Agenda item

Quality Accounts - The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust

[To receive the final version of the Quality Accounts for, The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust]. 

Minutes:

Deputy Chief Nurse, Yvonne Higgins and Alison Dowling, Head of Patient Experience and Public Involvement gave a presentation on the final Quality Accounts of the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust.  

 

The Deputy Chief Nurse commented that the official release date for the publication of the Quality Accounts had been moved to December 2020 because of Covid-19.  However, they had felt it important as an organisation to stick to the original publication date, so they could identify their priorities for quality improvement in the next twelve months and see where they were in terms of quality.  She thanked the Panel for their comments on the draft accounts, which had been incorporated into the final publication.  The priorities for the Trust for the next twelve months remained the same as the previous year.  There were three generic priorities, these were Workforce, Safe Care and Patient Experience.  The Trust were proud of the reduced vacancies within the job types of nurses, midwives and health visitors, which went against the national trend. 

 

The Deputy Chief Nurse stated that the Trust had won a national award for the Best Workplace for Learning and Development at the Nursing Times Awards.  She was also pleased to report that 140 Fellows now worked for the Trust.  The award-winning Fellowship Programme was now recognised by Health Education England as a recognised training Programme.  They were delighted that the results of the Staff Survey had shown significant improvement from the previous year. 

 

The Deputy Chief Nurse remarked that there had been a reduction in the number of serious events and never events causing low harm.  There had been a significant reduction in the number of falls resulting in serious harm.  The Trust had seen a reduction of SHMI (Summary Hospital-Level Mortality Indicator) to within the expected range, through a range of improvements at the Trust.  Medication safety was a priority for the Trust, some areas had been identified in the CQC report Action Plan. 

 

The Head of Patient Experience and Public Involvement presented on Priority Three – Patient Experience.  A key achievement for the previous year had been the implementation of the Trust’s new strategy – Patient Experience, Engagement and Public Involvement Strategy.  PALS concerns had reduced for the second consecutive year.  There had been a 24% reduction when compared with the previous year, which was testament to the good work that had been carried out throughout the previous year regarding the early resolution of complaints at a local level.  72% of the formal complaints to the Trust had not been upheld.  No cases had been fully upheld by the Ombudsman which gave them an assurance of their work. 

 

The Head of Patient Experience and Public Involvement commented that they had lost much of their normal volunteer base during Covid-19 because of their age profile, health conditions and national guidance.  The Trust had however advertised for new volunteers and they were fortunate to have recruited 350 volunteers.  They hoped some of the original volunteers would return when it was felt safe for them to do so.  The Trust had received the results of the PLACE Assessments where all areas across all sites from the Trust had scored higher than the national average.  The NHS initiative of ‘Always Events’ had been piloted within Paediatrics and key always events designed as part of a co-production events approach with patients.  In the last year the Trust had introduced the Bereavement Hub at New Cross Hospital in collaboration with Compton Hospice. 

 

The Head of Patient Experience and Public Involvement remarked that the National CQC Adult Inpatient Survey results had been published in July 2020.  62 questions had been asked, with the Trust scoring as follows:-

 

Top 20% – 10

Middle 60% - 48

Bottom 20% - 2

No Comparison - 2

 

The results had seen a significant improvement from the previous year.  There were some areas that had been identified where the Trust could improve.  These included, discharge information including support and advice and notice of discharge, changes in admission dates and noise disturbance in the hospital at night by other patients. 

 

The Head of Patient Experience and Public Involvement summarised the Trust’s achievements in Primary Care.  They had doubled the volume of health checks for the year, which had raised their national score from the previous year.  Governance structures had been implemented for all practices to ensure a consistent approach across the Trust.  They had engaged with practices about the Carers register.   

 

A Member of the Panel asked about pressure ulcers.  She asked the Deputy Chief Nurse to comment on the Trust’s approach, as she wanted to see an improvement.  The Deputy Chief Nurse agreed that the Trust could do better and was always looking for improvement.  The reporting mechanism had changed nationally, from her point of view one pressure sore was one too many. 

 

The Chairman thanked all health partners and Members of the Panel for their contributions to the meeting.  Members congratulated the Chairman and the Scrutiny Team for the efficient operation of the first Virtual - City of Wolverhampton Council, Health Scrutiny Panel meeting.  They thanked health partners for their contributions during the pandemic. 

 

The Portfolio Holder for Public Health and Wellbeing congratulated the Chairman on a well-run meeting.  She also paid tribute to the work of all health partners during the Covid-19 pandemic.  She also thanked all staff across the Council for their work during the pandemic.  It was important that everyone continued to take their responsibility seriously in order to avoid a future local lockdown. 

 

The Chairman thanked the Scrutiny Team for their contribution to the meeting. 

 

Meeting closed 4:03pm. 

 

 

 

 

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