Policy News - 29 June 2023

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.  

Salary Overpayments/Underpayments Policy

This is a new policy and outlines the process that will be followed when an employee receives an incorrect salary or expense payment.

The purpose of this policy is to ensure that:

a)   Overpayments and underpayments are identified and either recovered or paid in a timely manner; and

b)   A transparent, fair and consistent approach is followed when an incorrect salary payment is made.

The Trust has a responsibility to ensure that employees are paid correctly, but on occasions overpayments and underpayments occur for a variety of reasons. When this happens the Trust will either recover the overpayment or make a payment in line with this policy.  Employees also have a responsibility to check their payslip for accuracy and advise their manager and Payroll Department when the payment is different to the expected contracted payment.

For the purposes of this policy, a salary overpayment or underpayment covers any payment made through the payroll to an employee.

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Data Protection, Confidentiality and Disclosure of Information Policy

The Trust holds and processes large amounts of personal information about its employees, patients, carers and other individuals for various reasons to ensure the effective provision of healthcare. The Trust is a Data Controller under UK legislation for the information that it handles.  

As a Data Controller the Trust must meet its legal obligations and NHS requirements in how it handles personal data. These requirements are set out in the current UK Data Protection legislation, the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UKGDPR) and Data Protection Act 2018 and in the NHS Data Security and Protection Toolkit. 

The purpose of the Data Protection, Confidentiality & Disclosure of Information Policy is to provide direction to all individuals working for or on behalf of the Trust to ensure that they handle personal information legally, securely, effectively and efficiently so the Trust complies with its legislative responsibilities. The policy applies to all types of information within the Trust, including but not limited to; patient, client, service user, staff personal information and Trust confidential business information. It covers all aspects of handling information and includes both structured and unstructured record systems in any format that may be developed or purchased by the Trust. 

Failure of the Trust, or any individual working for or on behalf of the Trust, to comply with the requirements set out in the policy could potentially result in sever financial penalties and significant damage to the Trust’s reputation.

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Registered Nurse Verification of Expected Adult Death Policy

The Nurse Verification of Expected Adult Death Policy has been updated to reflect national guidelines. This policy now only applies to adult nursing staff working in the Community Division in our Trust. In essence the changes are moving from 14 to 28 days requirement for patients who are expected to die being seen by a medical professional (doctor) who must have seen the patient in the last 28 days and it is documented by a doctor that the death is an expected event. Although 28 days is a maximum, it is still best practice to have the patient reviewed within this timeframe by a medical professional (in-keeping with the national guidance for care of the dying patient), so that multi professional care and communication is effective, evidenced based and reflects the patient`s wishes. 

Any adult community nurses who require Registered Nurse Verification of Expected Adult Death training, moving forward will undertake the version based on the updated policy. Registered Adult community nurses already competent in verification of an expected adult death are not expected to repeat the competency assessment, rather to familiarise themselves with the changes in the updated policy on the staff intranet and adopt the changes into their practice.

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Insertion and Management of Short and Long Term (Fine Bore) Nasogastric Feeding Tubes in Adults Patients

The purpose of this policy is to provide an evidence based framework for all healthcare professionals who care for patients with an NG tube for feeding within the Trust. The aim is to ensure that insertion and ongoing management is safe, effective and comfortable for the patient.

This policy covers short term and long term (fine bore) feeding tubes and excludes NG tubes inserted for the purpose of decompressing the gastrointestinal tract.

This policy applies to all clinical employees of the Trust, including but not limited to permanent, temporary, NHS Professionals, contract and honorary staff, and all other clinical persons carrying out any function or work on behalf of the Trust.

Nasogastric feeding tubes must be inserted and managed using the methods outlined in the policy hyperlinks to clinical procedures for adults.

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Overseas Visitors Policy

Entitlement to NHS healthcare is based on residency; it’s not dependent on nationality, having an NHS number, or GP. We need to establish if a patient is resident in the UK to assess a patient’s Eligibility to NHS Funded Healthcare.   Exemptions do apply for the most protected services and those who are vulnerable.

This policy provides guidance to staff who may come across a patient who has indicated they do not live in the UK.

Our Overseas Visitor Manger can also be contacted on ext. 47953 or via secure email (stsft.chsft.oversesa@nhs.net) who will be able to help/advise with any queries.

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