Our current quality position
Although it has been four years since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, we continue to see the lasting impact it has had on all aspects of life. However, we are now beginning to reap the benefits innovation in a health crisis brings, from advancements in technology through to clinical research. Regardless of the pandemic, the NHS has never been under such significant strain with “winter” 2022 being described as the worst on record, yet our unwavering staff, volunteers and our wider health community never cease to amaze me with their care, support, and dedication to our communities.
The past twelve months has seen many developments within the Trust, with a real drive and focus on quality and safety, with the key aim of improving pre-hospital clinical outcomes and the overall experience of our patients. It is clear that our Trust, our people and our partners are dedicated to delivering the service our communities deserve and notwithstanding the immense pressure the national health service is facing, still do so with a smile.
At the time of writing this statement the Trust is expecting an unannounced visit from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) as a follow up inspection of core services which took place in April 2022, where this Trust was rated as requires improvement. The Trust is working exceptionally hard with all partners to ensure all our required actions are met – an overview can be found on page 11 of this report.
Following the inspection in 2020 which identified concerns around safeguarding of patients and staff, the CQC took enforcement action which included imposing conditions to EEAST’s registration and placed the Trust in ‘special measures’.
During the April 2022 visit it was noted significant improvements had been made and I am pleased to say the CQC has now removed a number of these conditions.
The lifting of these conditions by the CQC came about because of strengthening our policies and processes to ensure safety and robust monitoring and audit. The Trust is a step closer to coming out of ‘special measures’ and shows greater confidence in the sustainability of improvements we are making,
The safeguarding team has continued to develop, the Trust now has a named safeguarding lead for each clinical sector. This has enhanced the already present relationships across other emergency services, health, social and educational organisations, with a specific focus on multi-agency training enabling a collaborative approach to keep our communities safe.
In recent months we have seen the clinical strategy come to life. This has engaged our community and partner organisations to ensure we have a clear model that is fit for the future and works in collaboration with the wider urgent and emergency care plans across the region and within specific sectors.
Whilst reviewing the year’s Trust priorities it is heartening to see much progress has been made across many areas. Clinical supervision has been implemented in multiple sectors with great feedback being received by all.
An area of continued focus is embedding our learning from complaints, clinical incidents, patient, staff, and community experiences.
We know that by actively learning from issues, this has a positive impact on not only quality and safety, but patient and staff satisfaction. Part of this, is our journey based around the development of the new national Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF) which will be fully implemented in September 2023. This year has also seen the Trust develop its new Continuous Improvement Assurance Framework (CIAF). This will bring pertinent data from all areas of the Trust enabling us to clearly see themes and trends, allowing us to focus on areas in need of improvement.
We have also undertaken extensive work within our clinical and operational teams. Ensuring safer well supported decision making for patients who are left at home following assessment and treatment.
In addition, there has been positive improvements made against our Trust priorities. For the third continual year, we have exceeded the national ambulance average for our quality indicators; heart attack, stroke, and cardiac arrest survival to discharge (Utstein comparator). We have also seen improvements in our sepsis bundle, this has not only been an achievement with our Trust but nationally, which led to the removal of this care bundle to be replaced with a falls bundle in 2023/24.
Infection Prevention and Control measures have continued to flex and adapt to the ever-changing needs of the organisation and wider health especially now that COVID-19 no longer requires enhanced monitoring. However, the Trust continues to be ever vigilant in all aspects of IPC ensuring a clean safe environment for all.
Over this year improvements have been made in the quality and safety portfolio as well as our operational performance. However, I do not underestimate the work we have ahead of us to ensure continuous sustainable improvement. We will focus on our culture to be the best we can be, a place where people are proud to work and be associated with, as well as ensuring the quality and safety of our community.
Melissa Dowdeswell
Director of Nursing, Quality & Safety and Acting Chief Operating Officer
Next Page: Care Quality Commission (CQC)