Pennine News 83 - June 2010 - Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust

pennine
news
north Manchester, fairfield and
rochdale staff lottery winners
March draw
£750 - J F Siddall, £500 - M P Warrender,
£ 50 - K P Abbott, £150 - J F O’Donnell,
£100 - S A L Brogden
Easter bonus draw
£500 - L Shirley, £500 - S Lowe, £500 - P
Phillips, £500 - M Keating
If any of the above winners have not
already been notified, please contact
Andrea Lowe in finance on 44980.
ECIST work
kicks in!!!
Measures to improve emergency
access and reduce length of stay
begin to pay dividends.
FOLLOWING the implementation of the
ECIST work across the Trust, performance
in the emergency 4 hour access standard
has continued to improve. Variances in
performance are gradually becoming more
static with less erratic dips.
All staff have embraced the concept of the
Department of Health’s ECIST work which
is proving to have a positive impact on
both patient care and all staff involved.
“The emphasis has shifted in managing the
patient’s journey which ensures patients receive
safe, high quality care in the appropriate
environment”, says Su Statom, senior manager
service transformation unscheduled care.
“Staff are empowered to proactively manage
patient flows, therefore reducing length of
stay (LOS). With a reduction in LOS, patients
are less likely to develop hospital acquired
infections and therefore will have a positive
outcome from their hospital stay. From a
capacity management view, reducing LOS and
using a focused approach enables the Trust to
predict bed availability and highlight potential
capacity issues earlier thus ensuring that
patient flow is managed proactively which in
turn will enable all aspects of hospital targets
to be met”, she adds.
Divisional Internal Professional
Standards have now been submitted by all
departments which have supported patient
flow and encouraged escalation in delays
in the patient’s journey. To date, IPSs have
been developed for radiology, gynaecology,
wards, pharmacy, occupational therapy and
physiotherapy.
“At North Manchester we have developed
two Fast Flow wards (E5 and E6) which
care for patients with a shorter length of stay.
Initial findings show that patients are being
discharged in a timelier manner enabling them
to return to their home environment sooner
and improving the overall patient experience,
plus the added benefit of freeing up potential
Advancing Quality
THe Trust has been participating in
the north West regional advancing
Quality (aQ) Programme since
October 2008.
The programme measures how well NHS Trusts
adhere to evidence-based clinical pathways and
enables Trusts within the North West region to
benchmark their outcomes with one another.
The aim of the programme is to improve the
quality of care offered across the region in the
treatment of five major high volume health
conditions. There are four clinical pathways of
care applicable to The Pennine Acute Hospitals
NHS Trust:
� Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI) - heart attacks
� Heart Failure
� Pneumonia
� Hip and Knee replacement
AQ results: Care amongst
best in region for
pneumonia patients
THe Trust has been named as a high
performing Trust in the north west
for treating patients admitted with
pneumonia across its four hospitals
by advancing Quality (aQ).
Last month AQ published the results from year
one of the programme based on inpatient data
between October 008 – September 009.
The Trust was ranked 5th out of 3 hospital
Trusts for its clinical treatment of patients
admitted with pneumonia. This is based on five
clinical process measures, approved by The
National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE).
The pneumonia AQ performance reflects the
high standard of care delivered to people with
bed capacity,” explains Collette Parker, clinical
matron at NMGH.
The Expected Date of Discharge (EDD)
policy has been circulated which supports
the improvement of patient flow through
the hospital by having a proactive case
management plan with an EDD in place. This
helps to focus patients, carers and all members
of the multi disciplinary team (MDT) in a
common goal i.e. to have the patient home by
a certain date.
The MAU at The Royal Oldham Hospital has
introduced a process to take all GP referrals.
The advanced nurse practitioner now takes all
GP calls in clinic hours and the shift co-ordinator
takes the calls out of hours. Initial findings have
been positive where by several referrals have
been deflected to a more appropriate service
thus enhancing the patient experience.
Fairfield General Hospital is fully engaged
with the Patient Flow Database (PFDB)
pneumonia
coming into
the Trust’s A&E
departments.
The data is
based on
1,087 inpatient discharges. As part of the
initiative and in recognition of this strong
performance, the division of medicine will
receive around £ 09,000 to invest back into
patient care.
Marian Carroll, director of nursing at Pennine
Acute Trust, said: “We have been fully
supportive of this programme since it was
launched 18 months ago. The Advancing
Quality process is the right thing to do because
it’s not purely focusing on access targets, but
rather on the actual care and treatment patients
receive. It’s a really big lever for change and
for making improvements to clinical practice in
specific areas, ensuring we deliver best quality
of care for all patients all of the time.
“For the first time we are now able to measure
clinical treatment standards across the region so
Trusts can compare and work with other Trusts.
We now know what we have to focus on to
improve based on the data we have. We can
use this to improve clinical practice; to strive and
move from common practice to best practice.”
“The programme has highlighted areas where
we can improve and learn lessons from other
hospitals and our peers. We are beginning
to see clear improvements in the way we are
treating and caring for our patients across all
four areas. The key is to focus on how we sustain
improvements for the sake of our patients.”
The AQ programme is now operating in all 4
Acute/Foundation Trusts across the region. The
Trust was ranked 15th out of 4 for AMI, 19th
out of 4 for heart failure and 18th out of 3 for
hip and knee elective and non-elective surgery.
For more information about Advancing Quality
visit online at www.advancingqualitynw.nhs.uk
function across the site. “All staff, both nursing
and AHPs, are encouraged to use it to its full
potential as it assists in both monitoring EDD
and LOS. When used to its full capability the
PFDB can quickly identify delays in the patient’s
journey, delays in discharges and gaps in
service provision”, explains Su.
The Trust’s executive management team
are encouraged with the efforts made by all
members of staff and are positive that we can
continue to maintain this momentum in building
on our improvements to ensure this way of
working embeds into our organisational culture".
More information can be found
on the Trust intranet. click on the
“emergency access/ 24/7 project”
button found on the homepage
under key sections. alternatively
contact Steve Taylor, divisional
director medicine, on ext. 42995.
page 8 …To provide the very best care for each patient on every occasion…