The Adults and Health Overview and Scrutiny Sub-Committee 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 their activities during the 2025/26 financial year.

Quality Accounts 2025-26

The committee heard presentations on the 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 for 2025-26, highlighting a year of sustained delivery of palliative and end-of-life care. Key achievements included the launch of a care coordination service, the expansion of their palliative advice line, and progress in developing their governance framework with a focus on patient safety and learning from deaths. Priorities for the upcoming year include piloting ambient voice technology to improve efficiency and enhancing patient and family feedback mechanisms. The hospice is also undertaking a significant redevelopment of its inpatient unit, funded by a capital appeal and DHSE funding. Councillors commended the hospice on its positive patient reviews and CQC rating, and specifically noted the introduction of cuddle beds as a compassionate initiative. Concerns were raised regarding an increase in medication safety incidents, which the hospice explained was due to improved reporting culture and procedural reviews rather than an increase in harm.

Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust (CLCH) presented its Quality Account, detailing strong performance across its five quality campaigns: positive patient experience, preventing harm, smart effective care, modelling the way, and population health and inequalities. CLCH reported exceeding targets for patient experience, with high percentages of patients feeling respected and staff taking time to understand them. They also exceeded their target for clinical incidents not causing harm. The trust highlighted its new campaign on population health and inequalities, focusing on narrowing gaps in appointment attendance between deprived areas and the rest of the population. Councillors questioned CLCH on their approach to analysing and addressing health inequalities, and the trust detailed their use of postcode and deprivation data to identify trends and tailor interventions. Concerns were raised about areas requiring improvement in the CQC's 'safe' domain for children's services, which CLCH addressed by outlining ongoing work to improve commissioning levels and staffing.

Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust presented its Quality Account, covering its first full year as a merged entity with North Middlesex University Hospital. Dr Gillian Smith, Medical Director, highlighted significant improvements in cancer waiting times, with the trust achieving the 62-day standard for the first time in years. They also reported reductions in long waits for elective care and improvements in A&E waiting times. Patient experience scores remained high, though areas for improvement were noted in food and nutrition, and communications. The trust has embedded the National Patient Safety Incident Response Framework and introduced Martha's Rule pilots. Councillors congratulated the trust on the merger and its progress, but also raised concerns about persistent health inequalities and the need for further action. Discussions also covered the ongoing integration of electronic patient records and the challenges of addressing deeply ingrained health inequalities.

Update from Barnet Public Health

Dr Janet Djomba, Director of Public Health, presented the Barnet Public Health Department's End of Year Report for 2025/26. The department highlighted its work in mandated services such as sexual health, health protection, NHS Health Checks, and immunisation programmes. Barnet Public Health's approach is guided by five principles: making health everyone's business, collaborative partnership, evidence-based decisions, considering needs across the life course, and a co-design approach.

Key achievements included improved uptake of HPV vaccinations and NHS Health Checks returning to pre-pandemic levels. Stop smoking services exceeded their targets, and sexual health clinics saw high attendance. The department is strengthening its work with Barnet Health Champions and utilising the NHS-led neighbourhood-based working model to bring prevention and health improvement closer to communities. Barnet is leading in areas such as suicide prevention and gambling harm reduction, despite facing significant financial constraints due to having one of the lowest per capita public health grants in London. The department has been selected for an HSE peer review, offering an opportunity to raise funding concerns.

Councillor Caroline Stock raised concerns about the low per capita public health grant and requested that someone from the Department of Health and Social Care or the newly merged NHS organisation attend a future meeting to discuss the calculation of figures and the council's problems. Councillor Richard Barnes questioned the low percentage of funding allocated to staffing, which was clarified to be covered by core public health grants and commissioned services. Councillor Hersey raised concerns about the potential for pathologising youth mental health, which was noted as a matter for a different committee, though the Public Health team's role in promoting positive mental health was acknowledged. The committee also discussed the Health Champions programme and the potential use of Palantir products, with a commitment to follow up on these issues.

Update from Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Health

Councillor Zahra Beg, Cabinet Member for Equalities, Poverty Reduction and the Voluntary & Community Sector, provided an update. She highlighted the impressive work of council officers and partners in vaccination uptake and prevention. Councillor Beg also noted the significant income generated by adult social care and the importance of the Quality Care Awards. She reported on the ongoing restructure of the Integrated Care Board (ICB) and its implications for local provision and needs definition. Councillor Beg acknowledged the long-standing challenge of health inequalities and the focus on the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) to identify pockets of deprivation.

NCL Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee Update

The committee received minutes from the Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (JHOSC) meeting on 12 September and 21 November 2025. Councillor Alison Cornelius enquired about the Barnet representatives on the JHOSC, and it was noted that Councillor Edwards and the Chair were the representatives. A discussion ensued regarding the potential for the Vice-Chair of the Adults and Health Overview and Scrutiny Sub-Committee to act as a substitute on the JHOSC. The committee also noted concerns raised at the JHOSC regarding the ICB's reconfiguration and the role of Healthwatch.

Task and Finish Groups Update

An update was provided on the Primary Care (GP) Access and Discharge to Assess Task and Finish Groups. The committee noted that the Integrated Care Board (ICB) was unable to attend the meeting due to ongoing restructuring, and a written response to the committee's questions and recommendations was requested.

Cabinet Forward Plan

The committee reviewed the Cabinet Forward Plan for 2026-27 and was asked to identify any items they wished to request for pre-decision scrutiny.

Urgent Business

Councillor Caroline Stock raised an urgent matter regarding an incident at Dollis Valley Nature Reserve involving a person living in a tent who had become aggressive. This highlighted concerns about the increasing number of people sleeping in tents across the borough and the need for a multi-agency approach to address homelessness and mental health issues. Councillor Richard Barnes and Councillor Anne Hutton also shared similar concerns from their wards. Councillor Zahra Beg agreed to take the issue away and speak with colleagues to explore potential solutions and report back to the committee. The complexity of the issue, involving multiple agencies and individual circumstances, was acknowledged.

The meeting also included discussions on the work programme for the Adults and Health Overview and Scrutiny Sub-Committee and the Cabinet Forward Plan.