Designed & created by
Gavin Wright
Terms & Conditions 30 Smilie, Peterlee, Co.Durham, England. SR8 4AN e-mail
The London Group of National Back Exchange, in conjunction with and other groups and individual members, have nearly completed a guidance document. (The South London Group has made a significant contribution especially to Section G.) It takes the form of a strategy composed of 12 sets of standards. These standards can be adopted by health and social care providers, to assist them in their drive for quality and safety. This will enable them not only to be compliant with the various legislative and regulatory requirements placed on them, but also to enhance performance to achieve the aspirations of the Department of Health and individual organisations for quality and productivity. The document provides a process that enables the standards to be attained and maintained, by means of assessment, monitoring, auditing and action plans.
Authors of the stratergy document working party.
Back row L - R
Dave Briggs,
Pat Alexander,
David Couzens-Howard
Front row L - R
Danielle Holmes,
Joan Gabbett,
Amanda Hart
Please note the little fluffy yellow bug (I’m talking about the one on their lapel and not Pat Alexander hiding away in the backgound), mine fell off and landed in the lovely wine that was supplied on the day.
them not only to be compliant with the various legislative and regulatory requirements placed on them, but also to enhance performance to achieve the aspirations of the Department of Health and individual organisations for quality and productivity. The document provides a process that enables the standards to be attained and maintained, by means of assessment, monitoring, auditing and action plans.
It is intended that the document will also be used by commissioners and by inspectors and regulators. The standards should also assist both parties in the commissioning process, by providing options and clarifications. Inspectors and regulators will have a set of robust and detailed standards by which to gauge performance and progress.
parties in the commissioning process, by providing options and clarifications. Inspectors and regulators will have a set of robust and detailed standards by which to gauge performance and progress.
Origin
The impetus to start on this ambitious project over three years ago derived in part from the frustrations frequently expressed by our members as they battled to maintain standards against a background of threatened and actual cuts. Members of our group felt that we needed common standards to work to.
Purpose
This is to provide a structured approach with standards for every moving & handling (M&H) eventuality. The strategy supports all of the NBE aims. It focuses on improving outcomes in four areas: - care quality, patient/service user safety, staff safety, and the cluster of - productivity, efficiency, cost-effectiveness and value for money.
The document is designed to be complementary to the guidance issued by the HSE, royal colleges, professional bodies and trades unions, as well as the All Wales and Scottish Passport schemes. Our document is holistic, going beyond training to include all aspects of M&H. It builds on previous NBE publications and should sit alongside HOP 6.
Content
The 12 sets of standards are: -
A Infrastructure – structure and systems
B Assessment and risk management
C Competence and training
D Material resources – equipment and environment
E Human resources – the workforce
F Routine situations
G Specialist areas and unusual situations
H Inanimate load handling and static working postures
I Quality control and safety
J Research and practice development
K Partnership working
L Moving & handling and back care department
These are summarised into a ‘Compliance Log’, which is designed to demonstrate the status of each standard (using a suggested 0 – 7 scale), in a way that can be portrayed to trust boards, executive teams, and their committees for audit, governance, risk management, health & safety, etc. In this way, organisations will have a very clear idea of their M&H arrangements and understand where there are gaps in provision and where action needs to be taken.
The main idea is to bring together in one cover, all of the guidance that is issued and relate this to legislation, case law, regulations and the evidence-base. By doing this we believe we can facilitate the process of “passing your HSEs” as it were. In other words, to comply with the requirements of the HSE, NHSLA, CQC, etc. This should make the job of the manual handling practitioner/back care advisor (MHP/BCA) easier.
Many of the standards are accompanied by appendices that suggest ways of achieving them, giving detailed process and sample forms, etc.
Section G deserves special mention because it addresses the specialist handling issues in three ways: -
1) Specific areas, e.g. A&E and theatres
2) Specialities, e.g. stroke patients and bariatrics
3) Situations such as emergency evacuation
Each of the standards in this section is accompanied by a protocol that gives guidance on achieving the desired level.
Format
The guidance comes in two CDs and may be purchased for £28, which includes p&p.
CD1 contains the main part of the document and all of the standards except Section G.
Reviews and trials
Those who have read, reviewed and trialled the draft document have been very positive about it and report that it will prove to be very useful to MHPs.
Progress
At the time of writing (29th July 2011) the main part of the document is almost complete. It has been peer reviewed and is undergoing final checking. The target date has slipped, but we now aim for an end of August/late September release.
Section G will hopefully be available in late September/early October.
Bonus
We plan to keep the document up to date in an innovative way. We will offer updates free of charge to purchasers of the original CDs. These will come via e-mail.
The authors believe that no such document can ever be definitive and changes in legislation, etc. can render it out of date. We do not claim to be the sole arbiters on this subject, although we have consulted widely and gone through a peer review process in order to reflect current enlightened thinking. The innovation is that we will invite people to submit their ideas for consideration as updates. For example, purchasers may conclude, “that the assessment form is not as good as mine”(!), so we will encourage them to put forward their ideas, documents, etc. In this way the strategy document will be live and represent not only the evidence-base, but the thinking and practice of our members. This should not only maintain its usefulness, but over time, enhance it.
For further information, contact
David Couzens-Howard on 07920 592 239, or
Keep an eye on the London group website
