Annual report summary 2014/15
From plans to reality Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust From plans to reality 2014/15
Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust Annual Report Summary 2014/15 Welcome This has been an exciting year in which we have celebrated our 10th anniversary as a Foundation Trust, but more importantly a year when many of our longstanding, strategic plans for the future have become a reality. It has been a period of new developments, but also significant challenges as we faced an unprecedented demand for our services. Our unremitting focus has been on high quality and outstanding patient care and we remain one of the few Trusts in the country who are consistently rated as band six – the best possible score – by healthcare regulator the Care Quality Commission (CQC). It has been an exciting time for everybody involved in QE Gateshead with the opening of two new world class buildings at the very heart of the services we provide. A brand new £32m Emergency Care Centre is now providing urgent medical care for our patients in some of the most modern surroundings in the country. This investment in new urgent care facilities will stand us in good stead for many years to come, placing us at the forefront of delivering emergency services in the NHS using a brand new way of working with patients. This state-of-the-art facility has been designed around and for patients. The layout has been chosen because it specifically reflects what people say they want from a modern NHS hospital, which includes single occupancy rooms with en suite bathrooms for all patients in our short stay wards. The building also includes a new main entrance for the whole hospital with all visitors and patients accessing the QE through a modern, bright atrium. This marks the start of an exciting new chapter for Gateshead with our innovative approach attracting a lot of attention from other health services across the world. Our new £12m Pathology Centre of Excellence is also now up and running, providing services across Gateshead, Sunderland and South Tyneside. There have been many highlights throughout the year and in January we celebrated 10 years of Foundation Trust status with a gathering of people who have played an important role in the amazing achievements of the past decade. At a time when the NHS nationally has been under more pressure and scrutiny than ever before, our staff teams have
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risen to the challenge and it was wonderful to see the passion, commitment and achievement first hand at our annual staff awards. However, like many other NHS organisations across the country QE Gateshead is now facing an increasingly challenging financial landscape. The local healthcare system is coming under increasing strain and at the QE we are seeing unprecedented demand for our services. Many similar Trusts, both here in the North East and across the rest of the UK, are facing the same financial pressures and we’re working very hard to develop a range of plans that will improve the financial position. We have already taken significant steps to tackle our financial deficit and are now developing robust and sustainable plans to guide us through this challenging economic situation. Despite this, the overriding priority during the next financial year will be in continuing to provide the highest levels of care for our patients, a trait that has been the hallmark of QE Gateshead for many years. This summary offers a broad look at the highlights from the past financial year, but a full version of the Annual Report is available on our website or by contacting the Trust Secretary, whose details are on the back cover of this brochure.
Julia Hickey, Chairman and Ian Renwick, Chief Executive.
Annual report summary 2014/15
World class facilities arrive in Gateshead Emergency Care Centre: Transforming the way we look after you, when you need us the most. A brand new, a state-of-the-art Emergency Care Centre for the people of Gateshead opened in February 2015 marking the start of a new era in healthcare for the region. This fantastic new unit brings innovative healthcare services to Gateshead and the bright, modern building includes single occupancy rooms with en suite bathrooms for all patients in the short stay wards. The new Emergency Care Centre building not only has a unique design and range of facilities, but it completely changes the way patients are cared for during an emergency by bringing together a wide range of services including: • accident and emergency • a walk in centre • GP services • medical & surgical assessment • urgent children’s services Now that the building is fully open it is transforming healthcare for both local people and staff at QE Gateshead with exceptional medical services and modern surroundings for visitors and patients.
The Pathology Centre: world class care, for life This year also saw the opening of our futuristic new home for pathology in Gateshead, which will also be providing services for several other organisations across the region. The new £12m centre operates at the cutting edge of pathology services and is so advanced that visitors from China, Israel, Australia, Germany, USA and the Middle East have all come to the QE to see the unit taking shape. The fantastic building contains some globally recognised new technology that provides health professionals with all the medical testing needed to run a modern hospital and deliver fast, accurate results for patients. These services are an essential part of the efficient and safe running of a hospital, analysing the thousands of tests every day. In fact, pathology is involved in more than 70% of all diagnoses made by the NHS.
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Good news Doctors and nurses at QE Gateshead are now using iPads and iPods instead of the traditional bedside paper observation charts. These new smart devices are now on the wards as part of an innovative project throughout the inpatient areas of the hospital.
Throughout the year the Trust has retained the highest safety mark from the national regulator with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) consistently awarding QE Gateshead a band 6 rating.
It was another busy year for our maternity team who have been praised for consistently providing an excellent service for families. Our head of midwifery appeared live on national television to talk about services at the QE.
A national survey of cancer patients has again named QE Gateshead as one of the best performing hospitals in the country. Gateshead came second in the national league table measuring patient experience across England. This is the fourth year running that Gateshead has featured in the national top five and is testament to the hard work and dedication of staff at the hospital.
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Annual report summary 2014/15
In Janua ry we we re c a decade of succes elebrating sb the 10 ye ar annive y marking rsary of becomin ga Trust. Alt n NHS Foundatio hough th n ere has been a h ospital o n the site since the 1930s, Q E Gatesh came int ead o existen ce in its current f orm on b ecoming Foundat a ion Trust o n 5 Janu 2005. Ov ary er the pa st ten ye the QE h ars as recruit ed more 15,000 p than eople as member worked s and with 79 as gover nors.
Over the last 18 months QE Gateshead has invested around ÂŁ160,000 into schemes that are improving local services for patients with dementia. The three main projects have made a real difference in the lives of patients who use the hospital and our other NHS units in Gateshead.
A pioneering method of IVF treatment that continuously monitors embryo development has become available at QE Gateshead. The system uses highly specialised incubators incorporating time lapse imaging and powerful data analysing software.
Our screening services have been praised by users and several patients told their story of how early detection helped save their life. We currently run several large screening services across the North of England including AAA, breast and bowel screening.
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Our plans delivered in 2014/15: Key achievements • Retained the Care Quality Commission band 6 rating (the highest grade possible) • A finalist in CHKS Top Hospitals Award (Excellence in A&E) • Our maternity services retain the top rating from the Care Quality Commission • We attained the North East Better Health at Work Gold Award • Two finalists from our team at the 2014 Nursing Times Awards • Ranked second in England by patients for their experience of cancer services Establishment of QE Facilities This year the Trust board approved plans for a different approach to the way we manage property and facilities following the opening of the new Emergency Care Centre building. A separate, but wholly owned organisation has been set up to provide building, engineering and maintenance, cleaning, security and waste disposal services for the new building and the rest of the Trust. We are facing a challenging financial landscape over the next few years and the establishment of this new organisation will provide a number of significant advantages and a greater flexibility to pursue a range of new opportunities in the future.
What our patients say about us Feedback from the public shows that we are providing a positive patient experience with an average of 96% of inpatients saying they would definitely recommend the hospital to family and friends. As well as this 88% of patients who completed the 2014 NHS inpatient survey would rate the care provided by QE Gateshead at 7/10 or above (Picker Institute, 2014). We currently score 4/5 stars on NHS Choices while 96% of inpatients say that our staff are caring and compassionate.
Monitoring our plans We have regularly monitored our improvement plans during 2014/15 through our Patient, Quality, Risk and Safety Committee as well as the Trust Board. This year our Quality Account reflects the excellent progress we have made against our priorities, including: • Continued improvement in reducing missed doses of critical medicines • Significant improvements in developing our ‘Dementia Friendly’ hospital • Expanding our 15 steps challenge programme of work • Improving mortality rates The Quality Account 2014/15 provides much more information about our performance over the year and is included as part of the Annual Report which is available online or as a hard copy from the Trust secretary.
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Annual report summary 2014/15
Our plans for the future Our five strategic themes The Trust’s five year strategic plan sets out the key themes that will guide our work in the future. The most important of these is that the patient is at the very centre of everything we do. We want our patients to experience the highest quality care and be empowered to influence at all levels. The plan takes a ‘whole-system’ view of work being developed with all partners throughout the local health economy including other agencies in the third and independent sectors. To ensure that we can deliver this strategy we publish a new operational plan every year. For more information visit: www.qegateshead.nhs.uk/operationalplan
Integration and innovation
Provider of choice
Patient centred, coordinated care
Ensuring long term sustainability
Expanding scope and portfolio
What you say about us There’s more ways than ever to share your views about the NHS, visit www.qegateshead.nhs.uk/yourfeedbackcounts for more.
“Amazing Service at @QEGateshead ECC today. Blown away by kindness of staff and particularly the incredibly helpful GP. Thank you” “Amazing facilities and care @QEGateshead in A&E” 7
Join us and have your say
There are many ways of getting involved with QE Gateshead, providing feedback or just hearing about all the latest news
Become a member By joining us as a member you will receive regular updates, the official newsletter and be invited to events, meetings and presentations about the hospital. You will also: • • • • •
Have a say in how the hospital develops its services Be able to vote in elections to the Council of Governors Be eligible to stand for election to the Council of Governors Get access to a number of shopping discount schemes Be eligible for discount in the restaurants at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and Bensham Hospital
You can register to become a member on our website at
www.qegateshead.nhs.uk/apply or contact us on 0191 4453713 or by email foundation.enquiries@ghnt.nhs.uk
Have your say Thanks for taking the time to read our story. We value your involvement and would welcome any comments and feedback about the Trust. Please email: Debbie Atkinson, Trust Secretary at debbie.atkinson@ghnt.nhs.uk Or write to us at: Membership Office, FREEPOST NAT14353, Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Sheriff Hill, Gateshead, NE9 6BR.
Join the conversation You can join the growing conversation about healthcare in Gateshead online by following one of our social media profiles:
Find us on facebook: www.facebook.com/qegateshead Follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/QEGateshead For all the latest news and information about the Trust visit our website: www.qegateshead.nhs.uk Check out some of the feedback people are giving us: http://issuu.com/qegateshead/docs/patient_feedback_online