Our Annual General and Members’ Meeting (AGM) will be held on 14 October. As we are still operating under some COVID restrictions this meeting will be hosted via our website with the opportunity to submit any questions prior to the event.
Our speakers
Professor Derek Bell OBE, Joint Chair
Joint Chairman for North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust and South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
Derek has 40 years’ experience in the NHS and previously served as President of the Royal College of Physicians. He was awarded an OBE in 2018 for services to unscheduled care and quality improvement.
Julie Gillon, Chief Executive
Julie Gillon joined North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust in 2002, appointed to Chief Executive in 2017.
She holds responsibility for overseeing the strategic direction of the Trust, engaging with clinicians, other staff throughout the organisation and external partners to further develop a clinical and financial sustainability model, within the context of the wider Sustainability and Transformation Partnership in a forward-looking CQC GOOD rated organisation.
Neil Atkinson, Director of Finance
Neil joined the NHS in 1997 and holds the post of Director of Finance for North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust. Neil’s core objectives include
- Achievement of Group Financial Plan (incl. subsidiaries)
- Medium Term Financial Planning (incl. capital and contract with commissioners)
- Work closely with PMIO to deliver Efficiency programme
- Develop capacity and capability of finance team – Finance Improvement Plan
- Oversee the delivery of the LLP / MSA
- Patient level information costing services
- Tees Valley Pathology Collaboration – SRO, Estate re-development.
Videos and presentations
Welcome to AGM – Professor Derek Bell
Professor Derek Bell opening statement
Welcome to our annual general meeting (AGM) of North Tees and Hartlepool NHSFoundation Trust.
I am delighted to be the new chairman. I’ve only recently taken up appointment but it’s a great privilege to be able to speak to you today and introduce some of the elements and exciting developments that have happened over the last year.
I’m extremely grateful to Paul Garvin who’s long-standing chair who has actually put this Trust in a strong position.
I’m also extremely grateful to Neil Mundy, the interim chair who has made my transition to the post extremely easy.
Clearly, as you all know, the last 18 months have been particularly difficult for the NHS and indeed the population of the UK in general.
I’d therefore like to express my extreme thanks to the patients, the carers and the general public who have supported the health care services during this difficult period but also to thank the staff for the hard work that they have been doing over this period of time, working extra hours, going the extra mile to try and improve care for patients over this period.
Over the last 12 months, there has also been tremendous engagement in collaboration with the community in general, particularly with our local authority qualities to provide the best health and wellbeing care that we can possibly provide.
This can only build a really strong foundation for our future relationships.
This also extends to my other role as joint chair of South Tees as well where we’re going to look increasingly to partnership models for the benefit of the patients of the Tees Valley in general.
Partnership and collaboration are going to be two of the key words that you’ll be hearing over the next 12 months and indeed over the next several years.
There have been some really exciting developments that have taken place over the last 12 months and you will be able to see some of these developments in the short videos that we’re about to show which will highlight some of these examples so hopefully you’ll find this virtual AGM worthwhile.
I look forward to meeting some of you in person in in the future but thank you very much for watching. Thank you.
Or click here to access through YouTube.
Introduction and overview – Julie Gillon, Chief Executive
Introduction and Overview
(Video shows presentation slides.)
Slide one: AGM, Julie Gillon, chief executive
Slide two: Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21: Presented to Parliament pursuant to Schedule 7, paragraph 25(4) of the National Health Service Act 2006.
Slide three: Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21:
annual report including the directors’ report, performance report and remuneration report
accounting officer’s statement of responsibilities
auditor’s opinion and certificate
annual governance statement
foreword to the accounts
four primary financial statements (Statement of Comprehensive Income, Statement of Financial Position, Statement of Changes in Taxpayers’ Equity and a Statement of Cash Flows)
notes to the accounts
Slide four: Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21: The role of the Accounting Officer is to comply with the requirements of the NHS Foundation Trust Annual Reporting Manual and in particular to:
Observe the Accounts Direction issued by Monitor, including the relevant accounting and disclosure requirements, and apply suitable accounting policies on a consistent basis;
Make judgements and estimates on a reasonable basis;
State whether applicable accounting standards as set out in the NHS Foundation Trust Annual Reporting Manual have been followed, and disclose and explain any material departures in the financial statements; and
Ensure that the use of public funds complies with the relevant legislation, delegated authorities and guidance; and
Prepare the financial statements on a going concern basis.
Slide five: North Tees and Hartlepool – our vital statistics:
Serving a population of 400k+ across Stockton, Hartlepool, Easington, Sedgefield and parts of County Durham
A&E (include urgent care attendances): 203,703
Total babies born: 3,483
Number of COVID-19 patients treated: 3,359
Inpatient admissions (day case and elective): 44,128
Outpatient appointments: 302,485
Number of patients operated on: 17,638
Slide six: Corporate Strategy:
Putting our population first
Transforming our services
Valuing people
Health and wellbeing
Slide seven: Our challenges and opportunities:
Estate
Digital
Workforce
Finance
Population health
Slide eight: Service developments: In a year where the world at large has changed, our own service provision had to reflect that – our teams across our hospitals, and out in the communities have continued to progress models of care that meant he most, to those who need us most…
New Emergency Department and Urgent Care re-modelling to ensure patients have a positive experience within the right pathway
Our ISPA continued to integrate at pace with the development of 24 hour provision, seven days a week
Our digital advances during the pandemic allowed us to deliver care differently – our ‘Attend Anywhere’ platform allowed us to keep pace with out patient appointments
MSK virtual appointments – performing physio at home
Evolving our in-patient orthopedic elective lists into day case surgery, getting patients home sooner to recover
We opened our ‘Rowan Suite’ – a dedicated midwife-led birthing unit at the University Hospital of Hartlepool
Our rapid vaccination centre helped protect staff and social care partners at pace last winter
Our Tees Valley Clinical Services Strategy continues at pace, working with colleagues across the region to ensure we provide the best possible services for our patients
We are developing our respiratory support unit to accommodate 14 beds – a project that was first spoken about only six months ago
Slide nine: Our communities – collaboration for better health for the Tees Valley: There are four pillars extracted from the white paper ‘Integration and Innovation’ that articulate the
collaborative approach for the Tees Valley:
Improving population health and healthcare
Tackling inequalities and access
Enhancing productivity and value for money
Helping partners to support broader social and economic development
Through the improvements we make to the capacity of our estate and physical infrastructure, we can improve the access to our services for our communities, and help to support the wider economic regeneration of our area.
Slide 10: Performance:
All cancer and routine elective services reinstated, including outpatients, diagnostics and procedures
Breast and bowel screening services reinstated, with the Trust being one of the first in the country to restart breast screening services
Over 93% of suspected cancer referrals seen within the two week standard
86% of patients waiting for none urgent treatments now seen within 18 weeks
Less than 2% of patients currently waiting over 52 weeks.
Emergency activity back to pre-covid levels, alongside ongoing pressures
Slide 11: Health Inequalities: This year we have established a dedicated ‘Health Inequalities Advisory Group’ for the North East and North Cumbria. This will ensure that our region is represented, heard and most importantly invested in at a national level.
COVID-19 has amplified the inequalities that exist with the UK, and there is now real opportunity to make real change.
We must work together to continuously develop a set of frameworks that will help us to focus, progress and deliver key actions in unity. By working collaboratively with partner organisations and agencies we can create positive change.
Slide 12: Population Health: Our role as an ‘anchor organisation’ within the Tees Valley is critical is supporting a more aspirant future for the region. Our contribution to the determinants of positive health outcomes are far reaching, beyond that of health and care provision.
For North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust this means:
Being appointed as an ‘Active Hospital’ – one of only three in the country
Supporting a workforce of the future ensuring that our communities have access to a career within the NHS with the creation of the ‘Team Support Worker’ role
Key partnerships with our local FE and HE providers, developing education programmes and hubs within University Hospital of Hartlepool to support a health and care workforce of tomorrow
Slide 13: Collaboration…
The appointment of Professor Derek Bell OBE – the first joint chair for North Tees and Hartlepool and South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trusts
Appointment of a senior consultant and registrar for emergency departments at University Hospital of North Tees and James Cook University Hospital – aiming to improve health and car for communities across the Tees Valley and North Yorkshire
The development of a Tees Valley Clinical Services Strategy continues to evolve with ambitions for stroke, women’s and children’s services, elective surgery, urgent and emergency care, diagnostics and critical care
Recruitment of a strategic partnership and collaboration director to represent the ambitions for a more aspirant Tees Valley health and care landscape across the region
Slide 14: Thank you to our staff… (Slide shows a photo collage of staff from across the Trust.)
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Financial review – Neil Atkinson, Director of Finance
Financial review
Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen and welcome to the most exciting part of any annual general meeting (AGM) – the finance update.
My name’s Neil Atkinson, I’m the director of finance.
I just wanted to take the opportunity to provide some context. As you will no doubt all be aware, the year of 2020-21 was the year of Covid and with it brought unprecedented challenges to the NHS.
The world of finance was also similarly impacted and during that year, the NHS finance regime was altered and we were introduced to new funding arrangements.
It is a mandatory requirement for all NHS organisations to have an external auditor. The external auditor plays a key and pivotal role and provides an independent opinion on whether the Trust’s financial statements reflect accurately the business transactions that we’ve undertaken in that year.
The external auditor also ensures that we follow all of the accounting policies and we fulfil the requirements of the National Health Service Act 2006.
During this year, the Trust selected and appointed new auditors. This was done in conjunction with the council of governors and we successfully appointed delight LLP.
Delight undertook the external order review of the Trust account for 2021. I’m delighted to say that the group accounts received an unqualified opinion from Delight and give a true and fair view of the business activities operations of the Trust.
It’s important to note that the reported position within the accounts is a consolidated position and, as a result, it includes the Trust charitable funds and its two subsidiaries – Optimus Health Limited and North Tees and Hartlepool Solutions.
The overall income and expenditure position of the group was a total surplus of 8.8 million pounds. Now this position did include a number of exceptional items which I will address later on.
So despite this being a very challenging financial year with new arrangements in place, the Trust was very successful in delivering a surplus and with that was able to continue to invest in patient care, its site and its infrastructure.
As part of this investment, the Trust set itself an ambitious capital program in 2020-21 and in that year spent over 23 million pounds on capital expenditure.
This was largely spent in four areas. The biggest beneficiary of that capital program was the estate and this was maintaining the estate not only for the patients but for our staff. Eight million pounds was spent on medical equipment and donated assets. A further five million pound was spent in relation to information and technology services. And finally over 1.1 million pound was spent on Covid-19 funded items, and that is ensuring that we had an appropriate oxygen supply for our patients and that we could segregate patients appropriately.
I’m delighted to say that the in-year operational performance of the Trust resulted in a 9.7 million pound surplus. This was then further adjusted through four technical adjustments. This resulted in an adjusted surplus of 8.8 million pounds which was a really positive position.
One of the key primary statements within the accounts is the statement of comprehensive income. This is a consolidated position so it includes the benefit of the Trust charitable funds and also the two subsidiaries. It also includes the technical adjustments.
By way of comparison the previous financial year is included
For a feel, the level of operating income the Trust received in year which is around 368 million pounds and the level of operating expenses which is just under 358 million.
The overall adjusted surplus again results in the 8.8 million pound.
The final point I would note is the significant increase in both income and expenditure from one year to the next. This related exclusively to the impact of Covid.
The majority of the income the Trust received was from the CCGs. This is largely made up of two CCGs – Tees Valley CCG which accounted for 84 of the 275 million and County Durham and Darlington which accounted for the final 15 percent.
The trust did receive additional income from NHS England which was 41.5 million pounds. This related to national screening, community dental and specialist commissioning including chemotherapy.
There’s a variety of income sources, however the two that I would like to bring to your attention is the money the Trust received in respect of Covid. This included PPE, decontamination, testing and the Covid vaccine.
The other element is education and that included junior doctors, undergraduate training and workforce training.
The biggest spend area to the Trust is staff costs which account for 65 percent of the overall operating expenditure. Other key areas to note is the clinical supplies and services which account for 28 million and drug costs which account for a further 20 million pounds.
One of the key primary statements for the Trust is the statement of the financial position and the assets element of it this historically was always known as the balance sheet. This gives you an indication of the assets the Trust currently holds.
A couple of notable mentions is stock has increased from five million to six million. That’s largely down to an increase of the PPE stockholding and receivables which is money that is owed to the Trust has reduced quite significantly from 17 million to just under 12 million pound.
The cash position has again improved from 17 million to 54 million pound in the financial year.
The total current liabilities for the Trust has increased significantly over the last year. There are a couple of reasons for this, firstly the impact of Covid has resulted in staff not being able to take annual leave in normal ways and as a result the Trust has made a provision.
And secondly, the Trust has also made a provision for ongoing national legal cases.
The cash position of the trust has improved significantly from 17 million to just under 54 million – an improvement of 37 million pounds.
As part of the ongoing review of the accounts, Delight also undertook a value for money review to ensure that the Trust was able to secure economy efficiency and effectiveness in the use of its resources.
This was a new addition to the work plan in 2021. I’m delighted to say that Delight didn’t identify any significant weakness in the Trust arrangements and as a result no recommendations were raised in the formal report.
This demonstrated a robust internal governance and control environment.
So to conclude, despite the many challenges of COVID-19, the Trust has had another successful year and has continued to improve its financial position.
This has all been achieved without impacting detrimentally on patient safety or quality of care.
Indeed the Trust has continued to invest in vital infrastructure, IT and medical equipment as part of its ambitious capital program, spending over 23 million pounds in the last financial year.
The Trust understands the need to maintain positive working relationships, not only with its commissioners but with the stakeholders from local health and social care. And this is all to ensure that resources are used for the best benefit of patients.
And finally, the Trust is proactively engaged and contributes significantly to the integrated care system.
I hope you’ve enjoyed the finance update as part of the annual general meeting.
I’d like to take this opportunity to thank everybody for their contribution to achieving this positive position and a big thank you for the finance team who’ve worked tirelessly throughout the last 12 months.
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Our year in review – a video of the Trust in action
Our year in review
Title card: Our year in review
Title card: Vaccine hub
In a very short space of time, colleagues from across the organisation were able to transform a space we previously used as a rapid assessment unit into a fully functioning Covid vaccination hub. They delivered up to 500 vaccines a day for staff, patients and colleagues from our partner organisations.
This was critical in protecting staff and helping them continue to provide safe and effective care for our patients.
Now, once again, our colleagues have come together to deliver the Covid booster and flu vaccinations, ensuring our staff and our communities are protected this winter.
Title card: Estates ambitions
Our buildings have been a hot topic over the past 12 months.
Whether it has been transforming our spaces for clinical services or providing areas that staff can relax in, the ever-changing landscape we have found ourselves within is ever moving.
Our buildings have provided so much for our communities. Since the 1960s, they have been at the heart of our towns and villages, providing health and care to over 400,000 people.
The pandemic highlighted the challenges and opportunities that can be realised to ensure that the future of health provision for our region is a positive one.
This year we submitted our expression of interest to the government’s health infrastructure fund.
Our ambition is to ensure that the people of North Tees and Hartlepool have a health provision that supports longer, healthier aspirant lives.
Title card: NTH Solutions
Some of the exceptional outcomes that we’ve achieved at NTH Solutions over this last 12 to 18 month period include the maintenance and supply and provision of PPE. Over the first wave of Covid. we really ensured that our frontline staff had everything that they needed to rise to that challenge.
Not only that but we managed to double the size of the oxygen infrastructure on the main site at North Tees, maintaining a provision and response to COVID-19.
We also built a one-door entrance urgent and emergency care facility in 12 weeks while obviously managing an ongoing A&E provision.
In response, the design and build of the rainbow rooms ensuring the health and wellbeing of our staff and ensuring they can recuperate was essential and we needed to make sure that we delivered on this and look externally in what we’ve achieved as part of the NTH Solutions.
We actually managed to set up the first UK accredited domestic cleaning course by a public sector body by the Royal Society of Public Health called ‘cleaning the NHS way’ so we’re actually increasing the standard of cleaning within the community to ensure we’re all doing our bit.
Title card: Rainbow rooms
Working in health and care can be an enduring time so the health and wellbeing of our colleagues is of paramount importance to us.
Our estate has some challenges but our people always rise to them. With funding from the Captain Sir Tom Moore charity, we were able to create some respite areas on both of our hospital sites in the shape of our rainbow rooms.
These areas are used by staff from across the Trust and are well supported by our health and wellbeing colleagues.
The pandemic emphasised how much it means to look after our physical and mental wellbeing.
We will continue to dedicate to these ambitions for both our staff and our patients.
Title card: Green agenda
The Trust is one of the largest employers in the Tees Valley and has a responsibility to play a leading role in tackling climate change.
We are aiming to achieve net zero carbon emissions as an organisation – an ambitious target to create sustainable health care and actively protect the environment
Beginning with simple measures like buying more recycling waste bins and planting more trees on our grounds, for example, we’ve developed more advanced projects including the installation of electric car charging points and solar panels.
We are fully committed to reducing carbon emissions in our carbon footprint. Sustainable procurement of goods that can be recycled, encouraging sustainable travel for staff and visitors, making our clinical pathways more sustainable, reducing water consumption, increasing our recycling of waste, working towards climate change adaptation, maximising the sustainability of our building and green spaces whilst encouraging our workforce to commit to a carbon-free future.
To help make these ambitions a reality, we are encouraging staff to become green champions, implementing our ‘love your landscape’ staff engagement campaign and we’ve created both a green plan and a climate change adaptation plan.
Title card: Panacea
It’s been another successful year for Panacea, our in-house pharmacy where prescriptions made by our outpatient and day clinics can be quickly dispensed for the convenience of our patients.
As well as over-the-counter medicines, Panacea also sells a wide range of personal care products which can come in very handy for our inpatients, visitors and staff.
Seeking to add benefit to the wider population, Panacea has entered into a partnership with a local educational academy operating across Teesside to provide their staff with the annual flu vaccination.
Alongside providing a first-class pharmacy service, Panacea – which is operated by our fully owned commercial arm, Optimus Health – provides a welcome income stream for the Trust.
Title card: GDE accreditation
Over the past year or so, the global pandemic clearly highlighted the importance of ensuring our digital systems and services are fit for purpose and can then be used in innovative ways to deliver high quality health care for our patients and our local communities.
As an organisation, North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust has had a history and legacy of technology investment which placed our organisation into a strong position and led us to becoming a part of the global digital exemplar program.
Over the past three years, we’ve delivered a wide range of digital services and as a result I am proud to announce that we have now been confirmed as a national digital leader organisation.
But what does this mean for you? To put it simply, it means our Trust is a true leader in digital. It recognises the commitment and hard work from all of our frontline staff, ICT and digital teams who work collaboratively to deliver high quality healthcare services, underpinned and enabled by world-class digital technologies.
In many cases our digital solutions can provide potentially life-saving information at the touch of a button.
By being named as a national digital leader by the NHS national bodies, this highlights our skills, commitment and forward-thinking ambitions in digital healthcare.
We’ll be sharing our learning with other trusts and continue to develop and become even better at what we do.
Becoming a national digital leader isn’t our end point it’s just one more stepping stone on a continuous journey of improvement. It’s a journey we hope you can share and join in with us.
Title card: Home First
Did you know around 12 of our patients stay in hospital for more than 21 days?
Extended hospital admissions can have several causes, including the need for acute care and prolonged recovery from significant illness.
When someone is in hospital for longer than they need to be, there can be unintended consequences. These can include loss of muscle strength, reduced mobility and physical activity, infections, falls and pressure damage. All of these can increase a patient’s dependence when they leave hospital, resulting in admission to 24-hour care.
Home First encourages caring for people at home and not in hospital. By engaging in discussion with patients, their families and carers we can better understand their priorities and how we can support them to recover at home, with the right care in the right place at the right time.
Home First will deliver integrated care closer to or in the patient’s homes with our partners in primary care, local authorities, care homes, mental health, and the community and voluntary sector all working together.
Patients receiving care at home while still under the watchful eye of our services will have happier, healthier and more effective long-term recoveries.
Title card: Front of house
Using 3 million of government funding, our estate team jumped into action to create a new combined urgent and emergency care entrance and re-develop services’ treatment space.
This extensive remodeling project was carried out within a matter of months with minimal impact on patients throughout the height of COVID-19.
A more impressive example of planning and teamwork will be difficult to find.
Now all self-presenting patients need only check with one front of house colleague who will allocate them to a service which will best suit their needs – emergency or urgent care.
Under our care, patients can be triaged quickly into our new treatment rooms where our committed colleagues can deliver the expert care for which they are so well known.
Title card: Active hospitals
Activity is a key element to good health. The more you move, the better you feel. And if you’re in hospital the more you move, the quicker you heal.
We’re proud to be one of only three trusts in the country to be awarded active hospital status by Public Health England, Sports England, the National Lottery and the NHS Transformation Fund.
From now on, we’ll be discussing activity levels with our patients, beginning with outpatients to assess and offer advice on how moving could more benefit their long-term care.
We’ll also be introducing new signage for inpatients which will illustrate, at a glance, which activities each patient can safely perform, from washing themselves to going for a walk around the hospital grounds.
We’ve also introduced a series of ‘movement is medicine’ sessions which patients can be referred to to learn more about physical activity, get tips and advice on how to overcome the perceived barriers to physical activity, and get some much needed support.
Some of these sessions are run by brilliant volunteers who have overcome a series of very serious illnesses to be outspoken advocates for the benefits of active lifestyles.
Title card: Rowan Suite
In March this year, we welcomed the very first babies to be born in our Rowan suite at the University Hospital of Hartlepool just four days apart, both coincidentally named William.
Both babies were born in the comforting surroundings of the new suite which is designed with a home-away-from-home atmosphere to assist women to stay happy during their birth.
The Rowan Suite features a birthing pool and a special delivery suite where women can experience a more active birth.
However having a good experience during pregnancy involves more than that final moment of delivery. It’s about the whole journey.
A key component of our pregnancy service is ‘continuity of carer’. Continuity of carer ensures the same midwife is assigned to care for a woman throughout the whole of her pregnancy. It allows the mum-to-be and midwife to develop a good working relationship and builds trust.
Our midwives are incredibly committed to each woman and baby. Their care and seeing births return to Hartlepool has been a true cause for celebration within the entire team.
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Reflection and thank you – a video of thanks to NTH staff, patients and wider communities
Reflection and thank you
We’d like to say thank you…
…to our clinical colleagues.
(Video shows clips and photos of clinical colleagues – doctors, nurses – from across the Trust.)
…to our non-clinical staff.
(Video shows clips and photos of non-clinical staff. They include pathologists, domestics, librarians, pharmacists and receptionists.)
…to our dedicated volunteers.
(Video shows clips and photos of volunteers.)
…to our governors and members.
(Video shows a photoboard of current Trust governors and members.)
…to our patients.
(Video shows a photo montage of patients.)
…and to our community.
(Video shows members of our community. They include fundraisers, local MPs, schoolchildren, journalists and volunteers from local charitable organisations.)
Thank you.
(Video shows staff and patients outside the University Hospital of North Tees clapping.)
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Closing Statement – Professor Derek Bell
Closing statement
Professor Derek Bell, Trust chair: Hopefully you have found the AGM informative and the short presentations very useful.
The next 12 months and indeed longer than that, you’ll hear much more around our collaboration and partnerships with other major stakeholders, including local authorities, schools and universities.
This will be done to improve the health of the North Tees and Hartlepool population.
So thank you very much for listening.
I hope that next year will be able to meet in person.
Good day.
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Questions and answers
We welcome questions from our members and supporters. This year we will answer any follow up questions you may have following the event.
To submit a question, please forward your name and contact details including your question to [email protected]
Please note: We will not be able to answer questions or complaints about an individual’s care because of patient confidentiality.
“Having our annual general and members’ meeting online is the safest way for us to share our updates, ambitions and progress throughout the year with you. Nothing quite beats face-to-face events, the two-way dialogue and the involvement and engagement in a room full of people. I hope you can in some part join with us online this year, and we hope to welcome you back to an in-person AGM in 2022″
– Julie Gillon, Chief Executive
