Foundation Focus - January 2009 Edition - Kent and Medway NHS ...

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FOUNDATION TRUST Monitor scrutiny for FT status gets underway At the end of November and into December the Trust had its business and financial plans scrutinised by a team of auditors from Grant Thornton. This process was called Due Diligence and led to a report going to the Strategic Health Authority (SHA) ready for when it met the Trust Board on 11 December. The good news is that both of these processes went well and the SHA will now make a recommendation to the Secretary of State that we should move forward to the final approval phase, which is undertaken by the independent regulator for Foundation Trusts, ‘Monitor’. They will make this recommendation on 30 January and we will be notified if we have been accepted and begin our period of Monitor scrutiny in mid February. If this process goes well it is anticipated that we will be authorised as a Foundation Trust in mid May at the earliest. As a Foundation Trust we: • have a clear vision and strategic objectives • have a clear strategy for service development • have a five-year business plan in place • get more freedom from central government • consistently improve performance and meet the highest standards • make and retain a surplus and decide how we spend it • work as part of the local community and recruit members Elections The election to appoint public members and Trust staff as governors of the Foundation Trust are still planned to be held during the first three months of 2009. If you feel you want to become a governor of the Trust, or wish to know more about the role, you can visit www.kmpt.nhs.uk/ membership or contact the FT Team at ftoffice@kmpt.nhs.uk A Q&A document has also been published and will be updated regularly. A brief selection of questions and answers is included here. The full, up-to-date version can be found online. If you have any questions that you think should be included in the question and answer briefing, please send them to communications@kmpt.nhs.uk Questions & Answers Q. If the Trust is only just getting close to becoming an FT, what has it been doing for the past two years or so? A. The application process has several stages to it. We have been tested by the Strategic Health Authority, gained local support from our partners, recruited members, developed our business plan, been tested by the Department of Health and we are now ready for the final tests. The past two years have all been productive. There were some delays but these enabled us to develop the best plans possible and be as prepared as possible. Q. Does it always take so long? A. There is no set timescale for applications but two years is not unusual. The important thing is to get the application right and pass the scrutiny phases. Q. Are other mental health trusts FTs? A. Yes. Trusts in Surrey and Sussex and over the Border in Oxleas are all FTs. Q. What are the remaining stages of the application process? Membership latest The Trust has now reached its initial target of 3000 public members – well done to everyone who helped us to recruit members so far, but, please keep signing up new members at every opportunity. Our 3000th member was Sarah Webb from Faversham. A warm welcome to Sarah for helping us reach this important membership milestone. In addition, two new celebrity members were signed up at the I-Fest (see story on page 3). Derby County (formerly Charlton Athletic) footballer Luke Varney (right) was happy to add his name to the growing list, as was Portsmouth and current England defender Glen Johnson (above), whose popular Soccer School is based at the ‘Goals’ Soccer Centre in Dartford, where the I-Fest was held. A. Over the next three months we will be closely scrutinised by Monitor. Their work will look at the Trust’s finance and business plans, and will also include coming to talk to staff about the Trust’s move to FT status. It will culminate in the Board being tested by Monitor’s Board. If all of these things go well we will be authorised as a Foundation Trust, possibly in May. Q. What happens if the Trust is judged not to be good enough or is not ready? A. We are confident we will be authorised. If we are not, there may be some extra work to do before we can be authorised. The worse case scenario is that we are not authorised and another FT from out of the area takes over the running of the Trust, but we are confident it will not come to that! Q. Once authorised does the Trust have to pass any more tests? A. No. We will continue to be measured on our performance as we are now, and we will be regulated by Monitor, but there will be no further tests to undertake. 10 Foundation Focus January 2009
Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust A minute with a member! Why do people sign up to become members of a Foundation Trust? Foundation Focus spoke to Patricia Causier to find out why she believes Foundation Trusts are so important to the local community. Why did you decide to sign up as a member of our Foundation Trust? As a Mental Health Act Manager I am working voluntarily in the Kent and Medway Trust and keenly interested in the care of people with mental illness or disorders, in particular the elderly suffering with dementia. Did you know much about Foundation Trusts before you signed up? No I didn’t, although Foundation Trusts had been a topic of informal chat and speculation among Trust employees for some time and inevitably created an air of speculation for the future of the NHS. Why do you believe it is important for NHS Trusts to apply for Foundation Trust Status? I am not well-enough informed to be 100% sure it IS important for NHS Trusts to sign up for Foundation Trust status. One big shake up locally in the name of a Foundation Trust does not necessarily mean the answer to all the current NHS problems. I am not a cynic and would like to think that a Foundation Trust will restore order, stability, quality, consistent standards, consistent allocation of resources and well matched funding to local needs. But it will also need to be broad spectrum in its staffing, research, clinical excellence and ready to share expertise and resources with other Foundation Trusts. Service providers and consumers will need to work together to reach these goals. Would you encourage others to sign up as members? Yes, I would. Members will come and go for various reasons, making ongoing recruitment necessary. What would you like to see happen in mental health services once we gain Foundation Trust Status? In my opinion there should be a halt in the closure of inpatient beds and reconsideration of the number and distribution of inpatient beds across the Trust. I am also concerned about the care of older adults across the Trust. I would also hope to see more funding available for tools for the job, such as upgraded computerised clinical records, documentation storage, emergency call systems etc. And since the current Trust title includes the component ‘Social Care’, a Foundation Trust must ensure effective and adequate collaboration takes place between all groups of social and health services staff. Sixty seconds with a Governor! The Trust has invited some organisations to have a seat on the Council of Governors. Neil Jerome will be the nominated Governor for Kent Police. Foundation Focus took 60 seconds to get his views on this exciting new role! What is your day job? I am the head of Partnerships and Crime Reduction for Kent police. This is a varied role involving me leading on a range of crime-reduction initiatives and working with partners on joint initiatives to reduce crime and make Kent safer. What was your organisation’s reaction when it was asked to put forward a governor to sit on the Foundation Trust’s Council Of Governors (COG)? Kent police and the National Health Service have a proud and long working relationship. We recognise there are many overlaps in our work and so to work more closely on the Council of Governors is a natural progression. Why has your organisation picked you to represent them on the COG? In my role I meet regularly with health colleagues and have an understanding of the issues affecting us both. Representation on the COG extends this role without losing the day to day contact which is making such a difference. What do you hope to be able to bring to the role? A policing perspective from having served across the county as a detective and patrol officer. What are you most looking forward to within this role? I am looking forward to making a difference and ensuring that front line services meet the needs of the people of Kent. Kent is a great place to live and work; being healthy is essential to ensuring we can enjoy the county to the full. What would you say to other people thinking of becoming a governor? Having an influence on how the future looks and how money is spent is a huge privilege. Becoming a governor can really make a difference – give it a try! Foundation Focus January 2009 11
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