Agenda item

Ms G Alexander, Director of Communications and Engagement, and Mr H McEnroe, Statutory Medical Commander for Covid-19 response, were in attendance for this item at the invitation of the committee.

1.            Mr McEnroe summarised to the committee the Trust’s Restore and Recovery programme, its recent CQC report and the outcome of the staff survey. He thanked the County Council and community partners for the support they had given to the Trust in dealing with Covid-19, including safe and effective discharges from hospital.  April had seen the peak of cases with 100 patients, but the Trust had been able to rearrange beds to meet demand, including an increase in ICU bed capacity from 9 to 23 beds, while maintaining its diagnostic, cancer and maternity care services, the latter with the help of  colleagues in the independent sector. Non-urgent surgery had been stepped down but face to face cancer care had been able to continue in a ‘green area’ of the hospital, to which traffic was minimised to guard against infection. A good supply of PPE had been maintained throughout the Covid-19 crisis, there had been a robust oversight process and a good multi-disciplinary team approach.  Outpatients, diagnostic and face to face appointments were now restarting and other services would restart in early August. The system had worked well to respond to the Covid-19 crisis and robust internal and external planning was preparing for a possible second wave of infection and the usual winter pressures on services.  However, the Trust felt that ‘business as usual’ was not necessarily ‘business as best’ so improvement would be sought. The Trust was proud that its critical care had been rated as ‘outstanding’, however, the rating of its medical care had been lowered to ‘inadequate’. The Trust was working with partners and commissioners to act on the CQC advice and move forward, using a recovery action plan.

2.            Members made the following comments;-

a)    thanks and appreciation were extended to all Trust staff for their work during the Covid-19 crisis.  The Trust’s response to the crisis had been excellent, including staff training on use of PPE, partnership working on discharges, falls units and dementia services. Mr McEnroe acknowledged that some patients with dementia were still staying in hospital too long when they could be placed elsewhere, either in their own homes or in care homes. Creation of good step-up and step-down processes was important, and the Frank Lloyd unit in Sittingbourne offered an opportunity to contribute to this and to manage the care paths of elderly and frail patients in an innovative way; and

b) concern was expressed about the effect of CQC ratings on staff morale. Staff were doing their best to deliver services, in difficult circumstances and sometimes in outdated facilities, and for their service to be given a low rating was demoralising.  All staff needed to know that their work was appreciated and valued, and they should be congratulated.  Mr McEnroe and Ms Alexander assured Members that the Trust was very conscious of the impact of CQC inspection reports on staff morale and much time had been spent listening to staff feedback on the inspectors’ report.

4.         It was RESOLVED that the report be noted, with thanks.