Agenda item

UPDATE FROM KING'S COLLEGE HOSPITAL NHS FOUNDATION TRUST

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Minutes:

Jonathan Lofthouse, Site Chief Executive – PRUH and South Sites (“Site Chief Executive”) provided an update on the King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

 

The Site Chief Executive noted that, with regards to the end of year position for elective care, King’s had eradicated the list of patients waiting over 104 weeks for treatment. It was noted that if industrial action had not taken place in recent weeks, the list of patients waiting over 78 weeks would also have been eradicated. There were 13 patients that had been carried over into the new financial year and had since received treatment. The Trust continued to make strong in roads – King’s had been in national press, listed as one of the top 5 hospitals in the country for the volume of activity undertaken over the last year to address backlogs created by the COVID-19 pandemic. Elective operative activities were continuing at pace.

 

With regards to emergency performance, Members were informed that the overall challenges at the PRUH continued. They were continuing to work with both national and regional colleagues on several initiatives, including ambulance offloads and the Urgent Care Centre (UCC) provider. It was noted that over the two years, since the start of the pandemic, the average attendance age at A&E had increased by 10 years – they were seeing significantly more mature patients, who were often in a higher state of compromise. The London region were working with the PRUH to explore this epidemiological shift and further information could be provided at future meetings of the Sub-Committee. The Chairman agreed that these statistics were staggering and considered that a deep dive was needed to gain an understanding of the change in dynamics.

 

In terms of diagnostics, the Trust continued to perform highly and remained one of the top 15 hospitals in the country for the speed at which patients were seen. With regards to cancer services, South East London continued to be the second highest performing cancer alliance in the country. It was noted that King’s had finished the last financial year ahead of the trajectory for recovery.

 

The Site Chief Executive advised that the link bridge on the PRUH site had been completed and they were currently going through a capital planning round for future developments. Later this year a second MRI unit would be opened, which would further accelerate elements of emergency care. As previously mentioned, the funding to expand the bed base was still to be confirmed – if taken forward, there could be an increase of around 32 beds and a capital value of £5.5m investment.

 

Members were informed that a CQC inspection had taken place at the PRUH in late 2022 – the actions taken from the maternity services review had been fully executed and accepted. It was noted that the latest patient satisfaction statistics for maternity services at the PRUH had seen a marked uptick in recent weeks.

 

With regards to maternity services at the PRUH, a Member enquired if the reasons for the hospital being an outlier for rates of postpartum haemorrhage (PPH) were known, and if they looked to identify any hereditary issues connected to PPH. The Site Chief Executive said that, with regards to hereditary issues, questions were asked as part of standard assessments by community midwifery colleagues and obstetricians – it was agreed that statistics relating to this could be provided following the meeting. A written response would also be provided in relation to the PRUH being an outlier for PPH. The Member further noted concerns related to people smoking outside the A&E department, which was beneath the paediatric unit, and suggested that signs could be installed asking people to refrain from doing so in that area. The Site Chief Executive advised that earlier in the year an enhanced security scheme had been implemented across the site, and there had been a marked improvement. Having reopened access towards Sainsbury’s, they were seeing more staff and patients leaving the hospital site to smoke. The Site Chief Executive said the point raised was fair, and he would be happy to review the signage and ask the security team to move people away from that location.

 

The Portfolio Holder for Adult Care and Health said the news regarding the additional MRI scanner at the PRUH was very welcomed. In response to a question, the Site Chief Executive noted that around 18 months ago, a large amount of investment had been made into imaging services and the workforce had grown by around 54 additional posts. There was sufficient reserve for additional MRI reporting – with regards to volume, around 14 MRIs were undertaken on any one day and there was internal capacity to respond to reports in a timely fashion.

 

A Member asked for further information in relation to vacancy rates, which had been referenced in a number of CQC inspection reports. The Site Chief Executive said that across the board, the vacancy rate stood at around 8% – this was below the London average and overall there was a continued improvement. It was noted that, as One Bromley, they had been promoting careers in the borough and involved in the co-design of the strategy and marketing. It was agreed that a breakdown of vacancy rates by sub-discipline could be provided to Members following the meeting.

 

The Chairman thanked the Site Chief Executive for his presentation to the Sub-Committee.

 

RESOLVED that the update be noted.

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