NHS Leeds Clinical Commissioning Group, Assurance Statement (Reference Number: 2015/13271) An independent investigation into the care and treatment of MS: Published 14 November 2018
NHS England commissioned an independent investigation following a serious incident in April 2015 which led to the death of MS. The serious incident investigation and the independent investigation identified opportunities to improve to service delivery with a number of recommendations made.
There have been a number of changes to services within Leeds since the incident occurred including developments to the commissioning and funding of Psychiatric Liaison services. It was agreed that the services involved in the care and treatment of MS leading up to the incident would produce an assurance statement, including supporting evidence, outlining the developments and changes to services in response to the recommendations in the report.
The assurance statements and evidence submitted by Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and Leeds Teaching Hospital NHS Trust outline the changes that have been implemented and provide assurance that improvements have been made to decrease the likelihood of recurrence.
NHS Leeds Clinical Commissioning Group acknowledges the actions identified by the Trusts immediately following the incident and the collaborative approach to ensuring timely implementation of these actions. This collaboration, which has been supported by us as commissioners, has been further developed over the last three years. The work is overseen through a Joint Delivery Group which includes clinical and operational staff from both Trusts as well as commissioners.
NHS Leeds Clinical Commissioning Group has conducted a review of the assurance statements and supporting evidence. We have used this in conjunction with the additional information and evidence we routinely collate as part of our commissioning processes. The CCG has gained assurance that recommendations identified within the report have been actioned and implemented by the Trusts and we continue to work with both providers to ensure continuous quality improvements to services.
The independent investigation report can be found on NHS England’s website: https://www.england.nhs.uk/north/our-work/publications/ind-invest-reports/