St Giles Hospice Quality Account 2017/2018 St Giles Hospice 2017-18 Quality Account | Page 13

Patient Safety
Safeguarding
There were three referrals
regarding safeguarding in year
2017 /2018. One concern was
raised with First Response Action
Team but did not progress to
Safeguarding.
We continue to provide staff
with booster training in year
concerning the Mental Capacity
Act, Deprivation of Liberty and
safeguarding. We have reviewed
our safeguarding policies for both
adults and children this year and
reviewed our governance structure
for safeguarding with separate
leads being appointed for adults
and children.
Duty of Candour
In 2017/2018 there were three
matters where the legal Duty of
Candour applied. These were in
relation to falls.
Prevention and Management of
Infections
In December 2017 we had five
patients present with unexplained
diarrhoea.
As a precaution the ward was
closed to admissions as Norovirus
was widespread in the community
at the time; additionally two staff
also became ill with symptoms.
In the event it was shown that no
infection outbreak had occurred.
However, we identified that the
Toolkit for a Norovirus outbreak,
which was implemented in
2016/2017, required amendment to
improve clarity.
Medicines Management
In year we analysed our rate of
errors concerning medicines
administration.
The error rate was 0.06%,
meaning less than one error per
2000 administrations, showing
our medicines administration
processes and delivery are safe.
Patient Safety Benchmarking
The hospice compares its data
concerning occupancy, falls,
pressure ulcers, infection rates
and medication errors with
other hospices both regionally
and nationally. No variation that
might give cause for concern was
identified in year.
As outlined in our priorities for
2017/18, the hospice has now
invested in Datix – an electronic
reporting system.
The system went live on 1st April
2018 and we believe this will now
further enhance our ability to
report and identify any themes or
actions that are required to enable
further improvements in care and
shared learning.
In total, during 2017/18 402 patient
safety incidents were reported –
over 99% of which resulted in no or
minor harm.
Complaints
We work very hard to provide
the highest standards of care to
patients and families. We believe
any concerns or complaints are
an opportunity for us to learn
and improve and are addressed
positively and proactively.
There were 13 complaints during
2017/18 concerning care. 3 were
upheld in full, 8 were partially
upheld and 1 was not upheld. 1 is
still open.
The main theme emerging from
community complaints related to
responsiveness and recognition
of the need for intervention at an
earlier stage. This has led to a
review as to how we can improve
our telephone assessment of
patients who have previously
been stable. For those complaints
relating to inpatient care, the main
theme concerned communications
around symptom management and
also expectations of the service in
terms of discharging patients when
clinically stable.
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