Health watchdogs forge links to protect patients (From Worcester News)

Health watchdogs forge links to protect patients

2:31pm Wednesday 14th December 2011 in James Connell By James Connell

AWORCESTERSHIRE health watchdog is to forge closer links with an overstretched national watchdog to better protect patients and care home residents. The county council’s health watchdog HOSC (health overview and scrutiny committee) is exploring closer ties with the Care Quality Commission (CQC), the national health and social care watchdog.

Susan Robinson, a compliance manager at the CQC, attended a meeting of HOSC at County Hall in Worcester to discuss developing an even closer working relationship.

The CQC, the independent regular of health and adult social care services in England, was the group responsible for the damning report into standards of nutrition at wards five and 11 at the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch.

The CQC can take sanctions against any organisation which provides poor care, including removing that organisation from registration.

Mrs Robinson said there were plans to increase the number of inspectors after she admitted the CQC was “struggling to keep up with the number of inspections we need to undertake”.

Councillor Roger Berry said: “You have been asked to do an impossible job with inadequate resources.”

Mrs Robinson said: “You’re right.

We’re not going to be able to get everywhere and making those decisions about priority is quite difficult, which is why we need an at risk register.

“It’s important that you don’t just identify problems and then don’t go back.”

Councillor Tony Miller raised concerns to Mrs Robinson about the hygiene of hospital A&E departments in Worcestershire at peak times.

He said: “If you go around A&E and look at the condition of the floor on a Saturday night, it’s not good.”

Coun Berry said older people were afraid to complain.

He said: “Elderly people are worried about retribution.”

Councillor Andy Roberts, the committee’s chairman, raised general concerns about the attitudes of boards of directors – the people who run NHS trusts like the hospitals and ambulance trusts. He said: “Sometimes you go to board meetings and you can hardly hear yourself think for the sound of people slapping each other on the back.”

Don’t fine trusts, help them to improve

A WATCHDOG official says she does not back fines for NHS trusts when they fail to hit targets.

Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust is to be fined £400,000 a month for failing to hit its A&E waiting times targets.

Patients have to be treated, discharged, transferred or admitted within four hours of coming through the doors of A&E at least 95 per cent of the time but, because they have failed to do this, NHS Worcestershire, which holds the purse strings, plans to withhold the money until such a time as the target is hit. So far this financial year, the trust managed to treat 93.3 per cent of patients (68,953 out of 73,893 people) within the limit.

In Worcestershire Royal Hospital the figure was just 87.9 per cent in September. Susan Robinson, a compliance manager at the CQC, said: “We can give a fixed penalty notice which would be a fine but we haven’t issued any in the West Midlands. It’s not a very easy thing to enforce.

“My view is that it’s much better to work with the provider to improve rather than fining them.”

DEATH RATES

A HEALTH watchdog chief was challenged over the higher than expected death rate at Worcestershire hospitals.

Councillor Andy Roberts, chairman of HOSC, mentioned two reports published in your Worcester News which suggest that there were at least 200 more deaths than expected in Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust hospitals in 2010/11.

One report suggested 200 deaths (Dr Foster real time management system) and the other, from the Department of Health, suggested 239 more deaths than expected.

Coun Roberts said: “What’s the norm for the number of deaths? We were taking no notice of that and yet when there are seven people killed on the motorway [the M5 crash near Taunton] it’s a tragedy.

Here are 200 people.”

Sarah Robinson, of the CQC, said: “It doesn’t mean there are more people dying. That’s why mortality indicators can be misleading.”

Mrs Robinson was challenged by Councillor Jill Marriott who asked her if any information had flagged up the mortality rate at Worcestershire hospitals as being an issue. She said: “With the whole Mid Staffordshire thing people were complaining for years, but it wasn’t until mortality figures came out that people took it seriously.”

Mrs Robinson, referring to mortality rate, said: “I have had no reports internally.”

She said NHS Worcestershire would be monitoring closely the mortality rate within Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust.

Minutes of HOSC will now be sent to the CQC to identify concerns.

However, Mrs Robinson said the CQC did not handle complaints directly although they still get information from people who are dissatisfied with their care or pick up issues in thematic inspections such as the one into standards of dignity at the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch.

Mrs Robinson, when asked how HOSC could help the CQC, said: “By providing information that’s concerning you. That’s the fundamental thing.”