Trust Board Febuary 2010 - Sandwell & West Birmingham Hospitals

SWBFC (1/10) 010
SWBFC (1/10) 004 (a)
Mr Harding reported that there had been an increase in delayed transfers of care
during December, to 23 instances, the majority of which were attributed to the
restricted opening hours of social services over the winter vacation.
In terms of the target regarding reperfusion following a coronary arrest, the Trust had
been measuring its performance against an internal target of 90 minutes from call
to balloon, although the Committee was advised that the Care Quality Commission
had recently published a target of 150 minutes.
Performance against the stroke care target was noted to have deteriorated during
November to 46.4% of stroke patients spending 90% or more of their stay on a
dedicated stroke unit. The Committee was advised that although the performance
had been disappointing, processes had been implemented to ensure real time
validation of the information and closer scrutiny of the position on a daily or weekly
basis. There is also work underway to ensure that the required stroke care pathway
is followed rigorously. An on-call manager is now alerted if pathways are not
adhered to, in a manner analogous to that of a potential breach of Accident and
Emergency waiting time targets. Mr Kirby reported that a major issue concerned the
delays incurred by an intermediate assessment that occurs before a patient is sent
to a stroke unit. It was noted that the national targets for stroke care had been
revised to make them more lenient, suggesting that the issue that the Trust was
experiencing may be the same nationally.
Performance against the CQUIN targets was reviewed. It was noted that smoking
cessation referrals had been disappointing. A proportion of the tariff, to the value of
£220k, was reported to be allocated to this particular target, although this is paid on
a phased basis for every 10% of the target achieved. Mr Adler advised that for the
final part of the year, an opt-out system will be introduced where patients who
smoke will automatically be referred to a smoking cessation service, unless they
express a wish for this referral not to be made. The matter had been discussed and
agreed by the Trust Management Board.
The Committee noted that same sex accommodation breaches were now
included in the performance monitoring report, as were outpatient cancellations.
No specific targets had been set for these measures, although for the latter of these
indicators, it appears that there is a relatively even split between cancellations
instigated by the Trust and those as a result of patient cancellations.
Performance against the rapid access for chest pain target was noted to have
been 100% for both sites, resulting in a year to date performance of 99.8%.
5.3 Foundation Trust compliance report
SWBFC (1/10) 005
SWBFC (1/10) 005 (a)
As the information presented was noted to be a subset of the monthly performance
management information, the Committee noted the report.
The Governance Risk Rating was amber in reflection of the deterioration of
performance against the Accident and Emergency waiting time target and the
declaration of non-compliance against the Core Standard C11b.
5.4 NHS performance framework
SWBFC (1/10) 006
SWBFC (1/10) 006 (a)
Mr Harding presented the Trust’s performance against the indicators comprising the
NHS performance framework.
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