August - September 2024
InTouch
Alex Health
Annual General Meeting (AGM)
New parking arrangements
Accolades for our people
Pharmacist dedicates 40 years
Patient Panel seeks community views
Our patients said...
Welcome to InTouch magazine – your insight into the latest news and updates from across PAHT. This is my first foreword in my role as interim chief executive.
In this edition, you can read the latest update on our new electronic health record (EHR), Alex Health, as we approach the go live of our integrated digital record of patient care on 2-3 November 2024 (p.3-5). We also cover our Annual General Meeting (AGM), which took place on 12 September, with more details on p.6.
We share information to guide you on the triple lock process (p.6), followed by an important update on car parking arrangements for our people and how to apply for a permit (p.7).
Additionally, we are delighted to celebrate our colleagues in this edition, including Dr Monica Bose on her appointment to a prestigious national role (p.8); and our IT team on receiving an award in recognition of their work on digital automation (p.9-10).
Other highlights include a generous donation to The Princess Alexandra Hospital Charity from a fundraising event to say thank you for the care received (p.10); marking a long-serving colleague’s achievements across the years (p.11); and the Patient Panel’s latest work to seek views on patient care and experiences from the local community (p.12).
You can also read the latest feedback from our patients (p.13); wellbeing tips (p.14), and much 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.
Best wishes
Sharon McNally Interim chief executive
Alex Health update
Prioritise your training
We need a final push to make sure everyone gets through their training. Here’s a quick reminder of what you need to do.
Before training:
• Ask your manager to book your training
• Complete the mandatory Data Security Training on TiMs
• Register on Digital Learning System (DLS) in order to complete assessments
• Register for your smartcard (so you’re ready to use Alex Health at go-live)
During training:
• Arrive in good time for each training session
• Clinicians must attend Dr IP or Dr Op before EPMA
• Attend each session in the correct order (1 then 2 then 3)
• Managers to cancel any training via the booking system only
Your learning journey
There are many ways to support your training and many of these will be available to you during and after go-live. These will include Alex Health Navigators – PAHT colleagues who aren’t our Alex Health trainers but have been trained to provide on hand support to you as you start using the system.
Please see the learning journey for more information on the support available and what you can expect over the coming months (below).
For further information on training, please visit our AlexNet page.
Getting ready for go-live
There are a number of important stages we’re working on to get us ready for go-live on 2-3 November 2024.
Cutover planning is underway. This is when our legacy systems (e.g. Cosmic) have been switched off and Alex Health has not yet been switched on.
Cutover is meticulously planned and will require keeping paper records to track patient data.
Downtime procedures will be used as part of the cutover plan, which is then rehearsed during our full dress rehearsal (FDR)
FDR is our final big test before go-live, taking place on 23 September 2024 - 5 October 2024 During FDR we will practice all the steps needed to take existing systems down and launch Alex Health whilst ensuring we can safely manage our clinical caseload.
Cutover activities start on 23 October 2024, with downtime scheduled for 31 October 2024 – 2-3 November 2024. More information on what this means for you will follow soon.
Your access fair: what is it?
Your access fair runs from 15-25 October. The fair is vital in helping you get ready for Alex Health as it will:
y make sure you can log on and access the system functions using your smartcard, so you can do your job at go-live
y make sure your first use of Alex Health is productive, efficient and user-friendly through system personalisation
More details on locations and what you need to do during Your access fair will be available soon, please save the dates
Dates for the diary
y User training > 12 August - Go-live
y Tech dress rehearsal > 5 - 20 September
y Ops dress rehearsal > 23 September - 5 October
y Your access fair > 15 - 25 October
y Cutover (downtime) > 31 October - 2-3 November
y Go-live > 2-3 November
Weekly messages
Every week we share messages about Alex Health and where we are in the journey to go-live. Everyone should be receiving these whether that’s via your manager, all user emails, the This is Us briefing or via the Alex Health team, including our ambassadors. The messages are also on AlexNet here. If you’re not receiving the messages or have any feedback on what you would like them to contain, please let us know.
How can I find out more?
More information about Alex Health and everything you need to know about the programme is on the Alex Health AlexNet workspace here or read our Alex Health your questions answered on AlexNet here. Thanks again to everyone who has worked really hard to support Alex Health so far – this is one of the biggest transformation projects PAHT has ever seen and you are making it happen.
Thank you for joining our virtual Annual General Meeting (AGM)
We invited our people and members of the public to join our Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Thursday 12 September, streamed via Microsoft Teams.
Thank you to all - we saw great attendance at the event.
The AGM was an opportunity to reflect on achievements and challenges of the last year and goals for the future.
Hattie Llewelyn-Davies, chair of PAHT, said: “Our community, our patients, our people, and stakeholders were invited to join our AGM to hear more about our commitment to
providing high quality care and experiences for our patients.
“During the AGM, we took people through our operational and financial performance, reported on significant service developments, and shared
how robotic surgery is making a real difference for our patients and people.
“We also welcomed and introduced our new chief executive, Thom Lafferty, who joins us in November.
“Thank you to all who came along to find out more. We were pleased to welcome you to our event.”
You can watch a recording of the AGM using this link >
Triple lock process – your questions answered
We are aware that many of you may have questions about the triple lock process. Triple lock is a set of nationally directed pay and non-pay controls which must be in place and evidenced for all organisations where the system overall is in deficit. This requires certain expenditure over a defined threshold to have the approval of the organisation, the Integrated Care Board (ICB) and NHS England. PAHT is part of a triple lock process as we are part of the Herts and West Essex Integrated Care System and have a deficit financial plan in 2024/25 as a system and an organisation. The aim of triple lock is to demonstrate and provide further grip and control across pay and nonpay expenditure in the system. Please take a look at the your questions answered sheet for full information >
You can access the triple lock non-pay template spreadsheet here >
For further support, please contact Beth Potton, deputy director of finance, at bethany.potton@nhs.net.
Important update: New parking arrangements for our people
We were given formal notice last year (2023) that the Linkway Car Park would close in October 2024, which resulted in a complex and difficult situation to find an alternative solution.
Our car parking steering group (CPSG) have been looking at alternative parking solutions; and have combined this with a review of car parking arrangements as a whole in order to establish a new car parking permit system for all of our people.
The CPSG has successfully secured an alternative solution to the Linkway Car Park and 350 spaces have been secured in Terminus House Car Park, located in the town centre opposite the bus station, and just a short 8-12-minute walk from the main hospital site.
This will continue to be subsidised by PAHT, so we will continue to provide parking at no cost to our people.
We have introduced a new car parking permit system for all of our people, with applications now open >
All of our people are required to re-apply for a new car parking permit by 27 September, which will either be for Terminus House Car Park or the main site, according to the criteria set out in the car parking policy.
The Linkway Car Park will close on Sunday 20 October; with Terminus House Car Park opening to our people from Monday 21 October.
You can read more about the new car parking arrangements and parking permit details on the car parking AlexNet page >
Divisional director appointed to prestigious national role
Dr Monica Bose, divisional director for clinical support services and consultant gastroenterologist at PAHT, has been appointed to a prestigious role with the British Society of Gastroenterology (BSG).
Dr Bose has been appointed as the national deputy chair and quality improvement lead for the clinical services and standards committee (CSSC) of the BSG.
This follows Dr Bose holding the role of the chair of the BSG clinical services and standards committee in the East of England for several years previously.
Dr Bose said: “I am passionate about supporting service development and quality improvement in gastroenterology.
“It is a great honour to be appointed to this national role. It gives me the opportunity to contribute to the national conversation around improving care for patients in gastroenterology.
“I hope to support colleagues in developing and embedding innovative and transformative approaches to service delivery and sharing best practice.”
Dr Fay Gilder, medical director, said: “We are very proud of Monica for this fantastic achievement, which is an opportunity for her to
contribute to the leadership of her specialty on a national platform.
“Well done Monica and thank you for all of your excellent work supporting the care of our patients.”
Hospital IT team scoops second award win for digital automation programme
Our IT digital automation team have received an NDL Software Graphics Limited Community Award 2024 and generous charitable donation in recognition of their commitment to enhance patient care and staff experiences.
NDL are a software and services company who support public sector organisations to uplift, transform and expand technical services through robotic process automation, Apps, electronic forms, workflows and interconnectivity of systems.
The NDL Community Awards are an opportunity to celebrate and recognise the efforts in providing high-quality services for the general public and advances in technology over the last year. This is the second time that the team have been recognised through the awards scheme and follows their first award last year (2023).
Marcel Horst, digital automation programme manager, said: “We are delighted to have received the Driving Value Award for our programme of change that focused on creating over 25 digital solutions for both clinical and non-clinical projects.
“This was achieved through assessing a range of automation opportunities and progressing the projects that were anticipated to provide maximum benefit for our patients and people. The delivered projects include introducing robotic process and workflow automation, building electronic forms, introducing artificial intelligence and streamlining system integration, to name a few.
“The projects have allowed us to release time back to our clinicians so that they can continue to focus on patient care and improve experiences for our patients.
“As part of our award win, we
received £1,000 to donate to a charity of our choice. As a team, we decided to donate the funds to our Princess Alexandra Hospital Charity, which aims to enhance patient care, purchase special equipment, improve facilities and invest in vital research that supports patients now and into the future.”
Phil Holland, chief information officer, said: “Congratulations to the team on their second award win. They work tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure that changes to the way we work are seamless and effective.
“Automated processes play a pivotal role in transforming
the care and experiences we provide. Not only have these projects delivered significant time and resource savings, they are also supporting us to
achieve our digital strategy.
“The team are working in collaboration with other hospitals to support them in
Generous donation from fundraising event to say thank you for care
The Princess Alexandra Hospital Charity has received a generous donation of more than £11,000 for the Critical Care Unit from a family who are “eternally grateful” for the care provided.
This follows a fundraising and awareness event for the Critical Care Unit that focused on sepsis, a life-threatening infection of the blood stream. Paul Barnett, 64, from Hertford, was admitted to The Princess Alexandra Hospital Trust (PAHT) in July 2022 and was treated on the Critical Care Unit after he was diagnosed with sepsis.
Paul and his wife Amanda were so grateful for the compassion and support, not only given to Paul as a patient, but to the wider family too, that they wanted to give something back. They spoke to their friends Adam and Karen Robinson who run The White Lion Public House in Hertford and on 10 February they hosted a fundraising event at the pub to raise awareness about sepsis and raise money for the Critical Care Unit at PAHT.
The community really rallied around, with a wide range
replicating our success. Well done to all involved.”
of generous gifts donated to the auction, including: VIP tickets to music concerts and Goodwood Revival; two collectible guitars; dog walking and sitting vouchers; art work from local artists; Tottenham Hotspur tickets; season tickets to Hertford Town Football Club; a holiday to Sandbanks in Poole, Dorset; boxing lessons; a beach hut day; pony rides; Ray Ban sunglasses and shirts signed by sports stars Ricky Villa and Nasser Hussain. There were live music performances too, including a special appearance by Paul and his band The Wayward Sons.
Paul said: “I will be eternally grateful for the care and attention I received at PAHT and I am also thankful for the compassion shown to Amanda and the rest of my family.
“We started this process hoping to raise a few thousand pounds and are absolutely delighted that the final total was £11,056.19. We can’t thank all of our family and friends that supported the event enough. We hope our efforts will also help to raise awareness about sepsis and the signs and symptoms to look out for as this can be the difference between life and death.”
Tom Burton, finance director, said: “We are delighted to receive this extremely generous donation to The Princess Alexandra Hospital Charity for the Critical Care Unit.
“Our colleagues in critical care put our patients at the heart of all they do and they are very
touched that Paul, his wife Amanda and their family and friends have gone to such great efforts to raise these funds for the unit, which will be put to very good use. I would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to them all.”
For further information about sepsis, visit the NHS website
using this link here >
Pharmacist dedicates 40 years to PAHT and enhancing patient care
Congratulations to Brian Rayner, senior medicine information pharmacist (pictured), who recently celebrated his 40-year anniversary of working at PAHT.
Brian joined our pharmacy department in August 1984 as a pre-registration pharmacist and after completing 12 months of training, he was appointed as a basic grade pharmacist.
During this time, Brian worked in the pharmacy dispensary, on the wards as a clinical pharmacist, in aseptic services, quality control and even worked in the dispensaries at St. Margaret’s Hospital (Epping) and Herts and Essex Hospital (Bishop’s Stortford) whilst they were still open.
In July 1989, Brian was appointed to the role of medicines information pharmacist, which he has been proudly doing ever since. Reflecting on his 40 years of service, Brian said: “I have witnessed a number
of changes, not least a vast expansion of the hospital in terms of the range and efficiency of services provided, but the local population has expanded tremendously and we are treating many more patients than we did back in 1984.
“I have also seen changes in organisational structure and ways of working too. In 2004, the automated dispensing device (dispensing robot) was installed in the pharmacy dispensary and in 2017-18, we moved over from paper prescriptions to electronic prescribing. I have seen many personnel come and go and despite all of these changes what has remained constant throughout is the
teamwork, professionalism and outstanding commitment from our people, who strive to provide high quality care and experiences for our patients and the local community.
“I have been very fortunate in being giving the opportunity to not only provide medicines information at PAHT but also to improve and expand on the service provided. Information technology has improved beyond all recognition in the last 40 years and medicines information has embraced these changes to provide a timely, efficient service in its response to enquiries from all healthcare professionals and patients too. There is a lot more pharmaceutical and healthcare information available now in comparison to when I started working here, but what has not changed is the need to use knowledge and experience to interpret and evaluate this information in order to provide professional advice and opinion.
“I thoroughly enjoy working at PAHT because of the teamwork, mutual respect
and support for each other and the friendly atmosphere amongst staff both within and outside pharmacy. To be regularly approached to provide medicines information and advice is challenging in terms of interpretation, searching out the resources for the latest information and providing a response within
a deadline but at the same time is extremely rewarding in knowing that I have contributed in some way, no matter how big or small, in improving the health of patients within the hospital.
“There have been many standout moments for me since I started working at
PAHT but what I value the most is the respect shown towards me, the reputation that the medicines information department has built up over the years and the gratitude and thanks I have received. Thank you to all I have worked with over the last 40 years.”
Patient Panel seek views on patient care and experiences from the local community
The Patient Panel have recently met with the local community to seek their views on the services and care we offer at The Princess Alexandra Hospital, St Margaret’s Hospital and Herts and Essex Hospital.
The award-winning Patient Panel are a group of dedicated volunteers who work tirelessly to represent the voice of patients and people who use the hospital services, with the aim to improve experiences for patients in the future.
Ann Nutt, chair of the Patient Panel, said: “Our team gathered at a local shopping centre and instantly started to engage with shoppers passing by, who represented a diverse cross-section of people.
“We were pleased to receive a high volume of praise about the services we provide and people compared us to much larger and specialist hospitals across the region.
“Others commented that there are slightly longer wait times for specific services, however noted that there are plans to address these concerns.
“Most people praised and thanked our colleagues for their hard work and dedication in challenging circumstances.
“Thank you to those who took the time to share their feedback and to our colleagues who attended on the day to support.”
Sharon McNally, interim chief executive, said: “Thank you to everyone who shared their thoughts – your valuable thoughts will help to shape improvements to our services.
“The Patient Panel will also share this feedback at a forward planning meeting with key leads across the NHS and wider stakeholders."
For more information, please contact Ann Nutt, chair of the Patient Panel, at ann.nutt@ nhs.net
Our patients said...
"My sister was taken to The Princess Alexandra Hospital A&E department. The staff in all departments were excellent. They were very understanding and did their jobs in a very professional manner."
"Due to my mobile signal, I got cut off when calling switchboard. I was so grateful when the operator called me back. She was super professional, friendly and extremely helpful. Thank you so much."
"I turned up with excruciating pain. The nurse at the desk was very empathetic and gave me pain relief as quickly as possible which helped settle me down in the waiting room.
"The doctor was so caring as well. Then I went to Kingsmoor Ward, who listened to me, gave me medication quickly and answered my many questions about what was going on. A really traumatic experience was made easier by the human empathy shown."
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 Know Your Numbers! Week, from 2-8 September. It is the UK's biggest blood pressure testing and awareness event during which blood pressure checks are taken by thousands to prevent heart attacks and strokes. The aim of the campaign is to reach people who don’t know they have high blood pressure, so that they can get the treatment and support they need to bring it under control.
To support Know Your Numbers! Week, our staff health and wellbeing (SHaW) team are offering health checks to all of our people, including students and volunteers. The health check takes about 30 minutes and includes:
• Simple questions - for example, about your family history and choices which may put your health at risk
• A recording of your height, weight, BMI, age, sex, and ethnicity
• A blood pressure check
• A simple finger prick blood test to check your cholesterol level
Health checks are run throughout the year with appointments available from Tuesday to Friday. They are usually held at the main hospital site (in Narvik House, building 11). To book a health check, contact the SHaW team at tpa-tr.shaw@nhs.net or call x 7015.
If you work at another location (Herts and Essex Hospital, St Margaret’s Hospital, Coldharbour or Kao Park) and there are more than five people who wish to have a health check, please contact the SHaW team to make suitable arrangements.
You can access details of the full range of health and wellbeing resources on the staff health and wellbeing workspace on AlexNet >
Welcome to our new #PAHTPeople
In the last month, 141 new #PAHTPeople have joined us:
Shiva Abolzadeh
Amanulla Abul
Hassan
William Adeboye
Olusola Adeyemi
Vinisha Agrawal
Ifeoluwa Ajayi
Oluwaseun
Akinniranye
Nadia Akther
Mahmoud Ali
Christeena
Aneesh
Bekim Arifaj
Candice
Asantewaa
Muhammad
Aubdool
Abdullahi Awil
Eniola Bada
Alokya
Balagamage
Jaskeerat Bamrah
Anisa Bangura
Manpreet Bassi
Mark Bateman
Erica Bates
Sevgi Bayar
Veronika Broodi
Putri Brown
Paul Brown
Cyril Camel
Ned Carter
Sarah Chan
William Chataway
Sheema Chaudhry
Chidimma
Chinyere
Andrzej Ciezak
Laurence Clarke
Kelsie Coates
Caroline Cook
Alexandra Dan
Zilan Deniz
Adnan Digaswala
Akshay Doshi
Jhon Duterte
Amy Easthope
Florence
Eastwood
Lucy Edgar
Milson Evans
Maxine Feldman
Kim
Fondoulakos
Arthur Foster
Anastasia
Goryanin
Richard Gower
Nima Gurung
Mohamed Habad
Hamza Hamid
Karen Harris
Omer Hassan
Rishni Heldt
Lukas Helfinger
Joanna Hood
Erni Hoti
Ahmed Hussein
Samuel
Imarhiagbe
Mashael Ishaque
Suja
Jagadeesan
Charlotte
James-Pajwani
Shantel Joseph
Vidthya Kadirrajah
Sheng Kan
Rishikesh Karia
Mohammad Khan
Saneaah Khan
Kiran Khan
Wan Ko
Adokorach
Komakech
Diyar Konur
Anita Landa
Lauren Linton
Bryan Loh
Hadeeqa
Mahmood
Saleha Malek
Sajiban
Manoharan
Duaa Maqbool
Peta Masters
Peter Matthews
Melissa McCall
Guray Mehmet
Hannah Milne
Sejal Modasia
Emily Mullally
Farukh Munshi
Kyaw Myint
Mary Nakato
Neil Narayan
Hassans Nayar
Maya Nazer
Joshua Neil-Boss
Larissa
Nguembou
Tchoungang
Tina Nguyen
Cameron Niven
Khalid Nuh
Maame Adwoa
Nyantakyi
Mustafa Ozbaran
Eleanor Pace
Alicia Pardo
Rodriguez
Pramesh Patel
Oluwaseun
Peters
Renato Pignatari
Muhammad
Rahman
Yuma Rai
Jincy Raju
Alice Rose
Shwetha
Sajeev
Saneej Samuel
Thibojini
Sathiyavelle
Naeem Shah
Abdullah Shakeel
Rishi Sharma
Muhammed
Sheikh
Wan Ru Shue
Julie Smith
Premawtee
Sookun
Stephanie Soosaipillai
Sudeesh Kumar
Sreedharan
Michael
Stephanou
Natalie Tarrant
Robert Taylor
Kush Thakaria
Aaditya Tiwari
Varunaen
Udayachandran
Richard Ulliott
Dara Vakili
Ana-Mariya
Vasileva
Subramanian
Venkatesan
Gokulan
Vethanayakam
Karen Vinton
Yolanda Walker
Katy-Louise
Whelan
Rohin Wong
Suk Wong
Sue Yan
Ahmad Yassin
Kassab
Abigail Zeitlin
Vivian Zenebo
In this time, 124 people have left PAHT - thank you for supporting our patients and our people.