Search the Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust website

Advanced options

Trust Board - May 2025

Sue shared her moving experience of losing her partner and managing dementia including what has helped her, highlighting the importance of early intervention, joined up services and support for unpaid carers.

New Board Members:
Welcomed Ellen Rule (Chief Executive), Onyinye Okonkwo (Associate Non-Executive Director), and Colin Howarth into his substantive role as Non-Executive Director.

Positive news and assurance

  • Ellen outlined her engagement plan to come and hear all about our current services, especially what people are proud of and “what could be better if?” This learning will inform the refresh of the Trust Strategy that is due to signed off later this year.
  • The new EPR system, Rio, launched successfully.
  • Mental Health Awareness Week activities, wellbeing initiatives, and the Art for Health Campaign received praise for their positive impact.
  • Focus on inappropriate out of area placements and length of stay in our adult mental health services continues. There were no out of area placements at the last update yesterday.
  • National Staff Survey results showed improvements, with an action plan for further progress in 2025.
  • The Improvement Plan is making good progress, focusing on embedding this work continues throughout 2025/26.
  • The incident reporting dashboard is live, with positive feedback from clinical teams. Our response time  to complaints has significantly improved from 59% last year to 94%.
  • Financial statutory duties and efficiency targets were met despite challenges, with further efficiencies needed in the coming year.

Updates provided

  • NHS England is set to be abolished pending legislation, with further guidance expected.
  • The national healthcare context remains difficult, requiring a mindful approach to supporting staff, a continued focus on the quality of patient care, and maximising opportunities for integration.
  • National policy continues to emphasise the importance of neighbourhood health, which will be embedded in our future plans.
  • NHSE’s draft Performance Assessment Framework is open for consultation.
  • The CQC community mental health survey shows some positive trends with areas for improvement.
  • Sarah Dugan appointed Independent Chair of the VCSE Alliance Worcestershire.
  • Supreme Court ruling on sex in the Equality Act awaits further guidance, but current policy remains unchanged.
  • The Board Assurance Framework is becoming more effective, aligning our priorities and actions with clearer lines of accountability.
  • Quality improvement work will continue to focus on reducing health inequalities.

Decisions made

  • 2024/25 priorities were reviewed and closed; 2025/26 priorities approved.
  • Following Hillcrest Ward’s relocation, staff and patients chose "Hinton" as the new name, which was approved.
  • Staff Awards 2025 will be funded through Charitable Funds like most other NHS Trusts.
  • The terms of reference for committees were agreed.

Matters of concern

  • Urgent and emergency care faced continues to be challenging across our system, with a critical incident declared at Worcestershire Acute Hospitals Trust this month.
  • Autism and ADHD assessment demand significantly exceeds capacity, with modelling showing continued waiting list growth unless changes are made. Work with partners is ongoing for sustainable solutions.
  • An Ofsted inspection at Osborne Court in Malvern led to four recommendations, with our actions in development.