To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting of the Social Care Health and Housing Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 21 March 2016 and to note actions taken since that meeting.

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the meeting of the Social Care Health and Housing Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 21 March 2016 be confirmed and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

To receive from Members any declarations of interest and of any political whip in relation to any agenda item.

Cllrs Hollick, Goodchild and Costin all declared an interest as appointed Members of the Luton and Dunstable Hospital Governors Board.  Cllr Goodchild was also an appointed Member of the SEPT Governors Board.

To receive any announcements from the Chairman and any matters of communication.

None.

To receive petitions from members of the public in accordance with the Public Participation Procedure as set out in Annex 2 of Part A4 of the Constitution.

None.

To receive any questions, statements or deputations from members of the public in accordance with the Public Participation Procedure as set out in Annex 1 of part A4 of the Constitution.

None.

To consider any decision of the Executive referred to this Committee for review  in accordance with Procedure Rule 10.10 of Part D2. 

None.

To consider any items referred to the Committee at the request of a Member under Procedure Rule 3.1 of Part D2 of the Constitution.

None.

To receive a brief verbal update from the Executive Members for:-

·         Social Care and Housing and

·         Health

The Executive Member for Social Care and Housing announced the completion of Priory View in Dunstable and the positive comments made by residents who had moved into their new homes.  It was also reported that Allison House Residential Home in Sandy had received a good CQC rating.

The Deputy Executive Member for Social Care and Housing would lead work on the Integration agenda for the Council.

The Committee is asked to consider the Quality Accounts provided by:-

1.    Bedford Hospital Trust

2.    SEPT

3.    East and North Herts Hospital Trust (The Lister Hospital)

4.    The Luton and Dunstable Hospital and

5.    East London Foundation Trust (ELFT)

Comments on the Quality Account are voluntary, the Committee is not obliged to comment if it does not feel it necessary.  Any statements agreed by the Committee will be sent to each Hospital and Care Provider in order to include the statement in their final document.  A dashboard summary is attached and the full Quality Account for each provider is available from this link:-  http://centralbeds.moderngov.co.uk/ieListMeetings.aspx?CommitteeId=644

Bedford Hospital

The Chairman welcomed Tracey Brigstock, Acting Director of Nursing and Patient Services at Bedford Hospital who introduced the Bedford Hospital Quality Account and drew Members attention to the primary areas of achievement that included hospital related infections and clinical effectiveness of in-patient experience.  A recent CQC Inspection had also highlighted a number of areas that required action and these would be addressed through training and underpin improvement work.  The Trust had scored well in the patient care category.

In light of the report Members raised the following concerns:

·         What steps had been taken to improve the figures of the number of staff claiming to be victims of bulling/abuse by colleagues.  The Acting Director of Nursing advised the figure of 20% had been taken very seriously and a listening campaign launched to find out more about staff relationships.  Changes to the hospital’s management of communications had taken place and monthly roadshows arranged to help staff.

·         How many of infections monitored were new infections to patients?  The Acting Director of Nursing advised it was difficult to know where infections start or end and some were caused by a patient who had not completed a course of antibiotic, however, collaborative work with the Trust Development Authority (TDA) had started in April with information gathered by the Lead Nurse and other medics to reduce the number.

·         There seemed to be no improvement on the reduction of non-elective admissions.  In response Members were advised the Commissioning for Quality and Innovation (CQUIN) framework would be implemented with support from the Commissioners and SEPT to improve this figure.

South Essex Partnership Trust (SEPT)

Helen Smart, Director for Bedfordshire Community Health Services and Lead Nurse, SEPT and Rachel West Acting Deputy Director, Bedfordshire Children’s and Specialist Services SEPT gave a presentation that outlined SEPT’s performance against the quality priorities for 2015/16.  The targets to reduce pressure ulcers and the number of patient falls were exceeded and SEPT had received awards for their innovative work both internally and externally and from the newly developed Quality Academy.

In light of the update, Members raised the following questions:-

·         The number of staff claiming to be victims of bulling/abuse by colleagues was high at 18% and that staff were less confident in the service than their patients.  In response the Director advised this figure referred to issues mainly within the Mental Health service in Essex and was not an evidenced concern in Bedfordshire.  However, SEPT as an organisation took such issues very seriously and had a variety of means that staff could raise/report and there was access straight to the Chief Executive.

·         That a figure be stated against future targets/priorities rather than the aim “to move up or down”.

·         That the pressure ulcer target should be zero and indicated a lack of care for a patient.  The Director responded that tissue viability was a priority for all organisations and indeed services and the problem within community services is that the pressure ulcer is normally developed in the patient’s own home  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.