Agenda item

To review the Quality Account 2015/16 of Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and submit comments for inclusion in the Account

Audrey Jones, Head of Clinical Governance, provided an overview of the Quality Accounts 2015/16 for Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (CWP). During the presentation members of the Committee asked questions and discussed their views on the Quality Account.

Regarding the performance of the Trust the following comments were made:

·         The comments that councillors on the Committee most often received about services were related to extended waiting times, particularly for services for children and young people. The Committee wanted to see more information in the Quality Account about waiting times and how delays impacted on patients’ wellbeing.

·         The Committee was disappointed with the resourcing of PALS and complaints as it did not believe that one full time post was able to effectively provide the services across the large area that CWP covered. The Committee hoped to see greater resourcing of PALS in future to facilitate an increase in activity.

·         The Committee was also keen to understand why there had been a significant reduction since 2013/14 in the Trust’s compliance with ‘advancing the quality programme for dementia and psychosis’; although the Trust was still achieving above target there had been a worrying decline.

Regarding the content of the Quality Account the following comments arose:

·         The Committee was disappointed with the content of the Quality Account as it did not provide a clear picture of the performance of the Trust in terms of providing good quality outcomes for patients. More information was required in the Quality Account to provide context to the figures provided and enable to Committee to effectively scrutinise the performance of the Trust.

·         The Quality Account also failed to provide sufficient information about how the Trust was going to achieve its objectives and how it was going to address the weaknesses that the CQC report, although generally rated as good, highlighted.

·         The Committee hoped that future Quality Accounts would provide much more meaningful information to demonstrate that the Trust was delivering a good quality services that provided excellent experiences and outcomes for patients.

·         The Committee was also disappointed with the lack of information regarding eating disorders and suicides which were considered to be a very important issue that affected a lot of people; particularly young people.

It was not possible to ascertain whether performance in Cheshire East was equal to other areas, or whether there were issues in particular parts of Cheshire East, based on the information provided in the Quality Account. The Committee understood that the Trust worked across a large geographical area that covered several local authorities however it wanted more information about performance in Cheshire East. The Committee agreed to request more detailed information about Cheshire East and have more in-depth discussions with senior representatives of the Trust at a future meeting.

The Committee was requested to submit a statement regarding its views on the Quality Account to CWP so that it could be included in the final version of the Quality Account.

RESOLVED:

(a)  That the Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust Quality Account for 2015/16 be noted.

(b)  That the Chairman be requested to write to the Trust to submit the Committee’s statement for inclusion in the Quality Account.

(c)  That an item to request attendance of the Trust at a future meeting to discuss performance in Cheshire East be added to the work programme.