Hospital board chairman demands improvement deadlines are met

Sean Lyons made the call at the latest meeting of the board of directors of Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

He questioned whether the board has been effectively managing the trust’s performance because action points are often left unfinished beyond the timeframe set for their completion.

Speaking at Thursday’s meeting, he said: “If we had the right processes, we would not be in the position that we are in.”

Sherwood Forest Hospitals has recently been rated as inadequate by the Care Quality Commission and in its report, the CQC noted that the latest version of the trust’s special measures action plan had 18 action points, with only one of these being completed by its target completion date.

Mr Lyons said: “The tendency has been for the date to slip and it be tolerated and we just cannot carry on like that.”

He said that action points need to be understood, timescales agreed and the work done by the date set.

Tasks need prioritising and resourcing to ensure that progress is made, he added.

Fellow directors agreed with Mr Lyons and exact deadlines for points needing action were set at the meeting.

“From the next meeting we will have an action tracker with agreed timelines and there will be an expectation that they are met,” Mr Lyons said.

“My point is if we have a plan, let’s agree to it and stick to it and not have a mindset where the date can slip.”