Agenda item

13:35

The Committee will scrutinise key progress against OUH stated priorities. A copy of the presentation that will be made to Committee is attached at JHO11.

Dr Tony Berendt and Dr Clare Dollery (OUH) attended for this item. Dr Dollery gave a presentation.

The Chairman thanked Drs Berendt and Dollery for the presentation and opened the meeting out for questions and comment.

A member referred to a very useful presentation which had been given by OUH on cancer pathways and the One Stop Shop at the Churchill Hospital at the last meeting and asked if the priority to reduce the 62 days for referral to treatment could be met. Dr Berendt stated that it was hard to measure performance in this area. He added that the one stop shop may prove to be of overall benefit to the patient as recorded in performance targets relating to patient pathway, but it could not apply to forensic methods.

Also with regard to cancer pathways a member asked whether there were any areas identified where performance blockages had occurred. Dr Berendt responded that Board papers included integrated performance reports, not service by service breakdowns. Blockages were identified pathway by pathway but it had been recognised that there was a need to introduce changes which would identify blockages between pathways which required addressing.

Stemming from a request made at the last meeting, a member asked if every ward in the hospital now had a mental health champion who was identifiable to carers coming in with a patient with mental health needs. Dr Berendt responded that he needed to come back to the Committee on this matter. He added however that a supply teaching programme, which included patient mental health issues had now been completed. Dr Berendt was requested to return to members with information on whether a champion was available in every ward at all times. Dr Dollery responded that the immediate purpose was for them to be readily available.

A member asked if the Trust was seeking different quality measures, given that the CQC had been specially critical with regard to end of life care quality of care (ie the whole of the patient experience and process) and would it affect the Quality report. Dr Dollery responded that the Trust was very mindful of the CQC system and one of its aims was to take on one of the goals from the CQC report and to ensure that each pathway included pre and post pathways.  Dr Berendt added that there was a certain amount of work which had to be carried out on this aspect. For example, end of life care was very internally directed and there was a need to adopt a better joined-up system. There would be greater emphasis on conducting conversations externally on how to become more responsive, as there was now a higher volume of care available to patients who wanted to die out of hospital. Dr Berendt added however that currently there was a statutory requirement to have a separate quality account, but, as the system moved on, it may be possible to adopt a joint account which would be more effective.

With regard to a question asking if the Trust was content with the way the patient complaint system operated, Dr Dollery reported that efforts had been made to improve the system this year, but there was still a considerable way to go in this area. She added that timeliness was crucial as it was important to the Trust that patients were aware that it was listening. On a positive note Dr Dollery reported that there had been fewer complaints last year. Currently there was not a quality priority for complaints, but the Trust would continue to learn from them. A member asked if there was scope to improve the process of making a complaint further, to which Dr Dollery agreed there was.

The Chairman summarised the points to be made by this Committee, as identified above, and requested Drs Berendt and Dollery to email members of the Committee with their priority areas as they were finalised.

Drs Berendt and Dollery were thanked for their attendance and presentation to the Committee.