Hi everyone, I’m Tony McDonald, Executive Director of Integrated Care, Partnerships and Resilience and I am delighted to be guest blogging on behalf of Martin this week while he takes a well-earned rest.
Last week, Martin wrote about our ELHT STAR Awards which showcased just a small amount of the superb work that has been and is done day in day out. We are fortunate to work with amazing people and several of them have been recognised externally for their achievements.
One of the most recent successes we are particularly proud of is being shortlisted in the HSJ Patient Safety Awards. Hosted by the Health Service Journal, these annual awards are some of the most sought after - celebrating the absolute ‘best of the NHS’. And as our overall aim is to provide the safest of care to patients, I am extremely proud to say that colleagues in the Trust have been shortlisted for two of these awards - Quality Improvement Initiative of the Year and Improving Care for Older People Initiative of the Year.
Our End of Life and Bereavement Care Team service has done some incredible work this year with regards to improving the quality of the service that they provide, so it’s brilliant they have been shortlisted for Quality Improvement Initiative of the Year.
The hardest thing about working as a health care professional is supporting patients who are dying and their families - both during and after the patient has died. It is so important that we get this right as we only have one opportunity to do so. Using the feedback gathered from relatives and carers of those who have sadly passed away in our hospitals, the team has implemented a number of improvements across the Trust, including the introduction of personalised care plans for each patient. This ensures they have all the support they need – including making sure their spiritual, cultural and emotional needs are all met. It also includes supporting family members by making sure they are involved in any discussions and that they are as psychologically prepared as possible – for example by gathering any mementos they would like and being made aware of what symptoms their loved one may display during their final stages.
This has really made a huge impact on our families during at such times. We can never take away the pain of losing a loved one, but we can do everything we can to provide as much support, care and compassion as possible. It is therefore wonderful to see the work of the team recognised by the HSJ and to know we are making a difference.
Our partnership with primary care colleagues, social care providers and commissioning colleagues across Pennine Lancashire has also been recognised through the HSJ Awards for our work to improve access to community services for care home residents.
This is an achievement that I am particularly proud of as it shows how working together, we have been able to reduce the number of ambulance call outs, A&E attendances and admissions to hospital for elderly residents receiving care. This has been done by giving care providers direct access to our community services.
I am really pleased to say that in the space of just 10 months, our Intermediate Care Access Team (ICAT) received over 2,762 direct referrals from care homes and over 80% of these were resolved straight away. We have then been able to use the information collected from these referrals to further improve the service. One of the key areas was the falls lifting service. We found that over 95% of people referred more than twice for falls were on medication that could contribute to their falls so this was reviewed and medication changed accordingly.
We have had a 68% reduction in falls related admissions from care homes and a 43% reduction in those admitted with a fractured hip or femur which is an absolutely phenomenal outcome. This work has had such a positive impact on our patients and our emergency care services that the pathway has since been extended to include other areas of the care sector.
It really does show how much more effective we can be by working together.
I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone involved in both these initiatives, especially our partners in commissioning, social care, care homes, voluntary organisations as well as within our own community services for the safe, personal and effective way we have been able to embed these improvements into our services. Good luck to both shortlisted teams for the awards in September - you can follow the action via the @HSJ_Awards Twitter account or of course, our ELHT social media profiles!
Finally, all of our teams are working incredibly hard in spite of the significant challenges the Trust faces each day to meet the numbers of patients coming through our doors. This week has not only seen a high number of patients requiring emergency treatment or indeed those attending for planned treatments and procedures but also some of the highest temperatures on record. I know first-hand how tough it has been to keep our patients, and ourselves, comfortable in these conditions so I just want to say a huge thank you to everyone for all their incredible hard work and resilience this week. It really is a privilege to be part of the ELHT family and Team Pennine.
Take care
Tony