Agenda item

Report of the Care Quality Commission.

The Sub Committee received a presentation from Michele Golden from the Care Quality Commission which gave an overview of the findings and recommendations from the inspection of Barts Health Trust. Members discussed the issues highlighted and raised the following points:

·         The importance of staff motivation and visibility of leadership;

·         The need to allow plenty of time for staff to provide meaningful and considered feedback in future reviews;

·         That although the culture of bullying was a problem common to the NHS in general, it was a key issue for the Trust and needed to be addressed;

·         There was a need to ensure front line staff felt listened to, engaged and supported; and

·         That the Clinical Academic Groups (CAG) were a good vehicle to spread best practice e.g. regarding ‘never events’, and would become more effective as they become more established.

Mark Graver and Sandra Shannon from the Barts Health Trust responded that the findings of the inspection were tough but fair. Members noted that a variety of initiatives had been put in place to address the issues including opportunities to give anonymous feedback directly to senior staff, monthly staff surveys, a staff retention strategy, and the development of a newsletter to encourage team spirit. With regards to the criticisms concerning food at the St. Bartholomew’s Hospital site, Members were informed that a change had been made to portion sizes, matrons were checking the food on ward rounds, and the overall provision was scheduled for review when the contract came up for renewal.

The Chairman thanked Ms Golden, Mr Graver and Ms Shannon for their presentation, and it was noted that Barts Health Trust would be producing a formal response by the end of February 2014.