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This consultation has now closed. Thank you.

The ‘Building Better Hospitals for the Future’ consultation closed at the end of 2020.  The public consultation asked people about proposals to transform acute and maternity services in Leicester’s hospitals by investing more than £450million.  We reached out to communities across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland and heard the views of many people on the proposals put forward, as well as the likely impact. 

We would like to thank everyone that participated in the consultation and for everyone that helped promote it.  Given the extent of feedback and the need to ensure that everything we heard was captured it has taken a little while to undertake an independent analysis and evaluation.  This has now been completed and received by the Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs)  and University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust. Here is the Full Consultation Report of Findings and a Summary. 

Summary of Findings

Full Consultation Report Findings  

The findings of the consultation are helping us to develop a Decision Making Business Case (DMBC), which is in the process of being completed. The DMBC is important because it sets out how we have responded to the consultation feedback, any changes we have made as a result, and the final proposals that we intend to take forward.

Position statement in response to calls to delay CCG Governing Body decision making meeting

We are aware of a request by certain groups and individuals to defer the planned extra-ordinary Governing Body meeting of 8th June. This meeting is to discuss the Report of Findings on the recent consultation to invest £450million in improving Leicester’s hospitals and the Decision Making Business Case on final proposals (DMBC). The LLR CCGs do not believe that this is necessary or appropriate.

The Decision Making Business Case is a technical document that is based on the evidence set out in the Pre-Consultation Business Case (PCBC), feedback from the consultation (contained with the recently published Report of Findings) and any other evidence compiled post-consultation.

The Governing Bodies of the CCGs are required to consider the DMBC including how feedback from the consultation process, which gathered more than 5,500 responses, has informed our thinking and final plans. It is the obligation of the CCGs to set out the information in this way, with a decision taken on the DMBC by the Governing Bodies themselves.

 Publishing the Report of Findings, which is a factual account of the consultation process and its responses, receiving the DMBC, and any decision made by the CCG Governing Bodies, is not a reopening of the consultation process.  Clearly it is not possible for any proposal to satisfy everyone and it is the legal duty of the Governing Bodies to consider the consultation responses and the revised proposals to ensure that they are appropriate and in the best interests of the populations that the CCGs serve as a whole, having due regard to our equality duties. This is normal NHS procedure and protocol in situations such as this and is in no way unique to LLR.

On this occasion, and after much careful thought, the CCGs have taken the decision to publish the DMBC on the day of the Governing Body meeting as permitted by the CCG constitutions. This is to ensure that the integrity of the decision-making process is in no way compromised or prejudiced by a partial rehearsal of issues prior to the Governing Body discussions taking place.

Once the Governing Bodies have made a decision on the proposals that are put before them, the CCG will provide this information in writing to key stakeholders as well as publishing and promoting the decisions more widely. The CCGs also gave an undertaking during the consultation to hold a public event on the Report of Findings and how it informed our final decisions once those decisions are made. The CCGs, supported by University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, remain committed to doing this – but this can only be done once the Governing Body has made a decision on those final proposals. To do otherwise would effectively be a continuation of the prior consultation, or a new consultation on the consultation process itself – neither of which is appropriate and would effectively see comments being made on other comments received during the consultation rather than on the proposals themselves.

As is normal process, and as set out in the Local Authority (Public Health, Health and Wellbeing Boards and Health Scrutiny) Regulations 2013, NHS partners also fully anticipate appearing before the JHOSC at the earliest available opportunity after making the final decisions to explain how those decisions were reached and how the views of the public and other stakeholders informed them alongside both the clinical and financial cases. Again, this can only be done once revised proposals have been considered for the reasons set out above.

Once agreed or amended the proposals would proceed to being worked up into individual Outline Business Cases (OBC). The main purpose of the OBC is to revisit the case for change and the preferred way forward identified in the DMBC, optimise value for money, outline the deal and assess affordability, and demonstrate that the proposed scheme is deliverable. As part of this process the CCG and UHL is committed to further engagement with patients and communities to inform the implementation of the decisions made by the CCGs.