Our big priorities- spotlight on how ward accreditation is driving up quality of care on our wards

ULHT has five big priorities during this financial year. This means that all teams and members of staff are working together to achieve significant improvements in these areas, for the benefit of patients.

Posted on in News & Events

ULHT has five big priorities during this financial year. This means that all teams and members of staff are working together to achieve significant improvements in these areas, for the benefit of patients. They are:

  1. Delivering our quality and safety improvement plan (QSIP)
  2. Delivering (and recovering) our financial position
  3. Improving fire safety
  4. Improving our urgent care performance
  5. Deliver shorter cancer waiting times

Good progress is being made against each of these, and every month we’ll focus on one project that is really making a difference.

This month it’s our new ward accreditation programme. This new inspection regime is one of the key pieces of work as part of our quality and safety improvement plan.

It has been launched this month to drive up the quality and consistency of care on our wards. From now on, wards across the Trust will be regularly inspected by a team of independent senior nurses and assessed against a range of measures.

We have created 13 quality standards which the wards are measured against.  During an inspection of a ward, the senior nursing team will look at the below areas:

  • Pressure ulcer prevention
  • Care of the deteriorating patient
  • Falls
  • Infection prevention
  • Nutrition
  • Medicines safety
  • Continence care
  • Safeguarding
  • Risk management
  • End of life care
  • Patient experience
  • Patient flow
  • Effective workforce

 

Each ward will be given a rating of Red, Amber, or Green based on how it scores in the standards. The ward team will then be supported to develop and implement an improvement action plan to further enhance the quality of care and patient experience before the next ward inspection.

The scheme has been adapted from a similar process created by Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust, which is one of the only trusts in the country rated ‘Outstanding’ for the quality of care that it provides.

Deputy Chief Nurse Victoria Bagshaw said: “We are very excited about the start of this scheme because we believe it will enable us to further improve the quality of care provided across our hospitals.

“The scheme sets clear expectations in relation to the quality of care being delivered to patients consistently by trained and appropriate staff. We believe it sets ambitious but realistic goals for our wards, and will help them on a quality improvement journey.

“In other areas where similar schemes have been used, staff and patients have seen improved ward leadership, improved patient experience, reductions in avoidable patient harms and improved clinical efficiency and effectiveness. We expect the scheme to enable our ward teams to continuous improve the quality of patient care and experience by learning from each other.”

Two wards per week will be inspected across Lincoln County Hospital, Pilgrim Hospital, Boston, Grantham and District Hospital and County Hospital, Louth from last week.