Agenda item

Report to follow if available.

Presented by Alan Steward and Barbara Nicholls.

Members of the Board noted the report and attached appendix which provided an update on the progress made in the implementation of the Francis Report recommendations across the BHRUT care and health economy.

The lesson from events at Mid-Staffordshire was that a fundamental culture change was needed to put the patient at the centre of the NHS. The CCG and Local Authority had made a commitment to implement a number of specific early actions and changes arising from the Public Inquiry and the report focussed on these actions.

The Nurse Director was asked to develop an implementation plan to the Francis Report recommendations and this work commenced in April 2013. 

A BHR system wide task and finish group was established in September 2013, chaired by the Nurse Director with members from BHR CCGs and Local Authorities. The group also sought the views of and engaged with providers and Lay members of the governing bodies including Healthwatch and Safeguarding Board Chairs to review the recommendations in detail, agree priorities for delivery and to develop an implementation plan. The task and finish group considered and agreed the implementation plan.

All three Local Authorities and CCGs reported significant progress on actions thus far and Appendix 1 provided a snapshot of what had been achieved.  It was noted that there was still a lot of work to be done but that the following had been achieved during 2013/14:

·                  The CCG published its response to the Francis Report on their website

·                  A quality assurance monitoring framework has been implemented for all large and medium size contracts

·                  The CCG has welcomed patient and public feedback, has acknowledged service difficulties where they existed and have worked and encouraged providers to do the same.

·                  The sharing of quality and safeguarding information with the CCG and its partners has raised potential quality concerns thus enabling   immediate action to be taken.

·                  The CCG has developed internal systems that enable the quality team to work with general practitioners to follow up concerns raised during patient consultations

·                  Clinical directors actively participate in the Clinical Quality Review Meetings and this has strengthened the CCG’s clinical contract management

BHRUT would continue to implement the agreed actions and that progress would be reviewed by the CCG’s Quality and Safety Committee on April 14.

In addition, the CCG would continue to implement all completed actions within their current commissioning system and daily activities for example,  quality assurance walk round visits to departments in Barking, Havering, Redbridge University NHS Trust and North East London NHS Foundation Trust to ensure quality and patient centred care.  There was still a lot of work to do in order to fully understand all 290 recommendations in the report. 

The Health and Wellbeing Board noted the progress report and actions taken by the LA/CCG to implement the recommendations to date. Several members of the Board wanted further reassurance on progress to date.  The Board therefore agreed that the Chief Officer of Havering CCG circulate to members of the Board a further report to clarify the current position in Havering and the measures being taken.  It was also agreed that there should be further opportunities to provide further updates at future meetings.