Agenda item

Kath Wynne-Jones Chief Officer - Bury Integrated Delivery Collaborative and David Latham, Programme Manager to present. Report attached.

Kath Wynne-Jones Chief Officer, Bury Integrated Delivery Collaborative and David Latham, Programme Manager provided an overview of the presentation within the agenda pack. Members were informed Bury performs typically well compared to Greater Manchester. Work is currently being undertaken on resilience, community-based care, Fairfield General Hospital have an internal improvement plan, and the implementation of care which is part of the filiality model is all underway.

The Committee were informed about system meetings that are in place to discuss pressures and plans for the delivery of services. 

Councillor FitzGerald, Chair highlighted and asked for comment on the recent death of a patient in an ambulance at Fairfield General Hospital. In response Will Blandamer, Executive Director advised this was an incident that occurred on the 18^th October.  It is subject to a serious incident review being led by the Director of Nursing for the Bury Care Organisation which is part of the Northern Care alliance that runs Fairfield General Hospital and local community services.

The patient had been referred for ambulance transfer from a care home to Accident and Emergency at Fairfield General Hospital.  There was a queue of ambulances waiting to unload due to pressures in the department.  The patient however was regarded as clinically stable with close monitoring not only by the paramedics but a nurse, 2 A&E doctors, and a nursing Sister who provided IV antibiotics.  The patient then rapidly deteriorated and despite further attention from senior paramedics on site, and an A&E doctor, sadly passed away.

There will be a system learning event, including in particular colleagues from Rochdale as the deceased was a resident of Rochdale and was known to services in that locality. The event will seek to understand if there is anything that could have been done differently and what changes may be required. 

It is not clear whether the ambulance queue was a contributory factor in death of the patient although it is clear A&E nursing and medical staff, as well as pandemics were involved in the monitoring and pro-active care of the patient. Nevertheless, we recognise the circumstances of ambulances queuing to offload patients at the Hospital is not ideal.   Like other urgent care systems, the Bury system is under very significant pressure and this is manifest most obviously in the pressures at the front door of the Emergency Department. The report later in the meeting will describe the actions being taken to address these pressures.

On behalf of the health and care system in Bury we would like to extend our sympathy to the family of the deceased.  We would like to assure the Scrutiny Committee that colleagues at Fairfield General Hospital have maintained close contact with the family at this difficult time and we understand that the family were very appreciative of the care that delivered.

A member thanked officers for increased communication and another member complimented the rapid response team.

Discussions took place regarding the understanding officers had on re-admission rates. Members were informed that data is not shared well across Greater Manchester, and this is a national issue which effects officer awareness of re-admissions.

Members questioned the details of what the ‘Virtual hospital’ offer is, in assurance members were informed it is about giving care in people’s own home that is appropriate and managed virtually by a consultant team.

Discussions took place regarding walk in centers in helping stem the pressure on Accident and Emergency from not being able to access General Practitioner appointments. Members were informed that Prestwich walk in center has not operated for a number of years, but officers are committed to looking at the role and function of the service and no decision has yet been made. Members were informed that the proportion of GP patients in Bury being seen out performs the National average and there is no direct correlation between difficulty getting GP appt and A&E and the correlation is between how near you live to A&E and attending.

It was agreed:

1.   Members note the progress made in the urgent care system

2.   Will Blandamer to speak with Cllr Birchmore about the vaccination programme for booster vaccinations and flu immunisations