Agenda item

6.1

Kevan Taylor, Chief Executive, Sheffield Health and Social Care NHS Foundation Trust, gave a presentation which updated the Committee on the Right First Time Programme.  He explained what the Right First Time Programme was and outlined the vision behind it, emphasising the commitment to work together and across organisational boundaries.  He went on to provide further detail in relation to developing integrated care in the community, transitional/intermediate care, urgent care and improving the physical needs of people with serious mental illness.  The Committee were also updated on system oversight, and the impact and evaluation of Right First Time, together with comments on how the programme was to be moved forward.  In conclusion, Kevan Taylor informed the Committee that a first draft of an evaluation report of the programme had revealed that the right things were being done, there was positive evidence of integration between the NHS and the Local Authority, and that Sheffield was different in that it was looking at the whole system, which made evaluation somewhat difficult to undertake.  It should be noted that there were still high numbers of people being admitted into care homes and that demonstrating whether the programme was cost-effective presented a challenge.

6.2

Members made various comments and asked a number of questions, to which responses were provided as follows:-

·                People were encouraged to complain as this was an important way of identifying areas for improvement.  Patient surveys had revealed high levels of satisfaction, but the need for balance was appreciated, particularly in situations where patients’ home circumstances needed to be assessed.

·                It was recognised that getting people out of hospital as quickly as possible was the right thing to do and was what people wanted.  There had been an increase in community services to support patients in their homes.

·                The bulk of responses to the patient satisfaction surveys were positive. 

·                The 3,500 Care Plans which had been commissioned, represented about a quarter of those required.  This process was at a developmental stage and it would be two to three years before there was full coverage.

·                In terms of evaluation, the Sheffield programme was one of ten national pilots on which the King’s Fund would be undertaking an evaluation in the near future.  It was proving difficult to establish cause and effect, but good joint assessments of care had been revealed.

·                Under the NHS Choices scheme, GPs could refer patients to private services, but patients should not be paying for any extra care required, for instance if they had to stay in hospital longer than was expected.

·                The Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) continued to operate in Sheffield and had a presence at the local hospitals.  Patient issues could also be raised through the Healthwatch Sheffield service. 

·                In relation to development areas, the Systems Referral Panel was running well in relation to engagement and work was being undertaken in relation to organisational development and ensuring that information systems were talking to each other. 

·                The availability of patient records was sometimes a problem caused by lack of information and there was also an issue around sharing information for some parts of the organisation.

·                It was recognised that there was a need to publicise successes more.

·                The need for home support, particularly in relation to elderly and isolated patients, was appreciated.

·                It was accepted that access to information was an important tool in patient empowerment.

·                The demonstration of cost-effectiveness was proving to be a challenge, with OPM (an independent research organisation and consultancy) having difficulty with this.  It was felt that the Right First Time Programme would be shown to be cost-effective as funding was taken out of acute care and put into prevention, but this would take time.

6.3

RESOLVED: That the Committee:-

(a)       thanks Kevan Taylor for his contribution to the meeting;

(b)       notes the contents of the presentation and the responses to questions; and

(c)        requests that an update on the Right First Time Programme be presented to a future meeting of the Committee in six months’ time, to include details of patient feedback and progress on the communication and informatics workstreams.