LUHFT Life - February 2023

Official Royal opening

The Prince and Princess of Wales officially open new Royal Civic honour for the Trust Sefton Council recognises our care during COVID-19

Meet your Culture Change Team

The Prince and Princess of Wales officially open the Royal 7

Meet our new Culture Change Team

Sue Musson's thanks to Team LUHFT 6 3-5

8 Great participation rate for the Life at LUHFT conversation!

10 LUHFT paves the way in sarcoma research 11 Empowering staff through speaking up 12 Pancreatic Unit introduces robotic surgery 14 Living our values

• Wellbeing events at LUHFT World-leading training for Aintree's vascular service

• Patient scores trip to Anfield

• Innovative idea shines light on great care

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.

Partnership working with interns 9 LUHFT recognised with civic honour 13

Front cover image:

Each month our cover will feature a member of staff who is living our values. Jean Cooney, HCA at Aintree is one of the Culture Change Team's new recruits. Alongside other members of the team, she is helping us make our organisation the best place to learn and work.

If you know a colleague who is caring, fair and innovative and would like to feature on our cover, email: communications@liverpoolft. nhs.uk

The Prince and Princess of Wales officially open the Royal

Their Royal Highnesses The Prince and Princess of Wales officially opened the Royal Liverpool University Hospital on Thursday 12 January.

Staff gave The Prince and Princess of Wales a warm welcome to Liverpool when the couple arrived in the city to officially open the new hospital. During their visit, The Prince and Princess had the opportunity to meet with staff in the critical care unit, before heading on to meet support staff, including our healthcare assistants, overseas nurses, volunteers, mental health first aiders and colleagues from security, catering, domestics, and our porter service.

The team in critical care shared with The Prince and Princess how their new unit is benefiting patient care, compared to the previous department, which was spread out across three different floors in the old hospital. His Royal Highness also spoke with some of the nurses he had met during a video call in 2020, when he had thanked the Trust’s critical care team for their efforts in caring for patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Before leaving, The Prince and Princess of Wales met patients and members of the public who had gathered, and were presented with a posey of flowers, which included sea holly, Merseyside’s County flower, by volunteer Marjorie Jenkins. Marjorie, from Anfield, played a pivotal role in helping support with the transition to the new hospital, and currently volunteers in A&E.

Sue Musson, Chair of Liverpool University Hospitals, said: “To introduce The Prince and Princess of Wales to some of our hardworking staff and volunteers was such a privilege. It was a great boost for colleagues at the Trust to meet Their Royal Highnesses and to share their experiences, especially at a time when staff continue to work under significant pressure. I hope that The Prince and Princess enjoyed their time in our wonderful city. We are so grateful for their interest and their visit.”

It was so exciting to meet TRH The Prince and Princess of Wales. They asked me about where I trained and how long I’ve been a nurse and thanked me for what I do. It really boosted my morale.

Linda Musiniwa, Staff Nurse

It was a real privilege to meet Their Royal Highnesses. They were very genuine and interested and asked lots of questions. It was warming to feel as though they really did care about the work our staff do and the impact of COVID-19 specifically on our staff. They talked a lot about staff wellbeing and the support offered to them, that was a real focus for them.

Julie Patrick-Heselton, Matron of Critical Care Services

When Their Royal Highnesses enter the room you can feel their warmth, it was great to meet them. We felt really nervous at first, but they were really engaging with us, asking many questions and chatting to us. It was such a good opportunity for us to showcase the wonderful people we have in the Trust. It was a lasting experience for us

Roehl Gaerlan, Practice Development Nurse

I was really honoured to have the once in a lifetime opportunity and it was a privilege to meet them. It was nice to see that people recognise the work we do, and I feel very grateful. It feels like a dream come true.

Freida Sebastian, Deputy Ward Manager

The Royal Visit was so special. I met The Prince of Wales over a video call nearly three years ago, so to get the chance to meet him in person has been amazing. Their Royal Highnesses were so genuinely interested in talking to us about staff wellbeing and mental health. Everyone was over the moon to meet them.

Sarah Lawson, Critical Care Nurse

It was really lovely to meet The Prince and Princess of Wales. They were so down to earth, really engaging and wanted to listen to what everyone had to say. They were really interested to find out about the roles that the volunteers play in the hospital, and it was clear to see that they could see the value volunteering brings to different organisations.

Emily Naylor, Voluntary Services Manager

Sue Musson's thanks to Team LUHFT

LUHFT is such a wonderful organisation filled with caring, kind, compassionate and very funny colleagues. It has been an immense privilege to be Trust Chair for the last three years. I have so enjoyed getting to know you and am in awe of your commitment, resilience and achievements.

I am very grateful to have shared my journey, not always a smooth one, with Team LUHFT. My term as Chair began with implementing the Trust merger and setting our strategy. And then came navigating a global pandemic, completing and moving into the CSSB and new Royal Hospital, investing in an enhanced Aintree Hospital, introducing important service changes affecting all our sites and collaborating with partners - all to improve patient access, experience and outcomes. A crucial part of my role has been appointing capable, principled Board members, particularly James Sumner as our Chief Executive. James’s outstanding leadership will, I know, enable LUHFT to thrive.

As many of you know, my involvement on NHS Boards began 15 years ago following my son’s recovery from a horrible, life threatening illness. I was so grateful to the people who saved his life that I sought to serve as a non-executive director and chair to say thank you and to dedicate myself to working with fantastic colleagues to improve the quality of healthcare for all.

One of the best parts of my role as Chair is presenting the Employee of the Month and the Team of the Month awards. These are treasured occasions when I get to recognise individuals and teams for the great work they do. I always like to read out the poignant and heartfelt nominations written by patients, families and colleagues. They talk about what you do to make people feel safe, cared for and proud to serve alongside, often at the most difficult times. At these presentations, there have been smiles, cheers, photos and lots of tears as I’ve learned through the eyes of patients, families and team mates the difference you make every day.

For me, LUHFT is a place synonymous with teamwork, caring and togetherness. You have given me so many magic memories that I will treasure forever. Thank you for all your kindness and support. I have been proud to be your colleague and wish you all the best for the future.

Say hello to your new Culture Change Team!

LUHFT is currently going through the NHS England Culture and Leadership Programme, to help us to make our organisation the best place to learn and work. The programme will help us to implement a culture which focuses on compassionate, diverse, and inclusive leadership for our organisation.

After a fantastic amount of interest from colleagues, we have now put together a dedicated Culture Change Team consisting of 72 LUHFT colleagues, who are committed to discovering what our culture is like at the moment and changing it for the better. It’s great to see so many of you willing to dedicate time to helping us improve and we look forward to the positive impact our Culture Change Team will no doubt have. Meet some team members:

Jenna

"I am a Pharmacy technician based on the Royal site. I have worked for the NHS for six years this February. Since joining the Trust, I have undertaken two qualifications to further my career in Pharmacy."

"I wanted to be part of the Culture Change Team as I am passionate about making positive changes to the Trust and believe the best way to do this is through engagement with everyone, no matter your position or job title!"

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Andrew

"I am a Senior Data Analyst working for a LUHFT Hosted Service called MIAA. I joined our Trust in May 2022."

"I applied to join the Culture Change Team as I know my skills will help us use the best data to inform our decision making. My management experience can also ensure our improvements are always peoplecentred."

Jean

"I have worked previously in A&E and now work within the CURE team."

Having spoken to colleagues from a variety of departments and hearing what they had to say, I decided that for things to change there had to be people willing to step up and help make it happen – this is why I joined the Culture Change Team."

or visit our website at https:// www.liverpoolft.nhs.uk/culture/

Generous charity donation supports staff wellbeing

Funding towards our staff wellbeing support services have been boosted thanks to a £2,500 charitable donation by two generous members of the public.

Following an exclusive tour of the new Royal site last year, Dr Peter Pang and his wife Helen discussed the immense pressures staff are facing across our hospitals and the need for support now more than ever.

The pair also visited our charity funded patient and staff wellbeing rooms in the Linda McCartney Centre and welcomed the idea of staff and patients being able to access complementary therapies.

Mrs Pang said: “It’s simple, we need to look after the people who look after us.”

The charitable contribution has kick started a Trust-wide drive to fund:

• A staff wellbeing hub in the Royal

• Extend funding and increase access to psychology and counselling services for staff

• Additional therapist and relaxation sessions in our dedicated staff and patient wellbeing rooms based in the Linda McCartney Centre

• Exercise classes for staff, gym equipment and a lifestyle checkpoint health and wellbeing kiosk.

For more information or to make a donation please visit: https://bit.ly/3j7Jalr

the QR code for more information about your Culture Change Team on the Intranet – including case studies from colleagues and ambassador details!

Great participation rate for the Life at LUHFT conversation!

As a Trust, we are on a journey to making LUHFT the best place to learn, work and deliver excellent patient care. To begin this journey of improvement, we introduced the Life at LUHFT Let’s Talk conversation in January, an online platform that was inundated with constructive feedback and valuable talking points from over 1500 colleagues. We can now take this forward and begin to make important changes to our culture, as suggested by you.

The Let’s Talk conversation was not the first of its kind to be used at LUHFT. Previous feedback made it clear that to increase overall participation and to provide a fairer representation of colleagues that wouldn’t traditionally have access to electronic devices, we’d need to ensure a paperbased alternative was readily available. It was important that everyone had the opportunity to voice how it feels to work as part of #teamLUHFT.

Jenna Murray, a Culture Change Team member provided a voice for the Pharmacy department by printing paper copies for her team to submit their suggestions as well as being on hand to answer questions as the conversation progressed. She showed great determination to provide a voice for a department that might have not taken part otherwise and has demonstrated a great initiative that we can take forward for future activity.

Thank you to everyone that participated in the Life at LUHFT conversation – you have helped us understand the changes needed to make our organisation a place where we all feel valued and included.

Celebrating best partnership working for our interns

We’ve picked up the Best Partnership Working Award to recognise our recruitment programme which supports young people with learning disabilities and autism gain workready skills.

Now in its third year, our ‘Project SEARCH' programme gives students from Greenbank College the opportunity to learn about various hospital roles, including admin, nursing, estates, porters and catering. Students are then interviewed for a place on the full-time course, which is funded by Liverpool City Council and the educational provider.

To celebrate the work, a Supported Internship Graduation ceremony was hosted by Liverpool City Council which saw two of our interns collect awards, and Annette Pollitt, Widening Participation and Apprenticeship Lead and Lucy Raven, Sustainability Officer, scooped the Best Partnership Working Award.

Joel Harris, who interned at LUHFT last year, picked up the Most Progress Made Award as he now has a job with an external company.

Additionally, Jamie Forshaw, who is working with ISS at Broadgreen, collected the Above and Beyond Award. His mum, Debbie, said: "Jamie's life has changed so much and his confidence has grown. He works five mornings a week but stays on to volunteer after his shift has finished and he really enjoys the work he does."

The next internships begin in September, and we are looking for departments who would like to host an intern. If you would like to find out more email: Annette.Pollitt@liverpoolft.nhs.uk.

We’re celebrating National Apprenticeship Week!

This year, National Apprenticeship Week takes place from 6-12 February with a theme of ‘Skills for Life’. As always, the week is a fantastic chance for us to showcase how our apprenticeship opportunities can help individuals to develop the skills and knowledge required for a rewarding career as well as help shape our workforce with future-ready skills.

Several activities are due to take place across the week, including introductory webinars for Trust-funded courses in digital marketing, data analysing, ICT and Excel for business. There will also be online sessions run by healthcare science apprenticeship group, CSR, where managers can find out more about how a healthcare science apprentice could fit into your team.

For more information about the week’s activities and how you can get involved, please visit the National Apprenticeship Week page on the intranet.

LUHFT paves the way in sarcoma research

After recruiting more than 200 patients and families, LUHFT has joined the largest genetic sarcoma study in the world whose outcomes have generated the first genetic map of sarcomas.

The map identifies certain genes that, when inherited, can cause sarcoma. Crucially, the findings will allow earlier detection and potentially improve survival rates for patients. The increased understanding of risk will also help to manage underlying factors as well as make more personalised decisions about treatments.

Mr CR Chandrasekar, a consultant on the orthopaedic surgery team thanked the patients and their families who joined the study, explaining that their participation was ‘essential’ to the results received. He adds that it will 'pave the way for further research and understanding of sarcomas.'

Another win for team LUHFT!

Celebrating our temporary workforce

On 25 November, the Temporary Staffing Ball took place at Innside by Melia Hotel, hosted by Liverpool actress Margi Clarke.

The event celebrated the contribution that temporary workers make to the Trust by recognising achievements in a variety of categories. A great night was had by all in attendance, who heard stories about the positive impact that our bank workers have in supporting patients during their time in our hospitals.

Congratulations to all of the winners:

Patient First Award: Rachel Condon (RGN)

Above and Beyond Award: Martha Bratley (Lab Assistant)

Living Our Values Everyday Award (LOVED): Emily Jones (HCA)

Non Clinical Bank Worker of the Year: Niamh Watts (A&C)

Clinical Bank Worker of the Year: Ivana Vranjkovic (HCA)

Special Recognition Award: Nicola Allen (HCA)

Empowering staff through speaking up

At LUHFT our number one priority is always the wellbeing and safety of our patients and staff. Our Freedom to Speak Up (FTSU) champions are here to help you to feel your voice counts when you raise any concerns or ideas you may have about workplace safety. Our champions can meet you for a confidential chat and suggest options to resolve issues and direct you to appropriate people, policies, pathways, procedures or interventions.

The FTSU team are always recruiting champions, who carry out the role in addition to their day job on a voluntary basis. There are currently 18 champions based across all sites. Below are four recent recruits.

Rachel Lavelle, Junior OD Business Partner –Culture Change, Rachel.Lavelle@ liverpoolft.nhs.uk)

"We all have a voice and should never be afraid to use it. My role in the Organisational Development team means I am hugely passionate about making sure that the people of LUHFT have a great place to learn and work, and speaking up is an integral part of that.”

Noon Altijani, FY2 Junior Doctor, (Noon.altijani@ liverpoolft.nhs.uk)

"I am junior doctor, so I rotate across the Trust for my placements. I see this role as an opportunity to contribute to improving our workplace and supporting colleagues if needed. Please feel free to contact me if you want to speak."

Isabelle Kimpton, Charge Nurse, A&E, (Isabella.Kimpton@liverpoolft.nhs.uk)

"As health professionals we are very used to putting our patients and their needs first. In the Emergency Department we can deal with some very difficult and sometimes stressful situations. As a sister in A&E I want people to have a friendly, recognisable face they can easily approach with problems or if they are struggling with anything. Happy staff make for happier patients."

James White, Medical Laboratory Assistant, (James.White@liverpoolft.nhs.uk)

"Every member of staff, whatever their band, has an equal role to play regarding patient and staff safety. Empowering people to speak up when they see the potential for harm is vital. As a former staffside representative I understand how important it is to listen without prejudice and maintain the strictest confidence regarding what may be sensitive issues."

All of our champions support the Trust Freedom to Speak Up Guardian, Lorraine Heaton. If you are interested in becoming a FTSU champion and would like to find out more information, please email Lorraine on lorraine.heaton@liverpoolft.nhs.uk or visit the FTSU page on the COVID Hub at https://bit.ly/3HTzoNz

robot puts

LUHFT pancreatic service at the top of the pile

The pancreatic unit at LUHFT is using robotic surgery to improve the quality of care for patients.

Surgeons at our Royal Hospital have received training on how to operate the state-of-the-art machinery which allows them to perform major operations with greater precision.

Surgeons sit inside the Da Vinci Xi electronic console, placing their fingers into a glove like apparatus. This glove allows our surgeons to control the robot’s arms, which offer more movement than the human hands allow.

Jawad Ahmad, Consultant Surgeon, from Coventry University Hospitals and lead UK trainer for pancreatic robotic surgery, said: “Robotic surgery reduces pain and recovery time for patients meaning they spend less time in hospital. This innovative way of operating will be hugely beneficial to the communities Liverpool University Hospitals care for.”

Pancreatic surgeons join our colleagues from urology, colorectal and upper GI in being able to perform this modern procedure. There are now two robots in operation at the Royal and three across LUHFT, the only Trust in the North West to have this number.

Declan Dunne, Consultant Pancreatic Surgeon at LUHFT, said: “This is an extremely exciting time for our unit and patients.”

“The investment and introduction of this additional robot further cements our reputation as one of the leading pancreatic services internationally. It is great to work for an ambitious Trust which embraces new techniques and ways of working, so its staff can stay at the top of their game and continue to give our patients access to the latest facilities.

“For me personally, it would be a privilege to train colleagues in other hospitals on how to use the robot in the future. We will see an increase in robotic surgery in the UK and our team strives to be at the forefront of that.”

Multi-million-pound

Team LUHFT recognised with civic honour

Sefton Council has awarded the Trust with an Honorary Freedom of the Borough award to celebrate the heroic work of the Trust’s healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Southport and Ormskirk NHS Trust, as well as Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust and Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust were also presented with the honour at a special ceremony at Bootle Town Hall on 26 January.

Freedom of the Borough is the highest ceremonial honour Sefton Council can bestow. At the event, an extra-ordinary meeting of the Council took place to officially grant the Freedom of the Borough, with an accompanying civic reception for Trust representatives.

Receiving Freedom of the Borough grants the Trust the ‘right, privilege, honour and distinction of marching through the streets of the Borough on all ceremonial occasions with colours flying, bands playing, drums beating and bayonets fixed’.

Sue Musson, Chair of LUHFT said:

“It is a great honour for the Trust to be awarded Sefton Council’s Freedom of the Borough for our services during COVID-19. The pandemic presented immense challenges for all of us working in healthcare, and this award recognises the remarkable courage, selflessness and resilience of our staff who cared for patients, families and each other at a very dark time. We are so grateful to receive this very special honour and for the continuing friendship and support of colleagues across the Borough.”

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.

Did you attend our wellbeing events?

In January, the Trust hosted several health and wellbeing events across all three sites, giving colleagues the opportunity to seek information and advice from professionals to support them in having a happy and healthy 2023.

It was great to see so many staff members take the time to visit the pop-ups, where the support available included sexual health and contraception advice, diabetes checks, smoking cessation, mood assessments, physiotherapy and financial advice and support.

Thank you to all staff who took the time to prepare for and host the events – we look forward to more in the future.

To find out more about wellbeing support visit the staff Hub.

Innovative idea shines light on great care

As part of the new SWAN end of life and bereavement care model across LUHFT, Ward 33 have been one of the first areas to implement the use of a battery candle displayed by the patient’s bedside. This identifies to staff and visitors entering the area that that family and friends are present spending their final days or hours with their loved one.

Maria Guerin, Quality Matron and lead for SWAN said: “The candle, which when used alongside the SWAN signage, is recognised as a symbol of tranquillity, respect and privacy in fitting with the ethos of the SWAN model. It has worked really well in the areas that have implemented it to date. We will be distributing candles to all wards as part of the SWAN resources to ensure we get it right for every patient, every time.”

World-leading training for Aintree’s Vascular service

Aintree’s Vascular team has used innovative simulation training to help more staff in delivering keyhole surgery, a complex but less invasive operation, shortening recovery time for patients.

LUHFT collaborated with Medtronic, a US based company that specialises in medical technology solutions, to bring their mobile training facility to Aintree Hospital.

Medtronic who provide this innovative training on a converted bus, were touring Europe and made Aintree their only UK stop.Their facilities allowed 60 colleagues to safely rehearse keyhole surgery using virtual reality.

LUHFT’s Vascular service is one of the busiest in the world, and was one of the first to deliver complex surgeries. It has recently relocated to Aintree from the Royal and will shortly open a hybrid operating suite, increasing theatre capacity by 50%, combining traditional surgery and keyhole.

Mr Simon Neequaye, Consultant Vascular Surgeon, who led on this initiative, said: “Liverpool is a pioneer for keyhole surgery, the benefits are clear, shorter hospital stays, less pain and bleeding after operations and reduced scarring.Our team is continuously looking for ways to improve outcomes for patients, and this was one of those ways. Granting a large proportion of colleagues to take part in this exclusive, state-ofthe-art training opportunity, only further cements our service as a world leader.”

Patient scores trip to Anfield

Team LUHFT went beyond their daily care duties to take 21-year-old Lewis Powel, one of our ventilation patients, to watch Liverpool FC at Anfield.

Lewis has been under our care since April 2022 and has a genetic disorder causing progressive muscle degeneration. Thanks to help from Liverpool Disabled Supporters Association, our Ventilation Inpatient Centre got tickets for Liverpool’s 2-1 win over Leicester City in the Premier League.

Lewis’s mum, Sara, said:

“I can’t thank the hospital staff enough. Seeing a smile on Lewis’s face was the best feeling. It has proved to him that there is a life after having a tracheostomy inserted. It was a day our family will never forget.”

Appraisals at LUHFT have changed