Trust & Charitable Funds Committee 15 May Dementia Appeal

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1 Enclosure N Trust Board as Corporate Trustee of the Kingston Hospital Charity Trust & Charitable Funds Committee Report Trust Board Item: June 2015 Enclosure: N Purpose of the Report: To report to Board on the meeting of the Trust & Charitable Funds Committee held on 15 May 2015, and to decide on whether the Charity should pursue independent status For Noting Sponsor (Executive Lead): Author: For Decision Michael Jennings Michael Jennings Author Contact Details: Financial / Resource Implications: Quality Governance Implications: Supports enhanced services within the Hospital Risk Implications Link to Assurance Framework or Corporate Risk Register: Legal Regulatory / Reputation Implications: Link to Relevant CQC Standard: Link to Relevant Corporate Objective: Impact on Patients and Carers: Document Previously Considered By: Strategic Objectives 1: To ensure that all care is rated amongst the top 20% nationally for patient safety, clinical outcomes and patient experience Improved patient care Recommendations & Actions required by the Trust Board: The Board as Corporate Trustee is asked to note the report, and decide whether or not to accept the recommendation of the Committee that the Charity should not pursue independent status at this point in time.

2 Trust & Charitable Funds Committee 15 May 2015 Dementia Appeal The Dementia Appeal was formally launched on 29 April at an event attended by over 80 guests, organised by the Charity s Fund-Raising Officer (Michelle Bartsch), with the support of the Communications Team. This included a welcome by the Chairman of the Hospital, presentations by Duncan Burton and Dr Louise Hogh on the proposals for dementia care at the Hospital (including a computerised fly-through of the proposed improvements to Derwent Ward), and a call to action and for funding by the Chairman of the Appeal, Serge Lourie. The Kingston Round Table No19, Kingston Rotary Club and Kingston Firework Committee presented a cheque for 2,000 at the launch, and so far some 50,000 has been raised, through a range of donations (from individuals and major ones from the Donald Gosling Foundation), including collections at the Odeon Cinema in Kingston during the run of the Oscar winning film Still Alice about a woman with dementia. On 19 May, the new Mayor of Kingston, Cllr Roy Arora announced at the Annual Council that his main charity for the year would be the Kingston Hospital Charity Dementia Appeal and that he was looking forward to building greater support and recognition for this wonderful charity. The Committee received an update on the fund-raising activities by the Fund-Raising Officer (including contacts with potential donors and a range local organisations already interested in supporting the charity, and events such the Night Rider event on 6 June, the Hospital Open Day on 13 June, a sponsored walk round Richmond Park on 4 July, Ride London on 1-2 August, and the Garmin Kingston Run on 11 October). The Committee will take stock and review the fund-raising strategy at its next meeting in July. Finance On 15 May, the Committee received the year- end figures for the general charitable funds. Income for the year was some 148,000, whilst expenditure was some 500,000, with a year-end position of some 972,000. These figures reflect the Committee s commitment to see the charitable funds well utilised. These figures exclude other charities in the Hospital (The Friends, Kingston Can, Born Too Soon, Momentum, and the Cardiac Support Trust. Research The Committee also reviewed the position on charitable funded research projects with Dr Helen Matthews, who is the Research and Development Lead for the Hospital: Dysmetabolic Iron Overload Syndrome (Prof. P Waller): The MSc research has been completed with excellent results. A report will be presented to the Charity when ready and it is hoped the results will be published. Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (Dr A Bansai and Emma Walsh): This has had to be postponed because of the re-organisation of the South West London Pathology, but is expected to start next year. In addition, funding has been allocated for 6 half-pas (Programmed Activities) to enable the following consultants to act as Research Ambassadors: 2

3 Stroke Trials: (Dr Lilian Choi): The aim is to bring several multicentre stroke trials to Kingston including setting up PLORAS, a collaborative study with UCH looking at language difficulties after strokes. Neonatal & Paediatric Research (Dr Suzanne Luck): who aims to use the time to build infrastructure in neonatal and paediatric research and continue recruitment to large National Institute for Health portfolio trials. Ophthalmology: (Miss Vasuki Sivagnanavel): To build two collaborations with pharmaceutical companies and to help recruit and train research fellows. Obstetrics (Dr Elizabeth Peregrine): Two very large trials are being set up looking at antenatal diagnosis (PAGE and RAPID). Clinical Research Network support was been given to provide a research midwife to help recruit and run this study. Oncoplastic Breast Surgery (Mr Giles Davies): Research time forwarding work with the Marsden in breast cancer trials and building links with Kingston University Orthodontics (Mr Farhad Naini): He has a research publication portfolio of over 80 papers and who aims to use the time developing new orthodontic research and training a research fellow. Cancer: The Committee also agreed to support the Hospital s participating in an Add-Aspirin trial, subject to the arrangements for dispensing being finalised. The Committee authorised a contribution form the Pharmacy fund ( 13,725) if required. Add-Aspirin is the largest randomised UK multi-centre clinical trial in solidi organ cancer in recent years. The intention is to recruit 11,000 participants in the UK and India to help find out if regular aspirin after treatment for breast, stomach, colon and prostrate cancer can prevent or delay recurrence. The trial aims to start recruiting in July The Sir William Rous Unit has been accepted as one of the UK sites for Add-Aspirin with Dr Rao as the Principal Investigator (PI) on site. Add-Aspirin would help boost the recruitment of the Hospital s patients to NIHR sponsored trials with an estimated recruitment of 600 patients over the 5 year period. It would also help the Trust s clinical team and support services gain experience for participation in other trials. Conversion to Independent Status The Department for Health has for some time wished to disentangle itself from responsibilities for charities in the NHS. These included responsibilities for appointments in some charities (not Kingston s), and charitable funding being incorporated in to NHS accounts (including Kingston s). In October 2012, the Department issued a consultation document, on which consultation took place during 2012/13. In March 2014, the Department issued its response to the consultation Review of the Regulation and Governance on NHS Charities. In the light of responses to the consultation, this Review document encouraged NHS charities to consider converting to independent status, but did not require it (other than for the 20 charities mostly the largest - which already have independent trustees or trustees appointed by the NHS Trust Development Authority on behalf of the Department - the Department intends to seek a repealing of its powers to do so). This means that for the other 243 NHS charities (most of which are hospital based), where 3

4 like Kingston, the board acts as the corporate trustee, their Boards can decide whether or not to convert to independent status. In November 2014, the Department and the Association of NHS Charities (of which Kingston is a member) published Guidance on conversion to independent status. A copy of this is circulated with this report. This Guidance invites Boards to investigate whether or not they wish to convert their charity to independent status, and if so, sets out the processes to achieve this. The Guidance sets out the following potential advantages of going independent: (a) The new charity will be able to demonstrate to donors and the Charity Commission that it is independent and takes its own decisions (b) The new Charity would be able to adopt wider charitable purposes (for new money), and enter into new or different fund-raising initiatives, collaborations or mergers without being constrained by the parent NHS organisation (c) The new charity would not be directly affected by any re-organisation, merger or acquisition by the parent NHS organisation (d) The new charity could choose its own trustees and advisers (including auditors) (e) The new charity, providing it is set up as either a company limited by guarantee or as a charitable incorporated organisation, would have limited liability (f) The new charity would be outside the public procurement regime (g) The new charity s accounts would not be consolidated in the related Trust nor Department of Health s accounts The Guidance also sets out possible disadvantages: (a) The Trust may feel a loss of influence over the new charity, or find that the new charity is focusing away from activities which the trust feels are important (b) The process of converting to independent status will require staff time and expenditure, and be potentially disruptive during the transition (c) The new charity as an independent organisation will require dedicated management (e.g. its own chief executive) and support, which is likely to cost more than buying these in from the parent Trust (d) The new charity will have a new charity number (though it can use the old NHS name) The pros and cons of going independent have been discussed at both Members and Chairs meetings of the Association of NHS Charities. The general view is as follows: (a) for charities with an income of less than 1 m a year on average (i.e. excluding one-off major legacies such as Kingston s Thorne legacy), the costs of running a free-standing charity will form too large a part of the expenditure, both in itself, and in terms of potential donors looking at the administrative deduction (b) for charities where the relationship between the Board (as corporate trustee) and the charity s immediate direction (e.g. the Trust & Charitable Funds Committee) is good, there is little to be gained, and potentially much to be lost, by the charity losing its direct connection with the Trust/Hospital (c) for the charity it is possible to underline its practical independence by having its own strategy, dedicated staff, distinct publicity and campaigns, operational, financial and investment policies, a risk register, agreed service charges, and a separate section in the annual report and accounts (all of which have been put in place in the last two years at Kingston). 4

5 The Committee looked at the Guidance, and the process for conversion contained within it. The process for conversion is complex and would take about a year The Committee felt that at this point in time, the disadvantages outweighed the advantages. Moreover, as the Trust Board knows from experience, it is better to start in a new status at the commencement of the financial year. This would mean embarking on the process now, if a 1 April 2016 date were to be aimed for. The Committee considered that the diversion of scarce resources at a time of pressure for both the Hospital and the Charity, would be a distraction and highly detrimental. As a result Committee decided that it would not be wise to pursue conversion to independent status for the Charity, at least for the foreseeable future. The issue could be kept under review, should circumstance change. RECOMMENDATION The Board is asked to note the report, and decide as the Charity s Corporate Trustee whether or not to accept the recommendation of the Committee that the Charity should not pursue independent status at this point in time. Michael Jennings, Chairman 5