Agenda item

To consider a report from EMAS following attendance at a risk summit organised by the Local Area Team for Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, on behalf of the regulators and other key stakeholders.  Since the risk summit, the Trust has been working on a Quality Improvement Plan (Better Patient Care) which sets the direction of the organisation for staff, clinical quality and responding to patients.

Clare Wade, Patient Safety and Experience Manager, EMAS, will attend the meeting to present the report and answer Members’ questions.

A report from EMAS was received following their attendance at a recent risk summit organised by the Local Area Team for Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, on behalf of the regulators and other key stakeholders.  Since the risk summit, the Trust had been working on a Quality Improvement Plan (Better Patient Care) which set out the direction of the organisation for staff, clinical quality and responding to patients.

Stephen Firman, Programme Director of EMAS attended the meeting to present the report and answer Members’ questions.

The Better Patient Care programme would be implemented through a robust programme management framework to deliver the required benefits.  There had been a rapid period of readjusting the existing programme management and governance arrangements to absorb the Better Patient Care plan.  This work would be finalised in line with the Quality Improvement Plan (QIP) submission.

Eight work-stream leads had been identified to deliver the QIP and these covered the following areas:

·         Responding to Patients

·         People

·         Leadership

·         Clinical Safety

·         Financial Governance

·         Communications

·         Being Held to Account

·         Estates

Progress with each of these streams was set out in the report.  In addition it was noted that in relation to the ‘estates’ work-stream, the Being the Best strategy had been subsumed into the Better Care Plan.  Although the Trust still wanted to modernise the estate and develop the hub and spoke model, no stations would be closed until the community ambulance stations were in place.

Members noted that the governance arrangements had been strengthened recently by the appointment of Sue Noyes as the Trust Chief Executive and Richard Henderson as Director of Operations.  Pauline Tagg had also been appointed as Interim Chair of the Trust.

The Trust had improved performance and recently achieved the performance targets for R1,R2 and R19.   It was noted that the QIP could be circulated to Members if required as this would include more detail of how the Trust was responding to improve performance.

Members asked what involvement patients and staff had been given in developing the QIP.  In response it was noted that this had been limited due to the short timescales involved between attending the risk summit and the requirement to produce the QIP.  Although the Trust had held some engagement workshops on the QIP there was a commitment to involve staff wherever possible in implementing the QIP.  There had previously been extensive public consultation on the Being the Best proposals.  

Healthwatch stated that patients’ views were important and can play a vital part in making improvements to services and it was fundamental to the process that these views should be sought.  Equality Impact Assessments were also a vital part of assessing the delivery and receipt of services particularly in relation to the diversity issues that existed with the City.  It was disappointing that there had not been more patient involvement in the QIP.

RESOLVED:

1)    that the report be noted;

2)    that a further report be submitted to the Commission on the Trust’s achievements in relation to Key Performance Indicators in 6 months’ time;

3)    that future reports also identify the Trust’s performance both within the context of Leicester City specifically compared to the East Midlands as a whole.