Virgin Care has presented a progress report on its £270 million seven-year deal to run health services across East Staffordshire - with an update on a range of issues vital to community care in the borough.

Bosses from the Sir Richard Branson firm revealed at a meeting at Burton Town Hall they had prevented 480 people from going into hospital unnecessarily during the time they have run some health services in the area.

The contract which saw Virgin Care take control of a number of health services in East Staffordshire began on May 1, 2016, and in 18 months since then, Virgin Care bosses say significant progress has been made.

The full details were revealed at an open meeting on Tuesday, October 10.

Representatives of Virgin Care, the chief executive of Burton Hospitals Foundation NHS Trust, Helen Scott-South and the chairman of East Staffordshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), Dr Charles Pidsley, made up a board to answer a series of questions from residents who attended on the night.

The first question from the room was from Trevor Baker, a representative of the Staffordshire Neurological Alliance.

Mr Baker asked: "With long terms conditions - asthma, diabetes and heart failure were all mentioned, but not a mention was made about neurology in the discussion. Why?"

Michelle Lee, one of the representatives for Virgin Care, replied: "The reason it wasn't mentioned in the presentation was because it can be so hard to capture everything so we have had some issues delivering neurology care in the past, we've faced significant challenges that we are working with our colleagues at Burton to resolve.

The open meeting at the Town Hall in Burton was well attended
The open meeting at the Town Hall in Burton was well attended

"Neurology is a national issue, there is a national shortage of neurological consultants so we were struggling for a time and that did result in a waiting list at Burton hospital, we did recruit a consultant neurologist and I am pleased to say that the trajectory we have to reduce the waiting list is now on track."

And Charles Pidsley, the chairman of East Staffordshire CCG added: "As Michelle has said, it is a national problem and there isn't an easy solution, there aren't enough consultants coming through the system at the moment, so it needs a national solution."

Another question came from a concerned resident about where the money from the £270 million contract is going to be spent.

They said: "There is a seven year contract, priced at £270 million, we're 18 months down the line, have you got any idea how much has been spent in that period of time?"

Dr Vivienne McVey, another representative from Virgin Care, replied: "I can't give you a figure off the top of my head about how much we've spent, what I know is that we've spent everything we've received.

"We can certainly get that information, but it's difficult, we've spent everything that we've been given is the broad general answer and we've invested what we said we would invest in the services.

"I spoke to one or two people about the investment we've put into IT and into supporting staff and we've kept to what we said we would do."

Another question to the panel was: "Are you independently audited and is value for money part of that audit?"

The meeting was held at the town hall in Burton
The meeting was held at the town hall in Burton

Dr McVey answered once again on behalf of Virgin Care: "In terms of value for money, Charles said that we are subject to all the same checks and regulations that other NHS organisations are subject to.

"So as part of our contract monitoring, that is the case, as an independent organisation yes of course all of our accounts are audited. That's business."

Another concerned resident said: "The difference between you and the NHS is that the NHS is a not-for-profit organisation whereas Virgin Care isn't, so when you claim to be in parallel with the same techniques with the NHS that's not strictly true, is it?"

Dr McVey replied: "We don't pretend to be an NHS organisation, we are an independent organisation. We do aim to make a surplus just like any NHS organisation is supposed to do as well because that shows good practice in terms of managing your money.

"So every NHS trust including Burton and Derby, aims to make a surplus. We aim to make a surplus and at the moment all of that money that we make is reinvested into the contract."

A follow-up question came from the same resident: "Does that mean that none of the contract value, of the £270 million you received actually goes to the investors?"

Dr McVoy replied: "Yes that's what I mean."

What services do Virgin Care provide?

Virgin Care was set up more than ten years ago and was chosen by East Staffordshire Clinical Commissioning Group, in 2014 to help manage services, including care for those with long-term illness and the elderly or frail, in the area.

The sort of care provided at home included treatment for those suffering with diabetes, heart failure and asthma, among others, with the aim to stop them having to unnecessarily visit hospital when there are other solutions.

The commissioning group (CCG) had decided to focus on helping people to be healthier for longer and to target those with long-term conditions by offering them additional care, through a programme entitled Improving Lives, which Virgin Care landed the £270m contract to operate the services.

Since taking on the contract in East Staffordshire, Virgin Care has implemented a number of projects aimed at improving the long term health of those in the area.

Among them is the '8 to Hydrate' campaign which aims to educate residents on the importance of having plenty to drink to stay hydrated; all aimed at reducing unnecessary visits to the hospital.

Virgin Care has also introduced a care co-ordination centre to East Staffordshire which is one central call line - those who have received care from their staff can call and be directed to where they need to. As of October 30, the service that was available five days a week will operate seven days, between 8am and 6pm.