Agenda item

Michelle Johnson, Director of Nursing Whittington Hospital and Jonathan Gardner Whittington NHS Trust were present for discussion of this item

During discussion the following main points were made –

·         Noted that a new autism friendly map of the Whittington has been launched

·         Volunteer support at community site and in patient homes

·         Reduction in number of serious harm falls, and noted none in 2018/19 and one in 2019/20

·         Quality and quantity of patient safety incidents reported has improved

·         Trust has appointed a dementia specialist and a frailty consultant

·         Increasing staff awareness and experiences of those with those with autism and learning disabilities

·         Introduced a place of safety with Camden and Islington Foundation Trust at the Highgate wing

·         Focusing on development of black Asian and minority ethnic staff has been prioritised

·         Raising profile of research so that it can be embedded in patient care

·         Staff wellbeing is being supported and improved

·         Increasing medical, allied health  professional, nursing and midwifery student placements and early years development training designed to support newly qualified nurses

·         CQC report – rated as good and as outstanding for caring.  Since last CQC inspection Trust dealt with challenges and demands for services. Community health services also rated as outstanding and across all domains of care the CQC found community health services good or outstanding

·         Clinical research – research and development department continues to adapt and develop to provide highly-skilled and dedicated staffing to support the major areas of clinical research

·         In 2019/20 Trust have carried out 120 quality improvement projects across the Trust by staff in a range of roles, one of which was to improve inpatient discharges

·         Listening to patients and staff – 81% of staff felt that care of patients is the Trust’s top priority, 56% of staff responded to staff survey – the highest ever, patients who received treatment for cancer rated Trust 9/10 for care, 100% of patients had all the information on their operations before it happened

·         Priorities for 2020/21 – reducing harm from hospital acquired de-conditioning, improving communication between clinicians and patients, improving patient education in relation to human factors, improving blood transfusion care and treatment

·         Staff had taken place in COVID related trials

·         The CQC had identified that safety is an issue for the Trust, and that this would be a focus in future

·         The Trust has been rated good for well led organisation and use of resources and its role in providing integrated care so that patients can be discharged in an orderly of efficient manner, and good work was taking place with partners

·         Reference was made to research trials and involvement of BAME staff, and it was stated that this information could be provided following the meeting

·         A Member referred to previous issues regarding bullying and harassment at the Trust, and it was stated that whilst it is recognised that there is still a problem in small areas, the situation was improving and the response to the staff survey at 56% had been positive. It was noted that it tended to be specific areas and groups that felt disadvantaged, and that the Trust were taking a number of measures to address this. These  included development programmes, especially for BAME staff and nursing vacancies had reduced to 10%, which had reduced from 25% in the last few years. Work is also taking place with the NHS national lead on race equality, to strengthen staff support and networks. Training was also taking place with senior managers to improve the position

·         In response to a question it was stated that one of the issues is that the NHS tended to be a hierarchical structure, and that whilst clinicians were experts in their medical field they often did not have managerial or leadership abilities and work is taking place in this regard, together with work with front line managers

·         It was stated that whilst the Trust were experiencing higher levels of COVID patients than the first wave of the pandemic, and there was an issue of staff absence due to asymptomatic cases and self-isolation. Staff mental health and psychological support had been put in place, however it was felt that this would be needed more in future than at the present time

·         In response to a question as to the availability of routine appointments, it was stated that this presented a challenge, and in December it had been decided to cancel routine appointments to deal with COVID, however as the Trust moved into recovery mode it is hoped to address the backlog and new demands. It was also stated that work is also taking place with cancer patients, and treatment is prioritised and essential cancer treatment had not stopped during the pandemic. Virtual appointments were also taking place successfully

·         Members thanked the Trust for the good work that staff were doing during the pandemic

          RESOLVED:

That the information requested above in relation to BAME staff taking place in clinical trials at the Whittington be circulated to the Committee

The Chair thanked Michelle Johnson and Jonathan Gardner for

attending