13 minute read
Strictly NHS champion
Strictly NHS sees Adam Wilson crowned dancefloor champion
Adam Wilson, from the LTHT Safeguarding team, was crowned Strictly NHS champion along with his professional dance partner Amy following a night of glitz and glamour at the Empress Ballroom in Blackpool at the beginning of June.
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The event was the culmination of months of preparation and saw twelve NHS colleagues from across the country – including five from LTHT – perform alongside their professional dance partners in front of a live audience and a panel of judges. The members of staff from LTHT, included Karen Sykes, Lauren Pickup, Andrew Viggars, Nilam Jadav-Patel, as well as winner Adam Wilson, all trained with their partners during the six weeks leading up to the live extravaganza. As well as having the chance to show off the results of their hard work in training, the night was also a celebration of the dedication of colleagues working across the NHS during the course of the pandemic. The show exceeded its fundraising target of £10,000 for NHS charity partner Blue Skies.
Welcome
Welcome to the Summer issue of Bulletin!
The pandemic has caused us all to take a step back, re-evaluate, and consider what needs changing in our lives. As an organisation, we have taken this to heart on several levels. First – and most importantly – is looking to our staff. The pandemic has affected us all in different ways, and it is crucial we are looking out for each other and making our own health and wellbeing a priority. We have to have everyone on board if we are to tackle the challenges ahead and we can’t expect to deliver excellent care for our patients if we are not first looking after ourselves.
Our operational transformation programmes are our way of ensuring we our recovering our services in the best and most efficient way possible, ensuring we do our best for our patients, work alongside our local partners, and anticipate how our services will fit within and alongside the new hospitals being built at the LGI site. We are using the Leeds Improvement Method to ensure we are constantly looking at ways to improve how we do things. Underpinning all of this is a broader question, a cultural question, one that I want to put to everyone at LTHT: How can we be a kinder organisation? And this is what this issue of Bulletin is all about – whether that’s being kind to ourselves, kind to one another, or kind to the planet. We remember kindnesses, we replicate them, and we thrive on them – most importantly, kindness starts with you. So, what does kindness means to you? I would love to hear what you think. Kind regards
Acts of kindness
Colleagues share how kindness has made a difference to their work
Kindness can come in all shapes and sizes, from a single small act to a whole way of listening, interacting and being. As part of our campaign to make LTHT a kinder organisation, we asked staff for examples of acts of kindness that have turned a bad day around, cleared a raft of troubles, or simply left them with a smile on their face.
Lisa Beaumont, Play Team Leader
“Recently I heard that a parent talking about me to a new member of the play team was still thanking me for the play support I gave to their child ten years ago! She asked for her thanks to be passed on to me again! That really did make me smile.
“Members of my team often leave diet cokes on my desk as presents, and I even got them sent in the post when I had Covid – it makes me smile every time! Even a simple act such as someone telling me ‘you’ve got this’ when I’m having a wobble makes a huge difference.!
“The unbelievable support, kindness and advice I got from my work family and friends when I recently got Covid, especially the support and guidance for my parents, really helped me get through some very dark days. It made me feel valued and loved and of course very lucky to be part of an amazing team here at Leeds Children’s Hospital.”
Lisa Beaumont
Tracy Campey
Tracy Campey, Bereavement Midwife
“I’d like to tell you how extremely grateful I am to my colleagues in the Risk Management team. Agnes Woodhouse, Jo Morley, Rosie Richardson and Kirsty Gregory. They are all simply wonderful and are always incredibly kind to me, in particular when I’m looking for a shoulder to cry on. They make me cups of tea and will often ask if there is anything they can do to help ease my work load. “I don’t think they actually realise what a difference they make to me. I’d love their kindness to be acknowledged!”
Sophie Blow
Sophie Blow, Advanced Clinical Pharmacist
“When someone offers to make you a coffee and asks how your day is - that’s made my day. When heads are down, and the pressures is on, with everyone working so hard it’s easy to forget to check in with each other. You lose what was normal pre-COVID and when you have that 5 minutes it just makes you remember who you are, what you are part of, and how we are all doing this together. Asking a friend or colleague ‘would you like a drink making’ can make their day, as tough as it has been and continues to be I try and remember that.”
A memorial bench commemorating the life and career of Pete Colmer was unveiled at St James’s Hospital in April.
Pete sadly died in July 2020 after retiring from his role at LTHT the previous May due to ill health. Pete worked at the Trust for 34 years, starting as a ward housekeeper, before moving on to work in Geoffrey Giles theatres, where he stayed until his retirement. During a special dedication, the memorial bench was unveiled by Pete’s wife, Angela, their three daughters – Gabby, Kate, and Megan – Chief Executive Julian Hartley, and many of Pete’s friends and former colleagues. Pete met his wife, Angela, in 1997, who also works for the Trust as a discharge coordinator. She said: “Pete brought so much warmth to the lives of those he met and worked alongside. He was a much-loved member of the team and his colleagues held him in very high regard.” She added: “He didn’t just work for the NHS, he believed in it - he was the Leeds Way in every way.” The memorial bench was funded by Pete’s family and colleagues and is sited on the terrace on level 4 of the Bexley wing at St James’s, where Pete would often have a coffee break looking out across the city.
Gemma Issrir, Medical Secretary HIV Outpatients Department
“I had a very difficult Ramadan this year as due to the pandemic my family were (and still are) stuck abroad - however the day of Eid (the end of Ramadan, day of celebration) my colleagues made my day so special! They bought me gifts and they were so kind to me and respectful. This was one of the million acts of kindness that I receive from colleagues every day. I am so grateful to work with them.”
Gemma Issrir
Emma Williams
Emma Williams, Lead Nurse, Elland Road Vaccination Centre
“If there are any complaints about patient experience at Elland Road, then they come to me and it can be easy to get caught up in the negatives. I have learnt the importance of mindfully checking in on the Friends and Family Test feedback for the vaccination centre, where the comments and experience are overwhelmingly positive and it gives me a more balanced view.
“I was really pleased recently to get a card and a box of chocolates from a colleague who was leaving the vaccination programme and going back to their substantive role. We had worked closely together and it was lovely to be thanked personally for the support she felt I had given her.”
Zoe Lock, non-registered vaccinator (next to number 6)
“I’m a strong believer in kindness. I have always done charity work and I think I always will do it. Kindness spreads and it’s infectious and it helps me believe that out of everything bad comes something good. I was offered a job recently from a chance meeting and an act of kindness.”
Zoe Lock
Celebrating the life and career of Pete Colmer
The Clinical Skills and Simulation Education Team are based at the Clinical Practice Centre at St James’s. A team of ten, their primary role is to support, advise and deliver education to clinical teams at LTHT using the latest medical simulation equipment, whether that’s through in-situation training or delivering regional and national boot camps.
What are the different roles within the team?
We have two administrators, Lesley and Daniel, who are responsible for much of the background work in running our courses, e.g. booking in trainees and faculty, advertising, customer service and collating feedback and evaluation. They are also involved in new course development. In many ways, they are the glue that sticks the team together. Our clinical skills and simulation technicians are led by Dan, and he is joined by Dave, Jack and Mark. They are responsible for all technical aspects of courses, including setting them up. They are often involved in setting up complex audio visual and virtual reality kit. They often work with course leaders in driving simulations using our 3G Sim Man and other high-fidelity manikins. Our technicians are skilled in making complex anatomical models using ‘medical meat’ (animal tissue that is made into human anatomical models), and often work with faculty in the development of new educational models. Our technicians are ably supported
by porter technicians Laura and Yusaf.
The team is managed by Rachael and Hilary, our clinical skills and simulation development leads, registered nurses who also deliver training as clinical educators. Hilary and Rachael advise on the development of new courses, oversee the course portfolio and offer educational support, advising on the delivery of local, regional and national courses.
What happens on an average day?
There is no such thing as an average day within the Clinical Skills and Simulation Team as our work is so varied and different. One day we can be running in-situ simulation within a department at the Trust as well as a regional Health Education England programme in the Clinical Practice Centre. The next we could be delivering a national programme on behalf of the Royal College of Surgeons. The following week, we might be running a full-week boot camp for 60 trainees. We also coordinate loans of kit to departments within the Trust and manage the VR room, in which trainees can access a vast range of VR simulators for surgical training. We have been very reactive to training needs, especially since the onset of the Covid pandemic and we are always reviewing and altering the way we work as we strive to deliver the best service possible for trainee and faculty.
How do the team make a difference at LTHT?
By supporting, advising on and delivering education within the Trust, we aim to constantly improve the educational experience of staff:
• through the use of in-situ simulation (delivered in a clinical area to improve the use of human factors and clinical skills within the team); • by revisiting a difficult clinical situation and debrief the staff; • by developing colleagues to become better educators within their workplace, through the development and delivery of a bespoke debriefing course. We support educational events at the Clinical Practice Centre, ranging from a single trainee using a VR simulator to large-scale regional or national programmes. Our team is here to support, develop and enhance education for all staff here at the Trust, which improves the care delivered to our patients.
Are there any recent achievements or plans for the future?
We are currently developing our portfolio of boot camp programmes following the successful pilot of our first Obstetrics and Gynaecology Boot Camp, which ran in April this year. This builds on the success of the awardwinning national Urology Boot Camp, developed here at Leeds, which is now in its 7th year. We are also in the process of recruiting a Clinical Skills and Simulation Educator who will enable us to support and deliver a lot more in-situ simulation education across the Trust. In addition, following on from the success of our pilot Introduction to Debriefing courses, we are looking to expand and reach out to trainees from outside the Trust. We are also promoting the excellent range of VR simulation surgical trainers that we have available for all staff to access.
New Children’s Assessment and Treatment Unit opened by The Countess of Wessex
Staff and patients at Leeds Children’s Hospital were delighted to welcome HRH The Countess of Wessex to officially open the newly relocated Children’s Assessment and Treatment (CAT) Unit via a virtual event in March.
Her Royal Highness was ably assisted on the day by 11 year old Hajrah Hussain who was being cared for in the unit and kindly agreed to unveil a commemorative plaque. The CAT Unit assesses and manages the care for children and babies aged from 1 day to 16 years old who have been referred by their GP, the Paediatric Emergency Department or other healthcare professionals in the community. The team on the unit sees children with a wide variety of urgent medical problems including asthma, gastroenteritis, infections, diabetes complications as well as suspected appendicitis and any other illness that requires further investigation and diagnosis. During the virtual tour of the unit The Countess was able to speak with young patients and their parents and heard first-hand how the new unit has improved patient experience. She also spoke to ward staff about the difference the new environment had made to the way they delivered patient care. The CAT Unit sees up to 18,000 children and young people every year. The former unit catered for around 3540 young people per day but due to increasing demand has been relocated and expanded to allow up to 90 patients to be cared for at the busiest times. The relocation has meant that the unit has more side rooms and consultation rooms and has the additional advantage of now being co-located with other children’s services within the Leeds Children’s Hospital footprint of the Leeds General Infirmary site. Her Royal Highness said of the new unit: “It’s wonderful to have met some of the patients who have helped me unveil the plaque but have also had a chat with me about their experience. It’s not until you actually hear the feedback that you realise what has been achieved very quickly and under difficult circumstances… The patients’ and families’ experience is everything you want it to be.”
The new unit has been designed with young people in mind, with specific areas where play leaders can run activities for children which makes their stay not only more enjoyable but allows them to engage in their treatment, and learn more about it so that if they do have to come back they’re much more comfortable. Staff facilities have also been carefully incorporated with office, training and rest spaces all located on the unit for easy access.
