Gateshead Weekly 27th February

27th February 2023

Fancy running the Great North Run?

Highlights

Director update - page 2

Great North Run - page 4

Follow us on Tik Tok - page 5

Eating disorder & Neurodiversity

awareness - page 7

Did you miss out on this year's ballot or want to run the Great North Run. We have spaces available with QE Charitable Funds and you can sign up now

You'll be joining thousands of people taking part in the world's leading half marathon, running through Newcastle upon Tyne and South Shields.

Read more on page 4

Director update

I am Mike Graham, Director of Operations for the Clinical Support Business Unit. Our Business Unit provides a variety of diagnostic, screening and therapy services within the Trust, the region and across the wider North of England. There are six Directorates within the business unit: Pathology, Pharmacy, Diagnostic Imaging, Therapy and Outpatient Services, Endoscopy and Screening, and Breast Services These services are run by around 1,000 staff made up of 13 different professional groups

A key piece of news from Clinical Support and Screening is that we are currently working on plans, along with colleagues in QEF, Medicine Business Unit and Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals to develop the Community Diagnostics Centre at the MetroCentre. Once opened next year, this will house 2 MRI scanners, 2 CT scanners plus ultrasound, Echo, ECG, sleep studies and blood testing. We are proud to be working with our partners to bring an enhanced level of care for the patients of Tyneside which will speed up their diagnosis

We are also pleased to have achieved further external investment from NHS England to expand our diagnostic services on the QE site. These include approved plans to create a 5th Endoscopy room which is nearing completion, and the expansion of the bowel screening hub laboratory to process extra tests for the bowel screening programme. We provide this service for the whole of the North of England, and the investment is to ensure we have the capacity to deliver the service to accommodate the expansion of this testing down to 54-year olds Our biggest on-site investment will be the second MRI scanner at the QE and work will start shortly on this and we’re hoping to be open in the winter of 2024.

Maintaining quality is a key part of our work and we are regularly inspected. We have had a successful CQC inspection of our Medicines Optimisation process, led by Pharmacy, with a “Good” rating. Pathology received its UKAS accreditation, and in March we have our JAG inspection in Endoscopy. The team have prepared well and we’re hoping for a successful outcome Other successes have involved our Breast Screening team being shortlisted for a Health Service Journal award for service recovery after the pandemic

Continued

Changing the way we deliver services through transformation projects is also key for us in Clinical Support and Screening. We have brought together the Outpatient Department and Booking Team into the same management structure and will launch an Outpatient User Group to include all partners. This will be our means to working together to ensure we have an efficient and effective service. The Occupational Therapists have introduced a seven-day service to improve patient flow, the audiologists have introduced a technician role to be able to create more appointments for patients, and the Dietitians are piloting a post to help improve care to cancer patients

Michael Graham Director of Operations – Clinical Support and Screening Business Unit

Gateshead website URL change

As you all know, we relaunched our website in June 2022 and this has been a huge success. The next step in the relaunch is the URL name change from QE Gateshead to fit under the new branding of Gateshead Health.

This will be taking place on Tuesday 28th February 2023. From this date our new URL will be www.gatesheadhealth.nhs.uk

Death of a colleague

On behalf of the EAU department

One of our colleagues, Susan McGurk HCA in EAU has sadly passed away in service. Susan joined with the Trust in August 2022 and she was a big asset to the team and we are deeply saddened by this news

The funeral will be on Thursday 2 March at 11.15am in Saltwell Crematorium and staff are welcome to attend.

Our thoughts are with the family and loved ones of Susan during this difficult time.

We know that some of you may be affected by this news and our occupational health team are here to offer support Please contact them via ghnt.occupational.health@nhs.net or visit the Staff wellbeing hub | North East and North Cumbria NHS.

Fancy running the Great North Run?

Did you miss out on this year's ballot or want to run the Great North Run. We have spaces available with QE Charitable Funds and you can sign up now.

You'll be joining thousands of people taking part in the world's leading half marathon, running through Newcastle upon Tyne and South Shields All we ask is that you raise a minimum of £250 for our charity and pay your entry fee.

This event is a fantastic way for you to celebrate a personal achievement, have fun, and make a difference to the lives of others. By taking part in this event with QE Charitable Funds, you’ll be joining like-minded individuals and charities in raising vital funds to help improve the lives of the most vulnerable in Gateshead.

So what are you waiting for? Sign up now and take on the challenge!

Welcome new recruits

A warm welcome on behalf of #GatesheadHealth to the 52 new members of staff who attended Corporate Induction last week.

Hope you quickly settle into your new roles and soon feel part of #TeamGateshead

Follow us on Tik Tok!

We have recently launched a Tik Tok account for Gateshead Health

Follow us on @gatesheadnhs to keep up to date with what is happening around the trust and learn more about different departments and the services we offer.

If you would like your department featured or have a video idea please get in touch via email: ghnt.comms@nhs.net

Leading Well

We are pleased to announce that we have more cohorts a Leading Well programme will provide current & aspiring leade better understand what is expected of them at Gateshead He approach on how to create compassionate and inclusive cultu

Those attending the course will complete MBTI Step I profiling and have the option to complete 360 feedback. During the programme we will discuss what is expected of leaders at Gateshead, how to lead compassionately, psychological safely, strategic leadership and many more topics

To find out more, please click here. Applicants should discuss with sponsor/line manager about involvement in the programme, and then complete the following application form where you can find dates of the available cohorts.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us on ghnt.gatesheadod@nhs.net

Recruitment Event

Join us for our first ever public sector jobs fair, in partnership with Gateshead College and Gateshead Council.

At the event, you can find out about the current and upcoming roles across our three organisations, as well as get career advice from our expert support teams and even have an interview at the event itself.

The event is on the 8th March 2023 - 4:00pm-8:00pm at Gateshead International Stadium.

Sign up for the free event via Eventbrite.

Introducing Schroders - #GHMoneyMatters

The Occupational Health and Wellbeing team is pleased to reveal the launch of a new partnership with Schroders Personal Finance, providing colleagues access to free financial healthchecks, resources, webinars and more.

To learn more about the offer from Schroders, who are a subsidiary of Lloyds Banking Group, visit their page on balancegateshead.com, or check out the new microsite that Schroders have launched for #TeamGateshead colleagues

Colleagues are also reminded that they can still access priority support from Citizens Advice Gateshead through our dedicated contact details, or during weekly drop-in sessions on-site. To learn more about these, please visit our wellbeing website.

Finally, a new page has also been launched to promote good practice in future planning –so for more info and support around pensions, retirement, home buying, will writing and more, just click here.

Neurodiversity, Eating Disorders Awareness and Training Day

D-Ability Staff Network invites all staff to celebrate Neurodiversity, Eating Disorders Awareness and Training Day in the Hub, March 1st 2023, 12:00-1.30pm

We can sign post to relevant agencies or share resources that may benefit you, and your loved ones, managers, colleagues and patients.

Immediately following this, we will be running an Eating Disorders awareness training session at QEF training room (near the Hub) 2-4pm

Regions clinical psychologists employed by Richardson Eating Disorder Service Newcastle will be joining us for the session.

If you are unable to attend in person, please use the following Teams link to join us virtually

We will also be celebrating our 2nd Neurodiversity day. Please visit our stall to speak to your colleagues Amy Cole, Michelle Newton, Angela McPhee & Jess Boyce for various neurodiversity resources, information, and training options.

There will be free chocolates, cupcakes, cookies, and a chance to win prizes when you take part in our awareness competition.

Acceptance Matters Conference: Friday, 26th May

As part of North East Autism Society’s annual Autism Acceptance Campaign, they are hosting an online conference, with autistic speakers. Topics covered at the conference include gender and identity, autistic mental health, autistic mistreatment, and education. Click here to book your place.

Find more updates on our D-Ability Facebook page, Twitter: @ghntd ability & Staff Intranet.

Safeguarding Newsletter

The Adults & Children’s Safeguarding Newsletter has been reinstated and can be found on the safeguarding staff intranet page.

We hope to keep all staff updated on a 6-month basis on local safeguarding issues, contacts and key information. Issue one of 2023 includes updated contact details for members of the teams, training opportunities, information on prevent and protect, alerts, domestic abuse policy and when to report a missing person.

Level 3 Safeguarding Children Training

The team are delighted to announce that some Level 3 safeguarding children training will be held in the lecture theatre between 9am-4pm on the following dates.

31st May 2023

23rd June 2023

24th July 2023

23rd October 2023

The training will include speakers on County Lines, Knife Crime and Domestic Abuse. Sadly, all very relevant here in Gateshead and we would hope this training will enable you to better safeguard children and families in our area

It will also meet your face to face requirement for Level 3 mandatory training. Please email melanie.finlay@nhs.net to book.

Joint message to all NENC ICS NHS Staff

Following confirmation that the national funding for system-wide staff wellbeing hubs will come to an end at the end of this financial year 2022/23, individual Integrated Care Systems (ICS) have been asked to analyse the needs of their local workforce and develop a response which best meets local workforce demands.

Across the North East and North Cumbria (NENC), there is recognition that the NENC staff wellbeing hub has played, and continues to play, a very important role in supporting the mental health and wellbeing of staff across our system. We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has worked within the hub providing this invaluable service during such challenging times

In light of this, all Providers across the NENC Integrated Care System have agreed to extend the funding of the Hub as we conduct a full system review. In the meantime, the service remains accessible to all health and social care staff across North East and North Cumbria. There is a commitment from all partners across the NENC system to ensure ongoing support for staff and work together to build on what we have achieved so far, learn from our experiences and continue to deliver a strong offer of support to those who need it

Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust (CNTW) and the NENC ICS mental health workstream will work with all system partners to review and develop a business case detailing the options going forward with regard to this service. We will share the outcomes of this review over the coming months.

There is also a full range of other national health and wellbeing support offers, including the national textline, financial support resources and guides for line managers can be accessed by all staff via this website This includes:

Growing Occupational Health and Wellbeing services, people and practice

HWB Framework to develop local HWB strategies

HWB Guardians to help oversee delivery of HWB interventions

Wellbeing Champions to promote team-based wellbeing

Training for line managers in wellbeing conversations

Free access to health and wellbeing support apps for all staff

In addition to local support offers, the Practitioner Health service remains available to eligible staff for support, as well as other existing mental health services such as IAPT talking therapy services.

International womens day

International Women's Day (March 8) is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating women's equality.

International Women's Day 2023 campaign theme is #EmbraceEquity. We will be celebrating the day across the Trust!

Read more about this years theme.

Schwartz Rounds

Schwartz Rounds are a forum where all staff, clinical and non-clinical come together regularly to discuss the emotional and social aspects of working in health care.

Staff find the sessions helpful and a beneficial way to get help and support from colleagues.

If you would like to join a round and listen to a story please get in touch via email ghnt.hwb@nhs.net

Find out more about Schwartz Rounds on the balance website.

World Delirium awareness day

For world delirium awareness day on 15th March 2023 we are calling on all creative staff to design a delirium noticeboard in their ward or department –the theme this year is ‘Delirium is everybody’s business’

Your board must contain the following – information for staff, relatives and patients & guidance on how in your team to ‘suspect it, spot it and stop it’.

For more information visit the delirium website and follow the #icanpreventdelirium hashtag on Twitter

The boards will be judged on 15th March and an exciting prize will be given to the winning team To take part in this competition please contact Julia.nevin@nhs.net

Updated policies

The following new and revised policies are now available on Pandora:

RM92 Maternity Abduction and Unauthorised Access Policy v 1.1

RM80 Rapid Tranquilisation of Adult and Older Patients Policy v 4 0

OP26 Trust Infant Feeding Policy v 7 0

OP44 Missing Patient Policy v 6.0

MH29 Clinical Risk Management and Suicide Prevention Policy v 3.2

MH30 Management of Misuse of Alcohol and or illicit substances within mental health inpatient services v 4.0

MH32 Long Term Segregation Policy v 2.0

MH37 Mental Health Engagement and Observation Policy v 2.0

Please remember to use Microsoft Edge to access Pandora (Google Chrome is not compatible).

Are you up to date for End of Year?

The Trust is now approaching the end of the financial year.

The timetable for the completion of the annual accounts is very tight so to help the finance team to achieve this, they are asking that as much work as possible is completed in advance. They are asking that staff take the opportunity to get all of their administration up to date and forward new requests to supplies/finance on a daily basis

Please:

Check all of your outstanding e-requisitions, check that all goods received are processed as follows:

Goods/equipment delivered direct – forward any delivery notes to the Supplies Stores

Use the online requisition system to receipt the goods or email the Supplies team confirming goods receipt/order is complete

Clear any queries with suppliers of goods or services to your department

Raise Notification of Debt forms for anything that you need them to raise an invoice

Ensure all asset verification forms are returned by the 24th March

Claim back any outstanding petty cash purchases. Please note there is a limit of three months for claiming back re-imbursement

Pay any cheques in your possession into the cashier

Complete your travel expense online for all periods up to the end of February (again claims that are more than three months old will not be paid in accordance with the Expenses Policy)

Prepare for Year End Stock Takes (if required) by appointing a nominated member of staff to be on duty and present on Friday the 31st March. Take the opportunity to tidy up stock areas in preparation for the stock take to ensure a smooth completion

The requirements listed above apply to both hospital and charitable fund income and expenditure.

If you have any queries you can contact Michael Smith, Assistant Director of Finance, on ext. 5324 or via email at michael.smith21@nhs.net

Healthcare Legal Documents

To assist and improve the process of managing advance directives, for example Lasting Power of Attorney documentation, several discussions have taken place across the Trust

The result of these discussions, is a procedure whereby the Health Records department will facilitate the process associated with these documents, a process that covers the following salient steps:

All documents sent the Health Records department – addressed to Data and Implementation Manager, Health Records dept, QE Receipt of document is logged centrally

Validation [process or reject] – the document will be assessed and validated accordingly Acceptance or rejection letter to the named attorney

Please note, if you are in receipt of a Do Not Attempt Resuscitation [DNAR] form, these documents do not form part of this process. If you are in receipt of this document, it must be filed within the patients record as soon as possible.

For further information on this process please contact joanne.fairley4@nhs.net