Agenda item

6.1

The Committee considered a report of Jason Rowlands, Director of Planning, Performance and Governance, Sheffield Health and Social Care NHS Foundation Trust, containing a draft of the Trust’s Quality Report 2013/14.  The Committee had been invited to review the draft report and provide comment to the Trust on its assessment of the quality of its services and the proposed priorities 2014/15.  The report was supported by a presentation from Jason Rowlands and also in attendance for this item, was Tanya Baxter, Head of Integrated Governance.

6.2

Members of the Committee raised questions and the following responses were provided:-

·                The RESPECT Approach was introduced by the Trust around three years ago, and comprised an ethical approach to managing aggression and violence.  Staff had been trained to deal with patients who expressed aggression and violence, in a safe and sensitive manner.  The approach had resulted in an improved experience for service users and was recognised as a model of good practice. 

·                The significant increase in the use of seclusion during the last year was being monitored by the Board’s Quality Sub-Committee. The reasons for the increased use were outlined in the report.

·                There were plans to construct a new Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) on the former Oakwood site at the Northern General Hospital, which would result in a bigger unit, with improved facilities, and a much more therapeutic ward environment.  It had been accepted that the present facilities for patients who remained agitated and/or distressed for longer periods of time were limited and the new unit would address this area of concern.  The plans in respect of the development of the unit would be shared with Healthwatch Sheffield.

·                The Trust was expanding and improving how it understood the experiences of its service users and the Board had invested in a new Service User Experience Monitoring Unit. This would build on the previous Public and Patient Involvement work undertaken in the Trust, and would look to develop, over time, a range of approaches to understand experiences across the Trust’s different services.

·                Improvements in supporting people with developing memory problems were noted. More people were being seen than before, and services were reaching more people in Sheffield, compared to the rest of the country. Routine information wasn’t produced to help understand if the physical health needs of people with dementia were being met within primary care, though there may be ways to understand this from the information collected by GPs. The Trust agreed to raise this, if possible, with the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).

·                The Trust had been requested by the Board to look at the issue of waiting times in terms of diagnosing people with dementia.  Whilst the above improvements were noted, unfortunately, there had been no progress made in terms of reducing such waiting times, but the Trust would continue to work towards a reduction. The Trust and the CCG had reported on developing plans to the Committee earlier in the year. The Trust was able to update that these plans had now been agreed and implementation would commence during the year. 

·                There were two acute wards at Nether Edge and two wards on the Northern General Hospital site. 

·                The Trust recognised that it needed to make further improvements in staff appraisal rates. To support this, new arrangements had been put in place to ensure that staff appraisals were undertaken during April, May and June. 

·                In terms of the incidents reported within the Trust, the reference to medication errors involved errors in the administering of medication by staff.  A serious incident had resulted in a change in the policy in terms of the administering of medication, and which had been rolled out to all areas of the Trust.

·                When patients were being considered for residency within a learning disability registered or supported living home, the Trust and the Housing Association would always look at the compatibility in terms of the existing residents. As part of this process, the Trust would attempt to ascertain the views of the tenants already living there.  Generally, there were few issues with regard to compatibility, but issues may arise, for example, in those situations where people moved to a Unit as a matter of urgency, at very short notice.

6.3

RESOLVED: That the Committee:-

(a)       notes the contents of the report now submitted, the information reported as part of the presentation and the responses to the questions and comments raised;

(b)       requests the Policy and Improvement Officer to summarise the  comments made, to be shared with the Chair, and then the Committee, prior to being submitted to the Trust; and

(c)        thanks Jason Rowlands and Tanya Baxter for attending the meeting and responding to the questions raised.