Chief execs should ‘take the rap’ if elderly failed on dignity
Chief executives could face the sack if their trusts consistently fail to treat their elderly patients with dignity, the national clinical director for older people has said. Professor Ian Philp told HSJ he wanted to see dignity breaches become as ‘totemic’ an issue for senior managers as four-hour accident and emergency waits.
He was speaking ahead of the launch of A New Ambition for Old Age, the follow-up to the 2001 national service framework for older people.
Professor Philp said that while the NSF had helped improve the productivity of older people’s services - such as reducing delayed discharges - it had not done the same for patient experience, hence the new report’s focus on dignity.
‘For many chief executives running acute hospital trusts, the four-hour trolley wait is seen as totemic of the levels of quality at their trust,’ he said.
‘If we regard dignity breaches in the same way, we would see chief executives being treated the same as if they failed on their A&E targets. So if a trust was consistently failing on dignity breaches we would expect senior management to take the rap for this.’
Care services minister Liam Byrne called on the Healthcare Commission and social care watchdogs to ‘put older people’s dignity at the centre of their investigations’.
The commission said effective arrangements to ensure that patients are treated with dignity and respect were the ‘basic standards of care’ that trusts should meet. The commission’s annual health check includes a core standard - C13 - on treating patients with dignity and respect, which the commission said would now be re-examined.
Head of strategy Jamie Rentoul added: ‘We will seek to focus increasingly on dignity in care for all people as we develop our annual health check and through our other work.’
Professor Philp said inspectorates could measure trusts’ performance on dignity by how far they tried to engage patients on the issue: ‘This is not just about inspectorates coming down hard on trusts, it is about trusts having improvement systems in place.
‘If the inspectorate is satisfied that there is a system to encourage public and patient involvement, they will not have to intervene.’
He said the commission could intervene after receiving complaints about dignity breaches. ‘The system is not intended to be punitive but supportive: the commission could offer trusts help on improving their complaints systems. But, if necessary, it will be punitive,’ he warned.
Professor Philp said work to ensure that future tariffs for payment by results reward outcomes not processes could see organisations punished for breaching patient dignity and rewarded for creating a positive patient experience.
‘It is not impossible to imagine a time when lower levels of dignity breaches or higher positive patient experience responses could be rewarded with a financial incentive,’ he predicted.
Age Concern director general Gordon Lishman welcomed the report.
‘We want its recommendations implemented as soon as possible and a commitment by the government that money to deliver services is available,’ he said.
http://www.hsj.co.uk/nav?page=hsj.news.story&resource=4677362
He was speaking ahead of the launch of A New Ambition for Old Age, the follow-up to the 2001 national service framework for older people.
Professor Philp said that while the NSF had helped improve the productivity of older people’s services - such as reducing delayed discharges - it had not done the same for patient experience, hence the new report’s focus on dignity.
‘For many chief executives running acute hospital trusts, the four-hour trolley wait is seen as totemic of the levels of quality at their trust,’ he said.
‘If we regard dignity breaches in the same way, we would see chief executives being treated the same as if they failed on their A&E targets. So if a trust was consistently failing on dignity breaches we would expect senior management to take the rap for this.’
Care services minister Liam Byrne called on the Healthcare Commission and social care watchdogs to ‘put older people’s dignity at the centre of their investigations’.
The commission said effective arrangements to ensure that patients are treated with dignity and respect were the ‘basic standards of care’ that trusts should meet. The commission’s annual health check includes a core standard - C13 - on treating patients with dignity and respect, which the commission said would now be re-examined.
Head of strategy Jamie Rentoul added: ‘We will seek to focus increasingly on dignity in care for all people as we develop our annual health check and through our other work.’
Professor Philp said inspectorates could measure trusts’ performance on dignity by how far they tried to engage patients on the issue: ‘This is not just about inspectorates coming down hard on trusts, it is about trusts having improvement systems in place.
‘If the inspectorate is satisfied that there is a system to encourage public and patient involvement, they will not have to intervene.’
He said the commission could intervene after receiving complaints about dignity breaches. ‘The system is not intended to be punitive but supportive: the commission could offer trusts help on improving their complaints systems. But, if necessary, it will be punitive,’ he warned.
Professor Philp said work to ensure that future tariffs for payment by results reward outcomes not processes could see organisations punished for breaching patient dignity and rewarded for creating a positive patient experience.
‘It is not impossible to imagine a time when lower levels of dignity breaches or higher positive patient experience responses could be rewarded with a financial incentive,’ he predicted.
Age Concern director general Gordon Lishman welcomed the report.
‘We want its recommendations implemented as soon as possible and a commitment by the government that money to deliver services is available,’ he said.
http://www.hsj.co.uk/nav?page=hsj.news.story&resource=4677362
posted by Dr Search- Principal Consultant at the Search Clinic at
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