FEBRUARY 2022
New leadership model Changes to our divisional leads
Discover our winners Our Future Together Staff Awards
Teams begin move into new build
Contents
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Changes to our hospital leadership model
Moving to new CSSB building
Our Future Together Staff Award winners
Team of the month awards Finance team score hat-trick at national awards Wildlife support
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Getting to know you… Annette Pollitt
Supporting our colleagues
Send us your stories We want our staff magazine to reflect all the great achievements and inspirational stories from you and your colleagues. Within LUHFT Life we’ll be covering key Trust priorities but we also want to showcase the amazing people that make up our organisation and share what’s happening throughout our hospitals. Is there an award you’ve gained, an innovative way your team is working, an inspiring patient experience or a new patient treatment that deserves recognition? Send your stories to communications@liverpoolft.nhs.uk. 2 | LUHFT Life
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Introducing ecofriendly theatre caps
Simon Harding gets New Year Honours
Double award win for Audiology
Front cover image: Each month our cover will feature a member of staff who is living our values. Assistant Director of Pharmacy, Shakeel Herwitker, is working closely with colleagues to support their move into the new Clinical Support Services Building. If you know a colleague who is caring, fair and innovative and would like to feature on our cover, email: communications@ liverpoolft.nhs.uk.
* Some photos taken before COVID-19
Changes to our hospital leadership model To ensure that we are best placed to make the quality improvements needed to consistently provide great care for our patients, a new LUHFT hospital leadership model has been introduced, with four new hospital leadership teams now in place.
build stronger relationships with the people who are working on each site, dealing with the day-to-day issues. This will allow for quicker decision making, closer to where care is delivered.
Each of the teams, which include a clinical, operational and nursing lead, will cover a different site - Aintree, Broadgreen, the Royal (which includes the Dental Hospital and St Paul's Eye Unit) and Liverpool Clinical Laboratories - enabling stronger situational awareness and more responsive decision making.
“These changes will not impact upon our plans to integrate services across the Trust. We want to strengthen and build the links between our sites and create single shared services. To support this, the site teams will work with our new clinical reliability groups to strengthen the links between our sites and focus on delivering our services to the highest standards of care.”
Chief Executive, Sir David Dalton, said: “The new structure has a particular focus on patient safety, care reliability, patient flow and clinical effectiveness. The new hospital leadership teams will
£1 million is being transferred from the executive level to support these new hospital leadership teams. Find greater detail about the new hospital leadership on the intranet.
New LUHFT clinical leadership model: Executive Team
Hospital Leadership Team Royal
Hospital Leadership Team Aintree
Hospital Leadership Team Broadgreen
Hospital Leadership Team LCL
Medical: Oliver Zuzan
Medical: Rebecca Hanlon
Medical: Harry Rourke
Medical: Jim Anson
Operational: Cathy Chadwick
Operational: Neil Holland
Operational: Tony Gaynor
Operational: Andrew Bamber
Nursing: Samantha Westwell
Nursing: Beverley Pennington
Nursing: Jenny Taylor
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Introducing eco-friendly theatre caps
A former nurse with a passion for patient safety and the environment has launched an innovative project to improve communication in theatres and minimise waste. Danielle Checketts has developed reusable, cloth theatre caps embroidered with names and roles to enable better communication in a busy theatre environment, whilst reducing disposable waste. The caps have now been rolled out for many theatre staff at the Royal, with plans to introduce them Trustwide imminently. Danielle, managing director at Warwick Med, who produces the caps, said: “Having trained and worked at Aintree and the Royal, this Trust and its patients are important to me. I’m a massive advocate for improving patient safety and I wanted to create something that could make a difference. I’ve seen firsthand how access to the right medical advances can change patients’ lives.” In 2020, Danielle identified that as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the need for healthcare staff to wear increased levels of personal protective equipment (PPE), it wasn’t as easy for staff to recognise each other – especially in a complex theatre environment, where colleagues from a range of roles can be dressed similarly. The caps now make it easier to identify specific individuals, which is beneficial for patients as they can better identify 4 | LUHFT Life
Patients now know exactly who they are interacting with, which allays any anxiety and improves their experience. who is caring for them, and also for colleagues in crossteam working and fast-paced emergency scenarios, such as resuscitation. Dr Mruga Diwan, a Consultant Anaesthetist at the Royal, who has been involved in implementing the reusable caps, said: “The use of reusable named theatre caps enables better communication, and since wearing our own personalised caps we have noticed an improvement not only between staff engagement, but also for our patients. Patients now know exactly who they are interacting with, which allays any anxiety and improves their experience.” As the caps are reusable, Liverpool University Hospitals is reducing waste. On average, a typical hospital will discard over 100,000 disposable viscose theatre caps per year, so by changing to a more sustainable option, LUHFT is helping to implement positive and impactful environmental change. The swap is expected to save the Trust over one tonne of clinical waste each year.
Colleagues begin CSSB move The first stages of service moves to support the opening of the new Royal have started, as teams begin to move into the new purposebuilt Clinical Support Services Building (CSSB), adjacent to the new hospital. It is anticipated that all teams will be in the new building by May 2022. The five-story building will be home to more than 500 staff, including Liverpool Clinical Labs (LCL), Pharmacy, IT, Facilities Management, Linen Store, Switchboard and a Plant Room that will service the new hospital. The facility will also receive all goods deliveries for LUHFT. The move will be a complex challenge with more than 350 pieces of specialist equipment that need to be moved in partnership with third parties, ensuring the equipment is verified, validated and up and running in the shortest time possible to deliver continuity of service. The Operational Readiness group is working with the divisions to develop team move plans. Regular staff engagement sessions are scheduled to give staff the opportunity to find out more and ask questions. Site visits have taken place to show colleagues the fantastic facilities and these will continue up to move-in day. To keep up-to-date with the latest information about the CSSB move, the new Royal plans and our integration of services, view 'Building our Future Together' on the intranet home page. LUHFT Life | 5
Dedicated ophthalmologist awarded MBE for services to patients Professor Simon Harding, Consultant Ophthalmologist at LUHFT, has been awarded the Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2022 Queen's New Year’s Honours List. Professor Harding who received the honour in recognition of his life’s work dedicated to services for the prevention of blindness, has worked at St Paul’s Eye Unit since 1981. Over the last 30 years he has been instrumental in a number of significant research and clinical breakthroughs for patients who require specialist eye care. Professor Harding said: “I’m absolutely thrilled to receive an MBE. It’s been an honour to work in St Paul’s and support patients by introducing pioneering treatments based on cutting-edge research. This not only benefits our patients here in Liverpool but also around the world. For me it hasn’t really been a job but a passion, and to be recognised in this way is truly remarkable. “I wouldn’t have been able to do my work without the tremendous support of an incredible team of friends and colleagues. And of course, the research I’ve led couldn’t have happened without the thousands of people who have volunteered to join our research studies.”
One of Professor Harding’s goals was to create a more effective pathway to bring new medical treatments from the laboratory to the patient’s bedside. This passion for improving research for the benefit of his patients saw him establish St Paul’s Eye Unit’s Clinical Eye Research Centre (CERC) in 2014. The CERC linked the Trust and University of Liverpool teams together to develop stronger clinical engagement and expertise, and conduct world leading research, hosting over 70 pioneering trials, and is now involved in every major ophthalmic trial being undertaken in Europe. Among his many achievements, Professor Harding was instrumental in establishing the first diabetic eye screening programme in the UK and it’s now replicated in over 20 countries around the world, saving the sight of thousands of diabetic patients.
Professor Harding also introduced the first effective treatment for age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in the
Voted for by you, our new staff governors ensure that, as a Trust, we listen to the views of our patients, those living locally and our staff so that we can improve our services.
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Prof Harding at Chiradzulu District Hospital in Southern Malawi with colleague, Phillip Burgess in 2017.
In Malawi, Professor Harding developed pioneering techniques to accurately diagnose cerebral malaria. The disease kills around 500,000 children each year in Sub-Saharan Africa through causing severe brain swelling and the rapid onset of a coma.
New staff governors
Email Governors@Liverpoolft.nhs.uk with queries for the Board of Directors.
UK, which is now widely available throughout the world. AMD is the greatest cause of blindness in the western world and affects around 600,000 people in the UK alone.
Prof Harding at Lions Eye Hospital in Blantyre, 2016.
Noeleen Ryan I am passionate about educating the workforce of the future. Staff development is paramount to ensuring the NHS workforce is empowered to embrace novel working practices and technologies in the ambition to provide innovative evidence-based quality patient care. “I strongly believe it is essential for leadership to be representative of the entire workforce to enable their voice to be heard and promoting a diversity of skills and viewpoints in shaping the services provided in Merseyside. Staff governor for Allied Health Professionals, Scientists and Technicians
Dr Vinita Mishra
Christopher Ashton
My current role as a Clinical Director for my speciality has helped me in understanding the team behaviours, inspiring the team members to bring innovation and creativity which adds value to the services, fostering a culture of openness and communication that promotes collective leadership in problem-solving. “I aim to work with the team of governors in setting out a direction for future LUHFT which succeeds in providing world-class health care services to local communities of Liverpool.
I have devoted my career, including 17 years in the NHS, to helping patients. I want to be able to bring a new perspective to the way things are run and play a part in instigating change. “I spend every day looking to improve not only what I do but how things work, to benefit the patients. I believe that people like me are just as important to contributing to a patient-centred approach and should be part of the conversations. Staff governor for Other Non-Clinical
Staff governor for Medical Practitioners and Dentists
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Our Future Together Staff A
YOUR WINN At LUHFT, we are keen to recognise and reward the achievements of our colleagues and volunteers. Our Future Together Awards celebrate the outstanding achievements of our colleagues, including those who deliver exceptional service, live our Trust values, and work together to support patients and fellow colleagues. The award categories reflect the Trust’s values and objectives, and those who have made an exceptional contribution to life at LUHFT. Congratulations to our finalists – we received more than 260 nominations so you should all be incredibly proud for what you contribute, individually and collaboratively to LUHFT.
Employee of the Year Shinimol Shibu, Covid Follow-Up Co-ordinator Over the last 18 months Shinmol’s work has made a massive contribution against each of our strategic priorities of great care, great people, great research and innovation and great ambitions. Shinimol has been described by others as “rising to the huge challenges of COVID-19”, “demonstrating remarkable professionalism”, “developing novel ways of working” and “supporting others when they were most vulnerable, offering reassurance and hope”.
Team of the Year Critical Care Team Dealing with the worst of what the COVID-19 pandemic has thrown at us Critical Care rapidly adapted to new ways of working and has had to cope with substantial pressure throughout. They have put patient care and safety at the forefront of everything that they do. They have worked incredibly hard to save the lives of patients who were seriously ill. And, at points when they thought that they couldn’t take any more, they have carried on as a team. 8 | LUHFT Life
Awards
NERS
Patients’ Champion Professor Robert Sutton Nominated and voted for by the public for making a significant impact to patient experience, Professor Robert Sutton provided outstanding support to a patient and guided them through challenging times throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. The patient said: “I had no quality of life, depending on feeding tubes, strong medication, experiencing extreme side effects, broken teeth, falls, sickness and toilet issues - I could not see the point in life as I was alive but not living. Prof Sutton is, not only mine, but my family’s and partner’s hero. “I couldn’t have visitors pre/post op, but Prof visited and reassured me every step of the way. He is kind, reassuring, knowledgeable and ensures every step and risk is understood. He has restored my faith after the years of issues I have faced.”
Volunteer of the Year Robert Ferguson Robert extended his volunteering hours to four days a week to support our family liaison service during COVID-19, acting as a runner between wards, taking messages back and forth and ensuring patients received their belongings. During the height of the pandemic, nothing was too much for him – he was willing to stay late, to take deliveries to other sites on the shuttle bus, and always willing to go the extra mile to provide support.
Trust Safety Award IV Access Team Not only has the work of the IV Access team resulted in improved safety, but also better patient outcomes, time and resource efficiencies and improved practitioner experience. Following a successful ‘new medical device’ application and implementation of a power injectable midline, the patient benefits can now be seen in the latest data. LUHFT Life | 9
Divisional awards
Acute and Emergency Medicine Award Emergency Department Mental Health Link Team This team that has come together and used their passion to implement an idea that was deemed ‘impossible’. Not only has the Emergency Department Mental Health Link Team transformed the patient journey that we provide, but they have acted as advocates for an often-vulnerable patient cohort. The feedback we have had from our patients and colleagues has been remarkable. There is no doubt that patients are now safer, risk-assessed and given the appropriate level of support they require on the back of the team’s interventions.
Specialist Medicine Award CPAP in COVID MDT The CPAP in COVID MDT responded to one of the biggest challenges that our Trust has faced by developing and implementing a completely new service within a matter of days. The goal was to provide safe, well-led, robust, patient-centred care. On the back of this new service, the work has received national recognition, so that other teams across the country can learn from our experience.
Surgery Award Urology Outpatients Theatres Team The Urology Outpatients Theatres Team have improved the quality of patient care, and demonstrated massive efficiencies in their area. Through a collaborative approach, they have been able to avoid delays to treatment, reduce length of stays and improve overall patient experience.
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Divisional awards
Anaesthetics, Critical Care, Head and Neck and Theatres Award Critical Care Team The Critical Care Team had to respond to unprecedented COVID-19 challenges, with consistently high levels of pressure providing our patients with the best care they could. This required new ways of working and exceptional teamwork. For their ongoing work to support our COVID-19 patients, Critical Care have been named the deserving winners of this category.
Diagnostics and Support Services Award Therapies Care Group Therapies Care Group demonstrated that despite the challenges of the last 18 months, they have managed to achieve a great deal in relation to the benefits of coming together through merger. Their focus has been on working as one to provide consistent and effective care across all of our sites.
Corporate Services Award Psychology Team The Psychology Team provided a service that supported colleagues when they found the impact of COVID-19 to be particularly tough. One colleague described the team as “true life savers”. The team provided support sessions for wards and clinical areas, virtually for specialist teams, drop-in sessions in the wellbeing hubs, as well as crisis support, all providing guidance and somewhere for staff to discuss their experiences. LUHFT Life | 11
LIVING OUR Our values are ‘the way we do things around here’. They are the very core of who we are, for every colleague, patient and individual who comes into contact with us. Our values enable us to work together more effectively and to deliver great patient care more consistently. We see examples of our values in practice on a daily basis, and each month we will celebrate individuals or teams who are clearly caring, fair and innovative.
Double award win
for Audiology Our Audiology Team is celebrating after two colleagues received national awards from the British Academy of Audiology (BAA) for their work. Rachel Saunders, a Senior Audiologist at Aintree, was presented with Mentor of the Year, while Loujane Eljabri, who joined the team at Aintree in October, was named Student of the Year. Loujane, who was nominated for her excellent academic achievements as well as her significant contributions to her peer group, said: “It’s a real honour to be presented with this award. After working so hard during my studies I feel doubly lucky that I’ve not only received this award but also secured a job with the fantastic team at Aintree.”
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Rachel’s award recognises an audiologist ‘who stands out from the crowd with regards to supervising and supporting a student while on placement’. Rachel has worked at Aintree for 21 years caring for patients with hearing, balance and other ear-related concerns. In her role as a clinical educator she mentors students from the University of Manchester, a number of whom have gone on to set up audiology-led services in other countries, such as Estonia and India. Gaynor Chittick, Head of Audiology Services, said: “These awards are so well deserved and I’d like to congratulate both Rachel and Loujane, who are real assets to the Audiology Team. Rachel does a fantastic job with the students who are on placement with us, which is crucial to developing the audiologists of the future, and Loujane is already making a really positive contribution.”
VALUES
Patients highlight great care and compassion After being selected by patients for Team of the Month, Ward 1 and Ward 5 at Broadgreen received their awards from our Chair Sue Musson. For Ward 1 the patient highlighted their outstanding experience while at Broadgreen, and recognised the team for being compassionate, caring and putting the patient at ease. The patient letter says: "Ward 1 staff work amazing as a team and the one thing I can honestly take from my experience, from the bottom of my heart, is the whole team every single one of them treated me with compassion. They were so caring and kind I will never forget it."
Ward 5 was nominated by a patient following the rehabilitation care they received after having their legs amputated, praising all the staff including the physio and occupational therapy team for the exceptionally high level of professionalism, advice and encouragement. "I was extremely impressed with the level of professionalism, kindness and hard work displayed by all members of staff working with patients in Ward 5. The staff team are exceptionally hardworking, listen and do their very best to meet the needs of the patients."
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Finance team score hat-trick at national awards Colleagues in Finance have been recognised for their efforts and achievements during COVID-19 in scooping three national awards at the Healthcare Financial Management Association Awards 2021. The Finance team won the prestigious title of Team of the Year, as well as taking home both the Havelock Training Award and Governance Award. Rob Forster, Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Finance Officer, said: “We are thrilled to have won three Healthcare Financial Management Association awards. I am incredibly proud of all our finance colleagues. “It has been a challenging period, and to be recognised at a national level for our achievements is credit to the hard work, professionalism, innovation and ability of the whole Finance team. To be named Team of the Year is an honour and I look forward to what we can achieve in the future to further support the Trust in delivering the very best care possible for the populations we serve.”
Wildlife support LUHFT colleagues joined forces with the community to nurture Aintree’s greenspace and plant a wildlife hedgerow. Fiona Megarrell, LUHFT’s Nature Recovery Ranger, said: “Thank you to everyone that came to support the project, and to NHS Forest who donated the trees for us to plant. “As they grow, you'll see species such as dogwood, hawthorn, wild privet and hazel which will provide great shelter and a food source for nature on our Aintree site, including the family of long-tailed tits which can be seen flitting around in the trees above.” Fiona’s role is to improve our green space for wildlife and to provide space for all patients, staff and the public to improve their mental and physical wellbeing through nature and the outdoors. 14 | LUHFT Life
Getting to know you… To highlight National Apprenticeship Week we spoke to Annette Pollitt, our Apprenticeship and Widening Participation Lead, who helped LUHFT gain a place in the top 100 apprenticeship employers.
Did you always want to work in healthcare?
What are your highlights during your time at LUHFT?
Yes, I wanted to be a theatre sister as I enjoyed watching operations on TV when I was younger, Your Life in Their Hands was my favourite programme. I watched this with my dad, but my mum couldn’t stand blood.
It was great to be able to develop new apprenticeship opportunities such as the implementation of the degree nurse. As well as seeing LUHFT gain a place in the top 100 apprenticeship employers in 2020.
How long have you worked in our hospitals?
Also, learning about the success of an individual’s employment, especially within Project Search, which is supporting young people with learning difficulties.
I started at the Royal as a student nurse in 1991, and I was amazed by the size of the organisation. During my three years of training, I worked on various medical wards, my favourite was medical admissions as patients were acutely ill and the pace was fast. The staff were amazing, and we developed good team working. As a staff nurse I enjoyed supporting HCAs with their NVQs. I found this role rewarding, as I experienced staff grow in their roles, so I became a work-based assessor and later moved to Learning and Development to become a permanent assessor. This is where my passion grew in supporting staff within their careers, I have seen staff start as a HCA and develop into qualified nurses. What does your role involve now? I manage the apprenticeship provision, supporting managers and staff with appropriate qualifications, as apprenticeships are open to all bands of staff. I also work with external partners such as local colleges and universities to review opportunities and career pathways and visit schools to provide advice about work experience.
What are your hobbies outside of work? Walking my French bulldog, Trevor. I enjoy trying different restaurants and looking forward to holidays abroad. What’s your favourite restaurant? A restaurant in Wales called Y Sgwar. What’s your favourite film? There are so many, Greece, Rock of Ages, Moulin Rouge, Jersey Boys You win the lottery, what’s your dream holiday? Maldives! You’re stranded on an island, what three items would you want with you? Trevor (my dog), a comfy chair/bed and a crate of red wine.
We also undertake pre-employment programmes for unemployed individuals, reaching out to under-represented communities and people with learning difficulties. The aim is to provide knowledge and skills to individuals ready for employment. What’s your favourite thing about your job? When you know that your input has made a difference to people, such as to gain employment or progression within their career. As well as meeting new people and working in partnership with other organisations. LUHFT Life | 15
It’s hard at the moment. Let’s have each other’s backs and support one another. #TeamLUHFT
IPC starts with ME
