Minutes:
The Sub-Committee received a presentation from Matthew Trainer, Managing Director for the Princess Royal University Hospital (PRUH) and South Sites and Sarah Willoughby, Stakeholder Relations Manager, King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust providing an update on the progress of the Trust and the PRUH Improvement Plan.
It had been a challenging winter period across London; however the Step Up/Step Down Facility and a range of community-based initiatives by the Local Authority and Bromley Clinical Commissioning Group had helped to manage pressures on the PRUH which now had one of the lowest rates for patients awaiting discharge across London. There had been a significant reduction in the incidence of Norovirus at the PRUH following the introduction of a number of preventative measures during 2016, and work was underway to reduce the incidence of falls by patients, including raising staff awareness. The proportion of agency staff employed by the PRUH remained a concern and a recruitment campaign was underway to promote the benefits of joining the PRUH as a permanent staff member. The PRUH continued working to engage with staff and patients, and a staff survey had been undertaken in Autumn 2016.
A Member congratulated the Managing Director for the PRUH for the excellent performance of the PRUH since January 2017.
In response to a question from the Portfolio Holder for Care Services about the financial position of the Trust, the Managing Director for the PRUH advised Members that the Trust was likely to end the year with a deficit of £49m. Work to reduce this deficit was ongoing and included plans to significantly reduce the spend on agency staff and to introduce further efficiency and productivity measures, including more effective use of operating theatres. A transformation programme around how Outpatient services were delivered was underway, and it was hoped to improve patient experience and reduce waiting times by better managing demand against capacity as well as considering how follow-up appointments could be provided more effectively, such as in a community setting. A key workstream to increase the use of electronic records and data management was in progress and it was hoped that the new system to enable electronic information to be shared between local GP practices and the PRUH would be rolled-out during Autumn 2017, with further initiatives including information sharing between the PRUH and Orpington Hospital introduced when possible. There had been recognition by King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust Executive that there was a need to improve cross-site working between the Trust and the PRUH and to ensure that the PRUH was able to combine the benefits of being part of an international teaching hospital with strong local leadership.
The Portfolio Holder for Care Services raised a concern around the capacity of the PRUH car park that was causing difficulties for local residents, particularly following further development of the PRUH site. The Managing Director for the PRUH confirmed that this had been identified as an issue and that mitigating factors, such as moving some outpatient services to Orpington Hospital were being considered.
A Co-opted Member queried if service users were engaged in monitoring service quality across King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. The Managing Director for the PRUH advised Members that patient engagement was delivered in a range of ways including Service User Panels, and that engagement with service users was undertaken as part of any proposed redesign of services.
The Chairman was pleased to note that the hydrotherapy pool at Orpington Hospital had been relaunched and requested that Orpington Hospital be added to the Schedule of Members’ visits for Summer 2017.
The Chairman led Members in thanking Matthew Trainer and Sarah Willoughby for their presentation which is attached at Appendix A.
RESOLVED that the update be noted.