InTouch magazine - April - May 2023

InTouch

Welcome

Thank you to all for your fantastic response to the industrial action for our junior doctors – supporting our patients and each other, including our junior doctors’ decision to strike or not. You can read more on p.3. We have also introduced the This is Me System (TiMS), our new learning and performance hub, with details on p.3.

We welcomed our new electronic health record (EHR) supplier, Oracle Cerner, who visited us to meet our team involved in developing the new EHR and took a look around the hospital recently – you can read more on p.4. We also update on the development of the Aseptic Unit to support our patients with cancer (p.5).

You can read about the new wayfinding to improve patient experience at The Princess Alexandra Hospital, with new internal and external signage (p.6). We also cover our plans to celebrate our professions on 12 May (p.7) and the appointment of our new director of midwifery and gynaecology, Linda Machakaire (p.7).

Congratulations to the radiology team, communications team and to Phil Holland, chief information officer, on being shortlisted for prestigious awards as part of this year’s awards season (p.8-9).

This week, we are marking Dying Matters Awareness Week, with more details on p.9. You can find out more about the patient at home team transferring to Essex Partnership University NHS Trust as part of the new Virtual Hospital (p.10) and our clinical column on bowel cancer awareness (p.11). You can also read the latest charity update (p.12), a divisional update from medicine (p.13), feedback from our patients (p.14), wellbeing tips (p.15) and more.

This magazine is for and about you, our #PAHTPeople –please contact the communications team if you would like to see your team featured, at paht.communications@nhs.net

I hope you enjoy the read.

Lance McCarthy Chief executive

During the junior doctors' industrial action (from 7am on 11 April - 7am on 15 April), we managed demand on our services to keep our patients safe.

I both saw and heard of many colleagues working in very different ways to normal, to

support our patients and to support each other.

It is thanks to you, our amazing PAHT people, that we were able to achieve this.

Thank you again to all of you for your hard work.

Please remember that taking part in industrial action is a choice and to support your junior doctor colleagues’ individual decision, including during the period when they have returned from industrial action.

The This is Me System (TiMS) has arrived...come on in

The wait is over – our new learning and performance hub, the This is Me System (TiMS) is ready for our people to use.

You can access TiMS through any trust computer/laptop by clicking on the TiMS icon on your desktop, from your personal or trust device by typing in the URL www.tims. pah.nhs.uk, or via the AlexNet homepage.

We are running a series of one-hour webinars to walk you through TiMS and answer any questions you may have. The first half of the session will focus on the my learning section of the system and the second half will focus on the my performance section. Details are on AlexNet.

What you need to know…

y The system replaces MyESR for all of your learning needs – all of your training records held in MyESR have been transferred to TiMS

y Your username is your NHS email address and you will be prompted to create your own password the first time that you log in

y Take a look at the user guides available on AlexNet >

y Drop into an online training session – details are available on AlexNet >

y The my performance area includes new interactive forms for your annual appraisal conversation (except medical colleagues), new quarterly thrive conversations for all, check-in conversations with your manager (optional to use), and probationary reviews (for those within probationary periods)

y More information can be found on the TiMS AlexNet workspace >

Welcoming our new electronic health record supplier

The Oracle Cerner team, who are going to deliver our new electronic health record (EHR), visited us on 27 March to meet our team involved with developing the new EHR and to take a look around the hospital.

The EHR is one of the biggest transformation programmes PAHT has ever seen. It is core to the delivery of our digital strategy and the strategic priorities in PAHT2030.

What is an EHR?

An EHR is an integrated digital record of a patient's care, drawing together information from all systems that store that patient's data. It helps facilitate easy access to this clinical data, which includes

the Shared Care Record.

An EHR will:

y Transform our ability to track and store patient data, simplifying health care delivery and administration across the trust

y Improve patient safety and health outcomes by giving clinicians easy access to a patient's full medical history

y Enhance health information sharing amongst integrated care partners such as GPs and social services

Find out more...

For more information about PAHT's electronic health record, the benefits it will bring and frequently asked questions, click here >

The EHR project is now well underway, and there will be plenty of ways to get involved. Watch this space for more news very soon.

Pictured: From left to right, Chloe Ribeiro, chair of the Maternity Voices Partnership. Quentin Kidner, client executive (Oracle Cerner), Jennifer Jebamani, trust grade core surgical trainee 3 at PAHT, Distie Profit, vice president and general manager (Oracle Cerner), Phil Holland, chief information officer at PAHT, Lance McCarthy, chief executive at PAHT, Helen Pardoe, chief clinical information officer at PAHT, Hattie Llewelyn-Davies, chair of PAHT, Jo Eley, head of digital nursing at PAHT, and Ann Nutt, chair of the Patient Panel.

Update – new facility to support our patients with cancer

We continue to progress towards opening our new facility to support our patients with cancer.

The new Aseptic Unit, which will be used to make chemotherapy medication for patients with cancer, is at the rear of The Princess Alexandra Hospital, adjacent to the Williams Day Unit, where patients receive cancer treatment.

The majority of construction work is now complete and we are beginning intensive cleaning and testing. We then aim to start producing individually prepared chemotherapy treatment doses for oncology and haematology patients at the unit in around a month.

This will enhance the service, with the new, modern facility supporting the manufacture of patient specific chemotherapy medications in the required dosages on The Princess Alexandra Hospital site. The improved space and equipment will largely eliminate the current intermittent need for external support.

The Aseptic Unit features a modern suite of pharmacy clean rooms (a sterile environment for manufacturing medications), and equipment including two negative pressure isolators for the safe handling and preparation of chemotherapy.

There is also space to accommodate cancer services pharmacists, who clinically validate prescriptions, a dedicated dispensary for oral cancer treatments and other medication, together with a dedicated clinical trial medication office.

John Biddulph, chief pharmacist, said: “We are very pleased to see our new Aseptic Unit almost complete and to begin the cleaning and testing phase of the project.

“Thank you to everyone who has been involved in this work to significantly improve the experience for our patients and our people.

"It is a great achievement to have a modern compliant facility on site for the provision of cancer treatments.”

Pictured: The outside of the Aseptic Unit (top right), the outer production support room (second from top right), isolator room (third from top right) and rest/meeting room (bottom right).

New wayfinding to improve patient experience at The Princess Alexandra Hospital

You may have seen new wayfinding being installed around the hospital site in recent weeks, including new signs for buildings and car parks and internal signage.

This is part of a programme of works to improve patient experience.

A new colour theme has been adopted to assist patients and visitors to navigate their way around the site as follows:

• Red signage for our emergency department (ED) and same day emergency care (SDEC)

• Grey signage for delivery points, drop-off points and external buildings

• Blue for our visitor car parks, now numbered P2, P3, P4, P7, and P8

• Orange for our staff car parks, now numbered P1, P5, and P6

The wayfinding inside the main building is to direct patients and visitors with greater ease to the areas they need to access.

Zones A, B and C are now colour coded as follows:

• Zone A is now known as the Pink Zone

• Zone B is now known as the Blue Zone

• Zone C is now known as the Green Zone Thank you to everyone involved in this project.

Pictured: external signage examples (above) and internal signage examples (right and below).

Celebrating our professions: A message from Sharon McNally and Giuseppe Labriola

Friday 12 May marks

International Nurses' Day, which is celebrated every year on 12 May, the anniversary of Florence Nightingale's birth.

This year, we are celebrating our midwives, health care support workers and allied health professionals (AHPs) on the same day too.

This gives us the opportunity to highlight the contribution of all our professions and reflect on the vital care that

they provide. We are keen to celebrate and shine the spotlight on our amazing nurses, midwives, health

care support workers and AHPs who are committed to delivering high quality care every day.

A huge thank you to all for your care, compassion and skill over the last year, which has been particularly busy and challenging with an increasing demand for our services.

You can read more about the activities taking place on AlexNet >

New director of midwifery and gynaecology appointed

We are pleased to share that Linda Machakaire (pictured, right) has been appointed as our new director of midwifery and gynaecology following a competitive recruitment process.

Linda joins us from the Homerton Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, where she has held head of midwifery and director of midwifery roles since 2019. She has also held several senior roles and has extensive experience working collaboratively with multiprofessional/agency providers at sector and regional level (in London). She is passionate about individualised care, equity of services and development of people.

Linda said: "I am delighted to have been appointed as director of midwifery and gynaecology at PAHT. I look forward to working alongside my new colleagues to deliver and maintain high quality and safe midwifery and nursing care, ensuring positive experiences for those who use our services."

Thank you to Joanna Keable, who will take on the role of interim director of midwifery and gynaecology, until Linda joins us this summer.

Our thanks also to Giuseppe Labriola, our former director of midwifery and gynaecology, for your hard work and commitment to those services.

We look forward to working with you in your role as deputy chief nurse.

Dedicated teams at local hospital shortlisted for multiple prestigious awards

Dedicated teams at PAHT have been shortlisted for multiple prestigious awards.

The radiology team, who provide a wide range of imaging services across the hospital, were the first to receive their nomination as part of this year’s award season.

The team have been shortlisted for both the Digital Team of the Year Award and Digital Clinical Safety Award categories as part of the Health Service Journal (HSJ) Awards 2023 for introducing a number of service improvements.

The team were the first in the region to successfully implement an application called MedCurrent Clinical Decisions Support (CDS) iRefer, which supports clinical decisionmaking for all diagnostic test referrals.

Further improvements include going paperless by introducing a new workflow system and removing paper questionnaires for patients, integrating systems to allow efficient reporting and workflow processes, and moving to artificial intelligence (AI) modules for CT chest analysis, which significantly reduces reporting time for critical scans and increases the accuracy of the assessment.

The team has also moved to using voice recognition software so that secretaries no longer have to type out voice recordings, which has reduced delays in publishing reports.

In addition, the introduction of the new medical photography system has helped to save time and improve patient safety.

To build upon the award nomination success at PAHT, the communications team has been shortlisted for two leading industry awards.

The team support and facilitate the delivery of professional corporate communications to audiences ranging from patients and visitors, people who work at the hospital and to the media and stakeholders.

Last year, the team introduced a new publication, Our Journal, which is written by clinical people, for clinical people, and has been shortlisted in the category of Best Publication at the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) Excellence Awards 2023.

The publication, available both online and in print, aims to further engage and celebrate clinical colleagues, align with the trust’s organisational strategy, raise the profile of PAHT as being a provider of quality care and expertise, highlight successful transformation and recognise clinical expertise and achievements.

To date, the publication has received fantastic feedback from clinical colleagues and has become an established channel for sharing the latest achievements and updates at PAHT.

The communications team have also been shortlisted in the category of In-House PR Team of the Year, for their creativity, responsiveness and the dynamic way in which they have developed the service for people, patients, their families and friends and stakeholders.

A member of the executive team has also been shortlisted for an HSJ Award, under the category of Digital Leader of the Year.

Phil Holland, chief information officer, has been shortlisted in recognition of his role in driving forward the digital strategy and new hospital digital strategy, which has also been adopted

by the national New Hospital Programme.

Lance McCarthy, chief executive, said: “I am delighted to see our radiology team, communications team and Phil shortlisted for these accolades – it reflects their dedication and passion.

“They work so hard behind the scenes to deliver seamless and effective services for our patients, visitors and people. They should all be extremely proud of this fantastic achievement.

“The best of luck for the finals and thank you for all that you do.”

Dying Matters - and the work place is no exception...

This week is Dying Matters Awareness Week (8-14 May) and focuses on the theme of Dying Matters at work.

Stigma around grieving and a lack of understanding about what it means to be ill and what happens when you're dying, means that many of us struggle to cope when faced with these challenges. And the workplace is no exception.

We spend so much of our lives at work and it is difficult to hide our personal experiences. As part of Dying Matters Awareness Week, we're aiming to create an open and compassionate environment where our people feel comfortable to openly talk about dying, death and grief.

By talking to those around you, you can help to support people who are ill, people who are caring for others, or who have lost someone close to them.

To mark the week, the specialist palliative care team have organised the following activities:

y Recognising and celebrating compassionate colleagues: A special awards programme to recognise our people who have supported a colleague, a patient or a patient's relative throughout a difficult time, or has gone the extra mile for others

y Grave Talk session: To discuss issues related to death and dying

y Introducing end of life care trolleys: Throughout the week, care trolleys will

be introduced to each ward area

y Supporting our patients - information stand and sharing tree: about how we support each other around difficult times and promote wellbeing

y Remembering our loved ones: The sanctuary will be open for all our people who may wish to take time to remember someone they have lost

y Take part in the Dying Matters quiz

You can read more on AlexNet >

Patient at home team transfer to Essex Partnership University NHS Trust as part of new Virtual Hospital

As you will know, the Virtual Hospital service is centred around health and social partners working more closely together to ensure patients who live in Hertfordshire and West Essex receive holistic care that is tailored to their individual needs.

The Virtual Hospital service teams work closely with the Care Coordination Centre (CCC) and Integrated Neighbourhood Teams to:

y Help people stay well at home so they do not need to go into hospital in the first place

y Help them stay independent and to recover faster

y Ensure people who do not need to stay in hospital can be cared for safely at home, if their condition and individual circumstances mean the Virtual Hospital is a suitable option for them

To support with the development and progression of the service, the patient at home team have now transitioned to being managed by the Essex Partnership University NHS Trust (EPUT), who play a key role in delivering the Virtual Hospital service and work closely with the CCC.

To refer a patient who lives in Hertfordshire or West Essex

y Refer via the Virtual Hospital form available on AlexNet >

y Refer via the dedicated hotline for professionals: 07581 013636 (between 8am-8pm, seven days a week)

y Refer via email at: epunft. virtualhospital@nhs.net

Important notes

y Patients cannot be directly referred to the patient at home service anymore, they should be referred to the Virtual Hospital service

y Patients who live in Hertfordshire can also be referred to the Hertfordshire Community Trust (HCT) – full details are available on the referral processes AlexNet page, under virtual hospital referrals >

You can refer to the your questions answered document, patient journey and patient story to find out more about the service. You can also read more here >

Opportunity for our non-medical educators to receive LGBTQ+ awareness training

Our clinical educational lead: non-medical, with the support of the equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) team, have secured 50 places for non-medical educators to receive LGBTQ+ awareness training. To be eligible, you must be directly educating

students, supervising trainees and newly registered staff, working in allied health professions (AHPs), health sciences, midwifery, nursing or the pharmacy professions. You can read more on AlexNet here >

Our clinical column: Be bowel cancer aware

April was Bowel Cancer Awareness Month, an opportunity to focus on prevention and early treatment of the disease.

Bowel cancer is cancer found anywhere in the large bowel, which includes the colon and rectum. It's one of the most common types of cancer in the UK. The large bowel is part of your digestive system. It helps absorb water from your food and removes food waste from your body.

Bowel cancer screening can save lives. Screening aims to detect bowel cancer at an early stage, when treatment has the best chance of working. The test can also find polyps (non-cancerous growths), which might develop into cancer. Polyps can usually be removed, to lower the risk of bowel cancer. Each of the bowel cancer screening programmes in the UK use home tests called the Faecal Immunochemical Test (FIT). FIT looks for hidden blood in poo. If you're registered with a GP and within the eligible screening age range, a test will be automatically posted to you, so you can complete it in the privacy of your own home. In England, the NHS is gradually reducing the age range for bowel screening, phased in from 2021 over four years to include people aged 50-59.

Symptoms of bowel cancer may include:

y changes in your poo, such as having softer poo, diarrhoea or constipation that is not usual for you

y needing to poo more or less often than usual for you

y blood in your poo, which may look red or black

y bleeding from your bottom

y often feeling like you need to poo, even if you've just been to the toilet

y tummy pain

y bloating

y losing weight without trying

y feeling very tired for no reason

y see a GP if you have any of these symptoms for three weeks or more.

Ask for an urgent GP appointment or get help from NHS 111 if:

y your poo is black or dark red

y you have bloody diarrhoea

y You can call 111 or get help from 111 online

Go to A&E or call 999 if:

y you're bleeding non-stop from your bottom

y there's a lot of blood, for example, the toilet water turns red or you see large blood clots

Some of the symptoms of bowel cancer are very common and can be caused by other conditions. Having the symptoms does not definitely mean you have bowel cancer, but it's important to get checked by a GP.

If your symptoms are caused by cancer, finding it early may mean it's easier to treat.

For more information about bowel cancer, please visit www.nhs.uk

Best wishes

Joanne Kellaway Colorectal clinical nurse specialist

Deepa Cruz Colorectal clinical nurse specialist

Sarojini Jayaprakash Colorectal clinical nurse specialist

Mr Vernon Sivarajah Consultant colorectal and general surgeon

Useful resources

y NHS - bowel cancer symptoms - how to spot the warning signs

y NHS - how to use the bowel cancer screening FIT kit

y NHS - bowel cancer screening

Egg-citing surprise at local hospital as Greater Anglia deliver treats to young people

Young patients here at PAHT got an egg-citing Easter surprise on 5 April when local train operator, Greater Anglia, delivered more than 380 Easter eggs and activity kits to the children’s ward and paediatric emergency department (ED).

The annual initiative, now in its fourth year, is organised by Greater Anglia’s relief ticket office clerk at Sawbridgeworth and Stansted Mountfitchet, Michael King.

Posters were displayed in February at Bishop’s Stortford, Harlow Mill, Harlow Town, Stansted Mountfitchet and Sawbridgeworth train stations asking for train users to donate Easter eggs or other treats for the children’s ward.

When making the special delivery, Michael said: “Our customers and staff at Greater Anglia are always very eager to help wherever they can for such a good cause – the past few weeks have been absolutely amazing, seeing the eggs piling up at our ticket offices ready for delivery.

“I’m so glad the eggs and other treats should hopefully put a smile on unwell children’s faces to make their Easter and weeks beyond a little happier.”

Helen Weaving, children’s ward (Dolphin Ward) manager, said: “There is a lot of time and effort that goes into organising this collection - a very big thank you to Michael and the rest of the Greater Anglia team.

“The delivery certainly brightened the day for young people in our care on Dolphin Ward and at our children’s emergency department.

“There are too many to eat in one day, so we will be keeping them safe and handing them out to young people in our care over the coming weeks to give them an extra Easter treat.”

Ogechi Emeadi, director of people, organisational development and communications, said: “On behalf of The Princess Alexandra Hospital’s Charity, I want to say a heartfelt thank you to Michael and the Greater Anglia team for all their efforts to yet again run this thoughtful initiative.

“I know the young people in our care, and our people working on the wards, are extremely grateful for the donations, which have been very well-received.”

Pictured: The Greater Anglia team presenting the Easter donations to the PAHT team.

Divisional update: medicine

"In February, we welcomed six overseas specialty trainees, years 1-2 (ST1-2), and two registrars to medicine. The medicine directorate two team (elderly medicine, end of life and palliative care, frailty and inpatient ward, orthogeriatric services and the resilience service) set up a PAHT Social and Support Group to help welcome our new overseas people. One of our existing geriatric consultants and junior doctors have helped set up and maintain this group for other newly joined overseas doctors within medicine, however it is also open to all across the division. They arrange monthly meet ups, with social activities such as walks, bowling, meals and welcome new overseas joiners from all specialities. It’s an opportunity to talk and enjoy social time away from work to improve wellbeing and combat some of the difficulties of arriving in a new country and organisation. They have just welcomed in one of the new anaesthetic joiners from surgery and critical care too. This group will really help to settle the new doctors into the trust and the region, giving them a much needed feeling of community and belonging that the teams noticed previous cohorts really missed. In medicine we really value our teams and we want them to feel they belong and want to remain with us at PAHT. We are really proud of the team for initiating this.

"In March, we also saw the successful re-launch of the Older Person's Assessment and Liaison (OPAL) Unit, which had been utilised over the winter pressure months as an escalation area for bedded patients and had impacted the intended function. With the support of the site management team, we were able to ring-fence our six assessment spaces that are used for patients over 75 who meet the OPAL criteria, that attend our emergency department (ED) via GP referral, ambulance arrivals or walk in to ED. The OPAL team can now focus daily on supporting flow in ED and providing our older patients who arrive with the holistic care they require to return home with support, rather than remaining in hospital and being admitted into a ward bed. Thank you to everyone involved."

Best wishes

The medicine divisional management team

Our patients said...

"Thank you all for the care and attention you gave my husband during the short time he was in your care on Harold Ward.

"It was so appreciated by me and his family at such a sad time. You all made it a little more bearable."

"I would like to express how impressive and efficiently run the fracture clinic is. It made a stressful appointment much easier and smoother for me as a patient. Thank you to every single person involved in my care."

"I felt I needed to send this message in great praise for the hospital. I had to attend the emergency department and later I was transferred to the Same Day Emergency Care Unit. From my arrival up until my discharge, the staff were exemplary and highly professional and caring. I didn’t see one unhappy face and it was extremely busy.

"The hospital was spotless and during my brief stay I noticed the area where I was treated being kept clean. It was very reassuring."

Wise about wellbeing...

While you are caring for our patients, or supporting those who provide care, it is extremely important to remember to focus on your wellbeing and to check in with your colleagues too.

There are a wide variety of resources available to you to support your health and wellbeing. Each month, we share practical information and tips as part of our wise about wellbeing feature.

This month, we are focusing on a forthcoming Schwartz Round, "Race equality: Let's talk about it".

Held on Tuesday 30 May, the round will start at 12:15pm and finish around 1.15pm. A light lunch will be served after the round for those able to stay.

Open to all and no need to book, please just come along on the day. Please note that the discussions are confidential.

If you have any questions, or would like to join the panel to share your experiences, please contact the Schwartz Round team at paht.schwartzround@nhs.net or call x 7015.

Continuing professional development

• Attending the Schwartz Round qualifies for one hour of continuing professional development (CPD)

• To arrange your certificate of attendance, please email the Schwartz Round team at paht.schwartzround@nhs.net in advance

Thank you to all involved.

You can access details of the full range of health and wellbeing resources on the staff health and wellbeing workspace on AlexNet >

Celebrating National Cancer Clinical Nurse Specialist Day

We were proud to celebrate National Cancer Clinical Nurse Specialist Day on 26 April.

We held an InTouch briefing with Joanne Kellaway, colorectal cancer clinical nurse specialist, about the role of cancer clinical nurse specialists and the wide range of support that they provide to our patients, from diagnosis, treatment, to

living with cancer and beyond. We have 30 clinical nurse specialists at PAHT who care for adult

Welcome to our new #PAHTPeople

In the last month, 44 new #PAHTPeople have joined us:

Samantha Aitken

Ayooluwa Akinbile

Iiris All

Ellis Barnard

Shinos Basheer

Joanne Benton

Chloe Boosey

Victoria Buckingham

Karen Caldwell

Jose Cyriac

Rizete De Souza Silva

Jomisha Devasia

Richard Pierson

Devasundaram

Jovi Espinosa

Julie Firth

Rebecca Fowle

Jomon George

Karen Hammett

Josephine Hart

Chanell Ismail

Georgie Jones

Rajdeep Kaur

Ethan Kelly

Doris Lancey

Vengateshwari

Loganathan

Krupa Sruthi Mani

Helen Mckellar

Selina Miebaka

Arun Narithokkiyil

Kunjappan

patients with tumours, including colorectal, upper gastrointestinal (GI), lung, head and neck, gynaecological, haematology, urology, acute oncology, dermatology and breast cancers.

It was fantastic to shine the spotlight on the invaluable support they provide to our patients with cancer.

Samantha Ngan

Abbie O'Connor

Grace Oluwabusayo

Emma Parker

Priya Patel

Sneha Patric

Jenna Peacock

Dona Peter

Shilpa Rooj

Ashleigh Sinden

Dominic Steingold

Beena Suresh Paul

Benjamin Uddin

Ashley Varughese

Maria Wheeler

In this time, 65 people have left PAHT - thank you for supporting our patients and our people.