The Adult Care and Health PDS Information Briefing was scheduled to cover updates on the Adult Services Transformation and Improvement Programme, the Local Account 2024/25, and a review of the contract register. The briefing also included the minutes from the Health Scrutiny Briefing held on 16 September 2025.

King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust Update

The Health Scrutiny Briefing on 16 September 2025 included an update from Angela Helleur, Chief Delivery Officer at King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (KCH). She highlighted that emergency performance had improved, with 72% achieved overall in July 2025, and that new initiatives, including ambulatory pathways¹, had been implemented for winter. There had also been a reduction in the number of patients waiting more than 12 hours in the Emergency Department.

There were still challenges in relation to mental health presentations, and they were working closely with Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust colleagues to manage these pathways.

KCH were focusing on reducing long waits for elective treatment, and had seen a 20% reduction in the waiting list overall. Cancer performance was generally good, but there were challenges within breast and prostate pathways. The new divisional structure at KCH had been in place for a couple of months and benefits were being seen, with better activity with teams to try and improve engagement and morale. The Endoscopy Unit was due to be completed by the end of October 2025, which would support cancer performance. There would be upgrades to wards to make them dementia friendly, and there were also plans to refurbish the maternity and children's wards, as well as expand the neo-natal unit.

With regards to the proposed service redesign of inpatient cancer care, the proposals focused on the Chartwell Ward, a 12-bed ward which cared for mostly cancer and haematology patients, but also other general patients. It was proposed that inpatient haematology be centralised at the Denmark Hill site, providing equivalent care. Outpatient services, ambulatory therapy and supportive care would remain on the Princess Royal University Hospital (PRUH) site.

GP Access

At the Health Scrutiny Briefing, Cheryl Rehal, Associate Director of Primary and Community Care, Bromley – SEL ICS², and Dr Andrew Parson, Co-Chair and GP Clinical Lead – One Bromley Local Care Partnership, provided an update on GP access.

From 1 October 2025, patients should be able to contact practices via their online consultation tool throughout core hours (weekdays, 8.00am-6.30pm).

For many practices across England, this presented a significant contractual change, and a potential major pressure point ahead of the peak winter period. It would require shifting to a different way of working for a number of practices.

Bromley GP practices had been using online consultations tool for a number of years, but the expansion of this tool and the subsequent increase in contacts expected as a result now required general practice to work very differently.

The 'You and Your GP' charter would be added to practice websites, which were often the route used, alongside the NHS app – practices and Primary Care Networks (PCN) had been supporting people to access and navigate the app. This charter set out the expectation that requests would be respond to in a working day.

Healthwatch Bromley - Patient Experience Report

The Sub-Committee received the Quarter 1 Patient Experience Report for Healthwatch Bromley, covering the period from April – June 2025. 541 reviews of health and care services were gathered, helping to raise awareness of issues and improve care. 54 visits were carried out across the borough including at hospitals, GP practices, health awareness evenings, wellbeing cafés, a community fair, Bromley XbyX Forum, mum and tots' groups and the One Bromley Health Hub. 50% of the reviews related to GP services, and Healthwatch Bromley were trying to capture more information regarding how patients were finding, and accessing, the NHS app.

South East London Joint Health Overview & Scrutiny Committee (Verbal Update)

Councillor Gemma Turrell, Vice-Chairman, advised that she had attended a meeting of the South East London Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 31st July 2025. Updates included that representatives from St Thomas' Hospital would attend a future meeting to talk about the move of principal cancer care. Lewisham had received £5m for a pilot scheme to deliver a community hub for people that had mental health conditions. A discussion was scheduled as to whether there would be a mental health A&E in all hospitals. It was noted that the uptake of flu vaccinations was down across south east London.

Adult Services Transformation and Improvement Programme Update Report

The Adult Services Transformation and Improvement Programme Update Report was scheduled to be discussed.

Local Account 2024/25

The Local Account 2024/25 was scheduled to be discussed.

Contract Register

The Contract Register was scheduled to be discussed.