The Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals today welcomed the report by the Healthcare Commission on the care of older people in hospital, and published details of plans and actions which it has in place to improve the quality of care for older patients.

In March 07, the Healthcare Commission visited the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals to assess the quality of care for older patients.  The report following the visit highlighted a number of areas of good practice, and asked for reassurance on some other areas.  It also commented that the Trust was in danger of not meeting more rigorous standards on the provision of single sex accommodation.

For the year April 06 to March 07, the Trust openly declared in its annual self-assessment for the Healthcare Commission, that it could not meet the standards for the provision of single rooms and single sex accommodation.  Earlier this year, the Trust opened the Children’s Hospital, and the West Wing at the John Radcliffe Hospital, which has greatly increased the number of single rooms and single sex accommodation.  The new Geratology Department, due to open at the John Radcliffe Hospital early next year, will provide all single ensuite rooms for older patients.  The Cancer and Haematology Centre at the Churchill Hospital, which will also open next year, will have 50% single ensuite rooms, and the new Heart Centre at the John Radcliffe Hospital, which will open in 2009, will have all single rooms. 
At the same time, the Trust has implemented a number of changes to ensure that most of the current patient accommodation is single sex. Three years ago, 50 ward areas within the Trust provided mixed male and female accommodation.  This has now reduced to 36, 27 of which provide beds in single sex bays.  On Level 7 of the John Radcliffe Hospital, predominantly male and female wards have been introduced for acute general medicine and geratology patients. In facilities such as emergency admission areas, where people are needing urgent medical care and usually don’t expect single sex facilities, and small specialties, where male and female patients are still occasionally required to share, patients are asked whether they object, and nursing staff work hard to ensure their wishes are met.  New nursing and midwifery standards, which were published earlier this year, set out guidelines for nurses to follow to ensure that patients have maximum privacy.

Michael Fanning, Deputy Chief Nurse of the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals, said in response to the Healthcare Commission report:  “Treating older people with dignity and respect must be a priority for anyone working in the NHS. I would like every older person in our hospitals to be treated with the same consideration which I would wish to see for members of my own family. 

“While I am confident that we are improving the quality of care for older patients, sometimes our facilities still let us down, although we are working hard to put this right.  Over the past few years, we have refurbished many areas within our hospitals. We have opened new facilities and plan to open more. 

“These days, patients expect to be treated in a high quality environment, as well as with the highest quality of clinical care, and it is right that we should work to meet their expectations.”

The Commission’s report following its visit in March highlighted a number of areas where the Trust follows best practice.  These include:

• The dedicated stroke service, which means that most stroke patients see an expert very quickly, and have a better chance of recovery.
• The falls service, run by consultants, supported by nurses.
• The project funded by the Burdett Trust, which is looking at ways to improve nutrition and feeding for older people.
• The monitoring and audits carried out by the Trust, to ensure that patients are treated with dignity.
• The regular audits which are carried out to monitor the quality of the food, and the meal time experience of patients.
• The ‘friendly, helpful and courteous’ staff who assist patients during mealtimes.

The report published today also reflects some other minor areas on which the Healthcare Commission wanted reassurance from the Trust:

• The Commission wanted reassurance that staff knew and understood the policies relating to privacy and dignity.  The Trust has reissued its policies, and given matrons the responsibility of ensuring that nurses follow them. 
• The Commission wanted reassurance that the Trust could ensure high quality ‘end of life’ care.  This is an issue which the Trust has always taken extremely seriously, working in conjunction with the specialist hospice, Sobell House.  The Trust is planning further training workshops for nurses to ensure that they are all following the latest best practice, so that patients and their families are given privacy and treated with dignity at this most difficult time.
• The Commission wanted reassurance that staff understood and implemented adult protection policies.  A new policy has been drawn up and circulated to staff, to ensure that they are aware of how to spot the signs and what to do, if an older patient has suffered some form of abuse.
• The Commission wanted reassurance on several issues relating to food for patients. The Trust has a nutrition policy, which sets out how dietary requirements will be assessed and met for individual patients. Patients are offered a range of diets to meet religious and cultural needs.  Halal, vegetarian and vegan food is offered as a matter of routine.  Other preferences, such as kosher food, which is requested less, are available quickly on order.  Food is available on a 24 hour basis in both the John Radcliffe and the Horton General Hospitals, including the A&E departments.  New guidance to improve the patient experience during meal times has been issued across the Trust.

The project funded by the Burdett Trust has been looking particularly at ways in which to improve feeding for older people.  Initiatives include ensuring that food is always attractively presented, that there is assistance with feeding, and that older people can have peace and quiet during meal times. 

The Trust has also set up a Patient Experience Mealtime group which includes patient representatives, ward housekeepers, dieticians, facilities staff and nurses. It supports the implementation of policies around food and nutrition and shares solutions and best practices.

---

Contact: Media & Communications Office
Contact Details: 01865 228932