Agenda item

Inspections of:-

·           Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust (Sue Cassin, Rotherham Clinical Commissioning Group to present)

·           The role of health services in Safeguarding and Looked after Children Services in Rotherham (Terri Roche, Public Health to present)

A review of actions being taken to respond to findings of the above inspections, following publication of the inspection reports in July

Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust

Sue Cassin, Rotherham Clinical Commissioning Group, reported on the findings of the Care Quality Commission (CQC) following their inspection visit to the Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust between 23^rd and 27^th February, 2015.

The Trust had achieved an overall rating of ‘requires improvement’ with the ratings for main services being as follows:-

-          Urgent and Emergency Services – requires improvement

-          Medical Care – requires improvement

-          Surgery – requires improvement

-          Critical Care – requires improvement

-          Maternity and Gynaecology – requires improvement

-          Services for Children and Young People – inadequate

-          End of Life Care – good

-          Outpatients and Diagnostic Imaging – good

The Trust had agreed a detailed and comprehensive action plan to address the findings and recommendations.   The CCG would monitor compliance through monthly contract quality meetings and any items of concern/escalation would be forwarded to the CCG’s Operational Executive to be taken up with the Foundation Trust’s Board.

Zena Robertson reported that she had attended the CQC Risk Summit following publication of the report.  The CQC had stated they had been  encouraged at the openness and transparency of the Trust in terms of engaging with them in the inspection as well as their willingness and speed in which they put some of the mitigation around the areas that had been picked up. 

Discussion ensued on the bringing of action plans together in general with the following issues raised:-

·           There would be targeted themed inspections with Ofsted leading the inspections through the emerging themes of CSE and Missing and would inform the inspection regime

·           Following from the Robert Francis report, NHS England had been charged to establish Quality Assurance Groups bringing Regulators, Healthwatch, commissioners together to get a view of the whole picture. Discussions were ongoing with the CCG to revamp the South Yorkshire Group due to the changes in health and social care and would look much more at care homes, Children’s Services, vulnerable adults.  The Group would benefit from Local Authority attendance

·           The Board may be the most appropriate forum for partners’ to bring their plans to facilitate a strategic discussion and partner engagement

·           Compilation of a complete schedule of inspection regimes across all partners to understand the linkages and reporting arrangements

Resolved:-  (1)  That the arrangements for Rotherham CCG to provide assurance that the Rotherham Foundation Trust implemented changes based upon the findings of the Care Quality Commission be noted.

(2)  That regular updates be submitted on progress against the plan.

(3)  That the action plan be circulated to Board members and be included on the November agenda.

The Role of Health Services in Safeguarding and Looked after Children Services in Rotherham

Sue Cassin, Rotherham Clinical Commissioning Group, reported on the findings of the recent CQC review of Services for Children Looked After and Safeguarding held between 23^rd and 27^th February, 2015.

The CQC had tracked 84 individual cases where there had been Safeguarding concerns including 8 that had undergone a multi-disciplinary chronology denoting healthcare delivery.  It looked at the pathway of the child through the system and tried to look very carefully at different pathways of different children in the system. 

Each partner organisation in response to the inspection report developed their own very comprehensive action plans which fed into the overall action plan to address the CQC’s 24 recommendations, some of which applied to all partner agencies and some to individual partner agencies. 

A Task and Finish Group had been established prior to the visit to prepare/work closely together and had continued post-inspection to ensure the action plan addressed all of the recommendations.  Each action had a lead officer and each agency organisation had their own Task and Finish Group reviewing their own actions in detail.

Terrie Roche reported that there had been many comments made by the CQC which had not formed part of the recommendations that were also being taken forward.

It was agreed that Stella Manzie discuss with Michael Holmes the appropriate reporting mechanism for inspections.