Healthwatch Waltham Forest News, August2014
Contents:
Page 2
Healthwatch Waltham Forest Update!
Page 3
Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment Consultation
The Joint Strategic Needs Assessment
Friends and Family Test set for Roll Out to all NHS Services
Page 4
Macmillan Volunteers Acknowledged at Barts Health Cancer Centres
Introducing the Waltham Forest Echo!
Issues with Electronic Records at Whipps Cross
Page 5
Final Decision on Specialist Cancer and Cardiovascular Services
Page 6
Have Your Say about the Future of East London Healthcare Services
Safe Staffing for Nursing in Adult Inpatient Wards in Acute Hospitals
Page 7
A Simple Guide to the NHS
News Summary
Page 2
New Story: Transforming Health Services in East London
Healthwatch Waltham Forest, Healthwatch Newham and Healthwatch Redbridge would like to invite you to an information and feedback session on the Transforming Services, Changing Lives (TSCL) programme. Do come along and have your say:
Monday 18th August, 4-8pm at Lecture Theatre, Whipps Cross Hospital
The TSCL programme has been established by the Clinical Commissioning Groups of Waltham Forest, Newham and Tower Hamlets, together with providers Barts Health.
The aim of the programme is to enable joint planning across East London for changes to health services locally, and in particular across Barts Health services.
After 3 months intensive work the programme has established a ‘case for change’ for East London which they would like to share with you. The ‘case for change’ identifies why they think change is needed and not yet what those changes are. This is your opportunity to find out more, share your views and get involved. To book or for more information:
Phone 020 3078 9990 or email . Story End.
New Story:Healthwatch Deaf Report in Sharp Focus
Recently, Healthwatch Waltham Forest listened to the experiences of deaf people about accessing health and social care services. Their experiences formed part of our official report, its recommendations being endorsed by the Local Authority’s Public Health and Health Delivery Scrutiny Committee. The report has also received local publicity and it is hoped that this will encourage other local residents to engage with Healthwatch on health and social care issues in the Borough. Your voice really does count! Story End.
New Story: Saluting a Long Time Patient Champion!
Healthwatch Waltham Forest would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Dorothy Bulled, a long serving community champion. Dorothy has been representing the patient voice for 40 years, and has been involved in the Whipps Cross Patients Panel since its foundation in 2002.
Dorothy is also an expert in coeliac disease, offering her support and advice to local sufferers. Story End.
New Story: 0844, 0845, Your GP and You!
It came to our notice at a recent outreach session that some GP surgeries we thought had banished 0844/0845 phone numbers are still using and advertising them, sometimes along side a landline number. Please let us know if your surgery has a premium rate number that they use routinely on their website and or paperwork. Read more about this on our website.
The NHS is also consulting on the proposed changes, more information is on Page 6.Story End.
Page 3
New Story: Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment Consultation
Waltham Forest Health and Wellbeing Board (HWB) is developing a new Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment. This is a statutory Health and Well Being responsibility, as set out under the NHS (Pharmaceutical Services and Local Pharmaceutical Services) Regulations 2013.
A Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment is a document which records the assessment of the need for pharmaceutical services within a specific area. As such, it sets out a statement of the pharmaceutical services which are currently provided, together with when and where these are available to a given population. The same Regulations require NHS England to use the Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment to consider applications to open a new pharmacy, move an existing pharmacy or to commission additional services from pharmacy.
As part of the development process, the Regulations require that the Health and Well Being undertakes a formal consultation on a draft of its Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment.
Taking this into account, you are invited to take part in this consultation, which runs from 25th June 2014 to 27th August 2014.
The Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment consultation document helps to explain the most important points. Story End.
New Story: The Joint Strategic Needs Assessment
The Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) aims to improve the health and wellbeing of the local community and reduce inequalities for all ages.It is a living document, and a continuous process of assessment and planning – the core aim is to develop local evidence-based priorities for commissioning which will improve the public’s health and reduce inequalities. It is jointly produced by the Council and Waltham Forest Clinical Commissioning Group.
The outputs, in the form of evidence and the analysis of needs, will be used to help to determine what actions local authorities, the local NHS and other partners need to take to meet health and social care needs, and to address the wider issues that impact on local health and wellbeing. More
What are Your Priorities? The JSNA should take into account the views of local people (that’s you), so do get in touch and tell us about your priorities for local services! Story End.
New Story: Friends and Family Test Set for Wider Roll Out
NHS England has taken the next step towards expanding the Friends and Family Test (FFT) to all NHS services.
The roll out of the FFT will mean every patient will have the opportunity to provide feedback on the services they have received, enabling the public to make better informed choices about the services they use. It also means providers will be able to design care services based on the feedback and around the needs of patients.
As it sets out to expand FFT, NHS England has published comprehensive guidance for use by hospital trusts and the providers of NHS funded services, helping them to implement FFT most effectively for both patients and staff. This includes advice on how to make the FFT more inclusive, allowing people of all ages and from all parts of our community to provide feedback. Story End.
Page 4
New Story: Introducing the Waltham Forest Echo!
Waltham Forest Echo, a new quarterly community newspaper for Waltham Forest, is out now.
A Walthamstow-based social enterprise, Social Spider CIC, is publishing Waltham Forest Echo on behalf of WellComm CIC, a social enterprise formed by charities and social enterprises in the borough. The aim of the newspaper is to promote the work of local community organisations and voluntary sector groups, along with arts and cultural activities taking place in the local area and provide an opportunity for local people to express their opinions on what is going on in the area. Story End.
New Story:Issues with Electronic Records at Whipps Cross
As part of a programme to have one electronic patient record system across all our hospitals, Barts implemented the Cerner Millennium system at Whipps Cross in late May 2014. A single patient record system for the whole of Barts Health makes it easier for clinicians to access patient records from whichever site they are working on, reduces reliance on paper-based records and improves patient experience and care by ensuring patients are not asked the same questions time after time, as their information is saved in one place.At Whipps Cross, Millennium has replaced an old and outdated patient administration system which was no longer supported by its manufacturer.
Unfortunately, there have been problems following the switch to Cerner Millennium at Whipps Cross. These problems have temporarily affected the ability to efficiently manage the follow-up outcomes from outpatient clinics and ensure that patients who need to be seen again for further diagnosis and/or treatment are added to the necessary lists and given appointments.
An additional problem also arose with printing and posting appointment letters for these patients. The problems were exacerbated by an increase in the volume of telephone calls and subsequent difficulties that callers experienced in getting through to our teams. Barts sincerely apologises for these issues, and for any inconvenience this might have caused. They have declared a serious incident as a result, and will be conducting a full investigation. They have taken a number of steps to resolve the problems, and the majority of issues have now been fully resolved. Story End.
New Story:Macmillan Volunteers Acknowledged at Barts
Volunteers at the Barts Health Macmillan cancer information and support centre at Whipps Cross Hospital are the stars of a new video on cancer support website be.Macmillan. The centre – which provides a support service for patients affected by cancer, their relatives and friends – was chosen out of more than 100 centres nationally to feature in the video.
The be.Macmillan website provides healthcare professionals with up-to-date and reliable printed & audio information on cancer for use with patients. The video features interviews with manager Perpetua Egan, head and neck cancer specialist Denise Redmond and volunteers John Sandell and Jean Elson. Together they demonstrate how the be.Macmillan website works, what it offers and who can benefit from it.
Manager at the Barts Health Macmillan cancer information and support centre, Perpetua Egan, explained: “It’s testament to the centre’s strong reputation with Macmillan, our patients and their families that we were chosen to appear in the video. We were delighted to help our colleagues make their website as effective as possible by showing how critical it is to the service we provide.”
For further information about becoming a Macmillan volunteer at Barts Health, please contact Anusha Pasula or Perpetua Egan on 020 7363 8758 or 020 8535 6790. Story End.
Page 5
New Story:Specialist Cancer and Cardiovascular Services
The NHS recently conducted a ‘second phase’ of engagement on plans to improve specialist cancer and cardiovascular services in north and east London and west Essex.
The aim was to seek views on preferred options and to provide people with the opportunity to contribute to the implementation work, particularly around some of the themes raised in the first phase of engagement, such as travel and transport.
Following various engagement and consultation meetings the proposals to improve specialist cancer and cardiovascular services in north and east London and west Essex have now been approved.
Commissioners also approved the assurance and proposed governance framework, which includes
recommendations for implementation. Any ‘specific feedback’ will be built into the planning for the next stage, to ensure issues are resolved ahead of implementation.
Under the new system, St Bartholomew’s Hospital will become the centre for specialist treatment of
heart disease including the largest cardiac surgery centre in England. Bringing together cardiac
services onto one site would make it the world’s biggest unit for adults with congenital heart
disease and it would perform more heart MRI and CT scans than any other centre in the world.
University College Hospital, working within a system of hospitals including The Royal London, St
Bartholomew’s, The Royal Free and Queen’s in Romford, will become a centre for the specialist
treatment of five types of rare cancer – brain, prostate and bladder, head and neck, haematology
and oesophago-gastric.
The next steps in the programme will now involve providers implementing the plans as per the proposed assurance and governance framework. It is expected that this will take place over a number of years, starting with the opening of Barts Health new cardiovascular unit in mid-2015, in order to ensure that services can be transferred safely.
Stay tuned for further developments! Story End.
Page 6
New Story: Have Your Say on Healthcare Services!
East London healthcare leaders are calling on people in Waltham Forest to give their views and ideas on how local healthcare services could be developed and improved.
The feedback, which can be given online or by post, is part of a programme called Transforming Services Changing Lives (TSCL), a joint initiative by NHS organisations in east London to identify opportunities to improve patient care, experience and safety. A key element of the programme will be to consider how best to ensure safe, effective and sustainable hospital services at The Royal London, Whipps Cross University, St Bartholomew’s and Newham University hospitals.
GPs, surgeons, nurses, patient representatives and public health workers from across east London have all worked together to draft a report – ‘The interim Case for Change’. It highlights that they believe significant change is required in order to create a world-class healthcare service. Story End.
New Story: Safe Staffing for Nursing Guidelines
The National Institute for Health & Care Excellence (NICE) has produced it first guidance on safe staffing for nursing in adult inpatient wards in acute hospitals.
The guide makes recommendations on safe staffing for nursing in adult inpatient wards in acute hospitals, based on the best available evidence. It focuses on wards that provide overnight care for adult patients in acute hospitals. It does not cover intensive care, high dependency, maternity, mental health, acute admission or assessment units or wards, or inpatient wards in community hospitals.
The guideline identifies organisational and managerial factors that are required to support safe staffing for nursing, and indicators that should be used to provide information on whether safe nursing care is being provided in adult inpatient wards in acute hospitals.
This guideline is for NHS provider organisations and others who provide or commission services for NHS patients. It is aimed at hospital boards, hospital managers, ward managers, healthcare professionals and commissioners. It will also be of interest to regulators and the public.
Those responsible and accountable for staffing for nursing in adult inpatient wards in acute hospitals, at an organisational and a ward level, should take this guideline fully into account. Story End.
Page 7
New Story: Waltham Forest Stroke Support Service
If you or someone you care about has had a stroke, our service can provide practical advice, essential information and emotional support.
The Stroke Support Service works closely with you to set your own goals and help you achieve them, making sure your needs are met as you make the best possible recovery.
The service covers stroke survivors of any age, carers and family members.
To find out more phone 020 3582 6658 or email . Story End.
New Story: Join the Asian Senior Club Anniversary!
The Waltham Forest Asian Seniors Club (WFASC) are celebrating their 21st Anniversary:
Sunday 17th August, 11.30am – 3.30pm at Grove Road Hall
Lunch is served at 2pm. There is a donation of £5 per person for entry. To find out more:
. Story End.
New Story:Parkinson’s Disease Asian Support Group
Come and join a new monthly support group for Asian people with Parkinson’s Disease:
tarting Monday 18th August, 2-4pm at Disability Resource Centre, Crownfield Road
The group will be run by Ifat Hussein and Mehesh Lehru. Come and join us for a chat, information and gentle exercise.
For more and to talk about transport options: 07752 527769. Story End.
New Story:Bumps Birth and Beyond!
From Leytonstone Children's Centre, get advice on caring for your baby - handling baby, breastfeeding, making up feeds and sterilising bottles, bathing, changing nappies, sleeping, crying, and birth and pain relief.
5th, 12th 19th September, 12pm – 1pm at Harrow Green Library Building
For bookings please call 020 8496 2960. Story End.
This is the end of the newsletter. Thankyou for listening!