Agenda item

Jacqui Scott, Chief Executive Officer – Bromley Healthcare (“Chief Executive Officer”) provided an update on the Bromley Healthcare CQC Action Plan.

The Chief Executive Officer informed Members that, around 18 months ago, the organisation had been subject to a CQC inspection, and it was agreed that updates against the improvement plan would be provided to the Sub-Committee on a regular basis. The last regular engagement meeting between Bromley Healthcare and the CQC had taken place in August 2022, and it was considered that positive progress was being made. It was noted that the next engagement meeting was scheduled for the end of November 2022.

The Bromley Healthcare Programme Management Office (PMO) system was the central repository for all projects and programmes within the organisation, and provided oversight of every action. All CQC related projects were identified within the tool – internally, these were monitored weekly, and monthly via the CQC Sub-Committee. Progress at a programme, project and task level was visible and transparent, along with all project risks and issues. The tool worked on a linear basis, tracking percentage completion against target deadlines at a task level – any tasks potentially at risk were flagged early so that remedial action could be taken if required. Members were assured that the two actions labelled as ‘at risk’ were both on target. In response to a question, the Chief Executive Officer advised that completion percentages were dependent on the programmes themselves – each programme had a number of workstreams, and each action had its own rating.

With regards to programmes, the Chief Executive Officer advised that a complete review of the Audit Programme had been undertaken – an Audit Panel was now in place and a number of audits were underway across the organisation. In relation to the Lone Working Programme, there were just two final actions for completion which related to the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) that were in the process of being updated. The Chief Executive Officer informed Members that, as part of its long-term strategy, Bromley Healthcare had reviewed its values following the pandemic. The strategy would cover the next three-year period, and the engagement process had just commenced. Other programmes included mock inspections led by different services leads, a new app for clinical supervision and a central review dashboard. It was highlighted that a new approach was being taken to record keeping which included spot checks; a planned programme of record keeping; and external assurance provided by KPMG.

The Chief Executive Officer noted that a particular area of challenge was recruitment of Health Visitors and District Nurses – to help reduce vacancies, new career pathways had been established in both areas, and the training and development up to Director level was highlighted. Ten newly qualified Band 5 nurses had recently started a bespoke training programme, and a similar scheme would be run in Health Visiting. Members were advised that, in order to utilise capacity, all therapy services had been brought together. By working as one team, the number of patients, and the length of time they waited to be seen, had been reduced dramatically. The feedback received from patients had been extremely positive.

The Chief Executive Officer advised Members that during a recent staff survey, concerns had been raised regarding the levels of abuse being experienced. A new campaign looking at the prevention, reduction and management of workplace abuse had been launched. In response to questions from the Chairman, the Chief Executive Officer said that abuse of staff was an issue that was increasing, and teams were being encouraged to report it via the relevant system. They had a zero-tolerance process – patients would initially be spoken to face-to-face, and if it continued to be a problem it was followed up with a letter. As this was an issue being seen across various organisations, it was considered that it may be beneficial to run a co-ordinated campaign with One Bromley partners.

In response to questions, the Chief Executive Officer advised that an example of the co-production work undertaken was the Orpington Health and Wellbeing Café. This was a joint Primary Care Network (PCN) and Bromley Healthcare (BHC) preventative/anticipatory care initiative to support the wellbeing of residents in Orpington. The Communications Team had attended and engaged with residents to help inform the set-up of the Neighbourhood Team. There was also an active patient reference group who provided advice in relation to the website and undertook mystery shopping exercises. They wanted to ensure that patients with lived experiences were providing feedback to help to improve services.

The Chairman thanked the Chief Executive Officer for her update to the Sub-Committee.

RESOLVED that the update be noted.