Meetings Attended by the acting chairman in June

Solent NHS Patient Experience and Public Involvement Group

The Acting Chair attended this meeting on 28^th May at St James’ Hospital.

The following items were presented/discussed:-

Quality Account update

Legal guidance concerning complaints from trans-sexuals

Patient experience surveys – the format and contents of the survey forms

Key issues from Links and Hosps in the Ship Cluster

Membership update – re Foundation Trust status

Summary PPI Report

Patient information update

Quality Impact Assessments and Quality Schedules

Vascular Surgery Issue

Your Chance to Influence End of Life Care at QAH

This is a very important issue on which patients and the public now have an opportunity to influence the way the Queen Alexandra Hospital looks after people who die while in their care. Please give us your comments. The Portsmouth LINk has two members on panels who are reviewing this topic over the next weeks and months. Other groups involved are the Portsmouth Pensioners, Faith Groups, Carers Together, the Hampshire LINk, a Cancer Patient Representative, the Rowans Hospice and a Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust Governor. All of these people are truly independent and many have first hand knowledge of End of Life Care. But we need your views.

Please help us make sure this is done right!

PHT Board Meeting in Public

As Chair of the Portsmouth LINk Steering Group, I attended the PHT Board Meeting in Public at QAH today. This is always a good opportunity to hear what the top decision-makers running our Acute Hospital are doing and discussing. There is also an agenda item towards the end of the meeting for members of the public to ask questions. This is an opportunity once a month for LINk matters to be brought directly to the Board's attention.

The meeting agenda and minutes of the last meeting are available through the PHT website.

Today, I raised three LINk issues in response to discussion by Board members.

Statement from the Chair of Portsmouth LINk

Whilst acknowledging the reservations of some residents living close to Queen Alexandra Hospital about noise, the Portsmouth Local Involvement Network (monitoring Health and Social Care in Portsmouth) strongly supports the Trust's application to extend helicopter flying hours as a major step towards improving quick access to emergency treatment for patients for whom delay could be live-threatening.

J McLees
Chair, Portsmouth LINk Steering Group