Agenda and minutes

Members are asked to declare any interests in the items under consideration and in doing so state:

(1) the type of interest concerned; and

(2) the nature of the interest concerned

If any member requires advice on declarations of interests, they are advised to contact the Head of Democratic Governance in advance of the meeting.

There were no declarations of interest on this occasion.

To inform the Committee of recent developments relating to the Harbour to allow effective scrutiny.

Ms Sue Moore, Chief Operating Officer, Lancashire Care Foundation Trust (LCFT) reported that currently nine wards at The Harbour were open and additionally one ward was open but remained closed to new admissions. She added that there were four staff vacancies and that there had been difficulties recruiting and retaining staff, which had been compounded by the move to a three shift pattern from a two shift pattern. Ms Moore advised that the three shift pattern provided a benefit to patients as it ensured staff worked over a five day period rather than a three day period providing greater consistency, however, many staff preferred to work over three days.

Ms Lisa Moorhouse, Network Director (LCFT) advised that currently nine patients from Blackpool resided in adult wards at The Harbour, 14 from Blackpool resided in older adult wards and none resided in the Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) at The Harbour. She added that 24 patients from Blackpool resided in other facilities outside of Blackpool.

It was reported that the Care Quality Commission (CQC) Inspection report covering all services provided by the Trust had recently been published and Ms Moorhouse highlighted some of the references to The Harbour within the report and reported the overall judgement to be ‘Requires Improvement.’

The Committee highlighted the CQC report which commented that not all new staff had received an induction at the time of the inspection and queried why that had been the case. Ms Moorhouse advised that although many of the staff were new to The Harbour they were not new to the Trust and had previously received a Trust induction. She added that since the inspection in April, procedures had been changed and all new staff to the site received an induction to The Harbour on their first day.

Members also noted that the CQC Inspection report had commented on the support provided for staff and sought assurance that appropriate levels of support and appraisals were in place. Ms Moore advised that all appraisals were undertaken, however, there had been a delay in uploading the appraisals to the new online system, which is what the CQC had considered at as part of the inspection. Ms Moore acknowledged that support had not been as good as it could have been and added that the new three shift pattern had ensured greater support.

The CQC inspection report had also raised concerns, which the Committee noted regarding the consistency of approach to smoking and the Committee was advised by Ms Moorhouse that staff had been trained in smoking interventions and the importance of implementing a consistent approach across the site had been highlighted to staff.

The Committee raised concerns regarding the incomplete ligature risk assessments as highlighted in the CQC inspection report and was advised by Ms Moorhouse that the assessments had been completed at the time of inspection and that there had been a lack of communication between two Care Quality Commission departments. Members did not accept the explanation and requested that evidence be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2.

To note the date and time of the next meeting as Thursday, 17^th December 2015 commencing at 6pm in Committee Room A.

The Committee noted the date and time of the next meeting as Thursday, 10 December 2015 commencing at 6pm in the Council Chamber.