2 Eday Road
ABERDEEN
AB15 6RE /
Mrs Laura Gray
Board Secretary
NHS Grampian
Summerfield House
2 Eday Road
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Email / 19 September 2013
LJ
Linda Juroszek
58490
01224 558490
Dear Laura
Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) Consultation: A National approach to learning from adverse events through reporting and review.
The final document was issued in September 2013 following a draft in July 2013. It is intended to provide a framework to support standardised processes in the management of adverse events across all care settings within NHS Scotland. The document states that this national approach is not intended to be prescriptive but to provide a framework for Boards. It suggests that consistent definitions and categorisation of adverse events will maximise opportunities for NHS Boards to share and actively learn in order to put improvements into practice. However, the document also suggests that local ownership is essential to test and implement improvements and we have experience of this methodology with the Scottish Patient Safety Programme.
Staff working in Grampian have used Datix for a number of years. They use it to record events that would not fall into any of the three suggested categories, and more recently Datix is being used to record feedback. There is always the potential for learning and improvement at a local level from minor events and patient feedback and I would suggest this may be overtaken by a focus on adverse events as categorised by HIS. It is important to consider that it is often the small changes that have the most impact on patient experience.
The HIS approach suggests setting up 4 National working groups, each with a number of actions which will clearly have an impact local workload. The ACF suggests that a more effective way to approach this would be for Boards to provide reports on what changes they have made in response to adverse events.
Health Promoting Health Service CEL01 2012
There is continued progress in training staff to deliver brief interventions to encourage patients to make changes in their lifestyle that will improve their health. Fresh Air zones on the ARI site have contributed to raising awareness of the benefits in stopping smoking and we are also seeing an increase in referrals to smoking advice service. Healthpoint has a role to play in providing additional advice and support to people and there is evidence of increased numbers using the service.
The Healthy Working Lives Group for Acute has been set up and the Director of Facilities is leading the Greenspace Initiative. There will be an assurance that retail outlets are registered with Scottish Grocers’ Federation Scheme, with the aim of selling a healthier range of products. Work is also underway to review the contents of our vending machines, with an aim that 70% of the contents will be healthy options. In doing this, there is a risk to NHSGrampian as it is likely there will be a reduction in revenue from these machines. However, the advisory structure feels this is a necessary step that will contribute to reducing obesity in our population.
Yours sincerely
Mrs Linda Juroszek - Chair
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