Agenda item

To receive and comment on the draft report of the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust

The draft annual quality account was presented to the Sub-Committee for comment.

The Sub-Committee learnt that they were the most improved NHS trust in the last year.

Over the last year feedback had been sought and received from stakeholders and CQC feedback had been reviewed in order to assist with the formulation of top priority areas of focus for the coming year.

As a result the four areas of focus for 2018/19 would be the following:

- Reduction in violence

- Accessibility of care

- Patient and Family involvement in care

- Staff morale and experience

In response to a Member question on processes and challenges, officers stated that there were still challenges with access to beds. This was particularly challenging for acute colleagues with access to beds not always readily available. Staff were encouraged to report any delay, in order for investigations to be carried out and for opportunities to work with partners on addressing the issues presented.

Members were encouraged to learn that the Place of Safety was well staff and working well.

A Member commented that there was a lack of Croydon content in the report and it would be of benefit in future for the report to include an explicit section on issues for Croydon focus. A Borough breakdown of strengths and weaknesses.

A Member commented that SLaM was world leading in its field but there was a distinct lack of BME representation at senior level. There was some comment on this in the report but more reflection was required on issues of staff satisfaction and representation of BME. Officers stated that discussion had been taking place to ensure that more on this issue was structured into next year’s quality accounts.

The Sub-Committee was encouraged to learn that a workforce and equalities committee had been set up to address the issues of BME representation at senior level. There would be more information and data available on the work that was being completed on improving diversity in the next year.

In response to a Member comment on improvement of engagement with staff, morale and what could be learned from the CUH listening into action programme, officers stated that they were working on system wide changes. They had been working with and learning from partners on quality improvement methodology.

In response to a member comment of staff reporting at 57% of harassment and working in a hostile environment, officers said that unfortunately this was part of working in a Mental Health setting and they had been looking at ways of addressing issues raised.

The Trust stated that there was a good degree of openness regardless of difficulties and there had been improvements for Croydon residents in the last 4 years.

Members thanked officers for their continued participation with Scrutiny and for all their work in the last year.

The Sub-Committee’s response to the Quality Accounts

The Health and Social Care Scrutiny Sub-Committee welcomed the opportunity to provide comment on the draft quality account.

The Sub-Committee agreed in the first instance that the information presented in the draft quality account did not include sufficient information to enable robust comments to be made, primarily because data was still being collected and analysed. It is acknowledged that this is an issue that occurs every election year due to the variance in timetables for the National Health Service and that of Local Government.

The Sub-Committee was encouraged to learn that SLaM was one of the most improved NHS trusts in the last year, and the degree of openness regardless of difficulties faced was appreciated. There had also been noticeable improvement for Croydon residents accessing services in the last few years and overall the trust was performing well. The changes made to the overall structure of the Trust was also welcomed. In particular the move to a structure that enables the performance by borough to be measured which will assist in the scrutiny process going forward. The Sub-Committee looks forward to being able to scrutinise the priority areas in a more meaningful way for Croydon residents in 2018/19.

The Quality Accounts that were provided had a distinct lack of Croydon specific content in the report and in future the Sub-Committee would benefit from an explicit section on issues or difficulties for Croydon focus. A borough breakdown of strengths and weaknesses would be beneficial for the next year’s quality account.

It was also expected that the quality account would include more information on staff satisfaction, diversity and in particular what was being done to address the lack of representation at senior level of Black and Minority Ethnic groups.

The data provided on the staff working environment raised concerns, in particular the large percentage of staff who expressed concerns about harassment and physical violence and information on what was being done to address this would be welcomed in future reports.

The Sub-Committee thanked SLaM for all the work that had been carried out over the last year and looked forward to the continued good working partnership.

The Sub-Committee Members thanked the Chair for all her work and expertise in the last for years and wished her well in the future. There was still a long journey ahead  for Health and Social care Scrutiny and the Chair had been instrumental in building relationships with partners in order to promote transparency.

The Chair and Vice Chair also proposed a formal vote of thanks to Councillor Margaret Mead for her contribution to Scrutiny as well as her Political Party. It was acknowledged that the experience she brought was vital and her legacy would be taken forward.