Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies received.

Members to declare any interests in matters to be discussed at the meeting.

There were no declarations of interest.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 29 November 2022 as a correct record.

Resolved that the minutes of the meeting held on 29 November 2022 are approved as a correct record.

To determine whether there are any additional items of business to be considered as a matter of urgency.

There were no additional items of business to consider.

To receive an update on the development of the Midland Metropolitan University Hospital (MMUH).

The Committee received a presentation on the Fundamentals of Care (FOC) Framework, which was Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trusts’ flagship clinical improvement framework, driving a number of patient focussed strategic objectives.  The approach strove to improve basic standards of care, owned by all and applied consistently.

FOC focused on three strategic objectives – Patients, People and Population, all of which were intrinsically linked - happier staff would lead to happier patients, and seamless working with partners would improve outcomes and experiences.  The Framework comprised of three key values, and was underpinned by seven Standards – promoting independence, nutrition and hydration, communication, symptom management, sleep and rest, personalised care, and harm free care - which had been adapted from best practice and shaped with input from staff and the community. 

The Trust had appointed a Patient Experience Lead in January 2022 to implement a governance framework and systems of learning from patient experience; and to instigate and support the six workstreams to improve experiences of care. A multi-disciplinary Patient Experience Group (PEG) had been established, including external partners. PEG reviews progress against FoC from patient, relative and carers perspectives. 

Local and national patient experience benchmarking had been undertaken against national Care Quality Commission and NHS England measurement tools.  A self-assessment had also been carried out utilising NHS Improvement’s Patient Experience Improvement Framework and the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE).

The Patient Reported Experience Measures (PREM) programme had also been established and allowed local areas to measure specific experiential aspects of care (e.g. involvement in care, communication, kindness and respect etc.) and for areas to rely on the NHS Friends and Family Test as a single indicator of experience.  Over 60 areas Trust-wide (from zero in April 2022) now had the capability to gather additional experiential data electronically, aligned with FoC standards. 

From members comments and questions the following issues were highlighted:-

·      the PREM programme would highlight that one size did not fit all and methodology would be tailored to ensure that diversity was recognised;

·      carer aware training would be available to support carers, and representative groups were being consulted an asked to share insights on the carer experiences; the Trust considered itself a partner in the “care contract” and was looking to provide additional support to carers such as free parking or discounts;

·      the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) would be included in patient experience groups;

·      inclusively was hard wired into all of the Trust’s work;

·      a staff carers group was being established and a patient experience ambassadors programme to obtain a wide range  of input and experiences ;

·      there was good participation from youth groups;

Members welcomed the presentation and looked forward to receiving a future report on progress with the programme.

To provide an update to the Committee on the ongoing work to implement the changes from the formal conversation to Changes to Day Surgery held between March 2022 and April 2022.

The Board received an overview of progress that had been made with the build and delivery progression of the Midland Metropolitan University Hospital (MMUH).

The hospital was currently the biggest capital development in the English health service.  Upon completion, the hospital would include an emergency department, a dedicated children’s emergency department and a midwife led birth unit.  Under the acute care model for the hospital, consultants would be on site seven days a week and state of the art equipment would enhance diagnostics to support the provision of same day emergency care, preventing unnecessary admissions, ensuring that the length of stay was no longer than medically required and that patients were discharged to the most appropriate place and readmission was prevented.

#MoreThanAHospital, it would provide places for the wider public and local community to use, such as a community garden, a café/restaurant and a Winter Garden on the fifth floor of the building, which would also house an art gallery.

The design of the hospital centred on patient wellbeing with all rooms having an external view onto one of the courtyards or surrounding areas of the hospital.  50% of the beds were in single ensuite rooms, which would enhance infection control. Colour coded wards, with the same layout throughout the hospital, would also provide a dementia friendly environment.

Most outpatient care, day-case surgery and routine diagnostics would remain at the Sandwell (Hallam Street) and City Hospital sites. This included:-

·      A 24/7 urgent treatment centre at Sandwell Hospital.

·      Birmingham Treatment Centre and Birmingham and Midland Eye Centre (BMEC) at City Hospital.

·      Provision for step down / rehab facilities.

Significant changes continued to take place in community and primary care services so that even more care could be provided in people’s own homes.  Members noted the crucial work also being undertaken across 12 service areas to transform services to support the acute care model.  Excellent multi-agency relationships in Sandwell supported this programme of transformation. 

The Benefits Case predicted that the hospital building would have a useable efficient lifespan of 58years and would bring benefits to patients equating to around £796m; benefits to employees equating to around £982m and to the wider population equating to around £241m.

In terms of employment, 484 new staff were required to make the business case work, with a target of 35% being from the local population. A Leaning Campus on the site would host 1280 learners a year, with a focus on addressing skills shortages and providing pathways into long term employment. A partnership between the hospital, Sandwell College and Aston and Wolverhampton universities had been established to support recruitment efforts.

Work had been undertaken to incorporate the hospital into the local transport network, 1,600 car parking spaces and an onsite bus stop had been incorporated within the site proposals.  The transport plan was being finalised and would be publicly available from January 2024.

Community engagement activities with local groups had taken place to boost awareness of how healthcare provision would be changing in the Borough.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6/23

To update the Committee about Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust’s (SWB) approach to patient experience.

An update was noted on the ongoing work to implement the changes from the formal conversation around Changes to Day Surgery, which had been held between March 2022 and April 2022.

Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust would operate from two treatment centres for planned day surgery; these sites were the Birmingham Treatment Centre and the Sandwell Treatment (currently Sandwell General Hospital).  Acute care and elective surgery that required an overnight stay would be delivered at Midland Metropolitan University Hospital (MMUH). 

Over 4,000 people had been reached through a variety of engagement methods.  The following common themes emerged from the conversations:-

·               improve communication and information about the new hospital and what was moving and what was staying where when the new hospital opened;

·               travel and access to different sites would potentially have a financial and time impact on patients and their families and friends;

·              people could see the benefits for the future workforce;

·               Some people thought it would be clearer for patients and would provide a consistency of care, reduce wait leading to improved patient satisfaction.

A ‘plan on a page’ had been developed and was used to talk through and share with individuals and communities at every opportunity.  It offered an explanation of which services were moving to the new hospital and which were remaining at the treatment centres.  It was regularly updated, and a large print version was being developed, as well as and versions in our most spoken community languages.

To determine the matters that the Committee wishes to include on its work programme in 2023/24.

Resolved that the respective Chairs agree a programme of future meetings and a work programme.