Royal Preston staff give message to England's chief nurse as part of NHS "big conversation"

That was one of the messages Duncan Burton, the chief nursing officer for NHS England, said he would be taking away from a visit to the facility as part of the “big conversation” the government has launched about the future of the health service.

He was in the city for the latest in a series of nationwide debates about how to fix the NHS. That included a specially-selected audience of 120 people gathering at the Riva Showbar in Preston city centre for a day-long discussion about the forthcoming 10-year plan for health.

However, Mr. Burton also paid a visit to the Royal Preston, where he spoke with frontline staff in order to hear what they were already doing to improve the way the NHS operates.

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Speaking to the Lancashire Post after the trip, he said: “A lot of the solutions are already in the NHS and it's about how…we spread them.

“I think this engagement exercise, both with the public and staff, is a great opportunity to just lift some of those great examples out so that we can share them across the NHS.”

He said it was clear after speaking to representatives of the critical care, frailty and stroke services at the Royal Preston that they were “very solution-focussed” and “taking lots of steps to improve care and to shift care from the hospital into the community”.

Asked what improvements they told him they would like to be able to make, Mr. Burton explained: “They want to be able to provide the care that…patients deserve and the public deserves.

“They want to continue to do that, but I think it's fair to say, [they] want to take some of the pressure out of the system and be able to care for patients and provide pathways of care that are less pressured - to be able to ensure access for everyone and…reduce some of the variation in care and service provision.”

Mr. Burton also insisted that the big conversation was a meaningful - and not a superficial - exercise.

“This is a great opportunity for us to engage the public and…our 1.4 million people that work in the NHS in a conversation about the future of the NHS.

“We know that the NHS is challenged. We know that there are a number of problems and frustrations to fix, but we've got to do this in a way which is collaborative - and so I'm not cynical about it at all,” he added.

The Post understands that the attendees at the Preston event - drawn from across the North West - were selected by sending letters to targeted postcodes offering people the opportunity to take part. Work was then undertaken to establish a representative sample of the community - and those people were formally invited to attend.The public at large still have an opportunity to contribute their ideas to the 10-year health plan - which is due to be published next spring - by visiting change.nhs.uk/

‘AHEAD OF THE GAME’

Duncan Burton heard how the Royal Preston was ensuring access to second opinions about patient care as part of what is known as ‘Martha’s Rule’.

The initiative began being rolled out nationally earlier this year and, once fully implemented, patients, families, carers and staff will have round-the-clock access to a rapid review from a separate care team if they are worried about a person’s condition.

John Howles, associate director of quality and experience at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals - the trust that runs the Royal Preston - said the hospital was “ahead of the game” in implementing the change.

“We have got processes in place which are really positive [in terms of]...the impacts that they’ve had on patients whose families and carers have got concerns - and we escalate those concerns and [get] second opinions,” Mr. Howles explained.

He said the chief nurse had also been told about the work the hospital’s frailty team was doing to keep patients at home by supporting them via “virtual” wards and preventing them being readmitted after a stay in hospital.