWH
• Overview of the Hydrant project to improve the way patients are kept hydrated
• Progress on the development of a local Radiotherapy service
• The Development of Quality Accounts
The Trust welcomes the input of the HOSC in our work and towards the end of the year began
working with the HOSC as part of a small review group which includes Swindon LINk to look at the
action plan that has been developed in response to the various unannounced inspections carried
out by the CQC across the Trust during the year. This input is important in providing assurance to
the HOSC and LINks about the robustness of our plans and is a good model for joint work in the
future.
3.30 Swindon and Wiltshire LINks
Since the merger with WCHS the Trust has been a regular attendee at Wiltshire Involvement
Network meetings presenting on a range of topics concerning the Trust. This includes providing
advance notice of changes and developments in the local NHS.
As a Trust we have sought to ensure the LINks, as statutory bodies, are kept fully informed of
developments at the Trust and good links have been developed with key members of the
respective groups.
In December 2011 the Trust invited members of both groups to attend a food tasting session to
hear about the ‘menu less meals’ initiative that is being rolled out and planned changes to the
lunchtime meal offering. This session provided a useful opportunity to hear from users of our
service about their experience of hospital food. The senior team from Carillion, the catering
provider, were also in attendance to take on board the feedback and look at how the service may
be adapted to reflect the comments of those present.
Outside of more formal meetings, the Trust receives a regular flow of questions and feedback from
users through the LINks which are responded to. This open communication is useful to understand
the issues that are ‘reaching up to the surface’ and becoming a local concern which may need to be
addressed.
In Swindon the development of the Swindon LINk website has been a useful source of user
feedback through postings by service users. The Trust responds to all of the issues raised through
this site and shares with relevant teams and department for action where necessary.
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