Agenda item

The Chief Executive from York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust will be in attendance to give a presentation in response to the Final Report of the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Public Inquiry Chaired by Robert Francis QC.

The Chief Executive of York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust gave a verbal report to the Committee on the Francis Report.  A copy of his presentation is attached to the on-line agenda papers for this meeting.

The presentation covered the following issues:

(i)           The findings and recommendations of the Francis Report including issues in respect of:

·        Standards and compliance

·        Openness, transparency and candour

·        Compassionate, caring and committed nursing

·        Patient centred leadership

·        Accurate and relevant information

(ii)          The current situation in respect of York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust:

·        The Trust had already recognised and begun to address many of the findings in the Francis Report.

·        The Trust set its own values and priorities as well as addressing those that were set by Government.

·        The Board’s leadership on safety and the quality of care agenda.

·        A focus on value based recruitment – ensuring that employees shared the values of the Trust and that appointments were not just based on skills and intellect.  An example of this was that prospective health care assistants were required to spend a day in the hospital before making an application. 

·        The “My Ward Programme” which reinforced the autonomy of the ward sister and enabled them to demand the standards they expected.

·        An open culture within the organisation.  The importance that was placed on patient feedback and staff surveys.

·        The importance of the role carried out by the Governors.

(iii)        The challenges faced by the Trust:

·        The pressures on the hospital system.  The demands on health and social care. As provision was reduced in other parts of the system hospitals were becoming a place of last resort for some people. 

·        The financial environment – for example the reduction in tariff income and the resulting deficit that this had caused.

·        Patient demography.

·        The impact of negative media reporting and generalisations about care.  This could undermine the work that staff were carrying out.  It was important to be supportive as well as critical.

(iv)        What next for the Trust:

·        There was huge ambition for services in York.

·        There would be a need to respond to the increased regulation arising from the report.

·        The Trust would continue to promote increased openness.

·        Enhancing and responding to the patients’ voice.

Ms Helen Mackman, Lead Governor, gave details of the way in which the Governors were involved in ensuring high standards of care, including the “15 Steps” initiative. 

The Assistant Director Assessment and Safeguarding reported on a conference that she had recently attended which had covered issues arising from the Francis Report.  She highlighted the need to focus on standards of care and of listening to patients and taking appropriate action to address the issues they raised. 

Mr Chris Butler, Chief Executive Leeds and Yorkshire Partnership NHS, also stressed the need to ensure that patients’ stories were listened to as well as looking at statistics.  He stated that there was not always a correlation between the number of nurses and the quality of care.  He stressed the importance of the team leader role and the processes they had in place.

Members questioned the representatives from the Trust as to how they ensured that patients’ concerns were addressed.  They were informed that, at each Board meeting, a letter of complaint was read out as well as a letter of appreciation.  Details were given of the nature of the complaints received and the processes that were followed to ensure that they were fully investigated.  The responses to all complaints were signed off by the Chief Executive.

Members sought assurances that the fact that the Trust had taken on responsibility for Scarborough Hospital would not be to the detriment of standards at York Hospital, particularly in view of the challenges faced by Scarborough Hospital.  The Chief Executive explained the background to this situation and the benefits that the arrangement brought to both hospitals.  Details were given of the leadership and staffing arrangements that were in place and the decision-making arrangements.  The Lead Governor also confirmed that the Governors had given the matter full consideration before being satisfied that the arrangements would not be detrimental to standards of care at York Hospital.

The representatives from York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust were thanked for their attendance at the meeting and for their informative presentation.

RESOLVED:       That the verbal report be noted.

REASON:           To ensure that the Committee is kept updated on the implications of the Francis Report at a local level.