Policy News - 7 June 2019

The following policies have been ratified by the Trust's Policy Committee over the last couple of months.  Could you please take the time to review those policies which may be relevant to your role.  Any policies highlighted by a red title are applicable to all staff.

Freedom to Speak Up and Raising Concerns (Whistleblowing) policy

The Freedom to Speak Up and Raising Concerns (Whistleblowing) Policy has been revised and updated in line with national developments in the Freedom to Speak Up agenda and following guidance from the Office of the National Guardian as well as the advisory group Protect, formerly Public Concern at Work.  The revised policy includes:

• advice and guidance for staff in how to raise a concern and the support that will be provided to anyone who blows the whistle
• information on how lessons learnt will be shared across the Trust to strengthen the culture of openness within the organisation through the Freedom to Speak Up agenda

Kath Griffin, Director of Human Resources and Organisational Development is our Freedom to Speak Up Guardian and this role is supported by 14 Freedom to Speak Up Ambassadors who come from a variety of disciplines and locations within the Trust allowing staff to make contact with whomever they are comfortable to report.

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Nutrition and Hydration for Adult Patients policy

In order to align practice across our new Trust, the ‘Nutrition and Hydration’ policies from South Tyneside and Sunderland have been re-written as a new policy. Whilst there are some nuances between South Tyneside and Sunderland regarding the specific documentation in use (ie paper charts versus electronic patient records), this new  policy outlines the essential requirements to ensure that all patients receive appropriate and high quality care in all aspects of nutrition and hydration risk assessment, prevention of malnutrition and dehydration and processes to safely manage and meet their needs whilst under our care.
 
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Registered Nurse Verification of Expected Adult Death Policy
 
In order to align practice across the Trust the existing  Verification of Expected Adult Death in the Community and Hospital policy previously in place in South Tyneside has been updated to provide a new Registered Nurse Verification of Expected Adult Death Policy which applies to all registered nurses across the Trust – both community and hospital.   The purpose of the policy is to support registered nurses in the verification of expected adult death across the Trust.  
 
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The National Early Warning Score (NEWS2) and the Monitoring and Recording of Vital Signs in Adult Inpatients Policy
 
In order to align practice across the new Trust, the “Vital Signs Monitoring and Recognition of Deterioration in Adults Policy” from South Tyneside and the “National Early Warning Score (NEWS) and the Monitoring and Recording of Adult Patients’ Vital Signs Policy” from Sunderland have been re-written to form a new policy.  The new policy incorporates “NEWS2” that was published by the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) in November 2017 which has been rolled out across both locations.
 
Whilst there are some nuances between South Tyneside and Sunderland regarding the specific documentation in use (i.e. paper charts versus electronic patient record), this new policy sets out the standards for recording vital signs and NEWS2 to assist in the recognition of deterioration in adult in-patients. The new policy also provides instruction on the appropriate course of action and clinical response to patient deterioration, for ward patients.
 
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