Confirmed Minutes of the Closed Meeting of the Welsh Ambulance Services Nhs Trust Board

CONFIRMED MINUTES OF THE CLOSED MEETING OF THE WELSH AMBULANCE SERVICES NHS TRUST BOARD, HELD onTHURSDAY 14 DECEMBER 2017 at the LLIEDI SUITE, SELWYN SAMUEL CENTRE, 8 PARK CRESCENT, LLANELLI, SA15 3AE

PRESENT:
Mick Giannasi
Claire Bevan
Keith Cox
Hywel Daniel
Emrys Davies
Professor Kevin Davies
Hannah Evans
Trish Gaskell
Pam Hall
Estelle Hitchon
Nathan Holman
Richard Lee
Dr Brendan Lloyd
James Mycroft
Steve Owen
Patsy Roseblade
Sidkhdip Sidhu
Chris Turley / Chairman of the Board
Director of Quality, Safety and Patient Experience
Board Secretary
Deputy Director of Workforce and Organisational Development
Non Executive Director
Non Executive Director
Director of Planning and Performance
Trust Solicitor (Via Audio) (Part)
Non Executive Director
Director of Partnerships and Engagement
Trade Union Partner
Director of Operations
Medical Director
Non Executive Director
Corporate Governance Officer
Executive Director of Finance & Deputy Chief Executive Officer
Board Mentee
Deputy Director of Finance
APOLOGIES
Helen Birtwhistle
Paul Hollard
Tracy Myhill
Bleddyn Roberts
Claire Vaughan
Martin Woodford / Non Executive Director
Non Executive Director
Chief Executive
Trade Union Partner
Director of Workforce and Organisational Development
Non Executive Director and Vice Chair (Attending NHS Vice Chairs quarterly meeting with Cabinet Secretary)
18/17 / RESOLUTION TO MEET IN CLOSED SESSION
Representatives of the press and other members of the public were excluded from the meeting having regard to the confidential nature of the business to be transacted in accordance with the requirements of Section 1(2) of the Public Bodies (Admissions to Meetings) Act 1960.
19/17 / PROCEDURAL MATTERS
TheChairman welcomed all to the meeting and reminded Members that it was being audio recorded.
RESOLVED: Thatthe standing declarations of Mr Emrys Davies being a retired member of UNITEand Mr Nathan Holman as a member of the Cross Hands Community Health Council was noted.
20/17 / INTERIM COVER AND RECRUITMENT – CHIEF EXECUTIVE
Patsy Roseblade excused herself from the meeting at this point of the proceedings
The Chairman referred to the Remuneration Committee meeting of the Trust held on 5 December 2017 in which details of the interim cover following the departure of the Chief Executive was discussed.
The Board agreed with the contents of the report; the Chairman added he would inform the Chief Executive of NHS Wales of the decision.
RESOLVED: That
(1)interim cover be provided by Mrs Roseblade, as Interim Chief Executive, until such time a substantive Chief Executive is appointed and takes up post (likely to be a minimum of 6 months from commencement of the recruitment process) was approved;
(2)preparatory work should commence immediately to enable the process for recruitment of the substantive Chief Executive to commence as soon as appropriate was approved;
(3)at an appropriate time following confirmation of the Chair appointment, the new Chair would be asked to commence the process for recruitment of the substantive Chief Executive, at which point any change to the arrangements described above will need to be considered (noting the advice of Dr Andrew Goodall in this respect) was approved; and
(4)subject to Board approval, Mrs Roseblade in her capacity as Interim Chief Executive be invited to share with the Board at a future date her plans to manage the internal impact of her appointment upon her existing Executive portfolio was noted.
Patsy Roseblade returned to the meeting
21/17 / SIGNIFICANT CLAIMS REPORT
Trish Gaskell provided the Board with a verbal brief ofthe status of two high value claims for their information. Further details of the claims were contained with the report in which the Board’s attention was drawn to.
RESOLVED: That the Board acknowledged the report for information only.
22/17 / HIGH VALUE CLAIM FOR AUTHORISATION
Trish Gaskell provided the Board with a detailed update and explanation regarding this particular claim which required Board authorisation.
Having considered the claim in further detail and noting the added comments by Trish Gaskell the Board agreed the way forward as set out within the report.
Furthermore, Members requested that going forward a particular detail within the report was to be reviewed.
RESOLVED: That the Board supported, subject to the particular point raised in the report being reviewed,
(1)the Trust solicitor to attend a joint meeting with all the Defendants to negotiate a liability split between the defendants, in advance of approaching the Claimant;
(2)at that meeting, to negotiate with the other Defendants an apportionment, on the best possible terms for the Trust, being in the alternative; and
(3)thereafter to attend a Round Table Meeting with all the Defendants and the Claimant to negotiate (along with the other Defendants) a liability split with the Claimant up to a maximum of 70% of full liability.
23/17 / HANDOVER DELAYS
Members receivedinformation from Patsy Roseblade concerning the challenges and pressures being faced by the Trust in terms of the impact of hand over delays in certain Health Boards across Wales. Dr Brendan Lloyd provided further details of a particular episode that had raised concern and gave more specific information on how this was going to be mitigated going forward; furthermore Richard Lee updated the Board on the wider actions being taken in light of this.
The Board discussed the issues in further detail recognising the challenges going forward and the Trust’s efforts to alleviate them.
RESOLVED: That
(1)the update was noted; and
(2)Members noted that the issues would be escalated to Welsh Government (WG) and the Emergency Ambulance Services Committee (EASC) as appropriate.
24/17 / QUALITY, SAFETY AND PATIENT EXPERIENCE INTEGRATED HIGHLIGHT REPORT
In terms ofthehighlight report CB, provided an overview of the information during the reporting period September and October 2017. CB drew the Board’s attention to the following key highlights:

1. Recognition was noted of the collaborative working across the Trust with the Concerns, Patient Safety and Learning team and Operational Directorate teams to investigate and respond to the increased trend in concerns received in October 2017
2. Non-Emergency Patient Transport Services (NEPTS) – developments have been made in working together and building confidence with dealing with concerns with a timely approach in this area
3. Performance In responding to concerns had improved during November 2017
4. 15 Serious Adverse Incidents (SAI) were currently open with WG with investigations concluding
5. The six monthly WAST Healthcare Quality report had been received from WG and this had demonstrated an improvement in the Trust’s management of SAI’s
6. There had been a high volume of Coroner’s requests for information during this reporting period; it was noted that the Coroner was focusing on the Trust’s processes in relation to responding to Amber calls
7. An update was given on the current position of claims against the Trust
8. it was noted the increased number of Child Deaths (PRUDICs) during this period and the support provided to staff and importance of staff having time following such incidents
9. CB provided an update on the 4 high profile coroners inquests held in November and December, confirming no Regulation 28 reports were issues
10. 25 places had been secured to expand capacity and capability for root cause analysis training across the Trust

The Board noted the update and considered in further detail several areas in which the Trust could proactively apply in order to improve its overall performance and ease pressures in the system.
RESOLVED: That the Trust Board received this report for information, discussed and noted it.

Revised 08/12/2018 Page 1 of 4