Annual Members' Meeting 2021

Strategic Objective 1: Quality of Care

Creating a learning organisation and culture of continuous improvement to reduce repeated harms and improve patient experience.

Our key achievements over the last year are:

Becoming a learning organisation

We also run PeakOn - our staff, friends and family test, a real-time feedback tool that provides us with evidence to understand the bigger picture, improve the working experience of colleagues and the corresponding experience for patients.

Strengthening our approach to Harm-Free Care

Going forwards the team has robust plans for the reduction in hospital associated harms. One of the projects the Harms Free Care Team is working on is improving hydration with a pilot on one of the Senior Adult Medical Wards. Inadequate hydration contributes to the development of hospital associated harms and therefore is an overarching improvement aim for the team.

Improving discharge processes

As a result of the COVID pandemic, we have been building upon work already conducted to improve discharge processes and to align with new discharge guidance published by the government. We have imbedded a new process collaborating with partners, patients and loved ones to prevent unnecessary hospital stays which helps to ensure that patients receive the right care, at the right place, at the right time, and are in the best possible position to continue their recovery when they are ready to leave an acute hospital setting.

As part of this project, we have developed a branded discharge pack that contains all the key information for patients about the discharge process which is given to them on admission. The pack ensures that patients are aware of their discharge plans, the process of leaving hospital and their expected discharge date. We have also made the information available on our website so that family members and carers can access it and familiarise themselves with the process.

Dealing with issues and complaints

From 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021 we received 445 complaints and concerns and 2662 PALS contacts. This compares to 471 complaints and concerns and 1891 PALS contacts received during the previous year. The increase (40%) of PALS contacts is largely due to the challenges posed by COVID, including very restricted visiting, and many rearranged appointments, leading to an increase in the volume of people getting in touch with us in this way.

Complaints and concerns have remained steady in number but many of these have been longer and more complex as a result of COVID, and to ease pressures on clinical staff who are usually required to respond quickly to requests for information on complaints, the timeframe was extended to 35 days. On average we have responded to 84.8% of complaints within the agreed timeframe, between 1 April 2020 and 31 March 2021.

The Patient Panel has been relaunched recently with refreshed membership and the terms of reference have been reviewed, along with the direction of the committee. The intention is that the members will be involved in all divisions across the Trust, and can contribute to co-production work and planning.

ASPH contribution to Research and Development through the pandemic

At the beginning of the pandemic there were no known treatments and no vaccines but much progress has been made over the past year and we are proud to have been able to contribute to the global and national learning throughout participating in a range of clinical research trials.

Our clinical trials include:

• The RECOVERY Study - This was an urgent Public Health England (PHE) study at the beginning of the pandemic to determine the best course of action to treat hospitalised COVID patients. Our amazing researchers worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic recruiting 250 patients. The study has constantly evolved over the last year as new treatments have been introduced. As a direct result of this research, dexamethasone and tocilizumab have been proven to be effective and are now used as standard of care
• The SIREN Study - We have managed to recruit over 400 staff members across the trust making us the largest recruiting site in the UK! Participants in this study have swabs and bloods done regularly to test for potential COVID infections as well as measuring their COVID antibodies from infection and vaccine. As this study is ran by PHE, the blood samples they receive help them make important decisions regarding the vaccine rollout across the country
• DEFEAT Study - We were the first site in the UK to test the effects of leflunomide - a rheumatoid arthritis drug shown to have anti-inflammatory and antiviral properties. We recruited over 60 participants during the second wave earlier this year. This study now has multiple centres with sites opening up in India as well
• ANCON Study - A breath test study which uses Nanotechnology Biomarker Tagging (NBT) to analyse exhaled breath for coronavirus. We recruited 331 participants whose breath helped create a profile for accurate COVID detection within 10-15 minutes
• REMAP-CAP - This was an ITU study looking into effective COVID treatment for individuals that were severely infected. Our research team worked through both waves to recruit 30 patients. Similar to the RECOVERY study, the various treatment arms have been modified throughout the pandemic with tocilizumab shown to have a significant effect at treating severe disease

We would like to thank all individuals who participated in these crucial studies which have undoubtedly had a huge impact on treatment and our long term understanding of COVID-19.