This page provides information about the peer review format, review team membership and site visit arrangements.

A hospital-to-hospital approach

This year’s Peer Review will adopt a hospital-to-hospital approach, with clinical leads for dementia bringing together a peer review team from within their hospital, and that team visiting and ‘peer reviewing’ another hospital. Peer Review teams may identify hospitals they would like to visit, and as far as possible we will try to accommodate preferences.

Choice of hospital to visit may be determined by a number of factors, including:

• expertise and positive practice, in specific areas;
• the organisation and delivery of services, including the environment;
• clinical engagement and leadership;
• involvement of people living with dementia, and their families/carers;
• approaches to whole system change;
• the depth and reach of improvements to dementia care, within the hospital;
• progress with delivery of the national dementia CQUIN.

Preferences for hospitals to review, and options for dates will be planned and agreed with and through the Peer Review Co-ordinating Team, led by Carrie Morgan.

Who should join a Peer Review team?

The dementia clinical lead for the visiting hospital team will identify those colleagues and partners who would contribute best, and benefit from the opportunity to visit another hospital and take the learning back to their own hospital and community.  The review team may include, for example, clinical and ancillary staff, dementia champions, volunteers, carers, commissioners and local Clinical Commissioning Group GPs.  It is advised that the team should normally number no more than eight people.

Format

The Peer Review 2012/13 will focus on the eight Hospital Standards. It will provide an opportunity to cover:

• progress with delivery of the hospital’s dementia care improvement plan;
• learning from the National Audit of Dementia 2012/13, and how this is informing the hospital’s improvement plan;
• how the hospital is getting on with the implementation of the national dementia CQUIN;
• strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats;
•  and positive practice.

Hospitals may choose to update their ‘self assessment’ against the Hospital Standards, in preparation for the visit; similarly, the provision of any supporting evidence or materials will be determined by the host hospital.

Preparation

The visiting Peer Review team may request in advance to meet with staff and practitioners, or to view clinical or ancillary services, or hospital areas.  This will be negotiated with the ‘host’ hospital clinical lead for dementia, by the Peer Review Co-ordinator.

Similarly, the ‘host’ hospital may want to showcase or demonstrate specific areas of practice and involve sites, staff and partners, and this too may be built in to the Peer Review Programme.  It will be the responsibility of the Peer Review Co-ordinator to liaise with hospital dementia clinical leads and bring together the programme for the day.

It is recommended that each Peer Review visit ends with a debriefing and feedback to staff and local partners who have engaged with the peer review, and that this is attended by Board level directors and the hospital Chief Executive.

Capturing progress

A simple template will be used to review progress. This will become the record of the visit, supplemented by brief notes summarizing ‘highlights’ and ‘opportunities for improvement’.

Nest steps following the peer review

• an overview report will be produced; this will include each hospital report for the purpose of disseminating learning and positive practice;
• a second ‘Compendium of Positive Practice’ will be compiled and disseminated, upon completion of the Peer Review;
• a regional conference on Dementia Care in Hospitals will be held in March 2013, to showcase positive practice, share learning, and celebrate excellence in dementia care in hospital;

Enquiries

• Kate Schneider, Programme Lead, Dementia, Mental Health, Autism, NHS South of England (West) [email protected]
• Carrie Morgan, Independent Consultant and Peer Review Co-ordinator, [email protected]