Hospital pharmacy department receives national award

Nice to see Basildon Hospital in the news for something positive for a change.

Your Opinion about Basildon & Thurrock Hospital

Thurrock Council is asking local people to tell it what their thoughts are about the standards of service provided by the Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals Trust.

Earlier this year the council's Health and Well-being Overview and Scrutiny Committee set up a specialist panel to look into the work of the trust. The move followed criticism of the hospitals at the end of 2009 and early in 2010.

The aim is to fulfil the council's obligation to ensure good health services for all residents and the consultation is open to all local people to take part.

Among those being consulted are service users, carers, GPs, and hospital staff.

The main consultation is online (click on the topic above), but the panel is also carrying out site visits, and arranging focus group meetings.

Questions in the consultation include:

- cleanliness
- hospital-acquired infections
- hospital response times to reports of problems, and
- staffing levels

The consultation was launched on 10 May and runs until 11 June. A report is expected to be released in July this year.

Please click on the topic to go straight to the consultation.

FOLLOW-UP CQC SPOTCHECK CONFIRMS IMPROVEMENTS AT BASILDON UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL

Hygiene standards are being met at Basildon University Hospital according to the Care Quality Commission (CQC). This followed their return visit to carry out an unannounced spotcheck in the A&E Department and Medical Admissions Unit.

“We very much regret the unacceptable conditions that the CQC team found when they inspected A&E in October. We took immediate remedial action during the visit and instigated a series of actions in response to their feedback”, said Alan Whittle, Chief Executive. “We are pleased they have been able to report positively on the improvements that they saw on their second visit.”

The CQC confirmed that the trust has:
- carried out cleaning audits and made sure the cleaning contractor is alerted to any problems
- allocated additional cleaners to the A&E department to ensure cleaning staff are available at all times
- introduced systems to ensure patient areas are cleaned after each use
- made sure patient trolleys are clean and uncluttered
- replaced procedure trays used by staff to carry equipment when they take blood samples or give injections - these are now disposable
- replaced all trolley mattresses in A&E. (Trolley mattresses across the whole trust have also been checked and replaced where appropriate.)
- ensured single-use items are in date and with packaging intact
- taken action to repair damage to doors, doorframes and chairs
- increased frequency of audits to ensure policies and practices are being followed.

In November 2009, Monitor, the Foundation Trust regulator told the Trust Board it wanted it to see more rapid results in quality improvements. To address this:

1. A Quality Improvement Programme had been developed jointly with NHS South West Essex so that we could jointly address the issue of the Dr Foster Hospital Standardised Mortality Ratio (HSMR).
2. It was agreed with Monitor that we would commission PricewaterhouseCoopers to set up a Programme Management Office (PMO) in the Trust to help drive the work forward more quickly.
3. In addition, the Medical Director from Guy's and St Thomas and the Chief Nurse from University College London Hospitals have been asked to provide independent clinical advice and mentorship to the Hospital's Medical Director and Director of Nursing.

The Hospital states: "We hope that patients and all local residents will be reassured by the latest inspection, which confirms that Basildon University Hospital is meeting hygiene and infection control standards. This is further demonstrated by the fact that we have had only one case of MRSA bloodstream infection acquired in the hospital to date this year.”

Thurrock Council's Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee are meeting with the Hospital this evening to obtain formal feedback to the concerns of residents. I'll be attending the meeting and feedback any outcomes.

Questionable Care standards at Basildon Hospital

Monitor, the Hospital's inspectors has found Basildon and Thurrock Hospital Trust to be in breach of their terms of authorisation as a Foundation Trust.

The Chairman, Mr Large agreed that "it is an extremely serious matter and we do not seek to underestimate its gravity.” But assures residents that that the safety and well-being of our patients is the Hospital's highest priority.

Monitor, has now decided to set up:
A monitoring team it squad to help turn the hospital around as inspectors found blood-splattered equipment and an unusually high death rate among patients.

Below is the extract of the Hospital's response:

STATEMENT IN RESPONSE TO MONITOR’S INTERVENTION
“That Monitor has found us to be in breach of our terms of authorisation as a
Foundation Trust is an extremely serious matter and we do not seek to
underestimate its gravity”, Trust Chairman, Michael Large said. “I want to
reassure our local community that the safety and well-being of our patients is
our highest priority.
“We welcome the fact that the regulator has recognised the progress we have
made in reducing the Dr Foster measure of mortality. Monitor also
acknowledge that we have an effective programme in place to make further
improvements.
“We welcome the opportunity to work with advisors to specifically focus on the
areas where we need to make rapid changes.
“The Trust has a clear strategy for improving patient safety and sets
ambitious improvement targets, reporting performance measures monthly.
We understand that Monitor needs to assure itself and the public that the
concerns that have led them to this intervention are not indicative of wider
problems. I am confident they are not. We have had expert independent
clinical advice and nothing has pointed to a fundamental problem with clinical
care. But we are not complacent and this further scrutiny of our leadership
and governance processes is another opportunity for us to prove ourselves.”

Swine Flu death at Basildon Hospital

Dear all

In my role as a Governor of the Basildon and Thurrock Hospital Trust, I received the following sad press release -

Unfortunately, a patient with swine flu (H1N1) died at Basildon University Hospital on Friday 10 July.

The patient had no underlying health conditions. This case tragically underlines that, although the virus is proving generally mild in most people, it is more severe in some cases. As with all flu like viruses, some people are at higher risk than others. Unfortunately, people who are otherwise healthy could also become seriously ill or, sadly, die.

NHS East of England and Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust would like to extend their deepest sympathies to the family affected as they come to terms with their loss.

NHS East of England continues to urge people to help protect the most vulnerable and reduce the risk of spreading the virus. Everyone can play their part by practising good hygiene and using tissues to catch all sneezes, throwing used tissues away, and regularly washing their hands.

In the vast majority of cases swine flu is a very mild illness. However, if you have symptoms it is important that you talk to your doctor if you are pregnant, very young (under five), over 65 or have long-term conditions, such as asthma or diabetes, as you may be more susceptible to the virus.

You can check your symptoms online at www.nhs.uk or by calling the swine flu information line on 0800 1 513 513. If you are still concerned or feel very unwell, please call NHS Direct on 0845 46 47 or telephone your GP for more advice.