Pages
Dedicated Derbyshire nurse is named International Community Nurse of the Year 2024
https://dchs.nhs.uk/news/dedicated-derbyshire-nurse-named-international-community-nurse-year-2024
Rainbow lanyard awareness posters
https://dchs.nhs.uk/my_dchs/show-me/staff-news-my-download/rainbow-lanyard-awareness-posters
Chair Prem Singh announces his retirement plans after 47 years’ NHS service
https://dchs.nhs.uk/news/chair-prem-singh-announces-his-retirement-plans-after-47-years-nhs-service
My Download - 18 January 2022
Apologies for missing last week - we are very depleted in numbers in Comms and had to make some difficult decisions about priorities - last week media enquiries, the web, Operational Update and Team Brief made the list! Lots to share this week .... including how to access the new web, details about the mileage consultation, an update on the Belper plans and so much more!
https://dchs.nhs.uk/my_dchs/show-me/staff-news-my-download/my-download-18-january-2022
Files
North Derbyshire OPAT (Outpatient Parenteral Antimicrobial Therapy) Pathway for Primary Care (Step-Up Pathway/Admission Avoidance) (G198)
OPAT services provide intravenous (IV) antibiotics to patients outside of the acute hospital inpatient setting. Patients who are otherwise medically fit, and who would otherwise require a hospital bed, can avoid admission to hospital, or be discharged sooner by receiving treatment either as an outpatient or within their own homes. In North Derbyshire, this is achieved by Chesterfield Royal Hospital Foundation Trust (CRHFT) working in partnership with Derbyshire Community Health Services (DCHS) Rapid Response Team (RRT).
Dysphagia Management of Adults (P20)
DCHS recognises the risk to people who have difficulty with eating, drinking and swallowing and that the management of dysphagia is everyone’s business. This policy promotes a multi-disciplinary approach to identifying and managing dysphagia. It is to ensure that all people with dysphagia receive the highest possible level of assessment, care and support to achieve maximum independence, pleasure and meet their nutritional needs, whilst keeping the risks associated with this potentially life threatening condition to a minimum.
Adult Enteral Feeding Policy (P48)
The purpose of the policy is to provide best practice guidance for the care of adults fed via with an enteral feeding tube. The aim of the policy is to ensure delivery of safe and effective care for patients who are enterally tube fed within Derbyshire Community Health Services: • Community Hospitals, • Community Services • Care Homes And to ensure continuity of care within Derbyshire Community Health Service Foundation Trust.
Physical Health Care For People With Mental Health And Learning Disabilities Guidelines (G15)
This guidance aims to set out the standard of physical health monitoring for those patients within both the older person’s mental health and learning disability inpatient units. It provides guidance about physical health care interventions that are provided within the Trust and those requiring advice or intervention from other services. Good physical health underpins the overall well-being of our patients and supports a holistic approach to care delivery, which includes the identification and appropriate management of physical health needs. In relation to those service users attending specialist OPMH day Services or specialist LD outpatients, the responsibility for the patient’s physical, health care will remain with their General Practitioner. Where there are any identified physical health findings or concerns noted whilst the patient is attending the service, their General Practitioner must be notified.
Local Decontamination Of Reusable Medical Devices-Dental and Podiatry Services (P16)
The aim of this policy is to detail the practices and principles for the local decontamination of reusable medical devices, with reference to podiatric services.
Adult Nutrition Food and Hydration Policy (P50)
This policy aims to improve the nutrition and hydration of all adult patients cared for by staff working throughout Derbyshire Community Health Services NHS Foundation Trust (DCHSNHSFT) including those with special/therapeutic dietary requirements. It explains how patients who are at nutritional risk can be identified, how nutritional status may be improved, what support there is from members of the multidisciplinary team and how support and training can be accessed. The major challenge for community hospitals and staff working within the community will be meeting the nutritional requirements of patients who are nutritionally vulnerable; hence much of this policy is based around nutrition support. By achieving the care in the Policy, it will allow the Trust to meet a number of voluntary and mandatory standards including the Care Quality Commission (CQC) Regulation 14: Meeting nutrition and hydration needs (2015), The Hospital Food Standards Panel’s report on standards for food and drink in NHS Hospitals (2014), NICE - Nutrition support in adults. Quality standard 24 (2012) and the British Association of UK Dieticians (BDA) – The Nutrition and Hydration Digest: Improving Outcomes through Food and Beverages Services 2nd Edition (2017) Whilst this Policy focuses primarily on nutrition, as an important nutrient, water cannot be overlooked. Detailed information on assessing and maintaining patients hydration needs can be found in the Appendix
STAY conversations
DCHS STAY conversations - managers guide. This is a management tool, not a formal process, aimed at supporting staff retention.
Use of Clamshell Vaccine Bags by Community Nursing Teams (S99)
DCHS staff support the annual Influenza vaccination campaign and other vaccination programs by vaccinating some patients on behalf of GP practices. Vaccines are stocked in the GP practices and administered in the patients’ own homes (including care homes), which means they need to be transported between locations. DCHS staff have been provided with Clamshell Vaccine Bags for this purpose. This Standard Operating Procedure provides information to DCHS staff on the use of Clamshell Vaccine Bags.
Standard Operating Procedure for Waiting List Validation (S108)
The purpose of this SOP is to set out the waiting list validation stages and process for staff and managers with services that have waiting lists. Across Planned Care and Specialist Services (PCSS) there are patients on waiting lists. To support the management of these waiting lists it is important to regularly validate those patients who are waiting to be offered an appointment. Services with waiting lists should consider the appropriateness and frequency of undertaking the three stages of waiting list validation, these being: technical, administrative, and clinical.
Clinical Harms Review Additional detail for Service Level SOP (S133)
This document should be read in conjunction with the overarching DCHS Standard Operating procedure on Clinical Harms which outlines the processes to be followed to deliver a consistent approach to. • Risk stratification to minimise clinical harm as a result of delays in care. • Embedding systems which take into account health inequalities. • Monitoring waiting times against defined thresholds across pathways of care. • Delivering personalised, patient-centred communications to patients who are waiting for care. • Implementing Harm Reviews that support the Trusts governance and assurance processes and maintains practice in line with national expectations. The intention of the service level document is to provide specific detail on. • The risk stratification process in operation and clinically appropriate to specific service lines and patient cohorts • Waiting time thresholds for the relevant patient pathways