November—December 2014
Newsletter
HEALTHWATCH NEL—NOVEMBER-DECEMBER NEWSLETTER 2014 November—December 2014 Join us and read on to find out what we have in store for November & December 2014
CONTENT
Page 1
Welcome
Page 2
Its all about impact
Continuing Care Assessments
Page 3
Pharmacy Consultation HWNEL Improve complaints handling
Page 4
Independent Complaints Advocacy
Page 5
The Care Act
Page 6
Partner Programme Dates for your diary
Page 7
Contact the team
Healthwatch North East Lincolnshire Newsletter November-December 2014
From all at Healthwatch North East Lincolnshire We welcome Bayard Tarpley who began working at the Healthwatch Office team on 20 October 2014 as Project Support Officer. Bayard joins us having recently worked as part of the ENFUSE community development team at VANEL and as a Public Health Assistant at North East Lincolnshire Council. A key task for Bayard is to contact Patient Participation Groups (PPGs), review involvement to date and develop a productive working relationship for the future. We have had some past success in issues raised by PPGs. For example, a concern raised about waiting times to access clinical psychology support has led to improved resourcing of this team within Navigo with a current plan to clear the existing backlog within a year while seeing new referrals more promptly. We believe that there are many other issue of common interest that could be better taken forward together. If you sit on a PPG, please try to make sure that Bayard is invited to your group in the near future.
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Healthwatch North East Lincolnshire Newsletter November-December 2014
One of the key issues for HWNEL is demonstrating what difference we are making. A recent example with a positive outcome is when we took an issue about the distance of 60m between consultation and counselling rooms in oncology (cancer care) at Diana Princess of Wales Hospital. We pointed out how walking through a public corridor area can add to the distress of patients who have just been told they have cancer. We were informed that following a planned reconfiguration to be completed September 2014 the distance would be reduced to 10m. Sometimes the outcome is to better understand the way that local health arrangements work so that we can inform and advise local people. An example of this was when we were approached by Quayside Medical Centre concerned that, following funding changes, they could no longer afford to subsidise and run their week-day walk-in service. We met representatives of North East Lincolnshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) to be advised that, while they had extended their contract with Quayside for a service covering week-ends and Bank Holidays, they were not willing to fund the week-day service previously subsidised through funding from NHS England. The CCG argued that week-day walk-in was a matter for all GP practices especially when dealing with temporary residents. Although locally registered patients were using Quayside when they experienced difficulties in seeing a GP at their own practice, the CCG pointed out that 9 out of 10 patients who turned up at A/E (Emergency Care Centre) and went through the GP service in that facility were redirected back to their own GP practice and seen by them the same day. Regular readers will know that we have already highlighted that accessing a GP in a timely manner was the main concern in the survey we conducted earlier this year. We also feel it is one thing for the GP service at A/E to get someone seen same day and quite another for that patients to argue successfully for a same day appointment.
We have taken up an issue about delays in completing continuing care assessments especially retrospectively e.g. where the person died before a decision was made. If a judgment is made that a person’s needs for care are primarily medical, they can have some or all of their care paid for by the NHS rather than be subject to a financial assessment to contribute towards that care. A chief concern raised was that, with the passage of time, key care information could be destroyed. We found that locally there had been over 200 outstanding retrospective assessments a year ago but that this had been reduced to around 140 through additional resourcing. However we felt that the pace of tackling this issue did not give any clear assurance of when the backlog would be cleared amnd we decided to escalate the issue to Healthwatch England and to the local Health Scrutiny Panel. Healthwatch England have agreed to get a better understanding of the national picture. Locally, the Health Scrutiny Panel examined the issue in September and have received an assurance that, if a pilot for externally commissioned work is successful, this will be extended to clear the backlog.
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Healthwatch North East Lincolnshire Newsletter November-December 2014
We have recently acted as a consultee for the Local Pharmaceutical Committee (LPC) of NHS England over an application by E A Broadburn (Chemists) to have a license to fully operate at Taylors Avenue Medical Centre. While they have a pharmacy on site this does not currently include a license to issue prescriptions over the counter on site. We decided to make a press release which was included in the Cleethorpes Chronicle and generated a large number of comments. We also agreed to spend time at the Taylors Avenue Medical Centre interviewing patients. We also raised the issue at other events we attended. Of 51 people who expressed an opinion and made comments, 50 were in favour of the application with just one raising concerns about the possible impact of the application upon another pharmacy. We passed these comments to the LPC to meet their 1 November 2014 deadline and await their decision on the matter.
We recently passed information to Healthwatch England about this subject and they made it their `Local Healthwatch story of the week’ on their weekly newsletter of 29 October 2014 saying: `Healthwatch North East Lincolnshire discovered that local people were not happy with how their complaints were handled at Diana Princess of Wales Hospital. Concerns were raised in particular over lack of contact in acknowledging and following up on complaints. After meeting with the Trust, significant improvements have been made:
Acknowledgements now made within three working days
A previous backlog of complaints has also been cleared
Resolution meetings recorded
The PALs office now records where people who raise concerns have come from to see whether wards are trying to resolve matters at the source A prioritisation system for responding is now in place. Email healthwatchnel@nbforum.org.uk for more information about this story.’ You can find a fuller report on this matter taken to our Executive Board on 25 September 2014 by going to the key information section of our website.
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Healthwatch North East Lincolnshire Newsletter November-December 2014
As some readers will know, Karen Smith, Independent Complaints Advocate, is now based with us and we thought it might be helpful to get a flavour of the sort of issues that she gets involved with by way of a case study. A 59 year old gentleman contacted the service. He had been diagnosed with asbestosis 4 years previously by a consultant and treated with medication to stabilise this condition. His original consultant retired and the client was assigned a new consultant who informed him that he had been wrongly diagnosed and did not have asbestosis. As a result of this new information the client discovered that he should not be taking the prescribed medication, including steroids and another drug. Unfortunately the steroids would have to still be taken by the client as his body had become dependent on them. The client requested a letter from the consultant to confirm the misdiagnosis and the additional information about the medication. Two weeks later the client had not received this letter so contacted the hospital and was told that the registrar had been laid off. Client then saw a locum practitioner who confirmed the initial diagnosis was incorrect. At this stage the client was diagnosed with emphysema. Since then the client has been offered a lung transplant. The client received an information pack and requested an advocate to support him with understanding the complaints process. As the client was able to write his own complaint but felt uncertain that he was progressing his complaint in line with the process a plan was agreed with the advocate for the advocate to check the client’s correspondence which made him feel confident in his approach and allowed him the opportunity to organise his thoughts through discussion. The client felt that the trust were taking too long in providing a written response given that his complaint was against one consultant and not complex enough in his opinion to warrant a lengthy investigation. Through discussing his options about this and the complaint itself, the client was able to clarify for himself that he wanted a meeting with the Trust to discuss his complaint. He was then able to contact the Trust himself and arrange a meeting. The client asked his advocate to attend the meeting with him as he was concerned that he would lose his temper and waste the opportunity to resolve his complaint. He was supported to prepare his agenda. At the meeting the client maintained his temper and following the meeting he stated that he was happy with the outcome.
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Healthwatch North East Lincolnshire Newsletter November-December 2014
The Care Act is coming! Highlights under the Act include:
A duty for local authorities (LAs) to promote physical, mental and emotional wellbeing when carrying out any care and support function for individuals A duty for LAs to provide/ arrange services to prevent, delay or reduce individuals’ needs for care and support An expanded entitlement to a carers’ assessment, triggered by the appearance of need. If a carer has eligible needs, they will have a right to support for them, just like the people they care for A national minimum eligibility criteria setting out when an individual’s needs for care and support must be met A cap on the contribution people make to their social care costs (as opposed to their daily living costs which do not count towards the cap) of £72,000, regardless of their assets A universal deferred payment scheme, available to those who meet the criteria, designed to avoid people having to sell their home in their lifetime to pay for residential care.
North East Lincolnshire’s Council (NELC) and Clinical Commissioning Group (NELCCG) are engaging with key partners and citizens across North East Lincolnshire to ensure readiness for the first of the Act’s provisions to come into force in April 2015 (followed by further provisions in April 2016). As part of this engagement staff within NELC, NELCCG and their delivery partner, Focus independent adult social work, may seek input from HealthWatch on a range of matters. Requests for input will be made in future HealthWatch newsletters. In the interim, expressions of interest in involvement in Care Act implementation are welcomed. Please let the office team know.
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Healthwatch North East Lincolnshire Newsletter November-December 2014
We welcome the Carers’ Support Service as the latest addition to our Partner Programme. We are particularly delighted with this development because the legal rights of carers to have their own assessment will be introduced from 1 April 2015 with the implementation of that part of the Care Act 2014. As a Healthwatch, we are monitoring what is happening and want to make sure that carers get the right support they need to continue their caring role. We have pointed out that, based on comments already logged, that appropriate respite is a particular issue and that a periodical break – even for a few hours – can make all the difference. We would like to hear from any carer who feels that their support needs are not fully recognised with examples of the additional sorts of help that might make that important difference. Carers Rights Day is Friday, 28 November 2014 and the Carers’ Support Service are planning a workshop event with discussion groups and keynote speakers. For further details, ring 01472 242277 or visit them at 1 TownHall Street, Grimsby.
The Executive Board meets on 18 November 2014 from 11.30 a.m. to 1.30 p.m. at Centre4, Wootton Road, Grimsby, DN33 1HE. Please note that this is a change of venue from that originally arranged. Board meetings are held in public and include a time for Questions and we would be delighted to see you there. HWNEL will be at the `Living Longer Living Well’ event at Grimsby Minster on 19 November 2014 from 10.00 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. The Living Well event is part of Self Care Week with its theme of `Self Care for Life – Be healthy this winter’. It provides a valuable opportunity to find out about steps we all can take to manage our own health and condition better. Why not pop in and seek us out? We will be holding our normal stand events as follows: 4 December 2014 – Cleethorpes Library 10am to 12noon 9 December 2014 – Diana Princess of Wales Hospital 10am to 12noon 13 January 2015 - Diana Princess of Wales Hospital 10am to 12noon In addition we plan stands at local supermarkets as follows: Tesco's (Grimsby) 24 November 2014 from 9am to 3pm Asda – 27 January 2014.(provisional) from 9am to 3pm
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Healthwatch North East Lincolnshire Newsletter November-December 2014
Contact The Team
Paul Glazebrook
Tayo Davenport
Bayard Tarpley
Partnership Co-ordinator
Communications & Engagement Worker
Project Support Officer
Meet The Board
Kathleen Young (Chair)
Sam O’Brien
Malcolm Morland
Jane Mansfield
Esther Smith
Michael Bateson
Sean Snelson (Co-optee)
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Healthwatch North East Lincolnshire Newsletter November-December 2014
Healthwatch North East Lincolnshire 146 Freeman Street, Grimsby, North East Lincolnshire, DN32 7AN.