Learning from deaths James Davison I have been to Southend twice now for 2 eye operations, plus attended eye appointments. I found on every occasion the staff to be very welcoming and felt I was looked after very well.
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@Jo_13Stone @SouthendNHS @NHSMillions once again thank u so much for the excellent care I recieved whilst in Day Stay Unit (day before my birthday!). Everyone from HCAs, nurses and doctors looked after me so well :-)
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Tracey Stott Shopland Ward. Shout out to HCA’s Charlotte Barry, Annabelle and all the night girls for maintaining my dignity, keeping me as independent as possible and just being a pleasure to be around.
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Southend Hospital has recently introduced a new Medical Examiner role in response to Department of Health reforms. The new way of working involves the Medical Examiner supporting doctors in preparing medical certificates of cause of death (MCCD), talking to bereaved families about their loved ones and ensuring the right cases are referred to the coroner. A Medical Examiner is a senior consultant who was not involved in the care of the patient but who is employed by the hospital to look at the circumstances surrounding the death of every adult who dies whilst an inpatient. Kerri Legg, Head Nurse for Quality and Mortality, explains more: “The new medical examiner role has been established to benefit and support the public, the health service and local authorities to make sure that all deaths are robustly scrutinised. At Southend Hospital, a key role of the Medical Examiner is to make it easier for bereaved relatives to raise any concerns they might have about the quality of care provided to a loved one as well as helping families understand the medical cause of death before meeting with the registrar. “It’s really important that bereaved families have the opportunity to ask questions about the circumstances leading to the death of a loved one and that, as a Trust, we respond to those concerns with the most meaningful and appropriate next step,
n Suzie Marshak, Bereavement Officer and Dr John Day, Medical Examiner
ensuring that the bereaved are partners in learning from death. The new role will also ensure that deaths with concerns in care are escalated to the directorates for further, in depth, structured judgement reviews.” The Medical Examiners support medics across the Trust in accurately completing MCCDs which will in turn ensure that we are sharing statistics across the wider NHS and beyond to help with evaluation and planning of future health services. Dr David King, Lead Medical Examiner at the hospital, added: “We have taken the recommendations from proposed national guidance and established our service in a way that gives bereaved families and carers a genuine channel to talk about the lessons they want learned from a patient’s death. “When a member of the bereavement team talks to a bereaved relative, they give the option of raising any concerns to a medical
examiner before the medical certificate is issued as well as explaining the cause of death which has been stated on the death certificate. “As well as talking with families, the Medical Examiner also talk to doctors, nurses and other members of the MDT involved with the care of the patient to gain a full understanding of the circumstances leading to the patient’s death. This has strengthened the way the Trust recognises, reviews and responds to concerns in care and means we are proactively seeking opportunity to learn, which can only enhance the care we provide.”
nJulieKent–Bereavementco-ordinator
New compliments process launched On 1 July, the Trust launched a new and more robust process for logging and acknowledging compliments from patients and visitors. Staff can now forward compliments received directly to the Patient Experience Team based in the Education Centre or email thank.you@
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southend.nhs.uk where each compliment will be logged and acknowledged. A copy of the letter will be forwarded to the relevant area to ensure it is shared with all those who are mentioned. Julie Seal, Patient Experience, Bereavement and PALS Team Leader, said: “It’s
always a pleasure to receive compliments and to hear that staff at Southend Hospital are appreciated both for their hard work and for their attitude towards patients and visitors alike. This is why we have improved the process to make it easier for patients and visitors to submit their kind words.”
July 2018