Agenda item

Supporting System Flow: the Newton Europe analysis and next steps

To consider a report from the Director of Adults and Health that introduces and summarises the main findings of a major piece of diagnostic work undertaken by Newton Europe, identifying system flow issues for Leeds and outlines what health and social care services are doing to make improvements.

 

Minutes:

The Director of Adults and Health submitted a report that introduced and summarised the main findings of a major piece of diagnostic work undertaken by Newton Europe, identifying system flow issues for Leeds and outlining what health and social care services are doing to make improvements.

 

The following were in attendance:

 

-  Councillor Rebecca Charlwood, Executive Member for Health, Wellbeing and Adults

-  Cath Roff, Director of Adults and Health

-  Shona McFarlane, Chief Officer Access and Inclusion, Adults and Health

-  Sue Robins, Director of Operational Delivery, NHS Leeds CCG

-  Dawn Marshall, Deputy Chief Nurse, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

-  James Goodyear, Associate Director of Policy and Partnerships, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

-  Eddie Devine, Interim Associate Director, Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

-  Sam Prince, Executive Director of Operations, Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust

 

The Director of Adults and Health introduced the report and spoke to a PowerPoint presentation, highlighting some of the key messages from the Newton Europe report and how some of the issues are being addressed.

 

Members discussed a number of matters, including:

 

·  Staff knowledge regarding discharge procedure. Members were concerned to hear that staff knowledge of criteria for reablement was low, along with the lack of clarity amongst staff regarding responsibility for providing patients with information around their expected day of discharge. Members were informed that the process surrounding discharge was complex, however since the analysis a project had been commissioned to assess the three pathways to discharge, along with better conversations with patients; and there had been some noticeable improvement.  The Scrutiny Board challenged system leaders to demonstrate there had been sustained improvement in future reports.

·  Measuring patient experience. Members sought clarity as to how patient experience of care and overall wellbeing was assessed, and were informed that a compassion audit was undertaken for each hospital ward every month. The Board requested that an update be provided focused on the findings of the compassion audit, as and when the figures become available.

·  Social work assessment targets. There was some discussion around the appropriateness of time limited targets relating to social work assessments – similar to the A&E national targets currently in place. Members were informed that the national A&E targets are currently not being met by a number of hospitals and it was important to ensure sufficient resources are in place to meet any targets set..

·  The Frailty Unit at St James’s Hospital. Members welcomed the introduction of the Frailty Unit and acknowledged its success in preventing hospital admissions.  The Scrutiny Board also encouraged ongoing conversations with care homes around improved transport arrangements from the hospital to care homes.

 

In summing up the discussion, the Chair requested that the Scrutiny Board be provided with a further report after the winter period, to highlight progress and any additional improvement areas and actions. 

 

RESOLVED –

 

a)  That the contents of the report be noted.

b)  That a progress report be provided to a future meeting of the Scrutiny Board.

 

 

Supporting documents: