InTouch magazine - March - April 2022 by communicationsPAHT

March - April 2022

InTouch

This is Us Week 2022 The Alex Lounge Charity update

Foreword 2

Welcome to InTouch magazine

This is Us Week 2022 Proudest moments

The Alex Lounge The Alex learning, education and development centre Everything equality, diversity and inclusion...

Charity update

New project management system

Onboarding

Freedom to Speak Up Guardians

Our quality and patient safety strategy

Our patients said...

Divisional update

Wise about wellbeing...

#PAHTPeople

Welcome to InTouch magazine – your insight into the latest news and updates from across PAHT. We have seen an extremely high demand for the services of our emergency department (ED) and across the hospital recently. Thank you for your amazing support in managing patient flow and ensuring patient safety. Please remember to look out for yourselves and each other, with details of the health and wellbeing support available on AlexNet. We are delighted to have welcomed you to the new Alex Lounge this month. Located at The Princess Alexandra Hospital, next to the Alexandra restaurant, it is a hub for you to meet colleagues and relax together, to take some time out for yourself, or to join one of the health and wellbeing sessions. Thank you to everyone involved. You can read more on p.4. We have also announced a brand new engagement event for all of you - This is Us Week 2022. The Event in a tent annual event is being folded up to make way for This is Us Week, which will take place from 27 June – 2 July. Save the dates and look out for more information coming soon. This edition also includes the latest on the Alex learning, education and development centre, part of our commitment to support the development and health and wellbeing of our people. You can read about our focus on equality, diversity and inclusion on p.5; our new, modern project management system on p.8; and a feature on our Freedom to Speak Up Guardians on p.10. You can find out more about our charity; wellbeing tips; and much more too. 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

Hello. Goodbye. Hello and welcome to our brand new engagement event for all of you - This is Us Week 2022. Goodbye and thank you to our Event in a tent annual event, which is being folded up to make way for This is Us Week. This is Us Week 2022 will:  Take place over six days: 27 June to 2 July (Monday to Saturday) and will be the last week of June every year from now  Be open to all – make sure you don’t miss out  Have sessions at Princess Alexandra; Herts and Essex and St Margaret’s Hospitals and Kao Park  Offer an exciting mix of sessions, activities, learning and fun  Celebrate our new annual This is Us Awards and our Long Service Awards  and so much more… Save the dates and stay tuned for more information coming soon.

Share your good news with us We are keen to share your good news and celebrate our amazing PAHT people. Please share your proudest moments with us at paht. communications@nhs.net.

The Alex Lounge is here...

y Our fantastic new Alex Lounge y is now open for our people. We celebrated the official opening of the lounge on 17 March, with Lance McCarthy, chief executive, and Hattie Llewelyn-Davies, chair. y y The Alex Lounge, next to the Alexandra restaurant (location A21) at The Princess y Alexandra Hospital, is a hub y for you to meet colleagues and relax together, to take some time out for yourself, or to join one of the health and

wellbeing sessions. Open to all and free of charge, the new space is a bright, modern area and has been funded in response to your feedback about how important a new staff area is to support your health and wellbeing. We hope that you enjoy this space.

If you haven't had an opportunity to visit the Alex y Lounge yet, you can watch y hear your colleagues' first our video that showcases our impressions here > fantastic new facility and

Your learning starts here

Alex learning, education and development centre Our fantastic Alex learning, education and development centre is soon to be unveiled for our people. Open to all, the facility consists of a new library, lecture theatre, training rooms, a clinical skills room, a resuscitation training room, a simulation suite, IT training room, and a manual handling training room. The centre is adjacent to The Princess Alexandra Hospital main entrance. The new facility will house the teams below: y Clinical skills and simulation y IT training y Learning and organisational development y Library y Medical education y Resuscitation training y Your questions answered What are the opening hours? The centre is open from Monday-Friday, 8am-5pm, and at weekends by special arrangement.

What are the library opening hours? You can access the new library from Monday to Friday, 8:30am4:30pm and library members can access the new facility 24 hours a day, seven days a week, using their swipe access card. Do I need another access card to enter the centre? No, your PAHT access card will allow you to access the centre. Who can I contact if my access card does not work? Please email paht. carparkingandsecurity@nhs. net. Can I use the centre for meetings? The rooms are for teaching, training and educational sessions and are not suitable venues for meetings. We recommend that the Kao Park rooms are used for meetings. How do I get to the centre?

The centre is located opposite The Princess Alexandra Hospital main entrance, through the Hamstel Road entrance. Is food allowed in the centre? Food is generally not allowed within the training rooms and open areas of the building. Exceptions include one-day events when food is provided from external caterers. On these occasions, food and drink must be limited to the kitchen area. The organiser of the event is responsible for clearing up after the food and drinks are served. Who do I contact if I have additional questions? If you have any further questions, please email paht. alexledbookings@nhs.net. You can read more about our new facility, how to book a training room and more, on our dedicated AlexNet page. 4

Everything equality, diversity and inclusion... "This month’s theme is about our race for equality and is a great opportunity to celebrate the richness of our diversity. Our wonderful mix of people and cultures – BAME, white, disabled, non-disabled, LGBT+ – is just one of the reasons that I chose to work here and is key to our brilliant patient care. I feel passionately about diversity and inclusion, so I look for opportunities to create an effortlessly inclusive environment. It is not enough to simply say that you are inclusive – being inclusive is about the action that you take. "I have noticed that sometimes exclusion is unintentional and subtle. It can be as simple as the language we use, the issues we talk about at work and the people we spend time with. It takes discipline and personal accountability to make sure we are being inclusive. These actions send signals that everyone can be their whole selves at work. It is everyone’s responsibility to create an inclusive environment. Inclusion is simple – it involves everyone, every day. It is about respect and treating people fairly. Spend some time thinking about the culture you are creating within your team. The little things matter. "Have you ever thought about who you spend time with? Who gets regular one-toone meetings and who is more often ‘bumped’ to next month? Who have you had coffee with this month? Is there a pattern and, as a result, are there individuals or even groups of people who you hear from less often? These simple self-reflective questions can be very powerful and can help you develop more inclusive behaviours. Is there more that we can do? Absolutely. Are we committed to diversity? Without a doubt. Here are some of the activities you can get involved in this month: y • #EqualityMatters – making sure staff know that it’s ok to talk about any equality issues and who to speak to should they have any concerns - contact monika. kalyan2@nhs.net y • #Inclusive – encouraging staff who have a significant interest in disability, either due to having a disability or caring for someone with a disability, to join the disability and wellbeing network (DAWN). Come along to the next meeting today (Thursday, 24 March) at 2pm. For more information, contact paht.equalityandinclusion@nhs.net. y We held a joint event with UNISON to mark International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, socially distanced in the Alex Lounge, yesterday (Wednesday, 23 March). If you would like to find out more about UNISON’s Anti-Racism Charter, please visit eastern.unison.org.uk. Please get involved. Let’s work together to celebrate our wonderful mix of cultures of our #PAHTPeople. I wish everyone a happy and successful month.

Monika Kalyan, head of equality, diversity and inclusion

Charity update... The Princess Alexandra Hospital Charity Registered Charity Number: 1054745

An adventurous father has undertaken a gruelling trek in 65mph icy winds to raise money for our Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Sam Snelling, 39, from North Weald, challenged himself this January by undertaking the Winter Fan Dance - a 24-kilometre trek over the Pen y Fan, the highest mountain in the Brecon Beacons, all while carrying a 35lb rucksack. Sam completed the difficult trek in six hours and 27 minutes, raising over £1,250 for the NICU. Sam said: “My son, Ralph, was born at PAHT in May 2011, and before I was even able to hold my son, he was taken away and rushed to the NICU where he was immediately put in an incubator. Ralph had swallowed meconium, his lungs had collapsed, his kidneys failed, he had blood

Top tips

poisoning, and he stopped breathing for over six minutes. Ralph spent the next six days in NICU, receiving around the clock care and undergoing various treatments and procedures. It was three days before me or my wife were able to hold him. Ralph went on to make a full recovery and was finally allowed home thanks to the excellent care and attention of the medical team in the NICU. He has had a few ups and downs with his health since then, but he has grown up to be a very happy boy.

There is no doubt that the quick response and dedication Ralph received in NICU saved his life. The nurses and doctors were first class; they provided reassurance throughout Ralph's stay in hospital, keeping my wife, Nina, and I fully informed and making us feel as comfortable as possible during this difficult time.” Gary Taylor, head of charity, said: “A huge thank you to Sam for raising an incredible amount of money for our NICU. We’re glad that Sam managed to complete the trek safely, which was by no means an easy task. “Sam’s generous donation will help us to purchase a new retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) scanning machine, which will allow us to prevent retinal detachment and blindness in premature and very low birthweight babies.”

• Are you thinking of holding a charity event for us? Please get in touch beforehand to discuss how we may be able to support you. Remember that our people are only permitted to hold charity events for our own charity on site. • Donations don’t always have to be money, and we have recently benefited from gifts of toys and laptops. Please let us know if you think you can help. • Do you know someone who would like to volunteer to support us? Even better if they have fundraising experience – let us know. • We are looking for the opportunity to work with some local businesses. Does a friend or family member work at a local company who are looking for their next charity to support? • The simplest way to now make a donation to the charity is by using the donate button on our website rather than going to JustGiving directly, as this means we receive 100% of the donation. 6

A spotlight on Gary Taylor, head of charity When did you join PAHT? I joined at the beginning of January this year, which was a really nice time to start.

maybe you’d like to be sponsored to take part in a personal challenge whilst supporting us. If you have any ideas or questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me.

How has your experience been so far? I have really enjoyed my time at PAHT. Everyone has been very welcoming and supportive, and I feel like I’ve been here much longer already, which is a good sign. What is your role and what does this entail? As the head of charity, I am responsible for directing and delivering the fundraising strategy. As a member of the charitable funds committee, I shape the role of the charity in supporting the trust. What’s the most challenging part of your role? There is a huge amount of scope to grow the charity and I’m really excited to have already begun this process. What is your favourite/most rewarding part about your role? The most rewarding part of my role is meeting our donors, people who go above and beyond to support their local charity. It’s very humbling and reminds me the value of the work I do every day.

What do you like to do in your spare time? I sing and play guitar in a local covers band, though the pandemic means we haven’t met up in a couple of years, which is a real shame.

such, this really is a dream role for me. Where do you see the charity in five years’ time? I’m very optimistic about where the charity could be in five years’ time. We support a huge amount of people across the local area but very much ‘fly under the radar’ and alongside income generation, a large part of my role will be educating our community about who we are, what we do and how they can support us.

One thing we don’t know about you? After one month, I imagine there’s lots of things people don’t know about me yet, but one of the strangest things that’s ever happened to me is finding myself playing table football with the Kings of Leon late one night after we played gigs next door to each other in Birmingham. If it was today, I’d be signing them up for a charity gig. Twitter: @PAHCharity Facebook: @ThePrincess AlexandraHospitalsCharity

How can people support the charity? There are a vast array of ways people can support our charity. The simplest thing anyone can do is to follow our Twitter and Facebook pages to help grow our profile. Beyond this, What inspired you to join the one-off donations can be made via our JustGiving page; you NHS? could volunteer to help us in I was born at PAHT and have the office or at any event; or lived in Harlow all my life. As 7

New project management system to transform our ways of working We are set to introduce a new, modern project management system to transform our ways of working.

Pictured: An illustrative example of a PM3 dashboard. From the end of March, we will be introducing PM3, an integrated project management tool that will support oversight, governance, and dataand creative collaboration led decision making. It will y Project management: also provide a broad range Visibility and control, of project management resource management, functionality across our access through the web services. at any time and from any location, project scheduling PM3 facilitates the tracking and costing and monitoring of multiple y Portfolio management: programmes and projects Alignment with business and the standardisation of objectives, portfolio selection documentation and processes. and optimisation, demand It is a tool that will help us to do management, and reports. the right thing, at the right time PM3 will reduce the need and in the right way. for separate Microsoft Excel spreadsheets and paperThe system is accessed based documentation, with via a web link (URL). the functionality to upload Access is dependent on documents as a single point user requirements, with of reference. executive sponsors, senior responsible officers (SROs) It has been configured so that and project leads expected users can track projects across to use the system to manage various portfolios including their projects and to provide the strategic priorities, quality appropriate reporting and (Care Quality Commission), assurance. Cost Improvement Programme (CIP), green plan Benefits include: (sustainability), and Quality First projects. This will help y Project collaboration: with tracking, reporting and Workflow management management of the PAHT 2030 update tasks, issues and strategy as we focus on our risks, documentation sharing vision to be a modern, and template development,

integrated and outstanding organisation. The implementation is being led by the new PAHT Programme Management Office (PMO), which has been established to support the development of an effective framework for the management of project deliverables that helps to ensure that sustainable change is implemented and that benefits are identified, managed, monitored and realised in the specified timeframe. Training will be provided on PM3 ahead of its introduction. You will continue to run your current systems and tools together with PM3 for a period of time as you embed the new PM3 tool. PM3 should then be used for all projects, with a suggestion that you move fully over to PM3 from two months or two reporting cycles after its introduction.

Training dates Date

Wed 30 March Wed 6 April Wed 13 April Wed 4 May Wed 11 May Wed 18 May

Time

1pm4pm

Places available/ comments 3, Train the trainer

9am12pm 1pm4pm

9am12pm

Wed 25 May Wed 1 June Wed 8 June Wed 15 June Wed 22 June Wed 29 June

1pm4pm

9am12pm

1pm4pm

9am12pm

1pm4pm

9am12pm

Train the trainer sessions are for those that require to train their colleagues on PM3. The PMO will hold additional training sessions throughout

the year. Once approved by your line manager, you can reserve a training place by contacting paht.pmo@nhs. net with: y Your first choice of training date y Your second choice of training date y The date you attended a Leading Change session y The date you attended a Leading Projects session y The reason for your training Training guides can also be accessed within the PM3 tool and the project management office can provide support by contacting paht.pmo@ nhs.net. Please also let the team know if you have further feedback or require more information on PM3.

Onboarding changes at PAHT from 1 April Every month we welcome more than 60 people to PAHT. To ensure their onboarding is a positive, welcoming and seamless experience, we are bringing in some changes from 1 April: Start dates will be on the first and third Monday of each month to streamline their arrival Their first two days will be corporate induction where they will meet other new colleagues Most statutory and mandatory training will be completed before they join their team Managers’ action All recruiting managers please note the new start dates. New starter forum All new starters will be invited to a new starter forum that will take place on the last Thursday of the month. Managers’ induction Our refreshed managers’ induction will run on the fourth Tuesday of the month. If you have any questions and/or feedback, please do not hesitate to contact us at paht.learning-od@nhs.net. 9

Freedom to Speak Up Guardians

y "We have a passion to care for our patients and staff. We are committed to seeing a cultural change." y y Our Freedom to Speak Up Guardians are here to support all of our people with raising concerns in a protected, confidential and safe environment. They are keen to empower and assure you that your voice matters, concerns will be listened to and positive actions will be introduced to benefit our patients and people. y y It is important that we speak up if we think that something might go wrong and to learn from things that do go wrong; this helps to improve our ways of working and to prevent them from happening again in the future. y y Even when things are good, but could be even better, we should feel able to speak up and be confident that our suggestion will be used as an opportunity for improvement. y y Our speaking up vision y We are striving to ensure that our people feel enabled to speak up in order to support and improve patient safety and quality, the health and wellbeing of our people, and staff experiences. y y We are working hard to drive and support a positive

culture at PAHT by removing barriers to speaking up and to continuously learn from your feedback. y y Meet the team y We have six Freedom to Speak Up Guardians who are here to support you with raising a concern, and are working to introduce alternative methods of how to access the service. y y Lindsay Hanmore – lead guardian y Email: lindsay.hanmore@ nhs.net y Lindsay, lead nurse for quality improvement, has worked at PAHT for a number of years. Lindsay has worked as a critical care and practice development nurse, and has held a number of operational and clinical leadership roles. y y Natalie Gray – guardian y Email: natalie.gray3@nhs. net y Natalie, lead nurse for patient safety and quality - urgent and emergency care, has worked at PAHT for 23 years. She has an acute medical and surgical background and has held a number of senior positions, including ward manager and matron. y y Lorraine Nixon – guardian y Email: Lorraine.nixon5@ nhs.net y Lorraine, head of secretariat, has worked at PAHT for y

y y 26 years with a decade of leadership and management experience. She is one of our original Freedom to Speak Up Guardians who has a passion for helping and supporting our people and patients. y y Lisa Thurley – guardian y Email: lisa.thurley@nhs.net y Lisa, virtual visiting and message to a loved one coordinator, has worked in several areas across the hospital and holds over a decade of experience at PAHT. Lisa is one of our original Freedom to Speak Up Guardians and is passionate about supporting our people to speak up and raise any concerns that they may have to help improve our services. y y Dr. Jeff Phillips – guardian y Email: jeff.phillips1@nhs.net y Jeff, consultant – intensive care medicine and anaesthetics, joined PAHT over 22 years ago. He has held a wide range of leadership, management and educational roles both in the organisation and in the wider NHS. y y Dr. Jane Snook – guardian y Email: jane.snook@nhs.net y Jane, consultant orthogeriatrician, has worked at PAHT for over 12 years 10

and manages the femoral fracture unit based on Tye Green Ward. She is an educational and clinical supervisor and the clinical lead for geriatrics. Jane also chairs our clinical ethics group. y y How our guardians can support you y Our guardians are here to provide advice on a variety of issues or concerns you may have, and: y Provide an independent channel for our people to speak up y Offer support, advice, escalate matters and

y y

signpost to other support Thank you for your feedback Support you to escalate concerns whilst maintaining confidentiality Provide you with feedback on how the issue is being handled and what learning has taken place Seek your feedback on your experience to enhance learning Collate themes from all feedback and ensure that actions are taken to address concerns Share learning from the changes made to help improve confidence to speak up

y Offer support to managers to improve listening skills Your line manager will usually be the first person you might speak up to, however, you may feel more comfortable speaking up to a guardian in the first instance. Our guardians are here to support you with: y Raising a concern y Offering a suggestion for improvement y Raising a grievance y Making a complaint y Making a disclosure y Discussing a potential malpractice or wrongdoing

Our quality and patient safety strategy y In December 2021, the board formally approved the quality and patient safety strategy, which is aligned to the PAHT 2030 strategy. y y Our quality strategy focuses on all three parts of the NHS definition of quality. y Patient safety y Patient effectiveness y Patient experience y y The strategy was developed in line with the national patient safety strategy and includes five PAHT patient safety priorities: y y Falls prevention: to reduce falls with harm by 50% y Venous thromboembolism: to become an exemplar trust for venous thromboembolism in the UK y Diabetes: to run an outstanding service to all patients with diabetes whether or not diabetes is the reason for admission y Pressure ulcers: to reduce all

InTouch briefing: Our quality and patient safety strategy – with Aidan Fowler, national director of patient safety at NHS England We held an InTouch briefing on 9 March, where we heard more about how we are living our values, with patients at the heart of our quality and patient safety strategy. Special guest Aidan Fowler, national director of patient safety at NHS England, explored the national direction of quality and patient safety, and we discussed how we can all work together to support this at PAHT. Quality and patient safety is our responsibility, incorporating the experience, effectiveness, and safety of the treatment and care provided to patients. We were joined by colleagues from across PAHT who discussed key areas of the strategy including falls, pressure ulcers, medicines management, venous thromboembolism (VTE), management of diabetes, patient experience, improving patient outcomes and quality improvement. There was also the opportunity to ask the panel questions. You can watch a recording of the session here > hospital acquired pressure ulcers that could not otherwise be avoided, and to reduce moderate and severe pressure ulcers by 50% by 2021/22 with the ambition of 0% preventable

harms by 2023 y Medicines optimisation: to increase the reporting of medicine incidents while reducing the harm y y 11

y Focus on falls y For health services, falls are both high volume and costly. Falls are the most frequently reported patient safety incident in hospitals and are estimated to cost in excess of £630 million per year. y y The causes of having a fall are multifactorial – a fall is the result of the interplay of multiple risk factors. These include: y having a history of falls y muscle weakness/ deconditioning y poor balance y visual impairment y polypharmacy - and the use of certain medicines y environmental hazards and a number of specific conditions y

y y y y y y y y

be done. This collaborative approach will continue during 2022/23.

Focus on medicines optimisation

The safe use of medicines strategy is aligned to five core areas. These are as follows: High risk medication High risk medicines include those where there is a small gap between the effective dose and harmful dose and where the prescription or administration is complex. Insulin and anticoagulants are examples and this is why specific training on these medicines is provided to clinical staff.

We also include omission of medicines such as We have an ambitious target anticonvulsants and to reduce falls with harm by Parkinson’s medicines as high 50% by the end of March risk and we are now able to 2023. We have a dynamic send daily reports of missed and evolving strategic falls doses of these medicines to reduction plan which has ward managers and matrons, been developed to meet this to review how these can be ambition. The strategic falls prevented. reduction plan promotes improvements in the Digital solutions following broad areas: The following areas that form Training, education and part of the digital agenda knowledge will be used to support safer Assessing our patients medication practice: Provision of enhanced care y Input into the new electronic Environment and equipment health record and new Sharing the learning electronic prescribing and Knowing how we are doing administration solutions y Increased intelligence and The proven approach to reporting around prescribing improving falls prevention and administration of high and management is risk medications collaborative and multiy Medication scanning for disciplinary. We have made safety y Electronic medicine many positive changes cupboards and medicine to improve falls numbers optimisation dashboards but more work needs to

Patient involvement We plan to relaunch the self-administration scheme, including for insulin, to promote patient education about their medicines and to empower them by not taking medicines administration away from them while they are in hospital. We also want to make sure that initiation of new medicines and stopping ones no longer needed involves shared decision making with the patient. Staff infrastructure and training All staff need to be equipped with the knowledge and skills to safely manage medication. This will include development of competency frameworks and staff development through education. Collaborative working Collaborative working takes place to discuss the possible causes of medication incidents and to agree on actions to be taken to reduce the risk of them happening again. Where complex issues are identified, task and finish groups are put together to look into the issues and solutions in more detail. Discharge medication lists are now sent across to the patients' regular community pharmacy. This help to reduce readmission into hospital.

Focus on venous thromboembolism (VTE) Up to 60% of VTE (deep vein thrombosis/pulmonary embolisms) occur during or after hospital admissions and

account for almost 10% of hospital deaths. 70% of these are preventable, which is why hospitals providing excellent care have robust measures in place to prevent harm caused by VTE.

Focus on quality improvement

‘Evidence of a consistent approach to quality improvement is key to ‘good’ and ‘outstanding’ well-led organisations’ We aim to provide this excellent Care Quality Commission care and prevent avoidable harm here at PAHT. Our quality improvement (QI)

methodology and approach to leading change and projects was established in April 2017. Putting ‘quality first’ is the underpinning principal to quality improvement at Our strategy PAHT and we define quality Our goal is to become improvement ‘as working an exemplar site for VTE together in partnership to make prevention, and in order to do so the sustainable changes that we need to meet certain criteria. will lead to excellence for our This will then demonstrate all patients, people, performance, measures are in place to give places and pounds’. our patients and commissioners the assurance that we are One of the signs of quality following best practice and improvement being embedded meet the highest standards. across an organisation is the These measures include ‘presence of a central team specific training in place for all that leads the provider’s quality relevant staff, documentation improvement approach’ (Care is current and accessible, Quality Commission). PAHT’s creating a dedicated VTE role central team is the quality first and VTE champions, auditing team. The team work alongside and having a robust system in our people, patients and wider place to detect hospital acquired health and care partners with a thrombosis. We need to raise focus on two key areas: awareness in staff and patients, provide our patients with 1. Building our people’s adequate information, report our confidence and capability in errors and use them to target delivering quality improvement improvements. at PAHT for the benefit of A hospital acquired thrombosis can occur not only as an inpatient but up to 90 days after discharge.

Get involved Please contact claire. gibson12@nhs.net if you are interested in becoming a VTE champion.

y support the delivery and realisation of strategy, namely PAHT 2030 The quality first team will advise, guide and coach teams in the development of project plans in accordance to the trust’s leading change and leading projects methodology. They will harness the skills of the current fully-fledged improvement partners, whilst continuing to upskill individuals and teams across the hospital and wider integrated care system. The quality first team will support divisional PAHT 2030 delivery teams. The business change manager will be embedded and based within divisions, but report centrally to the quality first team, so that best practice and lessons learnt are shared effectively across teams and coordination/ progress is tracked centrally. Please contact paht. qualityfirst@nhs.net for more information.

our patients, staff and wider community.

2. Centrally coordinate and facilitate the delivery of quality improvement initiatives and transformation projects that: y address significant risks in the organisation 13

Our patients said... "I wish to thank the whole urology team from secretarial, administration, and nursing through to consultants. "I think you are fantastic. The unit is so efficient and professional and your service is outstanding. Your response to my requests has been exemplary. "The consultants always explain everything so clearly. "You can be very proud of the unit."

"There are no words that can express how grateful we are for all the caring and kindness the Lister Ward team showed my mum and my family when my mum was on your ward. "You looked after her, you looked after us, and you looked after my dad, and when she passed, you looked after my daughter who was with her at the time. You are amazing people."

"Thank you to everyone involved in my gastroscopy, from Tony and Phoebe who greeted me to the team under Dr Sanghi who performed the procedure. I had been dreading it (as evidenced by my blood pressure on arrival!) as a result of the very unpleasant failed gastrocopies in the past. I'm particularly grateful for the sensitive way this was addressed by suggesting and allowing me to have heavy sedation. "This worked, and as a result I felt little of the discomfort I experienced in the past. Thank you so much once more."

Divisional update - medicine "Over the last few weeks, we have secured some substantial funding to improve the environment for both our patients and our people on our inpatient wards. We have purchased items such as manual handling equipment, patient chairs with high tech pressure relieving cushions, and toasters which will all improve the patient experience. We have also invested in some ‘RITA systems’ that are specially designed computer entertainment systems for our patients with dementia to supplement the additional dementia friendly equipment we have also purchased for our wards. "With planned care, we have made some huge improvements in reducing our backlogs since Christmas. Our cardiac echo waiting list has been reduced from 1,400 patients in December to less than 900 in just two months. Across all medicine specialities, we have no patient waiting longer than 95 weeks on a referral to treatment (RTT) pathway which is well ahead of the national target. In cancer care, our respiratory team are performing extremely well, with over 90% of cancer patients seen inside two weeks and no one breaching the 62 day cancer target. A huge thank you to the whole medicine planned care team for this amazing effort." The medicine divisional management team 15

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 are sharing practical information and tips as part of our new wise about wellbeing feature. You can access details of the full range of health and wellbeing resources on the staff health and wellbeing hub on AlexNet and on our staff health and wellbeing page: www.pah.nhs.uk/healthandwellbeing. This month, we are focusing on PhysioMed - see below for details.

PhysioMed - support available for you Fast track physiotherapy service All employees have free access to physiotherapy, delivered by PhysioMed PhysioMed launched at PAHT last May. They provide a physiotherapy advice line that helps our people to self-manage their condition. Most people will only require telephone advice and support; however, face-to-face consultations will be available to those who need it. PhysioMed are able to provide: y Advice and education y Workplace modifications y Home and lifestyle modifications y Exercises to reduce pain and improve movement, strength and balance y Advice on the use of ice/heat, strapping and supports y Referral to other professionals for further investigations

Criteria needed to be able to If you think you would benefit access PhysioMed from Physiomed, please complete the self-referral y You need to be a form via AlexNet or contact permanent member of staff the staff health and wellbeing y You need not to be team on x 7015. currently seeing a physiotherapist, osteopath Don’t wait for your symptoms to get worse. Please or chiropractor y Under the care or have request treatment within 12 an appointment with a weeks of the injury or issue consultant occurring. Please note: there is a 24 hour cancellation policy for all appointments – face-to-face and telephone.

#PAHTPeople - making a difference International Women’s Day

International Women’s Day took place on 8 March, which was an opportunity to celebrate the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. We are extremely proud of the 3,010 women who work at PAHT and provide high quality care and experiences for our patients.

Surgeon appointed as chair of prestigious committee

A huge congratulations to Mr Satish Kutty, consultant trauma and orthopaedic surgeon, who was recently elected as the chair of British Hip Society (BHS) Education Committee. This prestigious appointment means that Satish is now part of the BHS executive committee and will oversee and support the delivery of formal education and training in hip surgery for trainees and fellow surgeons.

Our teams attend special thank you event at the EHAAT airbase Representatives from our executive, blood transfusion and emergency department teams attended the North Weald airbase to be part of a visit hosted by Their Royal Highnesses the Earl and Countess of Wessex for the Essex and Herts Air Ambulance Team (EHAAT). EHAAT is a local life-saving charity and we work in partnership to provide emergency blood provisions at the roadside. The visit was an opportunity to bring everyone together at the new EHAAT airbase to say thank you to all of the teams involved for their outstanding work during the COVID-19 pandemic. Pictured: Jim Mcleish, director of quality improvement (third from the right) and our teams with the Countess of Wessex. 17