THE FUTURE of some healthcare provisions in Northumberland is uncertain as a council meeting yesterday left both health and council bosses pointing fingers at the other.

Northumbria Healthcare Trust and Nothumberland County Council have worked together since 2011 to provide services, including delegated provision of most adult social care functions to the Trust, including care management, community rehabilitation services, some specialist learning disability services and a variety of business support functions.

It involves around 800 staff and has a budget in the millions.

Alan Richardson, Chair of the Northumberland Healthcare Trust, said: "We've been very pleased with the partnership, we've achieved a huge amount over the years.

However, he described a leadership which had struggled to work together since 2019 and said that the Trust 'had no choice' but to cut ties with the council.

"There are always lumpy, bumpy bits but in the end we were unable to sit down together and say 'where are we going with this and what do we want to achieve?'"

Although the Trust gave notice to Northumberland County Council in February that it wanted to withdraw from the Partnership, Mr Richardson said: "These problems should be solvable.  It's not too late."

Daljit Lally OBE, Chief Executive of Northumberland County Council, said she had not been aware that the Trust were open to maintaining the partnership. 

She described being excluded from meetings between top Trust executives and the former leader of Northumberland County Council.

Peter Jackson, former leader the the council, said: "Mrs Lally was leading from the County Council and wasn't excluded from any meetings that I know of.

"It's such a shame that such a nationally recognised partnership is being broken up for what seems to be a clash of personalities."

Ms Lally said: "I just feel quite ambushed this morning, being put in this position.

"The [Healthcare Trust] board's governance concerns were their lack of oversight as an organisation."

She expressed concern for the 'invisible' patients concerned: "They're not in hospital beds, you can't see the patient in the bed, sometimes they're hidden in communities."

Later, she was asked not to make comments "imputing the intentions" of fellow councillors after a comment she made about Councillor Oliver and the scrutiny committe in general.

Councillor Nick Oliver said: "We're going through a divorce where both sides are saying it's not them that wants to get divorced.

"This has been a partnership that for many years has been held up as world-class.

"There's all sorts of risk.  Risk to patients, risk to finance, risk to staff involved in delivering this service."

He made a recommendation to 'pause' the discussions and get the leaderships of the organisations together to see if they could reach a solution.  This was accepted as a conclusion of the meeting.

Cath McEvoy-Carr, Executive Director of Adult Social Care and Children’s Services at Northumberland County Council, said: "When the Council and the Trust first entered into the partnership in 2011, the partnership agreement was for a two-year period, with a review built in.

"However, due to uncertainty around the long-term NHS organisational arrangements, the comprehensive review of the partnership was repeatedly deferred, and in autumn 2019 the Council proposed that this should take place during 2020.

"Following this, the Council proposed a new model for the integration of community-based health and care services for people with long-term disabling health conditions. This would have had separate governance arrangements, which might have involved additional NHS partners such as primary care and mental health services, to support closer integration with key health services outside the Trust. 

"The Trust did not feel able to support this proposal, and subsequently notified us of their decision to end the partnership.

Currently, one-fifth of Northumbria Healthcare Trust's operations are in Northumberland communities.

Marion Dickson, executive director for nursing, midwifery and allied health professionals at Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, said: “There are ongoing discussions with Northumberland County Council regarding the future of the Partnership Agreement and we believe there are, potentially, alternative options to consider that could minimise disruption, risk and cost. 

"Our focus will always be guided by what is right for the citizens we serve and our staff. Regardless of the Council’s decision we value our relationship and will continue to work with them.”

Ms McEvoy-Carr continued: "The Council did not set out to bring about the dissolution of the partnership.

"The Trust did not so far as we are aware bring to the attention of the Council at any point, during the review meetings or otherwise, any specific proposals for revised governance arrangements.

"We cannot comment on any detailed information about governance issues which may have been considered by the Trust’s Board when it made its decision. That information has never been supplied to us.

"We remain committed to providing integrated services with a wide range of partners, and we will continue to work closely with Northumbria Healthcare Trust as we do with other partner organisation.

"Our priority is and has always been caring for our residents and the staff that deliver these vital services, which the Council have a statutory role to deliver."

The Partnership is due to end next month and the council are actively trying to replace the services that Northumbria Healthcare Trust provide.

Mr Richardson is taking the possibility of withdrawing their notice back to the board of the Trust to discuss.