Trust Board Febuary 2010 - Sandwell & West Birmingham Hospitals

MINUTES
In December, the Trust performed well against referral to treatment time targets,
apart from in orthopaedics.
The smoking cessation process has been amended to introduce an opt out system,
whereby all patients who smoke are automatically referred to a smoking cessation
service, unless they express a wish for this referral not to be made.
Outpatient cancellations were highlighted to now be being reported, although in
future versions of the report, this performance will be contextualised as a
percentage of all appointments made.
Significant focus is being given to mandatory training at present, with all areas
requiring a 75% compliance rate for attendance by the year end.
Mt Trotman reported that at the recent meeting of the Finance and Performance
Management Committee, there had been a presentation concerning measures
put in place to improve theatre utilisation. A further update is due in May 2010.
Dr Sahota asked whether performance against the Accident and Emergency fourhour
waiting time target was being maintained. Mr Adler reported that the target
remains very challenging and a number of local trusts will not be able to meet the
year end target. Operational pressures and the recent outbreak of Norovirus are
contributing factors to this difficulty.
Mr Cash noted the trend in agency staff being used by the Trust and asked whether
this was seasonal. He was advised that this level of agency staff is reflective of
current operational pressures and was not as a consequence overall of staff
sickness.
13.3 NHS performance framework monitoring report Hard copy papers
Mr White presented the NHS Performance Framework monitoring report.
The Board was pleased to note that the Trust remains classified as a ‘performing’
organisation, despite one amber rating.
Mr White advised that the Department of Health had revised a number of the
thresholds within this framework, including those associated with cancer waiting
times and stroke care.
13.4 Update on the delivery of corporate objectives – Quarter 3
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Mr White presented an update on the delivery of the Trust’s corporate objectives.
It was noted that progress is rated as red for objectives concerning the identification
of key hospital actions to improve public health and the achievement of NHS
Litigation Authority risk assessment standards.
14 Operational Management
14.1 Sustainability update
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