NHS GRAMPIAN

Minute of Meeting of the Patient Focus and Public Involvement Committee held on Wednesday, 9 February 2011 in the Conference Room, Summerfield House, 2 Eday Road, Aberdeen at 10.00 am.

PRESENT:

Dr David Cameron (Deputising Chair)

Mr Charles Muir, Non-Executive Board Member

Mr Raymond Bisset, Non-Executive Board Member

Mr Richard Carey, Chief Executive

Dr Roelf Dijkhuizen, Medical Director

Cllr Bill Howatson, Non-Executive Board Member

Mrs Jenny Greener, Non-Executive Board Member

Ms Jane Adam, Lay Member

Mrs Lynn Boyd, Support Manager, Aberdeenshire CHP

Mrs Maggie Emslie, Patient Experience Service Improvement Lead (Cancer Services)

Mr Nigel Firth, Equality and Diversity Manager

Mrs Laura Gray, Director of Corporate Communications & Board Secretary

Mrs Wendy Innocent, Health Promotions Services Manager

Mr ScottDyker, Service Improvement Officer, Mental Health Service

Ms Linda Oldroyd, Nurse Consultant (Patient Safety & Patient Experience)

ATTENDING:

Mr Alan Gall, Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Finance

Mr Gary Mortimer, Interim Director of Facilities

Mr Christopher Third, Scottish Health Council

Mr David Cooper, PFPI Officer

Mrs Andrea Gray, PFPI Officer

Mr Ian Wilson, University of St Andrews

Mrs Marilyn Elmslie, Committee Clerk

Item No

/ Issue /

Action

1 / Welcome and apologies
David Cameron welcomed everyone to the meeting particularly Jenny Greener, one of two recently appointed new non-executive Board members. Jenny and Christine Lester, the other new non-executive,have been appointed members of the PFPI Committee.
Apologies were intimated on behalf of Eleanor Murray, Christine Lester, Elaine Brown, Laura Dodds, Sharon Duncan, Wilma Forrest, Anne Inglis, Heather Kelman, Anne Lindsay, Jane Ormerod, Dr John Reid, Pauline Somerville, Gordon Stephen and Liz Tait.
.
2 / Minute of the meeting held on 10 November 2010
The Minute was approved as a correct record of the discussions taken.
3 / Matters arising from previous minute
3.1 / PFPI Action Plan 2010 -2011
Laura Gray tabled an update. She confirmed that she would provide a written report at the next meeting which will include all actions up to the year end.
The Committee noted the update. / LG
3.2 / Availability of a report on the numbers of Young Carers in Aberdeen and their uptake of services – October 2010
David Cooper confirmed that he had several paper copies of the full report at the meeting and could email members copies as requested.
The Committee noted and agreed that an email with the report should be sent to all Committee members. / DC
3.3 / Outcome of the Know Who’s in Charge photo boards and the fixed visiting hours pilots at ARI
Laura Gray confirmed that discussions with ward managers were ongoing and that a degree of flexibility and exemptions was required with regards to the visiting hours. Patients and visitors were generally in agreement with the restrictions to ensure safe infection control practices to comply with HEI standards.
Raymond Bisset highlighted that several people had raised their concerns with him regarding patient’s laundry going missing at ward level. It was confirmed that the issue would have to be raised with the ward manager to action.
The Committee noted the update.
4 / Parking update
Further to concerns raised by members of the public to NHS Grampian, Alan Gall was tasked with chairing a working group to work up options for rigorous enforcement of parking controls on the Foresterhill site. The membership of the group consists of representatives from staffside, BMA, Grampian NHS Board, AberdeenUniversity, Service Planning, Estates and members of the public. The output from the group was to be reported to the PFPI Committee. He tabled a copy of a briefing note which listed the activity to date, principles emerging, challenges to be overcome and the significant benefits to be gained. Gary Mortimer then talked the Committee through a detailed powerpoint presentation highlighting the proposed changes to car parking within the Foresterhill site area. He also tabled a copy of the proposed criteria and categories of people who will have access to car parking space on the core site and the surrounding car parks. He confirmed that a revised permit system will be introduced with all existing permits cancelled. Staff permits will be based on scoring against certain criteria which will match a scheme currently in use by AberdeenUniversity.
A variety of questions were raised by the Committee members regarding the proposed changes. It was confirmed that the proposed new system will incur costs to the NHS Board mainly through the purchase of specific software to aid car registration plate recognition and employing additional staff to police the system. Alan also reiterated that the proposed changes had direct linkage with the Health Transport Action Plan. He emphasised that the Grampian NHS Board and Board Executive Team must be committed to supporting proportionate and approved enforcement arrangements.
The next steps to be taken are to finalise proposals for allocating staff permits and a draft revised Foresterhill Car Parking Policy to be drawn up and presented to the NHS Grampian Board. Laura Gray suggested that the work on the Wayfinding Project on the Foresterhill site may also be presented to the Board at the same time as the work dovetailed together. Raymond Bisset commended Alan and the members of the working group for the actions already taken as the group had only convened for the first time on 10 December.
The Chairman thanked Alan and Gary for the detailed presentation and the Committee agreed that the proposals should be presented to a future meeting of the Grampian NHS Board.
5 / Public Involvement and Consultation
5.1 / Involvement and Consultation update
David Cooper talked through various topics within the quarterly update.
(i) / Health & Care Framework – pathfinder projects
The projects were progressing and a Health and Care Framework newsletter was being produced and copies would be sent by email to the members. / ME
(ii) / Maternity Review
The review is ongoing. Laura Dodds was unable to attend today’s PFPI Committee meeting as she was attending the first of five workshops involving, staff, service users, public representatives etc to work though the option appraisalpart of the review, which is looking at how services are configured. The report of the outcome together with recommendations will be taken back to the Grampian NHS Board.
(iii) / GMED - Communication Plan
David Cooper tabled an information sheet on the GMED out of hours service, along with copies of the communication plan. He confirmed that there were events being held in Inverurie and Stonehaven to make the public aware of the changes to the service affecting their areas. No significant changes are planned but the model is flexible and the main change is about how members of the multi-disciplinary team are used to deliver the service that best meets the needs of patients. A detailed report and presentation on the service was presented to the Grampian NHS Board at the January seminar.
The Committee noted the updates.
5.2 / Support for Lay Representatives – summary report on three get together/training events
David Cooper talked through the summary report and confirmed that the full report is available and can be provided to the Committee members if required. Positive feedback has been received from the patient/public representatives who attended the events.
5.3 / CHP, Acute & Mental Health Service updates
(i) / Aberdeen City CHP
No formal report was available
(ii) / Aberdeenshire CHP
Lynn Boyd gave a brief verbal update and confirmed that the majority of public involvement work was being held in the Inverurie and Insch areas alongside the Health and Care Framework.
(iii) / Moray CHP
No formal report was available.
(iv) / Mental Health
Scott Dyker attended the meeting on behalf of Pauline Somerville and gave a brief verbal update on the work within the Mental Health sector. He thanked Laura Dodds and Linda Oldroyd for their assistance in producing a questionnaire which will be given to service users who have been in hospital and are seeing a professional in a community setting to find out more about their experiences in hospital. The information will be used to inform service improvements.
(v) / Acute
David Cooper tabled a copy of the Acute Sector Patient Focus & Public Involvement Newsletter which showcases three involvement projects. The newsletter also highlights the guidance and toolkits available to support acute staff to involve patients, carers and the public in their work.
The Committee noted the updates provided. The Chair reiterated that if a representative from each sector was not available to attend the meeting and provide a verbal update,a written report should be provided, along with their submitted apologies.
5.4 / Involving Young People
Andrea Gray tabled a paper explaining how NHS Grampian is aiming to improve the involvement of young people, with some examples of current activity and the next steps to be taken. One of the challenges identified is the method of communicating and involving young people. It was recognised that they are more likely to get involved if they can be informed and engaged through technology e.g. Facebook, websites, on-line surveys etc. These methods of involvement are being explored.
Discussions were had on how NHS Grampian is engaging with schools and youth groups and Andrea confirmed that she is currently linking with Public Health Co-ordinators in Aberdeenshire and other youth organisations to identify existing groups to liaise with. Christopher Third also informed the Committee that the Scottish Health Council was planning to run sessions at Aberdeen Foyer. Andrea will provide further updates at a future meeting.
The Committee noted and agreed the next steps as per the document.
6 / Equality and Diversity
6.1 / NHS Grampian Language Line Usage Report (January – December 2010)
NigelFirth talked through the Executive Summary of the report.He highlighted that in 2010, 3851 calls to “Language Line” had been made. This represented a 39.1% increase compared to 2009. However, the actual cost increase to NHS Grampian was only 7.6%. This had been made possible by Nigel, supported by Alan Sharp Deputy Director of Finance, negotiating down the “Language Line” tariff from £1 plus VAT per minute, to £0.80 plus VAT per minute.
The number of “Language Line” access points had also increased in 2010 from 550 to 650.
The report was an important piece in the ‘jigsaw’ of information which helped NHS Grampian, in co-operation with the Grampian Racial Equality Council, to track trends in inward migration. This information was essential for effective health care planning.
6.2 / National BSL Video Conferencing Pilot
NHS Grampian was part of a national NHS Video British Sign Language (BSL) pilot, led by NHS 24. It was hoped to go live with the pilot in Summer 2011. The pilot would operate in the A&E Departments, Minor Injuries Units and larger GP practices.
6.3 / Equality and Diversity Awareness Training Seminars
Nigel confirmed that large numbers of staff, including consultants and clinicians, have attended the recent series of training seminars. Positive feedback has been received from the attendees, as part of the evaluation process.
6.4 / Pilot of new Training Seminar for Consultants on Equality, Diversity, Ethical and Legal Issues
Nigel advised that a new Training Seminar was currently being developed in co-operation with Dr Richard Coleman, Director of Medical Education, and Dr Ruth Stephenson, NHS Grampian Lead on Clinical Ethics. The seminar was for consultants and the first seminar would be held on Friday 10th June 2011.
The content would include equality and diversity, consent to treatment, negligence, advance directives, Fatal Accident Inquiries and giving evidence in court, A number of guest speakers had already agreed to give presentations including Dr Jim Rodger of the MDDUS and Mr Tom Bowman, Principle Depute Fiscal. It was hoped that 50 consultants would attend.
6.5 / Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC): Formal Scottish inquiries into Disability-Related Harassment and Human Trafficking
Nigel confirmed that the EHRC has announced two formal inquiries into Disability-Related Harassment and Human Trafficking. Nigel would attend and present evidence on behalf of NHS Grampian.
In response to a question, Nigel confirmed that these were predominantly central belt issues, however, NHS Grampian was required to participate fully in the inquiries.
The Committee noted the updates.
7 / Patient Experience
7.1 / Better Together Update
Linda Oldroyd confirmed that she had written to the three General Managers of the CHPs, making reference to their bottom 5 results received in the findings of the inpatient surveyand asking for actions to be taken around improvement. When she has received this information she will put together an action plan, which has to be submitted to the Better Together Co-ordination standard. For the purpose of the participation standard we have to provide evidence of public involvement in the development of the action plans. The deadline for the evidence submission for the participation standard is 11 March. Although the results were received in October 2010the free text was not available until late December leaving inadequate time to take the necessary actions to make improvements before the next survey. It was confirmed to the Committee that the second round of the Better Together survey is in the process of being distributed by post
Discussions were held with regard to the additional burden of work on already hard working staff. Richard Carey suggested that he and David Cameron need to be more assertivein raising their concerns regarding the survey at the various meetings that they attend with the Health Directorate. Cllr Howatson suggested that the subject be discussed at the next meeting of the Audit Committee. He agreed to take this forward.
Linda stated that NHS Grampian will use the data provided from the results to make the patient experience better.
The Committee noted the update. / BH
7.2 / Feedback Service Update
The Feedback Service Report Jul to Sep 2010 was provided to the Committee members. It was noted that the service is maintaining a response time of 70% but is having to prioritise its workload accordingly as there is still a vacancy in the administration department within CGRMU. The three Feedback Advisors have been trained by staff from the Ombudsman’s office in Complaints Investigation training and are now in a position to cascade this to others.
The Committee noted the update and agreed to receive the bi-annual reports to minimise additional workload for the Feedback Service, if this was the decision of the Clinical Governance Committee.
7.3 / Cancer & Haematology Pilot
Maggie Emslie talked through the project updates provided in the document noting in particular the agreed action plan for the chemotherapy service in the areas which needed to be addressed.
She also noted that the project is proving useful in providing an un-biased view of patient experience much of which confirms what is already known about services. Richard Carey agreed that we need to make further improvements to the services as a result of this process. This would then be communicated back to the patients who have participated similar to “You said – We did”.
The Committee noted the update.
7.4 / Patient Rights (Scotland) Bill – proposals for the Patient Advice and Support Service (PASS) and transitional arrangements for current Independent Advice and Support Services (IASS)
Laura Gray made the Committee aware that the current IASS arrangements with NHS Grampian would cease at the end of March and that the Scottish Government were tendering for the replacement Patient Advice and Support Service. The PASS will promote an understanding of patient rights and responsibilities, provide advice and support, explain options available when giving feedback or making a complaint, and will make people aware and direct them to sources of support where appropriate. Laura noted that not many people in Grampian had used the IASS as the majority just contacted the NHS Grampian Feedback Service directly. Laura will update the Committee at the next meeting on the new arrangements.
The Committee noted the information. / LG
8 / Patient, Public and Carer Information
8.1 / Carer Information Strategies (CIS) 2011-12
The Scottish Government has allocated funding to NHS Boards of £9 million over the past three years for work on the CIS. For 2011-12 a further £5 million has been allocated to Boards to continue the work with specific areas being allocated proposed budgets. These are:
Carer training (£500,000) – Third sector organisations to apply for grants for carer training
Work of carers centres (£3 million) – Allocated to carers centres
Workforce training (£500,000) – To improve outcomes for carers
Short breaks (£1 million) - Supporting the provision of respite care/short breaks for carers
Laura Gray confirmed that each NHS Board has written to the Scottish Government with their views on the proposals and once the funding is allocated will embed this into practice.
The Committee noted the information.
9 / Learning, Development and Assessment
9.1 / Participation Standard – case study/agreeing process of submission before 9 March 2011
Laura Gray explained the new process led by the Scottish Health Council to provide assurance to the Scottish Government on patient focus, public involvement and formal governance in Grampian.
She confirmed that the NHS Grampian Public Forum members were given the opportunity to select the case study to be submitted at their meeting in November. She asked the Committee to endorse the agreed process. It was agreed that electronic and paper copies, sent by first class mail, of the submission will be given to the Committee members as soon as it is complete, in order for the members to feedback before the 9 March deadline.
The Committee noted the information.
9.2 / SHC update
Christopher Third provided a brief verbal update on the Scottish Health Council’s ongoing work involving young people and raising awareness of public involvement. He also stated that they are engaging with people at their workplace e.g. displays and members attending a session being held in the canteen of Grampian Fire Brigade in Aberdeen.
10 / Advocacy and Volunteering
Laura Gray confirmed that the work on the Advocacy Review was progressing.
11 / Items for information
11.1 / NHS Grampian Disability Discrimination Act Review Group – note of meeting 22 November 2010
11.2 / Minutes of Cancer & Haematology Pilot Steering Group 27 October 2010
11.3 / NHS Grampian Public Forum Report November 2010
11.4 / Minutes of Acute Sector PFPI Group 9 September 2010
12 / Any other Competent Business
There was none.
The Chair thanked everyone for their attendance and closed the meeting.

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