Chris Taylor
An open letter to Marcus Warnes, Accountable Officer, North Staffordshire CCG
THANK you for your response of January 18, in reply to our email of December 15, 2021.
Given the new pandemic environment, I had asked you what lessons the CCG has learned in responding to Covid-19, and what steps you are proposing to increase resilience and flexibility in our local health services, so that the North Staffordshire community will be suitably prepared and equipped to address ongoing virus threats.
In your response you have listed the issues, but not given any answers. Your account of consolidating staff resources to deal with an expected rise in covid cases by closing down some services, points to the key issue – the understaffing of nurses.
The further direct impact of the virus, with staff laid-off having to socially isolate, clearly points to the need for even more staff than the normal establishment number, and the need to boost resilience.
And you point to other key services, requiring more staff to comply with infection control measures, whilst maintaining patient throughput, which again calls for additional staff and resilience planning.
Please outline the steps you are taking to increase nursing and clinical staff numbers, including the example seen in other areas, where CCGS are addressing the staffing crisis and providing support for nurse training.
The CCG has responsibility for commissioning all local services, and key in their responsibility is supporting the supply of nursing staff.
In terms of PPE, please confirm how steady supplies will be assured in the future for all health services and care homes.
You confirm a number of beds were reinstated in Leek Moorlands Hospital as overspill for Covid-19 patients. This was announced as a pragmatic response early in the crisis by University Hospitals North Midlands – and was indeed a welcome measure to provide local resilience.
Can you now inform us, with the benefit of lessons learned, how the North Staffs CCG will provide this resilience going forward. Please confirm how this will impact Leek Moorlands Hospital.
You referred to Long Covid, and can you outline the number in North Staffordshire who are affected, and the treatments available locally.
The use of GP patient telephone appointments has some benefits, especially in times of crisis, but does not provide an equivalent quality of service, and should not be adopted across the board as mainstream.
The ‘triage’ of patients by a nonclinician has introduced a needless barrier for many, including those who are clearly unwell, those in urgent need of help, and those with a complex medical history who cannot say what symptom they are suffering from.
We are also aware of the shortcomings of the GP - patient telephone consultation, with the GP pressure and expectation of dealing with a greater flow rate of patients, and also that the ability to carry out an incidental examination as an additional measure of care is precluded.
And apart from the pandemic pressures, GPS are facing more patient inquiries with the back-log of those awaiting hospital treatment - as a consequence of financial cuts to the NHS.
What measures is the CCG proposing to overcome both the above issues: to expand the capacity of the GP service to respond to the legacy of the cuts, and provide workable measures to boost resilience.
Regarding the planning for the Integrated Care Hub at Leek Hospital, we would like to know that the facilities are benefiting from the lessons you and the CCG have learned.
Please assure the public by outlining what changes the CCG has brought in, and please outline the changes to the hospital design brief, for example to allow for infection control and the need for flexible spaces, as well as in the services being planned, to adapt to the pandemic environment.
These strategic measures - towards resilience planning, are not to be confused with any public consultation undertaken by Midlands Partnership Foundation Trust.
Can you please provide clear answers on each of the above points?