Connect winter 2016

Excellent care with compassion

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Awards, what's happening at Chorley and pushing the limits for charity

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Introducing #hellomynameis Our organisation is currently rolling out the national ‘Hello My Name is…’ campaign. We have already had great success implementing it on some of our wards but we really want to make sure this is something we keep pushing and most importantly, keep doing. The campaign itself was created by Dr Kate Granger MBE, an Elderly Medicine Registrar who Dr Kate Granger was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive terminal cancer at the age of 29. The idea for the campaign came about in August 2013, after noticing just how many staff looking after her didn’t introduce themselves before delivering her care as an inpatient with post-operative sepsis. Using social media to really get her campaign out there, Kate created the hashtag #hellomynameis, and encouraged frontline NHS staff to make a pledge to introduce themselves to all patients from then on.

Her campaign for more personalised and connected care has been supported worldwide, with 90 organisations and 400,000 health staff backing it. As a result, Kate was recognised for her efforts and dedication with an MBE and a Special Achievement Award. Sadly, Kate died on 23rd July, 2016, just aged 34, but we are determined to make sure that her legacy lives on. Gail Naylor, our Nursing and Midwifery Director, would like to see all of our wards and departments introducing the following strategies, in order to help us provide the best personal and compassionate care possible: • Adopting the ‘Hello My Name Is…’ logo on name badges • Putting the ‘Hello My Name Is…’ logo on identity badges • Develop ‘Hello My Name Is…’ welcome boards in each ward and department • Include awareness-raising at corporate inductions • Adopt the logo on corporate signature identity (emails) Resources for some of the above are available to download from the intranet homepage. For both Kate and our patients, please ensure you keep this campaign at the forefront of every interaction you have around the hospital and remember that although it may seem simple, it makes all the difference in building trusting connections with those in our care.

#hellomynameis…

Gail Naylor I’ve been in post as Nursing and Midwifery Director here for nine months now and have been overwhelmed by the positive welcome I’ve received from everyone I’ve met. I’m also deeply impressed with the many great things we are doing for our patients and staff here at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals. I’ve joined you from North Cumbria University Hospitals, where I also held the position of Director of Nursing and Midwifery and am very excited to be a part of your fantastic team at a truly great place to work!

#hellomynameis…

Vinod Varughese

#hellomynameis…

Sue Musson

I started as a Consultant in Emergency Medicine here in September. I know the local area well, as I undertook my training in the North West and spent my childhood years in the Blackpool and Fylde area. My clinical interests are in Paediatric Emergency Medicine, for which I am the joint lead in my department and medical education. Out of work, I like to play squash and tennis, and enjoy a bit of baking! It’s great to be part of such a fantastic team and I’m looking forward to getting to know more of our staff throughout my time here.

I’m excited to announce that I’ve been appointed your new chairman and will be joining you in January. Currently, I’m the Chairman of Southport and Ormskirk Hospitals NHS Trust and have previously been a non-executive director at Alder Hey and Bridgewater Trusts. I’m looking forward to meeting you all and can’t wait to become part of such a great organisation!

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Excellent care with compassion

Excellent care with compassion

Winstanley What can I do?

Introduce yourself to every patient you meet and encourage your peers to do the same At Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust we firmly believe a friendly introduction is much more than common courtesy.

It is about making a human connection, beginning a therapeutic relationship.

#hellomynameis resources are available Go to the home page of the intranet and there is a quick link to our branded resources; ward posters, the logo for email signatures and a leaflet to use in your department or office.

Pauline Smithson with Ward 14’s welcoming Hello My Name Is…noticeboard

Welcoming wards Wards 14 and 16 have been successfully welcoming patients, staff and visitors using initiatives and resources from the ‘Hello My Name Is…’ campaign. Pauline Smithson, Ward 14 Manager, said that they have been using their noticeboard to encompass everyone on the team and welcome new starters with photos of everyone introducing themselves- removing any barriers and making each person feel comfortable from the get go. They have also been using the board to inform visitors of our values and to keep everyone on the ward updated.

Fiona Jones, Ward 16 Manager, said that the diverse staff on Ward 16 have given their noticeboard an international twist, by introducing themselves in their native languages- a great way of making people from all backgrounds feel at ease and recognised as an individual! Fiona also said that the board acts as a reminder for all staff to introduce themselves and gives the ward a more personal, friendly touch.

Well done to all for getting involved and keeping this fantastic campaign and essential part of all interactions at the forefront of your care!

#hellomynameis…

Richard Sachs I started here on the 17th October as the very posh sounding Divisional Director of Governance – I could not have been more honoured at getting the job. With 20 years in the NHS behind me, I’m looking forward to learning from and sharing with staff how this organisation goes about providing Safe, Effective, Caring, Well-led and Responsive Services.

I see my role as helping and supporting the organisation get to a point where we, our patients, their families, commissioners, governors and regulators would, with confidence, describe our services as ‘Outstanding’ – because why would we aspire to anything else? I look forward to meeting everyone as time goes on and am very excited to be a part of the team. : Ward 16’s international take on introducing themselves with Hello My Name Is… Connect Magazine Winter 2016

Experts in community care Every year, St. Peter’s Primary School in Fulwood ask their Year 6 class to complete a community project. For the past 3 years, we have had the privilege of being the recipients of the children’s hard work and dedication to the cause; this year’s project has made an amazing difference to the patient and staff morale at our Clinical Investigation Unit, as they now have a charming French Bistro! Tracy Earley, a Consultant Nurse in Nutrition and former Governor at the school, knows first-hand how ambitious the children are but nothing could have prepared her for the fantastic transformation they achieved in only two hours earlier this year. Setting up a ‘changing rooms’ scenario, they brought in supplies of tea, coffee, chocolate biscuits and everything else you need to run a successful café- including kitchen and tableware to finally replace the basic paper plates and cups. With professional signage and drawings from the children decorating the walls, the café/seating area is now an inviting place for patients, visitors and staff to relax and talk.

Some of the amazing pupils from St. Peter’s celebrating their decorating success

The first patients and volunteers to visit the cafe were absolutely thrilled. One patient said: “I’ve been coming here for two years and its lovely to not have to eat off a paper plate” and another said: “It makes you feel like you’re not in a hospital”. The children were rewarded for their efforts with certificates and some goody bags- an invitation to come back next year will have been in there too, no doubt!

The new French Bistro looking très bien!

Chorley Emergency Department As you know in April the emergency department at Chorley Hospital was temporarily replaced by an Urgent Care Centre, because we did not have enough middle grade doctors to provide an emergency department service at both sites. This meant a lot of changes for many of our staff and everybody responded really well and have been extremely helpful during this difficult time. Since April senior management and the recruitment team have been doing everything possible to recruit enough middle grade doctors to enable the emergency department at Chorley to be reinstated.

You will remember that back in August our Chief Executive, Karen Partington, formally requested that NHS Improvement commissioned an independent review of the situation. Their report concluded that it is not possible for the emergency department at Chorley to re-open 24 hours a day. However they found that there is

a basis to reinstate the emergency department 12 hours a day, when the new 24 hour urgent care centre opens, which is likely to be in January 2017. NHS Improvement has concluded that to re-open before the new 24/7 urgent care centre opens would make excessive demands of our staff, risk patient safety, and compromise our ability to run the major trauma centre.

A new provider called Go2Doc has been commissioned by the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) to take over the urgent care centre from January which gives us the opportunity to redeploy our staff and work in a different way so that we can safely reinstate the emergency department part time. We will be continuing to try to recruit more middle grade doctors, as well as extra consultants and nurses to ensure the service is sustainable. Until we can make these further appointments our emergency department staff have agreed to work extra hours to keep

the service running- a sincere thank you to you all for your continued support and commitment, throughout a really challenging time. We’re now working through the implications of reinstating the emergency department on the teams and departments that changed how they worked back in April when we made the original decision. Everyone mobilised really quickly then to put arrangements in place; we will take a little more time now to work out what further changes if any are needed, and will involve those affected in this planning. If you have queries in the meantime please speak with your Head of Nursing or Divisional Director.

We are speaking to the staff affected to discuss the changes and we will provide further updates between now and the emergency department re-opening in January. Again, a big thank you to you all for your support.

CRCU are Born Survivors!

Our 23 strong Critical Care Unit (CRCU) team gathered some friends and took part in Born Survivor at Lowther Castle in the Lake District. Born Survivor is one of the most exciting obstacle courses in the country, inviting participants to test their physical fitness, courage, and teamwork to the extremes. The team’s aim was to complete the challenge and raise money for Milly’s Smiles, a charity set up by a colleague who sadly lost their daughter to Leukaemia in 2015. A great cause and effort, well done to all! For more information on how you can get involved yourself, visit www.millyssmiles.org/

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Consultants Jeremy Ward and Patrick Keating (far left and far right)

A Himalayan effort Last year, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck the Himalayan country of Nepal, killing 9,000 people and injuring more than 23,000. To aid those affected, Health Exchange Nepal UK (HExN)-which is a charity set up by some of our doctors to establish educational links between the NHS and Nepalese medical services- launched a relief appeal that fantastically raised £100,000. Our staff gave their best efforts to help with fundraising, with Doctors from Preston and Chorley taking part in challenges that saw them go barefoot and doctors, nurses and allied health professionals alike making donations at a special presentation event. To recognise our support in the appeal, leading doctors have presented us with a special thank you plaque.

Our kind donations mean that the charity has been able to continue with their aid long term, by helping the Nepalese medical services to develop and provide rehabilitation services to those in need.

As part of our fantastic collaboration with HExN, four of our doctors from a range of specialties have been running annual Laparoscopic (keyhole) Surgery programmes in Nepal’s Dhulikhel Hospital since 2013. The purpose of the programme is to train local surgeons in Nepal who may not have access to educational resources and funding otherwise.

By completing charity fundraisers and receiving kind donations, our doctors involved in HExN have been able to fund each programme, at the cost of £10,000 a time, and donate Laparoscopic Simulators; in addition to this selfless work, they have also been able to help build and fund two schools in Nepal to replace ones that were damaged in last year’s earthquake. Well done to all who have played a part!

NHS fact file: did you know...

The NHS logo, also known as the 'blue lozenge' is recognised by 95% of the population!

Karen Swindley, Karen Partington, and Stuart Heys formally launching our newly refurbished Health Academy

Attendees getting to grips with our fantastic equipment and software

Kenny Lyon, (right) and the team showcasing their fantastic education board

Health Academy launch The Health Academy has been formally launched in our recently refurbished Education Centre. The Health Academy team is committed to investing our education income back into education delivery; they believe that highquality and accessible development for staff is critical in providing safe, compassionate care.

They also have a key focus on local community, aiming to use our expertise and resources to benefit them as a whole, by making public services safer and health care careers an achievable aspiration. The official opening event was a great success and attended by a host of people from organisations across the North West, such as Manchester Medical School, UCLan, and many more! Karen Partington, our Chief Executive, welcomed guests at the Opening Ceremony before introducing Stuart Heys, our Chairman, who had the honour of opening Lancashire’s first Hospital-based Health Education Academy.

Karen explained to attendees: “The Health Academy is an amazing Education Service with superb resources and infrastructure all of which is supported by teams of professional and experienced Health Education Trainers, Teachers and Coordinators”. As part of the event, attendees had the chance to explore

the centre- taking in the new Simulation Suite, fantastic education showcases, and meeting with staff to discuss its bright future. The Health Academy is already planning to open a Simulated Hospital and to run a Community Education Learning Bus, excitingly working with the community to offer unique learning experiences and introduce engaging career pathways. Looking forward to seeing it all in action!

In testament to all the hard work and commitment from The Health Academy team, attendees provided some excellent feedback to pat them on the back with, such as: • “I thought this was a really well-organised and innovative event. I was very impressed and my colleague made some useful contacts- looking forward to seeing where they lead!”

• “Simulation environments are just what people need to ensure they train as closely as possible to a real work environment.”

• “Already involved with the Work Familiarisation Programme run by the academy, which my students benefit from enormously.”

Connect Magazine Winter 2016

Dyslexia Awareness Week

(L-R) Yvonne Marsh, Helen Trickett, Kieran Goode in front of their introductory display board in Charters

Opening of our new Major Trauma Ward A lovely team of three have joined us as Major Trauma Specialist Nurses. Skilled in nursing backgrounds of Accident & Emergency, Plastics (Trauma), and Trauma Orthopaedics, they are a very welcome addition to our organisation.

Providing a five-day service (Monday-Friday, 7am-8:30pm), the team’s main roles are: • To attend trauma calls in the Emergency Department

• To liaise between specialities regarding the care of Major Trauma patients • To liaise with other hospitals regarding Major Trauma patients from the wider Lancashire areas • Completing the rehabilitation prescriptions of Major Trauma patients Good luck in your roles and welcome to our team!

Our Dyslexia Ambassador, Barrie MorganScrutton, and the Dyslexia Support Group team have recently held a Dyslexia Awareness Week, which was a great success. The theme for the week was ‘Identification of Dyslexia’ and it aimed to prompt people to consider if they themselves or those close to them could be dyslexic, by educating them on the characteristics of dyslexia and how they can manifest in a range of different people on all intellectual levels. The team run the Dyslexia Support Group on a confidential basis, with monthly meetings held at both Preston and Chorley sites in the Education Centres. If you would like to attend a meeting, contact Barrie Morgan-Scrutton on ext. 4638 or by emailing him on barrie.morgan-scrutton@lthtr.nhs.uk.

1-2-1 meetings are also available to arrange, contact either Barrie as before or email his colleague Lynn Ireland on lynn.ireland@lthtr. nhs.uk.

Giving back time in the unit, Cliff would like to commend the again, Alex decided to host a Bollywood themed Working in Critical Care comes with great staff in Critical Care for not only their brilliant 21st birthday party for herself, asking guests responsibility and commitment, creating strong way of looking after both him and his family to donate money to the unit instead of buying connections between staff and patients that presents- raising a fantastic £900! Alex is now in members but also for their continued support; often continue once the patient has left the unitCliff attends a CCU Support Group every 6 weeks India carrying out volunteer work. leaving staff to wonder how they’re getting on to discuss the mental effects of his illness, run post-treatment. Former patients, Alex and Cliff, by fellow former patient have recently expressed Helen Willot and Senior their gratitude for the Sister Elaine Walmsley. staff and our Critical "He thinks of them as friends and will be indebted to them Cliff can’t express Care Unit by taking the time to hold fundraisers how grateful he is to for the rest of his life." the fabulous team of and make very kind consultants, doctors, donations. nurses, and ancillary Alex’s story: Admitted staff within Preston’s to the unit on 10th December 2013 after a road Cliff’s story: Admitted to Preston on 28th January Critical Care Unit but says he ‘thinks of them as traffic incident, Alex suffered serious head and 2015, Cliff spent a total of 106 days in the friends and will be indebted to them for the rest chest injuries; she remained in the unit for 22 Critical Care Unit, being treated for Pneumonia of his life’. Lovely stuff! Cliff and his family raised days before being transferred to Ward 2a on that had exacerbated underlying heart and an amazing £840 for the unit by hosting a band New Year’s Day 2014. As a show of thanks to breathing problems. Now almost fully on the night at their local club. the staff for their hard work in getting her well mend and in even better health than before his

Leadership@Lunch Each month, the Organisational Development team focus on a particular area of personal development. Since launching 18 months ago, the team have been running three, two hour ‘toolkit’ sessions every month, designed to give people all the basic skills needed for that area of development. Reducing the need to take a full day out of work, Leadership @ Lunch is the perfect way to learn something new and beneficial to boost your working knowledge and capabilities. Examples of areas covered so far are: Having Difficult Conversations, Career Development, and Managing Stress. Sessions are open to all staff, all

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you have to do is pick what interests you and book a place! Following their success, the team are now excited to offer their new topic-related 30 minute videocasts; this will make Leadership @ Lunch even more accessible and doable, allowing staff to view filmed versions of each session in three, 10 minute chunks or all in one go- whichever suits you best! For more information, contact Andrew Faulkner at andrew. faulkner@lthtr.nhs.uk; otherwise, get yourselves to one of our PCs with sound on your next break, access the Leadership@Lunch homepage on the staff Intranet and take that next career step!

Fab Change Day We recently took part in a national NHS effort to encourage fab changes amongst our staff, in order to ensure that we’re always providing excellent care with compassion. Fab Change Day started in 2013 and is the biggest day of collective action in the history of the NHS; its purpose is to celebrate all the fabulous things we do daily within the NHS, to connect people, and to get people learning from each other. In an era of complex workloads and electronic systems, we have simply lost the art of conversation and the many benefits it brings, so our aim was to get people talking again!

Fab Change Day was met with great enthusiasm across our hospitals and it was fantastic to see so many members of staff getting together to pledge what differences

they would like to see happen on our sites.

The idea this year was to have staff write their Fab Change Day suggestions in paper balloons and ‘let them take flight’. From departmental pledge boards to Coffee Catch-ups in Charters and Chorlies, our Fab Change Day Team had a lot of success getting staff involved, with a wealth of pledges being made. We can’t wait to see these fab changes brought to life!

Staff on Ribblesdale Ward having a photo with their fans!

Photo top: All of our fab ideas brought to life thanks to Inky Thinking!

Big fans

Photo top right: Our Chief Executive, Karen Partington, inspiring improvement with her pledge.

Ribblesdale Ward would like to say a big thank you to Hughes Electrical shop in Preston, who have very kindly donated 20 fans. The gift comes after one of their employees was treated on the ward and they noticed how warm it could get for the patients when visiting, so a thoughtful and beneficial gift all round!

A great walk for Alzheimer’s

Gosia taking in the beautiful sights along her trek

Gosia Clarke, one of our Clinical Audit Facilitators, has walked the Great Wall of China for the Alzheimer’s Society.

She took on the challenge with 30 other people who were doing their own fundraising for a host of different charities; speaking about her personal connection to the disease, Gosia said: “My family has been affected by this cruel condition and my aim for doing the trek was to help the charity as much as I can. China has always been on my bucket list and now that I’ve turned 40, I decided to go for it”. Taking on 70km in just five days, Gosia was challenged by the extreme amount of sheer drops and steps but was very grateful for the experience, as it allowed her to immerse herself in local culture, with the end goal of raising money and

seeing Beijing pushing her through!

Before setting off on her trip of a lifetime, Gosia held a charity bake sale in our Assessment Treatment Centre at Chorley to help with her fundraising efforts, raising an amazing £154.60 in just two hours and reaching her overall target! Gosia has been preparing for this journey for a while now, taking part in a host of fundraising appeals over the years, such as: cycling 80km in 8 hours at her local Tesco that raised a fabulous £300- so she definitely had a healthy advantage! You can read Gosia’s own take on the trip via her blog www.gosiaclarke.co.uk/ and if you’re looking to donate, you can do so here: www.justgiving.com/fundraising/ Gosia-Clarke

Connect Magazine Winter 2016

Welcome to the new intake We have just welcomed another large Undergraduate cohort. This autumn saw the Education Centre greet 85 new medical students, taking the total number of students based here to 242. After spending their first two years at Manchester, the students have now moved here in order to embark on their clinical training. From introductory presentations, meeting members of the year 3 undergraduate team, spending time with senior colleagues and attending the ‘Fresher’s Fair’, the students have

received a very thorough and warm welcome to start them off right on their time with us.

Prof. Alex Woywodt, our Associate Undergraduate Dean, said: “We have established new placements and recruited additional leads for teaching. I would like to take the opportunity to thank all teachers and tutors for their continued support and enthusiasm.” Welcome and good luck to everyone with their training!

Trust Audit Tool A new online Clinical Audit Management and Tracking Tool has been launched within our hospitals. The first of its kind within the NHS, the system consists of three main elements: clinical audits, ward audits, and cumulative audits.

With a key purpose of assisting in ensuring that actions for improvement are completed in a timely manner, the system will aid in quicker and better outcomes for patients. It will also mean that the need for paper audits is removed and staff can have easy access to progress and results, with all the data available for them to contribute to and see in one place. To date,

200 audits have been registered on the system and 100 members of staff are actively using it. Ward audit training will soon be available once the initial pilot is completed and we are now encouraging all future clinical audits to be registered on the system; training in general can be booked on a one-to-one basis or for a group, with all the details published here: http://online. lthtr.nhs.uk/app/fileshare/view.asp?uid=35548.

Rebecca Hall clocking up her kilometres for the challenge

Race 2 Rio In the run up to the Rio Olympics, individuals and teams from across different NHS trusts in the UK were encouraged to be more active.

The Race 2 Rio challenge was an incentive for individuals or teams to log their daily sporting activity on an online system that converted it to kilometres, with the idea of reaching ‘Rio’ in the allotted time.

Rebecca Hall, our Clinical Trials Co-ordinator in the Centre for Health Research and Innovation, logged activities such as: weight training, climbing specific training, running, cycling, and climbing. The system converted her activity to kilometres and she finished in first place across our sites at the end of the challenge, having completed a whopping 1404km 382m.

The target to reach Rio was 435km and it was well and truly smashed by many of our staff- with some of them going, coming back, and going again! Fantastic effort from all who participated!

Twinning with Tuzla Our Renal Department has recently donated an Ultrasound machine to its sister Renal Department in Tuzla, Bosnia & Herzegovina; although the machine was out of date for our use, it was still very much working and will be of massive benefit to the hospital in Tuzla, helping them to perform vital renal biopsies and scans. Since 2014, our Renal Department, which is a worldwide-recognised centre for training, has been part of an international programme that matched us with Tuzla, helping them to train and develop their renal doctors up to UK practice standards. As one of the only places in the UK with this status, our Renal

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Department paves the way for 1st-class service and has so far taken on 2 clinical observers from Tuzla to complete 6 month placements with us. For the year ahead, Dr Aimun Ahmed, one of our Consultant Nephrologists (who’s the programme lead) and the teams here and in Tuzla are looking to upgrade their pairing to a Level A from a Level B, furthering their success, achievements and connection gained from working together. Keep up the amazing work!

In this issue of Connect, we are focusing on all the great health and wellbeing activities and events that take place within our hospitals.

The Diet Club celebrating the end of their successful 12 week run

An apple a day keeps the doctor away!

Workout at Work Day Workout at Work Day is an annual event led by the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, with the aim of inspiring employees to get into healthier work habits, boosting their physical and mental wellbeing overall. This year saw a great amount of effort being put in by staff across Royal Preston and Chorley: 19 people took part in two 2.5km circular lunchtime walks at both hospitals, with Education Information Manager John Duckworth leading the way at Preston; 27 people got their blood pumping in Preston’s Charters Restaurant for the Cycle a Mile challenge and staff at Chorley proved that you don’t even have to leave your desk to

keep fit, with Physiotherapists Alan Perkins and Peter Harris leading a fun office-based session.

Lynsey Fitzer, a Medical Secretary in Urology, won a Withings Go Activity Tracker in this year’s Staff Lottery, which was kindly donated by the board. She entered the draw after pledging to join a half-hour lunchtime walk with colleagues on the 14th July; of her participation and efforts to keep fit, Lynsey said: “It was great and we enjoyed the walk. My colleagues and I also park at Preston Business Centre and walk up to the hospital - on dry days!”

The Lunchtime Walk group looking forward to stretching their legs!

The Diet Club has reached the end of its successful 12 week run. Held weekly for just a £1 charge at the Health and Wellbeing Centre on Thursday lunchtimes, all staff were welcome and encouraged to take part. Awards were given out to recognise those who had stuck with it and attended 10 or more sessions and reduced their BMI overall; Emma Ashton, one of our Specialist Midwives, won a bouquet of flowers and a £50 voucher for her amazing efforts, losing 10% of her body weight by the end of the 3 months. Co-ordinator Emma Glynn from the Business team at Education Centre 2 said: “Well done to those people who attended and succeeded in achieving their goals!” Returning for Round Two, they’re now looking forward to helping even more staff achieve their weight loss targets so no excuses, get involved! Contact emma.glynn@ lthtr.nhs.uk for more information.

(L-R) James Breckenridge, Charlotte Robinson, Gill Shaw, showing off their Pedometer Challenge certificates.

Working on our walking Following on from a successful Active Travel Month and Workout at Work Day, our Health and Wellbeing team are now looking to make lunchtime walk group sessions a regular monthly event. Currently, John Duckworth, our Education Information Manager, volunteers his time when he can to lead lunchtime walk group sessions across our Preston site. However, due to popular demand, the team are now looking for more staff to help run the sessions across our sitesencouraging more people to join in and build walking into their daily routines. All you have to do is turn up at Preston’s Sharoe Green Lane entrance keen to get your blood flowing and take

in some fresh air! John said: “Getting away from a stuffy office and screen at lunch is not just a healthy thing to do, as I also feel it makes me more productive in the afternoon.”

If you need some inspiration and motivation, then look no further than our Pharmacy Paraders team; they took part in a month-long Pedometer Challenge and won vouchers for their efforts, totalling a massive 399,000 steps between them.

By setting themselves daily goals for reaching a certain amount of steps, the team found lots of encouragement to be more active and choose walking over driving where possible. Charlotte

Robinson, our Business Relations Manager within Pharmacy, said: “I walk to and from work every day, but taking part in the Pedometer Challenge inspired me to do even more – including walking to Booths in an evening, rather than jumping in the car, and taking a break during the working day – a short walk to the canteen, or around the hospital.”

If you would like more information on Health & Wellbeing initiatives like Lunchtime Walk sessions, or would like to volunteer your time, then please contact the team on health&wellbeing@lthtr.nhs.uk

Connect Magazine Winter 2016

 Pressure Ulcer prevention This November, a worldwide goal was set: STOP PRESSURE ULCERS. An annual event, STOP Pressure Ulcer Day invites healthcare professionals, the public and the media to come together in aid of raising awareness for pressure ulcers- something that affects many people every year. The aim of this event, which takes place globally, is to increase public knowledge on pressure ulcers in a bid to prevent them from forming.

Our own healthcare professionals, led by one of our Tissue Viability Nurses, Elaine Entwistle, teamed up to get us all on board. Setting challenges and tasks, they asked our staff to make a difference and start preventing.

The main event involved asking staff from across our wards and departments to create a prevention game, as a fun way of reminding and guiding staff. Two winners will be announced soon by our Nursing and Midwifery Director, Gail Naylor, and will be receiving a hamper each in reward-their games will also be a useful tool for the future in aiding us in our mission to stop pressure ulcers!

How we’ve been #winningatwellbeing Champions Know your Numbers week: A huge thank you to Clinical Nurse Tutors, Joanne Scarborough and Kerry Rae, and student nurses Emmy Knowles, Prem Kumar, Amy Creegan and Kondwani Kankondo. By manning pop-up blood pressure testing stations at Chorley and Preston Hospitals, they helped 122 of our colleagues get to know their blood pressure in just 3.5 hours! Information which could be life-saving for those referred on to their GP because they were unaware of their raised blood pressure previously.

Top work, girls!

After the huge success of the team at the helm of Know your Numbers week at the hospitals, Rachel Humpherson and her super colleagues at the Specialist Mobility Rehab Centre organised for a pop-up blood pressure testing station to be run at Preston Business Centre for staff there.

Ongoing Campaigns, Projects & Activities Flu Fighters: Protect yourselves, family, and colleagues by getting your flu vaccination before winter sets in! We have set a target of getting 75% of each staff team vaccinated, so do your bit and let’s tackle this together! All the information on upcoming sessions is available on the intranet.

Sports Teams: For anybody interested in joining our football, netball or cricket teams, either as a player, coach or referee- or even if you just want to show some support! Then please get in touch with Alison Oliver at alison.oliver@lthtr.nhs.uk Staff Space: A mindfulness, meditation or yoga space is now available for staff drop-in use at the Health & Wellbeing Centre at Preston, usually between 10am and 4pm on most Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Therapy Sessions: Run by Gillian Buck, who has been providing on site therapies here since 2001, the therapies are relaxing, therapeutic and have been shown to reduce stress. Gillie is also a qualified Life Coach. For the December sessions, anyone booking one of the therapies will also be offered a free taster session of Cranio-sacral Therapy. Contact Gillie on 07720 395 769 for more information on times and locations.

Mental Health First Aid: Keep an eye out for courses being held in 2017 - perfect for Health and Wellbeing Champions who would like to be better equipped to support colleagues experiencing mental distress or ill-health.

Please email health&wellbeing@lthtr.nhs.uk or call 01257 247662 for more information on any of the above!

Trust Choir: Our choir group is now in full swing and will be organising a performance in the near future so keep an eye out and go along to support them!

Equality and Diversity Champions: It could be you!

The INCS team looking pretty muddy after getting pretty nutty on the course

Getting pretty nutty for Pretty Muddy 13 Nurses from our Integrated Nutrition Care Service (INCS) team entered this year’s Race for Life: Pretty Muddy 5K Challenge. Held at Avenham Park in Preston, the team- who according to the Nutrition team’s Lead Nurse, Thelma Shaw- aptly named themselves Pretty Nutty and set off on the assault course, successfully completing the whole 5K. In response to them defeating the hefty distance, in mud no less, the team have raised an even nuttier £1104.18 for Cancer Research UK and had a great time doing it! Well done, all!

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We are looking for Equality and Diversity Champions to help us celebrate individuality and support staff, regardless of age, race, gender, disability, religion or belief, sexual orientation, marriage or civil partnership, maternity or transgender.

We want every single member of staff to feel valued and supported and we have a zero tolerance policy to any discrimination.

Our Equality and Diversity Champions will play a key role in promoting a positive working environment where staff are treated fairly and with respect. They will also raise awareness and encourage all to play a role in creating and maintaining an environment in which harassment, bullying and victimisation are



understood to be unacceptable forms of behaviour and to support staff who may experience this.

Our Equality and Diversity Champions will be supported by the Workforce and Education Director to raise awareness of issues and support staff to create a positive environment for all.

If you would like to become an Equality Champion you can arrange a meeting with the Workforce and Education Director, Karen Swindley, to discuss the role and find out what is involved. Please contact PA Louise Robinson on ext 8344 or email louise.robinson@lthtr.nhs.uk.

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter @LancsHospHandWB

Our champions and their causes Anna Grey is an Equality and Diversity Champion.

Here she tells us why she signed up to the role: My name is Anna Grey. I transitioned from male-tofemale following a diagnosis of gender dysphoria at 52 years old. I am 56 years old now and have completed my transition while working full-time as a Nurse in the NHS. My transition has been notable for its lack of problems compared to most, and for a time I was waiting for the wheels to fall off, but they didn't. I appreciate that I am in the minority and sometimes feel guilty, as many of us are not so fortunate/lucky. Many of us come to, or during transition, experience mental health and/or social issues, lose jobs, family, significant others and even our homes. I have heard so many tragic and horrific stories and I have come to believe that this is the majority and I’m in the minority.

There is still so much misunderstanding on gender dysphoria. Historically this was seen as a Psychiatric condition, a condition of the mind; however, this is now widely accepted as a medical condition. NHS England explains that gender dysphoria is a recognised medical condition, for which treatment is sometimes appropriate. It's not a mental illness.

What is gender dysphoria and what causes it?

Gender dysphoria is a condition where a person experiences discomfort or distress because there's a mismatch between their biological sex and gender identity.

Gender development is complex and there are many possible variations that cause a mismatch between a person’s biological sex and their gender identity, making the exact cause of gender dysphoria unclear.

Occasionally, the hormones that trigger the development of biological sex may not work properly on the brain, reproductive organs and genitalscausing differences between them. This may be caused by: • additional hormones in the mother’s system – possibly as a result of taking medication • the foetus’ insensitivity to the hormones, known as androgen insensitivity syndrome (AIS) – when this happens, gender dysphoria may be caused by hormones not working properly in the womb Many people with gender dysphoria still face prejudice and misunderstanding. Having had a positive experience and transition, I wanted to become an Equality Champion to help and support staff, patients and all service users.

While gender dysphoria appears to be rare, the number of people being diagnosed with the condition is increasing due to growing public awareness; therefore, I feel it is important to educate and train staff on this subject.

Barrie Morgan-Scrutton is also an Equality and Diversity Champion.

Here he tells us why he felt inspired to stand up and take on the role: I have been an ambassador for dyslexia within the trust since 2012.

My role as a dyslexia ambassador includes promoting the staff support group to get staff together to talk about their dyslexia and to give everyone a better understanding. Since then we have seen an increasing number of people coming forward for support with dyslexia or to be assessed, as more people feel more confident and understand the support and resources available. When they come to the support group meeting, you can see the ‘light bulb’ moment when they speak to another dyslexic person and understand that another person does things in the same way they do, which is a real comfort and positive feeling. The other side to this is the frustration of the person, knowing they knew they had the knowledge and skills when they were at school, but did not have the correct support or understanding from their teacher.

With my role I feel I have set up a good key contact that is now being circulated around the organisation as a whole, so that all departments and managers know who to speak to if they might have a staff member with dyslexia.

We have now developed a network to support other people in the same position from other NHS trusts across the North West.

I am very passionate about dyslexia and want to help and support as many people as I can, which is why I became an Equality and Diversity Champion.

This comes from knowing how it feels to be in a role or a work situation without the correct support and understanding from colleagues and managers. The feeling of frustration in not being able to perform at the best of your ability, knowing inside it is something you can do.

To date, I have had 15-20 different NHS organisations over the North West attend the network meeting at our Health Academy. All the feedback has been very positive and thought provoking, with people saying they have learnt a great deal.

With the network, I feel I am supporting the staff and our organisation in promoting what I am doing and highlighting what other NHS organisations could be doing to support their dyslexic staff.

I hope that with the work I am doing around dyslexia, it will reduce or even take away the stigma for dyslexia and that we can use the gift to its advantage in the future.

The more people talk about Dyslexia, the more people understand.

If anybody would like to talk to me about this issue or ask for advice, please contact me via my email address: anna.grey@lthtr.nhs.uk.

Connect Magazine Winter 2016

Lancashire Teaching Hospitals Social Event Club – 2017 trips To book on these trip, please contact Soo Wadsworth

Eureka! Children’s Museum, Huddersfield: 11th February 2017 Prices: £5.25 for children (aged 1-2 years), £12.95 for children (aged 3+), £12.95 for adults Organiser: Soo Wadsworth (email soo.wadsworth@lthtr.nhs.uk to book a place) At Eureka! nothing is trapped inside a glass cabinet. It’s the only fully interactive museum totally dedicated to children aged 0-11 anywhere in the UK. They welcome the weird and wonderful questions children ask and work hard to provide some of the answers. There are over 400 interactive, hands-on exhibits designed to inspire children to find out about themselves and the world around them. A perfect, fun-filled family day out for all to explore and get involved!

Positive changes Recently, Wards 14 & 16 at Preston have taken the time to fulfil one of their long term ambitions and carry out dementia-friendly upgrades. Whilst updates were being carried out to modernise the nurse call-bell system, the team decided to take the rare opportunity of beds being closed on a rolling programme to carry out their work.

Making good use of the close relationships between Clinical, Estates and Facilities, and contractors’ staff, the teams on the wards watched it all come to life in a matter of weeks.

Building on their already proven dedication to elder-friendly care, highlighted with their awarded Quality Mark, the team had an aim of creating a dementia-friendly environment to make decision-making easier, reduce agitation, encourage independence and social interaction, promote safety, and enable activities of daily living; they achieved this by making improvements to the flooring and lighting, using accent and contrast colours accordingly on walls and accessories, and standardising signage throughout the floors.

Since carrying out the work, the staff on Wards 14 & 16 have had lots of positive feedback on their changes and improvements. Pauline Smithson, Ward Manager for Ward 14, said: 10

“All in all, it’s made the ward a better work environment and a much happier place for the patients to be in, especially helping with our ability to provide support for our patients with dementia”. Fiona Jones, Ward Manager for Ward 16, said: “There has been good teamwork throughout, not only with our staff but also outside contractors, to allow this to happen on a working ward, whilst trying to minimise the disruption to patients”. Everyone on the wards would like to say a big thank you to all those involved who helped out and took part- great to hear that it’s been a fantastic success, keep up the good work!

Photo above: Ward 16 staff and some of the amazing contractors who helped to make the upgrades possible

Infant feeding fundraiser For this year’s National Breastfeeding Celebration Week, the whole team on the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit decided to hold a fundraising event to raise awareness amongst the general public and staff throughout the hospital about the importance of breastfeeding; they also aimed to raise money to buy breast pumps for new mums to use when staying in the unit. Organised by Kairen Curry, Staff Nurse, and Kaz Gorst, Junior Sister, they asked their colleagues to help by making cakes and knitting cuddly toys to sell at the front of the main hospital, with further support from local businesses who kindly donated raffle prizes for the event.

The team want to thank everyone for their overwhelming support; Steve Curry from Soulaid donated a fantastic £770 to the unit, allowing them to buy a new breast pump and a further £770 was raised by Lynsey and Graham Cotton, whose daughter was nursed on the unit- so a cause very dear to their hearts. From fundraising around the hospital alone, the team managed to secure an amazing £1500, enabling them to buy four new breast pumps in total with the help of their donors.

This comes as very welcomed news to the Neonatal Unit, as they previously found that they don’t have enough breast pumps available to loan out when the unit is at full capacity- a goal that they are striving to achieve in the near future, as a mum’s breast milk is the perfect form of nutrition for preterm babies, protecting them at a crucial time from life-threatening infections.

Keep an eye out for future fundraising events held by the unit and get involved in helping the team reach their target!

Our new logo

Kelly with the very convincing Gary Barlow tribute act!

Charity night for CAYP One of our Staff Nurses, Kelly Baines, has raised a fantastic £1240 for our Child, Adult and Young Persons bereavement support group, CAYP. CAYP is a joint effort from our Bereavement Team and kind volunteers, all working to ensure that our patients’ relatives feel supported during and after difficult times, giving them the means to reach out if they want to. Kelly organised entertainment from a Gary Barlow tribute act, a disco, buffet and a silent auction. All money made during the event has gone to providing much needed support to those in need following bereavement. Amazing stuff, Kelly! Thank you to all those who work on the Bereavement Team and volunteer for CAYP in order to support our patients’ families, very much appreciated!

NHS England have issued a new logo to be used for all new materials. For guidance and to download a copy, please go to the Corporate Identity page in the Information section from the home page of the intranet.

For any advice or alternative versions email scott.carey@lthtr.nhs.uk

Walking on wings A course for success Our Neuroradiology, Neuroopthalmology and Orbital Surgery teams held Preston’s first one day national course on ‘Neuro-imaging in Opthalmology’. As we are a centre for Neurosciences and Neuroopthalmology, we treat complex patients across a range of disciplines, allowing our clinicians to identify where there is a need for more training and giving them the means to deliver teaching in specific areas.

The course itself was funded by our Health Academy and is one of a few of its kind being provided in the UK, helping it to draw a lot of interest nationwide. The aim of the course was to give attendees an improved understanding of how to use imaging in Opthalmology; clinicians should now be better equipped to make the right imaging decisions in complex neurological cases and to interpret scans with a radiologist in greater detail. Patients will benefit by quicker diagnosis and treatment. We are now looking to make it an annual event so stay posted for more details if you’re interested in attending!

Poster presentations Celebrating our Blood Bikers On behalf of all of us at the hospitals, a donation of £3000 was made to Paul Brooks and the Blood Bikers team as a way of thanking them for all of their hard work and continuing support! We also nominated the team for a Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service, which they deservedly won in recognition of their selfless efforts.

Due to a reorganisation the poster service is no longer provided. However, there is a step-bystep guide on the intranet including: Branded PowerPoint poster templates in portrait and landscape.

A form for the print supplier and all the info you’ll need to make and receive your print.

Available from Templates in Corporate Identity under the Information heading on the home page of the intranet.

Cath Eaton- our Senior PALS Advisor- very bravely completed a Wing Walk in order to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support.

Taking off from an Aerodrome near Selby in Yorkshire, Cath’s goal was to honour the memory of friends and family whom lost their lives to cancer by teaming up with a leading charity. Her whole family went along for support and had a fantastic afternoon overallalthough Cath only started enjoying herself when she was back on firm ground since she usually avoids heights at all costs! Despite her reservations, Cath said: “Knowing I’m raising money for such a fantastic charity made it all worthwhile”. She even admitted that “it wasn’t that bad in the end, a truly amazing, exhilarating experience and I loved every second of it”. So that’s fears conquered and a fantastic total so far of just over £1000 raised for Macmillan! Well done, Cath!

ConGRADulations!

Our 2013 cohort of Radiography students have celebrated their graduation this year from the University of Cumbria with BSc degrees in Diagnostic Radiography. The students successfully developed their clinical skills during placements at both Preston and Chorley sites. The students who qualified this year are: Claire Collard, Jenny Coulter, Chris Power, Saleha Dedat, Aisha Baig, Georgia Hatton, Laura Perks, Sara Harwood, Olivia Brandwood-Spencer and Mark Jackson. Three of the students will be continuing their time here with us, as they have secured jobs at the Preston site. Good luck for the future, everyone!

Connect Magazine Winter 2016

Awards round-up

A royal honour Lance Corporal Damian Dagg, one of our student nurses and part-time soldier, has been honoured by her Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant at the annual Lord-Lieutenant Awards for Lancashire. Recognised for his exceptional service as an Army Reservist within the Chorley-based unit 64 Medical Squadron 3 Medical Regiment, Damian received a highly-lauded Certificate of Merit. Taking on the role of Combat Medical Technician in 2012, Damian has quickly become a shining star within the Reservists, acting as Reserve Forces Ambassador outside of his regular duties and being the crucial link between the military and the business community both locally and across the country. He even encourages others to be just like him, having successfully recruited three other well thought of clinicians into the reserves as well- what a role model! Damian isn’t done there though, saying: “As an Army Reservist, I’ve been able to undertake many different medical training courses as well as deploy on an exercise to Kenya, providing medical aid to local people.

Once qualified, I aim to join the Regular Army on a full time basis as a trauma nurse”.

Congratulations and good luck for the future, Damian…not that you’ll need it!

North West Radiographer of the Year Doctor of the Year Our very own Dr. Shabbir Susnerwala, a Consultant Clinical Oncologist at our Cancer Centre, has won Doctor of the Year at the Blackpool Gazette’s: Best of Health Awards, which took place this September; everyone who received a nomination was being recognised for excellence in their respective fields and going above and beyond their normal duties to look after their patients. It was a patient from his Blackpool Oncology Clinic who nominated him for the award, describing him as 'a wonderful and caring doctor'. In response to his successful night, Dr. Susnerwala said: “Thank you to all my patients over the years. I’m part of a big team of nurses, doctors, and administrative staff who work behind the scenes- thanks to all of them and my family for supporting me”. Well done!

Congratulations to Tracey Ellis on winning the North West Region’s Radiographer of the Year Award for 2016! Speaking about her accolade, Tracey said: “When I first heard that I had won the award for the North West it all felt very surreal and I was overwhelmed.

I couldn’t believe that I had won! Now that the news has sunk in a little I feel extremely proud and grateful for the nomination. It was such a lovely thing to do. I think what makes this award so special is that it is an award nominated by Radiographers for Radiographers. It is such a privilege to be recognised for your hard work but also to be in a position to raise the profile of the role of the “Consultant Radiographer”, as well as the profession in general. There is so much amazing work that goes on at our cancer centre at Royal Preston Hospital and it’s great that this has been recognised as there are some really inspirational staff working there.”

North West Apprentice of the Year One of our Senior Assistant Financial Advisors, Ellenor Stavert, has won the North West Apprentice of the Year Award at this year’s regional National Apprenticeships Awards ceremony. Ellenor, the only NHS winner of the event, was recognised for the significant contribution and progression she’s made within our Preston site’s Finance and Procurement Directorate since starting as an apprentice back in 2013. Of her win, Ellenor said: “I am so honoured to have won this award.

My apprenticeship gave me the perfect grounding, giving me all the skills I needed to progress through my department. I 12

chose the apprenticeship route once I finished my A-levels as I wanted to start working and gaining valuable experience within my field whilst at the same time achieving a professional qualification; and I have never looked back. I am now studying towards becoming a chartered accountant, and hope to be fully qualified within the next two years.” Our Assistant Finance Director and Ellenor’s manager, Lucy Billington, said: “We are extremely proud of Ellie and the journey she has undertaken here with us”. Congratulations, Ellenor, and good luck with your studies!

Award for our Dyslexia Ambassador Information Analyst, Barrie Morgan-Scrutton, set up a dyslexia support group for staff at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals four years ago, and he has now set up a North West Dyslexia Network after discovering that no other NHS organisation in the region had a similar support group. For his amazing achievements, Barrie was presented with an Innovation Champion prize, sponsored by the Innovation Agency and presented at the North West Adult Learners’ Week Awards for Health and Care in earlier this year.

After being asked to act as Dyslexia Ambassador for our hospitals by colleague, Lynn Ireland, Barrie has really shined in his role. From developing resources to support staff and running awareness days, to enlisting an army of specialist speakers for ‘question time’ events, Barrie has worked tirelessly to raise awareness amongst staff on what dyslexia is, how to spot it and how to cope with it. He has also explored resources within Lancashire Teaching Hospitals and has worked with the Optometry department to promote staff referral, via their GPs, to a Specific Learning Difficulties Clinic. This clinic looks at the visual stress of the person, how they read on the page and if colour will help them in reading. Speaking of his work and dedication, Barrie said: “I am very passionate about dyslexia and want to help and support as many people as I can.

This comes from knowing how it feels to be in a role or a work situation and without the correct support and understanding from colleagues and managers, the feeling of frustration in not being able to perform at the best of your ability, knowing inside you know it is something you can do.” Keep up the fantastic work, Barrie!

North West Project Team of the Year Microsoft master Our Senior Database Administrator and Engineer, Siby Silvester, already has 14 awards to his name for his outstanding work within his field over the past 8 years, but he isn’t stopping there. Recently, he has been certified as a Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert (MCSE) in Data Management and Analytics; along with his award, Siby was given Charter status, which recognises him as part of a pioneering group of individuals who receive certifications within the first six months of it being available. His certification commends his skills in database administration, building enterprise-scale data solutions, and supporting business intelligence data both on and off our premises. Siby is now recognised as a Global Leader and UK No.1 within his profession, a deserving title borne from his dedication to his role and love for databases that makes him a true asset to our hospitals.

Congratulations, Siby! Thank you for all your hard work.

Our Healthroster Facilitators team have been working together on a Clinical Activity Management (CAM) project that has won them nationally-recognised status at the Allocate Awards for North West Project Team of the Year! Their aim for the project was to implement new software to our Obs and Gynae and Orthopaedics units, allowing them to transition from a paper-based rostering approach to an online method; the team had great success with this and staff on the units can now view their rotas online from their phones and desktops, making accessing the information much simpler and tailored to them.

As a result, the CAM team have developed a range of new technical skills and insight, and will be working hard over the next year to introduce the online system across all of our medical units. Congratulations and well done!

Accredited Awards Congratulations to Louisa Halton and Michael Yeung for gaining their Level 2 Certificate in Leadership and Team Skills; pictured above with Nicola Sweet, Leadership Development Advisor. (top photo) Congratulations to Beverley Kay, Tracy Grey, Maria Whittle, Karen Ormand and Elena Perez on completion of the Assistant Practitioner Programme; pictured above with Sarah Jeffrey from the Clinical Education Team. (bottom photo)

A-Ward 20 Ward 20 has received a Quality Mark for Elder Friendly Hospital Wards certificate, recognising the high standard of work and care that they put into looking after their elderly patients.

Well done and keep up the excellent work!

Connect Magazine Winter 2016

(L-R) Simon Blakemore and Claire Sutton

Reaching new heights for Alzheimer’s Two members of our Proactive Elderly Care Team (PECT), Simon Blakemore and Claire Sutton, have completed a Tandem Skydive in order to raise money for Alzheimer’s Society; a cause very close to both of their hearts, as they spend their working days assessing patients over 75 for cognitive signs of early dementia.

Understanding how vital it is that both dementia patients and their families receive the right level of care and support when dealing with new and challenging situations, they decided to raise both money and awareness for Alzheimer’s Society. Their current total is a fantastic £1330, which was achieved through a host of fundraising events that took place on Preston’s streets. Hosting a car boot sale and a bake sale that were both flying successes, they managed to have a thoroughly enjoyable

experience and smash their original target of £800!

With the money donated, Alzheimer’s Society will be able to provide hourly sessions with experienced Dementia Support Workers, fund research equipment, or pay for a month’s worth of Peer Support sessions for a person with dementia or their carer- just some of the many options which have been made possible by the generosity of those who donated/contributed and Simon and Claire’s charitable efforts. The duo would like to thank everyone for their support, especially their colleagues on the PECT team, saying: “It means so much to us, the families, the carers and the people themselves who have to cope with dementia on a daily basis. Your money will be going to a fantastic cause”. Well done!

Leading you down the right pathways Our Leadership team have recognised the significant changes we are going through as an organisation and have revised their strategies accordingly, ensuring that our staff are developing along with the organisation and remaining instrumental to its success. From staff feedback on current and previous leadership programmes and staff survey results, the team have reviewed what the main priorities are for staff and are now working to implement them. Our main priorities are: senior managers’ involvement and communication, raising concerns, and feeling valued and recognised.

The next series of leadership programmes, launching in early 2017, will have an aim of helping all staff to identify the leader within, creating a sense of community and identity within a safe environment to explore and develop. The emphasis will be on how we can implement our learning back into the services for innovation and change through our practice and/or behaviour. To achieve this, the team will be hosting classroom and blended learning sessions, providing coaching, and setting work-based projects to name just a handful of the exciting opportunities on offer.

Keep an eye out for more information in the new year. Nicola Sweet, Leadership Advisor, said of what’s to come: “I look forward to learning with you all on our new programmes and would like to thank everyone who I spoke to about their experience of the programmes, either through attending themselves or supporting colleagues. This was invaluable in helping me to conduct the review and informing us on how to shape the future of our programmes for the benefit of our staff”.

New role: Sepsis Lead Nurse The role of the sepsis nurse is relatively new, yet many organisations within the NHS have implemented the role of sepsis nurses or sepsis teams, as awareness of sepsis and the need for early recognition has increased. Sepsis claims 44,000 lives annually in the UK and costs the NHS an estimated £2.5billion. Early intervention certainly saves lives, and has also been shown to reduce the length of a hospital stay and the need for critical care admission.

Recently, Emma Duane has commenced a 12-month secondment as a Sepsis Lead Nurse within our hospitals. Her new role will continue to develop over the next year and aims to raise awareness in the early recognition and

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treatment of sepsis. On a monthly basis, Emma and a network of professionals meet to review data, discuss performance, share ideas and confirm actions to improve the management of patients with sepsis across our sites.

Currently, this is a five-day service. Contact Emma on emma.duane@lthtr.nhs.uk or bleep 3566 if you would like any more information on her role or sepsis itself.

If you have any concerns regarding patients you are caring for, this should be escalated in the usual way by contacting the parent team and/or Critical Care Outreach on bleep 3388/Hospital at Night team on bleep 9090

Simon Parker cycling through the Ribble Valley for RNIB

Ribble Valley Ride One of our Ophthalmology specialty doctors, Simon Parker, has taken part in the Ribble Valley Ride. The annual event aims to raise money for a host of different charities, allowing participants to either pick from the provided list or arrange sponsorship for a charity of their own choice. In Simon’s case, he decided to tackle the 60 mile course and raise money for the Royal National Institute of Bilnd People (RNIB) group of charities, who support people with sight loss- a cause dear to him as it relates to his work; in total, he raised a fantastic £427.50! Of the day, Simon said: “I had never cycled that far before and I had never done as much climbing uphill either, so it was tough and the hills just kept coming. The toughest hill was Malham Cove Road, which is rated as the 47th toughest climb in Britain. With enough training, I hope to do it again next year but I will do the 100 mile course instead.” Well done and we’ll be rooting for next year to be a success too!

Getting results One of our Renal Dieticians from the Kendal site, Dr Heather Hill, has worked closely with one of her patients, Jeremy Davenport, to develop a new way of presenting blood results, which can be shown to patients in simple, clear terms. Jeremy is a PhD researcher at Lancaster University and lives with a chronic kidney disease; to manage it, he has to have monthly blood tests, but lately he’s been wondering if there’s a simpler way for the results to be presented.

A fresh start Preston MedSoc and the SWAPS (student support) staff have given a big, warm welcome to our new wave of third year medical students. Organising their annual Freshers’ Fair for what is sure to be another successful year, the team put on an exciting range of events and activities for students from as far away as Malaysia, providing an unparalleled introduction and setting the scene for a fantastic future.

Ensuring there was something for everyone, stalls were set up to allow the new cohorts to sign up for a wealth of sports and societiessome more niche, like the Bake-Off inspired BakeSoc, and some going the traditional route with activities like Badminton, the diversity on offer rivalled that of the students themselves but all with an overall aim of supporting and improving the health and wellbeing of our community at large.

The fair also promoted local GP and health services- reminding the new starters to take responsibility for their own health now more than ever, allowing them to provide the best care possible for their patients. Trips and socials are already in place for the coming year, so it’s safe to say that the students will never be looking for something to do- either in work or out of it!

NHS fact file: did you know...

Employing 1.5million, the NHS is the world's 5th largest employer! Behind the US Defence Department, WalMart, McDonald's, and the Chinese People's Liberation Army!

In their current format, the results are very numerical and therefore don’t get shown to patients. Working with Dr Hill, Adrian Gradinar, a colleague at the Creative Exchange, and Professor Paul Coulton from Lancaster University, Jeremy and the team have come up with a graphic prototype that displays phosphate and potassium levels clearly- essential minerals that are normally kept in balance by the kidneys but can be very dangerous if they get too high or too low, hence the need for frequent monitoring. Creating a new, colour-coded interface that displays the results with images as a visual aid, the team are eliminating any confusion from clinicians and

keeping the patients in the loop at every step. Of his motivation for the project, Jeremy said: “My clinicians are brilliant at communicating but not all nurses and doctors are, and even when they are brilliant communicators, you can still find better tools - better ways of helping them.”

The next step for the prototype and the team is putting it into action; after receiving positive feedback from renal clinicians at Preston, who tested it in its initial phase, Dr Hill is now moving on to Phase Two; here, she will work in conjunction with a group of patients and their carers to co-design improvements to the prototype and evaluate it before testing it in a clinical setting; if that proves a success, the prototype can then be rolled out to encompass more results within the blood tests. Dr Hill feels confident that the new tool will be a big help, saying: “If patients feel empowered and they understand what the blood results mean, it helps them to make appropriate changes to their diet.”

Good luck in the next stages of testing, we’re sure it’ll be a big success!

(L-R) Peter, Kurt, and Mark during their team visit

Team visit: Post Room Carole Spencer, our Strategy and Development Director, has spent a day with the Preston Post Room team. Not only do the team- comprised of Peter, Mark, Kurt, Les, and Gary- work in close quarters together but two of them are flesh and blood, with Kurt and Mark being Preston’s very own father-son duo. Starting at 8am, she joined in on the first round of the day; working from 8am-4pm, the team can make between three-six trips around sites each day depending on how much mail they have to sort through. The Health & Wellbeing team would be made up with their fitness efforts though, with Kurt walking up to 10 miles each day and the whole team opting for granola and yoghurt over bacon sandwiches at breakfast! Carole said: “The team work like a well-oiled machine; by perfecting a system that runs in conjunction with the hospital layout, they manage to save

time and ensure that all the mail ends up in the correct place.” However, the team are always looking for ways to improve and have suggested that staff; make sure all addresses are clearly visible, help the environment by sending electronically where possible, and let them know if you change location (a quick email to Peter. Mclean@lthtr.nhs.uk is all they need!). Carole added: “I really enjoyed my time with the Post Room team and learnt a lot from them; as an essential, committed part of our hospitals, they truly understand the organisation as a whole and recognise that many letters are a key part of patient care.

Thanks for all your hard work, Post Room team!"

Connect Magazine Winter 2016

What's happening at Chorley Be mindful of your health Following the launch of the Health & Wellbeing Centre on our Preston site, Chorley now also has its own Health & Wellbeing Room. Taking up residence in Chorley’s Library, the peaceful environment couldn’t be a more perfect location. Although it has only been there for a few months, the room is proving quite popular with staff, and our Mindfulness Practitioner, Liz Tallentire, has been using the room for Mindfulness sessions- with great success!

Hazelwood’s (top) Performance Board Our multi-disciplinary team on Chorley’s Hazelwood ward have been going the extra mile to make sure they are promoting and working on areas of concern each month. By creating their Performance Board- the first of its kind in the hospital-staff on Hazelwood have been actively working together to ensure that they’re staying on top of current issues regarding patient safety and best practice. Taking pride of place in the main corridor, staff are given frequent reminders and patients are safe in the knowledge that their caregivers are thoroughly invested in providing the best care possible. Currently, their highlighted topic is Duty of Candour; staff suggested this topic themselves, as they wanted to improve their knowledge on the sensitive matter of always remaining honest with their patients and their families. Karen Hobin, Hazelwood Ward Manager, said: “The staff always have fun putting the board together and get really involved in it! It’s their work and I’m so proud of them for the time and effort they put into it. I would also like to say a big thank you to Michelle Prescott, who is the artist for the board and helps us bring our ideas to life.” Keep up the amazing work, everyone!

Mindfulness is about bringing attention to the present moment, raising awareness throughout the body and encouraging people to focus on their own wellbeing. From her previous work as a Clinical Psychologist, Liz knew that Mindfulness would be a hit among our staff; it can help reduce stress, aid decision making, improve focus and help managers with their leadership skills.

Liz holds a fortnightly Mindfulness Taster Session during lunchtime in the Health & Wellbeing Room and from only 10 minutes, you may notice a true benefit to your overall wellbeing and self-awareness. The room is also a great place for reflection and has a range of books available on loan that cover all things Mindfulness-related.

In the future, in conjunction with our supportive library team, Health & Wellbeing are hoping to use the room at Chorley for meditation, art

and crafts, and book club sessions. Although the room already looks fantastic (thanks to the library team at Chorley pooling together), a bid, submitted to the Health Care Unit North, for some additional funds to transform the room into a more flexible space for a range of activities and sessions has been successful and will make all of the above possible.

Contact mindfulnessforstaff@lthtr.nhs.uk for more information on upcoming sessions or courses across both sites. If you’re interested in doing some research before taking part, then become a member at one of our 24 hour staff libraries and read some of the fantastic literature available to give you a greater introduction into the practice of Mindfulness; visit your respective site library to sign up.

Busy Bees at Chorley

Sister Rooney receiving some lovely gifts from her colleagues

Birthday wishes Happy 50th Birthday to our Specialist Urology Nurse, Sister Rooney! With love from all your friends and colleagues at Chorley.

A theatre of teams Deborah O’Mahoney, our Theatre Matron at Chorley, would like to say a very big thank you to the wards and theatre teams for working so well together. During such a challenging time, these two separate departments have really rallied around and taken on extra duties to ensure that our patients care and service is always excellent and delivered with compassion.

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Liz ringing in the start of the Mindfulness session

A reminder for all staff who need day care during the work day- our Busy Bees can’t keep buzzing if their service isn’t being used! They have a variety of great offers coming up for staff with young children of different ages, so please make use of this fantastic service as it would be a great shame to lose it.

What’s on…

Between now and the end of December, there is a 50% off a month’s fee offer running so make sure you take advantage of that!

Another festive treat for last-minute shoppers: extra sessions are being put on for staff who would like to catch up on present buying without little prying eyes!

Christmas Holiday Club: especially for children under five, there is currently 10% off the current booking fee for sessions held over the half-term, so get confirming your child’s place if you’re interested!

Chorley Chemotherapy Unit Over the next two years, we will be investing in excess of £2 million into the opening of a new Chemotherapy Unit at Chorley hospital.

Treating patients from across Lancashire and South Cumbria, the unit will act as an addition to the treatment already provided at the cancer centre at the Preston site.

Having this facility will mean the hospitals will be able to treat more patients and reduce waiting times, as well as providing care that is closer to home for those living in the Chorley and South Ribble areas. Eliminating the need for overnight hospital stays, the unit will be day-case only and led by nurses.

Rosemere Cancer Foundation very kindly donated £50,000 to the project, helping to buy new chemotherapy chairs and paying for decorating. Martin Hogg, one of our Consultant Clinical Oncologists said: “The number of people needing chemotherapy treatment is increasing, so this expansion of our chemotherapy service is a vital development and will mean we can continue to provide excellent care with compassion for cancer patients”. The unit is expected to be opened in the near future.

Rookwood staff having a hair-raising time

Pauline (front) with some of the celebrated admin staff from Women’s Health Directorate

Thank the Admin Staff Day A lovely idea has been brought to fruition

by Pauline MacDonald, one of our Urogynae Specialist Nurses. After noticing that there are days celebrating the hard work done by Nursing and Midwifery staff, but nothing to recognise everything that admin employees do behind the scenes, Pauline decided to take action herself. Wearing a specially-made apron emblazoned with ‘A BIG THANK YOU TO ALL OUR ADMIN STAFF’, Pauline set out to start ‘Thank the Admin Staff Day’ in our Women’s Health Directorate; armed with a poster, some bunting, and a yummy selection of cakes (kindly paid for by our Head of Midwifery, Kathy Atherton), she personally thanked all those who support her and the team across both Preston and Chorley sites.

The combination of Pauline’s big heart, baked treats and a special thank you from our Nursing and Midwifery Director, Gail Naylor, reminded everyone from clerks to secretaries of just how integral their roles are and how much they’re appreciated. A goal of simply making people smile has definitely been achieved here and Pauline is now looking to continue spreading the love across our hospitals, by making ‘Thank the Admin Staff Day’ an annual event.

A spooktacular treat Our staff on Chorley’s Rookwood A Ward (for elderly care and rehab) held a seasonal tea party recently for their patients, getting everyone together to enjoy some Halloween festivities. Our lovely Dementia Champions, along with a kind volunteer, organised and funded the event; Practice Educator, Jacqui Smith, made some terrifyingly tasty pumpkin cakes and there was a host of scarily good snacks for staff and patients to treat themselves with.

Their aim for the tea party was to provide an opportunity for patients, relatives and staff to socialise in the hospital environment and to improve the stay of our dementia patients.

Happy Halloween, indeed!

The ED team celebrating crossing the finishing line

Rough Runner for Syria Relief Colleagues on our close-knit Emergency Department team have taken part in Manchester Rough Runner. A 10k run through fields, woodlands and rivers littered with tough obstacles, the course was tackled by the team and their friends in aid of one of our consultants’, Dr Ayman Jundi’s, charity, Syria Relief. Founded here in the North West by a group of friends of Syrian heritage, mainly from a medical background, the charity provides humanitarian aid in hard to reach/besieged areas. With around 1600 people working on the ground, it co-ordinates charitable activities in the UK and helps Syrians in need, both inside and outside of the country, regardless of their religion or political persuasion.

From working together, the team successfully completed the Rough Runner course and had a fantastic day in the process. In addition to their efforts on the day, some of our nurses from the Emergency Department also hosted a small raffle for Syria Relief, collecting £100 to be used in future projects. So far, a total of £4420 has been raised but the team would be extremely grateful for any further donations; you can do this via their page www.justgiving. com/fundraising/LTHEDMassive or by texting LTHX99 and your donation amount to 700700.

You could also get involved by rallying friends, colleagues and family to join in next year’s fundraising event, email Helen Goldrick on goldrick@doctors.org.uk if you’re interested!

An amazing cause, well done to all for the hard work!

Delivering medical equipment and donations to Kibogora Hospital

Project: Rwanda Three of our student nurses from the University of Central Lancashire (Cara McHugh, Sharon Worgan, Darren Stokes), recently went to Kibogora Hospital in Rwanda to complete a month’s placement.

The purpose was to encourage students to think of ideas and ways to promote health; with Kibogora having been through such torrid times as people have lost their lives over and over again to preventable diseases, like malaria and malnutrition, the students aim was to provide as much help, information and basic medical equipment as they can. As the hospital only has one doctor per 50,000 people, their assistance and generosity will have been very much appreciated.

Connect Magazine Winter 2016

Since April, the monitoring tool has identified a saving for the trust of £40,535.

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He is looking forward to relaxing and enjoying walking in the hills surrounding his Lake District home. He will be missed by many here at Royal Preston.

Star Volunteer of the month

Glynis being celebrated by the team

Glynis Hill retirement Glynis Hill, a former Dental Nurse at Royal Preston Hospital, has retired; as an excellent, experienced and hard-working member of the team she will be greatly missed! Working here for 21 years, Glynis started off in the Special Care Dentistry Department before moving to the Oral Maxillofacial team. Glynis intends to keep herself busy as a retiree, by continuing with her voluntary work at a local day nursery but is also very much looking forward to spending more time with her family!

This issue’s Star Volunteer is Mick Woods.

Mick volunteers for Cardiorespiratory at our Preston site every Tuesday morning; always punctual and friendly, he takes on any task given to him in order to help reduce the team’s demanding workload. Mick’s main task is to collect patients from the wards and bring them down for scans; to ease their wait, he always ensures that they are comfortable, by providing blankets and spending time talking to them. He also briefly explains the tests for them and helps staff by taking patients into the testing room or to the bathroom when required. it’s nice to have Mick there to explain to the patients where they are going and why- a kindness that the patients truly appreciate and always provide positive feedback on.

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If you have a story for Connect magazine, please email: Helen.Lea@lthtr.nhs.uk

Wishing our friend and colleague, Ellen Earnshaw, a very happy retirement! Ellen retired after 46 years of working in the NHS; she started her career as a Cadet Nurse back in the 70’s and has spent most of her career working in Women’s Health. Although she has been working part-time for a number of years, unfortunately a back problem has forced her to finish earlier than she would have liked.

However, she tells us that, she has got herself a little car and will now have plenty of time to get out and about as a “lady that lunches”.

She was the font of all Gynae knowledge and will be greatly missed by everyone on the team.

Prof. Hill took up his post at Royal Preston Hospital in September 1988. He built up the Nuclear Medicine department from that time and was also instrumental in helping to set up the PETCT Centre along with many research projects.

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Got something great going on in your department and want the rest of your colleagues to know about it? It might be an event, a new piece of research or a new service.

Ellen Earnshaw retirement

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The Business Delivery Unit (BDU) provided support to Sanchia and Gill through the processing of audit data and the creation of a monitoring tool.

Ellen (centre) with some of her colleagues

Prof. Jonathan Hill, Consultant in Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, has retired. A buffet lunch was held in the Conservatory at Royal Preston Hospital where many people came to wish him well. A Consultants’ dinner was held at Preston Golf Club.

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Historically, two unit blood transfusions were common practice and a single unit was not deemed sufficient to correct anaemia. In addition, a number of risks are associated with the administration of blood i.e. infections (bacteria, HIV, hepatitis), parasites, allergic reaction, and/or receiving the wrong blood group. There is also an increasing evidence base which shows that transfusion of more than one unit of RBC is associated with increased morbidity, mortality and length of hospital stay. Blood supplies are also a limited and costly resource: during 2015/16 around 12,300 RBC were transfused by us at a cost of approximately £1.5million. For these reasons, Blood Transfusion Practitioners, Sanchia Baines and Gill Cassie, established a policy to encourage clinical staff to use RBC transfusions more appropriately, encouraging a review of the Hb after each single unit administered to non-bleeding patients. Clinicians are now in the process of introducing this change in practice.

Prof. Jonathan Hill retirement

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We have launched a new Single Unit Blood Transfusion policy to prevent the administration of unnecessary blood units to patients, improve patient safety and reduce unnecessary expenditure across our sites. Red blood cell (RBC) transfusions are administered when the patient’s own blood count is low; this is demonstrated by the level of haemoglobin (Hb) in the blood. Haemoglobin carries oxygen around the body and when this is low the patient suffers from anaemia, which can leave them feeling tired, breathless and dizzy. By transfusing donated RBC to the patient, the Hb concentration and hence the oxygen-carrying capability of the blood increases, thereby relieving these symptoms.

Happy retirement

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New Blood Transfusion policy

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