NHS GRAMPIAN Minute of the Grampian Area Partnership Forum (GAPF) held on Monday 12 December 2016 at 2.00pm Conference Room, Summerfield House

Transcription

1 NHS GRAMPIAN Minute of the Grampian Area Partnership Forum (GAPF) held on Monday 12 December 2016 at 2.00pm Conference Room, Summerfield House Approved Present: Sharon Duncan, Staff Side Chair/Employee Director (Chairperson) Malcolm Wright, Chief Executive Paul Allen, General Manager, Facilities Christina Cameron, Programme Manager (deputy to Graeme Smith) Susan Carr, Associate Director of AHPs: Adult Protection Lead (deputy for Amanda Croft) Susan Coull, Head of HR Ian Francis, CSP Pam Gowans, Chief Officer, Moray Integration Joint Board Alistair Grant, RCN Keith Grant, UNISON (deputy for Martin McKay) Laura Gray, Communications Director Gerry Lawrie, Head of Workforce and Development Steven Lindsay, Unite Rachael Little, SOCAP Stephen Merchant, Head of Health and Safety Gary Mortimer, General Manager, Acute Mike Park, Staff Side Health and Safety Chairperson Catherine Quinn, Deputy Service Manager, GMed Sandy Reid, Senior Service Manager Anne Ross, Head of Performance and Quality Maurice Scott, GMB Alasdair Walker, Clinical Directorate Manager Karen Watson, Unite Joan Anderson, Partnership Support Officer In Attendance Linda Duthie, Public Health for item 5a Kevin Leslie, Smoking Advice Service Coordinator for item 5a Nigel Firth, Equality & Diversity Manager for item 6a Louise-Anne Budge, Service Project Manager - The ANCHOR Centre for item 8a Item Subject 1 Apologies Apologies were received from Annie Ingram, Director of Workforce, Rhona Atkinson, Non-Executive Director, Rebecca Clark, BDA, Mike Ogg, General Manager, Jim Clark, GMB (Maurice Scott deputising), Amanda Croft, Director of Nursing (Susan Carr deputised), Alan Gray, Director of Finance, Tracy Miller, RCM, Graeme Smith, Director of Modernisation (Christina Cameron deputised), Martin McKay, UNISON (Keith Grant deputised), Gemma Barclay, SOR, Deirdre McIntyre, SOCAP, Mike Adams, UCATT, Eric Sinclair, Chair of Staff Governance Committee 1

2 2 Minute of Last Meeting held on 23 November 2016 The minute of the last meeting was approved. 3 Matters Arising Shuttle Buses Paul Allen had commissioned some work to look at the shuttle bus trends. He would report back to the next meeting. PA Toolbox Talks It was made clear that staff did not have to do a toolbox talk more than once, other than as a refresher. The toolbox talks were reissued for staff who had not undertaken them all. 4 Appropriately Trained and Developed a. Induction Linda McKerron was unable to attend the meeting. The induction paper, specifically about the new induction programme, had not yet been presented to the Health and Safety Executive Group as the delivery date was next year. The GAPF Communications Sub-Group had talked a lot about induction over the last two years and it was agreed to share the draft with the Communications Sub-Group for comments once it was almost ready. GL/LG b. AT Learning Sharon Duncan explained that there were some ongoing issues with staff access, etc of AT Learning. A small group comprising Gerry Lawrie, Linda McKerron, Karen Watson and Rachael Little would meet to discuss. They would have a computer screen in front of them to look at the issues. GL Gerry Lawrie outlined that AT Learning was a system fed from the Scottish Workforce Information Standard System (SWISS) which linked with eksf and vice versa. There had been a query about whether buying Learnpro would make it easier for staff. Learnpro was not a learning management system so it would need to be supplemented with another system, so there would be two systems. Learnpro may be part of a solution but it would not resolve all the issues itself. 5 Involved in Decision Making a. Consultation on Proposal for Restrictions on Smoking outside Hospital Buildings Linda Duthie and Kevin Leslie attended the meeting to outline the Scottish Government consultation on the proposed restrictions on smoking outside hospital buildings. 2

3 They explained that it was the Organisations responsibility to enforce the smokin legislation. The Scottish Government were doing a limited consultation on four issues as outlined in DL (2016) 08 November These were: The perimeter of the no-smoking area around hospital buildings should be at a distance of 15 meters; For which, if any, NHS hospitals, individual hospital buildings or specified areas of land should the no-smoking arrangements not be brought into effect; Would it be helpful if the Scottish Government regulated for the manner of display, form and content of no smoking notices? Should the fixed penalties and maximum fines on conviction be kept consistent with the penalties and fines already in place for smoking inside hospital buildings? Royal Cornhill Hospital management had submitted an exemption application. The current NHS Grampian policy may not change, but it may require syncing with new legislation. The smoking enforcement officers would be employed by local authority. They would be the only people who could fine people for smoking in non-smoking areas. That was all that was known meantime responses to the smoking survey had been received at the deadline of Friday 9 December Some of the comments included: staff felt the ability to fine people would help; clearer signage was needed; ban isn t effective; need more litter bins. There was a discussion on how to support staff to challenge people smoking in the wrong places. elearning had been offered. Not everyone had access to a computer and other options would be looked at. Staff needed to feel safe as well as comfortable before they should approach someone. Staff should not do so otherwise. There was an issue around people smoking at the bus shelters at Foresterhill while staff waited for buses. Better signage may assist with issues such as smoke going into windows, ventilation systems, etc. It was noted that signage could be re-evaluated as and when the need arose. There were issues around patients smoking at the doors who were unable to move away any further to go off site, or 15 meters away from the building. It was thought that the 15 meter boundary would bring massive confusion around where smoking could take place. 3

4 There were also good neighbour issues, with people living around hospital Sites already complaining about moving the smoking to outside the grounds. There was a risk to safety putting people away from entrances to dark areas. The Scottish Government would pay for new signage as this would all have to change within NHS Grampian. It was agreed that members of the group who had networks and linkages nationally should use these to pass on the views of GAPF. Malcolm Wright reported that this would be discussed at the Senior Leadership Team. ALL MW b. Policy on the Safety Use and Disposal of Sharps This policy had been prepared as a protocol but at the last minute had been informed that it was to be a policy and be ready for HSE visit on 15 December. Apologies were given to the forum for the short notice. Sharon Duncan explained that the Staff Side Group that had met just prior to GAPF had a few comments on the policy. Stephen Merchant agreed to consider the comments and update the policy. The GAPF approved the policy subject to the amendments as follows: SM 1. Change the word aperture to opening wherever it appeared. 2. Page 9, second last paragraph required re-wording as some members of staff would have to use fingers for this. 3. The last paragraph on page 9 was inconsistent with the fifth paragraph on page 10. This to be amended. 4. In first paragraph on page 10, the sentence It is illegal to tamper with any piece of equipment supplied by the employer required rewording as some departments had a role to customise equipment. Stephen Merchant explained that there was legislation around this item. The wording would be made clearer and possibly legislation added. 5. Page 10, sixth paragraph reword as follows If a sharp must be disconnected from its holder, syringe etc., then a one-handed method must be utilised such as: using the purpose designed grooves on sharps containers; specialist blade removal devices, etc. Never use a two-handed method. 6. Page 10, 5.3 second bullet point change malodorous to smells 4

5 offensive 7. Page 11, third paragraph under Transportation add at the beginning Where available. 8. Page 13, paragraph three Clinical Governance Committee needed to be explained similar to the other committees which had been explained earlier in the policy. 9. Page 13, paragraph four Waste Manager required to be explained as earlier in the policy where other posts were explained. It was noted that this policy was being approved out with the usual process for the purpose of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) visit on 15 December A short review date of 2 years was agreed, with a recognition that the HSE may ask for a shorter review date than that. A big thankyou was given to everyone involved in preparing and reviewing the policy ready for GAPF so quickly. c. GAPF Constitution Sharon Duncan explained that this document had been discussed at GAPF a number of months ago, but had never been finally approved. The group approved the constitution. It was noted that the paper NHS Grampian Working in Partnership with Staff, Formal Arrangements for the Conduct of Employee Relations required updating to bring in line with the constitution. This would be done and taken back to GAPF for approval. SD 6 Treated Fairly and Consistently, with Dignity and Respect, in an Environment where Diversity is Valued a. Equality and Diversity Update Nigel Firth attended the meeting to update on the British Sign Language (BSL) and an updated edition of Religions and Cultures. Nigel outlined the BSL Scotland Act 2015 which originated three years previously. He felt not all public bodies were reaching the targets required. Deaf people were one of the most vulnerable groups in society. Nigel had been invited to join the Scottish Government Equal Opportunities Committee. A local group also met and fed into the Scottish Government group. Locally they had requested that the Scottish Government fund a series of fully funded university places to train in BSL but this had been turned down and not included in the national strategy. NHS Grampian had access to four qualified BSL interpreters. This was not enough and outpatients appointments had to be rearranged when no-one was available. NHS Orkney only had one BSL interpreter. 5

6 To supplement BSL interpreters, there was a Video BSL package and two apple ipads. These allow staff to communicate until an BSL interpreter arrives. There were different versions of Video BSL eg one with Glasgwegian words and one with Doric words. NHS Grampian spent over 45k last year on BSL interpreters which was more than any other public body in Grampian. It was felt that this was still not enough and other bodies may not be doing enough. Nigel thought NHS Grampian was the only Board to offer progression from the introduction to BSL to SVQ level. This role was to assist until BSL interpreter arrived, not to replace the interpreter. There were refresher courses for SVQ level training only. There were no refresher courses for introductory level as there was not the capacity to do this. A national BSL strategy should be in place in 2017, at which point the local strategy would need to be reviewed. It was expected that the local NHS Grampian strategy would already cover most of the issues. Nigel Firth explained that the Spiritual Care Committee had produced a third revised version of Religions and Cultures in Grampian. This was a very good document and over 2000 had been given out over the last two years. The practical guide was available in all wards, school and police station. All community nursing staff had them. They were invaluable to assist staff to understand the requirements for patients on a variety religions or cultures. 7 Well Informed a. Finance Report The finance report would be circulated to GAPF when ready. The Scottish Government budget would be announced on 15 December. AG b. Acute Sector Restructuring Gary Mortimer explained that the Acute Sector restructuring came about because two posts became vacant. There was a time to reflect on a structure to fit needs. This took six months which was longer than planned. Consultation took place on six options. A paper had been circulated with the agenda outlining the current position of the structure. Some services had been realigned and some teams brought together rather than separated across NHS Grampian. The process was not completely finished and it was still to be decided where some departments would be best placed. There was no timescale for this. Staff in these departments should be involved, but if they were not, they were to ask their manager for information. The two vacant posts were out to advert and closing date was 16 December. 6

7 It was hoped to interview in January people attended an Acute Planning Day held the week before. Attendees came from Integration Joint Boards (IJB), Ambulance Service, Neighbouring Boards as well as NHS Grampian. It was a very good example of people coming together and it was planned to hold a similar event annually. c. Timetable for GAPF Sub-Groups to report to GAPF Sharon Duncan explained that each GAPF Sub-Group would give an annual report to GAPF and this was being planned for d. Two year timetable for GAPF Sector Away Days Sharon Duncan explained that to ensure that there were not too many sector away days in one year, the timetable for every sector to hold an event was extended to a two year period. Each Sector would have to give an annual presentation to GAPF. Dates for both c. and d. would be added to the calendar at the end of each agenda. 8 Provided with a continuously improving and safe working environment, promoting the health and wellbeing of staff, patients and the wider community a. Baird and Anchor Project * Louise Budge attended the meeting to update on progress for the Baird and Anchor Project (presentation attached). There had been a massive amount of communication around this project. Louise and others in the team had visited numerous areas with the presentation including Orkney and Shetland. Information was on facebook, twitter and the website. It was noted that this new building was being funded from capital funding and was not a charity paid building. The physical designs would be complete by the end of March Construction would solely depend on when Foresterhill Health Centre build was signed off. This new build would begin the next day and open at the end of Aberdeen Maternity Hospital building would then be demolished. Sharon Duncan proposed a communication to commend all the work done on communication of this project. SD Malcolm Wright and Stephen Logan had met with the project team and had been amazed at the amount of communications. The quote from Yvonne Summers, Quality Manager, Scottish Government could not be underestimated, she said exemplary involvement so far. 7

8 The lessons learning from this project would be transferred for future projects. b. Health and Safety Executive (HSE) Inspection Update Stephen Merchant outlined the paper submitted to the group with the agenda. The deadlines the HSE had given for the improvement notices were 31 December 2016 and 1 February The work around health and safety improvements would not stop after the deadlines had passed. All policies and processes developed during this time would need to be rolled out to the whole organisation. Health and Safety was everyone s responsibility. Everyone was asked to encourage staff to challenge things they felt to be unsafe. Not everything would cost money to improve. Everyone was congratulated on the amount of work undertaken since the HSE came in during July There had been a good uptake on the toolbox talks. Other Boards were also receiving visits from the HSE. Good practice was being shared between Boards. The HSE were to be visiting ARI and Dr Gray s Hospital on 15 December Everyone was asked to assure staff that they were to answer any questions by the HSE to their best ability and not to be too anxious. If a member of staff didn t know the answer they were to say that. It was suggested that a member of staff could take an HSE officer to the notice board and show them the signposting information. Staff Side Representatives would be available in Dr Gray s Hospital and RACH on 15 December to support staff. There would also be support offered to staff following the visit. The Chief Executive and the Senior Leadership Team had a series of meetings and agreed further investment to take forward health and safety issues. It was acknowledged that not all things needed money eg the Statement of Intent. The GAPF formally thanked everyone for the amount of work which had been put into health and safety. and it was acknowledged that this was on top of a lot of other work that had been ongoing. There were lessons learned for the medium to long term. Things were not to be put in place for short term gain. There should be an honest objective to note where NHS Grampian was compared to legislation, and a trajectory to achieve the level of the legislation. 8

9 9 Sector Partnership Reports a. Acute Gary Mortimer highlighted that there were still a lot of car parking problems at Foresterhill. There had been discussions around relaxing the fines to people who had parked in the wrong place where this was not dangerous or illegal. These discussions are ongoing. b. Aberdeenshire No-one available to add to the written report received. c. Moray Pam Gowans noted that there needed to be work around the Integration Joint Boards (IJBs) and how it worked with the Partnership Forum. d. Aberdeen City Sandy Reid reported that there would be an Aberdeen Health and Social Care Partnership Staff Recognition Awards Event in February e. Facilities Paul Allen noted that the work around the HSE improvement notices had taken a lot of capacity of teams and this now needed to be mainstreamed within the work capacity. The Facilities interim structure had been out for consultation and a large number of comments had been fedback. A revised structure would be developed. The water supply had now been buried at Glen o Dee following the fire. Work was ongoing to find a long term plan. A Facilities careers video was available on the intranet. A hand held device was being piloted for community facilities staff to enable them to have real time access to the helpdesk. This would save a lot of travel back to the office to receive information therefore efficiencies should be seen. Everyone was asked to stay vigilant and report any suspicious activity for example people on roofs at night as a lot of lead had been taken already. This was to be reported to a manager. Sharon Duncan commended the work done around the Skin improvement notice with domestic staff and also the input into the development of toolbox tools. 9

10 f. Mental Health and Learning Disabilities Service Alasdair Walker reported that nurse staffing remained the biggest concern. Although better temporarily, there was no solution and contingency plans were discussed at the Local Partnership Forum. Alasdair informed the group that his rotation on GAPF had come to an end and Karen Gunn would take over for the next six months. g. Corporate Rachael Little explained that the Corporate Partnership Forum had not met for some time but a plan was in place to resolve this. There was a knock on effect to car parking and shuttle buses and emergency vehicular access because of the parking issues at Foresterhill. Paul Allen said he had received a number of s from Summerfield House staff highlighting safety concerns. One of his team had visited both Summerfield House and Woodend Hospital site to check safety issues. These would be followed up and escalated if required. PA It was noted there was an inconsistency with the policies for car parking on different sites as there was fining on Foresterhill site but not on other sites. 10 Any Other Competent Business Winter Ward The offers to staff the winter ward only covered 60-70% of shifts to date. Discussion was taking place about compressing dates for the winter ward to be able to staff fully in a shorter time. As there was no GAPF until mid January, communications on this would be sent from Gary Mortimer to Joan Anderson to share with GAPF. Further updates at next meeting as well. GM/JA One Week for Winter Sharon Duncan had discussed this with the lead for this project and wanted to confirm that staff time was being asked as a combination of release of time and volunteering own time. 11 Communication to Organisation from GAPF It was agreed to communicate with staff following the HSE visit on 15 December, to commend staff for all their work and update on any further information. SD Baird and Anchor Project - Sharon Duncan proposed a communication to commend all the work done on communication of this project. 12 Date and Time of Next Meeting The next meeting to be held on Wednesday 18 January 2017 from 1pm to 4pm in Conference Room, Summerfield joananderson@nhs.net telephone: (01224)