InTouch magazine - February 2020

February - March 2020

InTouch

Staff survey results published Shining the spotlight on nursing apprenticeships New 24/7 specialist mental health support service Successful nurse recruitment campaign

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Foreword Contents

Hello Welcome to In Touch magazine – your insight into the latest news and updates from across PAHT. This edition includes an analysis of our NHS Staff Survey results – thank you to everyone who completed the survey. We will be working with you to implement improvements over the next year as part of our Making it better. Together. initiative. We also explore the improved experience we have provided for patients with cancer and our new 24/7 specialist mental health support service.

In addition, there is an opportunity to hear about our successful nurse recruitment campaign.

You can take a look at the design for our new website, which is set to launch in early March, together with finding out about our nursing apprenticeships scheme. We continue our celebration of our #PAHTPeople with coverage of a special ceremony for our long service colleagues. You can also read about much more, from our new antibiotic App to a generous donation to develop the garden at Gibberd Ward for our patients, people and visitors.

If you would like to share your news with colleagues and to see your team featured in In Touch magazine, please let the communications team know at paht.communications@nhs.net.

I hope you enjoy the read.

Lance McCarthy Chief executive

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Welcome to In Touch magazine

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Staff Survey results published

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New 24/7 specialist mental health support service now available

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A spotlight on nursing apprenticeships

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World Cancer Day: Reflecting on the improved experience provided for patients living with cancer

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PAHT doctor secures regional nomination for prestigious prize

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Time to shine: PAHT leads the way for quality improvement

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Time to shine: Successful nurse recruitment campaign

12

A fond farewell to Gill Gano

13

Am I a bully? Unwrapping unconscious bias and bullying at PAHT

14

New PAHT website launching soon

15

Recognising our long service PAHT people

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#PAHTPeople

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Staff survey results published Thank you to everyone who completed the recent NHS Staff Survey. Hearing your feedback is extremely important so that we know what you feel makes PAHT a good place to work and also where we need to make improvements.

feel comfortable in reporting harassment, bullying, or abuse (54%) You said that you feel that you are doing your job to a standard you are pleased with (82%) You said that you are satisfied with the quality of care given to patients and service users (82%) You said that you are able to provide the care you aspire to (69%)

It was fantastic to see a significant

increase in response rate – 45% of you completed the latest survey

(1,520 people), compared with

40% in 2018 (1,324 people).

We all have a role to play in Our five least improved areas – helping to make PAHT a great that we will continue working with place to work and receive care. you to address The results for the 2019 Staff

30% of you said that in the Survey have been published and

last three months (from we will be working with you to

the survey date), you implement improvements as part

have not come to work of our Making it better. Together.

when you were not initiative. This will include wider

feeling well enough to pieces of work across the whole

perform your duties of PAHT, together with individual action plans for issues identified in (showing 70% of

respondents have specific areas.

come to work when not Summary of our 2019 NHS Staff Survey results

feeling well enough)

54% of you said that

feedback from patients

and service users is used

to make informed decisions

within a directorate or

department (13% of you said that this does not

take place, the remainder

said they were not sure)

57% of you said that you

receive regular updates on

patient and service user

feedback in your

directorate or department (19% of you said that

this does not take place,

the remainder said they

were not sure)

71% of you said that the

organisation acts on

concerns raised by patients

and service users (5% of

you said that this does

not take place, the

remainder said that

they were not sure)

55% of you said that staff

are given feedback

In comparison with the main national themes, we are in line with the average for other acute trusts for some themes, exceeding the national average in some areas and in others only slightly behind the national average.

Please see the graph (right) for details.

In more detail‌ Our five most improved areas since the 2018 survey include:

You said that you are not

working additional

unpaid hours

over and above your

contracted hours (46%)

You said that you 3

about changes made in response to reported errors, near misses and incidents (17% of you said that this does not take place, the remainder said that they were not sure).

The people team will soon be meeting with the healthcare group leads to discuss developing the action plans to improve your services and experience of people working in your team.

We will be sharing regular updates

from our Making it better.

Together. initiative throughout the year as changes are implemented

in healthcare groups and across

PAHT.

This has previously included

initiatives to improve our culture

and further support staff health

and wellbeing by:

Introducing an employee assistance programme that provides expert advice and compassionate guidance 24/7 Holding a number of mental health awareness support events and training 28 mental health first aiders Organising our Event in a Tent three day programme which had a strong health and wellbeing focus, where many of you took the opportunity to attend our health and wellbeing marketplace and seminars on menopause, stress, and mental health Introducing the improvement partnership through Quality First, to ensure you have a valuable method of involvement and development at PAHT, so that you feel supported

and motivated to make the

changes you would like to see

Introducing new training for

managers and leaders in

creating cultures free from

bias and bullying

Expanding and improving

our recognition schemes to

share the successes and

achievements of even more

colleagues The survey helps to shape our services, the experiences of our people, and our organisation as a whole, which in turn supports us to provide high quality care for our patients. We look forward to continuing to work with you this year on improving PAHT for our patients and our people.

New 24/7 specialist mental health support service now available Our patients can now benefit from 24/7 specialist mental health support.

20 January.

operating officer and deputy CEO of Essex Partnership University Andy Morris, chief medical officer, NHS Foundation Trust, said: said: Provided by Essex Partnership I am delighted to have University NHS Foundation Trust This is a fantastic development launched our brand new (EPUT), the psychiatric liaison in the services available for our psychiatric liaison support service. one hour response service is patients who are experiencing available for patients who attend a mental health crisis, whether We know that mental ill health our emergency department (ED) attending our emergency can affect anyone at any time. or are an inpatient with urgent department or while an inpatient This new service will ensure that mental health needs. on our wards. support is available to people who are presenting at The Princess A team of 20 people, including It is a real benefit for our Alexandra Hospital in a mental two psychiatrists, a psychologist, patients to be able to access the health crisis. nursing liaison colleagues and specialist care and advice of the administrators will offer the mental health teams from Essex Mental health is a key issue service around the clock, based at Partnership University NHS for Essex and improving and our hospital.

Foundation Trust at any time of enhancing services to better support people is very much one the day, 365 days of the year.

Our people began referring of our key strategic aims. into the service on Monday, Andy Brogan, executive chief 4

Spotlight on nursing apprenticeships As part of the Year of the Nurse and Midwife celebrations and while raising the profile of apprenticeships during National Apprenticeship Week (3–9 February), we caught up with Adam Smith, who started at the trust as a cadet nurse 19 years ago. Adam has recently completed his nursing apprenticeship top up degree to become a registered nurse - you can read more about Adam’s apprenticeship journey below:

at Anglia Ruskin University was a two year course; during this time I was based on Fleming Ward and attended university one day a week. We were also allocated a student day to help with completing learning booklets, essays and exams. There was a high volume of applicants and only 20 places available, I was very grateful to have been given a place, with support from my manager.

My top up course to become a fully qualified nurse was a 22 month course and consisted of two placements days per week, full time placements and week blocks at university, as well as placements at the hospital in What was your apprenticeship various different areas including and when did you start?

Saunders Ward, the Derwent I joined the trust as a cadet nurse Centre, the neurological unit at the 19 years ago; I rotated around the Rivers Hospital and community hospital in a variety of roles and nursing; my final placement was areas to gain an insight into the on Kingsmoor Ward, where I am daily running of the hospital, whilst based now. completing an NVQ qualification.

The roles and areas included Why did you decide to start an portering, phlebotomy, sterile apprenticeship? services, pathology and working I’ve always wanted to work in on our wards. healthcare ever since I was a young boy – when I saw the In 2008, I became a healthcare advert in the local newspaper assistant on John Snow and for the cadet scheme I jumped Nicholas Ward, which was an at the chance. This was a great infection control ward at the time. opportunity to begin my career I later went on to join our cardiac within the NHS, develop my ward, where the opportunity skills and knowledge, gain a came around to undertake an qualification and earn at the same apprenticeship to work towards time. a foundation degree in health and social care. Following this, I completed the apprenticeship degree top up course to become a registered nurse.

What did you enjoy most about the apprenticeship and why?

Undertaking an apprenticeship allowed me to gain valuable experience and knowledge of the daily running of the hospital and different departments. The rotation around the different wards helped me to realise that my passion was for cardiac care.

How do you think an apprenticeship has improved or opened up your career options?

My apprenticeship has opened up lots of potential opportunities for me and allowed me to progress my nursing career. The journey is tough but worth the end goal – expect lots of juggling around in your home and work life.

Where do you see yourself in five years’ time?

I imagine myself having gained my Cardiac Care Unit (CCU) course and to have started my master’s degree.

Adam Smith.

Tell us more about what’s involved in an apprenticeship The foundation degree course 5

World Cancer Day: Reflecting on the improved experience provided for patients living with cancer

Patient Mandy Clarke with Deborah Stone, sister at The Williams Day Unit.

We are committed to supporting patients through the diagnosis and treatment of cancer with high quality care.

On 4 February, we marked World Cancer Day by reflecting on the improved patient experience we have worked to provide throughout 2019.

Bernadette Roach, head of cancer, said:

Mandy, who was diagnosed with cancer in June 2018, said:

World Cancer Day was an opportunity to raise awareness I found the diagnosis quite of the disease nationally, and we scary, it was daunting, and you reflected on our continued work to enhance the services we provide listen but you don’t hear and don’t take it in at first. for our patients with cancer.

We are proud of our achievements, delivering a very high standard of cancer care for the people of west Essex, Hertfordshire, and beyond.

We continue to focus on enhancing the experience of patients with cancer, working to have faster pathways for diagnosis in particular for lung, oesophago-gastric, colorectal and One of our patients, Mandy prostate cancers.

Clarke, from Harlow, also took part in an information film to Teams across the hospital highlight the experience patients are dedicated to ensuring that with cancer may have, which is patients receive a diagnosis at available across our PAHT social the earliest opportunity and are then supported holistically with the physical and emotional challenges that can present during treatment for cancer.

This includes the team at The Williams Day Unit, which patients with cancer attend to receive chemotherapy treatment.

media channels.

The team are great – it’s quite a happy place as patients who come in on a regular basis all get to know each other. It’s not a scary place to come.

As soon as you walk through the doors, you feel at ease. The whole place is a warm, happy place to be if you’re being treated for cancer.

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Doctor secures regional nomination for prestigious prize A doctor here at The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust (PAHT) has been successful in securing the regional nomination for a prize from the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH).

Sophie Adler (pictured), a first year (FY1) academic foundation programme doctor with an interest in paediatrics, is currently on a rotation post in respiratory medicine, based at The Princess Alexandra Hospital. She has been nominated for the prize by the Essex, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Foundation School of Health Education England.

She secured the nomination in recognition of her research in paediatrics, in particular, paediatric neurology.

Sophie’s main area of research is using automated analysis and artificial intelligence to improve the evaluation of children with epilepsy before surgery. She set up and co-leads the Multi-centre Epilepsy Lesion Detection (MELD) Project involving 20 epilepsy surgery centres worldwide and more than 550 patients.

At PAHT, Sophie has worked as a junior doctor in vascular surgery and respiratory medicine.

gives attendees an opportunity I am really looking forward to to network, listen to keynote the conference and to applying lectures, attend practical sessions the learning in my practice. and enhance their understanding of paediatrics.

Dr Andy Morris, chief medical officer, added: The prize is open to Foundation Year 1 (FY1) and Foundation Congratulations to Sophie on Year 2 (FY2) doctors in the UK. securing the opportunity to attend At the end of each year, the Royal this prestigious conference.

College of Paediatricians invites educational establishments to This is a fantastic achievement nominate and select their most and is testament to Sophie’s outstanding foundation doctor. dedication to continuing to

Sophie will be joining doctors develop her experience of from across the country who are Sophie said: paediatrics. attending the annual RCPCH I am delighted to have been conference and exhibition in April. nominated – it is a real privilege to The prize entitles doctors to a free have the opportunity to attend. place at the conference, which

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Time to shine PAHT leads the way for quality improvement We take a look at quality improvement across PAHT...

Visit to hospital in Great Yarmouth Our recent Academy of Fabulous Stuff quality improvement accreditation is proving an interest to other hospitals across the region. Our quality improvement team visited St James Paget University Hospital Trust recently to showcase our fantastic improvement projects that are underway and deliver a learning and development session on how we lead and deliver change at PAHT. Get involved with quality improvement Leading change The leading change sessions are an opportunity to learn about our quality improvement methodology as well as key change management models, supporting you to take a considered, planned and engaging approach to lead change within your area.

The sessions also help you to understand the reactions others have to change and how to best handle these reactions.

Leading projects The leading projects learning and development sessions give you our quality improvement team’s best practice guide to managing quality improvement projects in greater detail; coaching you through supporting templates and documentation.

Once you have completed the leading change and projects sessions and completed a quality

Leading change 23 April

2 - 4:30pm

Maternity sitting room

13 May

12 - 2:30pm

Maternity sitting room

11 June

12 - 2:30pm

Maternity sitting room

22 April

9:30 - 11:30am

20 May

10 - 12pm

IT Room, Harlow College IT Room, Harlow College

18 June

2 - 4pm

Leading projects

improvement project, you will become an improvement partner.

Action learning sets Action learning is a process that involves a small group working on improvement projects, taking action and learning as individuals, as a team, and as an organisation. It helps us to network with colleagues, gain support and develop creative and successful solutions collectively.

You will be invited to join an action

IT Room, Harlow College To book onto leading change or projects, please email: paht.training@nhs.net learning set whilst completing your quality improvement initiative to become an improvement partner.

You can view the upcoming action learning sets on the Quality First Alex page.

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Improving patient outcomes As you know, one of our top priorities as a trust is to improve our mortality rate and patient outcomes, as well as the experience for our patients.

from developing an AKI and their treatment.

They are focusing on FLUIDS, as an acronym: F: Fluid status - remember to complete fluid balance charts for all patients with acute kidney injury (AKI) or who are at risk of AKI.

A key measure of success will be to achieve an as expected mortality rate across all specialties of focus for the trust – recent data

by March 2021 in comparison to from Public Health England shows other NHS trusts. that there has been a decrease in L: Low blood pressure (SBP<100) - remember fluid resuscitation antibiotic usage.

To ensure the target is met, five and hold off on giving antiwork streams were developed and are monitored by our mortality The App is available on Apple and hypertensives and diuretics. android devices; you can search improvement board. and download 'MicroGuide' on the U: Urine output - take urinalysis Apple and Google Play App store. for blood, protein and nitrites. This We have been running the may help identify the cause of the If you have a trust device, the mortality improvement board for acute kidney injury.

App is automatically available a year now and we are half way under the Apps at work icon - it through our two-year journey to I: Imaging - request urgent renal is important to note that the bring mortality rates to where we antibiotic guidelines will remain on ultrasound scan if there is a would expect them to be. suspected obstruction or no clear Alex. cause for acute kidney injury.

For the last five months of Dedicated teams raise reporting, our mortality rates are D: Drug review - if an acute awareness of best practice for at the expected level. It looks as kidney injury is suspected, drugs acute kidney injury though we are now beginning to To mark World Kidney Day on 12 with nephrotoxic potential must be see the outcomes of our work stopped. around improving mortality rates – March, the acute kidney injury (AKI) project team and quality thank you to everyone involved.

S: Think sepsis - remember to first team are raising awareness treat sepsis promptly using the of AKI and sharing best practice Antibiotic App enables more sepsis 6 protocol. advice on protecting our patients effective prescribing Have you tried the App that will make antibiotic prescribing more Taylor Higgitt, business effective? administration apprentice in the quality improvement team Clinicians can download a MicroGuide App to enable them to We caught up with Taylor Higgitt have easy access to our antibiotic during National Apprenticeship Week guidelines. to find out what she enjoys most about her apprenticeship.

The App was introduced by the mortality improvement board as She said: “The thing that I enjoy the part of the ongoing improving most about my apprenticeship is the patient outcomes programme of people that I have met and worked work. with along the way; I’m learning new skills every day and the amount of The App ensures appropriate support I have received throughout my antibiotic prescribing for patients, apprenticeship has been amazing.” and should result in a reduction in antibiotics, which is a key area 9

Time to shine Hundreds of nurses welcomed to our hospital over the last six months in successful recruitment drive Following a dedicated campaign focused on recruiting a host of amazing nurses to join our hospital, we are now on target to have less than a 10% nursing vacancy rate overall by the end of this financial year.

nurses joined our hospital.

The programme begun last summer â&#x20AC;&#x201C; when the vacancy rate for staff nurses (band five) was 41%. This had been a longstanding challenge at PAHT. A high vacancy rate impacts on both our patients and our people, as nurses on our wards will have less time to spend with each patient.

Since last summer, we have been welcoming between 20 to 30 new nurses per month.

To improve the experience for our patients and our people, Sharon McNally, director of nursing, midwifery, and allied health professionals, and Sarah Webb, deputy director of nursing, devised a strategy to rapidly increase the recruitment of amazing staff nurses to join our teams across the hospital.

A key focus of this work was to recruit significantly more overseas nurses, beginning with a recruitment drive in India in July 2019.

Sarah, and colleagues from theatres, ITU, Fleming and Ray Wards visited Cochin in India to interview nurses who were keen to work in the UK. Over four days they interviewed more than 200 nurses and made 132 offers. Just three months later, the first four

Previously, around six or seven nurses joined our hospital per month, which did not fill the posts of those who were retiring or moving on to new opportunities.

A range of measures have supported this:

Introducing a requirement that all overseas nurses who are offered a position at our hospital have already obtained their English language qualifications and are in the process of getting approval from the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) to convert to UK registration. This has significantly reduced the time from making an offer of employment to our new nurses beginning in their posts. This is with the aim that all nurses begin with us in six months of receiving their offer. Ideally, and frequently, this time period is three months.

Redesigning the process for candidates of the objective structured clinical examination (OSCE), which is part of the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) registration

process for nurses and midwives trained outside of the European Union, so that it is more streamlined and enables overseas nurses to

concentrate on passing

their OSCE before joining

their ward teams

Ensuring that clinical

support is available

on wards from four new

clinical practice educators

so that our new nurses are

given the help they need

to become established in

their roles, which in turns

aids retention of our people

Offering a package of

support, led by Maria

Mantziou, our recruitment

and retention nurse lead,

to help them settle into

living and working in Harlow As of this month (February 2020), we now have a 12.7% vacancy rate for staff nurses and we are on track to achieve our less than 10% vacancy rate target for staff nurses â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and 10% overall â&#x20AC;&#x201C; by the end of March 2020.

With increased numbers of substantive posts filled, we are working with our wards and departments to help embed the new nurses into their new roles.

The reduced vacancy rate has the added positive impact of decreasing our turnover rate, as colleagues are more likely to enjoy their working environment 10

Adesola Kolade - Locke Ward. when they are working in a settled team. We have also seen this reflected in an increase in the number of student nurses who apply for roles here once they qualify.

Swathi John - Tye Green Ward.

Additionally, we are continuing to work with our healthcare assistants (HCAs) to help them develop in their roles and work towards achieving registered nurse (RN) status. You can read more about this on page five.

We recognise that there is still work to do to reduce our vacancy rate as much as possible and in particular recruiting to some of our specialist areas, including midwifery.

Welcoming our new nurses

Sharon McNally, director of nursing, midwifery, and allied health professionals, said: It has been fantastic to welcome our new nurses to our hospital and we have been delighted to hear the positive feedback from our teams about the effect significantly reducing the nursing vacancy rate has had in our wards and departments.

Maintaining this high level of recruitment and supporting retention of our nurses remains a key focus throughout this year as we work to continually improve.

Maria Mantziou, recruitment and retention nurse Maria Mantziou, recruitment and retention nurse joined PAHT last August to help support the delivery of our overseas nursing

Dare Akintobi - Gibberd Ward. recruitment programme. The programme allows the nurses to gain the correct qualifications to work in the UK and at PAHT. Before joining us, Maria worked at The Royal Papworth Hospital in Cambridge for five years as a recruitment and retention nurse, she has a clinical nursing background with experience in anaesthetics and intensive care.

Maria is now undertaking her Masterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s degree in HR.

My role is challenging yet very rewarding; we provide a very supportive and diverse environment, so itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s great to see our latest cohort of nurses settle in well and progress in their career.

When speaking with Maria about the overseas nursing programme she said: The programme allows us to provide a fantastic opportunity for overseas nurses whilst gaining further support for our current nursing workforce.

Maria Mantziou.

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A fond farewell to Gill Gano to support nursing staff to carry out a wide range of duties, helping to care for our patients and provide support to their families.

I worked on a variety of wards, including the children’s ward, until we were then allocated a specific ward. I was allocated to Ray Ward, which was an orthopaedic ward at the time, where I worked for 14 years.

At the end of February, we will say a fond farewell to our wonderful colleague Gill Gano (also known as Gill Miller) as she retires after an astonishing 37 years’ service at PAHT. We recently caught up with Gill to reflect on her long service and great memories made during her time here; read more in her 60 second interview below: When did you join PAHT? I joined the hospital 37 years ago in 1983 as an auxiliary nurse – we were allocated to a different ward each evening for the night shift and sometimes I would be allocated on two wards for the whole night shift, it was hard work but very rewarding.

Can you outline your different roles at the hospital?

My role as an auxiliary nurse was

I then worked on Melvin Ward, which was a short stay surgical ward at the time, completing a variety of duties including scheduling surgeries for patients.

I was then successful in applying for a secondment opportunity within the bed management team; this was a challenging role, which showed me how hard all of our colleagues in A&E and the ward staff work and also gave me the opportunity to interact with senior management regularly.

After almost three years, I was seconded again into a pilot GP coordinator role, linking people within the local community with services and information, facilitating GP patients through the service and helping to carry out necessary changes – I thoroughly enjoyed this role.

What is your current role?

In 2010 I joined the medicine healthcare group as service support manager - I was seconded for two years into a service manager role for dermatology, rheumatology, and neurology, where I managed the strategic, financial and daily management of the services; I retired on a part time basis as assistant service manager.

What was the most challenging role?

My bed manager’s role was the most challenging role – there were four bed managers and no site team at the time.

Can you describe any stand out moments?

I’d have to say achieving a long and rewarding 37 year career and meeting so many amazing people throughout my career; I’ve made lifelong friends here.

Everybody that you come into contact with is always so helpful and kind - from my colleagues in the medicine healthcare group, to switchboard, IT, the post room staff, porters and facilities etc. – everybody is lovely.

I’d like to thank you all for helping me during my PAHT journey.

What are your plans for retirement?

I’m looking forward to relaxing in my little village and spending time with my family - I have seven sisters and three brothers who live across England and one in Canada.

A huge thank you to Gill for her hard work, dedication and commitment to PAHT, you have made a real difference for our patients and people – we wish you all the best and a happy retirement.

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Am I a bully? Unwrapping unconscious bias and bullying at PAHT New training is supporting leaders to embed inclusive and fair working cultures within teams.

Inclusivity and fairness in our behaviour and working relationships has a vast impact on our wellbeing and ability to perform our roles effectively.

Our Unwrapping Unconscious Bias and Bullying at PAHT workshop was introduced in summer 2019 to support leaders in creating inclusive working environments for everyone.

During the session, attendees explore a range of topics to help to improve awareness of unconscious bias and bullying and support a positive workplace culture. This includes learning about different types of unconscious bias, personality styles, communication techniques and advice about receiving feedback from others.

Participants have given feedback that they found the session informative and insightful, and feel confident that it will positively support cultural improvement.

Sessions have been provided as half-days (for up to Band 7 leaders) and as full-days for leaders in Band 8a roles and above â&#x20AC;&#x201C; recognising their wider accountability for ensuring positive cultures are embedded across large departments.

A new date has just been confirmed for two more sessions (morning and afternoon) on Friday, 17 April, as well as places still available for sessions running on Wednesday, 4 March (morning and afternoon).

What people have said about the course: It helped me to be mindful of different personalities and to be more aware of my own opinions and judgement.

Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve learnt a lot about different biases and how to support and respect everyone.

It was very informative, and has made me think about my behaviours.

It has increased my awareness of unconscious bias and how it affects our daily working.

It has given me the tools to ensure I am best supporting the staff in my team.

Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m more confident about how we as a trust can prevent bullying and harassment.

It was well delivered and has made me more aware of myself and my relationships with other people.

Please contact charlotte. jefferson1@nhs.net for more information.

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New website launching soon ...

We are pleased to share that at the beginning of March, we will be launching a brand new PAHT website.

The site will include new features to ensure pages are easy to access and navigate for our patients, visitors and the public.

Thank you to colleagues from across the organisation, who have supported with updating content for our services, wards and departments.

You can see a glimpse of how the website will look in the images above.

Next, we will be updating Alex.

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Recognising our long service PAHT people In January, we held another local Long Service Awards to shine the spotlight on our amazing PAHT people who have worked at the hospital for more Michael Fairweather, VAT officer than 20 years. and financial accounts analyst, 25 years’ service.

The awards were an opportunity to give them a special thank you for their exceptional commitment and dedication and making a difference for our patients and Lisa King, accounts payable people every day. assistant, 24 years’ service.

Eighteen people who have worked at the hospital for more than 20 years and were unable to make our annual event at Event in a Tent were presented with a badge Sue Malt, sterile services assistant, 24 years’ service. and certificate by our executive team:

Dr Julian Singer, consultant oncologist, 21 years’ service.

Kay McLaren, clerical worker – sterile services, 21 years’ service.

Wanda Shepherd, clerical worker – sterile services, 21 years’ service.

Long service colleagues:

Ajay Snookah, head of operations Janet Etherington, medical – surgery, 24 years’ service. secretary, 20 years’ service.

Judy Orson, main theatres team leader, 30 years’ service.

Helen Hind, medical secretary – CCCS, 23 years’ service.

Giovanna Badjac, staff nurse – A&E, 20 years’ service.

Carol Cowlin, midwife, 30 years’ service.

Helen Compton, senior medical photographer, 23 years’ service.

Paula Howland, sterile services assistant, 20 years’ service.

Lisa Piper, play specialist, 20 years’ service.

Carol Allgrove, service manager – surgery, 25 years’ service.

Linda Allen, sterile services assistant, 22 years’ service.

Gayne Purser, head and neck clinical nurse specialist, 20 years’ service.

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#PAHTPeople Getting to you, before the flu We are making great strides towards protecting our people and patients from the flu; 77% of our front line staff have had their flu vaccination so far.

You can view the upcoming flu clinics on Alex.

Patient flow management module update The patient flow management module is now live in a number of locations across the hospital; the system aims to improve and enhance patient safety and the visualisation of bed utilisation.

NatWest donates more than £1,400 to develop tranquil garden at hospital ward NatWest has kindly donated more than £1,400 to continue to develop a tranquil garden for our patients, people and visitors.

The garden, based at Gibberd Ward – a medical ward that specialises in dementia care and palliative care – is a peaceful space for all to enjoy.

Colleagues from NatWest recently visited our hospital to present the cheque to the Gibberd Ward team.

This follows fundraising by NatWest teams across the north east London area, raising £1,465.38 through the year via cake sales, competitions and collections.

Commemorating Holocaust Memorial Day with our local community We invited members of our local community to join us in commemorating Holocaust Memorial Day with a special service on Monday, 27 January.

Our chaplaincy team, together with Rabbi Irit Shillor from the Harlow Jewish Community and our people from across the hospital met in the chapel on site to hear readings and reflect together (pictured).

Celebrating World Religion Day

For many of our people, this also followed attending the service held at Harlow Civic Centre on Sunday, 26 January.

We celebrated World Religion Day in January; the aim of the day is to promote understanding and harmony of all faiths and beliefs; everybody is encouraged to acknowledge the similarities and differences that faiths have.

This year marks 75 years since the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau and the theme for this year is ‘stand together’.

Our equality and diversity team held an information stand outside the Alexandra restaurant to tell you more about the awareness event.

Produced by the communications team

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