Policy News - 26 November 2019

The following policies have recently been ratified by the Trust’s Policy Committee.   Please take the time to review those which may be relevant to your role. 

Claims Management Policy

This policy and accompanying procedures detail the arrangements to be followed in the event of a claim against the Trust.  These arrangements follow the guidelines of NHS Resolution and the Civil Procedure Rules. This policy covers claims managed by the claims management team (including all clinical negligence claims and most non-clinical claims).

It encourages a climate of openness when something has gone wrong with a patient’s treatment or if the patient is dissatisfied with that treatment and/or outcome.

It also clarifies the liaison with third parties necessary in claims management, such as NHS Resolution, solicitors, claimants and the coroner.

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Safeguarding Supervision for Healthcare Professionals Policy

This policy provides direction on the safeguarding supervision arrangements for all Healthcare Professionals, excluding Medical and Dental Staff who receive peer review supervision as part of their GMC revalidation.

The Trust must have in place arrangements that reflect the importance of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, including the provision of appropriate supervision and support of staff, to fulfil their child welfare and safeguarding responsibilities effectively.

The Policy has been updated in line with current changes to legislation and changes in models of supervision from Together for Children.

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Safeguarding and Looked After Children Policy

The Trust has a statutory duty under Section 11 of the Children Act 2004 to ensure that its functions are discharged with regard to the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.

This policy sets out local arrangements and action to be taken by all Trust staff where there is knowledge or suspicion that a child is suffering or is likely to suffer significant harm of physical, emotional, sexual abuse/ exploitation or neglect.

The Policy has been updated to reflect recent legislation changes, updated pathways in appendices and recent CQC recommendation.

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Organ and Tissue Donation Policy

The purpose of this policy is to provide a framework that ensures that every patient who dies whilst in the care of the Trust is given the maximal opportunity to donate solid organs, corneas and tissues after their death.  The policy outlines the process of organ and tissue donation, and will help healthcare professionals to facilitate organ and tissue donation.  The policy applies to all doctors and nurses involved with the care of the dying patient, and all staff members with responsibilities for areas or staff caring for dying patients.

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Job Planning Policy

Job Planning for doctors and dentists is an annual process in which the doctor has a formal structured meeting with their clinical line manager to agree individual programmes of work that contribute to the overall delivery of services.  This policy applies to all consultants and specialty and associate specialist doctors (SAS), including all doctors and dentists in closed career grades provides a framework to:

• Support job planning.
• Standardise the process of job planning.
• Bring greater clarity, focus and consistency to the process.
• Ensure work patterns are fully aligned with the organisation’s priorities and specifically the service plans.
• Ensure any individual objectives and the personal development plan is considered

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Preceptorship Policy
 
The Preceptorship Policy applies to employees in staff groups who require registration with a regulatory body in order to practice, such as the NMC and the HCPC, and who enter the Trust on Agenda for Change (AfC) as a new registrant.  The preceptorship process and professional competencies must also be applied to staff who are returning to the NHS following a break in service or who may have worked outside the NHS for 5 or more years or are entering a different field of practice e.g. a second registerable qualification.
 
The policy provides a formal framework which supports and enables newly qualified registrants joining the Trust to make the transition from student to registered practitioner within a 6 month period.   It provides a common approach to promote consistency across fields of practice and services to ensure that the appropriate support for preceptees is in place.
 
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Study and Professional Leave Policy
 
The policy contains details of how an employee applies for study leave and factors that managers need to consider in deciding whether to approve the application and what support can be offered.  Where study/training is being partly or wholly funded by the Trust or other NHS funding, the policy details the contract between it and the employee and the scale of financial recovery that will apply, should the employee fail to complete the programme without the Trust’s agreement, or leave the Trust’s employment within the timeframes described after completing the training.  This policy applies to all Trust staff, except junior doctors in training.
 
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