Issue 14 2015
Mouth care matters
Be a flu fighter Free flu vaccinations are available now for all staff - please make sure you protect yourself, your families and our patients against flu.
Coming to your ward soon is Mouth Care Matters - a SASH initiative funded by Health Education Kent, Surrey and Sussex, to improve the oral health of hospitalised adult patients. Evidence suggests improved mouth care of patients can reduce the risk of infections, improve patients general health and lead to shorter hospital stays. SASH is leading the way in patient oral healthcare and is the first trust in England to have a designated mouth care team (pictured above). The programme will be introduced across the south east of England in 2016. The aim of the initiative is that any adult patient hospitalised for more than 24 hours will undergo a mouth care assessment. Healthcare professionals involved in providing mouth care will also have appropriate training. To achieve this goal, four newly recruited oral health trainers are working on the wards delivering mouth care training to staff and providing mouth care for the most vulnerable patients. They are being supported by dentist Charlotte Binks, project lead and consultant in special care dentistry, Mili Doshi, and oral health promoter Jenny Chay.
Our executive team have already joined many of our clinicians to ensure they protect themselves and others. Seasonal flu is highly contagious and is a common viral illness which affects around 15-20% of the population each year. It can be extremely dangerous, particularly for many of our patients who are vulnerable. For some people the illness can lead to complications which are life threatening. In protecting ourselves by getting vaccinated, we help reduce the risk to our patients. Receiving the vaccine also helps reduce the risk of staff being off sick. During the busy winter months this means we can continue to provide the best level of care to our patients.
Michael Wilson, chief executive, receiving his flu vaccination
Occupational health will be visiting wards as well as offering walk-in clinics in their office at East Surrey Hospital (Tuesday to Friday from 9 9.30am and 3 - 3.30pm) and at Crawley Hospital (occupational health office). Dates and times of these and additional flu clinics are advertised on the Intranet under support services/occupational health.
Fiona Allsop, chief nurse (centre photo) and Dr Des Holden, medical director, (above) receive their flu vaccination.
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Taking ED to Disney
Winter pressures and stress Occupational health (OH) are here to support all of us in managing our health and wellbeing. The winter period can be extremely stressful. Pressures at work and staff illness may result in additional demands on you and your team whilst not forgetting the added stress that often comes with the festive period too.
David Barton, lead emergency practitioner, has recently returned from Disneyland Paris where he helped provide medical support to 200 chronically ill children on a trip of a lifetime. This is the sixth time David has volunteered for the Magical Taxi Tour charity trip. He said: “These children spend a lot of their time in and out of hospital and because of their complex health needs they are not usually able to travel abroad. By taking the hospital with us to Disneyland Paris they and their families had a wonderful weekend of fun and amazing memories.”
National recognition for diabetes team
With this in mind, the OH team have put together some useful tips to help manage any stress and anxiety we may face at this busy time of year:
Take some exercise: This is great for working off any stress or anxiety
Make time for relaxing: Try meditation, yoga, listening to music or reading to unwind
Get enough sleep: Rest will help recharge your batteries
If you feel unwell don’t try and carry on as if you are not
Plan ahead to manage your time and learn to delegate. If you feel overwhelmed then try and take one step at a time
Create time buffers in your planning to deal with unexpected events or emergencies
Recognise when you are tired and listen to your body
Manage your workload: Don’t take on more than is necessary or you can cope with
Don’t over commit: Learn to say ‘no’ if you feel you cannot deliver Finally, any member of staff can access the free CIC counselling support and advice line in confidence on 0800 0851376 or email assist@cic-eap.co.uk. To make a self-referral to OH complete the online referral form available on the OH pages on the Intranet.
Congratulations go to the children’s diabetes team who have been commended for a prestigious national Quality in Care Award for their work with children and young people. The judges praised their project which they said embraced technology to help promote selfcare and independence when living with diabetes.
Get social with SASH
Staff travel guide Our staff travel guide encourages staff to use alternative ways of travelling to and from work rather than using cars. The guide outlines different options that can help you reduce the cost of travel as well as cut emissions and traffic in the area. More details are available on the Intranet. (Departments/support services/estates and facilities/travel plan)
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Ideas to Innovation Factory - update The Ideas to Innovation Factory has been live for one month and collectively you have generated almost 100 ideas. There have been some fantastic suggestions coming through and our team of innovation agents are assessing and working their way through each idea. Examples posted so far include:
an ATM cash point in main entrance – installation is planned for the end of October
a pre-operative assessment – ‘one-stop shop’ – preliminary work is now underway
Our innovation agents review and categorise each idea and, where necessary, further information is gathered. Ideas are then discussed in the evaluation group meeting and a decision is made as to whether the idea will be implemented. In addition to assessing all ideas coming through on the Ideas to Innovation Factory, the innovation agents will support the implementation of the idea. Ideas Everyone who has put forward an idea will receive a response about whether their idea will be implemented. Please be reassured that you will hear back from a member of the team over the next few weeks. Due to the large volume of ideas being put forward a lot of work is going on in the background to ensure that each idea is given careful consideration. How can I get involved? The project is being led by the transformation team. If you would like to get involved in assessing ideas and supporting people who have generated ideas, or you would like a member of the team to attend one of your team meetings please contact katy.Morris@sash.nhs.uk. If you have an idea please register on the Ideas to Innovation Factory website: https://sashnhs.induct.no/login If you do not have access to email and would like to register an idea please speak to Katy Morris, Allana Hansell or Sue Jenkins on x 1874.
Star of the Month award Well done to Rachel Green, team leader in our waiting list office, who is this month’s Star of the Month. Rachel has made quite an impression - six of her team nominated her for this award. According to her team: “Rachel did an amazing job of covering while our manager was off on sick leave. She has held the team together, been extremely cheerful, kept calm under pressure and done a thoroughly good job for the last two months.” Rachel was presented with £24 of restaurant vouchers as a thank you by Gillian Francis-Musanu, director of corporate affairs.
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NHS Staff Survey
The annual NHS Staff Survey is your chance to give us your feedback and rate our Trust. Over the last four years your responses have helped us to make improvements in our working practices and culture which have moved us from being in the bottom 20% of acute trusts to the top 20%. For the second time we are included in the Health Service Journal top 100 NHS trusts and top 40 acute trusts to work. This is a fantastic achievement which helps us recruit into our vacancies and is a credit to you all. But, we cannot afford to be complacent and we need your help and support to ensure that this year’s survey delivers our best results yet. Please complete and return your survey to Capita in the pre-paid envelope. The survey takes no longer than 10 minutes to complete and is managed on our behalf by Capita Surveys & Research. Responses are strictly confidential. Capita use the staff names for addressing purposes only – a barcode ensures your responses are not linked to your name. The survey closes on Friday 27th
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New chief operating officer Meet our new chief operating officer Angela Stevenson who has stepped up from her previous role as deputy chief operating officer. Angela was also director of clinical services (medical division) for five years where she was responsible for the emergency department and played a pivotal role in the turnaround of organisational performance. She brings a wealth of experience to the role, having worked as a clinician and within general management in both the NHS and private sector. Angela said: “I am driven to deliver excellence in patient care and recognise that each of us has a role to play. I believe that every one of us comes to work wanting to do a good job and therefore, it is important to make people feel valued and appreciated. I want people to feel that their individual contributions, however small, really can make a big difference.”
Be a SASH nurse We have a range of great nursing opportunities available at the Trust and are keen to encourage registered nurses living locally to come along and be part of the SASH team. If you have a friend or relative who may be interested in joining our nursing team then please ask them to get in touch. Whether they have recently qualified or are thinking of returning to nursing after a career break - we welcome everyone and support the return to practice campaign. They can find out about the full range of opportunities available at www.surreyandsussex.nhs.uk/sashnurse. For an informal chat phone Sue Carr, matron, (nursing workforce) on 01737 768511 x 2098
Executive drop-in sessions If you have a question that you would like to ask one of our executive team then come along to a drop-in session at the Three Arches Restaurant, East Surrey Hospital.
Paul Simpson, chief finance officer 6 November 2 – 2.15pm
Gillian Francis-Musanu, director of corporate affairs 19 November 2 – 2.15pm
Come along for an informal chat and take the opportunity to discuss your ideas and suggestions as to how we can improve our services. All staff are welcome, just turn up - no appointment is necessary. Visit the Intranet for a full list of executive drop-in sessions - departments/support services/ executive board.
Dates for your diary 17 November: VMI taster session - 3.30-5.30pm - Atrium, East Surrey Hospital 20 November: Senior leaders meeting - 11.30am -12.30pm - Lecture Theatre, East Surrey Hospital 24 November: All staff meeting - 11am -12pm - Atrium, East Surrey Hospital 26 November: Public board meeting - 11am-12.30pm AD77, Trust HQ 26 November: VMI taster session - 2.30 - 4.30pm - Lecture Theatre, East Surrey Hospital
Trust Headquarters, East Surrey Hospital, Redhill, Surrey RH1 5RH Tel: 01737 768 511 www.surreyandsussex.nhs.uk