linkup summer 2012

THE MAGAZINE FOR STAFF OF WARRINGTON AND HALTON HOSPITALS NHS FOUNDATION TRUST

JUNE/JULY

2012

Nurses’ Day - a time

for celebrations

AQ results show trust is

amongst best in North West

Celebrating the

Olympic

Special

Productive Ward

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Welcome to the latest edition of the Link Up staff magazine.

There’s been an awful lot going on across the trust since the last issue and it’s a really exciting time for WHH. We have launched the QPS initiative in the trust and it’s gone down really well. We have tried to create a new way of thinking about how we grow our trust and make sure that we are fit for the future and can deliver our vision of high quality, safe healthcare to our patients.

It hopefully feels different to the traditional annual targets and savings plan type schemes – it’s about the right investment, development and working in new, efficient ways.

An important element of making QPS work is demonstrating to staff that we are serious about listening to your ideas and providing the backing to break down some of the barriers that prevent us always being able to achieve our vision. In this issue, you can read about some big changes already happening. £1.4 million is transforming A&E as we speak, it also looks like the former independent sector treatment centre building at Halton will (finally) be acquired by the trust so we can change the way we deliver surgery across our sites and relieve some of the pressure at Warrington. They’re two large parts of what we are trying to do.

We’ve recently appointed Karen Dawber as director of governance and workforce and Helen Bourner as director of commercial and corporate development and they are helping us drive some of the changes in the trust.

On the QPS theme, I’d also like to invite staff to the new look QPS Team Brief – all staff are welcome to come along and the first one takes place on July 3rd - further dates for the remainder of the year to follow. As well as updating you on the big projects taking place, it’s your chance to ask myself and the executive team questions.

Finally, thank you again to all staff who have worked so hard in some difficult times over recent months due to the emergency pressures on the trust. Your care and commitment is appreciated so much. We are working to make sure the trust can deal better with these pressures in the future and I hope that new developments through QPS are visible signs of this happening.

Mel Pickup, chief executive

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contents

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22 4 Getting ready to say Thank You! 5 £1.4 million investment to support patients and staff in A&E and emergency care 6 Celebrating the Productive Ward 7 Nurses’ Day - a time for celebrations 8-9 Looking back – how did we do at the year end?

10 Be Clear on Cancer 11 AQ results show trust is amongst best in North West 12-13 FT Staff Governor News 14 Jubilee Celebrations here at WHH 15 Employees of the Month 16 Payroll Department 17 The NHS North West Games 2012 fancy taking part?

18 Let’s get physio

19 Joel makes his hospital debut 20 Proud of our hospitals! Look out for our new poster campaign 21 Creating patient information leaflets? Here’s how to do it right.

22 Finance Accreditation 23 A fond farewell for Dr Bentley 24 James and Sara to carry the Olympic Torch 25 New ante natal clinic launched at Halton 26 What is Governance? Why do we need it?

27 Sustainability / Energy Conservation 28-29 Warrington Afghanistan Challenge Take The Challenge Support Our Troops 30 Dignity in Action

News

Making QPS a reality

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ver the last two months you will hopefully have heard a lot about three letters that are helping shape our plans for the future at the trust. QPS stands for quality, people and sustainability and is the new framework to support our vision of high quality, safe healthcare across the trust. There’s been a range of staff events and promotional work about QPS as we’ve launched the idea with staff and stakeholders. Even Link Up has changed to focus on QPS! We want all staff to understand what QPS is about and how it is supporting change in the trust.

So what is QPS?

• It’s our framework for the future • It supports our vision for high quality, safe health care for our patients.

• It helps us grow our trust and change the way we work so we are fit for the future.

What is Quality?

It’s about excellence for our patients Safety √ Reducing harm √ No avoidable deaths √ Managing risk Effectiveness √ Improving outcomes √ Evidence based √ Right care, right place, right time Experience √ No decision about me, without me √ Access and customer care √ The basics – warm, safe, clean, fed and cared for

What is People?

It’s about caring for our staff Workforce √ Competency √ The right numbers √ Terms and conditions Engagement √ Communication and accountability √ Employer of choice √ Values and behaviour Leadership √ Talent management √ Leadership development √ Recognition and reward

What is Sustainability?

It’s about being here for our communities Good Governance √ Compliance and regulation √ Governors and members Financial Viability √ Reconfigurations and collaborations √ Estates utilisation

√ Information technology Profile and perceptions √ Good corporate citizen √ Commercial development √ Growth and expansion

regarding QPS, please contact the communications team you’re your views via email at communications@whh.nhs.uk

QPS and transformational change

Background to QPS

We’ve tested ideas with staff and clinical leaders and have identified areas where we need to change to allow us to deliver QPS. The QPS framework is underpinned by a major transformational change project that will see changes taking place in several key areas of the trust, including: • Emergency Care – £1.4m new investment in our ‘front-end’ services to allow us to better manage the demand on A&E and emergency/ acute medicine • Community Based Care – speeding up the development of community based services that reduce the dependency on acute hospital care for patients • Elective Care – changing the elective and non-elective mix across our two sites, including using the Independent Sector Treatment Centre building at Halton to allow us to do this.

The changes taking place in each of these areas are designed to improve how our services work for patients and how we can support you as staff – as well as how we can ensure our services grow in the future.

Work has already begun on these programmes. We have agreed to set up each as a programme with a clinical, executive and project lead, supported with the appropriate programme support.

Although these are the three main priorities that have been identified, there are a number of other transformational change projects. Notably, from staff feedback, these include projects around Information Technology and developing different approaches, processes and behaviours to enable us to better support our vision.

What you can do to support QPS

• Get to know QPS – check on the Hub for the latest information.

• Look out for our new look QPS team briefing – coming soon on July 3rd and open to all.

• Make a QPS promise – what can you do to contribute? How can you work differently?

• If you have any comments or ideas

In order to involve our staff in planning for the future, the trust’s elected public and staff governors recently asked for your views on some of the priority areas that were jointly identified for the next year on a survey we ran through the Hub. This was the first time we had done this and we were delighted that over 550 people gave us their views in February – 330 members of staff and 220 of our public foundation trust members. A huge thank you to everyone who took part in the consultation. It was extremely valuable and informative for us.

We asked you to prioritise the top three issues from a number of themes under two key headings ‘Quality of Service and Patient Outcomes’ and ‘How We Provide Services’. The top three staff priorities from the lists provided were:

Top three ‘Quality of Service and Patient Care’ themes highlighted by you 1. Continuing to make improvements to patient safety e.g. further reducing pressure ulcers, infection, mortality rates 2. Better communication with patients, carers and relatives at all stages of their stay 3. Reducing patient’s length of stay where safe to do so.

Top three ‘How We Provide Services’ themes highlighted by you 1. Ensure that patients are treated in the right place, at the right time, by the most appropriate clinical team by further splitting planned surgery services from non-elective services 2. Better care of the wellbeing of our staff e.g. sickness, work life balance etc.

3. Increase in clinical services provided across the 7 day week so that operations, diagnostic tests and appointments can be provided at weekends.

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News

Getting ready to say Thank You! Thanks to everyone who submitted an entry for this year’s Thank You Awards. We had an excellent response with almost 100 entries for the categories which is brilliant - and our best year ever since we launched the awards four years ago.

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he Thank You Awards event takes place at the Halliwell Jones Stadium on the 29th June and is kindly supported

by Hill Dickinson. We are delighted to be able to announce the shortlisted individuals and teams in each category for the awards. On the night the winner in each category will be revealed. Each winner receives a specially made award and there is also a cash prize.

All the nominees and their nominators have been invited – along with staff who will be collecting their long service awards on the night for completing 30, 35 and even 40 year’s service with the trust.

The shortlisted nominees (in no particular order!) are:

• Sue Lewis – A5 Ward Manager Excellence in Training and Development Award • The Domestic Assistants Team • Jane Edwards – Monitoring Officer • Karen Edwards & Penny Lawrinson Night Nurse Practitioner Excellence in Innovation, Improvement and Efficiency Award • Sharon Travis - Payroll • Lorraine Smith - Clinical Audit & Research Nurse • Bernie Halliday - Productive Ward Project Lead Community Excellence Award • Diabetes Specialist Nurse Team

Excellence in Patient Care Award

• Halton Musculoskeletal Outpatients Physiotherapy Service

• Debbie Carter - Midwifery

• Cardiac Rehabilitation - Halton

• Out of Hours Nursing Team • Dr John Williams

Team of the Year Award • Cancer Services team

Supporting Excellence in Patient Care Award

• Supplies Department

• Ward Clerk team at WHH

There is also an 8th award announced on the night where the 12 monthly winners of the trust’s employee of the month award in 2012 are automatically shortlisted for the Employee of the Year Award.

• Outpatients Department - Halton • Site Managers team and Margaret Hughes Excellence in Leadership Award • Dr Richard Briggs • Helen Farrelly-Daly – A1 Ward Sister 4

• Cardiac Catheter Suite team

Good luck to all the nominees and look out for the results and pictures on The Hub soon after the 29th.

Trust hopes to take over former ISTC building at Halton

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HH is waiting to be given the go-ahead to acquire the former Independent Sector Treatment Centre (ISTC) building on the Halton General Hospital campus.

The building, which includes four theatres and inpatient and day care facilities, has been empty for over a year since the former private health provider occupants stopped providing services there.

Responding to a question in parliament last week (12th June), health minister Simon Burns MP said that the centre will be used by our trust, saying “The NHS trust and the PCT have made plans for the building to be used by the Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust for orthopaedic out-patients and surgery. Those plans should enable clinicians to provide the NHS services needed by local people in much-improved buildings, and I understand that services will be recommenced from those buildings in weeks.”

Taking ownership of the ISTC is a key part of our transformational change plans – allowing us to move more planned surgery to the Halton campus and better use the facilities at Warrington as well.

We’ll provide more information to staff as soon as we hear more!

News

£1.4 million investment to support patients and staff in

A&E and emergency care

As the first major part of our transformational change plans for the year, some exciting changes are taking place in Accident and Emergency at Warrington Hospital - we are redesigning elements of our front end A&E department as part of a £1.4m project of investment into emergency care at the trust.

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e continue to experience a very high demand at A&E, with 100,075 people attending in 2011/2012. We hope that continuation of the Choose Well campaign with the public will reduce inappropriate attendances, but the busy periods of pressure we have experienced have shown that improving patient flow is vital, alongside enhancing the quality of care that we provide to our local communities - and making the unit work better for our staff.

What is happening?

Work is taking place that will change the A&E department configuration and allow us to create the following enhancements: • Introduction of a trolley triage area where we can receive ambulance patients and allow crews to handover patients quickly and with dignity (up to six triage areas will be created) • Increase in resuscitation bays which will be co-located into the major injury section of the

department offering better staffing options and support plus two extra single rooms • Development of an acute medical assessment unit to triage, treat and discharge the majority of urgent medical GP referrals sent through each day • Introduction of a full surgical assessment unit to triage, treat and discharge the majority of urgent surgical GP referrals sent through every day • Working with the GP Clinical Commissioning Group, we are also looking at the roll out single point of access and a primary care led unit located in A&E to address patients attending the department who could use alternative services in the community.

These projects are being complemented by two other major change projects looking at use of IT and improving some of the corporate processes that can support change.

the duration of the build. The completion date for all the work is October 2012 in readiness for winter 2012-2013.

We do not believe the work will cause too many operational challenges and there will be no changes to how patients are referred on entering.

QPS and transformational change This project is part of the trust’s change plans for 2012-2013. It is one of three priority projects identified for action by staff to support the Quality, People, Sustainability agenda which were:

How long will the work take?

• Emergency Care – this new investment in our ‘frontend’ services to allow us to better manage the demand on A&E and emergency/ acute medicine

The capital work will take approximately six months and has now started with the creation of a temporary minor injuries area.

This will allow majors to expand into the current minor’s area for

• Community Based Care – speeding up the development of community based services that reduce the dependency on acute hospital care for patients • Elective Care – changing the elective and non-elective mix across our two sites.

These projects are being complemented by two other major change projects looking at use of IT and improving some of the corporate processes that can support change.

Look out for updates on this and all our major projects over the coming weeks - you can also read more on QPS and our vision on the Hub too.

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News

Celebrating the Productive Ward A celebration event of the Productive Ward took place in April to evaluate the two year implementation of the programme across the trust.

So what is The Productive Ward?

What – The Productive Ward is a no nonsense, innovative and practical programme of work designed to review and assess the ward environment and processes. It aims to remove tasks of no value and increase the time nurses spend at the bedside. It is a bottom up approach to reform which is led by the ward manager and her team with support from the project lead.

Why – The objectives are to improve patient experience and improve staff morale, improve the quality and safety of patient care and make efficiencies in service delivery where possible.

How – Ward managers are taught basic but effective service improvement techniques and elements of lean methodology which they apply to 11 modules.

The tools are used to generate and analyse data from ward processes and the environment. The data is

The re-introduction of medicine trolleys across the wards has meant improved safety and efficiency with regard to medicines administration.

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assessed and this reflects how well the area is performing against trust strategy and objectives. This identifies areas for improvement and teaches ward staff how to make and sustain changes.

Implementation – Across the Warrington and Halton sites we have 29 wards and units involved in the Productive Ward initiative, all at various stages. The 3 foundation modules are well embedded across the trust with many wards having implemented several of the process modules. We have seen considerable improvements to the meals process, handover and medicines which have contributed enormously to improving patient safety, dignity and ultimately the quality of care.

The celebration day was very well attended and supported.

There was representation by the Institute of Innovation and Improvement as well as external implementer sites. The event was opened by the chief executive, Mel Pickup, and was well supported by our executive and senior nursing team as well as ward staff.

Bernie Halliday, Productive Ward lead, said ‘’The day showcased two years of hard work and dedication from the ward teams. Despite facing many operational challenges whilst implementing the project, the ward staff have made significant improvements to ward processes such as meals, medicines and handover, which have had a positive impact on the quality of care and patient experience. I would like to say a huge thank you to all staff who have participated in the project, as without their engagement and drive, it wouldn’t have been nearly so successful.’’

For further information on the Productive Ward, please contact Bernie Halliday on Ext. 5685

Performance boards are displayed in prominent areas on each ward. They are populated with safety crosses and clearly highlight to staff and visitors how the ward is performing with regard to patient safety, infection control and patient experience.

Patient status boards, such as this one on ward B12, are used in handover to highlight risks to patients as well as aiding and expediting the discharge process.

The new ward based breakfast trolleys have greatly improved patient choice, reduced the time spent distributing breakfast and made significant financial savings due to less food wastage.

News

Nurses’ Day - a time

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for celebrations

Thirteen years ago I began my career as an Intensive Care nurse at Halton General Hospital. Previously I had worked in a Coronary Care Unit, so I was used to seeing patients who were very ill. However I was unprepared for a patient who was very young (31 - the same age as me!) and also very ill. I have since described him as the sickest patient I have ever cared for.

nternational Nurses’ Day on 12th May, marked the anniversary of Florence Nightingale’s birth and provided an opportunity to celebrate the work of our nurses and the nursing profession.

Here at WHH, Celebrations commenced at the trust with some of our nurses attending the annual service in Westminster Abbey on the 9th of June, organised by The Florence Nightingale’s Foundation to commemorate the life and works of Florence Nightingale.

Director of Nursing/DIPC, David Melia, together with a group of nurses from the trust attended the service which was the first time that the trust had been represented. David said, “It was a lovely service and made us all feel very proud to be nurses.”

Nurses’ Day here at our hospitals was marked by members of the executive team and corporate nursing visiting the wards with chocolates for nurses as a small gesture to say thank you for all their hard work. Michele Lord, Quality Improvement Matron said, “We were greeted on all the wards by smiling nurses, which was lovely to see when the hospitals have been so busy. Nurses’ Day recognises the unique contribution of nurses and we wanted to acknowledge the loyal and hardworking nursing teams here at Warrington and Halton.”

A series of nurses’ stories written by some of our own nurses were also displayed in the foyer at both our hospitals for patients and visitors to read. David Melia, and Michele Lord, Quality Improvement Matron would like to say a huge ‘thank you’ to everyone who shared their story about what inspired each of them to become a nurse.

Pictured above (L to R is Leisha Seddon (Clinical Nurse Specialist Educator), Jane Scott (Matron - Paediatrics), Lorraine Smith, (Clinical Research & Audit Nurse), David Melia, Lorraine Jackson Ward Manager, B1 (Halton), Carol Morris (Sister, Urgent Care Centre), Gaynor Naylor (Manager, Ante-natal Unit), Chris Knowles (Sister, Urgent Care Centre), Lesley O’Hara (Ward Manager (B19).

Karen Dawber, Director of Governance and workforce, says thank you to ward A4

On one Saturday morning, the ward round with the Consultant was a grim experience because the outlook was decidedly bleak. Surprisingly though, during that day the patient appeared to turn a corner and over the next few weeks he got better.

After a while he came back to the unit and we invited to him to sit on a group as a former patient so that we could learn from his experience.

The only thing we learnt was how wonderful we all were, this was nice but not quite the constructive criticism we had in mind.

One thing I remember is that whilst he was unconscious in the ICU the nurses talked in hushed tones about him being a musician who played in a band from the 80’s. As he was so poorly we all doubted that he would be able to go back to that career; indeed getting home from hospital was not certain. Through a mutual friend I have kept in touch with his progress and was pleased to learn that he had released a CD. Then there was a ‘gig’ at a local village hall and I went along, interested to see him. During the intermission I approached him to buy the CD. I was introduced to his band mate as the man who “saved my life”.

I quickly shared this praise with the team of nurses, doctors, physios etc, but to think that I had even a small share in such a positive impact on somebody’s life is enough to make me recommend nursing as a profession to everybody.

Later in the show….

Congratulations to Ellis Clarke, (Matron, Critical Care) for his personal story, which was awarded a prize of Marks and Spencer’s vouchers. You can read the winning story on the right of this page.

Once again, a huge thank you to each and every one of our nurses here at WHH.

A Nurse’s Story by Ellis Clarke

“Is Ellis still here?”

“Yes”

Jonathan Stephens, Director of finance, says thank you to ward C22

“I’ve just had a text from Tim (our mutual friend) he says I have to play a song for you, so this one’s for you it’s called ‘Theatre List’… ha ha” Ellis Clark, Matron - Critical Care

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Looking back – how di

Look out for the n

We are always looking at ways to improve the care here at Warrington and Halton Hospitals. Our vision is to deliver high quality and safe healthcare by using a range of quality measures.

The quality measures look at a range of key factors that help us measure safety and quality in the hospitals. the factors include infection rates, cases of pressure sores and patient falls.

We are then able to measure our progress and look at ways to improve.

So how did we do at the end of the 2011/12 financial year.

MRSA and Clostridium difficile (C.Diff) As you know, the two well known hospital acquired infections are MRSA and C-difficile. We have stringent targets to help us ensure we reduce these infections to low levels.

MRSA - At the end of the last financial year -March 2012, the trust reported 5 hospital acquired MRSA bacteraemias against the trust’s target of four for the year.

Monitor, however, confirmed that they have a deminimus level of 6, which was the target they managed the trust against. This new financial year, however, sees the target reduced to 3 hospital acquired cases, which again will be challenging for us.

C-diff – At the end of March 2012, the trust reported 38 cases of hospital acquired C.diff against a target of 54 cases which is an excellent reduction. Our target for this year is to reduce this figure to no more than 40 cases.

In celebrating our successes in reducing C.Difficile infection, David Melia, Nursing/DIPC, said, “Just four years ago, during the 2007-2008 financial year, our trust had 393 hospital acquired cases of Clostridium

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difficile – more than one case per day.

The combined efforts of all trust staff has contributed to this continued success in reducing the number of Clostridium difficile cases.

In 2011/12, we had just 37 cases - less than one case per week.

This meant a 90% drop in C-diff cases in four years which is an incredible achievement.

The vigilance of staff and the continued use of the Cohort Ward, which opened in January 2008 to care for these patients, has greatly assisted this downward trend in cases.

For the first time since the cohort facility opened, at the end of March, the trust was able to report no patients with a diagnosis of Clostridium difficile toxin positive. This was landmark for us to be extremely proud of and shows the impact of how far we have come at this time.

Looking forward,the threshold of cases for

us to achieve next year is 40 cases or less. It is imperative we continue to work together to reduce the risks from this infection by: • Prudent antibiotic prescribing • Timely isolation of cases – following the SIGHT mnemonic • Adherence to hand washing policy and correct use of personal protective equipment • Maintaining a clean environment The combined efforts of all trust staff has contributed to this continued success in reducing the number of Clostridium difficile cases. Everybody has a part to play and I’d like to thank all staff for helping us get to the landmark position that we see today.

David Melia Director of Nursing/DIPC

id we do in 2011/12?

new infection control posters on your travels around our wards.

Reducing avoidable pressure ulcers Another of our measurable factors is reducing avoidable pressure ulcers (bed sores) on our wards. These happen when patients are immobile and the skin rubs against another surface (such as a sheet or bed). We have set a 30 per cent reduction target for grade 3 and 4 (severe) pressure ulcers by taking every step to avoid these ulcers forming.

In the last financial year (until March 31st), there were 21 hospital acquired grade 3 pressure ulcers and no hospital acquired grade 4 pressure ulcers against a target of 29 (this is a 49% reduction – from 41 to 21) Our target for this new financial year is 19 hospital acquired grade 3 and 4 pressure ulcers (10% reduction on 2011/12 figure).

Patient falls We are committed to reducing the number of falls in hospital that cause harm to patients. When a patient is unwell in an unfamiliar environment, or are getting back to health and used to being mobile again, falls are more likely. We have put a system in place to ensure that patients have their risk of falling assessed so we can take steps to minimise it.

Last year there were 41 cases of patients falling in hospital which caused harm (this is moderate, major and catastrophic harm) – against a target of no more than 50 falls.

Our target for this year is 37 (10% reduction on 2011/12 figure)

David Melia, director of nursing, adds,

Information on these targets and all our other achievements in the year, including cancer, A&E and waiting times, will be available for staff to read in our quality account on the Hub.

“It is so important that we accurately measure these kinds of quality indicators in the hospital. It shows how putting clear actions in place can reduce incidences of infection, pressure ulcers and falls that can cause harm to patients.

“We have put a range of improvements in place and we are moving in the right direction this year.”

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Quality Improvement and

Patient Safety Strategy

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he trust defines quality as safe, effective care that provides the best patient experience.

Our patients can expect that

services, for patients, staff and families.

This strategy will • Set out how we will measure our quality build on those and patient safety themes and performance to support details what the • care that is intended to help quality assurance next three years is free from avoidable and improvement. harm - SAFE. will look like for • Provide a framework to both Warrington and • care is evidence based care support and motivate our staff that supports and encourages Halton Hospitals. to deliver the highest possible recovery and ensures the best possible patient outcomes and experience. - EFFECTIVE

• care provides patients with the most positive experience possible, i.e. patient centred and provided in high quality, safe therapeutic environments - EXPERIENCE Based on the above themes, the trust has developed a strategy for us to strive towards over the next three years. This strategy will build on those themes and details what the next three years will look like for Warrington and Halton Hospitals. With a theme of year on year improvement the trust is striving to • improve the quality of our clinical services • achieve better patient outcomes • improve the experience of care • identify risks • reduce harm and mortality The strategy will • Clearly set out our quality and safety priorities to guide our plans • Ensure a coherent approach to setting priorities for continuously improving the quality of all our clinical 10

quality care providing staff with an environment where the pursuit of continuous quality improvement is both encouraged and required.

• Complement our existing clinical governance arrangements in the Quality and Clinical Governance Sub Committee work plan and patient safety work via the Leading Improvement in Patient Safety (LIPS) project and ensuring that quality is our underpinning principle.

• Support the delivery of national priorities and commissioner requirements for the provision of quality healthcare For a copy of the strategy, information about how this is being implemented and to see how the trust is doing, visit the Hub - our trust Intranet.

Also, look out for updates in The Week and on notice boards, etc.

For further information please contact Hayley Citrine, Associate Director of Nursing or Hannah Gray, Corporate Nursing Programmes Manager on 2296.

Be Clear on Cancer The trust’s cancer specialists have been backing the Department of Health’s ‘Be Clear on Cancer’ campaign by talking to Warrington Guardian about the importance of going to your doctor with your health concerns as early detection of cancer can improve the outcomes.

Be Clear on Cancer has been developed for bowel, lung, breast and blood in urine, as a symptom of bladder and kidney cancer and oesophago-gastric cancer. An additional breast cancer version specifically for women over 70 years has also been developed.

The consultants that the Warrington Guardian have featured so far have been Mr Martin Brett on gullet cancer, Mr Barry Taylor on bowel cancer, Mr Lee Robinson on bladder cancer, Mr Steve Owen on lung cancer, Mr Adrian Thorp on mouth cancer with a feature on Mr Ansar Farooq on breast cancer in the near future.

To find out more about the campaign and the symptoms of the different tumours log on to: http://info.cancerresearchuk. org/spotcancerearly/naedi/ beclearoncancer/lung/ lungcancercampaigninformation/

Advancing Quality results show trust is amongst best in North West The trust been rated amongst the best performing hospitals in the North West for treatment of heart attacks, heart failure and other key procedures.

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ccording to the annual results of the Advancing Quality (AQ) programme, Warrington and Halton Hospitals was rated as the 3rd best performer out of the 25 North West hospitals for heart attack treatment, 4th best for heart failure and 7th best for pneumonia.

The trust was just outside the top ten for hip and knee replacement surgery care, ranking at 11th.

What is the Advancing Quality Programme?

The Advancing Quality programme was established in the North West in 2008 to measure that hospitals carry out the right steps with patients at the right time

during their treatment.

Focusing on several clinical areas that affect many patients in the North West - heart failure, heart bypass surgery, heart attack, hip and knee replacement surgery and pneumonia - it provides hospitals with a list of key measures which should be delivered to every single patient to ensure they receive the highest standard of care.

Example: For a heart attack there are eight steps that every patient should follow ranging from aspirin being given at arrival to hospital, clot-busting therapy provided within 30 minutes and certain key tests being promptly carried out. It also includes making sure that patients

are offered smoking cessation advice whilst in hospital and are given the right drugs at discharge.

The programme also measures survival rates.

There are different steps based on best practice care for each of the key clinical areas. By measuring how each hospital performs against these for each patient, scores and rankings can be given.

The trust was delighted with the scores published for the latest year of the programme which show the quality of the treatment that we provide to local patients in these key areas. We have also seen an improvement in our performance every year since the start of the programme as Advancing

Quality allows us to look at how we can improve our care for patients.

It is based on a similar programme in the US and the results from that showed that the better care achieved led to reduced readmissions, length of stay and mortality rates.

Advancing Quality was extended last year to look at stroke care and the initial targets in that area have been achieved by the trust. Further key areas will be added to the programme in the future.

You can view more information on Advancing Quality and the latest results at http://www. advancingqualitynw.nhs. uk/index.php

Trauma Unit Bid As part of the regional review of major trauma services, Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust submitted a bid to be designated as a trauma receiving unit within Cheshire and Merseyside.

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n future, services for major trauma across Cheshire and Merseyside will be provided on a hub and spoke basis. Aintree University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has been designated as the area’s Major Trauma Centre to be supported by The Walton Centre and initially Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals.

At the end of March, we were delighted to announce that initial feedback suggested we had been successfully designated as a receiving unit for major trauma working within this hub and spoke model following the accreditation visit in February 2012. During the visit, we were able to demonstrate full achievement in 40 of the 43 separate criteria and partial achievement in the remaining 3 areas.

There was no area in which the trust failed to achieve compliance.

Dan Grimes, AGM for WC&CSS and Trauma Programme Manager, said, “This is excellent news and a huge thank you to everyone involved in supporting the process. The continued support of all staff will be valuable as we move into delivering this new model and maintaining our strong position.�

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Foundation trust staff M y role as Vocational Training & Skills Co-ordinator here at WHH and also that of staff governor puts me at the centre of a wide range of activities here at the trust.

Jane Birch, Staff Governor for Estates, Administration and Managerial staff group

“I’ve outlined some of the projects I’m currently busy working on below which might be of interest and as you may feel I might be of help to you in the workplace in some way.

Staff Rest Room Renovation Group Joanne Drewett, Working Lives Advisor, leads this group which is looking at improving rest room facilities for staff at both Warrington and Halton. We met for the first time recently and visited the Warrington staff room in Appleton Wing. Following discussions, plans have been drawn up by estates and, although we are obviously awaiting costs, Joanne will be taking some proposals to the Staff Engagement meeting.

Carol Over, Staff Governor, Scientific and Allied Health Professionals

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Well, we are almost now into the Summer months. Hopefully, those who like to hibernate during the winter have now emerged unscathed! I just love springtime. To me it’s a time when you feel enthusiastic and energetic and looking forward to the year ahead. Seeing the spring bulbs coming through and hearing bird song and feeling that life is good.

To all of my staff group, I don’t think that I need to remind you that a third of your life is spent

Recruitment for WHHFT I am working with Gayle and Helen from the FT Membership office and Roy Radley (Public Governor), to agree future recruitment events in the Widnes area and, in particular, focusing on Halton College.

I also met with a contact in May to discuss partnership working as well as being able to represent the local NHS trust at their Health & Wellbeing / Career Advice events and to use this as a recruitment opportunity also.

Customer Care I am currently preparing an update for the current customer care programme which I deliver as part of the Corporate Induction (as well as to stand alone groups of staff) and am looking to incorporate • QPS • Attitudes and behaviours at work • Being Open • More group activities • More recent patient survey feedback I also work with individual members of staff to deliver

here in the workplace, and you may feel, as I do, that your colleagues have become almost a second family to you. Therefore each year we need a “spring clean” to put new vigour into our working life and environment – to knock off the cobwebs and put wind into our sails once more!

The pride we have in our work should also be felt in the environment that both we and our patients share. Providing the right environment can have a huge impact on you as a person and can

the customer care message to members of staff who may be having problems in their area - providing support and developing their skills to deal with issues more effectively.

Health & Wellbeing / Learning at Work Day Events I work with the team to help organise the events and, this year, we teamed up with the Learning At Work Day in order to offer information and support to all staff for training and development opportunities aswell.

QPS I was invited to the first event recently and was delighted to attend (although the dancing was a bit of a shock!) I have already chosen my 5 people to go and talk to about the project and will be contacting them shortly to make an appointment for a coffee and a chat.

If I can help you with anything, or if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me on ext. 5698 or vial email at Jane.Birch@whh.nhs.uk”

enhance the quality of the service that you provide.

Some staff have already made contact with me regarding improvements they feel would be beneficial for their department and, with spring in the air, this is something that we can all do. Of course with monetary constraints one cannot eat the “elephant” in one bite, but it would be useful to hear from you, the bite size chunks that could make such a difference!

I recently emailed all of you in my staff group seeking suggestions

f Governor News Having worked here at the trust as consultant and specialty lead and consultant in Genitourinary Medicine since 2005, many of you will already know me.

Dr. Debashis Mandal, Staff Governor for Medical Staff

I was recently elected as staff governor on the Governors’ Council to represent my colleagues in medicine. Whilst it is in addition to many other things I do and which I keep myself busy with, I felt there should be a voice representing you all at the Council. My sole intention is to influence the process of changes for the better and I hope you will support me in doing so.

I became a 2. Chairman of British consultant in Society for the Study of 1992 at Bolton Vulval Diseases after which I 3. Member of Specialist then moved to Advisory Committee(SAC) the Manchester in Genitourinary Medicine, JRCPTB, Royal College teaching of Physician hospital and the Manchester Royal 4. Examiner for Diploma in Genitourinary Medicine Infirmary.

5. Chairman of Specialty Training Education Committee and Training Programme Director in Genitourinary Medicine. Mersey Deanery 6. Regional Specialty Advisor in Genitourinary Medicine.

Mersey Deanery. Royal College of Physicians. UK 7. Chairman of Research & Development Committee here at the Trust

To provide you with some details as to my background: In addition to my clinical commitments here at the trust, I have taken on a range of other activities to support my professional interests in research, teaching and research ethics at local, regional, national and international level. Here are a few examples:

8. Board Member of Cheshire & Merseyside Local Comprehensive Research Network, representing our Trust.

9. Hon. Treasurer of Association Research Ethics Committees.

1. Director of Medical Education and

10. Member of Research

as to any items you may wish to put forward that you feel would be of benefit . To date, it is allied health professionals who have provided me with useful information which has since been raised at Board level and is presently being attended to.

If you haven’t already contacted me with your ideas, as your staff governor, I would urge you to do so, no matter how large or small and insignificant it may seem.

Carol Over, Principal Therapist / Manager, Cardiac Rehabilitation, ext. 3050

Director of Research & Development here at the trust.

“Hi, my name is Sue Bennett and I was elected as Staff Governor for support staff at the beginning of December 2011.

Sue Bennett, Staff Governor, Support Staff

I have worked here at the trust for five years now. For the first two years, I was a domestic assistant and am currently a nursing assistant in outpatients at Halton General Hospital. I also work on the bank at Warrington as a domestic.

I have just completed a

Ethics Committee at University of Manchester 11. Overseas Member of DMSC Ethics Committee. India 12. Board Member Sonagachi Research and Training Institute (SRTI). India I qualified in India and came to the UK in 1981 for further training and experience. I became a consultant in 1992 at Bolton after which I then moved to the Manchester Royal Infirmary. After transforming the departments in the hospitals, I came to Warrington as I was aware that improvements were needed in Genitourinary Medicine. I also hold Hon. Senior Lecturer position at the University of Manchester.

Please feel free to contact me either by email at debashis. mandal@whh.nhs.uk or phone on ext. 2576 if you feel that I may be able to help you by acting as your ‘voice’ on the Governors’ Council, for the benefit of medical colleagues here at the trust. “

level 3 apprenticeship in health, and which gave me the confidence to apply to become a staff governor.

As I am new to this post, I am still finding my feet. I am very approachable and hope staff will come to me with their concerns and problems, I will do my very best to get the staff voice heard.

Please feel free to contact me via email at Susan.bennett@whh.nhs.uk.

13

Nursing TAP’s

get off to a flying start

Trainee Assistant Practitioners develop their skills and experience whilst undertaking a 2 year Foundation Degree at University through day release. Upon successful completion they take on the role of Assistant Practitioners.

Jubilee Celebrations here at WHH

I

n celebration of the Queen’s diamond jubilee, wards and departments throughout the trust celebrated in style.

Ward B12 at Warrington hosted a tea party for patients and visitors on Monday, 4th June and patients and visitors from wards at Halton attended celebrations in the dining room which included music and entertainment.

To kick start the weekend of festivities, Chairman, Allan Massey and Chief Executive, Mel Pickup, provided jubilee cupcakes to staff as a small way of saying a big thank you for all their hard work and dedication and as a way of marking the very special occasion.

Earlier this year, nine nursing assistants commenced as trainee assistant Practitioners here at the trust. The assistants are based throughout the trust in Accident and Emergency, Urgent Care Centre, Coronary Care, Cardiac Catheter Lab, Ward B14, Surgical Assessment Unit and Halton PIU. Sallie Kelsey, CPD, Business Manager (clinical education) says, “As assistant practitioners they will have acquired a level of knowledge and skill beyond that of the traditional healthcare assistant and will be able to deliver elements of health care and undertake clinical work in domains that have previously only been within the remit of registered professionals. “ Sallie added, “Introducing this role will positively impact the skill mix in clinical areas and will free up qualified nursing staff time through substitution of some tasks, allowing them to concentrate on the more complex elements of their role. This in turn, will positively impact upon patient experience in the following aspects

IT.

H.R. team

• identifying patients needs • development of strong relationships with patients and carers • continuity of care • having more extended time to spend with the patients • a reduced power differential between the assistant practitioner and service users.

It doesn’t stop here though. The trust is intending to recruit more trainee assistant practitioners in nursing for selected clinical areas in early summer to commence training in January 2013. “

Pictured (left to right above) (front) are Paramjit Saraon, Eileen Leyland, Lucy Pearson, (Back) Stephen Bridge, Colin Sanderson and Alison Gibson. Unfortunately Nicola Leong, Dawn Wright and Susan Griffiths were not available for the photo.

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Coding team Julie Delamere, Ward Manager, said “The party went really well and quite a few relatives attended. I’ve received some really great feedback from them and the patients (the bingo went down especially well).

On behalf of all the patients, relatives, staff and myself I would like to convey special thanks to all the catering staff who provided a fantastic buffet and for allowing us to use the dining room. Everyone had a smashing time and showed our true British spirit.”

Pictured from left to right is Diane Roper, ward sister B2/B3, Paula Smith, ward manager B1 and Julie Delamere, ward manager B2/B3

Employees of the Month Do you know of someone who has gone the extra mile in providing consistently exceptional service to patients or colleagues and which is considered to be beyond that normally expected?

T

he trust’s Employee of the Month Award provides an opportunity for staff, patients and visitors, to nominate either an individual or team. All you need to do is complete a nomination form which you can access from the Human Resources community on The Hub, fill it in and return it to H.R. at Warrington. Well done to each of our Employees of the Month below who were nominated by either a colleagues(s) or patient(s). All of our winners will also automatically be entered into the Employee and Team of the Year Awards, at our Thank You Awards 2012, to be held in June this year.

October

November

December

Linda Doherty, Sister on Ward A5, was nominated by patient who said

Barbara Wardman, Support Assistant on the Breast Screening Unit, was nominated by Jill McKay, Programme Manager from St. Helens & Knowsley BSP, located in Kendrick Wing at Warrington Hospital who said.

“Barbara has achieved 100% on three separate occasions on her cleaning assessment. She ensures that any estate issues are reported and will stay late or come in early to get a job done. She will buy little bits and pieces for our unit and mobile out of her own pocket to make sure everything can function. Barbara not only takes huge pride in her work but also has a very positive approach and attitude.

“During the recent major refit in our department, the dust and debris was everywhere. Every day Bara would clean up after the builders and cleared rubbish. She booked her holidays around our needs rather than her own.

“Our unit looks wonderful now and we often receive compliments from patients and visitors. We recently received excellent feedback following our three yearly quality assurance visit where every part of our programme was assessed. The assessor commented that the whole unit was a credit to our cleaner and that “it sparkled”.

Claire Greene, Night Nurse Practitioner, was nominated by Alison Lynch, Divisional Health of Nurse in Unscheduled Care. Alison said,

“I would not normally take time to provide feedback but Linda provided a standard of care that far exceeded expectations for which I was very grateful.

“Everything about her approach was impressive. She was very professional, taking great pride in doing things the right way and getting around with medicines and so on very efficiently.

“Her communication was really good, introducing herself personally to everyone on the ward at the start of her first shift of the week and, for example, finding out more for me about what the doctor had said when I told her I hadn’t fully understood what he has told me. She helped me know what to expect from my treatment and when she was on shift, I always felt as though I was fully in the loop about my care.

“Her attitude was just perfect – whilst appearing to deliver really well in a professional sense she also managed to find time to come across as caring and supportive and was a positive force who was full of energy and drive which transmitted to the patients and no doubt her colleagues too. Linda stood out a mile and I think she fully deserves to be recognised for it.”

“In November last year, whilst on duty at Halton, Claire found a young teenage boy outside the hospital looking for a place of safety. The boy was scared, vulnerable and at risk. Whilst the safety of the situation was dealt with expertly by the police, Claire demonstrated the utmost kindness and human compassion towards the child.

She spent time gaining the child’s trust and talking with him, helping him to get warm and dry and have something to eat until he was taken to a place of safety.

“Claire acted in the most professional way whilst tending to the child and demonstrated gentle, fundamental motherly love to a child in need. For this reason, I wish to nominate her for employee of the month.”

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In the spotlight…

We are pleased to introduce a new feature here in Link Up, which focuses on our hard working teams across the trust. It will enable us to find out more about the good work of our colleagues and how we can help each other.

Introducing the

Payroll Department Accuracy There should be no surprises on your payslip: we produced almost 54,500 payments last year with an accuracy level of 99.5% almost perfect ! However, from time to time, things can go wrong for a variety of reasons – late paperwork, unexpected changes etc. So if you have been underpaid, we will aim to rectify this and, in most cases, get an additional payment out to you as soon as possible.

If you have been overpaid, then we will contact you and arrange a mutually acceptable means of resolving this – we will never simply take the money from your next salary without your permission, nor (as some people think) are we able to take the money out of your bank account!

Pensions Did you know we also have a dedicated pensions manager who can provide useful information and offer guidance relating to the complicated business of NHS pensions. We are constantly working with the Pensions Agency to ensure that their own information is accurate and up to date?

Payroll recently undertook the distribution of Pension Choice Packs to every member of the scheme. This was a huge exercise which was completed on time and at no cost to the trust.

Ask us Would you like a forecast of your pension benefits? Need advice on how a change of hours could affect your pay, or what the effect would be

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Pictured are L- R - Doreen Taylor, Vicky Haslam, Jim Howard, Gill Greggs, Sam Steele, Steve Evison, Sheila Mullin, Bernard Daley, Colette Trimble, Debbie Ferguson, Sharon Travis. (Sue Langton is also a member of the team but unfortunately was on leave when the photo was taken) of ‘averaging out’ your Maternity Pay? No problem, just ask us.

We can also help you understand the tax system if you feel that your tax coding is incorrect (although, we can’t change a code) and can provide copy payslips and statements of earnings as requested. We regularly produce information to other departments: for example, to do with salary sacrifice and other deductions, to highlight incremental ‘gateways’ as they become due, and to enable the trust to achieve its statutory financial obligations.

Cost savings Over the past 12 months, the department has worked hard on streamlining its procedures and moving forward by the introduction of electronic forms and e-SVL systems which allow managers to submit information directly to payroll. This all helps to speed up the input of any

changes, or the submission of enhancements, overtime, on calls and other details. The transferring of 170 staff from weekly to monthly pay also saved the trust over £10,000 per year.

Our Payroll Department is here to provide a service to every member of staff. Every employee is entitled to the same level of attention, and we are working hard to improve on 99.5% !

If you need to contact us Jim Howard

Payroll Team Manager

3030

Sharon Travis

ESR Manager

3591

Gill Greggs

Pensions Manager

3187

Sue Langton

Payroll Officer

3106

Sam Steele

Payroll Officer

3448

Sheila Mullin

Payroll Officer

3457

Doreen Taylor

Payroll Officer

3135

Colette Trimble

Payroll Officer

3034

Vicky Haslam

Travel Officer

3378

Debbie Ferguson

Scanning Officer

3030

Steve Evison

Deputy Payroll Manager

3418

Bernard Daley

Payroll Manager

3237

Fax

3114

The NHS North West Games 2012 fancy taking part?

In celebration of health and fitness as we approach the London 2012 Games, the NHS North West Games event will be held on Sunday, 30th September 2012 at Kirby Sports College

• Football (7-a-side)

details to follow.

great day at the event.

• Netball

You don’t have to be an athlete to join in; all levels of ability are welcome. You can also come along to cheer the teams on the day without taking part in the sport.

The venue is excellent with great facilities and it is hoped that the following activities will be included on the day:

• Hockey.

We have had a great response from staff at our trust who has registered their interest in joining in as a team and individuals. Those that have already responded will be contacted shortly with further information.

Last year our touch rugby team won their competition and had a

• Golf tournament

• Touch Rugby • Rounders • Badminton • Table tennis (singles) There will also be a 5K run/walk in early September leading up to the main event – more

Please contact Claire Blackman – Occupational Health Manager on ext 2345 or claire.blackman@whh.nhs. uk for more information.

Stop press – save the date! Family Open Day 2012.

The trust’s second annual Family Open Day at Warrington Hospital is set to take place on Saturday 15th September this year. Over 500 people attended last year to find out more about us and take hospital tours, and again, we’re inviting you and your families to come along and join the fun.

you’re interested. We’re also planning a Halton Open Day – date to be confirmed ASAP!

We’re also looking for teams to run tours and stalls again so please let communications@whh.nhs.uk know if

17

Let’s get

physio!

The new Occupational Health Physiotherapy Service for staff, launched six months ago, is already proving beneficial in the assessment and treatment of musculoskeletal conditions.

S

o far over 240 staff members have accessed the service which is excellent. The average wait for initial assessment is only one to two weeks with appointments being offered at both Warrington and Halton sites.

Linda Fridd, MCSP (pictured left) and Joanna Mullin, MCSP (right), are working within the occupational health team across both hospital sites to assist in the assessment and diagnosis together with

The average wait for initial assessment is only one to two weeks with appointments being offered at both Warrington and Halton sites.

When completed, please return the hard copy form to the Occupational Health department.

Linda and Jo are also happy to give advice over the phone. If you do not feel you require a full course of treatment or if you are unsure whether or not your condition is appropriate for physiotherapy, just contact Occupational Health on 01925 662345 and leave a message for the Occupational Health Physiotherapists and we will return your call.

• Treatment and Rehabilitation • Management information / feedback to Occupational Health as appropriate • Return to Work Plans

We are taking the opportunity to expand the contribution of volunteers to support our staff in delivering safe and respectful care to patients.

Many people in the local community have said they would like to volunteer some of their time to help others and so we are encouraging them to get involved. As this is early days for the service we are starting slowly, developing volunteer roles in the following areas: Becoming a “buddy. People coming into the Accident & Emergency Department or for a clinic appointment may feel isolated or nervous and may like to have a friendly person to sit with them and help them through the experience.

Patient experience. There are several ways that patients and members of the public can tell us what they think of our services. One is to talk to our Patient Advice and Liaison (PALs) Officer or to complete a questionnaire or a comment card. We want volunteers to help us do this, which may need some computer skills, as well as talking to patients and members of the public. They could also be involved with public displays, campaigns and other events.

In each of these roles volunteers are not expected to carry out any clinical interventions or sit in on consultations or examinations and will receive training and supervision for all tasks.

• Workplace Assessments

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The trust is pleased to announce the introduction of a new Volunteer service here at Warrington and Halton.

Nutritional support. Sometimes ensuring good nutrition for people in hospital can be challenging and we want some volunteers to support the clinical nursing teams in providing a peaceful, pleasant environment in which to dine and respectful assistance to eat and drink well.

• Advice and education

Just a reminder that any staff member can access the service and a self referral form can be found in the Occupational Health community folder via The Hub, in the Occupational Health Physiotherapy section.

Volunteers lend a helping hand

Linda Fridd, MCSP (left) and Joanna Mullin, MCSP (right), will be working within the Occupational Health team across both Warrington and Halton sites, providing rapid and convenient access to assessment and treatment for musculoskeletal conditions.

Way forward – The first group of recruits are being checked and training and a second open day took place recently. Look out for details of the launch date coming soon.

For more information please contact Michele Lord, Quality Improvement Matron on ext. 2904.

Joel makes

his hospital debut Warrington Wolves’ Joel Monaghan, made his debut at Warrington Hospital at the beginning of June as our new Player Ambassador on the Children’s Ward.

The role will see Joel becoming a regular on the ward as he visits the children to raise their spirits during their stay.

B

orn in Australia, Joel said “It is an honour being the Children’s ward ambassador.

I’m looking forward to meeting the children and hopefully cheering them up a little.

It’s just great to be able to come to the Hospital and put a smile back on the kids faces. We’re pleased to be able to do anything to help.”

Pictured left is Joel with Luke, aged 12 from Culcheth, Warrington.

The importance of reporting

needle stick injuries!

Did you know that you may acquire a blood borne virus (BBV) following exposure to an infected blood or body fluids where the skin is scratched or punctured by a sharp device or needle used in medical procedure.?

All staff must ensure that they log the incident on the Datix system and report to Occupational Health.

Occupational Health is now regularly following up each incident to ensure that a Datix entry is made within 48 hours as per the recommendations of the Policy for the reporting of incident and investigations.

What is Datix? Datix is the software used for reporting and recording incidents here at the trust and, as part of the Policy for the reporting of incident and investigations, it is the responsibility of all staff to practice in a safe way and to report incidents when they occur in line with the timeframes detailed within this policy. The advantage of entering every incident onto Datix and reviewing the findings is that actions can be identified to improve safety for all staff, e.g. training or review of procedure.

Retirements Over the past few weeks, friends and colleagues here at the trust recently extended their very best wishes to Dr. Steve Bentley who retired in April after 30 years service as Consultant Physician.

(See page 23 as Dr. Bentley looks back on how things have changed over the years).

Mary Fagan, Advanced Occupational Therapist, retired at the end of March after 27 years service as part of the occupational health team at Halton.

Karole Sharland, Learning and Development Administrator, retired at the end of May 2012. Karole asked for the following message to be conveyed to staff.

Carol Hillam, Outpatients & Medical Records Service manager, retired on 27th April after 25 years service.

“As I start my retirement, I would like to thank everyone for their kind gifts, cards and good wishes received. I am really looking forward to retirement although I am going to miss the many friends that I have made over the past 21 years. Many thanks to you all - Karole”

Dr. Ted Rose, Consultant Cardiologist who also retired in April after 18 years service.

Dr. Nick Wild Consultant Paediatrics retired from the trust on 22nd April 2012 after 21 years service.

Dr. John Williams, Consultant Physician who retired in April after 21 years service

Barbara Davies, Support Carer on C21 (old ward A3), retired at end of May after 9 years.

19

Proud of our hospitals! Look out

for our new poster campaign

A

long the corridors here at the trust you can now see a new poster campaign designed to tell patients and visitors (and staff!) a bit more about some of the fantastic services that we provide each and every day from our hospitals.

20

Over 100 staff posed for pictures to use in the campaign that tells people what we are proud of here at WHH. The posters speak for themselves and feature topics ranging from infection control through to endoscopy and care for neonates.

We’ll be adding new posters to the campaign through the year – and staging a photo shoot at Halton in the near future as well If you’ve got a topic you are proud of then let us know and you can feature on our walls as well!

Creating patient information leaflets? Here’s how to do it right.

C

reating accurate, evidence based patient information is an essential part of our business. Giving our patients information that supports their care, informs their decision-making and answers their questions is a key part of the quality agenda at the trust.

If you feel that you need to create new information for patients to support the care that you provide then the trust can support you in this. We have a clear Policy for the Production of Patient Information that sets out the standards and the process that we need to meet.

Full information is available on The Hub in the Patient Information and Consent community. There is a wealth of information available on there along with the policy, approved trust templates for creating new information leaflets and a host of links and useful guidance – as well as the library of recently approved information that other colleagues have created and has been approved.

In this article, Chris Horner, associate director of communications, gives you a quick guide to how to save yourself time and create the highest quality information.

1. Check if there is already a leaflet in place for your needs!

“Often we find that staff start to create

new leaflets when there is already one in place or information that we can use that meets their needs,” explains Chris, “Your first point of call should be the Eido patient information library on The Hub. There are 500 plus fully approved, generic patient information leaflets on there that we are licenced to use and cover most common procedures and treatments. Most staff find one that suits their needs.”

2. If you do need to create a new leaflet – follow the system

“We’ve created some templates which contain guidance on producing information that meet both the trust’s needs and patient’s needs,” says Chris, “Use these templates as your guide and look at approved leaflets to get an idea of what works and the format we are looking for.

We can’t approve your leaflet unless it is in our format.”

3. Show that the information you use is evidence based “It’s not good enough to produce a leaflet based on your views and practice.

If it contains medical information and advice that gives the patient options, you need to show where the evidence is for what you are saying, that the evidence is the latest available and then reference that evidence. The trust library service can help with this but you need to be able

to explain where your evidence has come from. If the draft doesn’t do that, we will need to send it back to you.”

4. Test it with your patients “If the draft leaflet has medical or clinical information then we have some readers panels that we will send the information to to check it is understandable and clear for them. If you have patient groups in your area it is worth testing it with them – and with staff as well – so your draft is as clear as possible.”

5. Contact us if you have any questions “We’ve got a five point process that aims to support your drafting, ensure it’s checked and approved and to get it published, but more importantly, get the information right every time. If you need any advice then please don’t hesitate to contact us via communications@whh.nhs.uk ” Did you know? All leaflets that we provide to patients from external sources such as charities, patient support groups and health organisations need to be logged as being in use in the trust. Please contact communications@whh.nhs.uk if you use any external leaflets so we can check and log them.

Check out The Hub - communities/ patient information and consent for further information on creating patient information.

With sadness Over the past months, it was with great sadness that we announced the passing of

Mike contributed so much to the trust and was held in such high regard.

Mike Durkan who had worked as a nurse within the trust for over 25 years.

For the majority of that time, Mike worked in the A&E department at Warrington and qualified in 2005 as a nurse clinician.

His special interest was in cardiology and he worked closely with that department leading the introduction of thrombolysis.

He also had a special interest in teaching and was always seen explaining ECG or cardiac tracings to nurses, students and junior doctors.

Val Kelly who had worked as part of the training team here at the trust for 20 years. During her time with us Val had made many friends and developed close relationships with a wide network of staff.

She was well respected by all who knew her and will be greatly missed by her close working colleagues and indeed many others across the trust.

Patients at the trust loved Mike and he was always receiving the most complimentary of letters and feedback.

the extra mile to care for her patients, colleagues, friends and family. She will be greatly missed by all who knew her.

Our thoughts are with Nicky’s family at this sad time, especially Rose and Kriston who are also employed here at the trust.

John Turner, head chef at Halton, who had worked at the trust for 35 years. John was well respected and liked by all who new him.

Nicky Lawson, who had worked as a staff nurse on Daresbury Ward and had worked at Warrington Hospital since qualifying in 2004. Those who knew Nicky would know how professional she was and always willing to help others, often going

21

Finance colleagues pass with flying colours Congratulations……

Gareth Casey, Management Accounts Assistant for Women’s, Children and Support Services and Facilities who recently passed his TOPCIMA (Test of Professional Competence in Management Accounting) exam. Gareth is now a passed finalist and to become a fully qualified accountant he now has to submit his record of practical experience for approval by the accountancy body to show that he has gained 3 years relevant accounting experience.

Congratulations also to James Howard and Jody Penney who have both become qualified accountants after submitting their record of practical experience to the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. James is the Assistant Divisional Accountant for Scheduled Care and a number of corporate areas and Jody Penney is the Service Line reporting Accountant.

All three of our colleagues have worked very hard and should be proud of their achievements. Well done to you all.

Pictured is James Howard (left) with Gareth Casey.

Unfortunately, Jody was not present for the photograph 22

Pictured L to R is Kim Hubbard, Sally Wade, James Howard, Gareth Casey, Shirley Edwards, Jacky Bowman and Linda Atkin

Finance Accreditation The Finance Division was awarded Level 1 Accreditation by the NHS North West Finance Skills Development (FSD) Towards Excellence Network. The Towards Excellence accreditation process aims to: • Confirm that good FSD practice is established and maintained.

• Encourage continuous development of the finance function through increasingly higher standards of FSD and organisational financial competence.

• Celebrate the success of organisations who show a serious commitment to FSD and so are able to identify continuous improvement of the capability and financial competence of both the finance function and the organisation as a whole.

The award follows a submission and presentation by members of the division and an assessment by the external accreditation team who consider six standards: • Infrastructure • Personal Development and Career Planning • Professional Development • Finance Workforce Planning • Corporate Financial Competence • Business Controls and Policy Steve Barrow, Deputy Director of Finance said

“it a great achievement and formally recognises the good work of the division due to the effort and hard work of all staff in the team.

I would like to thank all finance staff for their participation and support during the process but a special thanks to Kim Hubbard, Divisional Accountant for the coordination and submission of the bid” The award will also benefit future recruitment and it will allow the trust to offer individuals on the Graduate Training Scheme a placement opportunity.

A fond farewell for Dr Bentley Dr Steve Bentley shares his memories of 30 years at the trust.

Although Dr. Bentley retired at Easter, he not quite hanging up the stethoscope for good, we took the opportunity to ask him about his time in Warrington, the changes he has seen and his plans for the future.

Dr Bentley is one of the most recognisable faces at Warrington Hospital – amongst both staff and patients alike. “I still can go onto any ward or clinic in the hospital and I can be almost sure that there is someone there who I have treated in the dim and distant past,” he explains, “That’s one of the things I will miss greatly, it’s such a friendly place.”

Dr Bentley was appointed as a consultant at in September 1982.

After training in Bristol and qualifying as a doctor in 1970 he spent several years in Bristol then West Africa before coming to the North West.

“I was on honeymoon in Anglesey when the consultant interviews took place as it happens,” explains Dr Bentley, “I was delighted to get the post. At the time the medical wards were four run down pre-fabricated buildings on the site. Things have certainly changed as the hospital developed and facilities improved.”

Over 30 years Dr Bentley has seen many changes. “I suppose the biggest change has been the patients.

People are living much longer. The vast majority of acute admissions we now see are very elderly. We see the same diseases and conditions but because people are older there are more complicating factors and many social issues. On a typical on-call day in 1982 we probably saw 5-10 emergency admissions a day. Now it can typically be 25-35 in a day. That’s a massive change.”

The hospitals have changed too.

“There have been huge improvements in standards of medical care.

Governance is better, medicines are more effective, and care is carried out to proven national standards. Waiting times are much shorter and quality of care has improved. The introduction of specialist nurses in the NHS has been another welcome development I have seen.”

awful lot to me.”

The hospital is a real friendly place. I’ll miss the people and I still get a real buzz from correctly diagnosing patients, explaining their condition and treating them quickly. It is what being a doctor is about.

More recent fundraising has helped support the CANtreat charity which led to the new chemotherapy centre at Halton hospital opening.

Another big change has been around infection, “I do think C-difficile was a big wake up call to the NHS nationally. I think that across the service we’d taken cleanliness and antibiotic use for granted over the years. Over the last 10 years we’ve gone back to basics in these areas and the improvements are there to be seen.”

In his time at Warrington Dr Bentley has seen many major incidents where the hospital has come together. “I was on call at the time of Warrington bomb in 1993.

It was a dreadful time for the town and a truly shocking incident but the hospital came together as it always does in times like that.”

In terms of personal achievements, Dr Bentley highlights two areas alongside his overall care for patients – establishing the Acute Medical Unit at Warrington and fundraising to improve the Medical Education Centre and for various hospital charities.

“The acute medical unit means that we can give rapid assessment and diagnosis and receive treatment quickly on admission to the hospital.”

There have been two very successful fundraising challenges.

“I had a spell as postgraduate tutor and the educational facilities were appalling at one time, so we raised £100,000 that was then matched by the trust so we could open the current education centre at Warrington. It’s vital that Warrington has a hospital which attracts future doctors to work and receive good training.”

As part of his retirement, a training room at the centre has been renamed The Bentley Room in his honour. “That gesture meant an

“The hospital is a real friendly place. I’ll miss the people and I still get a real buzz from correctly diagnosing patients, explaining their condition and treating them quickly.

It is what being a doctor is about. I’m not yet hanging up the stethoscope for good, I’ll be ‘freelance’ & doing some locum work here and there for a while and will be around to help out at busy times if needed, but after 30 years I also want some time for myself and my family.”

It will come as no surprise that as someone who has worked in Africa, and more recently trekked in the Himalayas for charity, that travel is a priority during retirement.

Photography, gardening, ornithology and “playing some more bridge” are also on the agenda. Staff and patients alike will be wishing Dr Bentley well for the future.

A

new training room in the education centre at Warrington Hospital has been officially named the Bentley Room in honour of consultant physician Dr Steve Bentley’s service with the trust.

Dr Bentley was guest of honour at a (not so) surprise ceremony after staff decided it was a suitable way to mark his 30 years at the trust before retiring from us later this month.

Dr Bentley was a previous post graduate tutor for the trust and helped raise funds to renovate the centre back in 1990s into the current centre for learning that it is today.

Trust chief executive Mel Pickup and medical education business manager Lesley Kinsey were on hand to help mark the occasion along with a range of colleagues.

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Olympic dream

for hospital radiographer

James and Sara

carry the Olympic Torch Congratulations to two of our colleagues who were chosen to carry the Olympic Torch.

W

ell done to…..

James Gilgannon, Pharmacy Technician here at the trust who carried the torch on Friday 1st June in Bolton.

James was nominated by Nicola Barber and Karen Evans in Pharmacy in recognition of or all his charity work including running for charity, helping out at Race for Life events, assisting with IT at the local church, together with charity quiz nights and also donning his Santa outfit for the childrens ward.

A surprise tea party was held in the pharmacy department to celebrate before James headed off to Bolton.

Also, congratulations to Sara Braidwood of the North West Finance & Informatics Skills Development team, who was also been selected to be an Olympic Torch Bearer!

Sara was nominated and supported

by the North West Learning & Development Network student forum, in recognition of her invaluable support and innovative approach to increasing staff morale, motivation and their health and wellbeing, both at work and within her social life. Whilst a busy mum, Sara, amongst many other things, is an active member of her local church, involved with the children’s liturgy and cooking healthy and nutritious meals for the homeless. She also helps out with the cooking in a hostel for people with drug, alcohol or substance misuse problems. Sara is actively involved in fund raising for Clare House, a children’s hospice on the Wirral and also actively promotes the Walk4Life programme and is pro-active in promoting the BREEZE cycling project for women. Sara will be carrying the Torch on 22 June in Blackpool as part of a team of three other NHS staff.

Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust will be represented at the Olympic Games in London this summer!

Congratulations to radiographer Paula Evans will be working in the Athlete’s Village as a volunteer radiographer for ten days, from the end of July.

Paula applied to be a volunteer in the PolyClinic situated in the Athlete’s Village and will be working on shift during her ten day stint, unfortunately, she will not get to see any of the action, but will get be helping look after any athletes who suffer injuries.

We’ve asked Paula to report back on her experiences down in London!

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Pictured left to right is Diane Matthew (Chief Pharmacist), James Gillgannon (Pharmacy Technician), Nicola Barber (Pharmacy Technician) and Karen Evans (Senior Pharmacist).

New antenatal clinic

launched at Halton Mums to be from Halton can now have their clinic appointments locally rather than having to travel to Warrington during their pregnancy thanks to a new antenatal clinic at Halton General Hospital.

T

he service is run by the hospital staff in conjunction with the Halton community midwives team. A consultant led clinic now takes place on Wednesday of each week for women from Halton who are planning to deliver at Warrington Hospital.

To do this the midwives need to book women for the tests before 10 weeks.

an early scan of baby and confirming how many weeks along the pregnancy is, it also allows screening for Down’s syndrome.

Mums to be from the area who are planning to deliver at Warrington are also offered first trimester screening at Halton Hospital. Women are offered the test in the first 11 -14 weeks of their pregnancy.

To do this the midwives need to book women for the tests before 10 weeks.

“We’re delighted to be able to offer this new clinic service at Halton,” says Mel Hudson, Head of Midwifery at Warrington and Halton Hospitals, “It means that local women don’t have to travel for their routine appointments during pregnancy. We can also provide the first trimester screening at Halton but it’s really important that women contact us as soon as they know they are pregnant as this screening needs to be booked in before 10 weeks gestation.”

The combined test consists of an ultrasound scan and a simple blood test for the mother. As well as providing

Contact the Midwifery Service for Widnes and Runcorn on 0151 495 509 Monday to Friday, 9.00am – 5.00pm.

Leading the way in screening for blood clots Figures released by the Department of Health show that the trust is screening 95.4 per cent of patients for VTE.

hospitals between October to December 2011 compared to 92.7% in 2010, both of which are above the national target of 90%.

Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust are leading the way when it comes to screening patients for blood clots (venous thromboembolism (VTE)).

The national target of 90% was set in July 2010 with the launch of a VTE prevention programme to improve patient safety. Venous thromboembolism (VTE), which includes blood clots in one of the deep veins in the body, poses a serious risk to patients - an estimated 25,000 patient deaths a year could be associated with VTE.

Figures released by the Department of Health show that the trust screened 95.4% of patients admitted to the

Deep vein thrombosis is the fourth main cause of death in the UK. A VTE risk assessment is carried out on patients who are admitted to the hospitals using a form to mark their risk, based on these results a decision will be made to treat them using thromboprophylaxis, which is the patient being given small doses of anticoagulant drugs ( heparin), which help prevent blood clots and deaths due to blood clots.

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What is Governance?

Why do we need it?

Our trust board at WHH needs to be assured that the systems and processes which govern our organisation are effective. This then enables the Chief Executive, as the trust’s accountable officer, to sign the Annual Statement (previously the Statement of Internal Control), which confirms that the systems of governance, including financial governance and risk management are properly managed and controlled.

Why Governance?

• Ensure the quality of care and services • Protect those involved in the health Care System– Patients, Staff, visitors, contractors • Prevent failures from occurring • Ensuring when a failure does occur, steps are taken to investigate to prevent such failures happening again • Safeguarding the assets and reputation of the Trust

What we need to focus on • Increase awareness of Risk • Compliance with Health & Safety and Welfare Act • Compliance with Care Quality Commission, NHS Litigation Authority Standards and Monitor • Establishment of NHS Counter Fraud and Security Services • Civil Contingencies Act 2004 • Corporate Manslaughter Act 2007 • More robust accountability The Governance Department is holding a variety of drop in sessions throughout the year for anyone who might have any queries relating to areas of Governance and Risk. These are • Governance sessions run by Millie Bradshaw, Associate Director of Governance and Emma Buckley Governance Compliance Manager, to discuss Patient Safety, Care Quality Commission Standards, NHSLA Risk Management Standards, work plans, Incident and Investigations and Risk Registers.

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• Health and Safety sessions run by the Health and Safety team to discuss anything related to Health and Safety.

• Information Governance and Governance Information Systems sessions run by Mark Ashton, Information Governance Manager and James Manders, Governance Information Systems Officer to discuss Data Security, Freedom of Information, Policy Version management, the policies and procedure database, policy formatting and the use of Datix.

Information about all of the upcoming sessions, including the dates and locations the sessions will be held is available via the Governance community on the Hub which you can find at http://thehub/ Communities/GovernanceAndRisk/ SitePages/Home.aspx

Insulin safety training course can help prevent accidental medication errors

Did you know that around 1 in 5 of our patients is diabetic? And that, nationally, 4 in every 10 diabetics suffer some kind of medication error in hospital? At WHH we’re promoting a national campaign to make sure we help get it right for our patients.

The trust is taking part in a brand new insulin safety campaign and is asking staff to take a short e-learning module that could help prevent insulin incidents.

Training on the safe use of insulin is a requirement for NHS staff who handle, prescribe, prepare or give insulin to patients with diabetes.

We’re asking all frontline staff to take the time to do a new online training course provided by NHS Diabetes that promotes safe use of insulin.

You can access the training on The Hub at: http://thehub/Pages/TS026DiabetesInsulin.aspx Posters about the training and key messages about insulin will be appearing on all wards across the trust to remind staff of the importance of taking the training which takes around 30 minutes to complete.

Lesley Mills, senior diabetes nurse specialist at the trust explains: “We know that as many as 20% of the patients in our hospital have diabetes. Many of these patients will not in hospital because they have diabetes, and the staff treating them might not be diabetes experts.

“We do a lot of work within the hospital to make sure that all our staff understand the importance of safe insulin use and this training course will help them to be sure their skills are up to date.”

More information on the NHS Diabetes safety work programme is available at www.diabetes.nhs.uk/safety

Sustainability /

Energy Conservation

D

id you know that in 2010 - 11, the trust paid out • £341,836.44 for its water bill

• £664,896.73 for gas • £960,488.41 for electricity This meant that the total cost of the trust’s utility bills was £1,967,221.58.

Trust receives Carbon Management Certificate Following successful completion of the 2010/2011 Carbon Trust NHS Carbon Management Programme in November last year, the trust was awarded a certificate. As part of the programme, the trust had to • define and determined our carbon footprint relating to energy use, water consumption and business travel etc.

• calculate the financial value at stake and determine the business case for taking action on reducing carbon emissions.

• assess and develop a number of potential opportunities/schemes to reduce carbon emissions.

Reduce carbon emissions by March 2015.

have already installed software that switches-off the hundreds of PCs which are left on overnight and at weekends across our hospital and which will save tens of thousands of pounds per annum on the trust’s current electricity costs.

• develop a trust Carbon Management Plan that includes a pledge to reduce carbon emissions by 30% by March 2015.

WHH pledges to… “reduce its measured (level 2+) baseline carbon footprint emissions (2009/10), by a minimum of 30% by the end of March 2015. (30% = 3,941 tCO2)

So how will we do this?

• One example is that we

Pictured below is George Cresswell, Associate Director of Estates (centre) with Marcus Summers, Specialist Services Manager, Estates (right) receiving the certificate at an awards ceremony at the University of London.

George Cresswell & Marcus Summers, said: “Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust will become a leading carbon management and sustainability partner within the local community and across regional public sector carbon management/ sustainability networks. The trust will

work with staff, patients, suppliers and key stakeholders to both achieve and exceed the ambitious carbon reduction targets set by the NHS.”

by supporting sustainability and so protect both the patients of today and the citizens of tomorrow”

Professor Martin Roland, Chair in Health Services Research, University of Cambridge, said:

For further details contact Marcus Summers, Specialist Services Manager (Estates)

“The NHS has a caring culture. What better way to support that culture than

Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, ext. 5611

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Warrington Afghanistan Challenge

Take The Challenge Support Our Troops Many thanks to all the staff who have and continue to support the Warrington Afghanistan Challenge. The Challenge has raised over £12,000 to date.

T

his is a big year for the Challenge with the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the London Olympics and a fund raising target of £30,000.

To coincide with the Olympics, the Challenge has registered for the Walk for Life campaign with the 8000 miles Distance Challenge and activity projects.

Recent Events WHH Trust 8000 Miles Distance Challenge

Afghan Challenge and Sports Relief

The first organised walks around the perimeter of Warrington and Halton Hospitals took place in March. Many thanks to Bushra Randall, Caroline Eardley, Claire Nelson, Mick Curwen, Phillip Winstanley, Lina Walker, Chris Horner, Janine Fozard and Tim Price who walked 13 miles collectively with several staff registering for the Distance Challenge on the day.

Thank you to all those staff who were able to participate in the Walking Friday supports Sports Relief Mile at the end of March 2012. 24 miles were walked collectively with a wheeled chair bound patient Paul McDonald from A4 taking part.

Sports Relief were keen to get footage of NHS staff participating in the mile so the trust and the Challenge signed up. Matt Johnson the Sports Relief camera man filmed joined us also on the day to capture our walk on film!

The link between the Challenge and Sports Relief was twofold; Firstly both doing an activity for charity and secondly, both supporting Combat Stress; so we agreed that any bucket donations collected on the day would be shared. The Challenge Team were also on hand at the front entrance to support the walk and to raise funds with merchandise sales. We raised a staggering £562.25 with £404.74 from bucket donations which is fantastic.

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Stop Press!

Trust Walks – A huge thank you to everyone who joined us for the last monthly walks on Thursday 21st June at Warrington.

Twenty people set off altogether, including the Mayor of Warrington, Cllr Steve Wright (right) pictured with the Mayoress - our very own Julie Wright, Wolfie and Phil Winstanley. Although the rain clouds loomed overhead, everyone had great fun.

Current Events

Future Events

Inter-Hospital Walk for the Challenge - In celebration of WHH completing the 8000 Distance Challenge, an inter hospital walk will take place on Sunday 24th June from Warrington to Halton via Sankey Valley, Moore Nature Reserve, Whig Island & Runcorn Old Town which is approximately 12-15 miles. The walk will commence at 9.30am from the front entrance of warington hospital. Look out in The Week for further details.

Neighbourhood Challenge Competition In conjunction with Stronger together Warrington the residents of Warrington will be challenged to complete the fastest mile on a bike, rowing machine and treadmill at local community centres.

English Half Marathon – Warrington 9th September The Challenge will be entering a team for the half marathon with Phil Winstanley, running fully kitted in combats and packs and simulating a wounded soldier being carried in a fireman’s lift. If you would like to run as part of Team Warrington Afghanistan Challenge and can pledge a minimum sponsorship of £250 then please contact phillip.winstanley@whh. nhs.uk. Volunteers will not be expected to run in combat gear and packs.

Other Challenge News A huge thank you to volunteers from the WRVS and Warrington Hospital League of Friends who have also signed up for the Challenge. Your support is much appreciated.

Phil Winstanley, Chair and Fundraising Co-ordinator, Warrington Afghanistan Challenge

Friends of the Challenge Can you spare an hour, an afternoon or a whole day? Would you like to help out at community events and fun days or bag packing at Tesco? If the answer is yes, the Challenge Team invite you to join The Friends of the Challenge Team as a volunteer. Please email takethechallenge@live.co.uk for an application form.

Warrington Afghanistan Challenge has been registered with Change 4 Life and Walk 4 Life; Warrington Afghanistan Challenge is a non-profit making group with proceeds shared equally between the Service Charities. (With a donation of £4500 to the Planned Warrington Memorial Garden in Peel Hall Park)

The Warrington Afghanistan Challenge is registered with the Warrington Voluntary Action (WVA) at the Gateway and The Warrington Branch of the HSBC as a Non-profit making Group committed to raising funds for the Charities specified. Warrington Afghanistan Challenge; The Gateway; 85/101 Sankey Street; Warrington; WA1 1SR; 01925 246800 09:00 – 16:00 hrs Mon-Fri; Through the Gateway Reception Desk. email: takethechallenge@live.co.uk

Personal data loss - The don’ts!

Did you know that the UK Information Commissioner can now impose fines in cases where personal data is lost or stolen?

You can read on The Hub* about two examples which demonstrate both the extent of the ICO’s powers and the willingness of courts to

sentence health workers who access records without authorisation.

Remember!

• Do not transport personal identifiable data or unencrypted electronic media such as laptops, USB drives or mobile phones.

• Comply with Safehaven procedures when sending person identifiable data

by Fax. • Exercise caution when giving patient information over the phone and ensure that the caller has a legitimate business need for the information.

• Do not take hard copies of trust documentation such as ward handover sheets or clinic lists off site.

Securely dispose of this type of documentation.

• Report actual or potential breaches of confidentiality immediately on the Datix incident reporting system.

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Dignity in Action Staff put their best foot forward in celebration of Dignity Action Day in Feb. 2012.

D

ignity Action Day was about recognising the rights people receiving care are entitled and the role you can play to make this happen.

Your role is to be yourself and ensure that all our patients are being treated as individuals providing them with activities, a sense of control, and to make them feel valued.

The Government’s Dignity challenge lays out the national expectations of what constitutes a service that respects dignity. High quality care services that respect people’s dignity should: • have a zero tolerance of all forms of abuse

• support people with the same respect you would want for yourself or a member of your family • treat each person as an individual by offering personalised service • enable people to maintain the maximum possible level of independence, choice and control • Listen and support people to express their needs and wants • Respect people’s right to privacy • Ensure people feel able to complain without fear of retribution • Engage with family members and carers as care partners • Assist people to maintain confidence and

Thank you A huge thank you to everyone who has helped with the feeding and watering of our ducks at Halton General Hospital this year.

Special thanks to: Carron Ashton and the Friends of Halton who have put out a collection box on the Information Desk for donations. The Friends have also helped with the purchase and putting out of food and water for our feathered friends which was a huge help.

Special thanks also to Gill Wilkinson, who has purchased duck food and for watching over ducks in the lower ground courtyard. Also to Linda and Hazel in radiology and Julie Hand, for their kind donations.

Thanks also to Lesley Dennett in O.T, Rona Donaldson, porters and indeed many other staff who have watched over our little visitors at this time of year.

The help of everyone has been much appreciated and we are pleased to say that most of are feathered friends have now flown the nest!.

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a positive self-esteem

The Government’s Dignity challenge lays out the national expectations of what constitutes a service that respects dignity.

• Act to alleviate people’s loneliness and isolation The trust was also joined by partner organisations, LINks, PCTs and Carers’ Centres who provided displays of some of their posters with highlighted their contributions to maintaining dignity in care. It was an excellent opportunity to learn more about services provided in the local community.

For further information regarding dignity in care please visit the website at http://www. dignityincare.org.uk/

Need a little help in, or getting to, hospital ?

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• Morning Personal calls

6/7 Chantry Court, Forge Street, Crewe CW1 2DL

 01270 252599  julie.jackson@dhhomecare.co.uk Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has not vetted the advertisers in this publication and accepts no liability for work done or goods supplied by any advertiser. Nor does Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust endorse any of the products or services.

• attend medical appointments • during a stay in hospital • prepare to come home from hospital • in their own home after a stay in hospital

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Every possible care has been taken to ensure that the information given in this publication is accurate. Whilst the publisher would be grateful to learn of any errors, they cannot accept any liability over and above the cost of the advertisement for loss there by caused. No reproduction by any method whatsoever of any part of this publication is permitted without written consent of the copyright owners.

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