Joint Negotiating Consultative Committee

MINUTES OF MEETING

18 September 2012

Bevan 2 - Trust HQ, Stevenson House

Present:

Rami Jumnoodoo (RJ) Unison, Branch Secretary- CHAIR David Brettle (DB) Director of Human Resources Vicky Yeardley CSP Steward, CPS Sumeera Malhotra (SM) SOCAP Representative Adele Mackenzie(AM) FTO, RCN Pat Leung (PL) RCN Steward Mary Green BMA – Chair of LNC Giten Dabhi BDA Maria O’Brien (MO) Director - Community Services Geraldine Shepherd (GS) Assistant Director – HR Trevor Shipman (TS) Director of Finance Andy Mattin ( A Mattin) Director of Operations & Nursing Aman Sandhu Senior HR Advisor – minutes Sarah Cook FTO- Unite Cecila Anim RCN

Agenda:

1.0 Apologies for absence:

Pam Okuns-Edokpayi FTO. Unison Larry Murphy Simon Ward Unison

Item Discussion/Comments Action No.

2.0 Minutes of the last meeting:

2.1 Minutes of the last meeting held on the 09 August 2012 were reviewed.

2.2 Corrections Cecilia surname is spelt Anim.

2.3 MG Commented about industrial action and the discussion that took place at a previous meeting in June and stated that GW had noted some amendments that he requested to be noted which are as follows:

2.4 DB said that there was an emergency meeting of LNC but while the BMA did not fully agree we did reach an agreement. GW explained that he had been informed that the staff side considered that an agreement had not been reached.

2.5 Page 7 – It was noted that there were also referrals to regulatory bodies that were not made by the Trust, but the Trust was informed of these; all these referrals to be included and the figures updated accordingly. It was also noted that the regulatory body for doctors in the General Medical Council (and not the BMA as shown). DB pointed out that the Trust is only notified if the regulatory body instigate formal processes.

GW noted that the changes to specialty doctors had not been brought to the 2.6 LNC. He had checked with the union, the specialty doctor representative and the chair of the LNC, but they were unaware of this issue that had been raised by management. There was discussion around what had been discussed with the unions about realignment and how it fitted into the service lines and how it was being taken forward.

DB said he was slightly as a loss as the realignments were part of the service 2.7 line implementation as a whole and that this had been fully discussed at the LNC. GW was asked what outcome he was expecting. GW reiterated that on behalf of the medical staff he wanted to know what changes were being referred to. A further discussion took place and Catherine Knights agreed to provide relevant information to GW.

It was agreed that any further discussion on this should be at the LNC

RJ requested that the minutes should be number 1.0, 1.1, 1.2 etc.

DB commented also that time off for union duties was important and should any member have any concerns regarding this issue to contact DB directly to discuss this further.

point 13 - It was noted that this should be taken as planned sick leave not annual leave.

It was requested that the actions comment to be completed in future minutes.

3.0 Matters Arising

3.1 DB stated at the previous meeting there was a discussion about the stress on staff who work on a Triage Unit. DB stated that Angela McGee had requested if anyone from the unions would like to be on the panel who evaluate the questionnaires from the staff, she would welcome this. Staff side reps 4.0 General Operational Management Update

4.1 AM requested if management could expand on the efficiencies across CNWL on page 3 of the report.

A Mattin stated that the trust had to work closely with the commissioners 4.2 and were looking at ways to ensure that clients were getting treated nearer to their home however A Mattin added there are various complexities involved in this.

TS commented on point 8 of the report that all reference to the IAPT 4.5 Service in Kingston should be removed, as the Trust is duty bound not to disclose details of the tendering process.

In response to a question about the estate liabilities the Trust may be 4.6 taking on when potentially acquiring other services, TS said that all PCT property would go to Property Co. and would be managed by them. He envisaged that could create some issues in other parts of the Trust where we use PCT property.

MO commented on site premises and AM asked if this could be listed in 4.7 a table and shared at the meetings.

PL requested that the bank staffing system to be reviewed as other 4.8 professionals are not accessible on the bank. The number of staff available and the reality of this differ.

4.9 PL stated that the 12% vacancy rate was impacting on patient care and staff.

4.10 DB stated that the vacancy rate was high however in comparison to other years this is an improvement.

4.11 DB mentioned the use of ‘cloud’ technology for Bank could be available soon, providing the executive board agree this. This would resolve many of the problems currently be encountered because of the limitations on IT systems and current resourcing capacity.

4.12 DB stated that this would enable the bank shifts to be available and be accessed online wherever you are. DB stated that he hoped that this could be progressed, pending approval, in early October.

4.13 A Mattin mentioned the pass rate for band 5 nurses is relatively low of just a 30% pass rate, however, it was important to notice that we are now able to recruit better performing nurses. The candidates from the London area were not passing the assessments as well as the candidates from outside of London and the north of the country.

PL raised concern about the number of senior nurses that were retiring and the gap in skills and knowledge this would create. 4.14 A Mattin added that the Trust had ongoing recruitment drives but was cautious about where they are and how effective they are.

4.15 A Mattin added that the national adverts for recruitment were more successful however retaining the good staff was the key problem.

4.16 RJ raised the issue of Exit interviews and enquired if there is any information available to identify why staff are leaving the trust.

GS said that every manager should conduct an exit interview with staff 4.17 when they receive a resignation and exit questionnaires were sent out to staff to encourage staff to complete them but the return rate is very low and not enough to gain any significant data.

RJ suggested that this issue needed to be looked at to identify this could 4.18 be improved.

CA requested 9.2 of the report to be elaborated on in particular about 4.19 the clinical resources for cedar ward.

A Mattin commented that more care will be delivered at home. 4.20

4.21 PL mentioned that she had concerns about this as the level of care is compromised and putting more strain on the nurses.

5.0 Finance

5.1 TS stated that the Trust was currently not meeting its financial target and this was mainly due to the delay in delivering cost improvement savings.

5.2 Month 5 is a more up to date and noted that there have been some savings however still a shortfall of approximately £8m.

5.3 The Acute service line is currently struggling to make its predicated savings however all other service line are struggling although some more so than others.

A Mattin added the Trust was looking at making efficiency savings by 5.4 ensuring we have more face to face activity and less back office staff.

PL raised concerns about staff having more and more pressures and 5.5 staff shortages which were impacting them or their registration in the event of an issue of safety which involves a patient.

A Mattin stated that he and Alex assess the risks prior to any CIP’s 5.6 being made. 5.7 The issue of repatriation money was also discussed and noted that the travel of staff and patients is not included in the this.

6.0 Recognition Agreement.

6.1 DB stated the meeting for the recognition agreement is scheduled to take place on the 02 October 2012 and he would circulate his comments on the recognition agreement DB 7.0 Policy Sign Off – Dignity at Work

7.1 VY highlighted small changes to the policy in particular the flow chart and agreed that details of the small changes will be raised at the policy review meeting which was to take place following the JNCC. It was agreed that when GS DB/RJ these small changes had been made, this policy would be signed off and put up onto Trustnet.

7.2 DB requested that the harmonization of policies with CPS need to be agreed more quickly as the length of time it is taking for them to be agreed is not acceptable.

7.3 VY stated that the only policies that was still not harmonized was the grievance and disciplinary policy. All other HR policies were harmonized.

MO agreed that she will arrange for all old CPS HR policies to be removed 7.4 from Trustnet and the only policies that will remain are the Grievance and MO Disciplinary policies.

VY raised concerns that a performance framework had been circulated for use 7.5 by CPS managers which had no reference to the KSF and was not sure if there should be performance ratings. VY stated it was not clear if the ratings had a direct impact on pay.

7.6 DB stated that Joanne Rushton was leading on the performance and appraisal frameworks and emphasized that the performance ranking are not linked to pay. The indicators would highlight which staff could be considered to be part of the ‘talent pool’ and was a positive initiative.

7.7 MO added that this way of performance management was a more commercial way and this would benefit the organisation.

7.8 GS stated that managers in Camden had been advised that it was not necessary to have KSF outlines when recruiting to a post. This was contrary to the practice in the Trust and recruitment would be requiring a KSF outline to MO be provided along with the job description and person spec. MO agreed to make sure the managers in CPS were informed of this.

TS stated that Larry Murphy was unable to attend the meeting today however 7.9 will be attending the next JNCC meeting. TS 7.10 PL requested feedback on the Night visits. 7.11 A Mattin stated the visits overall went well and details of the visits will be detailed in a separate paper and will be distributed A Mattin

8.0 Any Other Business

8.1 RJ requested details of the number of the staff currently at risk.

8.2 GS stated that the trust had approximately 21 staff at risk.

RJ requested that details of the ongoing consultations is provided in 8.3 future. This is so the union representatives are aware of them and DB contact the members should they wish to.

8.4 PL requested the number of the referrals that are made to the NMC. 8.5 DB stated this is not available as the anyone can refer to the NMC however employers are only contacted if they are investigating a case. No formal notification is provided by the NMC.

CA questioned the conflict of interest regarding Stephen Luttrell leaving 8.6 to work for Bupa but continuing to work in the Trust for some clinical sessions. DB said he had discussed this with JV and it was agreed that JV would ensure that appropriate housekeeping was done such as removal from email circulations that he would not need to receive in his medical capacity as opposed to his chief operating officer role.

9.0 Date of Next Meeting

9.1 1 November 2012 (THQ, Bevan 1) Staff side meets @ 9.00am Full Meeting commences @ 10.30