LEICESTERSHIRE PARTNERSHIP NHS TRUST, SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENT, FINAL REPORT

Following extended discussion and a number of meetings, a Service Level Agreement (SLA) between Leicester City PCT and Leicester Council of Faiths was signed on 31 March 2009. This contract ended formally on 31 May 2012. Here's an amended version of the final report on this agreement, that I submitted today. All these topics are covered extensively throughout this blog.

We were originally contracted to work with Leicester City PCT but got caught up in redeployment issues within the NHS locally, both of staff and of responsibilities. Management of our contract was put into the hands of the Integrated Equalities Team at Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust. Consequently (and through no fault of our own) it took longer than we would have liked for actual work to take place in furthering the aims of our SLA.

NHS Staff Multifaith Resource

Following a year and more of consultation among the eight member communites of Leicester Council of Faiths and a variety of other communities of religion or belief (Humanist, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormon, Pagan, Rastafarian, Spiritualist), Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust published a Staff Multifaith Resource. This pack provides the following information in the same order, for each of the communities of religion or belief included:

• Introduction and local information
• Mode of greeting
• Birth
• Examination of patient
• Particular sensitivities
• Washing, ablutions and personal hygiene
• Modesty and dress
• Special dietary requirements
• Fasting
• Family planning
• Abortion
• Care in serious (or final stages of) illness
• Blood transfusion / transplants
• Organ donation
• Spiritual advisor / counsellor
• Death
• Religious symbols
• Post mortem
• Burial / cremation
• General considerations for community nurses visiting patients at home

The Multifaith Staff Resource was officially launched during Inter Faith Week 2011 with three lunchtime meetings on consecutive days in the Brandon Unit, Glenfield Hospital. (Tue 22 Nov), Mansion House, Glenfield Hospital (Wed 23 Nov) and at Leicester General (Thu 24 Nov).

Shortly before the end of 2011, a programme of induction began for ward staff in the city, county and Rutland and for Community Teams in the same areas and for the Trust’s Spiritual and Pastoral Care Team. This induction programme was delivered alongside Abida Hussain, the Trust’s Equalities and Human Rights Officer.

Faith Community Health Ambassadors

The idea for this project originated in a full meeting of Leicester Council of Faiths at the Welcome Centre (13 July 2010), on the topic of health inequalities. This meeting was addressed by Deb Watson (Director of Public Health, Leicester City PCT) and her Assistant Director, Rod Moore.  Deb also presented a refined version of this proposal at the Council of Faiths AGM (21 Oct 2010). Since this programme kicked into action, around 30 short video interviews have been conducted with individuals from a variety of backgrounds of religion or belief for use in training of staff with Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust. In these videos, subjects answer questions about how their religion or belief impact on their health and how they access healthcare services. Contributors identified with a particular religion or belief as follows: 

• 2 Baha’is
• 5 Buddhists
• 4 Christians
• 7 Hindus
• 1 Humanist
• 2 Jews
• 6 Muslims
• 1 Rastafarian
• 1 Secularist
• 3 Sikhs

Equality Delivery System

We were invited to take part in community consultation on LPT’s equality objectives at two meetings: 10 March 2011 at the Towers and (with an extended group of stakeholders)  8 March 2011 at Mansion House, Glenfield Hospital.

These meetings led to progress on the development of LPT’s Equality Delivery System (EDS). I was asked to participate in a meeting with a variety of stakeholders to grade LPT’s Equality Delivery System at the Peepul Centre, Orchardson Avenue, Monday 27 February 2012.

The same individuals who were recorded for the Faith Community Health Ambassadors project were contacted and asked to take part in a community engagement review of LPT’s Equality Delivery System in a meeting at Merlyn Vaz Health & Social Care Centre, Spinney Hill Road on Wednesday 28 November. Although only two people turned up in person, several other responses were received by post.

Impact attendant on proposed closure of children’s heart unit at Glenfield Hospital

I was asked to coordinate the Council of Faiths’ response to impacts attendant on the possible closure of the children’s heart unit at Glenfield Hospital. Following a one-to-one briefing with Christina Marriott, ?? at LPT HQ, Lakeside, Grove Park, Monday 28 May 2012, members were canvassed for their responses, then a three page-long response was submitted, 30 May 2012. 

NHS EQUALITY DELIVERY SERVICE GRADING GROUP

At the Peepul Centre today, for the Equality Delivery System (EDS) Grading Group, sponsored by the Integrated Equalities Service for Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust and Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland PCTs, working in partnership with University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust and East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust.

This event is being held to allow participants to review the information NHS organisations have published and evidenced as part of their EDS self-assessment work and decide whether the proposed grade is appropriate.

The Equality Delivery System (EDS) is a new structured method designed by the NHS to assist its organisations in meeting the Public Sector Equality Duty under the Equality Act 2010, covering all nine protected characteristics. In order to get an accurate and comprehensive perspective NHS organisations using the EDS are encouraged to work with staff-side groups, community organisations and local interest groups in tackling inequalities in their areas. The EDS is broken down into four structured goals over:

• Better health outcomes for all
• Improved patient access and experience
• Empowered, engaged and well-supported staff
• Inclusive leadership at all levels

This has been planned and promoted as a two-day event: day one looking at the first two goals with the focus on patient services and experiences; day two looking at the last two goals with a focus on employment, staff support and the organisation’s leadership. Each day is scheduled to run from 1200-2015.

But it doesn't quite work out tha way. Attendees voice concerns about the kind of information evidenced (and that which has not been evidenced) and their competence to comment on what's been put before them. There's recognition of conflation between what's interesting and useful to the organisation and what's interesting and useful to service users and the kind of organisations represented here today. So during an impromptu break, the organisers rejig the whole event, cancelling tomorrow's session, bringing forward the close of today's session to 1700 and setting us the collective task of spending the next few hours discussing, devising and deciding upon the kind of evidence that would work for all of us.

I say good on them, for listening to what attendees were saying today and responding to it as a matter of urgency. I haven't seen that done very often at this kind of event. As I said to Christina Marriot, Manager of the Integrated Equalities Service, if they (and particularly she) don't get a gold star on the evaluation forms today for thinking on their feet, then there's no justice in the room!