Agenda item

A copy of the CQC Inspection Report is attached for members information.

The Committee were given a presentation by the Chief Executive, County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust (CDDFT) relating to the Care Quality Commission Inspection Report that had taken place on the County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust (for copy see file of Minutes).

The Chief Executive (CDDFT)explained that the inspection had been based on the core services for the County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust based on Acute and Community services against 5 domains:

·        Safe

·        Effective

·        Caring

·        Responsive

·        Well Led

The Chief Executive (CDDFT) informed the committee that the algorithms that were used by the CQC were complicated and only services available on the day of the inspection could be looked at.  Previous inspections had been carried out in 2015 and 2017 but services such as the end of life care were not chosen until the inspection in 2019 where it received outstanding. The Surgical Service rated best both regionally and nationally.

She felt it was a shame that inspections were so strict as it was thought the paediatrician unit would have inspected well but unfortunately it was not fully operational on the day of the inspection. 

Additionally, the A&E area that was undersized would have also rated well but Inspectors were not allowed to foresee the potential of a future service only those that were operational at the time of the inspection. 

The Chief Executive (CDDFT) explained that the inspection had highlighted a few minor things that required action. An action plan had been drawn up to address the issues but the service already had a must do action list in place.  She added that they were not obliged to have both.

Councillor Bell congratulated the service on a great achievement and wanted to know where quality of treatment sat.

The Chief Executive (CDDFT) informed the committee that quality was looked at through two lenses – one through the clinical outcome and the patients experience of the service and secondly through the Care Quality Commission (CQC) that categorised services into boxes.  The two approaches were very different and did not use the same approach. She added that the approach taken by the CQC was not practical when measuring quality on a day to day basis.  She noted that information from the CQC was available on their website that showed how they quantified services.

Councillor Bell was concerned that the categories used were not useful to the man on the street using the service and was not easily translated.

The Chief Executive (CDDFT) stated that as a regulator there was no control over how the CQC measured services.  She added that information was displayed in entrances to hospitals but dates of when inspections took place could not be included so patients were unaware of when inspections took place. 

Councillor Robinson wanted to know if the collapse of Carillion and the Government’s decision to intervene with funding would affect funds being released for the improvements that had been proposed at the A&E at University Hospital North Durham.

The Chief Executive (CDDFT) could not speculate either way but there would be Capital funding across the NHS for infrastructure. As a region the priority for capital funding would include the A&E provision at University Hospital North Durham.  She added that capital funding should be forthcoming but if not then the organisation would need to look for other ways to source finance for any developments.

In response to Councillor Robinson’s offer of support to her by the committee

the Chief Executive (CDDFT) replied that she had felt she had received a lot of support from the committee which she greatly appreciated. 

The Committee agreed to Councillor Robinson’s request to write out to the End of Life Care Team on behalf of the Committee to commend them on their achievement.

Resolved

That the presentation be noted.