Agenda item

This report provides an update on the outcome of an independent culture review at Medway NHS Foundation Trust, and an update on delayed referrals to the Ear Nose and Throat service.

Discussion:

Representatives from the Medway NHS Foundation Trust (MFT) introduced the report which set out the outcome of an independent culture review at the trust and provided an update on the delayed referrals to the Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) service. They expressed their disappointment and concern of the culture review findings and set out how they were working to address the issues.  In relation to the ENT issue, it was explained that the majority of patients impacted were from the Dartford, Greenwich and Bexley areas and no urgent or cancer patients had been affected by the issue. The investigation into the issue was ongoing but with support from the Integrated Care Board (ICB), capacity had been doubled to address the backlog.

Members then raised a number of questions and comments, which included:

·       Action plan – in response to a question the Interim Deputy Chief Executive of MFT confirmed that the Culture Transformation Programme was one of ten priorities within MFT’s Stabilisation Plan. She explained that the recommendations from the culture review were embedded in the whole organisation and staff were being given the space to be able to contribute and to share their own experiences. The Committee requested to see the action plan.

·       Diversity training for the Board – it was confirmed that Executive and non-Executive members of the Board had undertaken training in diversity and inclusion.

·       How behaviour had been able to occur – in response to a question about how the environment had enabled bullying, racism and other unacceptable behaviour to occur, the Chair of MFT explained that there were a combination of factors, such as the previous leadership not taking the issues seriously enough and a lack of support and training for middle management to ensure they had the necessary skills to manage such issues effectively.

·       Metrics – The Chair of MFT confirmed that there were a number of different metrics used to gather data, such as the annual staff survey, the quarterly pulse survey and through staff embedded within equality, diversity and inclusion networks.

·       Monitoring progress – the Committee was clear that they would be requesting regular updates from MFT on the situation.  In addition the Chair of MFT highlighted that the MFT Board meeting papers were publicly available and the meetings were livestreamed. Members could therefore use this information for additional insight, to supplement the updates to HASC, as an update on the culture issue was being reported to the Board every other month.

·       Addressing the issue within a challenging environment – comment was made to the challenge in addressing the issues outlined within the culture review, whilst also dealing with the constant high pressure and demand within the NHS. In response the Interim Deputy CE explained that they listening to staff around what works best for them to address the issues. They continued to host listening events, wellbeing events as well as raising awareness to ensure teams prioritised time to enable staff to take part in these events, access training and were supported to share their own experiences.

·       Board Membership – in response to a question about whether the membership of the board had changed as a result of the findings, it was confirmed that there had been a number of changes to the board in the last year for a number of reasons and that board members had undertaken a ‘diversity MOT’.

·       Timescales of the ENT investigation – the Interim Executive Director of Recovery stated that the investigation (led by NHS England) was progressing and it was anticipated that the first draft of the investigation report would be available in the next few weeks.

Decision:

The Committee notes the report and requested to be provided with the action plan that had been set to address the issues identified within the culture review.