All members, governors, staff and members of the public are welcome to attend our Annual Members’ Meeting (AMM) in September.
Ian Haythornthwaite, Chair, said: “The meeting is a really good way to find out about our successes and achievements and the areas we will be focusing on to ensure we continue to improve our services and the quality of care that we provide to our patients.”
Read more about the meeting on page 12.
Date: Thursday 27 September
Time: 3pm – 4.30pm for the marketplace event and 4.30pm – 6pm for the AMM.
Location: Education and Training Centre, Countess of Chester Health Park, CH2 1UL.
As part of Healthy Eating Week in June, our dietetics team were out and about raising awareness of the importance of eating well. They were also highlighting the great local services available to help people living with diabetes.
Did you know there is a free diabetes information service available to everyone
in West Cheshire that is delivered by dietitians from the Countess?
‘Diabetes Essentials’ gives people the right information and support about living with diabetes – this can include explaining test results and medication, dispelling myths about the condition, and providing excellent advice on how best to look after your diabetes day-to-day.
Jenny Fairhurst, a Resuscitation Officer in the Resuscitation team, gives invaluable training to staff on how to perform resuscitation:
Who are the resus team and what do you do?
The cardiac arrest team are a mix of healthcare professionals with extensive skills, knowledge and experience in resuscitation. We have a wealth of experience spanning over 25 years. I have worked in this role at the Countess for five years but have been within the NHS and healthcare for over 26 years. Although we often attend to patients in cardiac arrest, a huge part of our focus is on teaching a variety of training to all types of hospital staff.
What does a typical day look like?
We check a dashboard for any problems with the defibrillators across the Trust and ensure they’re all in safe working order.
We attend wards when our bleep goes off, which means staff on wards need us. Many calls may not be for cardiac arrests and can be either minor or major situations. We’ll stay and assist either by helping to resuscitate a patient, scribing information or supporting loved ones during a worrying and anxious time.
Even if we’ve not been present during the cardiac arrest, we’re available to offer follow up support as we know it can be stressful and traumatic, so we want to ensure anyone involved is feeling supported mentally, emotionally, and procedurally.
What does training for staff involve?
It’s very interactive! We teach staff how to spot a deteriorating patient and give them basic life support skills for adults, children and infants.
There’s high-tech, innovative equipment and mannequins to make the simulated training environment as close to the real thing as possible. Our defibs are topof-the-range. They have CPR feedback technology that spots if high quality CPR is being performed at the right rate and depth, and if not it prompts staff to improve their technique.
The basic life support mannequins illuminate if we are performing CPR with the right technique and when we use SIM Man we can talk to it and mimic medical conditions like a
real patient scenario. Our latest investment is a frighteningly lifelike mannequin named Vivian which can be rather distracting! What are the best and worst parts of the job?
It can be challenging to flex to the different types of patients in cardiac arrests and the job can be very intense. One of the things I love most is knowing learning has taken place.
You get people coming in who don’t feel confident about CPR and then you see their confidence grow as they do their training and by the end they’re focused and confident.
A lot of our work is about empowering staff and encouraging them to perform to the best of their ability, through lecturing, clinical skills or simulation training. Meeting and training others in such an important life skill is very rewarding.
Above all, we want staff to make sure our training equips them to perform CPR safely and in a competent and professional way.
Why is your work so important?
Everybody should learn resuscitationit’s a life skill and not just a clinical skill. Around 80% of out of hospital cardiac arrests happen either at home or in the workplace. Being trained to do CPR can mean the difference between life or death for a loved one.
Reinvigorating and relaunching our staff networks has been a priority for the Trust so it provides a meaningful way for staff to come together with a shared purpose to improve the experience of working at the Trust.
The Trust’s seven staff networks now have new chairs and each have the support they need to drive change within the organisation.
Nicola Price, Chief People Officer said: “We want to create an open culture and a culture where people feel they can contribute and have influence in improving the experience of people that work for the Trust.”
The seven networks now working proactively in the Trust are:
• BAME Network
• Carers Network
• Disability and Wellness Network (DAWN)
• Faith and Belief Network
• LGBTQ+ Network
• Neurodiversity Network
• Women’s Network
Nicola added: “Some networks are already up and running with our Women’s and BAME Networks established with strong memberships already and both hosting events to celebrate NHS75 in July. Other networks are already planning how they will start to engage with staff and move forward to support colleagues across the organisation. It’s a really positive time and it’s great to see staff not only leading these groups but coming together to share their lived experience so that we can all improve the way we work and support each other.”
Equality and diversity has taken a step forward with the appointment of new Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Lead
Surendra Shroff (pictured). Surendra said: “I’m really pleased to take on this role and to take forward EDI at the Countess. We know we have a lot of work to do to improve awareness of EDI – for patients as well as for staff– but I am excited by the enthusiasm I see at the Trust to make improvements and make changes. I’m delighted to see that we have seven reinvigorated staff networks and we are now working to plan a series of events and initiatives to engage staff to promote EDI and support them to do so in their roles.”
The Trust’s new Equality Diversity and Inclusion Strategy has been approved and was officially launched in early July.
Nicola Price, Chief People Officer said: “I’m really pleased that we have been able to launch the strategy to staff and this will be an ongoing focus, with the support of Surendra, our new EDI Lead. We will be reviewing the EDI Strategy in the autumn to ensure it is fully aligned with our corporate strategy which is currently being reviewed and redeveloped to reflect our changing health priorities and the needs of our population.”
The Trust’s approach to wellbeing will be enhanced this summer as a new wellbeing manager joins the team. Nicola said: “We’ve had a wellbeing practitioner in post for over 12 months but with the addition of a wellbeing manager, alongside our EDI Lead, this gives us a strong base from which to build our approach to staff wellbeing.”
We held the first Women’s Network event to mark NHS75, funded by the Countess Charity, with talks from three inspirational speakers – Rachel Brown, author of Marathon Mum; Emma-Jayne Punter, COCH employee and podcaster behind ‘The Girl You Need’; and Jo Gough, a local artist – and handouts of 75 books about issues affecting women or written by inspirational women. Surendra Shroff, takes up the position of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Lead
To accompany the changes being made to the PALS service, weekly drop-ins have been introduced for patients and their families to speak with the ward Matron and share their thoughts about their experience of the care being provided. These take place weekly in all wards and across both hospitals.
Samantha Lacey, Associate Director of Nursing, explains: “We have received positive feedback from these sessions and uptake has been great so far. We feel that the opportunity to speak to the Matron offers patients the ability to ask questions about anything they are unsure about and gives greater peace of mind.”
Posters are displayed on all our wards with information about when the next ‘Meet your Matron’ session is happening.
The confidential and friendly PALS team offers advice, support and information to patients, families and the public on matters relating to the health and care provided by the Trust.
The team are now easier to find and access. They’re located at the main entrance of the Countess hospital in a public-facing room, opposite the Essentials Shop, and are open weekdays from 9.30am to 4.30pm.
There is no need to book an appointment; anyone can drop-in at any time during opening hours. However, appointments can be booked for a specific time if that would be preferred.
There is also the option for patients and their families to be visited by a member of the PALS team on the ward so they can work together with care staff to resolve any issues.
Samantha Lacey, Associate Director of Nursing, said of the changes: “We are really excited by these positive changes, which ultimately will improve the experience of our patients and their families.
“We want to ensure that each patient receives the very best care, and having more frequent opportunities to speak with our PALS team will undoubtedly improve this.”
The team can also be contacted by telephone (weekdays from 9.30am to 4.30pm) on Freephone 0800 195 1241 and selecting option 2 or phone 01244 366066; or by emailing cochpals@nhs.net.
Inclusive visiting hours have been introduced at the Countess, where wards will arrange for visits to happen in a way that best suits the needs of individual patients and their families. Most patients are now able to see their family and friends at times most convenient to them.
Support and contact with family and friends is a huge part in helping patients to feel comfortable during their stay in hospital –inclusive visiting allows us to better meet these needs.
Family members and friends providing support to patients while in hospital can find themselves in the role as informal carer. They play a valuable role to patient care. Carers also require our support, whether that’s through signposting to relevant support services or staying overnight.
Mel Kynaston, Deputy Director of Nursing and Quality, said: “The opening up of our visiting times is a fantastic way to allow patients more time each day with their loved ones. Seeing loved ones has a positive effect on wellbeing and recovery and we’re very happy to be able to facilitate this more freely.”
All updated visiting times can be found on our website or by calling the switchboard.
Thanks to donations to The Countess Charity from the public we were able to keep patients and staff cool during the recent heatwave with deliveries of ice creams and lollies at our hospitals. The ice-cold treats went down a treat and there were smiles all around.
The dispensary at the Countess hospital is not only home to over 150 specialist pharmacy staff but also our very own Pharmacy Robot. The robot was installed in March 2021 and helps to process the roughly 350 prescriptions that the team prepare each day.
The dispensary team – who are situated in the main hospital building – are made up of Pharmacists, Pharmacy Technicians, Pharmacy Assistants and our Pharmacy Robot.
Emma Williams, Dispensary Manager, says of the robot: “It is extremely helpful in our day-to-day work and has allowed us to make great improvements to the efficiency, safety and speed of our service. Most of our medicines are stored inside the temperature-controlled robot, which can pick medicines based on expiry dates – this is a more efficient way to use storage space,
manage stock and cut down on waste. Using a pharmacy robot guarantees a high level of medication safety and speeds up the dispensing process.
“The robot works twenty-four-seven, so it can prioritise dispensing prescriptions during busy periods and then use quieter times overnight to organise the rows of medications on shelves.”
Each prescription is still checked and assessed by a registered Pharmacy Professional before leaving the department. However, the robot helps to speed up the process for everyone involved in – whether that’s the person prescribing medication on a ward, outpatient departments or the pharmacy team working in the dispensary – and ultimately this benefits the patient waiting for their medication on the ward or to take home with them.
In May the Pumping Marvellous Foundation visited our site with their BEATie bus.
As the largest heart failure patient organisation in the country, the Pumping Marvellous team were on hand to educate people on the signs and symptoms of the condition.
They encourage us to remember these using the B.E.A.T acronym:
B – Breathless, E – Exhaustion, A –Ankle swelling and T – Time for a simple blood test.
Thanks for your visit, BEATie.
Some of our Pharmacy Technicians in the dispensary
We are delighted that the Chief Nursing Officer in England, Ruth May, has awarded our Trust with the NHS Pastoral Care Quality Award for providing best practice pastoral care for international nurses and midwives. Launched in March 2022, the NHS Pastoral Care Quality Award scheme is part of the International Recruitment Programme and helps to standardise the quality and delivery of pastoral care for internationally educated nurses and midwives across England to ensure they receive high-quality pastoral support. This award is a great recognition of our commitment to supporting internationally educated nurses and midwives at every stage of their recruitment and beyond. Several standards have had to be met to
show best practice pastoral care at the Trust. Emily Moore, International Recruitment and Pastoral Care Lead Nurse, said: “There are so many of our wards and departments who have worked hard to recruit and welcome our wonderful new international nurses. “This accreditation shows that we are working together to provide the invaluable pastoral care that is required when making such a big move to work overseas.
“I am beyond proud of all of our new nurses, and I wish them a long and happy career here at the Countess.”
Well done to the Education team for their work in securing this award and to all our staff for their continued support and care of our valued international colleagues.
In mid-May we took part in Learning at Work Week, where a whole host of events were organised for staff to celebrate and promote continued workplace learning.
Events for staff ranged from apprenticeship information sessions, training on how to work effectively with autistic colleagues through to invited guests from HSBC sharing financial advice on how to make the most of your money and retirement.
The apprenticeship information session was attended by members of Wirral Metropolitan College, Manchester Metropolitan University and Chester University who spoke about the apprenticeships they offer. It was a great opportunity for attendees to discover a large range of different apprenticeship courses on offer to aid staff with their personal development.
A highlight of the week was a talk by inspirational speaker Anthony Bennett. Anthony spoke of his experience of having to learn to walk, talk and speak again after contracting three virus infections at the same time. His talk was extremely popular amongst staff and everyone who attended left saying they felt inspired.
Molly Whelan, Vocational Development
Manager, reflected: “I am so pleased we have been able to host Learning at Work Week again this year. Continued learning in the workplace is so valuable
for all our staff members and the week of events was a great way of encouraging us all to learn new skills or further develop existing knowledge.”
Anthony speaking to colleagues during Learning at Work Week
Emily Moore, International Recruitment and Pastoral Care Lead Nurse
On 5 July 2023, the NHS marked 75 years since it was founded in 1948. It was the first universal heath system to be available to all, free at the point of delivery and it now treats over a million people a day.
At the Countess, we are marking the 75th throughout the year with a number of events including some specifically planned to mark the day of the birthday with our staff and volunteers.
When the NHS was formed on 5 July 1948, it was a ground-breaking moment in the history of healthcare, a bold and visionary move that has had a profound impact on the lives of millions.
Over 75 years, the NHS has evolved and grown in many ways. One of the most significant changes has been the incredible medical advances made – from the development of antibiotics to the discovery of new cancer treatments.
Professor Fahmy Fahmy, Consultant Plastic Hand and Reconstructive Surgeon has worked at the Countess for 23 years and believes the advances in technology, particularly, have revolutionised the way medicine is practiced.
Our plastic surgery department have introduced the Medical Selfie as a
valuable tool in the daily management of hand trauma, complementing the initial assessment of patients, assisting in triaging trauma cases and offering convenience to patients.
Selfie images uploaded on patients’ records provide visual documentation for present and future reference and data and results confirm a reduction in the number of dressings and hospital visits.
Prof. Fahmy says: “Our current generation sees mobile technology as second nature and an expected means of communication in everyday occurrence.
“We were one of the first Trusts to use this way of working and our approach is a more cost effective and less time consuming way of assessment.”
Professor Fahmy Fahmy says the advances in technology have revolutionised the NHS over the years
Our valued volunteers were treated to a special tea party as a ‘thank you’ for their selfless contributions to hospital life across the Trust.
The first week of June was National Volunteers Week, an annual celebration of the contribution that millions of people make across the UK through volunteering in their communities.
To mark the week our 90 active hospital volunteers were celebrated at a special party, where they were treated to a game of prize bingo and afternoon tea with cakes and sandwiches.
Anna-Marie Davey, Volunteer Co-Ordinator, said: “Our volunteers are very important and bring a wealth of experience to our service. Some have also been patients here too so they are empathetic and understanding of what our patients are going through.
“Volunteers Week is a great opportunity to thank our volunteers and let them know just how appreciated they are.”
Volunteers support different departments in clinical and non-clinical areas. We are always looking for new areas to place volunteers so if you would like to discuss this further please contact anna-marie.davey@nhs.net.
As part of our NHS75 celebrations, our communications team created a children’s activity pack for staff to give to children they know to help explain the impact the NHS has on everyone’s lives.
Many families inadvertently support the NHS because their relatives work shifts or work through demanding times and this was a small way to show appreciation to them.
The booklet contains games, puzzles and colouring challenges to help keep children entertained and engaged during their time in hospital.
Some of our staff feature in the booklet, describing their roles and how they care for patients. The booklet was handed out to children in different parts of the Trust, and later on in the year it will be shared more widely.
Chester lights up blue for the NHS: Chester’s Eastgate Clock and the Town Hall were lit up blue along with landmarks across England on 5 July to celebrate the NHS.
The Catering Team dished up a themed menu to represent the diversity of staff who work at the Countess including Paella, lasagne, curry and kebabs.
Five of our staff attended a special celebration at Westminster Abbey to celebrate the NHS’ birthday, along with 1500 other NHS staff, their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, senior government and political leaders, health leaders and celebrities.
Nurse Kate from the Emergency Department gives a young patient one of the specially designed NHS75 activity packs
“The team were friendly, kind, compassionate and caring. I cannot fault the service I received and would not hesitate to return if needs be.”
“From checking in for knee replacement surgery to being discharged the same day –all the staff were absolutely brilliant. Many thanks.”
For Mental Health Awareness Week many of our staff showed their support by wearing green to work.
The Trust celebrated International Nurses’ Day by hosting several activities. There was a special themed international menu available in the staff restaurant and Matrons visited wards to hand out ‘thank you’ cards and cakes to our nursing workforce.
As part of International Nurses’ Day celebrations, we held our Nurse Achiever Award. There were four awards categories–The Nightingale Award for Inspirational Nurse Leader; The Ethel Fenwick Team Award for Innovation in Patient Safety; The Virginia Henderson Rising Star Award; and The Mary Seacole Award for Outstanding International Nurse.
In May we celebrated International Day of the Midwife. As part of celebrations the efforts and hard work of our midwifery colleagues were recognised in an awards ceremony.
Earlier this year our first-year student nurses from the University of Chester formed a choir and sang for some of our patients at our Ellesmere Port Hospital.
“I arrived at A&E at 9pm and was out by midnight. Very thorough, polite and professional staff. It was busy, but people were seen relatively quickly.”
In May the Friends of Countess of Chester Country Park installed a Tree of Life Memorial Mosaic in the park, in memory of loved ones lost to COVID-19.
The beautiful tribute – which overlooks the Life for a Life Memorial Forest – was handcrafted by Aleta Doran, Artist in Residence at Chester Cathedral, and sponsored by the Chester Art Society.
As part of this special anniversary for the NHS the Countess Charity has commissioned 100 special medals to thank supporters of the charity.
Lesley Woodhead, Head of Fundraising, said: “We are so thankful to all our supporters – those who run and jump from planes, those who sponsor and support our events and those who give up their time to help us at events or in the fundraising office. We could not make a difference to patient care without their hard work (and blisters) and sometimes tears of joy!
“The medal is a way for us to say thank you and mark this special NHS anniversary. Some of the first medals have been given out, with many more still to be awarded. Please follow our Facebook page for more photographs and information.”
The first medal was presented to Jane Nightingale, who has supported the charity for 10 years and has a special reason this year for wanting to go the extra mile.
Jane said: “After losing my amazing grandad last year I wanted to give something back to show my appreciation for the great care he received from the Countess in his final days, so I decided to sign up for The Chester Triple and raise some money for The Countess Blue Skies Balcony Appeal. This is such a worthy cause and a charity close to my heart, so this has really spurred me on to complete the challenge. I’ve now done two out of three
races and the training continues for the metric marathon in October, which is my biggest challenge yet!”
Two other worthy recipients are Gavin Mathews from Chester Dee Radio and retired Countess staff member Ian Gibbons. Both support the Chester Duck Race and the Santa Dash and bring cheer and commentary to our popular events. Congratulations and thank you.
The Blue Skies Balcony Appeal was launched to build a balcony for the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) so that patients could see blue skies and feel fresh air on their faces away from the clinical area of ICU.
As with all projects the initial thoughts have evolved, and a key use of the balcony will be for physical therapy. During this time our ambitions, plans and costs have increased as has the need for outside space that can be easily accessed from ICU.
A huge ‘thank you’ to everyone for your support for this appeal. To date you have helped to raise £600k of the £750k target. We are aiming to complete the appeal during the 75th Anniversary of the NHS.
Please help in any way you can with fundraising for this appeal. Contact the fundraising office on 01244 366240 or email coch.fundraising@nhs.net
We have a number of events coming up and we’d love you to come along or get involved.
If you’d like to find out more please visit the Fundraising Office (open 9am – 5pm, Monday to Friday) in the main reception area of the Countess, call us on 01244 366240 or email coch.fundraising@nhs. net. You can also follow us on Facebook to keep up to date.
28 September: Lunch in the City
30 September: Yr Wyddfa / Snowden day climb
1 December: Trees of Life – 25th Anniversary event
3 December: Santa Dash
8 December: Sporting Lunch
Wednesday 27 September
Marketplace: 3.00pm – 4.30pm
Formal meeting: 4.30pm – 6.00pm
Education and Training Centre
To register your interest send an email to the address below and if you need free parking please include your car reg details.
Anyone can join the Trust as a member and help develop services by giving feedback and supporting the Trust in its work. Use the QR code to complete your membership form today or contact our Membership Team (see details at bottom of page) to request a paper form or form in another format or language. Members can expect:
• Free copies of Countess Matters delivered by email (or post if required)
• Invitations to take part in discussions or surveys about services
• A vote in the annual Governor elections
• A personal invitation to the Annual Members’ Meeting.
Governors are elected to our Council of Governors and usually hold their position for three years after which they can run for re-election. Only members can become governors but a membership is very quick to complete (use the QR code to join).
You can find out more, including who our Governors are on the Trust’s website: www.coch.nhs.uk.
The Trust will host its Annual Members’ Meeting (AMM) in September and along with the Trust’s Chair, Ian Haythornthwaite, I’d like to encourage members, governors and members of the public to come along. The meeting is on Wednesday 27 September and is a great way to meet other members and governors as well as many of the staff who work at the Countess delivering care to patients.
The meeting will start at 3pm with a marketplace event where staff will host information stalls to share news about how patient care and facilities are being improved and the Countess’ plans for the future.
The stalls we’ll have on the day of the AMM will provide updates of the new Women and Children’s Building, nursing and how its working to improve patient care, Going Greener and the Trust’s approach to sustainability, service improvement, the Countess Charity and also the work being done to improve facilities for staff including wellbeing, leadership and recognition.
Following the marketplace event, the Trust’s Chair, Ian Haythornthwaite, will host the
Annual Members’ Meeting from 4.30pm until 6.00pm.
Having been involved with the Trust for some years, it’s great to see how much work has been done over the past year to improve the Trust’s services and performance. There has been concrete progress and there is a clear vision and drive for further improvements in the coming months and years. I really value my role as Lead Governor and the impact I can have on Trust services and future plans so I encourage anyone interested in becoming a member, or a governor like me, to come along to the AMM and find out more about the Trust and how to get involved.
The meeting will take place in the Education and Training Centre which is close to the public car parks on site and is fully accessible. If you would like to attend please contact the Membership Team on coch. membershipenquiriescoch@nhs.net.
I look forward to seeing you there – whether you are an existing member or would like to find out more about the Trust or about becoming a member or a Governor.
Peter
Client: Sheffield Children’s Hospital
Sector: Healthcare
Type: Refurbishment
Procurement Method: Tender
Location: Sheffield
Project Value: £3.5 million
Project Description:
A 12-month refurbishment project of Ward 6 at the Sheffield Children’s Hospital creating a newly transformed Cancer and Leukaemia ward. This involved a complete strip out taking the building back to a concrete shell. We also built an extension at the back of the ward to form new doctor office with kitchens and places for the staff to relax on their breaks, In the new ward area we created ensuite bespoke bedrooms, interactive playrooms, school rooms and more for the children, to make the stay as comfortable as possible. Around the back of the hospital in between 3 building we manufactured and installed a steel mezzanine plant deck at roof level, on this 2 new AHU and 2 new chillers were built servicing all ward 6 and the ED department sending fresh filtered air in the ensuites.
Our works included new mechanical and electrical installations, new partitioning and ceilings, replacement of all external windows on the entire hospital and roof coverings, all the joinery in the bedrooms was bespoke making the new rooms bright and welcoming, it is now a more comfortable place to stay.
The Solution:
Working a tricky shaped building can sometimes cause problems, luckily our teams knew how to solve problems quickly so as not to cause any hold ups. Biggest issue was the size of the void above the ceiling and fitting the vast ducts up there whilst also getting electrics and pipe work underneath, all the teams working hand in hand, so they all had enough space.
The design and build steel plant deck at roof level connects to three different building on four different elevations. The steel had to be crane lifted over the roof of the main hospital building and assembled from a crash deck in the void between all four buildings. This deck had to be designed and installed in phases this was subject to road closure restrictions to the main road in front of the hospital and the installation was completed while operations continued in all four of the adjacent hospital buildings.
Testimonial:
Project was very successful, work was done to the scheduled program and completed with respect to the hospital’s requirements. A safe and welcoming safe space was created for the children, along with quiet and calming space for the parents and staff.
We offer a wide range of programmes across our Chester, Birkenhead, Warrington and Shrewsbury sites, from apprenticeships and foundation studies to bachelors, masters and doctorates.
Courses include Nurse Associate, Assistant Practitioner, Return to Practice Nursing, Art Therapy, Advanced Practice, Non Medical Prescribing and many more.
To find out more about our programmes, please visit www.chester.ac.uk/health
For admissions enquiries please contact hscadmissions@chester.ac.uk
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