Inspectors step in to respond to Ferryfield patient buzzers
Health Inspectors were twice forced to step in to answer patients’ alarm buzzers while conducting a recent survey into complex clinical care in Edinburgh. It’s little surprise, then, that their report makes a number of recommendations for service improvement.
Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) has now published a report looking at how well hospital-based complex clinical care is currently being delivered in the Edinburgh area.
Healthcare Improvement Scotland concluded that care in Astley Ainslie Hospital, Ferryfield House (off Pilton Drive), Findlay House and Ellens Glen was affected by “pressures on the system” due to staff vacancies, sickness absence and too many temporary staff.
The report highlights that people are living longer and health is generally improving, but the ageing population is having an impact on the number of patients who need hospital-based complex clinical care and the complexity of their conditions. The report focuses on facilities in Edinburgh, but has wider implications for other similar services across Scotland.
The review finds that NHS Lothian’s system for delivering such care for patients is experiencing pressures and makes a number of recommendations for the future.
The report found evidence of good relationships between staff and a positive culture of openness and willingness to learn from mistakes.
The Inspectorate found that NHS Lothian has invested over £1.13 million in nurse staffing since February 2015, but the use of temporary staff, levels of sickness absence and difficulties in recruiting are affecting the care that’s delivered.
Moreover, there are a number of weaknesses in relation to record keeping which can affect the delivery of high quality care, particularly for assessment and care planning, and these issues need to be fully addressed.
The review was carried out by interviewing key staff at Astley Ainslie Hospital, Ellen’s Glen House, Ferryfield House and Findlay House, and HIS also held drop-in sessions for staff, set up a confidential email address available for staff and patients to share their experiences and carried out unannounced inspections to the frail elderly wards in each of the four facilities.
Speaking on the report, Dr Neil Prentice (Chair of the Review Team), Associate Medical Director and Consultant in Old Age Psychiatry, NHS Tayside, said: “Patients are living longer with a wider range of morbidities. As a result, their needs are more complex and they need more medical interventions. There is widespread recognition that services across Scotland and in other countries need to change to address the challenge of an ageing population.
“During our review we found that NHS Lothian is putting in place changes to develop the way hospital-based complex clinical is delivered. Continuation of this work and implementing the recommendations within our report will help NHS Lothian to address the challenges that the future will bring.”
Professor Alex McMahon, director of nursing for NHS Lothian, said the review highlighted many areas of good practice, but accepted that there are still areas where improvement is needed.
He told the BBC: “A robust action plan was developed and many of these points have already been addressed as a matter of urgency. Over the last year, NHS Lothian has invested £1.3m in the service to maintain the correct balance of levels and skill mix of staff and ensure they are appropriate to the needs of patients.”
Alison Johnstone, Health spokesperson for the Scottish Greens and MSP for Lothian, today expressed concern after a report said that hospital inspectors were forced to intervene to help elderly patients.
Healthcare Improvement Scotland staff stepped in at Ferryfield House in Edinburgh as patients had been waiting up to 10 minutes for a response to their buzzers. The inspectors were reviewing care at the facility, along with Astley Ainslie Hospital, Ellen’s Glen House and Findlay House.
The MSP said: “This shocking report underlines the need to invest in staff and facilities that can cope with Scotland’s changing health and social care needs. We have an ageing population and increasingly complex health conditions, and to hear of hospital inspectors having to intervene due to poor staffing levels does not instil confidence in the future.
“I welcome the commitment from NHS Lothian to act on the findings and I would hope all health boards have plans in place to ensure elderly patients receive dignified treatment and attention during their stay in hospital.”
To read the full report, follow this link:
HIS-LOTH-HBCCC_report_FINAL_May_2016
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