MEMBERS of the public concerned by NHS cuts and the possibility of huge jobs losses at Cornwall’s hospitals have raised questions at a Cornwall Council health scrutiny committee. One Cornish resident told councillors and health bosses the changes could have a “devastating impact” on patient care.

The Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust (RCHT) - which runs the Royal Cornwall Hospital at Treliske in Truro, St Michael’s Hospital in Hayle and West Cornwall Hospital in Penzance -announced two waves of potential job cuts last month.

RCHT first announced a period of consultation with some of its frontline staff, including ward matrons and nurses, with a view to saving over £49 million. The trust then said the proposals identified the potential to reduce the number of whole-time equivalent administration posts from just over 600 to around 450.

However, following union pressure, the trust has said that there will be a “pause” on the consultation on admin jobs and the consultation on clinical jobs has been extended.

The controversial move, which has led to protests outside Cornish hospitals, was highlighted during the public questions section at a meeting of Cornwall Council’s health scrutiny committee yesterday [Wednesday, November 5]. The meeting is attended by senior staff from NHS trusts in Cornwall.

Mr Evans, from St Austell, started proceedings by tabling a question about “public money” being paid to a consultancy firm. We revealed last month how RCHT hired Kingsgate Consultancy to run its job consultation at a cost of £412,400 plus VAT for the period February 24 to October 31.

“Who gave sign off on the public money paid to Kingsgate Consultancy in relation to the current restructuring proposals which are ongoing at Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust, and the speed at which these changes are being made during winter pressures which could have a devastating impact on patient care?” asked Mr Evans.

Health committee chairman Cllr Drew Creek (Green Party) read out a drafted response on behalf of the trust: “The appointment of Kingsgate was approved by the RCHT board in February to accelerate delivery of the 2025/26 operational plan, including the organisation’s largest ever cost improvement programme of £49.3 million.

“Approval for consultancy support was received from Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Integrated Care Board (ICB) and NHS England in accordance with the process for consultancy expenditure over £50,000. The cost is being met by RCHT.”

Mr Seaborn, from Truro, then asked: “With huge cuts to the budget for hospitals in Cornwall this year of £49m, on top of the £30m+ already cut from the budget this year, and with rumours of around another £40m in cuts next year, how do you think services can cope?”

Cllr Creek read out a response: “Healthcare services continue to need to deliver year-on-year efficiency and improvement, tackling ways to maximise productivity. The £49.3m savings target for RCHT in 2025/26 at seven per cent is consistent with that in most major acute providers in the South West and nationally.

“A recently published medium-term planning framework sets out the approach to change and reform built on three main shifts outlined in the ten-year health plan. The impact on services is assessed by the use of quality impact assessments.”

A question from Miss Best, of Bodmin, was then read out: “Are the higher echelons of the trust seriously considering allowing people to suffer through privatisation rather than reviewing high paid scopes?”

Cllr Creek read out another prepared statement: “The trust has a clear approach to maximise productivity and efficiency through existing resources, driving improvements in quality and service while ensuring financial sustainability. The trust remains committed to growing and developing services in-house. In limited cases, external support for programmes or projects is considered and if required any changes will be considered by the trust’s normal business case route.

“All roles, including senior management roles, within RCHT are part of the consultation on changes to our care group management structure and corporate areas, and may result in a reduction of those roles. At board level, RCHT already has a number of chief officer roles which are dual posts with Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. This has reduced the number of roles and consequently the costs which are shared across the two organisations.”

Mr Bramwell, of Truro, then tabled a question concerning a restructure of Kernow Health “threatening experienced staff redundancies”. He asked: “Kernow Health is restructuring and threatening redundancies to its longest serving staff. Does the committee believe retaining KH’s highly experienced staff is essential to maintain its high standards of care?”

Cllr Creek replied: “Kernow Health CIC is a not for profit GP-owned provider commissioned by NHS Cornwall and Isles of Scilly (ICB) and NHS England to deliver a number of primary and urgent care services. We do not comment publicly on an individual consultation process involving employees. Any organisational change follows due HR process with full staff engagement and does not compromise service quality or patient safety.”

Finally, Mr Albert, of Truro, asked the committee: “With the loss of hundreds of jobs in clinical administration planned at the county’s hospitals around Christmas and new computer systems to mitigate not due in place until mid-next year, are any plans in place to question the trust?”

Cllr Creek read out another prepared answer: “The review of the clinical administration services in RCHT is wider than the new electronic patient record (EPR) system. RCHT has a responsibility to provide safe and cost-effective services for its population in the same way many of our other sectors and industries have done. The NHS must modernise and must also meet a national NHS requirement to reduce the amount we spend on our corporate and administrative services. This will support immediate opportunities as well as the implementation of the new EPR.

“It should, however, be noted that at the same time RCHT is working with its staff to engage and listen to their views for clinical administration and by mutual agreement with staff, colleagues have agreed to review feedback received on December 9 before an updated proposal is developed for formal consultation.”

Liberal Democrat councillor Ruth Gripper asked if the health scrutiny committee should be questioning the Trust on the job loss consultations as suggested by Mr Albert. She was told that as the RCHT restructuring was operational it wasn’t within the scrutiny committee’s ‘purview’.

Cornwall Council’s strategic director for safe and caring communities Alison Bulman said: “The bit for the committee will be any unintended consequences of their restructure and holding the trust to account in relation to that and any impact on frontline service delivery.”