The Adults and Health Overview and Scrutiny Sub-Committee of Barnet Council met on Tuesday 2 June 2026 to review the Quality Accounts of three healthcare providers: North London Hospice, Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust, and Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust. The committee also received an update from Barnet Public Health on its 2025/26 achievements and heard about the ongoing work of the North Central London Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

Quality Accounts 2025-26

The committee received detailed quality accounts from North London Hospice, Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust (CLCH), and Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust.

North London Hospice presented its Quality Account, highlighting its sustained delivery of palliative and end-of-life care. Key achievements included the launch of a care coordination service, a palliative advice line, and the development of its governance framework. The hospice is also undertaking a significant redevelopment of its inpatient unit, funded in part by the Department of Health and Social Care. Councillors commended the hospice's patient reviews and its CQC rating. Discussions also covered the piloting of ambient voice technology, the transition to digital records, and the increase in reported medicine safety incidents, which the hospice attributed to improved reporting culture rather than a decline in standards. The hospice also detailed its Building for Tomorrow capital appeal to redevelop its inpatient unit.

Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust (CLCH) presented its Quality Accounts, detailing progress against its five quality campaigns: positive patient experience, preventing harm, smart effective care, modelling the way, and population health and inequalities. CLCH reported a 'Good' rating from the CQC across all domains, with an 'Outstanding' rating for well-led adult community services. Achievements included exceeding targets for patient experience, preventing harm, and hand hygiene compliance. The trust highlighted its focus on tackling health inequalities by analysing data by postcode and deprivation, and adapting services such as piloting evening and weekend clinics based on patient feedback. Concerns were raised about areas requiring improvement in the CQC's 'safe' domain for children's services, to which CLCH responded with details of ongoing work. The trust also discussed its workforce race equality standard responses, noting that while retention is good, there are ongoing efforts to improve career progression opportunities for all staff.

Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust presented its Quality Account, covering its first full year as a merged entity with North Middlesex University Hospital. The trust highlighted significant operational pressures but reported good progress in integrating services and improving the quality of care. Key achievements included reducing waiting times for cancer patients, improving performance against national cancer targets, and reducing long waits for elective care. The trust also reported improvements in patient experience, though acknowledged further work is needed in areas like food and nutrition. Patient safety initiatives, including the embedding of the National Patient Safety Incident Response Framework and pilots of Martha's Rule, were discussed. The trust also noted its ongoing concern and focus on health inequalities, particularly for patients with language needs or learning disabilities. Concerns were raised by councillors regarding maternity care, referral to treatment timescales, and the merger's impact on staff. The trust detailed its plans to improve maternity services following CQC findings and its ongoing efforts to reduce waiting times for elective and cancer care. Discussions also touched upon Wi-Fi availability, food quality, doctor recruitment, cancelled operations, and the merger's impact on governance.

Health and Wellbeing Board Update

Councillor Moore provided an update on changes to the Health and Wellbeing Board's working practices. To allow for more in-depth, workshop-style discussions, the board will now divide its meetings into a formal public part and a more informal non-public part. This aims to improve the use of partners' time and expertise while maintaining public accountability. The membership will also evolve to reflect changes in the Integrated Care Board (ICB) representation. Councillor Moore also discussed the increase in deprivation levels in Barnet, as detailed in ONS reports, and its implications for ICB inequalities funding. This data will inform the local joint strategic needs analysis (JSNA) and future health inequalities work.

Barnet Public Health Annual Report 2025/26

Dr Janet Djomba, Director of Public Health, presented the department's achievements for the year, highlighting that despite decreasing capacity and funding, noticeable impacts on population health have been made. Key successes included improved uptake of the HPV vaccine and NHS Health Checks returning to pre-pandemic levels. Commissioned services, such as stop-smoking and sexual health services, exceeded targets. The department is strengthening its work with Barnet's Health Champions and is leading the way in North Central London on suicide prevention and gambling harm reduction. However, Dr Djomba noted that Barnet has the third lowest per capita public health grant in London and that a national review is needed for an increase. The department has been selected for an HSE peer review in the autumn, which will provide an opportunity to raise funding concerns.

NCL Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee Update

The committee received an update on the NCL Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (JHOSC). Concerns were raised by Professor Sue Richards of Islington Keep Our NHS Public (IKONP) regarding the use of Palantir Technologies in the NHS, citing issues with functionality, vendor lock-in, ethics, and data usage. IKONP requested that the NCL JHOSC flag these concerns with local trusts and hospitals. The committee agreed to follow up on this issue and requested further information regarding trusts' reluctance to sign up with Palantir. Discussions also covered the NCL Inequalities Fund, with concerns raised about its allocation and impact on specific boroughs like Islington. The committee requested more detailed economic evaluation data and clarity on how deprivation indices influence future funding. An update on the Royal Free and North Middlesex merger was provided, highlighting improvements in performance but also acknowledging staff anxieties and challenges in harmonising processes. The committee requested further information on staff survey data and A&E waiting times. Finally, the committee discussed the paediatric services review and the ongoing implementation of Martha's Rule, requesting further updates on these areas.

Work Programme and Cabinet Forward Plan

The committee noted the proposed work programme for the Adults & Health Overview and Scrutiny Sub-Committee for 2026-27 and reviewed the Cabinet Forward Plan, identifying potential items for pre-decision scrutiny.

Urgent Business: Homelessness and Tent Encampments

Councillor Stock raised an urgent issue regarding increasing numbers of people living in tents across the borough, highlighting concerns about aggression and the need for a multi-agency approach to address both homelessness and mental health issues. Councillors shared similar concerns from their wards. Dawn Wakeling, Executive Director, Communities, Adults and Health, agreed to take this issue away to discuss with colleagues and report back to the committee with potential solutions and information on the legal position regarding encampments on council land. The complexity of the issue, involving multiple agencies and individual circumstances, was acknowledged.