The key aims for Northumberland's hospital services in 2020/21

John’s Campaign – a movement to help NHS staff recognise the importance of working with family carers as equal partners in the care and support of hospital patients with dementia – is also highlighted among the 2020-21 safety and quality objectives for Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.

Northumbria Healthcare’s executive medical director, Dr Jeremy Rushmer, made a presentation on the organisation’s draft 2019-20 quality account at a meeting of Northumberland County Council’s health and wellbeing committee on March 3.

Quality accounts are a statutory requirement for all NHS trusts to inform the public of the delivery of safety and quality priorities.

The full account will be completed next month then finalised and submitted to NHS Improvement and Parliament in May, before being published in June.

Dr Rushmer told councillors that the picture for the current year was a pretty positive one in terms of meeting the performance measures and targets that were in place in relation to each of the 2019-20 objectives.

These were frailty and reducing falls; improving patient flow; deteriorating patients, especially those with acute kidney injury; staff experience; certain cancer pathways; bereavement; maternity; and Every Contact Counts – a scheme to ensure health professionals support the prevention agenda.

Some of these areas are to be carried over as 2020-21 objectives, albeit with a slightly different focus.

For example, in terms of patient flow, the focus will be on the ‘back door’ – getting patients home, while for deteriorating patients, there will be a goal of improving the timeliness of observations.

Medicines management is a new objective, which will involve the training of non-medical prescribers, while mental health, with a specific focus on children and young people, is another new priority for 2020-21.

Patient and staff experience continue to be important as well, while work on end-of-life care is set to align with the development of a new strategy for the county, which is being led by NHS Northumberland CCG.