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Annual report 2021-2022
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2021/22 Incorporating the quality report University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust Annual Report and Accounts 2021/22 P
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Annual report 20-21
Description
2020/21 Incorporating the quality report University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 Presented to Parliament pursuant to Schedule 7, paragraph 25(4)(a) of the National Health Service Act 2006 © 2021 University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust Table of contents Welcome from our chair and chief executive 6 Overview and performance 8 Performance report 9 Overview 10 Accountability report 29 Directors’ report 30 Remuneration report 53 Staff report 65 NHS Foundation Trust Code of Governance 81 NHS Oversight Framework 81 Annual governance statement 84 Quality report 95 Statement on quality from the chief executive 96 Priorities for improvement and statements of assurance from the board 99 Other information 153 Annual accounts 180 Statement from the chief financial officer 181 Auditor’s report 182 Foreword to the accounts 188 Statement of Comprehensive Income 189 Statement of Financial Position 190 Statement of Changes in Taxpayers’ Equity 191 Statement of Cash Flows 192 Notes to the accounts 193 5 Welcome from our chair and chief executive 2020/21 was undoubtedly the most challenging year in the history of the NHS, and we have felt the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic here at University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust (UHS) in full. Responding to this has meant there isn’t a single part of our organisation that hasn’t changed in some way over the last year and we have all had to adapt to a rapidly changing environment. Our staff have been unwavering in their dedication, hard work and commitment to keeping our hospitals running, our patients cared for, and their colleagues supported. Every single member of the UHS family has played their part. The loss of life from COVID-19 has been devastating, and at UHS we stand shoulder-to-shoulder with everyone affected by this tragedy, including the families of staff members whom we lost. We must recognise the incredible work of Southampton Hospital Charity, which has funded boost boxes, wellness rooms, a helpline and so much more to support staff at a time when their wellbeing is more important than ever. As the nationwide vaccination programme continues to offer hope of life more like pre-pandemic times, we are proud to have been at the forefront of these efforts - from being part of early research for the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, to the opening of one of the largest vaccination hubs in the region on our site in December 2020. We will continue to play a key role in vaccination development by leading the world’s first clinical trial into the effectiveness of COVID-19 booster vaccines, as well as taking part in a study involving pregnant people. Our response to COVID-19 has prompted innovation and new ways of working across the Trust, to the benefit of patient experience. At the start of the pandemic we faced real challenges of capacity and increases in waiting times, which led to us working with Spire Southampton so cancer treatment and surgery could continue for patients at highest risk. We also increased the number of outpatient attendances which took place by telephone or video call, and our patient support hub was set up to provide a single point of support for patients who had been advised to shield. We are immensely proud of the record of the Trust during the pandemic, exemplified by the number of patients we were able to take into our care from well outside the local area. The Trust is in a strong financial position as a result of careful spending and efficiencies, which has allowed us to invest significantly in upgrading our estate. These improvements have seen the opening of the general intensive care unit, and the new cancer ward, which was built in just six months. These formed part of overall capital expenditure of £80 million during the year. The last year has seen us say goodbye to two members of our executive leadership team. Paula Head left the chief executive officer role in November to join the national response to COVID-19, before becoming a senior fellow at The King’s Fund. Derek Sandeman moved on from being our chief medical officer to take the same position at the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care System. We are grateful to both for their efforts on the Trust leadership team during the most challenging of years. One of our non-executive directors, Jenni Douglas-Todd, also left the Trust to take on the important role of director of equality and inclusion with NHS England and NHS Improvement. 6 Looking ahead to the future, UHS will play a key role in the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care System. Our commitment is to deliver services with partners through clinical networks, collaboration and integration across geographical and organisational boundaries for seamless patient care. We as a Trust board are looking forward to implementing our own five year strategy, which sets out ambitions for what we want the hospital to be in 2025, for both patients and staff. Our focus will always be on enabling world class people to deliver world class care. Peter Hollins David French Chair Chief Executive Officer 7 OVERVIEW AND PERFORMANCE Performance report Introduction from our chief executive Over the last year, the way in which the Trust has worked and performance it has achieved, has been transformed by the COVID-19 pandemic. • UHS saw a number of large surges in demand for inpatient care, and for intensive respiratory support in particular, due to COVID-19 infection rates. Our capacity to deliver intensive care had to be increased, and many of our staff moved from other services such as our elective theatres in order to meet this need for care. • We have introduced and continue to maintain a number of changes to reduce the risk of COVID-19 being transmitted, or adversely affecting patient outcomes, within the Trust. Changes have included the wearing of additional personal protective equipment by our staff (especially when caring for patients who might have COVID-19 or undertaking higher risk procedures), reducing the number of patients coming to our outpatient departments and increasing the number of telephone and video consultations, separating elective and emergency patients within our departments and regular testing of our staff and all patients on or prior to their admission to hospital for treatment. • Public concerns about safety, government restrictions and the efforts of community services actually contributed to reductions in the total number of patients who sought hospital care this year. • Treatment plans have been modified by a number of services, in partnership with patients, to reduce the risk posed by COVID-19 to those patients. This was often appropriate in those circumstances in which the normal treatment would significantly reduce the patient’s own resistance to infections. Our performance has, in many cases, been strongly influenced by these profound changes. We have responded well to the need to provide the most urgent care, and the adverse impacts on elective care have been slightly less than the average across the NHS. However, we remain very concerned by the significant increase in the numbers of patients waiting longer than they should for elective care. It will take concerted and sustained action within both the Trust and the wider NHS in order to return elective performance to levels achieved before the pandemic whilst also continuing to meet urgent care needs as the restrictions that have been implemented within our society are progressively relaxed. 9 Overview About the Trust Our services University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust is one of the largest acute teaching trusts in England with a turnover of more than £1 billion in 2020/21. It is based on the coast in south east England and provides services to over 1.9 million people living in Southampton and south Hampshire and specialist services, including neurosciences, respiratory medicine, cancer care, cardiovascular, obstetrics and specialist children’s services, to more than 3.7 million people in central southern England and the Channel Islands. The Trust is also a designated major trauma centre, one of only two places in the south of England to offer adults and children full major trauma care provision. As a leading centre for teaching and research, the Trust has close working relationships with the University of Southampton, the Medical Research Council, National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), Wellcome Trust and Cancer Research UK. UHS is consistently one of the UK’s highest recruiting trusts of patients to clinical trials and in the top ten nationally for research study volume as ranked by the NIHR Clinical Research Network. 12,000 Every year over staff at UHS: treat around 160,000 inpatients and day patients, including about 75,000 emergency admissions see over 650,000 people at outpatient appointments deal with around 150,000 cases in our emergency department deliver more than 100 outpatient clinics across the south of England, keeping services local for patients The Trust provides most of its services from the following locations: • Southampton General Hospital – the Trust’s largest location, where a great number of specialist services are based alongside emergency and critical care and which includes Southampton Children’s Hospital. • Princess Anne Hospital – located across the road from Southampton General Hospital and providing maternity care and specialist care for women with medical problems during pregnancy and babies who need extra care around birth across the region. • Royal South Hants Hospital – although the Trust does not operate this site near the centre of Southampton it provides a smaller number of services from this location. • New Forest Birth Centre – located at Ashurst on the edge of the New Forest and run by experienced midwives and support staff it offers a safe, ‘home away from home’ environment for women having a healthy pregnancy and expecting a straightforward birth. The services provided by the Trust are commissioned and paid for by local clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) and, in the case of more specialised services (such as treatments for rare conditions), by NHS England. Over 50% of UHS services are paid for by CCGs and approximately 48% by NHS England. We provide these under a standard NHS contract, which incorporates ongoing monitoring of the Trust and the quality of the services provided. 10 Our structure UHS gained foundation trust status on 1 October 2011. A foundation trust is a public benefit corporation providing NHS services in line with the core NHS principles: that care should be universal, comprehensive and free at the point of need. The Trust is licensed as a foundation trust to provide these services by Monitor (the independent regulator, now part of NHS England and NHS Improvement) and the healthcare services we provide are regulated by the Care Quality Commission. Being a foundation trust has enabled greater local accountability and greater financial freedom and has supported the delivery of the Trust’s mission and strategy over a number of years. The diagram below provides an overview of the overall organisational structure of the Trust. Public and foundation trust members Council of Governors Board of Directors Executive Directors Division A Surgery Critical Care Opthalmology Theatres and Anaesthetics Division B Division C Cancer Care Emergency Medicine Helicopter Emergency Medical Services Medicine and Medicine for Older People Pathology Specialist Medicine Women and Newborn Maternity Child Health Clinical Support Division D Trust Headquarters Division Cardiovascular and Thoracic Neurosciences Trauma and Orthopaedics Radiology Corporate Affairs Communications Estates, Facilities and Capital Development Finance Human Resources Informatics Patient Support Services Procurement and Supply Transformation and Improvement (‘Always Improving’) Research and Development Strategy and Business Development 11 The Trust is also part of an integrated care system in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, which is a partnership of NHS and local government organisations working together to improve the health and wellbeing of the population across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. Our values Our values describe how we do things at UHS and act as a guide to all staff working with colleagues to deliver high quality patient care and a great patient experience every day. Our values are: Patients, their families and carers are at the heart of what we do. Their experience of our services will be our measure of success. Partnership between clinicians, patients and carers is critical to achieving our vision, both within hospital teams and extending across organisational boundaries in the NHS, social care and the third sector. We will ensure we are always improving services for patients through research, education, clinical effectiveness and quality improvement. We will continue to incorporate new ideas, technologies and create greater efficiencies in the services we provide. 12 Our strategy 2021-25 The Trust’s strategy was updated during 2020/2021 to take account of everything our staff had experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic and what we had learnt from this. The vision for UHS is to continue on its journey to become an organisation of world class people delivering world class care. Our strategy is organised around five themes and for each of these describes a number ambitions we aim to achieve by 2025. Theme Ambitions Outstanding patient outcomes, • We will monitor clinical outcomes, safety and experience of our experience and safety patients regularly to ensure they are amongst the best in the UK By 2025 we will strengthen our and the world. national reputation for outstanding • We will reduce harm, learning from all incidents through our patient outcomes, experience and proactive patient safety culture. safety, providing high quality care • We will ensure all patients and relatives have a positive experience and treatment across an extensive of our care, as a result of the environment created by our people range of services from foetal and our facilities. medicine, through all life stages and conditions, to end-of-life care. Pioneering research • We will recruit and enable people to deliver pioneering research and innovation in Southampton. We will continue to be a leading teaching hospital with a growing, reputable and innovative research and development portfolio • We will optimise access to clinical research studies for our patients. • We will enable innovation in everything we do, and ensure that ‘cutting edge’ investigations and treatments are delivered in Southampton. that attracts the best staff and efficiently delivers the best possible treatments and care for our patients. World class people • We will recruit and develop enough people with the right Supporting and nurturing our knowledge and skills to meet the needs of our patients. people through a culture that values • We will provide satisfying and fulfilling roles, growing our talent diversity and builds knowledge and through development and opportunity for progression. skills to ensure everyone reaches • We will empower our people, embracing diversity and embedding their full potential. We must provide compassion, inclusion and equity of opportunity. rewarding career paths within empowered, compassionate, and motivated teams. Integrated networks and collaboration We will deliver our services with partners through clinical networks, collaboration and integration across geographical and organisational boundaries. • We will work in partnership with key stakeholders across the Hampshire and Isle of Wight integrated care system. • We will strengthen our acute clinical networks across the region, centralising when necessary and supporting local care when appropriate. • We will foster local integration with primary and community care as well as mental health and social care services for seamless delivery across boundaries. • We will build on our successful partnership with University of Southampton (UoS), growing our reputation as a national leading university teaching hospital. 13 Theme Foundations for the future Making our enabling infrastructure (finance, digital, estate) fit for the future to support a leading university teaching hospital in the 21st century and recognising our responsibility as a major employer in the community of Southampton and our role in broader environmental sustainability. Ambitions • We will deliver best value to the tax payer as a financially efficient and sustainable organisation. • We will support patient self-management and seamless care across organisational boundaries through our ambitious digital programme, including real time data reporting, to inform our care. • We will expand and improve our estate, increasing capacity where needed and providing modern facilities for our patients and our people. • We will strengthen our role in the community as an employer of choice, a partner in delivery of services to our population and by leading the Greener NHS agenda locally. During each year of the strategy the Trust will set out a more detailed series of objectives to achieve and progress towards the delivery of its ambitions. In 2020/21 these objectives included: • Recovery, restoration and improvement of clinical services • Implementing the ‘Always Improving’ strategy • Restoring a full research portfolio • Continuing our focus on staff wellbeing including the long-term effects of coronavirus (long COVID) • Working in partnership with the newly established integrated care system • Creating a sustainable financial infrastructure • Making our corporate infrastructure (digital, estate) fit for the future to support a leading university teaching hospital in the 21st century, including an estates masterplan. Performance against these objectives will be monitored and reported to the Trust’s board of directors on a quarterly basis. Principal risks to our strategy and objectives The board of directors has identified and manages the principal risks to the delivery of its strategy and objectives through its board assurance framework. The principal risks to the delivery of its strategy and objectives identified by the Trust during 2020/21 were that: • it would be unable to form effective partnerships that achieve networked care for patients; • it could not develop the estate in line with the ambitions set out in the strategy; • it would fail to restore and increase capacity following the COVID-19 pandemic to meet waiting times for elective care and cancer care needs; • it would fail to introduce and implement new technology for the transformation of care; • it would be unable to retain, recruit, develop and train a diverse and inclusive workforce necessary to meet the strategic goals; • it could not develop a sustainable model within the new financial regime that preserves quality care; • it would fail to provide vulnerable service users with timely and high quality and appropriate care; • it would not reach the ambition of outstanding compliance and quality standards; • it could not sufficiently engage with key stakeholders and system partners to support effective interventions and maintain the health of the local population; • it would be unable to respond to the needs of the NHS in order to deliver our strategy; • it would fail to capitalise on its relationship with the universities in Southampton and other health education providers in line with our strategy; • it would not develop innovative education and training approaches. 14 While the COVID-19 pandemic presented the Trust with new risks as it introduced more stringent infection control processes, stopped certain types of activity and responded quickly to care for large numbers of seriously ill patients who had tested positive for COVID-19, it also prompted innovation across a wide range of areas. However the ongoing impact of the pandemic on both our staff, patients who have had COVID-19 and patients who have waited longer than expected for treatment as a result, added to the risks facing the Trust. National targets for performance have not been amended as a result of the pandemic, although the national plan has focussed on the recovery of activity levels as the first stage in a restoration of elective services. Capacity – The initial and subsequent waves of the COVID-19 pandemic have led to increases in the waiting times for patients and the number of patients waiting more than 52 and 78 weeks has increased significantly. While the Trust was able to recover capacity quickly between waves of the pandemic, its ability to reduce the overall waiting list and the length of time patients are waiting for treatment remains one of the key risks for the Trust. This may be compounded by the reduction in the number of referrals from GPs during the pandemic, leading to a potential future increase in the number of patients being referred as people visit their GPs for the first time with more advanced disease. During the pandemic the Trust utilised the support available from the independent sector to continue cancer treatment and surgery for those patients at highest risk. It also increased the number of outpatient attendances which took place by telephone or video call. The Trust developed a clinical assurance framework during the year to better assess the risk of harm to patients as a result of delays in treatment and this has been utilised in decision-making around the allocation of resources to those areas where there is the greatest risk of potential harm to patients. In addition to opening additional capacity during 2020/21 (described in the Estates section below), the Trust also committed expenditure and commenced construction works in 2020/21 in order to be in a position to open an additional endoscopy room and four further operating theatres during 2021/22 and prepared plans for a significant expansion in ophthalmology outpatient capacity. These initiatives will contribute to improvements in elective waiting times that needed following the pandemic. Quality and compliance – The Trust continued to monitor the quality of care delivered throughout 2020/21. During the COVID-19 pandemic the primary focus became infection prevention and control, with the launch of a successful COVID ZERO campaign that saw the Trust reduce the transmission of the virus in hospital (nosocomial transmission). The Trust also achieved its annual target for reduction in Clostridium Difficile infections, however, there was one MRSA Bacteraemia during March 2021, the only such event in 2020/21. The Trust continued to develop its proactive patient safety culture during 2020/21 with changes to the way in which patient safety incidents are investigated and the approval of its Always Improving strategy, which will be launched in 2021. Reporting and investigation of incidents continued during 2020/21. Partnerships – During 2020/21, the Trust and its partners worked together very effectively to discharge patients safely and provide ongoing support to patients who had tested positive for COVID-19, to ensure patients requiring urgent cancer treatment and surgery were able to continue their treatment in the independent sector and to develop a COVID-19 saliva testing pilot with the University of Southampton and local authorities. Work to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, however, meant that as a system we were unable to progress the Hampshire and Isle of Wight strategic plan delivery at the pace we would have wanted or had set out to achieve, particularly the development of networks. Nonetheless the application for Hampshire and Isle of Wight to become an integrated care system was approved with effect from 1 April 2021. 15 Existing networks continued to develop and improve. The Trust also became the Wessex Cancer Surgical Hub during 2020 as a result of a national initiative with the aim of maximising the number of patients receiving curative surgery. Both the Wessex Cancer Alliance and the Trust ended the year as the second highest performing among their respective peers for cancer treatment. Workforce – While additional staff were recruited to specifically assist the Trust during the pandemic, the Trust continued to recruit nurses from overseas during 2020/21 meaning that the number of vacancies has reduced compared to the position prior to the pandemic. Changes to recruitment processes were approved in 2020/21 to improve the fairness, transparency and quality of these. The Trust also continued to work with its staff networks and specific focus groups to increase diversity in leadership roles. While workforce capacity continues to be one of the biggest challenges faced by the Trust, during 2020/21 our main focus has been on supporting our staff to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and providing both the tools and time to help staff recovery. We are incredibly proud of the way that staff responded to the pandemic and continue to recognise this in whatever ways we can, however, we also want to ensure that staff continue to be able to contribute to patient care at their best and want to stay and develop with the Trust. Technology was also used at levels not previously achieved to continue to deliver training to staff and enable staff to work from home where possible, ensuring a safer environment for patients and staff in the hospitals. Estate – The Trust continued to invest in and develop its estate during 2020/21 including the opening a new general intensive care unit (GICU), a new operating theatre and a new cancer care ward, built in just six months. These were part of £80 million of capital expenditure in 2020/21. The Trust has also established a programme to reduce backlog maintenance in addition to continuing to add to and improve the environment in which services are provided to patients and the working environment for staff. Innovation and technology – There have been exceptional levels of achievement in relation to COVID-19 related research activity, including in partnership with the universities. You can read more about these from page 167 of the quality report. The board of directors also supported the funding of an expansion of research and innovation activity to allow the continued delivery of the Trust’s ambitions to innovate and improve and transform its services. Sustainable financial model – The Trust achieved its forecast breakeven position in 2020/21. Income was more predictable in 2020/21 as block contract arrangements were put in place in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and ensured that costs were covered. The Trust continues to maintain a strong cash position and to implement improvements and efficiency savings, allowing it to continue to invest in its services. 16 Summary of performance COVID-19 bed occupancy UHS has experienced two distinct peaks in inpatient care for patients with COVID-19 infection, with smaller numbers of patients continuing to receive care outside these peak times. Bed occupancy reached a maximum of 173 in the first peak in April 2020, and 322 in the second peak in January 2021. All bed types Intensive care/higher care beds 17 Emergency access through our emergency and eye casualty departments Public concerns about safety, government restrictions on the activities people were able to do, and the efforts of community services contributed to significant reductions in the total number of patients who presented to our departments. All patients presenting to the emergency department Many changes were introduced within our departments in the course of the year to ensure that emergency assessment and treatment could be provided safely, including wearing of protective equipment by staff and patients, providing care in separate areas for patients suspected or known to have COVID-19, and using rapid laboratory tests to identify infection and confirm/exclude COVID-19 as a cause. Emergency access performance (measured as the percentage of patients discharged from emergency department care or admitted to a hospital bed within four hours of arrival to the department) improved significantly in 2020/21 compared to previous years. The national target of 95% was not achieved, however, the performance of our departments compared favourably with the average for acute trusts in England. 18 Emergency access four hour performance 19 Elective Waiting times Demand We saw a significant reduction in the number of elective referrals to hospital in the early part 2020/21, though they had returned close to pre-pandemic levels by the end of the year. It is likely that this pattern relates to a range of factors including reluctance from members of the public to attend healthcare facilities at that time, changes to the ways in which primary care was accessed, and efforts made within primary and community to avoid hospital referrals needing to be made. Accepted referrals The number of patients referred to hospital with suspected cancer also reduced during 2020/21; 7% fewer patients were seen across the year as a whole, though referrals returned to pre-pandemic levels or higher from July 2020 onwards. Patients seen following ‘Two week wait’ urgent referral for suspected cancer 20 Activity UHS hospital appointments, diagnostic tests and elective admissions were all significantly reduced during 2020/21 due to the impact of COVID-19. • During periods of higher bed occupancy with COVID-19 it was necessary to significantly reduce the number of elective admissions undertaken in order that additional staff could work in intensive care. Less clinically urgent and therefore longer waiting patients were primarily those affected. • Throughout the year, additional infection prevention measures have reduced the number of patients that can be seen in each session, particularly when higher risk ‘aerosol generating’ procedures are planned, but also as a result of additional PPE being worn or to enable greater distancing of patients attending outpatient departments. UHS was offered additional capacity at local independent sector hospitals and used this effectively to minimise these adverse impacts. Approximately 30% of outpatient appointments are now undertaken by telephone or video, helping to maintain the capacity for patient care whilst reducing the infection risk for those patients and helping to maintain distancing measures for those patients still attending our outpatient departments. The graphs below show 2020/21 activity levels as a percentage of those achieved in the previous year. Elective admissions (including daycase) 21 Outpatient attendances Performance The average waiting time for first outpatient appointments has remained close to nine weeks for the majority of the year. UHS has however experienced very significant deteriorations in the waiting times our patients experience for diagnostic tests to be undertaken and elective treatment to be provided. The reduced number of new patients referred to hospital early in 2020/21 has moderated the extent of the growth in the total numbers of patients waiting, and the greatest rate of growth has unfortunately been amongst those groups of patients already waiting longest. 22 Diagnostics Our performance measures for diagnostics report on a total of 15 different frequently used tests. The waiting list is approximately 50% bigger than it was before the pandemic and stable through the second half of the year. At the end of the year 28% of patients were waiting more than six weeks to receive their investigation compared to the national target of 1%. The tests with the largest numbers of longer waiting patients include non-obstetric ultrasound, MRI and endoscopies, and further recovery will be driven through a combination of recruitment, independent sector capacity and an additional endoscopy room which opened at the start of April 2021. Patients waiting for a diagnostic test to be performed (sum of 15 different frequently used tests) Percentage of patients waiting over 6 weeks for a diagnostic test to be performed 23 Referral to Treatment Our waiting list from referral to treatment increased in size by 6% (2,220 patients) during 2020/21, rising when the recovery in referral numbers exceeded the recovery in clinical activity, the total increase in waiting list size would have been significantly higher had it not been for the significant reduction in the referrals received by the hospital especially during the early months of the pandemic. Looking forward, we anticipate referrals numbers returning to pre-pandemic levels, and being able to maintain the total size of our waiting list by delivering an equivalent number of treatments each month. Number of patients waiting between referral and commencement of a treatment for their condition The national target is that at least 92% of patients should be waiting for treatment no more than 18 weeks from their referral to hospital. Our performance against this measure is now 12% worse than one year ago, at 66%. Our performance continues to be typical of the major teaching hospital trusts that we benchmark with and the trend has been similar to that experienced across trusts in England. Percentage of patients waiting up to 18 weeks between referral and treatment 24 Unfortunately, the number of patients waiting significantly longer than the 18 week target has increased at a faster rate than the size of the waiting list as a whole. The graph below shows how the percentage of patients who have waited more 52 weeks increased. The number of patients who have waited more 52 weeks increased from 40 in March 2020 to 3,419 by March 2021 (of these 445 patients had waited more than 78 weeks). Such patients often require surgical treatment, particularly in the orthopaedic, ear nose and throat and oral surgery specialities. The impact on surgical care has been greater than that in outpatients during the pandemic, and it is also more challenging to increase capacity due to the need for additional operating theatres and a combination of different healthcare professionals to work within them. UHS opened an additional operating theatre in 2020/21, and has a further four theatres scheduled to open during 2021/22, which will make a significant contribution to our capacity to treat more patients. Unfortunately, the number of patients waiting significantly longer than the 18 week target is likely to continue to grow further in the short term, due to diagnostic investigations having been progressed less quickly than usual during the pandemic, the need to prioritise our increased treatment capacity according to the clinical urgency of conditions and because our scheduled capacity increases will not be completed before the autumn of 2021. Percentage of patients waiting more than 52 weeks, between referral and commencement of a treatment for their condition 25 Cancer Waiting Times UHS has been mostly successful in maintaining the timeliness of urgent services for patients with suspected cancer through the pandemic, and our performance has been amongst the best in both the south-east and nationally. UHS prioritised the theatre and intensive care capacity we were able to provide during the pandemic in order to meet the needs of those patients with the greatest clinical urgency, used capacity offered by independent sector hospitals to supplement that available within NHS, and operated a hub through which hospitals in Wessex were able to collaborate to continue critical cancer surgery during periods of peak COVID-19 demand. The national target is to provide the first definitive treatment to at least 85% of patients with cancer with 62 days of referral to hospital. Whilst UHS performance remained below this level in the majority of months, our performance has been significantly better than the national average, and has improved relative to other trusts. Treatment for Cancer within 62 days of an urgent GP referral to hospital 26 The national target is to provide the first definitive treatment to at least 96% of patients within 31 days of a decision to treat being made and agreed with the patients; both for the first and any subsequent treatments for cancer. UHS achieved this level on average across the year, and in the majority of months. The treatments provided are typically by means of surgery, chemotherapy/immunotherapy or radiotherapy. The most significant performance challenge this year has been in radiotherapy, where more sophisticated treatment plans improve patient outcomes but take longer to prepare, and there was also reduced treatment capacity whilst we replaced one of our ‘Linear Accelerator’ treatment machines with a new model. First definitive treatment for cancer within 31 days of a decision to treat Equality in service delivery Identifying and addressing health inequalities have been the central part of the Trust’s approach to improving the experience of care for our patients, families and carers. Over the past year, new initiatives have augmented progress on existing work to ensure there is appropriate support, due regard and recognition of those patients and their families and carers who are most at risk of poor experiences, outcomes and access to services. In 2020 we added two questions to our patient surveys, asking first if patients felt themselves to have a disability or require a reasonable adjustment, and, if yes, whether the Trust met this need. In 2020/21, the results were: TOTAL Had a disability / required a reasonable adjustment 27% Had this need met by the Trust (positive response) 95% This question was added to our major Friends and Family Test surveys as well as our local service-specific patient surveys. In June 2020 the Trust launched the sunflower lanyard scheme for hidden disabilities, participating in the national initiative to ensure that people whose disabilities are not visible are able to access further support and reasonable adjustments by means of a nationally recognised indicator (the sunflower). In 2020/21, 618 lanyards were issued with those needs recorded to ensure future reasonable adjustments are made for those individuals. 27 Carers have always been essential partners in the care that we provide, and having introduced a new post at the end of 2019 to focus solely on carer experience, this work has culminated in a Trust strategy for improving the involvement, support and experience carers have of our services. We have, over the past year, introduced carers cards, virtual peer support and carer-specific information about services while actively participating in local and regional work on carers. In January 2021 we realised our ambition of becoming an accredited ‘Veterans Aware’ hospital, with our submission of evidence being recognised as ‘strong’ and indicative of an organisation that has made great progress in helping to provide enhanced support for the armed forces community. Towards the end of 2019 we worked with the disability organisation AccessAble to produce accessibility guides for all of our services and estate. These online guides allow patients and visitors with disabilities to plan their journey and identify potential challenges to the environment. In 2020/21 our guides had 5,000 unique visits per month. One of our COVID-19 initiatives, a patient support hub, was set up in May 2020 to provide a single point of support for our patients who had been advised to shield. The service has grown and now offers support to patients and carers who are vulnerable, disabled or with additional needs. This includes coordinating community transport, arranging companions to assist with attending appointments, hosting a technology library to support those who are digitally excluded in accessing virtual appointments and information, and most recently receiving funding to pilot volunteer-led support for diabetes patients. Across the Trust, we continue to actively promote the importance of asking patients and carers about disabilities and reasonable adjustments, flagging needs on our patient administrative system to prompt our services to take proactive steps to ensure that any needs or adjustments are met on each and every visit. This has been of vital importance for meeting accessible information and communication needs. We are currently one of first trusts to pilot a new translation app that provides immediate interpretation into different languages, and we have worked closely with our communication support partners to ensure that where virtual appointments are needed, people with communication needs (BSL, foreign language) are supported to access care virtually. Our specialist nursing liaison teams continued to support access to services throughout the pandemic, ensuring that patients with dementia, with learning disabilities and autism, were supported to attend hospital where necessary. Further information about the Trust’s work in relation to equality, diversity and inclusion can be found on page 69 and pages 106 and 160 in the quality report. Going concern After making enquiries, the directors have a reasonable expectation that the services provided by the Trust will continue to be provided by the public sector for the foreseeable future. For this reason, the directors have adopted the going concern basis in preparing the accounts, following the definition of going concern in the public sector adopted by HM Treasury’s Financial Reporting Manual. David French Chief Executive Officer 28 June 2021 28 Accountability report Directors’ report Board of directors The board of directors is usually made up of six executive directors and seven non-executive directors, including the chair. Since 1 January 2021 the number of non-executive directors has been reduced by one as Jane Bailey’s reappointment as a non-executive director was deferred to allow her to lead the Hampshire and Isle of Wight saliva mass testing programme. Jane is expected to return to the board of directors in her non-executive director role by 1 July 2021. Paragraph B.1.2 of the NHS foundation trust code of governance provides that at least half the board of directors, excluding the chair, should comprise non-executive directors determined by the board to be independent. Pending the reappointment of Jane Bailey as a non-executive director, the Trust has been operating with one fewer non-executive directors than is required by the Trust’s constitution and the Trust has been non-compliant with this paragraph of the code. During this period the provisions of the Trust’s constitution that a quorum for meetings of the board of directors requires at least one non-executive director and one executive director to be present and for the chair to have a second and casting vote in the case of an equal vote continued to apply. The board of directors has given careful consideration to the range of skills and experience it requires to run the Trust. Together the members of the board of directors bring a wide range of skills and experience to the Trust, such that the Board achieves balance and completeness at the highest level. The chair was determined to be independent on his appointment and the other non-executive directors have been determined to be independent in both character and judgement. This included specific consideration of Jane Bailey’s continued independence following her role leading the Hampshire and Isle of Wight saliva mass testing programme. The chair, executive directors and non-executive directors have declared any business interests that they have. Each director has declared their interests at public meetings of the board of directors. The register of interests is available on the Trust’s website. 30 The current members of the board of directors are: Non-executive directors Peter Hollins Chair Peter graduated in chemistry from Hertford College, Oxford. Joining Imperial Chemical Industries in 1973, he undertook a series of increasingly senior roles in marketing and then general management. Following three years in the Netherlands as general manager of ICI Resins BV, in 1992 he was appointed as chief operating officer of EVC in Brussels – a joint venture between ICI and Enichem of Italy. He played a key role in the flotation of the company in 1994, before returning in 1998 to the UK as chief executive officer of British Energy where he remained until 2001. From 2001, he held various chairmanships and non-executive directorships. In 2003, he decided to return to an executive role as chief executive of the British Heart Foundation in which post he remained until retirement in March 2013. He joined Southampton University Hospital Trust as a non-executive director in 2010, became senior independent director and deputy chairman of UHS in 2014 and was appointed chair in April 2016. Trust roles: • Chair of remuneration and appointment committee • Chair of governors’ nomination committee Jane Bailey Non-executive director In 1985, Jane joined the pharmaceutical company Glaxo as a management trainee, having graduated from London University with a degree in environmental science and pharmacology. Here she rose to senior commercial vice-president, gaining experience of a broad range of disease areas across different regions of the world. She specialised in leading global research and development teams in the formation of strategies to bring new medicines to patients. She also worked to ensure that the medicines developed were supported by robust evidence demonstrating their clinical and cost-effectiveness. In delivering this she gained extensive experience of leading large diverse teams across a complex global organisation. For five years, Jane ran her own strategy development consultancy, working across a breadth of healthcare organisations. In 2017 Jane gained an MSc in public health, with distinction, at King’s College, London University. Her studies focused on how to ensure the public are engaged in development of healthcare services and how social theories can help inform effective disease prevention and management. Jane is a director of Wessex NHS Procurement Limited, a joint venture between the Trust and Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and a director of Healthwatch Portsmouth. Trust roles: • Deputy chair and senior independent director • Chair of finance and investment committee • Audit and risk committee member • Charitable funds committee member • People and organisational development committee member • Remuneration and appointment committee member • Wellbeing Guardian 31 Non-executive directors Dave Bennett Non-executive director Dave graduated in chemistry from the University of Southampton before entering management consulting, becoming a partner in Accenture’s strategy practice. In 2003 he joined Exel Logistics (later acquired by DHL), managing the company’s healthcare business across Europe and the Middle East. During this time, he established NHS Supply Chain, a UK organisation responsible for procuring and delivering medical consumables for the NHS in England, as well as sourcing capital equipment. Dave joined the board of Cable & Wireless as sales director in 2008. He later set up his own strategy consulting practice serving the healthcare sector, completing numerous projects in the UK and the US. Dave has also served as a non-executive director at The Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust between 2009 and 2016, where he chaired the Trust’s quality committee. Dave is a non-executive director at the Faculty of Leadership and Medical Management and a director of Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) Enterprises Ltd and RCGP Conferences Ltd. Trust roles: • Chair of charitable funds committee • Chair of finance and investment committee (from 1 January 2021) • Audit and risk committee member (from 9 February 2021) • Quality committee member • Remuneration and appointment committee member • Chair of Trust’s organ donation committee 32 Non-executive directors Cyrus Cooper Non-executive director Cyrus Cooper is professor of rheumatology and director of the MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit. He is also vice-dean of the faculty of medicine at the University of Southampton and professor of epidemiology at the Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics (rheumatology and musculoskeletal sciences, University of Oxford). He leads an internationally competitive programme of research into the epidemiology of musculoskeletal disorders, most notably osteoporosis. His key research contributions have been: • discovery of the developmental influences which contribute to the risk of osteoporosis and hip fracture in late adulthood • demonstration that maternal vitamin D insufficiency is associated with sub-optimal bone mineral accrual in childhood • characterisation of the definition and incidence rates of vertebral fractures • leadership of large pragmatic randomised controlled trials of calcium and vitamin D supplementation in the elderly as immediate preventative strategies against hip fracture. He is president of the International Osteoporosis Foundation, chair of the BHF Project Grants Committee, an emeritus NIHR senior investigator, a director of The Rank Prize Funds and associate editor of Osteoporosis International. He has previously served as chairman of the Scientific Advisors Committee (International Osteoporosis Foundation), the MRC Population Health Sciences Research Network and the National Osteoporosis Society of Great Britain. He has also been president of the Bone Research Society of Great Britain and has worked on numerous Department of Health, European Community and World Health Organisation committees and working groups. Cyrus has published extensively on osteoporosis and rheumatic disorders and pioneered clinical studies on the developmental origins of peak bone mass. In 2015, he was awarded an OBE for services to medical research. Trust roles: • Quality committee member • Remunerati
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2022/23 Incorporating the quality account University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust Annual Report and Accounts 2022/23 Presented to Parliament pursuant to Schedule 7, paragraph 25(4)(a) of the National Health Service Act 2006 © 2023 University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust Contents Welcome from our chair and chief executive 6 Overview and performance 8 Performance report 9 Overview 10 Accountability report 33 Directors’ report 34 Remuneration report 57 Staff report 71 Annual governance statement 91 Quality account 106 Statement on quality from the chief executive 107 Priorities for improvement and statements of assurance from the board 110 Other information 188 Annual accounts 222 Statement from the chief financial officer 223 Auditor’s report 224 Foreword to the accounts 230 Statement of Comprehensive Income 231 Statement of Financial Position 232 Statement of Changes in Taxpayers’ Equity 233 Statement of Cash Flows 234 Notes to the accounts 235 5 Welcome from the Chair and Chief Executive Officer University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust (‘UHS’ or the ‘Trust’) experienced another challenging year during 2022/23. Nonetheless, the Trust and its staff have continued to deliver for patients and the wider system in which it operates. Trust highlights from 2022/23 include: • Delivering an 8% increase in activity (compared to 2019/20) under the elective recovery programme, which places us as one of the top performing trusts in England. • Being recognised in the NHS staff survey as the seventh highest trust for recommendation as a place to work nationally and the best performing trust in opportunities for career development. • Celebrating 50 years as a medical school with the University of Southampton and continuing to pioneer UK and world-first research studies. • Enhancing the reputation of our specialist care – for example our bone marrow transplant team at UHS have the best patient outcomes in Europe. However, as was the picture across the country, UHS had an extremely challenging winter with attendances at our emergency department often in excess of 400 a day. This was driven in part by high prevalence of streptococcus A (strep A) in the community along with other seasonal illnesses such as influenza and high incidences of COVID-19 at times. Moreover, the lack of availability of care home beds and other care packages in the community has resulted in challenges in discharging patients who are ready to leave hospital and therefore we have been operating at or near to capacity throughout the year. At the time of writing, there continues to be operational pressures due to industrial action by the Royal College of Nursing and British Medical Association. Throughout the disputes, we have attempted to balance the right of our staff to strike with the need to minimise the impact on the Trust’s operations and patients and ensure that safety was not compromised. Our leadership team has engaged proactively with the unions to agree, where possible, derogations (i.e. services that will continue to be staffed during strikes) to ensure that the running of our hospitals can continue and that patients remain safe. We would like to express our thanks to all staff who have gone over and above during these periods of industrial action by being willing to do different work to usual, often at anti-social times of the day. While we cannot influence national negotiations, we are focusing on what we can control within UHS. Our people strategy published last year sets out how we will grow and deploy our workforce of today and the future as part of a thriving community to deliver world-class patient care. Building on this, we have recently launched our inclusion and belonging strategy so that as a leadership team we can deliver what is required for all our workforce to feel they can belong and thrive at UHS. The Trust achieved its Cost Improvement Plan (CIP) target of £45.6m for 2022/23, the highest in our history but despite this, ended the year with a deficit of £11m. The deficit was driven by a combination of factors including a substantial increase in energy prices, higher costs of medicines and equipment and temporary staffing costs as well as changes in recent years in respect of the NHS funding infrastructure, which adversely impacted the Trust relative to others during the year. In terms of the broader context, the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care System, in which the Trust operates, reported an overall deficit for 2022/23 driven in part by a significant increase in staffing numbers when compared to 2019/20 as well as structural factors. 6 We have continued to make progress on our estates strategy, building new theatres and carrying out improvements to existing facilities, as well as opening a new park and ride for staff at Adanac Park and progressing plans for a new innovation campus there. During 2022/23 we invested over £88m of capital expenditure to meet our ambition of increasing capacity and improving services in order to manage the increasing demand. All development is underpinned by our green plan, which sets out areas of focus for decarbonising UHS and achieving the net zero target set by the NHS. The Trust has continued to support the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care System, which was formed on 1 July 2022 to facilitate integration and collaboration across health and social care partners in the region. In particular, UHS has worked closely with the Integrated Care Board and other providers in the development of the operating plan for 2023/24. We have also continued to work with other partners in the region, including local authorities and the University of Southampton. The 13,000 staff of UHS are our greatest asset and we would like to express our gratitude to them for continuing to go above and beyond to put patients first under very challenging circumstances. Without our staff, we would be unable to fulfil our ambition to be a world-class organisation with world-class people delivering world-class care. Jenni Douglas-Todd Chair 26 June 2023 David French Chief Executive Officer 26 June 2023 7 PERFORMANCE REPORT Performance report Introduction from the Chief Executive Officer The Trust experienced another challenging year with the need to balance the delivery of quality patient care with a significant increase in demand for the Trust’s resources and the need to do so whilst maintaining a sustainable financial position. The Trust saw the number of patients on a waiting list under the 18-week referral to treatment pathway increase to just over 55,000 patients at the end of the year. Despite this, however, the Trust was successful in reducing the number of patients waiting more than 104 weeks to nil and in reducing the number of patients waiting more than 78 weeks to 14 by the end of the year. In addition, the Trust’s performance under the elective recovery programme placed it as one of the topperforming trusts in the country. Demand for non-elective care also significantly increased during the year with the emergency department seeing more than 400 attendances per day at some points, especially during the winter months. The industrial action seen in the latter part of 2022/23 placed further pressure on the Trust and resulted in a need to cancel elective procedures and outpatients appointments. However, on balance, the Trust was able to manage these events through effective planning and the engagement and support of its staff. Although the Trust was successful in recruiting to substantive roles, especially in terms of reducing the number of Health Care Assistant vacancies, the anticipated reduction in use of bank and agency staff was not seen. This, among other factors, such as the substantial increase in energy costs and the rate of inflation, posed a significant challenge in terms of the Trust’s financial position. Despite achieving savings of £45.6m, the Trust reported a deficit of £11m for 2022/23. 9 Overview About the Trust Our services University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust is one of the largest acute teaching trusts in England with a turnover of more than £1 billion in 2022/23. It is based on the coast in southeast England and provides services to over 1.9 million people living in Southampton and south Hampshire and specialist services, including neurosciences, respiratory medicine, cancer care, cardiovascular, obstetrics and specialist children’s services, to more than 3.7 million people in central southern England and the Channel Islands. The Trust is also a designated major trauma centre, one of only two places in the south of England to offer adults and children full major trauma care provision. As a leading centre for teaching and research, the Trust has close working relationships with the University of Southampton, the Medical Research Council, National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), Wellcome Trust and Cancer Research UK. The Trust is consistently one of the UK’s highest recruiting trusts of patients to clinical trials and one of the top nationally for research study volumes as ranked by the NIHR Clinical Research Network. Every year the Trust: treats around 160,000 inpatients and day patients, including about 75,000 emergency admissions sees over 650,000 people at outpatient appointments deals with around 150,000 cases in our emergency department delivers more than 100 outpatient clinics across the south of England, keeping services local for patients The Trust provides most of its services from the following locations: • Southampton General Hospital – the Trust’s largest location, where a great number of specialist services are based alongside emergency and critical care and which includes Southampton Children’s Hospital. • Princess Anne Hospital – located across the road from Southampton General Hospital and providing maternity care and specialist care for women with medical problems during pregnancy and babies who need extra care around birth across the region. • Royal South Hants Hospital – although the Trust does not operate this site near the centre of Southampton it provides a smaller number of services from this location. • New Forest Birth Centre – located at Ashurst on the edge of the New Forest and run by experienced midwives and support staff it acts as a community midwifery hub. The services provided by the Trust are commissioned and paid for by the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care System (ICS) and, in the case of more specialised services (such as treatments for rare conditions), by NHS England. Trust services are supported by clinical income, of which 55% is paid for by NHS England and 43% by the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care Board. These are provided under a standard NHS contract, which incorporates ongoing monitoring of the Trust and the quality of the services provided. 10 Our structure UHS gained foundation trust status on 1 October 2011. A foundation trust is a public benefit corporation providing NHS services in line with the core NHS principles: that care should be universal, comprehensive and free at the point of need. The Trust is licensed as a foundation trust to provide these services by NHS England and the healthcare services we provide are regulated by the Care Quality Commission. Since 1 July 2022, the Trust has been part of the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care System (ICS) when this was established through the Health and Social Care Act 2022. Each ICS has two statutory elements: an integrated care partnership (ICP) and an integrated care board (ICB). The ICP is a statutory committee jointly formed between the NHS integrated care board and all uppertier local authorities that fall within the ICS area. The ICP will bring together a broad alliance of partners concerned with improving the care, health and wellbeing of the population, with membership determined locally. The ICP is responsible for producing an integrated care strategy on how to meet the health and wellbeing needs of the population in the ICS area. The ICB is a statutory NHS organisation responsible for developing a plan for meeting the health needs of the population, managing the NHS budget and arranging for the provision of health services in the ICS area. The establishment of ICBs resulted in clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) being closed down. The Trust has been a university teaching hospital since 1971. The diagram below provides an overview of the overall organisational structure of the Trust. Division A Surgery Critical Care Opthalmology Theatres and Anaesthetics Public and foundation trust members Council of Governors Board of Directors Executive Directors Division B Division C Division D Cancer Care Emergency Medicine Helicopter Emergency Medical Services Medicine and Medicine for Older People Pathology Specialist Medicine Women and Newborn Maternity Child Health Clinical Support Cardiovascular and Thoracic Neurosciences Trauma and Orthopaedics Radiology Trust Headquarters Division 11 Our values Our values describe how we do things at UHS and act as a guide to all staff working with colleagues to deliver high quality patient care and a great patient experience every day. Our values are: Patients, their families and carers are at the heart of what we do. Their experience of our services will be our measure of success. Partnership between clinicians, patients and carers is critical to achieving our vision, both within hospital teams and extending across organisational boundaries in the NHS, social care and the third sector. We will ensure we are always improving services for patients through research, education, clinical effectiveness and quality improvement. We will continue to incorporate new ideas, technologies and create greater efficiencies in the services we provide. 12 Our strategy 2021-25 The Trust’s strategy was updated during 2020/21 to take account of everything our staff had experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic and what we had learnt from this. The vision for UHS is to become an organisation of world class people delivering world class care. Our strategy is organised around five themes and for each of these it describes a number of ambitions we aim to achieve by 2025. Theme Ambitions Outstanding patient outcomes, • We will monitor clinical outcomes, safety and experience of our experience and safety patients regularly to ensure they are amongst the best in the UK By 2025 we will strengthen our and the world. national reputation for outstanding • We will reduce harm, learning from all incidents through our patient outcomes, experience and proactive patient safety culture. safety, providing high quality care • We will ensure all patients and relatives have a positive experience and treatment across an extensive of our care, as a result of the environment created by our people range of services from foetal and our facilities. medicine, through all life stages and conditions, to end-of-life care Pioneering research • We will recruit and enable people to deliver pioneering research in and innovation Southampton. We will continue to be a leading teaching hospital with a growing, reputable and innovative research and development portfolio • We will optimise access to clinical research studies for our patients. • We will enable innovation in everything we do, and ensure that ‘cutting edge’ investigations and treatments are delivered in Southampton. that attracts the best staff and efficiently delivers the best possible treatments and care for our patients. World class people • We will recruit and develop enough people with the right Supporting and nurturing our knowledge and skills to meet the needs of our patients. people through a culture that values • We will provide satisfying and fulfilling roles, growing our talent diversity and builds knowledge and through development and opportunity for progression. skills to ensure everyone reaches • We will empower our people, embracing diversity and embedding their full potential. We must provide compassion, inclusion and equity of opportunity. rewarding career paths within empowered, compassionate, and motivated teams. Integrated networks and collaboration We will deliver our services with partners through clinical networks, collaboration and integration across geographical and organisational boundaries. • We will work in partnership with key stakeholders across the Hampshire and Isle of Wight integrated care system. • We will strengthen our acute clinical networks across the region, centralising when necessary and supporting local care when appropriate. • We will foster local integration with primary and community care as well as mental health and social care services for seamless delivery across boundaries. • We will build on our successful partnership with University of Southampton (UoS), growing our reputation as a national leading university teaching hospital. 13 Theme Foundations for the future Making our enabling infrastructure (finance, digital, estate) fit for the future to support a leading university teaching hospital in the 21st century and recognising our responsibility as a major employer in the community of Southampton and our role in broader environmental sustainability. Ambitions • We will deliver best value to the taxpayer as a financially efficient and sustainable organisation. • We will support patient self-management and seamless care across organisational boundaries through our ambitious digital programme, including real time data reporting, to inform our care. • We will expand and improve our estate, increasing capacity where needed and providing modern facilities for our patients and our people. • We will strengthen our role in the community as an employer of choice, a partner in delivery of services to our population and by leading the Greener NHS agenda locally. During each year of the strategy the Trust sets out a more detailed series of objectives to achieve and progress towards the delivery of its ambitions. In 2022/23 these objectives included: Outstanding patient outcomes, experience and safety Pioneering research and innovation World class people Integrated networks and collaboration Foundations for the future • Recovery, restoration and improvement of clinical services • Introducing a robust and proactive safety culture • Empowering and developing staff to improve services for patients • Always Improving strategy • Delivering a high-quality experience of care for all • Delivery of year two of the research and innovation investment plan • Strategy and partnership working • Growing, developing and innovating our workforce • A great place to work, develop and achieve • Compassionate and inclusive workplace for all • We Work in partnership with Integrated Care System and Primary Care Networks • Integrated Networks and Collaborations • Establishing Southern Counties Pathology Network • Establishing the Wessex Imaging Network • Develop Collaborations strategy • Creating a sustainable financial infrastructure • Making our corporate infrastructure fit for the future to support a leading university teaching hospital in the 21st century • Recognising our responsibility as a major employer in the community of Southampton and our role in delivering a greener NHS Performance against these objectives will be monitored and reported to the Trust’s Board on a quarterly basis. 14 Principal risks to our strategy and objectives The Board has identified and manages the principal risks to the delivery of its strategy and objectives through its board assurance framework. The principal risks to the delivery of its strategy and objectives identified by the Trust during 2022/23 were that: • There would be a lack of capacity to appropriately respond to emergency demand, manage the increasing waiting lists for elective demand, and provide timely diagnostics, that results in avoidable harm to patients. • Due to the current challenges, the Trust fails to provide patients and their families with a high-quality experience of care and positive patient outcomes. • The Trust would not effectively plan for and implement infection prevention and control measures that reduce the number of hospital-acquired infections and limit the number of nosocomial outbreaks of infection. • The Trust is unable to meet current and planned service requirements due to unavailability of qualified staff to fulfil key roles. • The Trust fails to develop a diverse, compassionate and inclusive workforce, providing a more positive experience for all staff. • The Trust fails to create a sustainable and innovative education and development response to meet the current and future workforce needs identified in the Trust’s longer-term workforce plan. • The Trust does not implement effective models to deliver integrated and networked care, resulting in sub-optimal patient experience and outcomes, increased numbers of admissions and increases in patients’ length of stay. • The Trust is unable to deliver a financial breakeven position and support prioritised investment as identified in the Trust’s capital plan within locally available limits (capital departmental expenditure limit (CDEL)). • The Trust does not adequately maintain, improve and develop its estate to deliver its clinical services and increase capacity. • The Trust fails to introduce and implement new technology and expand the use of existing technology to transform its delivery of care through the funding and delivery of the digital strategy. • The Trust fails to prioritise green initiatives to deliver a trajectory that will reduce its direct and indirect carbon footprint by 80% by 2028-2032 (compared with a 1990 baseline) and reach net zero direct carbon emissions by 2040 and net zero indirect carbon emissions by 2045. During 2022/23, the Trust continued to experience the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The need to ensure a safe environment for patients through stringent infection control processes impacted the Trust’s capacity due to the need to isolate patients with COVID-19 in separate areas of the hospital. In addition, outbreaks of norovirus during the winter months placed further pressure on hospital capacity. The impact of the pandemic continued to be felt in terms of staff absence due to becoming infected with COVID-19 as well as the significant impact on staff mental health. The higher than normal (i.e. pre-COVID) levels of staff absence placed additional strain on the Trust’s operations and led to increased expenditure due to the requirement to enlist bank and/or agency staff to maintain safe staffing levels. 15 Performance overview The Trust monitors a broad range of key performance indicators within its departments, divisions, directorates and through Trust executive committees. On a monthly basis, the Board and executive committee receives a performance report containing a variety of indicators intended to provide assurance in respect of the Trust’s strategy and that the care provided is safe, caring, effective, responsive and well-led. This report also includes the Trust’s performance against the national targets set by NHS England. The performance reports include a ‘spotlight’ section, which provides more detailed analysis of a particular area. Typically, this is one of either the national targets or the Trust’s performance against the expectations set out in the NHS Constitution. The monthly performance report is also published on the Trust’s website. The Chief Executive Officer provides a regular report on performance to the Council of Governors, which includes a range of non-financial and financial performance information. Capacity The pressures of the COVID-19 pandemic led to increases in the waiting times for patients and the number of patients waiting for more than a year increased significantly. During the year, the Trust achieved its goal of no patients waiting more than 104 weeks by July 2022 and finished the year with only 14 patients waiting for more than 78 weeks. However, the length of time patients are waiting for treatment remains one of the key risks for the Trust. This situation was compounded by the sustained demand for non-elective activity, which saw attendances at the emergency department rise to over 400 patients per day during some periods of 2022/23 and was consistently higher than previously was the case. The significant increase in referrals, often requiring more complex treatment, has seen the number of patients on a waiting list under the 18-week referral to treatment pathway increase to just over 55,000 patients at the end of the year. In addition, the industrial action during the year placed further strain on the Trust’s ability to both provide urgent care and manage its elective recovery programme. Quality and compliance Furthermore, difficulties in obtaining care home beds and other care packages in the community has resulted in challenges in discharging patients who are ready to leave hospital and therefore the Trust has been operating at or near to capacity throughout the year. The Trust continued to monitor the quality of care delivered throughout 2022/23. The Trust continued its focus on infection prevention and control, which had proven successful during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Trust progressed its Always Improving strategy and successfully supported the identification and implementation of 84 quality improvement projects. In addition, the Trust continued to implement the patient safety incident response framework as well as taking other steps to drive a safety culture within the organisation. Furthermore, the Trust conducted further trials of shared decision making between clinicians and patients and is a leading site nationally for shared decision-making principles. Further information can be found in the Quality Account. 16 Partnerships The new arrangements for integrated care systems were implemented in July 2022 with the Trust becoming part of the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care System. As such, the Trust’s senior management frequently meets with peers from across the system to consider and agree matters of wider concern across the system. In addition, the Trust worked with the Integrated Care Board in order to develop its financial and capital plans for 2023/24 and beyond. The Trust also attends the Southampton Health and Wellbeing Board at Southampton City Council and in the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Acute Provider Partnership Board. During 2022/23, the Trust continued to progress research activities and opportunities with the University of Southampton and Wessex Health Partners. Workforce In addition, work continued in the development of an elective hub at Winchester with Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which will provide the Trust with additional capacity to carry out its elective programme. The Trust’s key areas of focus during 2022/23 were in respect of increasing the substantive workforce and reducing staff turnover. Although the Trust was successful in recruiting to substantive posts, the expected reduction in reliance on bank and agency staff did not materialise, which meant that the Trust was 1,068 whole-time equivalents above its plan for 2022/23. Included in this figure is the TUPE transfer of genomics staff from Salisbury. A particular area of focus was the recruitment of Health Care Assistants where the Trust was successful in reducing the number of vacancies from 27% to 18%. Whilst the Trust was successful in reducing staff turnover from 14.9% in 2021/22 to 13.5%, it remained above the 12% target. However, the Trust did experience a reduction in staff absence from 4.7% in April 2022 to 4.3% in March 2023, and initiatives to improve staff wellbeing were an area of focus during the year. Estate Innovation and technology The industrial action in late 2022 and early 2023 posed significant challenges for the Trust, including in terms of the need to engage additional temporary staff to ensure patient safety. The Trust continued to invest in and develop its estate during 2022/23 including successful completion of the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit project, which delivered single rooms and specialist accent lighting alongside delivery of a ‘twin care’ room. There were a number of other significant projects during the year, including refurbishments of wards and work on creating new theatres as well as projects to improve staff wellbeing. These were part of over £88m of capital expenditure in 2022/23 that also included equipment, digital and the backlog maintenance programme. The Trust continued to promote research and development during 2022/23, including through partnerships with the University of Southampton and Wessex Health Partners. Furthermore, the Trust continued to examine ways to make use of technology to improve its service delivery. In particular, the Trust has promoted the use of MyMedicalRecord, which gives patients the ability to co-manage their healthcare online and through an app. 17 Sustainable financial model The Trust did not achieve breakeven status at the end of 2022/23 and reported a deficit of £11.037m at year-end. This was due to a number of factors, including the Trust’s underlying deficit as well as the increase in energy prices. The Trust was more exposed than most to fluctuations in the wholesale price of gas due to its reliance on a gas-powered energy supply. In addition, the Trust’s 8% uplift in elective activity when compared to 2019/20 was not fullyfunded, which placed further pressure on the Trust’s existing financial resources, which had been used to ensure a breakeven position in 2021/22. The continued use of bank and agency staff as well as the costs of industrial action in late 2022 and early 2023 further eroded the Trust’s financial position. Notwithstanding the above, the Trust did succeed in obtaining a number of sources of nonrecurrent funding during the year, including a successful bid for £29.4m of funding through the Public Sector De-Carbonisation Fund, which will be used to fund green initiatives as part of the Trust’s capital programme. The financial outlook across the NHS continues to appear very challenging during 2023/24 and the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care System is forecasting one of the highest deficits in England. 18 Performance analysis COVID-19 Impacts Although the pandemic has ended and serious cases of COVID-19 have reduced significantly, the Trust continued to be impacted by COVID-19 during 2022/23. Heightened infection prevention control measures in respect of patients with COVID-19 placed additional stress on the Trust’s capacity due to the need to isolate those patients and there was a consequential reduction in the Trust’s ability to make most efficient use of its available spaces. Furthermore, the ongoing impact on the Trust’s staff has led to higher staff absence than was the case prior to the pandemic, particularly due anxiety, infectious diseases and colds and flu. • The Trust experienced an average number of 98.7 patients per day who tested positive for COVID-19. During the winter months, this number increased substantially to nearly 200. • During the year, an average of 3.6 intensive care/high-dependency beds per day were occupied by COVID-19 patients. However, at times this increased to as much as ten. • Although staff sickness rates remained higher than pre-pandemic, the Trust saw a decrease in the absence rate from 4.7% at the beginning of 2022/23 to 4.3% by the end of the period. COVID-19 Cases UHS average number of confirmed COVID-19 patients in bed (08:00 census) 250 200 150 100 50 0 4/1/20225/1/2022 6/1/20227/1/2022 8/1/2022 9/1/202210/1/202211/1/202212/1/2022 1/1/2023 2/1/20233/1/2023 Intensive care/higher care beds UHS average number of confirmed COVID-19 patients in an ICU/HDU bed (08:00 census) 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 4/1/20225/1/2022 6/1/20227/1/2022 8/1/2022 9/1/202210/1/202211/1/202212/1/2022 1/1/2023 2/1/20233/1/2023 19 Number of patients Emergency access through the emergency department The Trust continued to experience high demand from patients presenting to receive care in the emergency department throughout the year above that seen prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, during the period between January and March 2023, the Trust averaged 352 attendances per day compared to 301 during the same period in 2019/20, an increase of 17%. The Trust also saw a significant increase in attendances during December due to both seasonal illnesses, but also due to the prevalence of streptococcus A in the community with attendances sometimes over 400 per day. Furthermore, the industrial action during the latter part of 2022 and early 2023 placed further pressure on the Trust’s ability to deliver services. In addition, the difficulties in discharging patients in need of care either at home or in another setting resulted in reduced flow from the emergency department to the relevant ward(s), which placed further strain on the Trust’s performance. During the year, in order to reduce emergency department attendances, the Trust trialled using General Practitioners to triage and see more straightforward patients who would otherwise have presented to the emergency department. Although this trial did result in a slight reduction in terms of number of patients and waiting times in ambulatory majors and majors, the affordability and value for money of this scheme is under review. Number of patients presenting to the emergency department 16,000 14,000 12,000 10,000 8,000 6,000 4,000 2,000 0 Apr-22 May-22 Jun-22 Jul-22 Aug-22 Sep-22 Oct-22 Nov-22 Dec-22 Jan-23 Feb-23 Mar-23 As a result of the increase in demand upon the emergency department, there continued to be a significant adverse impact on timeliness of care. The Trust failed to meet the national target of 95% of main emergency department/type 1 attendances seen within four hours, achieving 64.5% in March 2023, although this performance was above average in England. 20 % standard met Emergency access 4hr standard UHS vs NHSE average Type 1 performance 70% 0 10 60% 20 50% 30 40 40% 50 Apr-22 May-22 Jun-22 Jul-22 Aug-22 Sep-2 2 Oct-22 Nov-22 Dec-22 Jan-23 Feb-2 3 Mar-23 UH S NHSE average UHS rank amongst NHSE trusts Rank Ambulance handovers are an area of focus for NHS England, with a target of all handovers having to take place within 15 minutes and none waiting more than 30 minutes. The Trust performed well in this area with an average handover time of 17 minutes, having made the conscious decision to ensure that patients did not queue in ambulances at the expense of patients being queued within emergency department majors – thus impacting the Trust’s four-hour target, but meaning that ambulances were not queued outside the hospital as was seen in other areas of the country. Elective Waiting times Demand The year saw a continuation of the trend of increasing elective referrals experienced in 2021/22 following the pandemic, and referral rates continued to be above those seen prior to the pandemic. UHS Accepted Referrals 30,000 25,000 20,000 15,000 10,000 5,000 0 Apr-22 May-22 Jun-22 Jul-22 Aug-22 Sep-2 2 Oct-22 Nov-22 Dec-22 Jan-23 Feb-2 3 Mar-23 Number of accepted referrals 21 Activity The Trust experienced significant increases in terms of the number of hospital appointments, diagnostic tests and elective admissions during the year, exceeding levels in previous years. The Trust was one of the top performing trusts in terms of its elective recovery programme, achieving an 8% increase in its elective activity during the year when compared to 2019/20. However, performance in this area and in terms of outpatients appointments was negatively affected by the industrial action by nurses, junior doctors and other members of staff, which took place in late 2022 and early 2023 due to the need to cancel non-urgent procedures and appointments in favour of maintaining safe staffing levels in areas such as the emergency department. In addition, the continued presence of COVID-19 as well as other illnesses such as influenza and norovirus placed significant pressure at times on the Trust’s capacity due to the need to implement appropriate infection prevention control measures. Furthermore, difficulties in discharging patients fit to be discharged, but in need of a care package, placed additional strain on the Trust’s capacity. Elective admissions (including day case) Post-COVID-19 pandemic Elective (including day case) recovery (% of same month compared between March 2019 – February 2020) 105% 100% 95% 90% 85% 80% 75% Apr-22 May-22 Jun-22 Jul-22 Aug-22 Sep-22 Oct-22 Nov-22 Dec-22 Jan-23 Feb-23 % recovery Outpatient attendances Post-COVID-19 pandemic outpatient seen recovery (% of same month compared between March 2019 – February 2020) 140% 0 90% 10 20 40% 30 Apr-22 May-22 Jun-22 Jul-22 Aug-22 Sep-22 Oct-22 Nov-22 Dec-22 Jan-23 Feb-23 UH S UHS rank amongst NHSE trusts % recovery Rank 22 Diagnostics The Trust measures performance on a total of 15 frequently used diagnostic tests. In March 2023, 22% of patients were waiting more than six weeks for diagnostics compared with the national target of less than 1%. Patients waiting for a diagnostic test to be performed (sum of 15 different frequently used tests) UHS diagnostic waiting list volume 12,000 11,500 11,000 10,500 10,000 9,500 Apr-22 May-22 Jun-22 Jul-22 Aug-22 Sep-2 2 Oct-22 Nov-22 Dec-22 Jan-23 Feb-2 3 Mar-23 Diagnostic waiting list volume Percentage of patients waiting over 6 weeks for a diagnostic test to be performed Diagnostic 6 week wait performance UHS vs. NHSE average 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% Apr-22 May-22 Jun-22 Jul-22 Aug-22 Sep-22 Oct-22 Nov-22 Dec-22 Jan-23 Feb-23 Mar-23 UH S NHSE average % standard met 23 Referral to Treatment The Trust continued to see an increase in the number of patients being referred for treatment during 2022/23 with just over 55,000 patients on a waiting list under the 18-week referral to treatment pathway at the end of the year. Averaged across the year, the volume of referrals exceeded the Trust’s theoretical capacity by around 3.5%. Due to this significant demand, the Trust only achieved 63.2% of patients being treated within 18 weeks of referral in March 2023 compared with the monthly target of more than 92%. However, despite this, the Trust remained in the top quartile when compared to other teaching hospitals, reflecting that this growth in demand continues to be a national challenge. During 2022/23, the national target was to ensure that there were no patients waiting over two years for treatment by July 2022, and that there were no patients waiting more than 78 weeks by the end of March 2023. Long-waiting patients were an area of particular focus for the Trust during the year with no reported two-year waits since November 2022 and only two between the period June-November due to patients choosing to delay their treatment. This was a significant improvement compared to the peak of 171 patients reported in December 2021. Similarly, the Trust made progress in reducing the number of patients waiting over 78 weeks for treatment. In February 2023, the Trust reported 84 patients in this category compared to the peak of over 900 patients in September 2021. By the end of March 2023, the Trust had managed to further reduce this number of patients to 14, with those in breach of the target all due to the complexity of the cases. UHS referral to treatment waiting list 56,000 54,000 52,000 50,000 48,000 46,000 44,000 Apr-22 May-22 Jun-22 Jul-22 Aug-22 Sep-22 Oct-22 Nov-22 Dec-22 Jan-23 Feb-23 Mar-23 24 Number on waiting list % standard met Percentage of patients waiting up to 18 weeks between referral and treatment RTT 18 week performance UHS vs. NHSE average 70% 65% 60% 55% 50% Apr-22 May-22 Jun-22 Jul-22 Aug-22 Sep-22 Oct-22 Nov-22 Dec-22 Jan-23 Feb-23 Mar-23 UH S NHSE average Percentage of patients waiting more than 52 weeks between referral and commencement of a treatment for their condition Number of patients Rank UHS Referral to treatment patients waiting more than 52 weeks 3,000 0 2,500 10 2,000 20 1,500 30 1,000 40 500 50 0 60 Apr-22 May-22 Jun-22 Jul-22 Aug-22 Sep-22 Oct-22 Nov-22 Dec-22 Jan-23 Feb-23 Mar-23 UH S UHS rank amongst NHSE trusts % of RTT patients RTT % of patients waiting more than 52 weeks UHS vs. NHSE average 5.0% 0 4.5% 20 40 4.0% 60 3.5% 80 Apr-22 May-22 Jun-22 Jul-22 Aug-22 Sep-22 Oct-22 Nov-22 Dec-22 Jan-23 Feb-23 Mar-23 UH S UHS rank amongst NHSE trusts Rank 25 % standard met Cancer Waiting Times The Trust is one of 12 regional cancer centres in the UK offering treatment for rare and complex cancers as well as cancer in children and brain cancer. The Trust has historically been in the upper quartile, relative to teaching hospital peers. Due to loss of key members of staff and industrial action, the Trust’s performance has slipped over the year with 72.5% of patients seen within two weeks in March 2023 following referral by a General Practitioner for suspected cancer (national target: > 93% per month). Cancer waiting times - 2 week wait performance UHS vs NHSE average 100% 0 80% 50 60% 100 40% 150 Apr-22May-22 Jun-22 Jul-22 Aug-22 Sep-22 Oct-22 Nov-22 Dec-22 Jan-23 Feb-23Mar-23 UH S NHSE average UHS rank amongst NHSE trusts Rank Referrals for January to March 2023 were at the highest for that month for the past five years and overall referral volumes in 2022/23 averaged 2,049 patients per month, 8% higher than in 2021/22 and 28% higher than in 2019/20. The national target was for 96% of patients to commence treatment within 31 days of diagnosis. However, in March 2023, the Trust only achieved 87.9%, but this figure hides considerable variation dependent on the tumour site and type of cancer with a range of 100% for haematology and children’s cancers to 71% for skin. The high rate of referrals led to a significant backlog in terms of patients waiting longer than 62 days for treatment. However, the Trust took steps to reduce this backlog by more than 50% through a dedicated recovery programme. In March 2023, the Trust treated 54.8% of patients within 62 days of referral compared to the target of more than 85%. Treatment for Cancer within 62 days of an urgent GP referral to hospital Cancer waiting times 62 day RTT performance UHS vs. NHSE average 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% Apr-22 May-22 Jun-22 Jul-22 Aug-22 Sep-22 Oct-22 Nov-22 Dec-22 Jan-23 Feb-23 Mar-23 UH S NHSE average % standard met 26 First definitive treatment for cancer within 31 days of a decision to treat % standard met Cancer waiting times 31 day RTT performance UHS vs. NHSE average 95% 90% 85% 80% 75% Apr-22 May-22 Jun-22 Jul-22 Aug-22 Sep-22 Oct-22 Nov-22 Dec-22 Jan-23 Feb-23 Mar-23 UH S NHSE average Quality priorities The Trust set eight quality priorities in 2022/23, which were aimed at ensuring it continued to deliver the highest quality of care. The quality priorities were shaped by a range of national and regional factors as well as local and Trust‐wide considerations. The Trust recognised the overriding issues of significant operational pressures being felt right across the health and social care system, including those associated with the previous two years of the COVID-19 pandemic. The challenge was to deliver the best quality care in the context of these operational pressures, and the Trust set its quality priorities accordingly. Out of the eight priories set, the Trust achieved five and partially achieved three. Priority One: Enhancing capability in Quality Improvement (QI) through our Always Improving strategy The transformation team has grown to over thirty team members including project support officers, project managers, benefit realisation managers. This has allowed the Trust to develop that systematic organisational approach to guide and support its staff in their QI projects. The Trust originally set a target of delivering fifty quality improvement projects but have successfully supported a total of 84 (55 local and 29 flow improvements). These are local change projects which were identified, proposed, led, and delivered by the people who do the work. To date over 1500 people have been trained in the Trust’s improvement approach, which exceeds the original target of 500. The Trust also developed a QI project register and held an Always Improving conference. Priority Two: Developing a culture of kindness and compassion to drive a safety culture The Trust only partially achieved this priority as plans to fully deliver training were affected by operational pressures. However, during the year a variety of communication platforms were used to make sure staff understood the Trust’s vision and were kept up to date with plans and progress. The Trust worked to develop and embed a ‘just culture’ allowing staff to speak up and ask, “what happened and how do we learn?” and developed ‘stop for safety’ staff huddles. Priority Three: We will improve mental health care across the Trust including support for staff delivering care The Trust only partially achieved this priority as several key quality improvement projects have not yet been delivered, and the mental health strategy not yet been finalised. However, a training needs analysis was completed and significant staff training and an education scheme were introduced in response to the findings of the analysis. Mental health champion training has been delivered to 153 staff and IT systems have been improved to help capture vital data to help shape the Trust’s service. 27 Priority Four: Recognising and responding to deterioration in patients During 2021/22 the Trust successfully introduced national Paediatric Early Warning System (nPEWS) into its Southampton Children’s Hospital and UHS is now part of the national test and trial of nPEWS which is assessing the usability of the scoring system. The Trust has also explored how nPEWS can be adapted for children with complex medical conditions requiring interventions (including non-invasive ventilation) as part of their normal care. A daily heat map of escalation times over a 24-hour period was piloted in 2022 and will be rolled out across all adult’s inpatient areas during 2023. The Trust has also performed well with its cardiac arrest audits, and training and education programmes have consistently been delivered. September 2022 saw the implementation of a 24-hour paediatric outreach service. There is a deteriorating patient group and several successful QI projects have been introduced. Priority Five: Improving how the organisation learns from deaths The Trust only partially achieved this priority as it has been unable to establish a learning from deaths steering group. The Trust has introduced a mortality governance coordinator/analyst and grown its bereavement care service. Priority Six: Shared Decision Making (SDM) The shared decision models started at UHS in 2021/22 and have continued to grow with investment in pilot roles to expand these models, which include several advanced nurse practitioner roles, models in paediatrics bringing Shared Decision Making to patients who are transitioning from paediatric to adult services, while in maternity we have introduced SDM in birth planning. When assessing delivery of SDM against NICE guidelines, UHS performs well, especially in targets related to Trust buy-in, governance and practices of pilot areas. This year the Trust has implemented training through key platforms and expanded patient involvement in the project. As a leading site nationally for SDM principles, UHS have worked with NHS England on creating materials for others to learn from. Priority Seven: Working with our local community to expose and address health inequalities During the year the Trust refocused its efforts on making sure that its involvement and participation activities support the health inequalities agenda, while also working to deliver responsive information and advice to patients, carers, and families. Priority Eight: Ensure patients are involved, supported, and appropriately communicated with on discharge During the year the Trust has focused on improved patient, carer and family involvement, and improved communication during the discharge process as well as prompting a more collaborative working between social and health care staff. Strong partnership working with external agencies has been developed to support a system approach to hospital discharge, develop digital solutions, develop the patient hub to support discharge and delivered education to UHS staff. More information can be found about how the Trust delivered and measured its quality priorities, including feedback from patients and staff and improvement aims and quality priorities for 2023/24, in the Trust’s Quality Account for 2022/23. 28 Financial performance The Trust delivered a deficit of £11 million from a revenue position of over £1.2 billion, once items deemed as “below the line” by NHS England, such as the financial position of the Southampton Hospitals Charity, were removed. The Trust was unable to deliver the planned breakeven position. Several material cost pressures were incurred, including unfunded high-cost drugs costs and energy prices. These were unable to be off set in full by a savings programme, despite delivery of £45.6m of efficiencies (2021/22: £15m). Trust operating income rose by £64m from the previous financial year, most notably funding the NHS pay award, as well as additional elective recovery funding. Income reduced from the prior year in relation to ending a nationally funded project regarding testing for COVID-19. The Trust has however been successful in increasing funding for research and development. Trust operating expenditure rose by £78m, incorporating funded inflationary costs as well as the cost pressures outlined above. The Trust has also continued its reinvestment of surplus cash into infrastructure for the Trust, with capital investmen
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2024/25 Incorporating the quality account University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25 Presented to Parliament pursuant to Schedule 7, paragraph 25(4)(a) of the National Health Service Act 2006 © 2025 University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust Contents Welcome from our Chair and Chief Executive 7 Performance report 9 Introduction from the Chief Executive 10 Overview 11 Principal risks to our strategy and objectives 16 Performance overview 17 Performance analysis 22 Quality priorities 29 Financial performance 33 Sustainability 33 Social, community, anti-bribery and human rights issues 34 Events since the end of the financial year 35 Overseas operations 35 Equality in service delivery 35 Going concern 41 Accountability report 42 Directors’ report 43 Remuneration report 69 Staff report 82 Counter fraud 98 Code of governance for NHS provider trusts 98 NHS System Oversight Framework 99 Statement of the chief executive officer’s responsibilities as the accounting officer of UHS 100 Annual Governance Statement 102 Scope of responsibility 102 The purpose of the system of internal control 102 Risk management and control within the Trust 102 Review of economy, efficiency and effectiveness of the use of resources 116 Quality account 119 Part 1: Statement on quality from the Chief Executive 120 Part 2: Priorities for improvement and statements of assurance from the Board 122 Part 3: Other information 194 5 Annual accounts 241 Statement from the Chief Financial Officer 242 Auditor’s report including certificate 244 Foreword to the accounts 251 Statement of Comprehensive Income 252 Statement of Financial Position 253 Statement of Changes in Taxpayers’ Equity 254 Statement of Cash Flows 256 Notes to the accounts 257 6 Welcome from the Chair and Chief Executive Officer University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust (‘UHS’ or the ‘Trust’) has experienced another challenging year, with increased demand for the Trust’s services, a more restrictive financial environment, and changes in terms of the organisation of the NHS in England. Despite the challenges faced by the Trust during 2024/25, we can feel incredibly proud of the achievements of our 13,000 staff, who went above and beyond to deliver for our patients and the communities we serve. Particular highlights include: • In the top 15 in the country against government targets for elective recovery performance with 127% of activity compared with 2019/20. • Top-quartile performance against most performance metrics compared to similar sized teaching hospitals, including long-waiting patients on referral to treatment pathways, diagnostics and cancer performance. • Delivery of £85.3m of savings through our cost improvement programme – the highest ever amount by the Trust. We continue to be one of the best performing trusts in England in many areas. The Trust’s elective recovery performance places it as one of the best performing trusts in England. As a result, we have seen the number of long-waiting patients fall to one patient waiting over 78 weeks and to 21 patients waiting over 65 weeks – in many instances these delays were due to a national lack of corneal transplant tissue. This is despite an increase in the number of patients being referred to the Trust for treatment. Our performance against key cancer metrics has seen an improvement in commencing treatment of cancer within 62 days to 81% by March 2025, against the NHS England average for 2024/25 of 70.5%. Similarly, the Trust performed in the range of 88%-96% during the year against the target of patients commencing treatment within 31 days of diagnosis. There has been significant demand for non-elective care throughout the year, which has placed significant demands on the Trust’s emergency department. There were frequently more than 400 attendances per day and the Trust saw an average of 13,100 patients per month (2023/24: 12,700). As a result of this increased demand, coupled with issues with flow through the hospital and a high incidence of seasonal illnesses during the winter, UHS’s performance against the four-hour emergency department target has steadily declined over the course of 2024/25. The Trust also recorded a lower than expected death rate via the Summary Hospital-level Mortality Indicator (SHMI) and was one of 12 trusts in England out of 119 with lower than expected death outcomes. The Trust reported a deficit of £7m at year-end, which represents a significant achievement given the financial pressures we have experienced, such as significant demand for services above block contract levels, pay award pressures, and inflation. The Trust also saw its productivity improve during the year and delivered its highest ever performance under its cost improvement programme. 7 Despite the introduction of strict controls in early 2024, the Trust exceeded its target for workforce numbers during 2024/25 by 373 whole-time-equivalents. However, a significant proportion of this number was due to assumed reductions in the number of staff required to manage patients with no clinical criteria to reside in the hospital and patients with a primary mental health need not materialising. Instead, the number of both categories of patient continued to rise during the year, placing additional strain on the Trust’s capacity and reducing flow through the hospital as patients are unable to move in a timely way from the emergency department, to wards and then to discharge due to lack of capacity. Higher levels of staff absence during the winter months coupled with high levels of seasonal illness and consequent demand on the emergency department also necessitated the opening and staffing of surge capacity. Indeed, demand on the emergency department was so great during the year that surge capacity was required even outside of the typically busier winter period. Our people remain our greatest asset. Without our staff, the Trust would not be able to deliver for the communities we serve. We were pleased to see the results from the 2024 Staff Survey, which placed UHS above the benchmarking group across all the key people themes. In particular, there have been improvements in relation to satisfaction with immediate managers, flexible working opportunities, and staff recommending UHS as a place to work. UHS has also continued with its staff room refurbishment programme and made significant improvements to the prayer facilities for Muslim staff, patients, students and community members in our chapel, all funded by Southampton Hospitals Charity. We expect 2025/26 to be even more challenging than 2024/25. The Trust has already had to take some difficult decisions in terms of its workforce numbers, prioritisation for capital expenditure, and services. We will be expected to continue to maintain quality of patient care and experience and to deliver the required levels of performance whilst at the same time having to make significant reductions in its expenditure to deliver a balanced budget. Many of the challenges faced by the Trust – in common with other providers – can only be addressed by working in partnership with wider local partners, such as other healthcare providers, local authorities and charities to deliver system-wide solutions. At the same time, we recognise that there is more that we can do internally to ensure that our internal processes deliver in the most effective and efficient manner. We would like to express our heartfelt thanks to our amazing staff, who have gone and continue to go above and beyond to put our patients first and deliver world class care. Jenni Douglas-Todd Chair David French Chief Executive Officer 8 PERFORMANCE REPORT OVERVIEW AND PERFORMANCE Performance report Introduction from the Chief Executive Officer This was another challenging year for the Trust, continuing the trend seen in previous years of increasing demand which must be balanced with the need to deliver quality patient care whilst maintaining a sustainable financial position. The Trust saw even higher demand for non-elective care than in recent years with attendances at the emergency department being as high as 400 per day and the Trust having to open and staff surge capacity for a significant proportion of the year, including outside of the typically more strained winter period. The trend of increasing numbers of patients having no clinical criteria to reside in hospital, but unable to be discharged due to a lack of funded care in a more appropriate venue, continued, as did the increasing number of patients presenting with a primary mental health need. This placed significant pressure on the Trust’s resources due to the impact on flow through the hospital and the need to engage additional members of staff to manage these patients – in some instances this requires as many as four members of staff, usually via a specialist agency, for each patient as well as, potentially, additional security resource. Despite the challenges, the Trust continued to perform well when compared to other comparable organisations, achieving some of the best elective recovery performance in England at 127% compared to 2019/20 levels. The Trust implemented spending and recruitment controls in early 2024, which it continued to operate under during 2024/25, in order to manage its difficult financial position. However, the Trust ended the year above its plan in terms of workforce numbers, although a significant proportion of this amount was due to the increasing number of patients having no criteria to reside and mental health patients. The Trust achieved its highest ever delivery on its cost improvement programme with £85.3m of savings, and achieved an overall end of year deficit of £7m. 10 OVERVIEW AND PERFORMANCE Overview About the Trust Our services University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust is one of the largest acute teaching trusts in England with a turnover of £1.5 billion in 2024/25. It is based on the coast in southeast England and provides services to people living in Southampton and south Hampshire and specialist services, including neurosciences, respiratory medicine, cancer care, cardiovascular, obstetrics and specialist children’s services, to nearly four million people in central southern England and the Channel Islands. The Trust is also a designated major trauma centre, one of only two places in the south of England to offer adults and children full major trauma care provision. As a leading centre for teaching and research, the Trust has close working relationships with the University of Southampton, the Medical Research Council, National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), Wellcome Trust and Cancer Research UK. The Trust is consistently one of the UK’s highest recruiting trusts of patients to clinical trials and one of the top nationally for research study volumes as ranked by the NIHR Clinical Research Network. Every year the Trust: treats around 166,000 inpatients and day patients, including about 75,000 emergency admissions sees over 770,000 people at outpatient appointments deals with around 155,000 cases in its emergency department The Trust provides most of its services from the following locations: • Southampton General Hospital – the Trust’s largest location, where a great number of specialist services are based alongside emergency and critical care, and which includes Southampton Children’s Hospital. • Princess Anne Hospital – located across the road from Southampton General Hospital and providing maternity care and specialist care for women with medical problems during pregnancy and babies who need extra care around birth. • Royal South Hants Hospital – although the Trust does not operate this site near the centre of Southampton, it provides a smaller number of services from this location. • New Forest Birth Centre – located at Ashurst on the edge of the New Forest and run by experienced midwives and support staff, it acts as a community midwifery hub. • Lymington New Forest Hospital – a community hospital located in Lymington managed by Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust. UHS manages surgical services at the hospital. The services provided by the Trust are commissioned and paid for by the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care System (ICS) and, in the case of more specialised services (such as treatments for rare conditions), by NHS England. 11 OVERVIEW AND PERFORMANCE Trust services are supported by clinical income, of which 53% is paid for by NHS England and 44% by integrated care boards, predominantly the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care Board (ICB). These are provided under a standard NHS contract, which incorporates ongoing monitoring of the Trust and the quality of the services provided. Our structure UHS gained foundation trust status on 1 October 2011. A foundation trust is a public benefit corporation providing NHS services in line with the core NHS principles: that care should be universal, comprehensive and free at the point of need. The Trust is licensed as a foundation trust to provide these services by NHS England and the healthcare services we provide are regulated by the Care Quality Commission. Since 1 July 2022, the Trust has been part of the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care System when this was established through the Health and Social Care Act 2022. Each ICS has two statutory elements: an integrated care partnership (ICP) and an integrated care board. The ICP is a statutory committee jointly formed between the NHS integrated care board and all upper-tier local authorities that fall within the ICS area. The ICP brings together a broad alliance of partners concerned with improving the care, health, and wellbeing of the population, with membership determined locally. The ICP is responsible for producing an integrated care strategy on how to meet the health and wellbeing needs of the population in the ICS area. The ICB is a statutory NHS organisation responsible for developing a plan for meeting the health needs of the population, managing the NHS budget and arranging for the provision of health services in the ICS area. The Trust has been a university teaching hospital since 1971. The diagram below provides an overview of the overall organisational structure of the Trust. Public and foundation trust members Council of Governors Board of Directors Executive Directors Division A Surgery Critical Care Ophthalmology Theatres and Anaesthetics Division B Cancer Care Emergency Medicine Helicopter Emergency Medical Services Medicine and Medicine for Older People Pathology Specialist Medicine Division C Women and Newborn Maternity Child Health Clinical Support 12 Division D Cardiovascular and Thoracic Neurosciences Trauma and Orthopaedics Radiology Trust headquarters division OVERVIEW AND PERFORMANCE Our values The Trust’s values describe how things are done at UHS and act as a guide to all staff working with colleagues to deliver high quality patient care and a great patient experience every day. These values are: Patients, their families and carers are at the heart of what we do. Their experience of our services will be our measure of success. Partnership between clinicians, patients and carers is critical to achieving our vision, both within hospital teams and extending across organisational boundaries in the NHS, social care and the third sector. We will ensure we are always improving services for patients through research, education, clinical effectiveness and quality improvement. We will continue to incorporate new ideas, technologies and create greater efficiencies in the services we provide. 13 OVERVIEW AND PERFORMANCE Our strategy 2021-25 The Trust’s strategy was updated during 2020/21 to take account of everything its staff had experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic and what had been learnt from this. The vision for UHS is to become an organisation of world class people delivering world class care. The Trust’s strategy is organised around five themes and for each of these it describes a number of ambitions UHS aims to achieve by 2025. Theme Ambitions Outstanding patient outcomes, • experience and safety By 2025 we will strengthen our national reputation for outstanding • patient outcomes, experience and safety, providing high quality care • and treatment across an extensive range of services from foetal medicine, through all life stages and conditions, to end-of-life care. Pioneering research and • innovation We will continue to be a leading • teaching hospital with a growing, reputable and innovative research • and development portfolio that attracts the best staff and efficiently delivers the best possible treatments and care for our patients. World class people • Supporting and nurturing our people through a culture that values • diversity and builds knowledge and skills to ensure everyone reaches their full potential. We must provide • rewarding career paths within empowered, compassionate, and motivated teams. Integrated networks and • collaboration We will deliver our services with • partners through clinical networks, collaboration and integration across geographical and organisational • boundaries. • We will monitor clinical outcomes, safety and experience of our patients regularly to ensure they are amongst the best in the UK and the world. We will reduce harm, learning from all incidents through our proactive patient safety culture. We will ensure all patients and relatives have a positive experience of our care, as a result of the environment created by our people and our facilities. We will recruit and enable people to deliver pioneering research in Southampton. We will optimise access to clinical research studies for our patients. We will enable innovation in everything we do, and ensure that ‘cutting edge’ investigations and treatments are delivered in Southampton. We will recruit and develop enough people with the right knowledge and skills to meet the needs of our patients. We will provide satisfying and fulfilling roles, growing our talent through development and opportunity for progression. We will empower our people, embracing diversity and embedding compassion, inclusion and equity of opportunity. We will work in partnership with key stakeholders across the Hampshire and Isle of Wight integrated Care System. We will strengthen our acute clinical networks across the region, centralising when necessary and supporting local care when appropriate. We will foster local integration with primary and community care as well as mental health and social care services for seamless delivery across boundaries. We will build on our successful partnership with University of Southampton (UoS), growing our reputation as a national leading university teaching hospital. 14 OVERVIEW AND PERFORMANCE Foundations for the future • We will deliver best value to the taxpayer as a financially Making our enabling infrastructure efficient and sustainable organisation. (finance, digital, estate) fit for • We will support patient self-management and seamless the future to support a leading care across organisational boundaries through our university teaching hospital in the ambitious digital programme, including real time data 21st century and recognising our reporting, to inform our care. responsibility as a major employer • We will expand and improve our estate, increasing in the community of Southampton capacity where needed and providing modern facilities and our role in broader for our patients and our people. environmental sustainability. • We will strengthen our role in the community as an employer of choice, a partner in delivery of services to our population and by leading the Greener NHS agenda locally. During each year of the strategy the Trust sets out a more detailed series of objectives to achieve and progress towards the delivery of its ambitions. In 2024/25 these objectives included: Outstanding patient Establishing an integrated approach to quality management. outcomes, experience Treating patients according to need but aiming to meet the target of zero and safety 65-week waiters by the end of September 2024, and continued reduction of longer waiters. Reducing length of stay across elective and non-elective pathways. Improving patient experience and outcomes through continued implementation of the Fundamentals of Care programme. Pioneering research and innovation Delivering year four of the research and innovation investment plan. Delivering year two of the five-year research and development strategy implementation plan for research for impact. World class people Delivering a workforce plan for the Trust for 2024/25 which is safe, sustainable and affordable. Delivering targeted improvements in staff experience, engagement and culture. Sustaining turnover at less than 13% and maintaining sickness absence at under 4%. Integrated networks In partnership with acute trusts working directly with priority areas to and collaboration progress joint network strategies. Working with the local delivery system on vertical integration to reduce the number of patients without criteria to reside. Foundations for the future Delivering a stretching financial plan for 2024/25, including identifying what needs to be true to recover a sustainable financial position and exit the Recovery Support Programme. Engaging the organisation in the challenge to manage demand so that capacity and demand are in equilibrium. Delivering the aims of the 2024/25 transformation programmes and always improving strategic priorities. Delivering the prioritised 2024/25 capital programme and setting a prioritised capital programme for 2025/26. Completing year two of the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme. 15 OVERVIEW AND PERFORMANCE Performance against these objectives was monitored and reported to the Trust’s Board on a quarterly basis. At the end of 2024/25, the Trust had met the objectives set as follows: Corporate Ambition Number of Green Amber Red objectives Outstanding patient outcomes, 4 3 1 0 safety and experience Pioneering research and innovation 2 2 0 0 World class people 3 2 0 0 Integrated networks and collaboration 2 0 2 0 Foundations for the future 5 2 2 1 Totals 16 8 6 2 Note: Green: achieved in full Amber: partially achieved Red: not achieved Particular areas to highlight where the Trust has achieved strong delivery during the year include: • Reduction in the number of patients waiting over 65 weeks, with only 21 waiting over 65 weeks. • Reduction in the length of stay by 5.25% through successful delivery of the inpatient flow transformation programme. • Implementation of the Fundamentals of Care programme. • Successful delivery of year four of the research and innovation investment plan. • Reducing staff turnover to 10.1% at year end and achieving a staff absence rate below 4%. • Progress in developing the identified priority clinical networks. • Successful delivery of the Trust’s 2024/25 capital programme. Principal risks to our strategy and objectives The Board has identified and manages the principal risks to the delivery of its strategy and objectives through its board assurance framework. The principal risks to the delivery of its strategy and objectives identified by the Trust during 2024/25 were that: • There would be a lack of capacity to appropriately respond to emergency demand, manage the increasing waiting lists for elective demand, and provide timely diagnostics, that results in avoidable harm to patients. • Due to the current challenges, the Trust fails to provide patients and their families or carers with a high-quality experience of care and positive patient outcomes. • The Trust would not effectively plan for and implement infection prevention and control measures that reduce the number of hospital-acquired infections and limit the number of nosocomial outbreaks of infection. • The Trust does not take full advantage of its position as a leading university teaching hospital with a growing, reputable and innovative research and development portfolio, attracting the best 16 OVERVIEW AND PERFORMANCE staff and efficiently delivering the best possible treatments and care for its patients. • The Trust is unable to meet current and planned service requirements due to unavailability of staff to fulfil key roles. • The Trust fails to develop a diverse, compassionate and inclusive workforce, providing a more positive experience for all staff. • The Trust fails to create a sustainable and innovative education and development response to meet the current and future workforce needs identified in the Trust’s longer-term workforce plan. • The Trust does not implement effective models to deliver integrated and networked care, resulting in sub-optimal patient experience and outcomes, increased numbers of admissions and increases in patients’ length of stay. • The Trust is unable to deliver a financial breakeven position, resulting in: inability to move out of the NHS England Recovery Support Programme; NHS England imposing additional controls/ undertakings; and a reducing cash balance, impacting the Trust’s ability to invest in line with its capital plan, estates and digital strategies and in transformation initiatives. • The Trust does not adequately maintain, improve and develop its estate to deliver its clinical services and increase capacity. • The Trust fails to introduce and implement new technology and expand the use of existing technology to transform its delivery of care through the funding and delivery of the digital strategy. • The Trust fails to prioritise green initiatives to deliver a trajectory that will reduce its direct and indirect carbon footprint by 80% by 2028-2032 (compared with a 1990 baseline) and reach net zero direct carbon emissions by 2040 and net zero indirect carbon emissions by 2045. As in previous years, demand for services continued to increase, especially for emergency (nonelective) care. The winter months in particular saw both high levels of demand and above average levels of staff absence due to seasonal illnesses. The Trust consistently experienced high numbers of patients having no clinical criteria to reside in hospital, but who could not be discharged due to a lack of appropriate care packages. This results in a lack of flow through the hospital and also requires additional staff to be engaged due to the need to open surge capacity. In addition, the Trust continued to experience significant challenges from patients with a primary mental health care need for whom there were insufficient spaces available in a more suitable alternative setting. Performance overview The Trust monitors a broad range of key performance indicators within its departments, divisions, directorates and through Trust executive committees. On a monthly basis, the Board and executive committee receives a performance report containing a variety of indicators intended to provide assurance in respect of the Trust’s strategy and that the care provided is safe, caring, effective, responsive, and well-led. This report also includes the Trust’s performance against the national targets set by NHS England. The performance reports include a ‘spotlight’ section, which provides more detailed analysis of a particular area. Typically, this is one of either the national targets or the Trust’s performance against the expectations set out in the NHS Constitution. 17 OVERVIEW AND PERFORMANCE The monthly performance report is also published on the Trust’s website. The Chief Executive Officer provides a regular report on performance to the Council of Governors, which includes a range of non-financial and financial performance information. Capacity The Trust experienced high demand for its services, continuing the trend from previous years. Demand in the emergency department in particular was significant, with attendances growing by 3.2% compared to 2023/24. This situation has resulted in a gradual decline in the Trust’s performance against the target of 95% patients spending less than four hours in the main emergency department. The number of patients having no clinical criteria to reside continued to impact flow within the hospital. The number of patients having no clinical criteria to reside was frequently above 250 at any one time during the year. The Trust experienced an increase in the number of referrals with the number of patients on a waiting list under the 18-week referral to treatment pathway rising from approximately 59,000 to 62,000 by the end of the year. Quality and compliance The Trust’s elective recovery performance was one of the best in England at 127% compared to 2019/20. The Trust continued to monitor the quality of care delivered throughout 2024/25 through a number of established quality assurance programmes. Clinical leaders monitored key quality, safety and patient experience indicators such as falls, pressure ulcers and venous thromboembolisms. The roll out of the Trust’s Fundamentals of Care initiative continued. High-quality peer reviews were consistently conducted, with a key focus on weekly matron-led quality walkabouts – both during and outside of standard hours – centred around the five CQC domains: safe, effective, responsive, caring, and well-led. Additionally, focused matron walkabouts were introduced to address specific themes related to patient safety and Fundamentals of Care standards, such as medication safety and infection prevention. These initiatives have been instrumental in identifying areas for improvement and promoting the sharing of best practices across teams. The Trust’s clinical accreditation scheme (CAS) builds on this intelligence, with clinical areas completing self-assessments of performance and review teams completing on-site visits. The clinical areas were supported by the CAS team from an initial contact meeting and walkabout through to outcome panel. Patient representatives were included in these review teams. CAS paperwork was reviewed to reflect the learning points from themed Matron’s walkabouts, aligning it to the CQC single assessment framework and the UHS Fundamentals of Care programme to ensure a robust ward accreditation. Learning was shared at the clinical leaders’ group and via reports. 18 OVERVIEW AND PERFORMANCE A framework was developed to govern Mortality and Morbidity meetings at the Trust, setting expectations for the content and format of these meetings. In addition, further work was carried out to ensure that the output from these meetings was shared more widely and that there is a clear escalation process. The Trust opened a patient and family support hub, repurposing the Macmillan Centre into a generic non-disease specific facility. The Trust worked with system partners to develop a unified and standardised approach to volunteer recruitment using a passporting system. The Trust commenced its implementation of the National Safety Standards for Invasive Procedures 2 (NatSSIPs 2). Violence, abuse and aggression against staff continued to rise. The Trust took action over the course of the year to support its teams, including through roll out of de-escalation training. This has had a positive impact and has reduced the requirement for physical restraint and has reduced the number of incidences of physical violence against staff. However, the level of violence and aggression directed at staff by patients and other members of the public continues to be an area of concern for the Trust. The Trust continued to build its always improving culture and drive on quality improvement by training over 1,000 staff, remaining 3% above the NHS average for all improvement focussed staff survey questions and winning an award for patient involvement in improvement and safety. This enabled improvements across theatre, inpatient flow and outpatient programmes. In 2024/25, average length of stay was reduced by 5.25%, an additional 1,230 patients were treated in theatres, and 7% of patients were placed onto patient initiated follow up (PIFU) outpatient pathways. Partnerships Further information can be found in the quality account. The Trust works within the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care System and is an active member of a number of partner groups including the Acute Provider Collaborative Board and the Health and Wellbeing Board. The Trust develops and agrees its annual financial plans with the Integrated Care Board. The Trust is a member of a number of specific partnership groups for particular services, including the Central and South Genomics Medicine Service, the Children’s Hospital Alliance and the Southern Counties Pathology Network. The Trust works actively as a partner with other provider organisations around clinical networks, particularly with acute Trusts within the Integrated Care System and others closely located geographically. The Trust also links closely with the University of Southampton on a number of topics including research, commercial development and education and has a developed meeting structure to oversee this. 19 OVERVIEW AND PERFORMANCE Workforce The Trust’s key area of focus during 2024/25 was to maintain a flat workforce level in order to meet the Trust’s 2024/25 workforce plan. In addition, the Trust sought to reduce reliance on bank and agency staff. The Trust ended the year above its workforce plan by 373 whole-timeequivalents. A significant proportion of the expected reduction in staff numbers had been linked to expected delivery of reductions in the number of patients having no criteria to reside and mental health patients through system-wide transformation programmes. However, these reductions did not materialise. In addition, due to the significant demand on the Trust’s services, it was necessary to open and staff surge capacity. This was exacerbated by high levels of staff absence due to illness during the winter months. The Trust was successful in reducing staff turnover to 10.1%, achieving the local target of 75% of staff in each area has received training, including neonatal medical team. • Trolley dashes. • Train the trainer. Progress metrics Audit of compliance: • Has it been undertaken for the appropriate babies? • Was the frequency of observation undertaken correctly? • Was the score accurately calculated? • Did escalation take place if required? • Was the response to escalation appropriate? 157 QUALITY ACCOUNT Quality Improvement Priority Four: Implementation of the National Safety Standards for Invasive Procedures (NatSSIPs) 2 at UHS Core dimension Patient safety Rationale of selection The new National Safety Standards for Invasive Procedures (NatSSIPs 2) represent the progression of the original NatSSIPs. The key aim to standardise, harmonise and educate (SHE) across organisations and procedural teams remains central to the NatSSIPs purpose. Critical changes include bolstered organisational standards and proportionate checks that recognise different levels of risk during major and minor invasive procedures, and the adaptions to processes that may be necessary in lifethreatening situations. This standardisation, harmonisation and education goals are set out in the table below. Standardise Harmonise Educate Organisational Sequential (‘The NatSSIPs Eight’) Safety behaviours, processs, policies, insight, involvement and performance measures across organisations and specialities. Expected behaviour, safety standards, checklists and format across invasive specialities. Across groups of hospitals. Across IT systems. Reduce variation across specialities. Commit to safety education, human factors expertise and systems thinking. Create a safety infrastructure, leadership understanding and training in cultural change. Teach and train in team behaviours, human factors, systems thinking learning / co-production with patients. Investigations into the increase of never events in 2023 and 2024 has identified that the majority of these had contributing factors related to stop points for safety. The key learning identified: Thematic analysis of never events Surgical mark not visible/clear Not listening to patient concerns Change in surgical plan and lack of documentaion Lack of time out if concerns are raised Lack of triangulated checks Ability to speak up concerns Swab, sharp and instrument count process Implant checks not triangulating patent details Inexperienced staff with lack of familiarity of processs Lack of induction training in stop points Distractions during stop point checks 158 QUALITY ACCOUNT All these factors will be addressed through NatSSIPs2 implementation. Safer invasive procedures is to be included as a local quality indicator by the ICB within the 2025/26 national contract. Key aims • Establish a NatSSIPs oversight committee. • Set up an invasive procedures committee. • Establish the following workstreams: o Audit of stops point for safety in theatres and for minor procedures in outpatient and ward areas o Multi-disciplinary safety walkabouts o VLE and induction workstream • Education: recruitment of medical education led to set up simulation-based MDT training. • Patient involvement. • NatSSIPs eight and communications. • Stop points for safety staff resources. Progress metrics • Increase in the completion of VLE stop points training. • Develop and implement a programme to deliver non-technical skills to the MDT. • All areas with a never event in the last two years have an up to date audit and action plan for compliance with NatSSIPs2. 159 QUALITY ACCOUNT Quality Improvement Priority Five: Fundamentals of Care Core dimension Patient safety Rationale of selection The term Fundamentals of Care (FoC) describes the eight standards that staff across the Trust have committed to in collaboration with the patient, to support the physical and emotional needs of patients’, relatives, and carers. This is not a new concept, it underpins the core values of what it means to be a healthcare professional, to truly ‘care’ and will build upon our achievements in year one. Operational challenges have led the workforce to become more task-focused and less personfocused, taking away from that personalised care experience but we are committed to changing that culture, following our Trust value, patients first. The FoC exemplifies how the interdisciplinary team connects and builds relationships with our patients, getting to know them and what matters to them as a person, not just as a patient, supporting and encouraging independence and rehabilitation from the beginning of their hospital stay. These activities are the essentials of our daily living such as personal hygiene, skin care, oral hygiene, toileting, eating and drinking, and mobilising. Communication is also essential and includes both listening and hearing patients, understanding what is important to them using communication tools they need, coming to shared decisions with patients about their care and recognising the diversity of our population, embracing accessibility for those with people with learning disabilities, sight/hearing loss or other disabilities, or if English may not be their primary language. In addition, the FoC encourages us as healthcare professionals to consider the whole person, support cultural, spiritual, mental health, emotional wellbeing and dignity needs of people we care for and those that matter to them. We know here at UHS that not everyone experiences this level of care, but we acknowledge the need to change the rhetoric from ‘we are busy’ to ‘we are never too busy to care’ empowering and educating our staff at all levels to challenge the ‘we have not got time’ rhetoric and ensure fundamental care is at the heart of what we do at UHS. Thus improving, patient care and experience. Key aims We will grow the multi-disciplinary engagement and involvement in workstreams that embrace the FoC and encourage person centred to care. We will continue to pursue the digitalisation of the Friends and Family Test (FFT), using this data and the national inpatient and urgent and emergency care survey as a baseline, while linking with involved patients where required with to encourage feedback on the FoC. We will listen to the voice of our patients, their relatives, and carers to make sure their stories and experiences are heard by our workforce to encourage the organisation wide change. We will ensure the FoC will has clear and measurable improvement metrics as part of a live clinical quality dashboard that will afford ward managers and senior leaders, the opportunity to monitor, review and report on to FoC in their areas. 160 QUALITY ACCOUNT We will embed the FoC into the matron walkabout and CAS processes, supported by consistent evaluation metrics that ask the patients about their experiences and encourage clinical areas to continually assess and evaluate the FoC in their areas through a self-assessment tool. We will enhance the availability of existing resources on our virtual learning environment (VLE) in collaboration with our patient partners for all staff groups and embed the FoC into training across the organisation, to improve the knowledge, skills and awareness ensuring the delivery of quality care. We will continue to test and evaluate the What Matters To Me project, growing our volunteer role to support staff in finding out what is important to the patient and using their personalised board to remind staff of the ‘person’ they are caring for. We will continue to establish project links in child health, maternity and outpatients to ensure a bespoke, but collaborative roll out of FoC, considering how these different care environments may impact care. Progress metrics • Patient hygiene: we will see an improvement in the number of patients who report having their personal care needs met, particularly within their first 24 hours coming through emergency admission routes. • Skin integrity: we will support the reduction in incidences of avoidable pressure ulcers across the organisation. • Communication: we see an increase in the number of people accessing our interpreting services and a reduction in complaints related to interpretation. • Pain: we will see an improvement in patients reporting that their pain was well controlled when coming through the emergency department. • Mouthcare: we will see a positive uptake in the implementation of the new mouthcare assessment tool and an improvement in patients reporting that their oral hygiene needs have been met. • Nutrition and hydration: we will see an increase in patients reporting they are being offered adequate food and drink provisions throughout their hospital stay, including access to equipment for those with conditions or disabilities that impact their ability to do so independently. • Bowel and bladder care: we will see improved assessment of bowel and bladder habits through increased documentation using the Inpatient Noting system. • Enhancing safe movement: we will support a reduction in the incidence of high harm falls and high harm falls that have preventable causes. • Infection prevention: we will see a reduction in nosocomial infections through increased hand hygiene standards and more effective cleaning of equipment. 161 QUALITY ACCOUNT Quality Improvement Priority Six: Develop the Trusts’ approach to reducing the impact of health inequalities (HIs) (year two) Core dimension Clinical effectiveness Rationale of selection Tackling health inequalities is a key priority for the NHS. At UHS we have been working to have an impact on health inequalities for several years. In 2024/25 we formalised these efforts with a governing board, chaired by our chief medical officer and with a clear programme of improvement based on recognised priorities. This formed the basis of our quality priority in 2024/25. This year’s quality priority is a continuation of the work that started in 2024/25. We intend to continue to grow our understanding and actions as an organisation, improving the equity of access, outcomes and experience of our services across our community. Key aims We are continuing our health inequalities board, with focus on five priorities: enabling our organisation, data and measurement, clinical service priorities, communication and engagement and strategy and approach. Each of these priorities have aligned directors to oversee improvement and a detailed delivery plan. Key priorities and expected outcomes from each of these are listed below: Enabling the organisation • Developing supporting structures: set up governance so that teams who identify health inequality related issues know where they can go for help, so that we can understand frequently arising challenges and notice when a problem raised might be affecting other of the hospital too. This will aid improvement, learning from issues identified and escalation of issues that cannot be resolved locally • Capability building: develop training for our staff to understand health inequalities, identify them within services and access tools to make improvement. • Delivery of the health inequalities officer role: grow knowledge of the health inequalities officer role across the organisation and utilise this role to share knowledge, training and support improvements. Data and measurement • Continue to develop our understanding of inequalities in access across outpatients and diagnostics, inpatients, theatres and the emergency department. • Enable the measurement of improvement in areas recognised as clinical priorities. • Enable completion of national reporting. Clinical priorities • Improve services and support for patients and staff with obesity (children and adults). • Improve identification and control of hypertension. • Improve services and support for patients and staff who smoke. 162 QUALITY ACCOUNT Communication and engagement • Adopt health inequalities into leadership and decision making. • Learning from our communities and our staff. • Communicating improvements internally and externally. • Staff support campaign. Strategy and approach • Overseeing and agreeing UHS approach and strategy for HIs. • Overseeing annual delivery against priorities. • Aligning programme resource. • Maintaining collaborative working with public health and Integrated care board teams and other local healthcare providers. • Keeping up to date with national recommendations and expectations, sharing this knowledge with our organisation. • Overseeing trust-wide improvement and health inequalities maturity. Progress metrics • Increasing numbers of staff trained. • Numbers of health inequalities issues reported (expected to increase through understanding before reducing due to improvement work). • Case studies shared of successful improvement projects. • Increased involvement and collaboration with patients and public on improvement. • Increased use of QEIA templates in decision making. • Demonstration of improved access to care for obesity, tobacco dependency and hypertension. 163 QUALITY ACCOUNT 2.3 Statements of assurance from the Board This section includes mandatory statements about the quality of services that we provide relating to the financial year 2024/25. This information is common to all quality accounts and can be used to compare our performance with that of other organisations. The statements are designed to provide assurance that the board of directors has reviewed and engaged in crosscutting initiatives which link strongly to quality improvement. 2.3.1 Review of services During 2024/25 UHS provided and/or sub-contracted 118 relevant health services (from total Trust activity by specialty cumulative 2024/25 contractual report). UHS has reviewed all the data available to them on the quality of care in all these relevant health services. The income generated by the relevant health services reviewed in 2024/25 represents 100% of the total income generated from the provision of relevant health services by UHS for 2024/25. 2.3.2 Participation in national clinical audits and confidential enquiries The UHS clinical audit programme was developed in support of the Trust’s vision by putting patients first, working together and always improving. This leads on to a specific strategy for clinical outcomes, to ensure robust and measurable processes are in place to plan locally and participate strategically. Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP) produces a National Clinical Audit & Enquiries Directory which identifies those national audits which are included in the NHS England Quality Account List 2024/25, those audits which are part of National Clinical Audit and Patient Outcomes Programme (NCAPOP). NCAPOP audits are commissioned and managed on behalf of NHS England by HQIP. These collect and analyse data supplied by local clinicians to provide a national picture of care standards for that specific condition. On a local level, NCAPOP audits provide local trusts with individual benchmarked reports on their compliance and performance, feeding back comparative findings to help participants identify necessary improvements for patients. The audits listed on the NCAPOP are ‘must-do’ national audits. The quality accounts national clinical audit list includes audits which we regard as ‘best practice’ to participate in (in addition to those from the NCAPOP) and for that reason we always include these in our corporate audit plans as a priority where they are relevant to our Trust. UHS has a strong history for completing clinical audits. The clinical effectiveness team has a robust approach to governing and supporting the completion. We’ve opened discussions with senior clinical leadership within Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care Board regarding the current challenges with contributing to and using the outputs of national audits. Benchmarked data resulting from national audits provides strong guidance on areas of excellence and improvement, however completion can be challenging in its compl
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Total knee replacement exercises HHFT - patient information
Description
Your exercise programme following total knee replacement (TKR) surgery.
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Procedure for adult DXA
Description
NIHR Southampton Biomedical Research Centre The NIHR Southampton Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) has a tight quality assurance system for the writing, reviewing and updating of Standard Operating Procedures. As such, version-controlled and QA authorised Standard Operating Procedures are internal to the BRC. The Standard Operating Procedure from which information in this document has been extracted, is a version controlled document, managed within a Quality Management System. However, extracts that document the technical aspects can be made more widely available. Standard Operating Procedures are more than a set of detailed instructions; they also provide a necessary record of their origination, amendment and usage within the setting in which they are used. They are an important component of any Quality Assurance Framework, but in themselves are insufficient and need to be used and interpreted with care. Alongside the extracts from our Standard Operating Procedures, we have also made available here an example Standard Operating Procedure and a word version of a Standard Operating Procedure template. Using the example and the Standard Operating Procedure template, institutions can generate their own Standard Operating Procedures and customise them, in line with their own institutions. Simply offering a list of instructions to follow does not assure that the user is able to generate a value that is either accurate or precise so here in the BRC we require that Standard Operating Procedures are accompanied by face-to-face training. This is provided by someone with a qualification in the area or by someone with extensive experience in making the measurements. Training is followed by a short competency assessment and performance is monitored and maintained using annual refresher sessions. If you require any extra information, clarification or are interested in attending a training session, please contact Dr Kesta Durkin (k.l.durkin@soton.ac.uk). This document has been prepared from Version 1 of the BRC Standard Operating Procedure for performing DXA on adults. It was last reviewed in September 2015 and the next review date is set for September 2017. The version number only changes if any amendments are made when the document is reviewed. Page 1 of 4 NIHR Southampton Biomedical Research Centre NIHR Southampton Biomedical Research Centre Procedure for PERFORMING ADULT DXA (Body Composition) BACKGROUND This procedure is to be used for Dual-energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA) scans. DXA scanning, also called bone density scanning, DEXA or bone densitometry, is an enhanced form of radiographic technology that is used to measure bone loss, bone mineral accrual and body composition. DXA is today's established standard for measuring bone mineral density (BMD). A radiograph is a painless medical test that helps physicians diagnose and treat medical conditions. In addition to assessment of BMD, DXA measures fat content and non-fat non-bone tissue. At the whole body site, this permits accurate assessment of body composition. PURPOSE To ensure patient safety and correct preparation and conduct for whole body DXA scanning of adults. SCOPE This procedure applies to any study involving whole body DXA scanning of adults within the BRC. RESPONSIBILITIES It is the responsibility of the measurer to read and follow this procedure when carrying out DXA scanning of adults within the BRC. It is the responsibility of the principle investigator to ensure that staff members who are working on specific studies have adequate experience and are competent to do so. Page 2 of 4 NIHR Southampton Biomedical Research Centre PROCEDURE The system used is a Hologic Discovery DXA System, manufactured by Hologic Inc.. In the UK servicing, updates and repairs are supported by Vertec Ltd. www.vertec.co.uk Contraindications to scanning ? ? ? Pregnancy. Any investigation carried out in the last 10 days using a radioisotope, as these will affect the body composition results. Presence of internal metal artefacts, as these will affect the body composition results. 1. 2. 3. Ensure that the patient has removed all jewellery and is not wearing clothing with buckles, belts or metal fasteners. Ensure that the patient is positioned to move to and from the table with the scan arm to the left (foot-end) of the table, for stability and access. Ensure that the patient is lying on his/her back with their head at the right end of the table and that they are positioned within the scan limit borders marked on the mattress. The feet of taller patients may have to hang over the edge of the bed. Ask the patient to place their arms by their sides with their palms facing downwards but not touching their thighs. This might be difficult to achieve in large/obese patients, in which case their arms should be by their sides with palms touching their thighs. Ensure that the patient's feet are rotated slightly inwards, leaving a gap between the toes. If movement may be a problem, thin tape may be placed around the toes to support the legs in position. Ask the patient to breathe normally and keep as still as they can. Scanning is started in accordance with the operating procedure detailed in the Hologic Discovery Training Manual. The operator should inform the patient that they need to keep as still as possible until the scan arm has completed 7 passes of their body. Explain that this should take approximately 7.5 minutes. The DXA machine is operated using the settings and techniques described in the Hologic Discovery training Manual, which is stored in the scan room. The scan is then analysed using the Whole Body Fan Beam analysis algorithm and the results are printed. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Page 3 of 4 NIHR Southampton Biomedical Research Centre The equipment is calibrated with quality control checks using a spine phantom before every use by appropriately qualified and trained staff. In addition, a weekly step-wedge check is performed for system accuracy. The machine will not operate if these checks are not passed. The staff will use the equipment in accordance with specified guidelines produced by the manufacturer and will be qualified in radiation protection procedures. Only the volunteers are exposed to ionising radiation (x-rays) during the procedure and the approximate radiation doses are recorded in the patient's hospital notes. Page 4 of 4
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Procedure for length of infants in incubators
Description
NIHR Southampton Biomedical Research Centre The NIHR Southampton Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) has a tight quality assurance system for the writing, reviewing and updating of Standard Operating Procedures. As such, version-controlled and QA authorised Standard Operating Procedures are internal to the BRC. The Standard Operating Procedure from which information in this document has been extracted, is a version controlled document, managed within a Quality Management System. However, extracts that document the technical aspects can be made more widely available. Standard Operating Procedures are more than a set of detailed instructions; they also provide a necessary record of their origination, amendment and usage within the setting in which they are used. They are an important component of any Quality Assurance Framework, but in themselves are insufficient and need to be used and interpreted with care. Alongside the extracts from our Standard Operating Procedures, we have also made available here an example Standard Operating Procedure and a word version of a Standard Operating Procedure template. Using the example and the Standard Operating Procedure template, institutions can generate their own Standard Operating Procedures and customise them, in line with their own institutions. Simply offering a list of instructions to follow does not assure that the user is able to generate a value that is either accurate or precise so here in the BRC we require that Standard Operating Procedures are accompanied by face-to-face training. This is provided by someone with a qualification in the area or by someone with extensive experience in making the measurements. Training is followed by a short competency assessment and performance is monitored and maintained using annual refresher sessions. If you require any extra information, clarification or are interested in attending a training session, please contact Dr Kesta Durkin (k.l.durkin@soton.ac.uk). This document has been prepared from Version 3 of the BRC Standard Operating Procedure for measuring length if infants in incubators. It was last reviewed in February 2014 and the next review date is set for February 2016. The version number only changes if any amendments are made when the document is reviewed. Page 1 of 4 NIHR Southampton Biomedical Research Centre NIHR Southampton Biomedical Research Centre Procedure for Measuring LENGTH OF INFANTS IN INCUBATORS BACKGROUND The Leicester Incubator Measure is the preferred choice of instrument for making accurate length measurements of infants in special care and intensive care wards. Monitoring the length, weight and head circumference of infants from birth onwards can serve to quickly identify current and future health problems. PURPOSE To ensure correct and uniform use of the Leicester Incubator Measure for measuring length of infants in incubators. SCOPE This procedure applies to any study requiring making length measurements of infants in incubators using the Leicester Incubator Measure, within the BRC. This equipment is based and used in the Neonatal Unit of the Princess Anne Hospital. RESPONSIBILITIES It is the responsibility of the measurer to use this procedure when measuring the length of infants using the Leicester Incubator Measure. It is the responsibility of the principle investigator to ensure that staff members who are working on specific studies have adequate experience to do so. Page 2 of 4 NIHR Southampton Biomedical Research Centre PROCEDURE Fixed head panel Incubator measuring rod Lock for sliding paddle Base plate Sliding Foot Paddle 1. If parents are present, explain the procedure. 2. Two members of staff are required to make the measurement. 3. Ensure that the Incubator Measure is clean before use. 4. Do not use the Base Plate as it is not sensible or practical lifting the infant to insert this underneath them. 5. Ensure that the infant is in the supine position. 6. If the infant is currently in an incubator, carefully open the side of the incubator and place the measure next to the infant, ensuring that the flat aspect of the sides of the head and foot plates are on the mattress. 7. Measurer 1 must take the incubator measure and unlock the sliding foot paddle and move it to the end of the rule. 8. Measurer 1 must place the incubator measure alongside the infant, placing the fixed paddle against the crown of the infant's head. 9. Operating from the other side of the incubator, measurer 2 must place the infant's feet in the dorsiflexed position and place their hand on the knees in order to straighten the legs as much as is possible, ensuring that the infant is as straight and flat as they can be. 10. Measurer 1 must then slide the sliding paddle up to the infant's heels and lock it in place, whilst the infant's feet and knees are still being held in the correct position. 11. Measurer 1 must then lock the sliding paddle of the incubator measure at the position of the infant's length and remove from the incubator. 12. Either measurer can then read and record the value on the scale to the nearest mm. Page 3 of 4 NIHR Southampton Biomedical Research Centre 13. Make 3 measurements of length. If the infant is unwell and it is inappropriate to perform 2 or three measurements of length then one measurement is adequate. 14. Measurements must be within 0.5cm of each other. 15. Clean all the components of the Leicester Incubator Measure kit. Accuracy of the measurement: The Leicester Incubator Measure is intended to provide repeatable measurements, accurate to better than +/- 1mm, when measured at the scale between the fixed and moving paddles. The Leicester Incubator Measure's repeatability will be affected by the exact positioning of the infant being measured, which is outside the measurement control of the device. The Leicester Incubator Measure's accuracy will be affected by the exact positioning of the baby being measured and may be adversely affected by pulling or pushing the paddles during measurements (being plastic, the paddles are flexible to a degree). Correct measurement depends upon consistent operational practice by the users. Page 4 of 4
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