Hello all,  

In September we finalised our winter plan and took the next step with our Acute Frailty Model. We also launched RSV vaccines for pregnant patients, hosted colleagues from NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care, and held our Trust Annual General Meeting. This month the CQC also carried out an inspection on our medical services and the care we have in place to support older patients - and we will be hearing the detailed feedback on their visit in a few weeks time.

Our services  

Acute Frailty Model

In April we began trialling our Acute Frailty Model. Informed by national best practice, this has helped to reduce length of stay and increase the numbers of people able to be discharged back to their own home. Following formal agreement in September, we are now expanding and formalising the Acute Frailty Service and opening a Frailty Same Day Emergency Care (SDEC) unit to improve our response and consequently prevent overnight admissions and reduce length of stay for our most frail patients. With more pressure on our beds, especially during the winter months, this work will help us to reduce our bed occupancy and relieve pressure on our Emergency Department. We are just at the start of this journey, but it’s an exciting step for us as a Trust.

Winter plan

Earlier this month the Trust agreed its winter preparation plan at its Executive Committee. The comprehensive plan shows how we have learnt from last year’s experiences and means we are in a much better position going into the winter months. As mentioned last month, our work over the summer to return to our core bed base and be more disciplined in how we use our surge areas is markedly different. While I’m sure the winter will bring new challenges as it always does, I am pleased in the work we have already done to support our teams to succeed in caring for all those who need us from day one. 

RSV vaccine

I am pleased to announce that from 23 September, we rolled out free RSV vaccines for pregnant patients to protect their babies from respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). RSV, also known as bronchiolitis, is a common virus that can lead to serious respiratory illnesses in newborns. The vaccine is available at East Surrey Hospital, Crawley Hospital and Horsham Hospital through our antenatal clinics (ANC), providing that added peace of mind for our service users and their families from 28 weeks of pregnancy.

Our partners  

DHSC visit

Since April, we have been working with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) on optimising our Same Day Emergency Care (SDEC) services. This has been an exciting piece of work as their learnings from us will go on to inform national policy work around improving outcomes for not only our patients, but people across the country. To build on this work, in September we hosted we hosted a visit from DHSC to explore how our upcoming Frailty SDEC model can really reduce our admissions for frail patients. Alongside implementing our new frailty model of care, we will be seizing the opportunity to work differently in order to deliver better patient experience, quality of care and outcomes.

Nursing Times Award

This month we were shortlisted for the Nursing Times Workforce Awards for Best Social Responsibility, which reflects the innovation of our Maternity Health Inclusion service in providing care for those with the poorest maternity outcomes, as well as the power of collaboration. As the success of this service is also testament to our close working relationships with primary care colleagues; Surrey Health Inclusion Health Visitors and Alliance for better Care, NHS England, Public Health, Surrey and West Sussex County Council, Surrey Heartlands and Sussex ICS and our voluntary community partners such as Happy Baby Community.

Trust Provider Collaborative

A new Partnership Agreement between Surrey Heartlands ICB and the Surrey Heartlands acute trusts (which includes SASH, Royal Surrey and Ashford and St Peter’s) will see the Trust Provider Collaborative (TPC) taking on a new lead role in overseeing elective care delivery from 1 October 2024. This change will see the Collaborative helping to facilitate and deliver the system’s priorities in elective, diagnostic, cancer and outpatient care. Working in this way will help ensure more equal waiting time for patients and an ability to offer more mutual aid and support between providers to treat people more quickly. It will also create productivity opportunities and shared learning that will enable the TPC to achieve greater consistency of care across Surrey Heartlands.

Trust news  

Towards Excellence Accreditation

This month the NHS Finance Leadership Council awarded SASH with the level one ‘Towards Excellence Accreditation’. The accreditation, which lasts for three years, is a testament to how well our finance team’s processes and procedures are working. It also proves we have developed a culture where staff feel appreciated and where successes are celebrated – which is great news.

People Promise Exemplar

In September, as well as launching the annual NHS staff survey to help improve our workplace, we also hosted colleagues from NHS England to hear more about our work and plans on the People Promise Exemplar Programme – and what we are doing to improve staff experience in areas such as safe and healthy, and compassion and inclusion. 

Flu campaign

As we approach the winter months it’s vital that we prepare for the added risks of flu season amongst our patients and staff – which can in turn have a huge operational impact on our services. To help keep patients, colleagues and loved ones safe, this month we launched our annual flu campaign to support staff to get their flu vaccine at dedicated walk-in clinics at each of our Trust sites.

National Medical Examiner guidance

Following regulations laid in Parliament in April 2024, on 9 September it became a statutory requirement for all deaths in England and Wales to be independently reviewed, by either a coroner or medical examiner. This change supports loved ones by giving them the opportunity to ask questions and raise concerns with a senior doctor, whilst also speeding up the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death (MCCD) process, and ensuring the right deaths are referred to coroners for further investigation. At SASH, independent death reviews have been in place since 2019. This nationwide rollout will however ensure families across the local area also receive the same service – whether their loved one dies in hospital or in the community.