Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Viv Griffin.

There were no declarations of interest.

[To approve the minutes of the previous meeting as a correct record.]

Resolved:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 15 June 2015 be approved

as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

[To consider any matters arising from the minutes.]

[To consider the end of life strategy update report and offer comments,]

Clair Hobbs, Senior Matron – Adult Community Services Group (RWT), introduced the End of Life Strategy Update Report. She explained how the strategy is based on national guidance about how to care for people during their last days of life, and that Trust’s model is based on best practice from another trust. A new document launched on 24 April 2015 outlines the Trust’s priorities and is being implemented at some Trust sites, such as Compton Hospice. This document will be audited in the next few months to assess how the Trust can improve and build upon their progress in the area. The Trust has also created a best practice steering group.

The vision of the strategy is to meet the needs of a dying person holistically. By involving individual and relatives in a care plan, the Trust facilitates the needs and preferences of a dying patient. This can include accommodating spiritual and religious customs, spending time with loved ones, and making special arrangements for the patient’s pet to visit them in care. An internet page provides staff with information about these measures. Monthly training is also provided and over 500 employees have already completed the course. This has informed staff about the new care philosophy of tailored care. The Trust aims to implement a gold standards framework for end of life care to ensure people are able to choose where they die. It will do this by identifying patients at a palliative stage of care and proactively put measures in place to ensure they are able to choose how they are cared for.

Susan Seymour, Advanced Nurse Practitioner, presented the panel examples of resource boxes that are used to return patient possessions to a bereaved family. She explained how these resource boxes were a more personalised and sensitive gesture. She added that the hospital aims to accommodate the wishes of the family after bereavement, and that a discrete swan symbol informs staff that the patient is in end of life care. Departmental Swan Champions support the philosophy of this project and have been making arrangements for families to park at reduced rates when visiting relatives.

Cllr O’Neill queried how this service linked with patient complaints, noting that there could sometimes a desire to blame someone or something after bereavement. A patient liaison service processes such complaints currently, but an end of life steering group will monitor this in future. The group has designed a bereavement survey for relatives to evaluate quality of care and their experiences. The Trust is also voluntarily participating in the national end of life care audit. Cllr O’ Neill also queried where the national end of life audit report could be accessed. The Advanced Nurse Practitioner explained the Trust is currently submitting raw data for this year’s report, which won’t be available until January 2016. She added that previous years’ reports are available to access online.

Cllr O’Neill also commented on the financial implications of expanding the end of care team. Claire Skidmore, Chief  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

[To approve the Musculoskeletal (MSK) Consultation Evaluation Report, and provide any comments.]

Claire Skidmore, Chief Finance Officer, and Penny Gibbs, Communications and Engagement Lead Officer, presented the Wolverhampton Clinical Commissioning Group (WCCG) MSK consultation evaluation. The CCG’s consultation ran from 16 March 2015 to 5 June 2015. This work included:

• Formal meetings
• Visits to outpatient clinics
• Discussions at public and private CCG meetings
• Outreach opportunities
• Social media

The CCG reported a positive response to the consultation and noted the vision to streamline the service was shared by the majority of people that they spoke to. The consultation identified four themes that are important to people, which were:

• An accessible and local location
• Easy access and referral into the system
• Good communication
• Quality of service with performance indicators to measure success

The findings of the consultation will be presented to the CCG Board with a view to designing a contract specification to tender the service. The Chief Finance Officer noted that the CCG wishes for patient voice to be part of the procurement process, and that they hope to procure a service that will start by the end of 2016. Sam Hick, HealthWatch representative, queried how patient groups would be involved in this process. It was explained that there will be patient involvement in reviewing bids, with an opportunity to challenge decisions in the procurement process.

Cllr O’Neill commented on information sharing between health bodies and queried whether the CCG would introduce more technology to replace hard copies of documents. The Chief Finance Officer explained hospital trusts make these decisions; however, CCG contracts often make stipulations regarding technology, which means the CCG can track and monitor developments. She added that the CCG aims to design a MSK service where professionals are be able to access patient records seamlessly to avoid duplication.

Cllr Simkins requested background information about MSK services for the benefit of new Health Scrutiny Panel members. The Chief Finance Officer explained that the reasons for bringing the paper were considered by the Health Scrutiny Panel last year, summarising the issues of the current service: a confusing system for patients, duplicated and superfluous appointments, and an inefficient information sharing processes. Cllr Simkins noted that turnout for some of the consultation events had been very low and queried whether elected members could be informed of future consultations in their wards, as this could significantly boost turn out. Ros Jervis, Director of Public Health, also noted that certain workshops had been poorly attended. She suggested that the CCG should link with Councillors when running future consultations as elected members often have detailed knowledge of their communities. This was noted by the CCG as a lesson learnt. The Director of Public Health explained to the Panel that she had not been involved in this consultation as it not part of Public Health’s remit. However, she commented that Public Health would continue to play a role in supporting service users

Cllr Simkins commented that the results of the consultation survey showed a higher number of professionals with a possible interest in the service redesign  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.