Provider bulletin: 18 October 2017

This checklist has been proven to improve clinical processes and reduce serious incidents from unrecognised patient deterioration in crowded emergency departments.

Ruth May, our Executive Director of Nursing and Kathy McLean, our Executive Medical Director, outline our support for this excellent and clinically developed tool. 

Unless you are already using an evidence-based tool, we recommend you implement the checklist as part of your approach to ensuring patient safety.

Webinar on how to use and implement the checklist

Monday 23 October

9.30am to 10.30am

This will be led by Dr Emma Redfern, Consultant in Emergency Medicine at University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust. 

Could your senior leaders benefit from support to successfully tackle large scale, multi-stakeholder challenges? We've designed this ACT Academy programme to support senior cross system leadership teams who want to build their capability to deliver system-wide change.

Teams will work together on their chosen change area through a series of three 2-day workshops between February and May 2018. 

Teams will include up to eight people, mainly at director level, who represent key programmes across the system (ie accountable care organisations or sustainability and transformation partnerships), including local authority and third sector stakeholders involved in the system-wide change being undertaken.

The programme is fully funded except for any travel and accommodation costs. Applications close 5pm Friday 8 December 2017.

Long-term opioid prescribing for chronic non-cancer pain is becoming an increasing issue in England. 

Faye's story puts these potential dangers into reality by describing, from her parents' perspective, the sequence of events that ultimately led to her untimely death from respiratory depression. They also outline the lessons learned by the GP practice involved in the case that they want to share with all healthcare professionals.

Please share these resources with those in your team involved in managing patients with long term pain, and encourage them to reflect on their own, and their teams, practice.

We issued a patient safety alert last year about the risk of severe harm and death due to withdrawing insulin from pen devices.

This video is a reminder that: 

• an insulin syringe and needle must not be used to withdraw medication directly from a patient’s insulin pen device 
• organisations should ensure staff have advance access to appropriate equipment and training for using these devices, so they are prepared if at any point their patients become unable to use their own pen 

We've developed a plan with the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM), NHS England and Health Education England to grow the workforce, reduce attrition in medical training and ensure emergency departments are attractive places to work. 

Our new framework combines national policy, guidance and best practice from organisations achieving an ‘outstanding’ rating from CQC to support directors of nursing and medical directors to improve the standard of care they deliver to patients with dementia. By describing what ‘outstanding’ care looks, it also provides a system of assurance for provider boards.

It applies to all services and consists of eight standards that you should strive to meet.

We recommend it forms part of your quality improvement programme. 

The 2016/17 corporate data services collection template will be issued in early November for all providers to complete by the end of the month. 

To see your trust's data for 2015/16 please log in / register for the Model Hospital. 

Friday 20 October

12.30pm - 1.30pm

Our new emergency flow improvement tool is an intuitive data visualisation tool that gives you extensive information on patient flow through your emergency departments and beyond.

Join us to hear how the tool can help you identify the particular points in your system that may be slowing patient flow between arrival and discharge, and help you target improvement efforts. 

21 - 22 November

Excel London

Ruth May, our Executive Director of Nursing, will open this conference with an overview of the national agenda for Gram-negative blood stream infections.

Although the ticket price is £399 + VAT, Patient First has offered us a number of education grants for IPC leads and their teams to attend for one and/or two days for free using the code below.

Wednesday 1 November

Leicester

This event is for chairs to discuss issues and challenges and network. Dale Bywater, our Midlands & East Executive Regional Managing Director, will provide a regional update followed by a Q&A session.

Thursday 19 October

4pm to 8pm

London

Chaired by Steve Russell, our London Executive Regional Managing Director, the event will include sessions on:

• learning from deaths 
• working relationships between providers and STPs (led by Ben Dyson, Executive Director of Strategy at NHS Improvement)
• the role of the non-executive director

Friday 19 January

London

This event is for chairs to discuss issues and challenges and network. Steve Russell, our London Executive Regional Managing Director, will provide a regional update followed by a Q&A session. 

Webinar – transforming care, 12.30pm to 1.30pm Thursday 26 October

This webinar aims to support care professionals to improve the quality of care they deliver to people with a learning disability and/or autism.

Find out more and sign up.

NHS Standard Contract 2017-19 – consultation on proposed National Variation 

NHS England has published consultation documents on the NHS Standard Contract. Email your comments on the proposals to england.contractsengagement@nhs.net by close of play Friday 10 November 2017.