Agenda and draft minutes

The Chair welcomed all attendees to the meeting and explained the fire evacuation procedures.

There were no Declarations of Interest made at this point in the meeting.

The People Scrutiny Panel welcomed the opportunity to consider the South Tees NHS Foundation Trust’s draft Quality Account for 2024/2025.

A formal written response detailing the Scrutiny Panel’s comments and feedback needed to be submitted to the Trust by Friday, 30 May 2025.

The Trust’s Site Medical Director, Site Director of Nursing, Group Deputy Director of Quality, and the Compliance & Regulation Manager were in attendance to deliver a presentation, which outlined the priorities for improvement and the quality of services at the Trust.  The presentation focused on the following matters:

·         University Hospital Tees – Formation of the Group; Group Development; Group Quality Priorities 2024/25; Agreeing the 2025/26 Group Priorities; Group Quality Priorities for 2025/26.

·         A&E Flow: South Tees Hospitals NHS Trust.

·         Critical Care Outreach / Acutely Ill Patient – Martha’s Rule.

·         Current Live Use Status: Digital Journey.

·         Infection, Prevention and Control Actions.

·         Recent Get it Right First Time (GIRFT) Accreditation.

·         Model Hospital Latest Data: FHN Elective Hub (23/3/25).

·         Targeted Lung Health Checks.

·         Cancer Improvement Plans (and treatment pathway).

·         Further Faster 20 Programme.

Members were provided with background information regarding the Quality Account.  It was explained that this was an annual undertaking that every Hospital Trust was required to do.  The document reviewed performance over the last 12 months, focussing on areas such as:

• Patient Safety.
• Clinical Effectiveness.
• Patient Experience.

The document also set out the plans for 2025/26 and the priorities that would be looked at.  The draft document had been circulated to partners for comment/ feedback.

The Panel noted the content of the presentation and was supportive of the outlined priorities.  During discussion, the following points were raised:

·         The Panel was pleased to hear about the introduction of Martha’s Rule and the Trust being an early implementer of this.  It was recognised that Martha’s Rule offered several positive outcomes for patients and avoided further deterioration of their health.

·         Members praised the significant progress that had been made in the reduction in timescales around the diagnosis and treatment pathways for Prostate Cancer.  The Panel acknowledged the achievements made and the work undertaken to accomplish these reductions, particularly in terms of treatment waiting times – down from 62 days to approximately 25 days, and the efficient communication around benign diagnosis.

·         Members acknowledged the value of the Tees Valley Targeted Lung Health Check Programme and the positive outcomes achieved to date.  Specifically, the circa. 83% of occurrences, which were found at early stages in comparison to circa. 30% without the screening programme, were positively recognised.  It was noted that due to improvements in early detection/diagnosis, the pathology turnaround times continued to present challenge, and this was a key area of focus for the Trust over the next 12 months. 

·         A Member highlighted concerns around car parking and the patient experience at the South Tees Hospital site. 

The Member explained that, over the last 12 months, he had attempted to gain further insight from the Trust in respect of car parking, with very little success.  The following points were raised:

·         The only  ...  view the full minutes text for item 24/81

The People Scrutiny Panel welcomed the opportunity to consider the Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust’s draft Quality Account for 2024/2025.

The Trust’s Chief Nurse and Associate Director of Quality Governance were in attendance virtually.  The representatives requested that any comments/feedback regarding the previously circulated draft Quality Account document be forwarded via email before Friday, 30 May 2025.

NOTED

None.