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Annual Members' Meeting / Annual General Meeting 2012 - 25 September 2012

Overview of the event:

The East Kent Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust Annual General Meeting/Annual Members’ Meeting took place on 25 September 2012. More than 100 people were in attendance consisting of members of the public, members of  the Council of Governors and Board of Directors, representatives from partner organisations and members of the Trust’s staff. 

Trust Directors presented an overview of the Trust’s business in the previous financial year, with an opportunity for questions from the public. Prior to the meeting, there was an opportunity to view a number of Trust exhibitions from various departments within the organisation. 

A copy of the 2011/12 Annual Report and Financial Statements was made available at the meeting. A copy of this publication is available on our website in the Annual Reports and Business Plans section.

Presentations:

  • Welcome and Introductory video – Nicholas Wells, Chairman
  • A year of excellence and achievement – Presentation by Stuart Bain, Chief Executive
  • Financial Performance Overview – Presentation by Jeff Buggle, Director of Finance and Performance Management
  • Hospital at Home – Presentation by Wendy Cordier, Hospital at Home Team, and Paula Brogan, Matron
  • VitalPAC – Presentation by Deborah Higgs, Consultant Nurse, Critical Care
  • Report from the Council of Governors – Presentation by Ken Rogers, Vice Chairman of the Council of Governors

General questions 

Members of the public were invited to put forward questions to the Chair and Chief Executive and the Trust’s key presenters:

As the Health and Social Care Act 2012 comes into force, what will be the future commissioning arrangements?

The Trust would still be commissioned by health bodies to deliver service. This arrangement will move from PCTs to local Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs). There were currently, in the main, 4 CCGs in East Kent. Some specialist services will be commissioned at a national or regional level by the National Commissioning Board.

As the Trust introduces more efficiencies and better delivery of care, does the Trust anticipate this would translate into a reduction in demand on services?

The Trust continues to monitor the balance between the introduction of internal efficiencies, capacity, patient safety and quality. The overall aim of the Trust’s clinical strategy is to provide services closer to home. 

What is the impact on the Trust of financial constraints experienced by neighbouring NHS Trusts?

The Trust can not comment on the specific financial position of other NHS Trusts. The Trust’s long term aim is to deliver an appropriate range of care and services needed by the public and to do so in such a way that is sustainable. The Trust was continually reviewing its long term strategy. The Trust’s challenge is to ensure it has the right capacity to meet demands of the local population. The Trust regularly analyses and monitors referral patterns.

Hospital at Home presentation

Would services provided to patients at home, also include canulas?

A number of patients do leave hospital catheterised with a care plan.

Does the Trust record the travel times of nurses visiting patients in their homes?

The average travel time was 30 minutes.

What % of patients are readmitted to hospital from hospital at home services?

Approximately 1 patient per week on average was readmitted to hospital. Assurance was provided that there was a quick process for readmitting patients to hospital from hospital at home care. 

VitalPAC

Is there a danger that nurses will eventually rely on technology and that ‘TLC’ will gradually be reduced?

Assurance was provided that the new innovative technology to electronically record patient observations was an accessory at the bedside and a move towards a paper free environment. The technology enables more efficiency and allows the nurse to spend more time at the bedside. Patient observations can be monitored and accessed remotely as required.

Lead Governor presentation

The Council of Governors has inputted into the Trust’s current parking review.  What are the proposals to improve hospital parking?

The Trust had recently reviewed patient parking across all sites and increased the number of spaces which has seen an improvement.  The aim of the Trust’s clinical strategy was to offer services as local as possible and this would also ease patient car parking long term.  With regards to cost, patient/public feedback had been reviewed and the Trust was exploring the option to move to a ‘pay on foot’ system in the future. In addition, the Trust was working jointly with local travel providers to develop green travel plans. The Trust’s park and ride service at Kent and Canterbury has also been extended and public and staff are encouraged to use this service.

A member of the public made a statement regarding the identification of detached retinas. Concern was raised regarding the current referral processes and the Trust was asked to consider introducing basic equipment within all A&E Departments to make preliminary diagnosis to enable more avoidable delays.

The Trust Chief Executive and Medical Director agreed to discuss the specifics of the statement with the member of public concerned. 

A concern was raised that patients were being discharged from hospital without any form of transport home arranged.

The geographical challenges of East Kent were explained and it was impossible for the Trust to provide transport for all patients. The Department of Health had established criteria for identifying patients entitled to publicly funded hospital transport. The Trust uses its own discretion where possible and will work with patients to ensure they arrive home safely.

A member of the public relayed a personal experience associated with one of the Trust’s orthopaedic wards related to bed delays following a procedure and the number of nursing staff available.

The Trust has experienced a number of operational pressures within the orthopaedics specialty. The Trust has experienced an increase in activity within this specialty above planned levels. For the majority of the time, the Trust is able to meet demand.

Trust staffing establishments are reviewed on a regular basis to ensure appropriate skill mix at all times. 

Is  the QEQM about to be downgraded and the A&E closing as recently reported in the press? 

It was stressed that the Trust has no proposals to close the Emergency Department at QEQM. Recent press reports had been misleading.

The Trust is currently reviewing its clinical strategy to review how best to deliver services in the future and ensure the safest care for the population of East Kent. One element being explored is emergency surgery. Currently 80% of surgery is delivered as a day case and this will remain locally.  The Trust is currently exploring the appropriate delivery of more complex surgery. Some elements have already been centralised. The Trust was currently conducting an engagement exercise to gather views from a wide range of stakeholders prior to consulting formally early 2013.   

A member of the public relayed an experience associated with the need to rearrange hospital appointments twice in succession and subsequently being categorised as a DNA and referred back to the GP.

The Access Policy is driven by the Trust’s commissioners. The Trust is working across the health system to improve efficiency with patient flows.

The Lead Governor was asked how the Council of Governors plan to communication with Trust members going forward.

The Council of Governors has in place a Communication and Membership Committee. A number of initiatives are in place to increase engagement, communicate activities and establish two way feedback with the Trust membership.

A comment was made that important Trust events such as this Annual Members’ Meeting should be displayed on the front page of the Trust website.

A personal experience was relayed from a member of the public on the friendliness and efficiency of staff. 

In Summary

Nicholas Wells, Chairman, thanked all of the presenters for their talks and the members of the public, staff and representatives of key stakeholder organisations for attending the meeting.

As demand for healthcare increases, the Trust has to continuously review its service delivery to ensure it is of the highest quality standard and financially efficient. The current performance of the Trust in both of these respects is excellent and provides a sound platform for meeting the challenging times that lie ahead.  

September 2012