Agenda item

An officver from Healrtfgwatch Havering will present details of the organisation’s reports into Meals at Queen’s Hospital and the NELFT Mental Healtyh Street Triage Service (attached).

A.     In-patient meals at Queen’s Hospital

The Chair of Healthwatch Havering explained that the organisation had received a number of complaints about meals at Queen’s Hospital including lack of variety, portion size and lack of assistance offered to patients who had difficulty eating. This had led to enter and view visits being undertaken to three wards in October 2016.

The overall of food on Bluebell A and B wards had been found to be good but the standard had been much lower on Sunrise B ward which catered for patients suffering from dementia. There was only limited food on offer and a lack of staff available to assist patients at mealtimes (it was accepted by Healthwatch Havering that staff on the ward were under significant pressure).

Improvements since the visit had included relaunching of the hospital’s Feeding Buddy scheme, referral to dieticians if necessary and adjustments to the food ordering system. At least two staff were now available on each ward to assist at mealtimes.

In response, the BHRUT Chief Nurse welcome the Healthwatch report and emphasised had taken place to improve the position on Sunrise ward. More mealtime assistants had been recruited and meals were now ordered by patients on the day. Findings of the enter and view visits had been responded to quickly and Healthwatch were welcome to  return and reinspect.

Hospital volunteers were able to be trained as mealtime assistants and there was a formal induction programme for all volunteers. The overall number of volunteers had increased by 100 compared to last year. Volunteers supported ward staff by e.g. befriending patients and also worked on the hospital reception. Barking College students also assisted as volunteers and the Pets as Therapy scheme was also available to support patients.

The hospital was required to ensure wards were safely staffed each day and this was reported on a monthly basis. Staff now took their meal breaks at a different time to patients and relatives were also welcome to assist at mealtimes where possible. Protected patient mealtimes had also been introduced which allowed more nurses to assist with meals. There were few staff vacancies in older people’s services with the most recruitment difficulties occurring on surgical wards.

The Chief Nurse confirmed that she visited wards at different times and would use action plans, retaining etc to deal with problems but it could take time to effect improvements. The Chief Nurse also confirmed she had been aware of problems on Sunrise B ward prior to the Healthwatch visit.

B.   NELFT Street Triage Service

Healthwatch was supportive of this service which it considered to be very innovative. The service was operated by NELFT, the Metropolitan Police and the British Transport Police with the aim of being able to intervene with people having a mental health crisis in a street area without their being criminalised.

Mental health staff were able to respond to requests from police and hence avoid people exhibiting mental health issues being taken to a police station or to A & E.

Recommendations made by Healthwatch Havering to NELFT included the extending of the service to a 24 hour operation, giving all police officers training in dealing with mental health crises and using London Ambulance Service vehicles to get NELFT staff to incidents more quickly. London Ambulance Service had been recommended to provide a dedicated vehicle and to attend street triage meetings. Healthwatch had also recommended that police officers should receive mental health training.

Commissioners (led by Waltham Forest CCG for this service) had been recommended to support the scheme, provide funding for police training and support the 24 hour expansion of the service and the provision of a London Ambulance Service vehicle.

In response, NELFT had welcomed the support given to the scheme by Healthwatch Havering. The local CCGs had confirmed the scheme was a priority area in the East London Health and Care Partnership and that options to invest in the service were being looked at.

It was noted that no response to the report had been received from the Metropolitan Police and that Havering’s Crime & Disorder Overview and Scrutiny Committee would be seeking to obtain a Police response. No response had been received from Waltham Forest CC to the report.

Calls to the team came from shop staff, neighbours etc. NELFT staff tried not to use section 136 of the Mental Health Act where people could be moved to a place of safety but more information could be provided on this power. It was noted that each Healthwatch organisation worked in a different way but it was felt that each Healthwatch would be likely to support the scheme.

NELFT staff would work with police to provide a mental health assessment and it was hoped the scheme would lead to better joint working between mental health professionals and the police. It was felt that a similar scheme could be introduced to support Council staff who may also find themselves dealing with members of the public exhibiting mental health issues.

The Committee noted the reports presented by Healthwatch Havering.