THE NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE HOSPITALS NHS FOUNDATION TRUST
COUNCIL OF GOVERNORS
QUALITY OF PATIENT EXPERIENCE WORKING GROUP
15 SEPTEMBER 2016
LESLEY MCINTOSH PRESENTATION - “HOW THE PODIATRY SERVICE IS ORGANISED FOR THE TRUST CLIENTS
The Group received a presentation at its meeting on 6th September 2016 on the Trust Podiatry Service – a detailed note of this presentation will be tabled at the Council meeting on 15th September 2016 due to the short timescale between the presentation occurring and the deadline for Council papers to be circulated.
WARD & DEPARTMENT VISITS
Helen Lucraft visited Ward 16 at the RVI on the 5th. August. She noted that this neurosurgical ward admitted patients with head and spinal injuries as well as those with central nervous system tumours. The patients came from a wide geographical area including the whole NE region, Cumbria and the Scottish Borders. The ward is open for admissions at all times.
Mrs Lucraft was well received by the friendly staff who included a mixture of qualified nurses, healthcare assistants and nurse practitioners. There was also input from neurology specialist nurses, physiotherapists and occupational therapists. She noted that the ward bays were spacious with a bathroom for each bay with enough space for manoeuvring large items of equipment such as hoists. The ward was very clean and well cared for. She spoke with 3 patients who were all very happy with their care and food and 2 compared the food very favourably with their experiences in other hospitals. The only points raised were:
i) A shortage of specialist chairs which limited the number of patients able to sit out of bed at any one time; and
ii) Over-bed TV charges were deemed to be too high and, previous experience suggests, cannot be reduced. The hospital free Wi-Fi however now provides a valuable alternative for patients with tablets and smart phones.
David Stewart-David visited the Eye Department Outpatients Clinic on 30th August 2016. He noted that there were three streams of patients attending the Department. These were elective patients, Emergency patients and Children, of which 80 patients were elective; 15 were Emergency patients at the start of the clinic and around 5 per hour after this with around 20 Children.
Mr Stewart-David observed what happened during his stay in the department and spoke with twenty patients waiting. Overall he found the clinic to be well run, clean and the waiting areas were not crowded. However, he identified that:
i) Several Patients were attending from a long distance away (e.g. Cumbria and Berwick) but had been given early morning appointments which made no allowance for the length of travel involved in getting there. He felt that the Booking System should recognise, from the patient’s addresses, those who had far to travel to the clinic and make a suitable booking time for their appointments.
ii) After an initial check some patients seem to get lost in progressing through the ‘one - stop’ system (e.g. waiting for the results of a blood test). He felt that no patient should have to wait for more than an hour without some explanation as to what was happening.
iii) There was nothing to entertain the patients while waiting. He felt that it would make waiting times less obtrusive if magazines could be provided in the Waiting Areas - perhaps managed by volunteers.
Eleanor Houliston visited Wards 9 and 15 at the Freeman Hospital on the 30th August 2016. In Ward 9 she was told, by the Sister, how they had struggled to recruit nurses willing to work on Care of the Elderly wards. It was a very busy ward with patients requiring a lot of care and some with skin pressure incidents having transferred from acute wards. The Sister stated that she felt well supported by Management and by the Matron. Mrs Houliston spoke with a few patients who all praised their care and had no complaints about the food or facilities. The ward was very tidy and seemed to be running well.
On Ward 15 Mrs Houliston met with a Staff Nurse who was very helpful. However, she felt guilty about taking her away from her duties as the Ward was very busy at the time. The ward had 30 beds, all occupied at the time, and seemed to be relatively understaffed with only 4 qualified nurses and 3 Healthcare Assistants on duty. There were many Doctors, Occupational therapists and Physiotherapists within the ward with numerous trolleys in the corridor but not causing any obstruction for the patients. All the patients she spoke with stated that they were receiving excellent care and had no complaints. She reported on the Rehab room on this ward which housed many pieces of equipment for those with mobility problems and an Occupational Kitchen used for training patients before discharge home.
Overall Mrs Houliston was impressed by both wards and had great sympathy with the shortage of staff for these Elderly Patients who require a lot of care and support.
FOOD TASTING
Mrs Houliston reported on a food tasting session on Ward 5 at the RVI which she had attended with Mr Stewart-David and Mr Tony Weallans (Catering Manager). She reported that the overall standard of presentation and flavour was good and the patients they spoke with were happy with the food and had no complaints.
Clinical Effectiveness, Audit and Guidelines Committee
Mrs Lucraft had attended two recent meetings of the committee and noted that there were two issues raised where the Trust was not compliant with the Stroke National Guidelines. These were:-
1). Access to a Stroke Unit within 4 hours – Currently only 56% against an Optimum standard of >90%. The aim was to reach >80% by September.
2). An MRI Scan within 60 minutes of arrival – Currently only 38% against a National average of 48%. The aim was to achieve >50% by September.
NICE guidelines for metastatic spinal cord compression could not be met because of lack of funding for specialist nurses.
Chris. Venables
Chairman, QPE Working Group
8th September 2016