Background
The Association for Greater Manchester Authorities (AGMA) established a joint committee to formally scrutinise the proposals for the reorganisation of Children's Services across Greater Manchester, Cheshire and parts of Lancashire and Derbyshire.
The Children's Service Discussion document is available to view on the external website Best for Health.
Terms of reference
Making it Better Terms of Reference and Procedure (16kb 2 page pdf).
Project plan
The project plan was based on the following:
- That the need for change in the delivery of children's, neonatal and maternity services was well established and generally accepted, and that the Joint Health Scrutiny Committee need not spend further time in examining the need for change.
- That the Joint Health Scrutiny Committee was constituted to respond to the NHS consultation document and the proposals it contained, as well as comment on the public and patient involvement activity in which the NHS engaged in relation to this matter.
Recent developments
Bury MBC, Rochdale MBC and Salford City Council made referrals to the Secretary of State for Health, as they did not belive that the proposals were in the interests of local health services and would have a detrimental effect on the health and experience of local patients. Furthermore, concerns were raised that the consultation process might not have been carried out reasonably .
As a result, the Secretary of State referred the matter on to the Independent Reconfiguration Panel (IRP) for advice. The IRP is a body established in 2003 to provide advice to the Secretary of State for Health on contested proposals for health service change in England. The IRP have interviewed affected individuals and bodies and responded to the Secretary of State on 26 June 2007. It is now for the Secretary of State to make a final decision, which must be published within a month of receiving the advice. The advice given by the IRP will appear on its website from 23 July 2007.
Please note that the Health Secretary Alan Johnson has requested more time to consider the proposals. The IRP report and the Secretary's response will be published in due course.
It was announced on 24 August 2007 that the Secretary of State for Health, Alan Johnson, had endorsed the recommendations made by the IRP. The IRP made 10 recommendations relating to the Healthy Futures and Making it Better proposals, which broadly support the preferred options. For full details, please visit the IRP website.
For further information on the working of the 'Making it Better' joint committee, contact David Fletcher, at the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities secretariat 0194 270 5724 or Mark Holden 0194 270 5720.
