QUALITY REPORT Quality Report 2012/2013 Improving your local hospitals – our report to you QUALITY REPORT: CONTENTS Page About this report 2 Introduction 3 Summary of 2012/2013 Quality Report 4 Looking back 6 Looking forward 18 Statement of assurance from the Board 23 Annexe 31 1 Quality report ABOUT THIS REPORT This Quality Report confirms the Trust’s commitment to put the patient and the quality of care at the heart of everything that we do. The report is the result of consultation with a wide group of stakeholders, including our Governors, commissioners, People in Partnership, and our Local Involvement Network (LINk – now known as Health Watch). Within North West London the “Shaping a Healthier Future” programme has been approved by the Joint Committee of Primary Care Trusts. This programme places The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust as one of the five major hospitals for providing a full range of 24/7 emergency care in the region. The programme also places an emphasis on the provision of a wider range of out-of-hours primary and urgent care, and we are working closely with our GP commissioners and other providers to ensure that across the healthcare community patient care is provided in the right place at the right time. The project plans for a new Emergency Care Department, incorporating a rebuilt Urgent Care Centre, have been approved, and building work on the first phase of the project (due to be completed in 18 months) has already commenced. This year we have also been successful with a Department of Health capital funding bid for a large maternity refurbishment, the second highest amount awarded by the NHS in London, which will improve the birthing environment for women and their partners. We have also secured NHS centrally funded money for dementia which will provide a better environment for patients with this condition during their hospital stay. steps to a seven day hospital. This forms one of our main priorities in the “Look Forward” section of the report. This year has also seen the publication of the Francis Report which highlights the failings of a hospital where quality was not the first priority and which did not listen to its patients or frontline staff. Our care priorities, which form one part of a range of measures of patient care, will continue to be refined and extended in the coming year. Along with using Communication, Attitude, Responsibility, Equity, Safety (CARES) as our values we will develop a framework for providing compassionate care, as well as monitoring the improvements made in delivering patient care. I hope you find this report well presented, and that it gives you useful information about the Trust. I would be very interested in your views on the style or content of the report. If you wish to comment please write to me via the e-mail address below. Yours sincerely Shane Degaris Chief Executive shane.degaris@thh.nhs.uk I confirm that to the best of my knowledge the information in this document is accurate. This year has seen the publication of a London-wide set of emergency care standards which include more senior decision making on a seven day a week basis to reduce weekend mortality and take the first Quality report 2 INTRODUCTION This Quality Report, which looks back at our achievements in 2012/13 and summarises our key quality objectives for the coming year, will be available on the NHS Choices website and our own website – (www.thh.nhs.uk). Each of the priorities is aligned to the three domains of quality – safety, clinical effectiveness and patient experience. What do we mean when we talk about patient safety? “Treating and caring for people in a safe environment and protecting them from avoidable harm”, (National Patient Safety Agency), for example, ensuring that medicines are managed safely. What do we mean when we talk about clinical effectiveness? Clinical effectiveness is about whether or not a patient’s care or treatment was successful. In other words, did it have the impact that it was supposed to have? And did it achieve the best possible result for the patient? This may include improvement in specific medical or health conditions, but in the community we also have a strong focus on improving quality of life, for example, independence, mobility, activities of daily living and social participation. What do we mean when we talk about patient experience? Patient experience is about ensuring patients, relatives and carers have as positive experience as possible at every stage of the care or treatment that is being provided. Patient experience refers to the overall experience throughout the course of treatment, and not just the results that were achieved at the end. For example, a patient’s experience could be strongly influenced by whether they felt 3 Quality report they were treated with dignity and respect, or whether they found it easy to access the service. What is CQUIN? CQUIN is a scheme to encourage NHS Trusts to improve quality and patient safety by setting targets and rewarding achievement of those targets financially. These targets are set with local, regional and national bodies. SUMMARY OF 2012/2013 QUALITY REPORT was a significant increase of 7% between Q3 and Q4 result. We are continuing to focus on improving nursing record keeping across the Trust. Looking back at quality improvement Priority 4 was The Leaving Hospital Project where we have achieved some of Our priorities during 2012/2013 Priority 1 was the further embedding of the First Contact Project – Improving the Outpatient Experience where we fully achieved two of the four targets; implementing the Call Management System (CMS), and introducing a document scanning referral system for all cancer and symptomatic breast referrals. We partially achieved our plans to centralise all appointment bookings; the one target we did not achieve was introducing the electronic letters from the hospital clinics to the GP which is currently being piloted in four specialties. Priority 2 was about making Changes in Maternity where we achieved the majority of our targets (other than breastfeeding); improving the patient experience by 2% from 86% to 88%; and reduced our caesarean section rates from 30.1% in 2011/2012 to 26.9% for 2012/2013. Whilst breast feeding figures have increased to 82.9%, we did not quite meet the target of 85%. We have recruited women from ethnic minorities to work in clinical and non-clinical public facing roles. We have refurbished public areas which included a new layout in maternity triage and we were successful in securing significant funds to modernise the ten delivery rooms, where work is due to commence in June 2013. Priority 3 was Care Priorities where we achieved the target of 90% at year end for patients having the correct identification bands and staff following the correct process for confirming identification and for hydration/fluid balance. We did not achieve the 90% target for record keeping; achieving 79% at year end; although there the targets to date such as an increased positive patient experience for when patients leave hospital; ensuring patients have the appropriate discharge documentation and keeping the Visual Management System (our colour coded system for where a patient is on their pathway) up to date. Several of the other standards are close to their target such as receiving a copy of your patient journey; 90% of patients are going home with their medication. We narrowly missed the 80% target for the proportion of patients being discharged home before 8pm in the evening. We aim to discharge patients before 6pm wherever possible, but they may be discharged later where it is clinically appropriate and safe to do so, taking the patient’s home circumstances into consideration. Although we did not achieve the target of 85% of GPs receiving a copy of the patient’s discharge summary within 24 hours, there has been an improvement from the 2011/2012 baseline figure. Priority 5 was CQUINs (Commissioning for Quality and Innovation). Of the nine CQUIN schemes for 2012/2013 we have fully achieved four in Q3: preventing blood clots; collecting the data for the Patient Safety Thermometer (a local improvement tool for measuring, monitoring and analysing patient harm and ‘harm free’ care which includes assessment for blood clots, urinary catheter related infections, falls and pressure ulcers); using the North West London Drug Formulary and improving the care for patients with the complications of diabetes. We partially achieved four remaining CQUINs in Q3: an improvement of the patient experience; providing real time information about our patients for GPs; ensuring we have Consultant assessments within 12 hours of an Quality report 4 emergency admission and achieving all the milestones for end of life care. We predict that we will not achieve our target for the dementia screening and risk assessment process for this year. Confirmed figures for the full year will be available in mid June. Looking forward at quality improvement Our priorities for 2013/2014 The following five priorities have been identified for 2013/2014: 1. Continuing with the First Contact Project which will further embed the way patients are contacted and reminded about their appointments and to further centralise bookings. The Call Management System needs further development to ensure we are getting our messages right for patients. There will be significant resources allocated to establish an Electronic Document Record System which will allow easier clinician access to full healthcare records and to relevant referral forms, enhancing clinical decision making. 2. Continuing with the Leaving Hospital Project to include work with external experts regarding Improving Inpatient Care and Discharge, to enhance early assessments for elderly people and reduce any unnecessary lengths of stay in hospital, as well as reducing readmissions. We will be improving the discharge process by better co-ordination of teams and working closer together with doctors, nurses, pharmacists and therapists when reviewing a patient’s needs before they leave hospital. 3. Improving Emergency Care taking into account the Acute Emergency Care Standards that have been set across London and an analysis of the Hospital Standardised Mortality Ratio (HSMR). There will be a focus on early consultant review of patients requiring admission 5 Quality report on a seven day a week basis to enhance early senior clinical decision making and eliminate the difference between weekday and weekend mortality. 4. Using CARES as our values. These were launched in May last year and are supported by a framework that sets out the standard in terms of attitude and behaviours we expect from our staff. 5. CQUINs (Commissioning for Quality and Innovation): we will continue efforts to prevent blood clots however, we will be expected to achieve a higher percentage of patient assessment. The patient experience CQUIN will be based on the new “Friends and Family Test”. The dementia risk assessment will be continued and the Patient Safety Thermometer will be based on reductions in pressure sores and not just on data submission. Regional CQUINs are not confirmed but may include supporting care outside hospital, 12 hour consultant assessment and GP direct access to diagnostics and pathology. Local CQUINs may include the colorectal cancer pathway and improved communication between GPs and consultants for effective patient management. Our priorities will be monitored by the individual teams, through their Divisional Reviews and quarterly through reports to the Board or Board Committee and the results will be reported in the 2013/2014 Trust Annual Report. LOOKING BACK… This section starts by looking at key measurements in a dashboard format. These are derived from some mandatory requirements, our consultation with our stakeholders, and those of national importance that patients will want to know about. Dashboard of key quality measures ACHIEVED TARGET NARROWLY MISSING TARGET SIGNIFICANTLY MISSING TARGET Latest data available to benchmark Domain: Patient Safety (PS)/ Clinical Effectiveness (CE)/ Patient Experience (PE) 2011/12 Performance 2012/13 Target 2012/13 Performance How London Trusts Perform National Performance 1a: In Hospital Standardised Mortality Ratio (HSMR) Apr-2012 to Dec-2012 [Dr Foster] PS 107.2 (99.2 - 115.6) <100 89.5 (81.7 - 97.9)* 84 (82.7 85.4) 100 1b: Standardised Hospital Mortality Index (SHMI) Jul-2011 to Jun-2012 [Dr Foster] 1c: the percentage of patient deaths with palliative care coded at diagnosis 2a: Readmissions to hospital within 28 days 2b: Emergency readmissions to hospital within 28 days of discharge from hospital: 0-15 years (Standardised) Lowest Performing 1.2559 (Blackpool Teaching NHS FT) Highest Performing 0.7108 (The Whittington Hospital NHS Trust) National = 18.2% Lowest = 0.3% (Royal Devon & Exeter NHS Foundation Trust) Highest = 46.3% (Kings College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust) PS 0.8878 (As Expected) As Expected or Lower Than Expected 0.8936 (As Expected)* n/a Jul-2011 to Jun-2012 [Dr Foster] PS n/a n/a (Contextual Indicator) 5.2%* n/a Apr-2012 to Sep-2012 [Dr Foster] CE/PS 104.2 (101 - 107.4) <100 108.3 (103.8 113.1)* 99.4 (98.7 100.1) 100 Apr-2011 to Mar-2012 [HSCIC Indicator Portal] (Local) [9.41%*] [8.04%] [10.15%] CE/PS 6.38% n/a (5.6%) (n/a) (n/a) Quality report 6 Latest data available to benchmark Domain: Patient Safety (PS)/ Clinical Effectiveness (CE)/ Patient Experience (PE) 2011/12 Performance 2012/13 Target 2c: Emergency readmissions to hospital within 28 days of discharge from hospital: 16+ years (Standardised) Apr-2011 to Mar-2012 [HSCIC Indicator Portal] (Local) CE/PS 12.09% n/a 3: Non clinically justified single sex accommodation breach, rate per 1,000 finished consultant episodes Apr-2012 to Dec-2012 [Unify2/DH] PE 0.11 4: Cancer: Two week wait from GP referral to seeing a specialist (suspected cancer)/(breast symptoms) Apr-2012 to Dec-2012 [OpenExeter/ DH] 5: Cancer: 31 day maximum wait from diagnosis to first treatment 6: Cancer: 31 day maximum wait from diagnosis to subsequent treatment, drug or surgery 2012/13 Performance How London Trusts Perform National Performance [11.86%*] [11.95%] [11.42%] (7.5%) (n/a) (n/a) 0 0.06* 0.73 0.21 CE/PS Suspected: 98.3% Breast Symptom: 96.4% 93% 93% 97.9%” 98.0%” 95.3% 95.1% 95.5% 95.4% Apr-2012 to Dec-2012 [OpenExeter/ DH] CE/PS 97.9% 96% 99.2%” 98.1% 98.4% Apr-2012 to Dec-2012 [OpenExeter/ DH] CE/PS Drug: 100.0% Surgery: 100.0% 98% 94% 100.0%” 100.0%” 99.6% 97.2% 99.7% 97.4% 85% 90% 85% 93.3%” 93.9%” 98.6%” 86.1% 92.1% 94.2% 87.5% 95.1% 93.4% 7: Cancer: 62day maximum wait from referral by GP/screening service/ consultant upgrade to treatment Apr-2012 to Dec-2012 [OpenExeter/ DH] CE/PS 8: Referral to treatment waiting times admitted Dec-2012 [Unify2/DH] CE/PS 95.9% 90% 96.7%^ 92.4% 93.1% 9: Referral to treatment waiting times non admitted Dec-2012 [Unify2/DH] CE/PS 98.9% 95% 98.6%^ 97.9% 97.7% 7 Quality report GP/GDP: 92.6% Screening: 68.6% Upgrade: 98.3% Latest data available to benchmark Domain: Patient Safety (PS)/ Clinical Effectiveness (CE)/ Patient Experience (PE) 2011/12 Performance 2012/13 Target 2012/13 Performance How London Trusts Perform National Performance Dec-2012 [Unify2/DH] CE/PS 96.9% 92% 97.6%^ 93.4% 94.5% Apr-2011 to Mar 2012 NHF Database CE/PS 79.1% 90% 90.8% n/a n/a Apr-2012 to Jan-2013 [Unify2/DH] PE 97.9% 95% 96.7% 96.4% 96.2% Apr-Dec 2012 [Unify2/DH] CE/PS 3.4% 0% 6.0% 2.8% 4.6% Apr-Dec 2012 [Unify2/DH] PE/CE 90.2% 90% 93.3% (Excluding Late Referrals) 80.4% 86.9% 15: Stroke patients: Percentage of patients that have spent at least 90% of their time on the stroke unit Oct-2012 to Dec-2012 [Unify2/DH] CE 99% 80% 99.6% 93.8% 85.0% 16: Stroke patients: Percentage of high risk TIA/ mini stroke patients who are treated within 24 hours Oct-2012 to Dec-2012 [Unify2/DH] CE 100% 75% 100% 84.6% 75.9% 10: Referral to treatment waiting times Incomplete1 11: Fractured neck of femur emergency patients in theatre within 36 hours 12: Total time in A&E: 4 hours or less 13: Percentage of patients not treated within 28 days of having operation cancelled for non-clinical reasons 14: Percentage of women in the relevant PCT population who have seen a midwife or a maternity healthcare professional, for health and social care assessment of needs, risks and choices by 12 weeks and 6 days of pregnancy Quality report 8 Latest data available to benchmark 17: MRSA Apr-2011 to Mar-2012 [HPA] 18: Cdiff cases reported within the Trust amongst patients aged 2 and over during the reporting period Apr-2011 to Mar-2012 [HPA] 19: Percentage of patients who were admitted to hospital and who were risk assessed for Venous Thrombo Embolism (VTE) 20a: Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) scores (Health Gain), Groin Hernia, EQ-5D Index/ VAS 20b: PROMS (Health Gain), Hip Replacement, EQ-5D Index/ VAS 20c: PROMS (Health Gain), Knee Replacement, EQ-5D Index/ VAS 21: Inpatient Experience Programme (local survey results) 9 Domain: Patient Safety (PS)/ Clinical Effectiveness (CE)/ Patient Experience (PE) 2011/12 Performance PS 4 Cases 2.9 Cases per 100,000 bed days National Performance 3 1 Case 0.77 Cases per 100,000 bed days 114 Cases 2.0 Cases per 100,000 bed days 471 Cases 1.3 Cases per 100,000 bed days 7,670 21.8 Cases per 100,000 bed days Lowest Performing 82 Cases, 51.6 Cases per 100,000 bed days (Tameside FT) Highest Performing 0 Cases (Birmingham Women’s) 94.1% Lowest Performing 84.6% (Croydon Health Services NHS Trust) Highest Perfoming 100% (South Essex Partnership University FT) 24 87.5% 90% 91.9%+ 93.10% CE/PS n/a n/a 0.123 / 0.667* n/a 0.091 / -0.603 (i) CE/PS n/a n/a 0.4 / 12.105* n/a 0.437 / 10.863 (ii) CE/PS n/a n/a 0.262 / 18.2* n/a 0.312 / 5 (iii) PE 87% >87% 88% n/a n/a Oct-2012 to Dec-2012 [Unify2/DH] PS Apr-2012 to Sep-2012 [HES] Apr-2012 to Sep-2012 [HES] Quality report How London Trusts Perform 1,154 21.1 Cases per 100,000 bed days PS 88% YTD [Local Survey] 2012/13 Performance 23 16.2 Cases per 100,000 bed days 25 Cases 19.3 Cases per 100,000 bed days Apr-2012 to Sep-2012 [HES] 2012/13 Target Latest data available to benchmark Domain: Patient Safety (PS)/ Clinical Effectiveness (CE)/ Patient Experience (PE) 2011/12 Performance 2012/13 Target 2012/13 Performance How London Trusts Perform National Performance 22: Outpatient Experience Programme (local survey results) 87% YTD [Local Survey] PE 86% >86% 87% n/a n/a 23: Maternity Experience Programme (local survey results) 86%YTD [Local Survey] PE 85% >85% 86% n/a n/a 88% YTD PE 92% >87% 87% n/a n/a 25: Percentage of complaints responded to within agreed timescale n/a PE 84% 90% 74.5% n/a n/a 26: Trust’s responsiveness to personal needs of our patients Apr 2012 to March 2013 [National Patient Survey] PE 62.9% 72% 65% n/a 67.4% 3.70 3.57 average Lowest Performing 2.90 (North Cumbria University Hospital) Highest Performing 4.08 (Guy’s & St Thomas’) 1.3 0.9 24: Independent assessment of cleanliness of hospital 27: Percentage of staff who would recommend the Trust as a provider of care to their family and friends 28: Patient safety incidents/ percentage resulted in severe harm or death 2012 Survey [National Staff Survey] Apr 2012 to March 2013 [Datix] PE 3.53 n/a 3.66 0.75% (41) PS 1% (45)NRLS n/a (0.75 per 100 admissions) Notes: 2012/2013 Performance is for Apr-2012 to Mar-2013 unless: * Same as Benchmark Period + Apr -2012 to Jan-2013 “ Apr-2012 to Feb-2013 ^ Mar-2013 Quality report 10 EQ-5D INDEX EQ-5D VAS Lowest performing Highest performing Lowest performing Highest performing (i) Groin Warrington And Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (-0.062) University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust (0.227) The Whittington Hospital NHS Trust (-10.667) Guy’s And St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust (11.4) (ii) Hip Replacement Yeovil District Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (0.155) The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, King’s Lynn, NHS Foundation Trust (0.69) Brighton And Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust (-10.571) Barts And The London NHS Trust (30.6) (iii) Knee Replacement Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust (0.031) Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (0.527) Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust (-10.667) Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (24.842) Supporting information about the indicators required in accordance with the Quality Account regulations Indicator 1b The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust considers that this data is as described for the following reasons - national reporting shows a stable ratio over the past two years. The Trust is working on improving the variation between weekdays and weekends and will examine any outliers. Indicator 1c The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust considers that this data is as described for the following reasons – not all patients who are receiving palliative care are on the Liverpool Care Pathway. Clearer identification of these patients will improve the palliative care coding. Indicator 2a, 2b and 2c The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust considers that these percentages are as described for the following reasons – the Trust is aware from a variety of data sources that the figures are higher than expected. Several initiatives to improve these figures include strengthening our care pathways and the Improving Inpatient Care initiative. Refer 11 Quality report to priority 2 for 2013/2014 on page 19. Indicator 18 The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust considers that this rate is described for the following reasons – the Trust achieved a target of 23 out of 24 for 2012/2013 and has shown a year on year improvement. The Trust will continue with all current initiatives. The Trust hosted a multidisciplinary workshop in May chaired by a national expert in infection control which will inform our measures to improve our targets for 2013/2014 of 14 for C Diff and 0 for MRSA. Indicator 19 The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust considers that this percentage is as described for the following reasons – the Trust has shown an improvement over the last two years. This is a CQUIN for 2013/14 and work will be taken forward to bring about further improvement. Indicator 20a, 20b and 20c The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust considers that the outcome scores are as described for the following reasons – Data shows that the five domains that this score refers to are hospital outcome measures (EQ – 5D index VAS). The Trust performs better than average for hernias, but worse than average for hip and knee replacements, and better than average for all three procedures from the patient’s perspective (EQ -5 index VAS). Indicator 26 The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust considers that this data is as described for the following reasons – there has been a slow improvement but still below target. Further work is being undertaken to improve the situation through our customer care programme, our CARES values initiative and the Improving Inpatient Care initiative. Indicator 27 The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust considers that this data is as described for the following reasons – there has been a steady improvement but further work is being undertaken through our CARES values initiative. Indicator 28 The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust considers that this data is as described for the following reasons - whilst the Trust has a lower than average rate of severe harm / death patient safety incidents, there is not a nationally established and regulated approach to reporting and categorising patient safety incidents. The approach taken to determine the classification of each incident, such as those ‘resulting in severe harm or death’, will often rely on clinical judgement. In addition, the classification of the impact of an incident may be subject to a potentially lengthy investigation which may result in the classification being changed. This change may not be reported externally and the data held by a Trust may not be the same as that held by the NRLS. Definitions of the two mandated indicators Indicator 7 Percentage of patients receiving first definitive treatment for cancer within 62 days of an urgent GP referral for suspected cancer. Indicator 2a Percentage of emergency admissions to any hospital in England within 28 days of the last previous discharge from hospital. Priority 1: The First Contact Project – improving the outpatient experience We said: We would centralise all outpatient appointment bookings to ensure that calls are answered more quickly; provide more telephone lines; patients won’t have to wait so long to be attended to; the system would also have an interactive element where patients will receive a phone call and text as a reminder of their appointment. We also said we would introduce a document scanning referral system and introduce the electronic transfer of outpatient clinic letters from the hospital clinicians to the GP. The changes would be measured for impact by reviewing the data from the Call Management System (CMS) detailing the average call waiting time and abandonment rate, appointment non-attendance (DNA) rate and the number of complaints. Quality report 12 We did: a PARTIALLY ACHIEVED Booking centralisation During 2012 staff that make new and follow up appointments have been centralised to one location. We recognise that this is the first step towards centralising all bookings and that further work to train staff and equip them with the skills to deal with queries about any outpatient appointment related query is necessary. a ACHIEVED Call Management System (CMS) The CMS was implemented in June 2012 with an appointment reminder function going live in August 2012. The CMS has changed the way The Hillingdon Hospital deals with telephone calls from patients about their outpatient appointments. Now patients are given one telephone number, they then choose from a list of options which ensures their call is dealt with by the correct member of staff (agent). If all agents are busy the patient is held in a queue and informed that their call will be answered. The system provides staff with comprehensive reports and real time information about call activity, response times, abandonment rates and call resolution. Managers are able to adjust resources to meet the volume of calls. There has also been a reduction in Patient Advice and Liaison Services (PALs) concerns and complaints from 129 in 2011/2012 to 77 in 2012/2013. The CMS has an optional appointment reminder functionality (called Remind+) which contacts patients by telephone seven days before their appointment to confirm their attendance. This is then further supplemented with a text messaging service which sends a reminder to a mobile number 48 hrs before the appointment. 13 Quality report a ACHIEVED Introduce a document scanning referral system Document scanning has been implemented for all cancer and symptomatic breast referrals. The new process allows outpatient appointment centre staff, Multi Disciplinary Team (MDT) coordinators and Health Care Assistants (HCAs) in outpatients to access the documents electronically which eliminates the risk of paper letters getting lost and subsequent delays. GPs are also increasingly making referrals and outpatient appointments via an electronic system called Choose and Book. r NOT ACHIEVED Electronic outpatient letters to GPs From January 2013 the Trust is piloting the electronic delivery of outpatient letters to GPs in Hillingdon in the following specialities: Care of the Elderly, Stroke, Paediatrics and breast surgery. There is much more to do particularly in relation to the centralisation of booking appointments and implementation of the electronic document and records management. Priority 2: Maternity We said: As part of our ongoing maternity strategy for improving quality of care we said that we would like to see an improvement in our patient experience survey by at least 1% and respond to shortfalls identified by both staff and comments made within the patient survey. We look forward to the rich source of information from the patient diary exercise, which commenced in November 2012. As a response to a survey undertaken by the Local Involvement Network (LINk) survey we have engaged more with hard to reach groups including Somali and Afghan support groups. We also said we would improve the Labour Ward environment; reduce caesarean section rates to 27.6% and increase breastfeeding rates. We also aimed to increase the number of non-obstetric deliveries – including an aim to increase the number of women having their babies at home. We also said that we would reconfigure our community services to improve the experience. a We did: a ACHIEVED Patient experience in maternity is improving. The patient experience rate is 86% and by Q4 the figure is 88%; an increase so far this year of 2%. We continue to monitor this on a monthly basis. a ACHIEVED We have now managed to recruit women from a variety of cultural backgrounds (representative of the population we serve) to work in the reception area of the Maternity main foyer and Maternity helpers (now called maternity mates) on the wards, depending on language. Some of these women have a National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) in health and social care and are looking to continue their education into nursing and midwifery. In June we will be meeting with women from the Afghan community to identify any specific needs to improve their experience of our service and staff. Key learning points identified from these informative meetings are shared with staff through relevant forums and training sessions. a The “Improving Birth Environments” bid, a Department of Health funding project to improve the physical environment of Maternity units in England, has been successful and will allow us to modernise 10 delivery rooms which will include en-suite facilities in each room and restructure the Labour Ward reception area. This work is due to commence in June 2013. ACHIEVED General refurbishment of the maternity unit, such as painting the stairwell and public areas, and the layout of the maternity triage area have been completed. ACHIEVED The current year to date figure for caesarean sections is 26.9% for the year compared with the 2011/2012 full year figure of 30.1% showing an improvement to date from last year. The multifaceted action plan for caesarean reduction continues to be monitored and implemented to drive forward appropriate and safe changes in practice to allow for reduction in the overall rates of caesarean section, both elective and emergency. A three month trial of mixing ante and postnatal women on both maternity wards is currently underway to increase Consultant presence to each area, to enable more confident decision making with junior staff. This will shortly end and be audited to review its impact on care provision. r NOT ACHIEVED Breastfeeding initiation rates are improving; the year to date figure is 82.9% for the year compared to 81.6% for last year, however, we did not reach our target of 85%. Breastfeeding initiation stickers have helped to highlight information sharing and training. There is still work to be done on improving these figures. With the appointment of a Breastfeeding Health Visitor, working with public health, we hope that the restructuring of our community services will strengthen the joint education and training of all staff with a view to improving rates further. Quality report 14 Priority 3: Care priorities We said we would: •Ensure every patient is wearing a correctly labelled identiband •Improve record keeping •Improve hydration and fluid balance of our patients during their stay in hospital. Priority 4: Leaving hospital – improving the patient experience We did: a PARTIALLY ACHIEVED CARE PRIORITY TARGET 2012/2013 RESULT 2012/2013 Patient identification 90% 91% Record keeping 90% 79% Hydration/ fluid balance 90% 90% We have achieved the target of 90% in two of our care priorities, patient identification and hydration/fluid balance. Record keeping is short of the target, achieving 79% at year end. We did see a significant improvement of 8% between Q3 and Q4 and we will continue to focus our attention on record keeping throughout 2013/2014 to achieve our 90% target even though it is not included as a priority in the 2013/2014 Quality Account. A number of initiatives to support improved record keeping were put into place in 2012/2013, these include: •A Nursing Documentation Working Group has been set up. This group is made up of frontline staff and has been working to develop core care plans and to standardise some of the many charts that are used across the Trust. •The group will also be developing chart specific guidance to support accurate and effective record keeping. •A new approach to the regular assessment and assurance of the quality of nursing care was developed. Peer review of the nursing documentation is an integral 15 Quality report part of this monthly assessment across all inpatient wards. •Matrons and/or senior sisters reviewed the nursing record of all patients on the ward as part of the monthly Patient Safety Thermometer survey. This provided an opportunity for immediate feedback to staff with clarification of the standard of record keeping required. We said we would: Work to improve the information patients are given when they leave hospital to include the purpose and side effects of any medication that they will be taking when they get home and who to contact if they are worried after leaving hospital. We did: TARGET FOR 2012/2013 RESULT 2012/2013 Patient’s experience of leaving hospital is positive 72% 82% Patient receive a copy of ‘Your Hospital Journey’ 100% 93% Discharge documentation is completed as per policy 80% 93% Patients understand where they are on their care pathway 90% 88% The Visual Management System (VMS) is kept updated 90% 95% Patient goes home with their medication 90% 89% GP receives copy of discharge summary within 24 hrs 85% 73% 25% 60% 80% 15.8% 42.3% 79.5% STANDARD Patients discharged in a timely manner: Before 12pm Before 4pm Before 8pm We saw an improvement in the patient experience of leaving hospital as measured by our follow up phone call. Additionally, many patients have commented that the follow up call is useful to check out any concerns that they may have. We continue to revise our processes so going forward into 2013/2014 our revised and simplified discharge checklist will be integrated into a new electronic tool that supports safe and planned discharges. Key learning from this project such as the use of the coloured magnets to display key steps in the discharge process have now been incorporated into the electronic whiteboard. This is part of the Improving Inpatient Care Project that features in Looking Forward Priority 2 (see page 19). Our monthly Observations of Care visits to wards which began in February include asking patients key questions about their understanding of their care, current treatment and ongoing plans towards discharge. We are now looking at integrating information about who to contact if worried following discharge with an existing patient information leaflet. Quality report 16 Priority 5: CQUINs – Commissioning for quality & innovation (subject to confirmation) Looking back: CQUIN TARGETS FOR 2012/2013 WHAT WE DID National Preventing blood clots 100% full year result Patient experience (patient survey) 20% predicted full year result Dementia risk assessment (scoring tool to identify clinical risks) Not achieved Collection of data for the Patient Safety Thermometer (see page 4 for definition) 100% full year result Regional schemes Real time GP information (information for GPs about admission treatment and discharge of patients) 84% predicted full year result Use of the North West London Formulary (a list of all medicines that are agreed for use across North West London between hospital and primary care services) 100% full year result Local schemes Consultant Assessments within 12 hours of emergency admission 50% predicted full year result Patients with complications of diabetes 100% predicted full year result End of life care (a structured pathway to ensure patients receive high quality patient focused care) 92% predicted full year result Exact percentages to be confirmed in mid June. Patient experience – The Trust achieved 20% of the targets which was a steady improvement over 2 years. Dementia risk assessment – This depends on electronic recording of assessments, the system required to do this was not available at the time. Real time GP information – The IT system required to achieve this has been implemented for patients who attend A&E, and patients who are admitted as an emergency and inpatient discharge summaries. However, an electronic solution for sending outpatients letters was not available. 17 Quality report Consultant assessments within 12 hours of emergency admission – The Trust has successfully achieved 55% of emergency admitted patients having a consultant assessment within 12 hours. It will continue to strive to achieve a higher percentage during 2013/14. End of life care – The drop in percentage points is due to a very high level of staff needing to be trained. LOOKING FORWARD… Our priorities for 2013/2014 NO. PRIORITY SAFETY CLINICAL EFFECTIVENESS PATIENT EXPERIENCE ü ü 1 First contact – Continuing to improve the outpatient experience 2 Continuing with the leaving hospital Project to include work regarding Improving inpatient care and discharge ü ü ü 3 Emergency care ü ü 4 CARES ü ü 5 CQUINs ü ü ü In arriving at these priorities, agreed by the Trust Board, we had a systematic process of stakeholder involvement, as in previous years. This included our public, in the form of our People in Partnership (PiP) which included a series of focus groups, our Governors, LINKs (which included difficult to reach groups) and our Commissioners. There was a strong opinion from our stakeholders that we should continue with projects started in previous years where further outcomes needed to be set and achieved to fulfil their potential. Hence the projects relating to an effective outpatient experience and high quality inpatient care with efficient discharge planning have been retained. During 2012/2013 a review of inpatient care on one ward showed that the balance of nurses to healthcare assistants on the ward was not always at the planned level; multiprofessional communication was sometimes fragmented and nursing leadership on the ward needed to improve. We undertook a number of actions to address these issues and this work continues to inform our quality priorities, notably through the CARES and Improving Inpatient Care priorities outlined below. We will also be performing a detailed review of our ward staffing levels. During the later stages of the consultation, the Francis Report was released and we have incorporated a number of its key recommendations in this document. The “Emergency Care” priority will have targets related to improving mortality, and a full participation in the “Friends and Family” test which preliminary data from most Hospitals has found to be difficult to implement in A&E. The priority related to implementing our CARES framework of staff values goes to the heart of the Francis report by acting as the framework for providing patient-focused high quality, responsive and compassionate care. PRIORITY 1: First Contact – continuing to improve the outpatient experience Why is this one of our priorities? We recognise that we have made some changes to the way patients are contacted and are reminded about their outpatient appointments and these changes have now been made. Furthermore we have more work to do to centralise bookings and implement a new electronic document records management system; this work remains a priority because the changes have a clear impact on quality and patients’ experience. Quality report 18 Our aims for 2013/2014: Call Management System (CMS) Implementation of the CMS has significantly changed the way we handle calls and remind people about their outpatient appointments. This year we will set up a focus group to gain feedback from our patients and users about their experience in navigating the system so we can establish what further work is needed and take the appropriate action. Some of the things we will be discussing at the focus group are the opening times of the outpatient appointments centre and communication with patients about times when we know the call volume will be high. We continue to provide staff training on customer care including telephone handling skills which reflects the CARES strategy (see Priority 4 on page 21). We use random call listening to support staff training and development. Furthermore staff are being trained to deal with a variety of patients’ queries with the aim to improve first call resolution. Electronic document records management This year the Trust is undertaking a major change to the way medical records are accessed and stored. The Electronic Document Records System is being proposed as a key infrastructure for the Trust in order to enhance the quality and efficiency of healthcare provided to our patients. The underlying vision for this case is to ensure that the best and most up to date information should be readily available to enable professional staff to offer appropriate care and treatment. It will also increase productivity and improve quality of care provided through the facilitation of electronic forms and workflows. Scanned documents e.g. referral letters will be used in workflow processes, allowing the conversion of paper form- 19 Quality report centric processes into paperless ones with electronic forms being stored directly into patient records to support clinical decision making and administrative functions. Booking centralisation During 2013/2014 further work will take place to centralise the booking of new and follow up outpatient appointments across the Trust. We have already achieved the first stage of centralising where the Outpatient Appointments Centre now takes all telephone queries for Mount Vernon Hospital outpatient appointments. The performance targets we will use to measure the impact of the changes and new initiatives are: •Call abandonment rate - we aim to keep this below 10% (currently 28% for January-March 2013) •95% of calls to be answered within 60 seconds •First contact resolution – aim to resolve more than 90% of the queries in the first contact (less than 10% of calls transferred to other departments) •Reduction in ‘did not attend’ rates (DNA) for outpatient appointments (to be agreed in quarter 1). PRIORITY 2: Continuing to improve the Leaving Hospital Project – improving inpatient care Why is this one of our priorities? Following the success of implementing our leaving hospital principles across all of our wards, we reviewed our goals and priorities and re-launched the project as “Improving Inpatient Care”. The overall objective of this programme of work is to ensure we provide high quality of care to all inpatients by improving the patient journey and thereby decreasing length of stay. How are we doing so far? Length of stay for inpatients at Hillingdon Hospital has been a priority service improvement goal for a number of years. We know that the longer patients are in hospital, the more risks there are to the patient, and fundamentally, we know people do not want to be in hospital. We want to support our patients to return to their homes and be supported in the community as soon as clinically appropriate. We want to remove all unnecessary waits in hospital, and provide a better service, particularly for those patients with greater need, such as those who may need social care support or ongoing care in the community. Successful changes have been made gradually through individual teams and Trust wide initiatives which have enabled more effective working and as a result, more efficient, high quality care. Almost 50% of our emergency patients are discharged within 72 hours. The average length of stay for the Trust has reduced by 0.8 days over the past 12 months; we are heading in the right direction. Our aims for 2013/2014 are: The Improving Inpatient Care programme, initiated in December 2012, is putting in place a series of changes across the Trust to continue to reduce the length of stay, by eliminating delays and improving the overall experience patients receive whilst in hospital. Examples of this work include: •Developing an enhanced service for frail and elderly patients who are admitted as an emergency. The full details are being developed and tested during the early part of 2013, but will aim to involve an enhanced comprehensive assessment completed by a specialist Care of the Elderly Consultant and a team of specialist occupational and physiotherapists on day one of admission. This will then mean the hospital can start putting in place everything the patient will need to get home, as soon as they are better. For example, for patients who might be unsteady on their feet, fitting rails in their home so they can manage stairs without coming to harm. •Improving how we set discharge dates, with better co-ordination of teams through doctors’ rounds, and supporting nurses, doctors, pharmacists and therapists to work together better when reviewing a patient’s needs. •Implementing new electronic whiteboards to provide reminders of all patients’ next steps for all teams who work on the wards. •Improving the clarity of information we provide to nursing and residential homes, in order to support them in looking after patients when they are discharged from hospital. This aims to reduce the likelihood of that person needing to come back into hospital, as their care teams will know how to manage their needs appropriately. Specific goals for this project are: •Reduce length of stay to become one of the top 25% of Trusts nationally •Achieve 40% of all discharges leaving before 12pm •Earlier therapy and specialist review for complex elderly patients, supporting up to an additional 400 patients per year •Reduce the rate of readmissions aiming to prevent up to 230 avoidable readmissions per year PRIORITY 3: Improving emergency care Why is this one of our priorities? There is national and London evidence to show that there are significant differences in the mortality rates for patients admitted as an emergency during the week compared with patients admitted as an emergency at the weekend. Reduced service provision Quality report 20 at weekends has been associated with this higher mortality rate. In response to the data, NHS London have developed commissioning standards for emergency care with the aim of ensuring that consultants have early and continued involvement in the care of all patients admitted as an emergency. How are we doing so far? As a Trust we are committed to achieving the emergency care standards and have invested in additional senior doctor time, out of hours Monday to Friday and also at the weekends. Notably we have provided Consultant ward rounds twice a day on our medical Emergency Assessment Unit. This has ensured that our patients continue to receive care from our most senior doctors irrespective of the day of the week. We have also ensured that in Medicine, Surgery and Paediatrics, all Consultants covering A&E are freed from all other clinical commitments. Further investment has allowed for an increase in therapy provision at weekends which has facilitated patients with complex needs having access to a multi-disciplinary team assessment. In 2012 a detailed review of our hospital mortality data was carried out, specifically the measure of mortality known as the Hospital Standardised Mortality Ratio (HSMR). This review concluded that the Trust had a lower than average palliative care and comorbidity coding which may falsely elevate the HSMR, but that some specialties had a higher than expected HSMR. In response to the findings of the report a great deal of work has been undertaken to improve coding for palliative care and comorbidity which are at a national average and now monitored monthly. Specialties that were identified to have a higher 21 Quality report than expected HSMR have been or are in the process of being reviewed through clinical workshops. These workshops have provided the opportunity for clinical staff to come together to identify areas of care for improvement and also to ascertain the suitability of utilising a care bundle approach (a group of several clinical interventions). These approaches together have reduced the HSMR to 89.8 (up to and including January 2013) but there is still some weekday versus weekend variability. Our aims for 2013/2014 are •To invest in evening and weekend Consultant emergency presence in Medicine, Surgery, A&E and Paediatrics. •Implement NHS London emergency care standards in relation to Consultant review within 12 hours of decision to admit: number of patients being seen within target time 2013/2014 is 90%, and to ensure that there is no weekday versus weekend variability. •To reduce HSMR to London average in 2013/2014 and ensure no difference in weekday vs. weekend mortality. •Seven day access to pharmacy and all therapies (physiotherapy, respiratory, and occupational therapy). •Full participation in the Friends and Family test (more than 15% of all attending patients) in the A&E Department where participation so far has been disappointing, running at around 5.7% for 2011/2012. PRIORITY 4: CARES Why is this one of our priorities? There continues to be an increased focus nationally on the patient/staff experience and engagement of these groups. It is essential that we see more significant changes in attitude and behaviour from our staff to improve the experience of our patients. Through analysing information captured from key sources such as the National Patient Survey, Inpatient Survey, National Staff Survey and incidents and complaints locally, we recognise that we can make improvements to the experience of our patients and staff. Our goal is to deliver the best possible experience to our patients and to our staff. In May 2012 we formally launched Communication Attitude Responsibility Equity Safety (CARES), which is our set of values supported by a framework that sets out the standard, in terms of attitude and behaviours we expect from our staff. This will support our staff to deliver care with compassion as well as ensuring it is also safe and effective. Our aims for 2013/2014 are: •Complaints – We will ensure that all complaints are addressed using the CARES framework. We will make the framework an integral part of the investigation process to identify behavioural and attitudinal issues as well as the technical aspects so that we can learn from them. •Performance and Personal Development Reviews (PDR) – All staff are expected to undertake a PDR annually with their line manager so they can ensure individual performance is linked to the achievement of Trust and departmental objectives. It is also essential to see how they are progressing in terms of their performance and provides an opportunity to discuss personal and professional development. We have introduced a CARES behavioural scale into the PDR paperwork to help initiate discussions around staff attitude and behaviours so that agreements can be reached on any developmental areas in an open manner. •Customer Care Training – We want all staff to recognise how their behaviours and attitudes can have a negative or positive impact on the experience of patients and colleagues. Through the delivery of a tailored Customer Care training programme we will support staff to understand how by adopting the CARES behaviours they can enhance that experience. •CARES plays a large part in the work programme we are developing in relation to the Engagement and Experience Strategy. •Some Key Performance indicators for 2013/2014 are presented in the table above; others are being developed in quarter 1. PERFORMANCE INDICATOR TARGET 2012/13 Communication, involvement and information – using the cluster of questions in the patient survey Improve result by 2% Compassionate Care – using the cluster of questions in the questionnaire from the Improving Patient Care initiative. Achieve 85% PRIORITY 5: CQUINs The National CQUINs for the next financial year will still include the prevention of blood clots, but we will be expected to achieve a higher percentage of patient assessment. The patient experience CQUIN will be based on the new “Friends and Family Test” and the dementia risk assessment will be continued. The Patient Safety Thermometer will be based on reductions in pressure sores and not just on data submission. Regional and local CQUINs are still to be agreed. Quality report 22 STATEMENTS OF ASSURANCE FROM THE BOARD Information for our regulators Our regulators need to understand how we are working to improve quality so the following pages are specific messages they have asked us to provide: Services During 2012/2013 The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust provided medicine, surgery, clinical support services and women’s and children’s NHS services. The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has reviewed all the data available to them on the quality of care in all of these NHS services. The income generated by the NHS services reviewed in 2012/2013 represents 100% of the total income generated from the provision of NHS services by the Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust for 2012/2013. Audit National audits During 2012/2013, 38 national clinical audits and two national confidential enquiries covered NHS services that The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust provides. During that period The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust participated in 82% of national clinical audits and 100% of national confidential enquiries for which it was eligible to participate in. The national clinical audits and national confidential enquiries that The Hillingdon Hospital NHS Foundation Trust was eligible to participate in during 2012/2013 are listed below alongside the number of cases submitted to each audit or enquiry as a percentage of the number of registered cases required by the terms of that audit or enquiry. 23 Quality report AUDIT PARTICIPATED CASES SUBMITTED Child Health Programme (CHR-UK) Perinatal Mortality (MBRRACE-UK) Neonatal Intensive and Special Care (NNAP) Paediatric Pneumonia (British Thoracic Society) Paediatric Asthma (British Thoracic Society) Paediatric Fever (College of Emergency Medicine) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Epilepsy 12 Audit (RCPH National Childhood Epilepsy Audit) Yes 0% (only 1 patient applicable) 100% 100% 100% 100% N/A Data entry commenced 1st March 2013 and continues throughout 2013/14 – Trust participating WOMENS AND CHILDRENS HEALTH ACUTE CARE Emergency Use of Oxygen (British Thoracic Society BTS) Adult Community Acquired Pneumonia (BTS) Non-invasive Ventilation (BTS) Renal Colic (College Emergency Medicine) Yes Yes Yes Yes 100% 100% 85% 100% Hip, Knee and Ankle Replacements (National Joint Registry) Yes Hillingdon 71% Mount Vernon Treatment Centre 93% Adult Critical Care (ICNARC CMPD) Alcohol Related Liver Disease (National Confidential Enquiry NCEPOD) Subarachnoid Haemorrhage (NCEPOD) Severe Trauma (Trauma Audit & Research Network, TARN) No N/A Yes 100% Yes Yes Data submission ongoing 81% Diabetes (National Audit Diabetes Audit) Diabetes (RCPH National Paediatric Diabetes Audit) National Review of Asthma Deaths Chronic Pain (National Pain Audit) No Yes Yes Yes Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) Yes Adult Asthma (BTS) Adult Bronchiectasis (BTS) Paediatric Bronchiectasis (BTS) Yes No No N/A 100% No applicable cases 34.7% Data submission commenced Jan 2013, 100% patients included to date 88% N/A N/A LONG TERM CONDITIONS OTHER Yes Percentages unavailable, numbers are: Hip replacements: 249; knee replacements: 312; groin hernia: 167; varicose veins: 7. Acute Myocardial Infarction & other ACS (MINAP) Yes 100% Heart Failure (Heart Failure Audit) Yes 59% due to staff changeover our participation is lower than previous years - this has now been resolved Cardiac Arrest (National Cardiac Arrest Audit) No N/A, Trust will be submitting data from July 2013 Head and Neck Oncology (DAHNO) Lung Cancer (National Lung Cancer Audit) Bowel Cancer (National Bowel Cancer Audit Programme) Yes Yes Yes Oesophago-gastric Cancer (National O-G Cancer Audit) Yes 100% Expected 100% 100% Deadline for submission October 2013 - expected 100% Yes Yes No Yes Yes 70% 100% N/A 100% 100% Blood Sample Labelling (National Comparative Audit of Blood Transfusion) Yes 100% Potential Donor Audit (NHS Blood and Transplant) Yes 100% Medical use of Blood (National Comparative Audit of Blood Transfusion) Yes 100% Elective Surgery (National PROMS programme) CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE CANCER OLDER PEOPLE Fractured Neck of Femur (College of Emergency Medicine) National Audit of Dementia (NAD) Parkinson’s Disease (National Parkinson’s Audit) Sentinel Stroke National Audit Programme (SSNAP) Hip Fracture (National Hip Fracture Database) BLOOD AND TRANSPLANT Quality report 24 Taking actions The reports of 13 national clinical audits were reviewed by the provider in 2012/2013 and The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust intends to take the following actions to improve the quality of healthcare provided. AUDIT ACTIONS Neonatal intensive and special care (NNAP) The Trust performs well in the majority of the standards for this audit. We have not been submitting data for whether babies have an encephalopathy (neurological assessment) to allow us to review clinical practice, this has now been addressed and data will be available within future reports. Diabetes (RCPH) national paediatric diabetes audit The Trust now uses the Twinkle database which records all of the requirements for the national paediatric diabetes audit. Use of this database prompts awareness of diabetes clinical indicators to team members, improves the quality of data collection and will allow for a more automated submission to this national audit. To reduce admissions for diabetic ketoacidosis and to raise awareness for early diagnosis of diabetes, we are using the diabetes UK 4Ts campaign (toilet, thirsty, tired, thinner) in all our clinic letters sent to GPs and schools. Pain management in children (College of Emergency Medicine) A pain rating scale document is in development. This document can help us to assess pain severity quickly so we will be able to manage a child’s pain as soon as possible. Epilepsy 12 audit (RCPH national childhood epilepsy audit) A ‘transitional clinic’ to transfer from paediatric to adult epilepsy care has been set up. The first clinic ran in July 2012 and we plan to run 3 to 4 clinics per year. Paediatric asthma (British Thoracic Society) Emergency use of oxygen (British Thoracic Society) A Trust paediatric asthma guideline has been produced and was published for use in the hospital in December 2012. Two new A&E Paediatric Consultants started in December 2012, which will support implementation of this guideline and improve paediatric asthma standards. Improvements will be made, relating to documentation of prescribing of oxygen, as a result of an oxygen prescribing policy being published within the Trust. A new prescription chart is in development for the hospital, which includes a section on oxygen prescribing. Non-invasive ventilation (British Thoracic Society) The lead respiratory Consultants are using existing training sessions to reiterate the need to document a clear non invasive ventilation (NIV) plan. Severe sepsis & septic shock (College Of Emergency Medicine) A clinical guideline specific to the emergency department is being agreed, this will be used in conjunction with the sepsis care bundle. Cardiac arrest procedures – time to intervene (NCEPOD) The Trust has signed up to join the national cardiac arrest audit and will start submitting data from July 2013. Written information leaflets for surgical inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients now provided. Meetings with x-ray and gastroenterology have been restructured to discuss IBD patients, surgeons are present to discuss to relevant patients. The national lung cancer audit has been improved for the 2012 submissions. The development of closer links with the Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust and locally between our clinical nurse specialist and lung team co-ordinator has greatly facilitated a more streamlined reporting process. Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) Lung cancer (National Lung Cancer Audit) Oesophago-gastric cancer (National O-G Cancer Audit) Patients within this audit are included as part of a review of emergency admission & re-admission rates of palliative care patients captured at local level. All patients are identified with a pall alert tag on the patient administration system. The Co-Ordinate My Care (CMC) system is a recent strategy to identify patients with their consent to reduce emergency admissions and re-admissions into hospital and guide community resources to them with appropriate care identified in the community. Hip fracture (National Hip Fracture Database) Following the introduction of the “assessment and protocol document for hip fragility fractures” compliance with hip fracture standards has improved, including falls assessment and both abbreviated mental tests. A separate audit of this document is now taking place and any identified improvements will be made. 25 Quality report Local audits The reports of 84 local clinical audits were reviewed by the provider in 2012/13 and examples of The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust actions to improve the quality of healthcare provided are detailed below. Audit of inpatient pathways and day of discharge processes This audit was part of the improving inpatient care project and will roll out the new PAS+ system which will help streamline processes on the ward to the introduction of electronic white boards and real time bed management. This should support better discharge planning and recording of estimated dates of discharge. Quality of inpatient care (treatment) plans To improve quality of care plans we are working with each Division to devise ward round standards, which will include increased multidisciplinary input into care planning. We are also looking at ways to set and record estimated discharge dates consistently e.g. prompt stickers on ward rounds. Audit of Deep Vein Thrombosis pathway Revised Deep Vein Thrombosis Pathway is under development in consultation with the Clinical Commissioning Group. Re-audit - Staff survey of caring for vulnerable patients including those with a learning difficulty This re-audit identified a general positive increase in awareness of caring for vulnerable patients. The use of the vulnerable adults action card and patient passport is continually re-inforced to staff, for example, at mandatory training and induction. The documents are available on the Trust Intranet. Survey of staff to evaluate the implementation of the mental capacity act 2005 and DOLS - re-audit The re-audit identified the need for further training for staff on the Mental Capacity Act. Local training sessions have been provided within the Trust. In March 2013 a training session was delivered by Central North West London NHS Foundation Trust. Staff taking blood cultures using best practice The blood culture audit has demonstrated a significant increase in blood culture training provided by the Trust from 16% in 2009 to 83% in 2012. We have standardised blood culture equipment and all new medical staff receive blood culture theoretical training including a copy of the blood culture guidelines on induction. The Foundation Year 1 & 2 doctors receive clinical skills & competency checks within 6 weeks of commencement in the Trust. Measures of care nursing audits: Falls, hydration and fluid balance, medicines management, record keeping, privacy and dignity, pressure ulcer prevention, food and nutrition, failure to rescue & patient identification During 2012/13 there has been an overall improvement with some areas sustaining well above target scores. To achieve this, the Nursing Performance Unit undertook bespoke teaching, one to one working, role modelling and observation feedback. This together with staff motivation, commitment, and engagement in undertaking audits and hard work resulted in improvement. Audit of children who Do Not Attend (DNA) Children’s Outpatients (Wendy Ward) All clinic staff have been reminded of the need to document, in the patient notes, the process followed when a child does not attend their appointment. Each consulting room has a copy of the DNA process flowchart on the desk for staff to refer to. Audit of records of women with safeguarding concerns in Maternity Department A postnatal communication sheet, to aid information sharing, has been developed and introduced. This document identifies the lead midwife, confirms the health visitor has been contacted and specifies the plan of action for individual safeguarding cases. Quality report 26 Research Commitment to research as a driver for improving the quality of care and patient experience The number of patients receiving NHS services provided by The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, that were recruited during the period to participate in research approved by a research ethics committee was 547. The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has a good research track record for a hospital of its size. We are continuing with our strategy to broaden our research portfolio and this has enabled us to offer a greater number of patients, from different clinical areas the opportunity to participate in research. This year we invested in a research nurse to support our Cardiologists and Diabetes Consultants as a means of increasing commercially funded and portfolio adopted research activity in these areas. It is projected that within two years the commercial income generated should sustain this post thereafter. Participation in clinical research demonstrates The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust‘s commitment to improving the quality of care we offer and to making our contribution to wider health improvement. This allows our clinical staff to stay abreast of the latest treatment possibilities and active participation in research allows our patient’s access to new treatments that they otherwise would not have. With this in mind we aim to offer our patients the opportunity to participate in a wide range of clinical research projects. These studies are both funded by the pharmaceutical industry and by the Department of Health via the North West London Comprehensive Research Network (CLRN); for this work we received £524,911 from the CLRN. The money generated from this research activity funds research nurses and data managers to support the clinicians in this 27 Quality report work. The majority of our studies are National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) portfolio adopted multi-centre studies where we are acting as a recruiting site on behalf of the lead centre. Our research portfolio is a balance of observational and treatment studies across many clinical areas in the Trust including cancer, stroke, and haematology, many of the general medicine and surgical specialities and paediatrics. We also support PhD and Masters students from the local universities giving them access to our patients for their projects. During 2012/2013 we had 66 open or followup studies. We recruited 505 patients into 30 NIHR Portfolio Studies, supported the repatriation of 20 patients recruited into treatment studies at other hospitals and supported four Masters or PhD student studies. Our research management processes reflect the Research Support Services nationally and have a setup time that meets the NIHR national targets. On average our research governance review is undertaken in less than 10 days which is well below the national target of 30 days. Summary of lessons learned from serious incidents During 2012/2013, the Trust reported nine Serious Incidents where panel investigations were conducted. There were two Serious Incidents reported as ‘Never Events’; one of these was investigated by a panel. Never Events are serious grade 2, largely preventable patient safety incidents that should never occur if the available preventable measures have been implemented by healthcare providers (NPSA 2010). It is a legal requirement under CQC regulations to report them. Protecting patients from avoidable harm is something to which there is universal agreement and the Trust has clearly defined processes and procedures to follow to help avoid these events occurring. Lessons learnt as a result of the serious incidents include: AREA DIVISION SUMMARY CT scans Cancer and Clinical Support Services (CCSS) The investigation led to the requirement for more radiology staff. Deteriorating patients All divisions Record keeping All divisions Administration of medicine for patients that are nil by mouth Medicine Reminder to staff regarding using alternative routes of medicine administration. Medicine Review undertaken and new pathway being implemented. All medical staff Refresher training provided and access for doctors to the e learning module for DVT. Review the Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) clinical pathway Refresher training for DVT and Venous Thrombo Embolysis (VTE) Translation for non-English speaking patients Maternity Maternal sepsis Maternity Recognition and management of diabetes in the sick patient Sharing the learning from serious incidents Training and use of an established structured communication tool (SBAR) for the deteriorating patient. Training and audit programme in place. Memo sent out to remind all staff to provide the Trust translation service when required. Reminder sent to all staff regarding the use of the centre for maternal and child enquiries (cmace) guidelines and inclusion of giving antibiotics to cover listeria. Medical staff Clinical training reviewed and updated. Medical staff Conducted at the divisional clinical governance forums Now included in the regular skills and drills programme. (Skills and drills are practice clinical scenarios undertaken both formally, through mandatory training and informally through mock assessments (spontaneous and unexpected scenarios, practicing specific emergency situations, usually led by the practice development team and a Consultant). These are undertaken to ensure that staff are prepared for all emergency situations, and where shortfalls are identified, then further training implemented). Refresher training in place using the regular skills and drills programme (as above). Policy reinforced, ongoing monitoring of compliance being undertaken. Skills and drills training in the maternity triage area Maternity Neonatal resuscitation training Paediatrics Maternity escalation policy Maternity Supernumerary status for the maternity bleep holder Maternity Under review, all co-ordinators reminded about their supernumerary status. CTG training and CTG ‘buddy’ system Maternity Reviewed and competencies being monitored, spot audits in place. Security of documents in transit Corporate Use of security envelopes across the Trust. Corporate Monitored on the incident reporting system. CCSS Scanning now in place. WHO surgical patient safety checklist Surgical Implemented and audit being undertaken. Reminder to use checklist sent out to staff. Safe sedation Surgical Reminder of safe sedation practice sent out to staff and audit being undertaken to ensure compliance. Pain procedure lists and shifts Surgical Review of workload undertaken, number, skill mix and duration of lists. Escalation of missing patient communication Scanning cancer referral documents Quality report 28 Goals agreed with commissioners (CQUINs) A proportion, 2.5%, of out turn value of The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust’s income in 2012/2013 was conditional on achieving quality improvement and innovation goals agreed between The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and any body they entered into a contract, agreement or arrangement with for the provision of NHS services, through the Commissioning for Quality and Innovation payment framework. The monetary total for the associated payments was £3.3 million. Further details of the agreed goals for 2012/2013 and for the following 12 month period are available on request from the Financial Planning Department, The Furze, The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Pield Heath Road, Uxbridge, Middlesex. UB8 3NN or from the Trust website www.thh. nhs.uk. Care Quality Commission The Trust is required to register with the Care Quality Commission and is registered without conditions. The CQC paid an unannounced visit in December 2012 as part of their planned review of the Trust. The report issued from this visit stated the Trust is fully compliant with the Essential Standards of Quality and Safety. The Trust received notification on 15th February 2013 that it was an outlier for puerperal sepsis (maternal infection) following delivery and an update was also requested on maternal emergency readmission rates. Coding issues and clinical issues mostly relating to urinary catheters and infections were identified and a comprehensive action plan was put in place which enabled the readmission rate to reduce to less than 1% bringing us within the expected range and well below the national average. 29 Quality report Data quality The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust submitted records during April – January for 2012/2013 to the Secondary User’s Service (SUS) for inclusion in the Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) which included the patient’s valid NHS number (to month 10:) •98.5% for admitted patient care •99.8% for outpatients care •96.4% for accident and emergency care. The percentage records in the published data which included the patient’s valid General Medical Practitioner Code was: •100% for admitted patient care •100% for outpatient care •100% for accident and emergency care. The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust will be taking forward the following actions to improve data quality: •continue to review and action data quality issues at the Trust’s data quality meetings •daily data quality reports are published on the Trust’s web based management information system for action and rectification. Information Governance Toolkit The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust’s Information Governance Assessment report overall score for 2012/2013 was 81% and termed as unsatisfactory as one of 44 requirements remains at level 1; all the other scores are at level 2 or 3. Clinical coding error rate The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust was subject to the Payment by Results Clinical Coding Audit during the reporting period by the Audit Commission. However, the final 2012/2013 report is yet to be published and so the latest published report is from 2011/2012. The Audit Commission sampled Finished Consultant Episodes (FCEs) and the overall average Health Resource Group (HRG) error rate was 6.5% at episode level compared to a National average of 9.1% in 2009/2010. The error rates reported in that audit for diagnoses and treatment coding (clinical coding) was: •Primary diagnosis incorrect 4.0% •Secondary diagnosis incorrect 5.1% •Primary procedure incorrect 3.6% •Secondary procedure incorrect 16.2%. The results were not extrapolated further than the actual sample audited. The sample covered 100 case notes from Respiratory Medicine and 100 randomly selected case notes across all specialties. Quality report 30 ANNEXE Commissioner statement from Hillingdon Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) Hillingdon CCG is pleased to receive The Hillingdon Hospitals Foundation Trust 2012/13 Quality Account. We note that the involvement of your patients in identification of priorities for 2013/14 and that you have included reference to the Francis Report. 2012/13 priorities We share the Trust’s disappointment that not all the 2012/13 priorities were achieved; in particular those relating to information to GPs following discharge and discharging patients early in the day as these support effective and safe discharge from hospital for patients and reduces the likelihood of readmission. We would hope to see a strong patient voice in future work to improve discharge processes. We note the very positive steps taken as part of priority 4 Leaving Hospital – Improving the Patient Experience; especially the follow up telephone call and monthly observations of care visits. Priority 2 – Changes in Maternity also demonstrated well if not 100% achievement of targets set. It would be helpful to see more detail on the steps that will be taken to increase breast feeding rates. Quality measures Quality Measure 4: Independent measure of cleanliness was 88% and rated green. The National Inpatient Survey (CQC) indicated that the Trust scored below the national average for cleanliness of the toilets and bathrooms as well as the hospital ward. There is some discrepancy between the scores. Linking to our previous comment on discharge processes, there is a need to continue focus on reducing admissions. 31 Quality report We notice that many of the performance achievements have been achieved by the Trust. 2013/14 priorities Broadly speaking the CCG supports the priorities identified for 2013/14. It is reassuring to see a continued focus on patient experience through continuation of the CARES priority. We recognise it is important enough to be a stand-alone priority but would anticipate that these values underpin all other priorities. We were surprised that reference to the Emergency Care Intensive Support Team (ECIST) was not made in relation to the emergency care priority but pleased to see it identified as an area of focus in 2013/14. Information for regulators It would be useful in future reports to have a better understanding of the impact of actions where the action has been for example “reviews” or “memos”. The overall score for the Information Governance Toolkit was 81% and termed “unsatisfactory”. It would have been helpful if actions planned to improve the score had been included in the Quality Account. Hillingdon CCG can confirm that the review of the 2012/13 performance is consistent with the SLA monitoring information it has received in 2012/13. Hillingdon Health Watch response to The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust Annual Quality Report Introduction Although Health Watch Hillingdon was only established under The Health and Social Care Act 2012 on 1st April 2013, it feels qualified to respond to The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (THH) Quality Report 2012-2013, due to the transfer of staff and volunteers from Hillingdon Link who have been involved in working with THH in this and the previous year’s quality accounts programme. Health Watch Hillingdon wishes to thank THH for the opportunity to comment on the Trust’s Quality Report for the year 2012-2013. We would also like to acknowledge the Trust’s continued commitment to engage with Hillingdon LINk during the last year. This has seen an open working relationship, in which the Trust has embraced the LINk as a critical friend, encouraging positive challenge for the improvement of service quality. The Chief Executive Officer, Chair and Director of Nursing of the Trust met regularly with LINk representatives and LINk were invited to sit on a number of important groups to monitor patient experience and quality, such as the Experience and Engagement Group, the Maternity Liaison Group, and The Leaving Hospital Project Group. Quality report Health Watch Hillingdon found this year’s Quality Report easy to read, with clear explanation throughout the document, making it accessible to the general public. Written in a similar style to the 2011/12 report, this year’s report is more focused on quantitative outcomes, and although subjective, we have a preference for the qualitative touches from last year which quoted patients feedback. From the Quality Report and the work LINk has been doing with the Trust it is self-evident that the Trust is committed to improving the quality of the services they provide. Health Watch Hillingdon found the Quality Report to be an honest assessment of the Trust’s performance and provided a balanced report on the quality of their services. The Trust should be congratulated on achieving many of its targets and in making significant progress in many other areas. It was especially good to see the recruiting of women in Maternity reception and as Maternity Mates to meet the diverse cultural needs of the women in Hillingdon. We are pleased that the Trust has been candid in acknowledging the areas which require improvement and in recognising shortfalls that the Trust has made commitments to improve in these areas. We particularly feel that for patients, further improvements around record keeping, and discharge information given to GP’s and community health services within 24 hours, will be specifically beneficial. We are in agreement with and support THH in their choice of 2013/14 quality priorities which has taken into account the views of LINk and the wider public. The First Contact Project has now been a Trust priority for four years and CARES is a long term programme. It would be helpful for the general public, where completion of a project is planned over a long period of time, for this to be indicated in the report, setting out the long term goals in addition to the short term. If this is not the case and a priority extends due to complexities, it would be useful if the reasons for this are reported. The Trust has also indicated in its future priorities for 2013/14 that it intends to Quality report 32 increase those people discharged before 12pm from 15.8% to 40% and that the number of patients being seen by a consultant within 12 hours of the decision to admit them will increase from 55% to 90%. We very much welcome these areas as priorities, with improvements of this scale and the positive affect this will have on the patient experience. We are cautious of the effect these targets may have on patient expectation, especially around discharge. Health Watch Hillingdon look forward to continuing the relationship THH has had with LINk and working with THH in a joint commitment to monitor and improve quality. External Services Scrutiny Committee Statement Response on behalf of the External Services Scrutiny Committee at the London Borough of Hillingdon The External Services Scrutiny Committee welcomes the opportunity to comment on the Trust’s 2012/2013 Quality Report and acknowledges the Trust’s commitment to attend its meetings when requested. The Committee is pleased to note that the mortality rate is lower than the national average expected in hospitals. The Trust has met the year’s targets for infection control. The Committee has noted that the Trust has had only one incident of MRSA in the last year; and notes the target for next year is zero. The patient bed days are also below the national average and London average. The Trust has also met the 4 hour average waiting time at A&E. The Committee is mindful of the imminent closure of Ealing Hospital’s A & E department and whether this will have a big impact on Hillingdon Hospital. The Committee has noted that in theory rather than the numbers increasing at Hillingdon, people should be directed to the appropriate care. The Committee has noted the challenging times 33 Quality report within the NHS and the planning involved in this. The Trust will be spending £12million in the next few years to start to gear up for this change. The Committee would like to be kept up to date on these changes and how they will affect the residents of Hillingdon for better or worse. The Committee is aware that improving patient care and discharge continues to be a priority for the Trust. Complaints with regard to discharge have been identified as a problem that needs to be addressed; in particular with regard to when patients receive their medication. It has been recognised that this is a problem and the aim is to have patient’s papers ready on discharge. The Committee has noted that the targets for complaints response had not been met and suggested improvement in this area. There are some issues with the turnaround time for complaints which needed addressing. The Committee has noted that the Trust is still using a paper based system but there are plans for improvements to this. It is noted that the Trust has formulated 5 priorities for the forthcoming year which are broadly similar to last years. These priorities are: First Contact Project; Improving Inpatient Care and Discharge; Improving Emergency Care; CARES and CQUINs. Overall, the Committee is pleased with the continued progress that the Trust has made over the last year but notes that there are a number of areas where further improvements still need to be made. We look forward to being informed of how the priorities outlined in the Quality Report are implemented over the course of 2013/14. The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust response to the consultation to be articulated rather than just a one year strategy, and we will share these plans in the coming year. The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust thanks all its stakeholders for their comments about the 2012-13 Quality Report. The Trust would like to reassure our Commissioners that there is a clear action plan to improve Information Governance training to achieve Level 2. This plan includes full training to all new staff on induction, more regular refresher sessions, bespoke training where needed, an up to date training record, and clear escalation for nonattendance. There is also a more detailed action plan to increase breastfeeding rates. The External Services Scrutiny Committee comment on the potential impact of the implementation of Shaping a Healthier Future, and the Trust will involve all stakeholders, including the residents of Hillingdon, to ensure that a high quality service will be provided. A merging of the PALS and complaints teams, as well as our plan to deal with issues as they arise at the bedside, should lead to a reduction in complaints and a prompter turnaround. Our Commissioners are right in noting the importance of the 2012 Emergency Care Intensive Support Team (ECIST) report and the NHS England: Improving A&E Performance report (Gateway reference 00062, released April 2013), which both support our stated aims for improving emergency care. They also offer other best practice and operational recommendations many of which have been, or are being, implemented. Our Commissioners have rightly pointed out the difference between our independent measure of cleanliness (an audit of cleanliness standards) being higher than the National Inpatient Survey for the cleanliness of toilets and bathrooms as well as the hospital ward (a measure of the patients perception of cleanliness). The results of the National Inpatient Survey has historically been lower and is difficult to reconcile because they are asking different questions and measuring different things. Health Watch note the need for the Trust to continue to be candid, balanced, and honest, qualities we agree are essential. We agree that a clear plan for long term project needs Quality report 34 Independent Auditor’s Report to the Council of Governors of The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust on the Quality Report We refer to these national priority indicators collectively as the “indicators”. We have been engaged by the Council of Governors of The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to perform an independent assurance engagement in respect of The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust’s Quality Report for the year ended 31 March 2013 (the “Quality Report”) and certain performance indicators contained therein. The Directors are responsible for the content and the preparation of the Quality Report in accordance with the criteria set out in the NHS Foundation Trust Annual Reporting Manual issued by Monitor. Our responsibility is to form a conclusion, based on limited assurance procedures, on whether anything has come to our attention that causes us to believe that: This report, including the conclusion, has been prepared solely for the Council of Governors of The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust as a body, to assist the Council of Governors in reporting The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust’s quality agenda, performance and activities. We permit the disclosure of this report within the Annual Report for the year ended 31 March 2013, to enable the Council of Governors to demonstrate they have discharged their governance responsibilities by commissioning an independent assurance report in connection with the indicators. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the Council of Governors as a body and The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust for our work or this report save where terms are expressly agreed and with our prior consent in writing. Scope and subject matter The indicators for the year ended 31 March 2013 subject to limited assurance consist of the national priority indicators as mandated by Monitor: • Maximum 62 day waiting time from urgent GP referral to treatment for all cancers; • Emergency readmissions within 28 days of discharge from hospital. 35 Quality report Respective responsibilities of the Directors and auditors • the Quality Report is not prepared in all material respects in line with the criteria set out in the NHS Foundation Trust Annual Reporting Manual; • the Quality Report is not consistent in all material respects with the sources specified in the guidance; and • the indicators in the Quality Report identified as having been the subject of limited assurance in the Quality Report are not reasonably stated in all material respects in accordance with the NHS Foundation Trust Annual Reporting Manual and the six dimensions of data quality set out in the Detailed Guidance for External Assurance on Quality Reports. We read the Quality Report and consider whether it addresses the content requirements of the NHS Foundation Trust Annual Reporting Manual, and consider the implications for our report if we become aware of any material omissions. We read the other information contained in the Quality Report and consider whether it is materially inconsistent with the documents specified within the detailed guidance. We consider the implications for our report if we become aware of any apparent misstatements or material inconsistencies with those documents (collectively the “documents”). Our responsibilities do not extend to any other information. We are in compliance with the applicable independence and competency requirements of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) Code of Ethics. Our team comprised assurance practitioners and relevant subject matter experts. Assurance work performed We conducted this limited assurance engagement in accordance with International Standard on Assurance Engagements 3000 (Revised) – “Assurance Engagements other than Audits or Reviews of Historical Financial Information” issued by the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (“ISAE 3000”). Our limited assurance procedures included: • Evaluating the design and implementation of the key processes and controls for managing and reporting the indicators. • Making enquiries of management. • Testing key management controls. • Limited testing, on a selective basis, of the data used to calculate the indicator back to supporting documentation. • Comparing the content requirements of the NHS Foundation Trust Annual Reporting Manual to the categories reported in the Quality Report. • Reading the documents. A limited assurance engagement is smaller in scope than a reasonable assurance engagement. The nature, timing and extent of procedures for gathering sufficient appropriate evidence are deliberately limited relative to a reasonable assurance engagement. Limitations the methods used for determining such information. The absence of a significant body of established practice on which to draw allows for the selection of different but acceptable measurement techniques which can result in materially different measurements and can impact comparability. The precision of different measurement techniques may also vary. Furthermore, the nature and methods used to determine such information, as well as the measurement criteria and the precision thereof, may change over time. It is important to read the Quality Report in the context of the criteria set out in the NHS Foundation Trust Annual Reporting Manual. The scope of our assurance work has not included governance over quality or nonmandated indicators which have been determined locally by The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Conclusion Based on the results of our procedures, nothing has come to our attention that causes us to believe that, for the year ended 31 March 2013: • the Quality Report is not prepared in all material respects in line with the criteria set out in the NHS Foundation Trust Annual Reporting Manual; • the Quality Report is not consistent in all material respects with the sources specified in the guidance; and • the indicators in the Quality Report subject to limited assurance have not been reasonably stated in all material respects in accordance with the NHS Foundation Trust Annual Reporting Manual. Deloitte LLP Chartered Accountants St Albans 29 May 2013 Non-financial performance information is subject to more inherent limitations than financial information, given the characteristics of the subject matter and Quality report 36 Statement of Directors’ responsibilities in respect of the Quality Report The Directors are required under the Health Act 2009 and the National Health Service (Quality Accounts) Regulations 2010 as amended to prepare Quality Accounts for each financial year. Monitor has issued guidance to NHS Foundation Trust Boards on the form and content of Annual Quality Reports (which incorporate the above legal requirements) and on the arrangements that Foundation Trust Boards should put in place to support the data quality for the preparation of the Quality Report. In preparing the Quality Report, Directors are required to take steps to satisfy themselves that: •the content of the Quality Report meets the requirements set out in the NHS Foundation Trust Annual Reporting Manual 2012/2013; •the content of the Quality Report is not inconsistent with internal and external sources of information including: ° Board minutes and papers for the period April 2012 to May 2013 ° Papers relating to quality reported to the Board over the period April 2012 to May 2013 ° Feedback from the Commissioners dated 22/5/2013 ° Feedback from the Governors dated 25/4/2013 ° Feedback from LINks dated 7/5/2013 ° The Trust’s Complaints Report published under Regulation 18 of the Local Authority Social Services and NHS Complaints Regulations 2009, 17/5/2013; 37 Quality report ° The latest national patient survey published 16/4/2013 ° The latest national staff survey 28/2/2013 ° The Head of Internal Audit’s annual opinion over the Trust’s control environment dated 8/5/2013 ° CQC Quality and Risk Profiles dated from 1 April 2012 to 31 March 2013 •The Quality Report presents a balanced picture of the NHS Foundation Trust’s performance over the period covered; •The performance information reported in the Quality Report is reliable and accurate; •There are proper internal controls over the collection and reporting of the measures of performance included in the Quality Report, and these controls are subject to review to confirm that they are working effectively in practice; •The data underpinning the measures of performance reported in the Quality Report is robust and reliable, conforms to specified data quality standards and prescribed definitions, is subject to appropriate scrutiny and review; and the Quality Report has been prepared in accordance with Monitor’s annual reporting guidance (which incorporates the Quality Accounts Regulations) (published at www.monitor-NHSft.gov. uk/annualreportingmanual) as well as the standards to support data quality for the preparation of the Quality Report (available at www.monitor-NHSft.gov.uk/ annualreportingmanual). The Directors confirm to the best of their knowledge and belief they have complied with the above requirement in preparing the Quality Report. LANGUAGES/ ALTERNATIVE FORMATS Quality report 38