Agenda item

(i)            North East Ambulance Service NHS FT;

(ii)          County Durham and Darlington NHS FT and

(iii)         Tees Esk and Wear Valleys NHS FT.

The Committee received a report of the Director of Transformation and Partnerships and supporting information from North East Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust, County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust and Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust that set out progress made against their Quality Accounts priorities for 2018/19 (for copy see file of minutes).

North East Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust

The Assistant Director of Communications and Engagement gave a brief update and highlighted the four priority areas as:

·         Early Recognition of Sepsis

·         Cardiac Arrest – improving survival

·         Longest waits for patients who fall

·         Improving the care of patients with mental health needs, through improving staff knowledge and skills

County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust (CDDFT)

The Associate Director of Nursing, County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust gave a brief update and highlighted the three priority areas as :-

·         Safety

·         Experience

·         Effectiveness

With regards to pressure ulcers under the safety priority, Councillor Temple enquired if this was occurring in people’s own homes or care homes.  The Associate Director of Nursing emphasised that the trust had a zero tolerance policy in relation to pressure ulcers and she confirmed that all policies and procedures were in place.  When analysing the data the trust would always ask how they could have done things differently.  The trust looked after people in their own homes that were under the care of a district nurse and this proved to be more challenging as they were not monitored all of time. Whereas in a hospital setting people were monitored and positions were changed every two hours.  The trust were working towards improving the recording of care from the nurse in the home setting to show the step by step process administered.

Mr Taylor Gooby asked that as dementia issues were growing and the support of carers was very important to provide good quality care, who would ensure it was being carried out properly.  The Associate Director of Nursing reported that in the hospital setting a lot of improvements had been made to normalise the environment for patients suffering from dementia, such as coloured door frames and toilet seats.  She advised that the trust had a dementia lead who worked very closely with patients and carers.  She informed the committee of an enhanced care programme that the trust were working towards which would incorporate the falls strategy.  The two areas would be interlinked as patients with dementia were at higher risk of a fall.  Activities would also be arranged for people living with dementia.

Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust (TEWV)

The Head of Planning and Business Development, Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust gave a brief update and highlighted the four priority areas as :-

·         Reduce the number of preventable deaths

·         Improve the clinical effectiveness and patient experience in time of transition from child to adult services

·         Make our care plans more personal

·         Develop trust-wide approach to Dual Diagnosis, which ensures that people with substance misuse issues can access appropriate and effective health services

The Head of Planning and Business Development advised that the trust had added a fifth priority on Mental Health Urgent Care Services.  He also informed the members of a stakeholder event arranged for 5 February to which they were invited.

The Chairman thanked the officers for attending to give their presentations.

Resolved:

That the reports be received and noted;