The Quality Team consists of all functions that ensures services commissioned by Halton CCG and Warrington CCG are safe, effective, high quality and reflect the voice of people who access them to ensure the services meet the needs of the population. The diagram below sets out the functions within the team:
The Quality and Patient Safety Team
The Quality and Safety Team ensures that safe, effective and high-quality health services are commissioned and delivered for the population of Halton and Warrington. The team works to promote a culture of openness and transparency where incidents and errors are learned from, and where a culture of improvement is influenced across the health and social care community. As such, the team places the needs of people at the centre of all its work to ensure that we learn from people’s experiences and we make it a priority to maintain a focus on high quality patient care and outcomes. Our Quality Committee and its sub committees provide our governance. The Quality & Safeguarding Strategy sets out the approach of NHS Warrington CCG to drive quality and ensure safeguards are robust in the commissioning and monitoring of services:
NHS Warrington CCG Quality and Safeguarding Strategy 2021 - 2022
Monitoring of Quality
Quality assurance is considered under the 3 pillars of;
- Patient safety
- Patient experience
- Clinical effectiveness.
These three key areas are monitored by the team as part of the quality reporting requirements which are set out within all NHS Contracts (Schedule 4).
All providers contracted by the CCGs (including, primary care, acute hospitals, community services, mental health services, independent hospitals and third sector services) are required to provide assurance to the CCGs on the quality of their services and their compliance with national quality requirements. This assurance is sought through a programme of regular clinical quality meetings, alongside the receiving of detailed reports and supporting data, which would outline any actions and learning to support quality improvement and mitigation against any identified organisational risks. Collaborative working with co-commissioners, Care Quality Commission (CQC), NHS England, NHS Improvement and Healthwatch ensures a system-wide overview of quality assurance.
Quality Surveillance & Improvement Framework 2020 – 2024
The overall objective of the quality surveillance and improvement framework is to support services commissioned by the CCG in ensuring that the everyday delivery is of consistent quality, is safe, effective and people who use the services find the experience satisfactory.
In the event that this is not the case, further support may be required for those providers experiencing quality challenges to effectively deliver care and treatment whilst making improvements to resolve concerns, and that these improvements can be evidenced through the implementation of an agreed quality improvement plan, with progress updates and sign off of completed actions.
The following documents support this process:
Quality surveillance and improvement framework 2020 - 2024
Appendix 1 quality surveillance and improvement process
Management of the Serious Incidents Framework
The Quality and Safety Team work closely with all providers to ensure that all patients are protected from avoidable harm. When serious incidents are reported, under the application of the NHS Serious Incident Framework 2015, they are fully investigated by providers with any learning shared across organisations. The team ensures a robust and comprehensive process, supporting the collation and review of information from the initial reporting of an incident through to the completion of action plans and formal closure of the incident. Similarly, the review of Significant Event Audits, ensures learning from any untoward events that have occurred in a primary care setting. The following documents support this process:
- document Serious incident reporting form
- document Serious incident investigation report
- document Pressure ulcer investigation tool
- NHS Halton & Warrington CCGs' Serious Incident Policy 2021
The LeDeR Programme
The Learning Disability Mortality Review (LeDeR) programme is part of a national focus upon improving the lives and care of people with Learning Disabilities. It has derived as an outcome from a series of national reports that describe that whilst care in many instances has improved over the last decade, many aspects have not. There are still marked health inequalities for people with learning disabilities, compared to that of the general population.
Reviewing the circumstances surrounding the deaths of people with a learning disability provides a real opportunity to learn from the past to help prevent avoidable deaths and improve future care for others. Since 2019 NHS Halton Clinical Commissioning Group (HCCG) and NHS Warrington Clinical Commissioning Group (WCCG) agreed to take a combined approach to delivery of the LeDeR programme through the establishment of a LeDeR panel, shared Local Area Contact, and agreed governance frameworks to capture local learning.
NHS Warrington CCG Designated Nurse used bid monies to fund x 2 conferences in 2020 and supported Afta Thought Training Consultancy in developing the video provided for others to watch and use.
With thanks to Warrington Speak Up Advocacy Service, who helped to develop the following video: LeDeR video
This annual report focuses on Halton and Warrington in respect of activity and findings relating to Learning Disability Mortality Review (LeDeR) for 2020-21. The report has been produced by HCCG and WCCG as required by the ‘The NHS Long Term Plan January 2019’. The report provides:
- An overview of the LeDeR review activity undertaken for Halton and Warrington.
- An overview of the work that has been undertaken locally to engage with the national programme and implement positive actions for any learning identified
The LeDeR Programme Annual Report 2021 - 2022
The LeDeR Programme Annual Report 2020-2021
The LeDeR Programme Annual Report 2019 - 2020
Support to the wider commissioning team
The Quality and Safety Team works across other CCG departments, providing subject matter expertise and guidance to colleagues. This ensures the commissioning and development of services promotes a culture of openness and transparency, equality and diversity and shared learning to support quality improvement and safety at its core.
Safeguarding Team
The safeguarding of children and adults is a high priority for Halton and Warrington CCGs and there is a strong commitment to ensuring that structures and governance arrangements for safeguarding are robust. The protection of vulnerable children and adults at risk from abuse and neglect is fundamental to delivering health and wellbeing and is core to delivering the quality agenda. The principal philosophy is that safeguarding is everybody’s business, all staff will respond and act to raise safeguarding awareness and address any emerging issues. Find out more about Halton and Warrington Safeguarding.
Medicines Management Team
Our Medicines Management Team is part of the wider Quality Team supporting safe and effective use of medicines within our commissioned services and within primary care. The team consists of pharmacists and technicians whose primary focus is safe, high quality, cost-effective use of medicines for our population.
Full information can be found on the CCGs' Medicines Management page.
Continuing Healthcare and Complex Care Team
NHS Continuing Healthcare (NHS CHC) is a package of care for adults aged 18 or over which is arranged and funded solely by the NHS. In order to receive NHS CHC funding, individuals have to be assessed by CCGs according to a legally prescribed decision making process to determine whether the individual has a ‘primary health need’.
Full information can be found on the Continuing Healthcare (CHC) page.