Meeting: NoSPG Date: 22 nd April 2009 Item: 35/09 (iv) NURSE DIRECTORS GROUP MINUTES OF MEETING held on 16 th February 2009 in the Ante Room, Assynt House, Inverness. Present: Via video link: Meeting Administrator:, Nurse Director, NHS Highland (Chair) Annie Ingram, Director of Regional Planning & Workforce Development, North of Scotland Planning Group Elinor Smith, Nurse Director, NHS Grampian Judith Catherwood, Regional AHP Advisor, Workload & Workforce Rhoda Walker, Nurse Director, NHS Orkney Lynn Lynes, PA to 1. APOLOGIES Apologies received from Betty Flynn, Mary Vance, Nina Fraser, Maggie Simpson, Elizabeth Wilson, Sheena Wright. Action 2. PREVIOUS MINUTES (25 th August 2008) apologised that the minutes of the previous meeting were not available. 3. MATTERS ARISING None. 4. NORTH OF SCOTLAND PLANNING GROUP There was discussion around the links between the NoSPG and the NoSND Groups and the following was confirmed: The NoS Group is not a statutory group; it is an independent forum which does not report to the NoSPG. However, with a Nurse Director as a member of the NoSPG, there should be clarity around the remit of the NoSND Group and its relationship to the NoSPG. Terms of Reference for the NoSND Group will be prepared by Heidi for discussion at the next meeting in May. The NoSPG may ask the NoSND Group to take forward certain pieces of work, which will be discussed at the NoSND meeting as to the best way to progress these pieces of work. There has been low attendance at the NoSND Group recently and those members present were uncomfortable about undertaking work at the request of the NoSPG as they were concerned that this work would fall to the small group of regular attendees. It was noted that Betty Flynn has a standing invitation to attend these 1
meetings and the NoSPG welcomes the assistance which she gives with this agenda. Certain ongoing work, ie. progress of the Workforce & Education Subgroup and the workforce structure design for remote and rural, was discussed.. A new NoSPG Steering Group has been set up with regard to workload/workforce planning and it is crucial that this work is embedded within the NHS Boards. Discussions will be held with Betty Flynn around this. NDs/Betty Flynn There was discussion around the appointment of Judith Catherwood as AHP Associate Director for NHS Highland. The regional project has 6 months to run and Judith commences in her new post on 2 nd March 2009. It was suggested at NoSPG that the issue of how to progress this regional work should be discussed at the NoSND Group. There needs to be urgent discussion between Heidi and Judith around options. Following this, Heidi will speak to Annie about the result of these discussions, before presenting any proposal to NoSPG. Agreed that the NDs and Judith will discuss how this regional piece of work can be taken forward following Judith s commencement in new role. Either Heidi or Judith will feed back to Annie Ingram. Agreed that Annie Ingram will occasionally attend the NoSND Group to discuss relevant and ongoing matters relating to NoSPG. will meet with Annie Ingram to discuss any key pieces of work which require progress before the next NoSND meeting. Annie Ingram s office will set up this meeting. 5. NoSPG NURSE DIRECTOR REPRESENTATION There was concern that plans are being discussed and going forward at the NoSPG without regular nursing input. Agreed that, if Heidi is unable to attend, another Nurse Director should attend on her behalf. Elinor Smith will consult her diary for this year and endeavour to cover Heidi wherever possible in order to ensure that Nurse Directors are always represented on the NoSPG. AHP input to the NoSPG was also discussed and it was felt that, even in Judith s new role, it may be possible for her to represent AHPs on the NoSPG. Judith will progress. /Judith Catherwood/ Annie Ingram / Annie Ingram Elinor Smith/NDs Judith Catherwood 6. COMMUNITY NURSING CENSUS The Scottish Gov. have produced a report which gives data at Board level but it was agreed that this data needs to be at locality level to be of maximum use to teams. Noted that significant work has been done by Liz Denny from the Scottish Gov. who has developed the community nursing workload/workforce tool for the Review of Nursing, and it is possible that the nursing census could be liked to this. Liz is currently working on this aspect. 7. LSAMO This item was deferred until the next meeting. 8. PRACTITONERS WITH SPECIALIST INTEREST (PwSI) ROLE / GENERIC WORKER 8.1 PwSI The PWSI Action Group met for the first time on 12 th February. It was agreed that a consistent approach across all the NoS Boards should be taken to the evaluation of the PwSI role. will liaise with NES to confirm. 2 Rhoda Walker
Eileen Muir has been working with Rhoda Walker for a few months and Rhoda will ask Eileen to take forward the generic worker role. NHS Shetland are now in a position to take forward the generic worker role. It was agreed that Rhoda would ask Nina Fraser to give a briefing at the next NoSND meeting around the purpose of the role, framework and evaluation. Need to identify that the PwSI is a role which can be rolled out across any setting, not just remote & rural. Heidi will take this to the SEND meeting for discussion. Advanced Practitioner toolkit has been developed by NES and it would be useful to adopt that model. NES have declined to allocate the agreed funding for the development of an education toolkit for PwSIs but have agreed that the funding may be used specifically to support individuals undertaking education in this role. Elinor Smith will feed back at the next meeting regarding the group in NHS Grampian who are working on Band 3 4 practitioners. Elinor will also ask the NHS Grampian Maternity Care Assistants to feed back at the next NoS Midwifery Services meeting. Rhoda Walker Elinor Smith Elinor Smith 8.2 Physicians Assistants ( PAs ) NHS Grampian has been involved in the national pilot over the last 2 years and currently has 4 PAs. Evaluation was positive and discussions being held on how to progress. Aberdeen University is looking to offer a course for PAs. Agreed that the pool for recruiting PAs (coming through the medical route) is smaller than the pool for Advanced Practitioners (coming through the nursing route). The aim should be that the PA posts should be able to function between medical and nursing. Regulation for these posts needs to be clarified and may prove a stumbling block around the issue of prescribing and therefore the usefulness of this role. There are various issues around neonatology and it was agreed that PAs could be of assistance in this regard. 8.3 Pre reg LD Nursing Discussion around the challenges being experienced regarding pre reg LD nursing. Heidi advised the group that work was being undertaken with the CNO to review the model for LD pre reg training. Heidi will update everyone re progress at the next meeting. 9. CURAM Discussion around the CURAM document. It was agreed that this was a valuable document, supporting the continued effort towards delivering the national NMAHP Strategy. 10. AHP WORKLOAD MEASUREMENT / MANAGEMENT PROGRAMME Discussions need to take place on how we take AHP workforce planning forward. Noted that this is on the next agenda for the SEND meeting, which will be attended by June Wylie. Judith Catherwood to be invited to the next NoSNDs meeting to discuss. Lynn Lynes 11. AHP ARRANGEMENTS Heidi advised that the revised AHP leadership model for NHS Highland is now in place in full with the appointment of Judith as the Associate AHP Director. Grampian is currently looking at AHP leadership and Shetland have indicated that they may wish to join up with Grampian regarding this. Agreed that 3
Helen Morrison s work for the restructuring of AHP arrangements in Highland will be shared if required and Judith will progress.. Judith Catherwood 12. REVIEW OF NURSING IN THE COMMUNITY Due to time constraints, the planned RONC presentation was not given this will be circulated to group members. advised that: The project is progressing but has had a number of challenges and is complex, such that it is taking longer than anticipated. The project has been extended until Summer 2010. Evaluation results will be published in summer 2010. There was a mis communication with GPs, who were under the impression that a parallel service would be run. This is being discussed in full nationally and locally with GP services. The Nurse Director at Lothian has left post and it is now agreed that they will implement the RONC model but without Community Health Nurse role In NHS Highland s Thurso pilot site, district nurses will undertake RONC in full but the public health nurses have elected to opt out of the pilot. Focus has been on the Community Health Nurse role because it is the most challenging however, it must be kept in mind that this is only one aspect of RONC NHS Highland have developed Standards for Care to help translate theory into practice. Whilst these Standards for Care have been developed as part of RONC and the pilot sites, it is recognised that they could be rolled out across Highland as they have been developed in response to the changing needs of patients and subsequently, service. Elinor Smith advised that NHS Grampian are part of a national pilot on health in schools and are looking at what needs to be put in place. This involves thinking differently around School Nurses and Elinor confirmed that Grampian are very supportive of the 7 factors and Grampian s objectives are completely in line with RONC. Heidi will invite Pat Tyrrell, RONC Project Lead, to the next meeting to give a presentation around progress. 13. NURSE CONSULTANT FOR CHILDREN & YOUNG PEOPLE Francis Edwards gave an update on the progress of his work during the first six months. He said that he thought that it is a really exciting time in Scotland for palliative care and we have the opportunity to join up some of the dots and develop a service which is going to best support the children, families and services Francis asked the group to work with him in taking forward some of the action points he had identified within their Boards, as he is working from the bottom up and a top down approach from this group would be valuable. The four main areas where this group could assist are: 1. How to take forward the audit in each Board. will advise Francis how they would like this to happen in their Board. 2. Francis to be invited to Living & Dying Well working groups. 3. Taking forward one day workshops within each area: will advise Francis how they wish these workshops to be taken forward. 4. Developing education and training opportunities within each Board 4
area: to advise Francis how they wish his educational role to go forward to develop a teaching programme within each area. Francis also spoke about how his role can assist the Boards to deliver this national strategy. There was some discussion around the Liverpool Pathway vs the ACT and how this fits within GIRFEC. It was agreed that Francis would be a member of the Palliative Care Strategy Group being led by Chrissie Lane and Lynn Lynes will liaise with Francis and Chrissie. Francis s post has been extended until 2011. It was agreed that Francis will be invited back to give regular updates to this group. Lynn Lynes/ Francis Edwards Lynn Lynes 14. SENIOR CHARGE NURSE REVIEW / PRODUCTIVE WARD This item was deferred until the next meeting. 15. AOCB Standing items Discussion around Standing Items. Agreed that members should advise Lynn Lynes of any regular Standing Items they wish to go on each agenda, eg. NoSPG, National Groups attended, etc. All members 16. DATE OF NEXT MEETING The next NoS Group will be held as follows: Monday, 18 th May 2009 at 1.00 pm in Committee Room 2, Ninewells Hospital, Dundee. 5