InTouch magazine - November - December 2021

November - December 2021

InTouch

Our CQC results AlexNet The Alex Lounge New hospital

Foreword 2

Welcome to InTouch magazine

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Staff Survey Thank you

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COVID-19: Plan B Blue Christmas

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AlexNet: A sneak peek

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New hospital

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New hospital (continued)

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Our CQC report Our CQC report (continued)

Welcome to InTouch magazine – your insight into the latest news and updates from across PAHT. Thank you for your hard work and dedication during another extremely busy month and for also meeting the changes required of the new Omicron, COVID-19 variant. Please remember to look out for yourselves and each other, as well as our patients.

A wide variety of health and wellbeing support is available to you, with details on Alex and our staff health and wellbeing webpage: www.pah.nhs.uk/ healthandwellbeing.

I also thank you for taking part in the recent Staff Survey – your feedback is vital to help us improve PAHT for everyone’s benefit.

This edition includes reflections on our CQC results and our focus on working together collaboratively and creatively to make the improvements highlighted in the report.

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Charity update

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Divisional update

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The Alex Lounge

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Our patients said...

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Surgeon wins international prize

Please read the latest update from our charity and how you can support us, together with our divisional update, this month from clinical support services.

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Retune workshops

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#PAHTPeople

This magazine is for and about you, our #PAHTPeople – please contact the communications team if you would like to see your team featured, at paht.communications@ nhs.net.

With our new Extranet, AlexNet, coming soon, we also reveal some more about what you can expect from this fantastic new resource for our people.

Additionally, you can read the latest about our new hospital programme, including a preview of the brand new website, providing excellent opportunities for you and our community to engage with us and share your feedback.

I hope you enjoy the read.

Best wishes Lance McCarthy Chief executive

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Staff Survey update: Your voice matters y A huge thank you to everyone who took part in the recent national NHS Staff Survey – in total 1,744 of you (47.3%) completed the survey, a substantial increase from last year (when we saw a 38.2% response rate). y y Your feedback really makes a difference - the results help us to understand your experience of working at PAHT and where we can continue to make positive changes. y y What next? y We expect to receive our results early in the new year, and will be working together across the organisation to understand key themes from your feedback. y

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about the Staff Survey, please contact paht. odpartner@nhs.net.

y We will be looking at both how we can further build upon your positive experiences, and how we can address any concerns raised. y y There will be opportunities to participate in conversations about our results - please keep a look out for further details in the new year. y y If you would like to get in touch

Thank you to our PAHT people – winter pressures Thank you to you all for your hard work and ongoing focus on patient care during what is a further busy time with high demand on all services across the hospital. This is alongside the additional pressures of managing Omicron, the new COVID-19 variant.

A reminder to care for yourself and each other, and of the health and wellbeing support available to everyone. Please visit the staff health and wellbeing Alex page or the website (www.pah.nhs. uk/healthandwellbeing) for more information.

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COVID-19 Plan B begins y As you will be aware, this month (12 December) saw the start of revised Government restrictions, referred to as Plan B, put in place to limit the spread of COVID-19 Omicron. y y Plan B is part of plans set out by the Government in their COVID-19 Response: Autumn and Winter Plan 2021; the data suggesting further measures are necessary to protect the NHS. The restrictions began yesterday and are being debated and voted on by Parliament this week. The current restrictions are in place for six weeks and will be reviewed in three weeks. y Although we are all much closer than many to feeling and understanding the pressure that COVID-19 continues to put on the hospital, we have also experienced living with slightly fewer restrictions in our lives outside of work.

However, it is so very important that we adapt again and follow the new guidance and take all the

steps we can to protect our patients, our loved ones and ourselves as we face the challenges presented to us by the new Omicron variant.

y y I know that the further restrictions are unsettling and will mean changes to some of our plans for Christmas time and planned celebrations and I strongly encourage you to move your gatherings to online or postpone until the new year.

In the nearly two years since the pandemic began you have all shown such resilience and adapted to each new challenge that has faced us. y y Thank you to everyone who volunteered on Sunday to work in the vaccination hubs as part of the government’s drive to increase the number of people vaccinated before Christmas. If you are able to support this please email paht.vaccinationsupport@ nhs.net, who will coordinate availability with the hubs. y y Of course, much of the guidance being reintroduced outside the NHS has remained in place in hospital and NHS

settings across the country and have very much become everyday behaviours at PAHT. We must continue to be vigilant in following the guidance. We must also take care of ourselves and of each other and remember the range of health and wellbeing support available to each of us and the difference this can make during these difficult times.

y y A further huge thank you for your resilience, hard work and commitment to patient care and for your proactive response to the latest ask of us all in protecting our patients, loved ones and each other. As more information becomes available, particularly on whether we need to reduce non-urgent activity further and support ED and flow of patients in to, through and out of the hospital, we will update you through the daily COVID-19 and operational updates. y y Best wishes y y Lance McCarthy y Chief executive

Advice for you at Blue Christmas

y Christmas time can be wonderful, but for some it can be lonely and stressful too. y y On Monday 20 December, our chaplaincy team and Harlow Hospital Radio will mark Blue Christmas in the foyer at The Princess Alexandra Hospital (socially distanced, with all infection prevention and

control precautions in place) to provide advice and support to anyone who may be feeling isolated or anxious during the festive holidays.

y There will also be a blue memory tree for our patients, staff and visitors to leave special messages or prayers for lost loved ones, which will be available inside the hospital sanctuary until the new year. Blue Christmas will conclude with a virtual service of quiet reflection and memorial at 5pm on Teams.

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AlexNet - a sneak peek Thank you to everyone who took the time to vote for your favourite name for our new Extranet - AlexNet. AlexNet is coming soon.

Features include: y Brand new workspaces for all teams and services y Search function y Event and noticeboard listings y Easy to locate policies and guidelines y Your most frequently used pages populated on the home page y Available from your phone or tablet, as well as your laptop and desktop PC All you need to know; all you want to share; all in one place.

All at the click of a button.

y .

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New hospital: all in a year's work As we approach the end of another busy and challenging year, we can reflect on a huge amount of progress towards building our new hospital.

We kicked off 2021 with a flurry of public engagement activities, discussing ideas and hearing feedback on the design concepts for the public-facing spaces of our new hospital.

By the middle of the year we had finalised a number of hugely important projects and documents, in preparation for us submitting our outline business case (OBC) to Government in 2022. y Success lies in

preparation

y To give you a flavour of the work involved in scoping our new hospital, we’ve produced the following: y y Design brief y Demand and capacity analysis y New models of care y Schedules of accommodation y 1:200 drawings y Procurement strategy y Facilities management strategy y Digital strategy y Modern methods of construction strategy y Net zero carbon strategy y Communications and engagement strategy y y Underpinning the drafting of these documents has been hundreds, if not thousands, of hours of listening, discussing, conceptualising, planning and designing our new hospital. We’ve engaged with our people,

our patients, our partners and the public.

y y All of this despite the pressures of COVID-19, and day jobs that have been more stretched than ever before. y y In gear, ready to go y We’ve got everything in place now, and we’re ready for the green light to move forward. y Our clinical model is agreed with system partners y Our new ways of working are already underway y Our 1:200s are signed off by our clinicians y We have a memorandum of understanding with the local planning authority y Our outline business case (OBC) is 60% drafted y And our PAHT 2030 strategy is now live, with the new hospital critical in delivering transformation y y Despite this progress, you may still be wondering if

our plans had gone quiet of late. The buzz of activity and engagement in the first half of this year has been met by a noticeably slower second.

y y The reason for that is simple. We are part of a national new hospital programme (one of the eight ‘pathfinder’ hospitals) and all Trusts at our stage of development have been asked to pause our work whilst the national team develop a Design Convergence Review. y y What are we waiting

for?

y The Design Convergence Review is looking at ways to ‘join up’ common aspects of the new hospitals such as room design, procurement of contractors, and making the most of modern methods of construction.

This is so that the new hospital programme can achieve greater value for the taxpayer, and the new

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y hospitals can be built faster, the sharing of information. better and more efficiently.

This site will grow as the y project progresses, with y Whilst we wait for the review more to communicate and to be completed, we are more ways to for you to feed also in the final stages your ideas in. of completing the land y purchase. Then we can y You will be able to have your move on to finalising our say through polls, surveys Outline Business Case and and direct feedback links. progressing enabling works If you place a vote in our and a planning application. latest poll for example, the y results are updated in real time on the site, so you see y New new hospital how your vote has made a website difference. y We have been busy behind y

the scenes building a y The website features photos new website for the new of our own people, taken hospital, with the focus on from recent photoshoots engagement rather than just

on site. We will be using these wonderful images across our new hospital communications from the new year.

y y We welcome any feedback and ideas for how to make this site work for you. And please share it amongst your networks, friends and families so we can reach as many people as possible. y y Website: www.newpah.org y Email: paht.newhospital@ nhs.net y y #OurNewPAH y #OurNHSBuildings

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Our CQC report y y Message from Lance McCarthy, chief executive y As you know, three of our core services were part of an inspection by the CQC in July and August. Urgent and emergency care; medicine and maternity along with our well-led domain were visited and assessed by a team of CQC inspectors.

We then received the draft outcome and rating report to check factual accuracy and feedback to the CQC. y y On 17 November, the final report was published. The report is available on the CQC website: www.cqc. org.uk. y y The overall rating for the hospital remains unchanged as Requires Improvement and the ratings for urgent and emergency care, medicine and maternity also remain unchanged. y y The fact that ratings for our core services remain unchanged since the last CQC inspection in February (2021), despite the unprecedented demand and the enormous pressures of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, is a real credit to you all.

Indeed, the report notes that ‘despite the challenges of the pandemic the trust continued to engage with staff, patients and their representatives and system partners in y an open and transparent

manner.’ The response to these pressures by each of you has been amazing. We know that we have more to do to improve all our services and I am confident that we have the fantastic people we need to do this.

I am proud of all our teams for your continued hard work and commitment to patient care; and proud of how you have each continued to make a difference to our patients.

y y I am pleased that the report also includes feedback that the CQC team noted that we ‘were passionate about delivering quality care’ and ‘focused on patients’ needs and that you felt respected, supported and valued by each other’ and to see this reflected in the inspectors’ Good rating for caring. y y I know how hard everyone works and see this reinforced in the compliments and letters we receive from patients and their relatives every week.

You are also making y positive changes to patient y care through a wide range of improvements and it is good to see this reflected in the report, which comments: ‘All staff were committed

to continually learning and improving services.’

y y Our urgent and emergency; medicine and maternity teams continue to strive to provide excellent care for patients. All three teams have already put in place improvements and additional support following the inspection in addition to current improvement action plan changes. y y Patients are at the heart of everything we do and I thank them for their ongoing support and understanding throughout the pandemic.

Credit also goes to our Patient Panel who were recognised in the report as being: the only model of its kind regionally, and that: The patient panel was a voluntary group whose main objective was to provide support for patients and their relatives/carers. The panel received funding from the trust to ensure that patients’ voices were heard. You will remember that the Patient Panel was awarded the Queen’s Award for voluntary services in July 2021. y y Working together collaboratively and 8

creatively, we will make the improvements highlighted in the report and continue to make a positive difference to the people we care for and the people we work with as we continue to strive for everyday excellence.

y y Thank you for your commitment and ongoing focus on our patients and each other. y y Best wishes y y Lance McCarthy y Chief executive y y Update: CQC

must and should recommendations

y The quality project management team are delighted to be starting to see green shoots in the movement of the CQC must and should recommendations. y y We had 58 must and should recommendations prior to the most recent CQC report. y Of these, we have closed 13 and we have five that are due to be signed off very soon. y y There are 14 additional projects pending write up from the project leads. If all are received pre-Christmas, this will reduce this CQC backlog to 26 projects. y y Why do we complete closure reports? y We ask each project lead to complete a closure report so that we can assure our staff and board that a

project has delivered and can be sustained. Within the closure report teams are asked to report on the following:

y y Context: Why there was an issue or the CQC finding y Project description: Who was the team involved what did they do y Provide data and evidence of the change: For example, monthly staffing report or audits and themed findings y They also review the risks addressed in the project and provide evidence or mitigations y y Finally, each project lead provides narrative and evidence of assurance that the project is embedded and will sustain or if off track, it has the correct governance around it. y y When a team completes their report, our quality project management office (QPMO) director reviews and checks it. If it is missing any aspect of assurance it is returned to be updated. y y When a report is ready, the project lead presents it at the weekly quality compliance group and the report is signed off officially by the group and Sharon McNally, director of nursing, midwifery and allied health professionals. y y Four weeks after sign off, each project lead will be part of a table top peer

review, for which we have the support of our clinical commissioning group (CCG) colleagues, who act as peer reviewers.

y y This gives the added assurance of project success and sustained improvement for our patients and our people. y y Our first peer review is planned for 17 December.

If you would like to know more about the QPMO or need support with your closure report, please do not hesitate to contact the QPMO team: y ciara.moore1@nhs.net and nicky.massey1@nhs. net. y

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Charity update The Saffron Walden Symphony Orchestra performed a concert in aid of our charity at Saffron Hall, Saffron Walden, on Saturday, 27 November, raising more than £700.

The concert, titled Heroes, featured a mixture of new and more familiar pieces. The opening of the night began with a world debut of a new commission. Der Trommel was composed by Jacob Bride, and was inspired by the bronze statue of a drummer boy that currently sits in the Tate Art Gallery in London.

The orchestra, which is a community orchestra formed of both professional and amateur players, was joined by local pianist Stephen

Smithers. He played Sergei Rachmaninov's second piano concerto, which established Rachmaninov as a famous concerto composer, and has been used in films such as David Lean’s Brief Encounter and Clint Eastwood’s Hereafter.

were symphonic reworkings of the songs from the 1977 album Heroes, originally performed

by David Bowie, with help from former Roxy Music member Brian Eno. Thank you to all involved for your support and this generous donation.

The concert was closed

by Philip Glass’s Heroes symphony. Its six movements

New head of charity joins y In January, we will be welcoming Gary Taylor, who is joining The Princess Alexandra Hospital Charity as the new head of charity. y y Gary has worked in the charity and third sector for the last 16 years and has focused on charity fundraising for the last ten years. Most recently, Gary was the trusts and grants y manager at Haven House Children’s Hospice in Woodford Green. y y Gary said: “I was born at The Princess Alexandra Hospital and have lived in Harlow all my life, so this really is a dream role for me.

y Gary joins on 4 January and can be contacted at y paht.fundraising@nhs.net. y

“I'm really looking forward to meeting new people across PAHT. I'm ready to take on this exciting, rewarding and challenging role. I'll be looking to involve as many people as possible in the great work of the charity and to continue to make a difference to our patients and people.”

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Divisional update: Clinical support services "We would like to introduce the clinical support services division, made up of team neurology, dermatology who moved from the medicine division, and audiology and breast services from the surgery division. We became divisions on 1 December following the consultation in the summer.

"We say farewell to specialist palliative care and cardiology, who have moved to medicine.

"We would also like to say a massive thank you to pharmacy, EPMA, medical and nursing staff for the successful launch of Chemocare in haematology. We now have full electronic prescribing and administration for all of our oncology and haematology patients.

"This was a massive task to complete and you have all done exceptionally well.

"Well done and thank you once again."

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The Alex Lounge – your health and wellbeing space y The Alex Lounge, next to the Alexandra restaurant at The Princess Alexandra Hospital, will be a hub for you to meet colleagues and relax together, to take some time out for yourself, or to join one of the health and wellbeing sessions planned for the dedicated space at the lounge. y y It will be a bright, modern area and has been funded in response to your feedback about how important a new staff area is to support your health and wellbeing. y y Contributions have also been made via the COVID-19 charity appeal, in recognition of your hard work and dedication from our local community. y y We asked for your feedback to help shape the space for all of our people to relax and socialise. Thank you to everyone for your contributions. y y You can see the latest artist’s impressions (right), however these may be subject to change. y y The space is set to open soon, with the date to be confirmed. y y Please note that we are following all social distancing guidance in the development of the Alex Lounge. y

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Our patients said...

"I had a wonderful experience at the birthing unit. The three midwives who were with me gave me such incredible support and encouragement, I felt so empowered and really well taken care of. It was a very fast labour and when I arrived I was very scared and in a lot of pain but they literally welcomed me with open arms and I instantly relaxed and knew I was in safe hands.

"They said it was a really lovely experience for them too (and luckily a quiet day) so hopefully you know who you are - one was a student midwife and she was really great; so hands on and caring and reassuring. Thank you so much, you all gave me the birth experience I always wanted."

"Everyone at the oral surgery clinic was so kind, helpful and extremely professional. It was a first class experience."

"The treatment I received from the consultants to the nurses in urology and recovery in A35 was excellent in every way.

"The discussions I had with the consultants and nurses left me in no doubt that everyone knew exactly what they were doing and could not have been more reassuring, pleasant and helpful.

"As the start of exploratory operations, following my doctor’s fast-tracking due to a possible cancer problem, I now have full faith in further tests and any treatment that I may subsequently have to undergo."

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Surgeon wins international prize for pioneering research y A surgeon at PAHT has won an international prize for his pioneering research into the treatment of ankle fractures. y y Mr Kar Teoh, consultant trauma and orthopaedic surgeon (pictured right), won the Presidential Prize at the European Foot and Ankle Society (EFAS) Conference, held from 2123 October, in Lyon, France.

EFAS represents 27 national societies and around 3500 surgeons in Europe. y y He was recognised for his research titled: ‘Is it safe to weightbear a tibia-pro-fibula construct early when used in treating unstable osteoporotic bimalleolar ankle fractures: a biomechanical study?’ This research helps to establish whether it is feasible for patients with osteoporotic unstable ankle fractures (resulting from osteoporosis, a condition which causes bones to become weak and brittle) to start early weightbearing following surgery, to improve recovery. y y Mr Teoh’s research paper will now be published in the European Foot and Ankle Society scientific journal ‘Foot and Ankle Surgery’. y y Mr Teoh said: “Normally patients with this type of injury are not able to weightbear for at least six weeks, usually

longer. This is particularly debilitating for our older patients, which this type of injury often affects, and their wellbeing.

testament to his dedication to improving outcomes for patients at our hospital.”

y y “I am delighted to be recognised by EFAS for this research, which will help improve patient outcomes. y y "I am grateful to the British Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society and AO United Kingdom for funding this important study.” y y Dr Fay Gilder, medical director, added: “I am proud to see Mr Teoh’s research recognised on an international platform. y y “Congratulations to Mr Teoh on this amazing achievement which is

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Retune mental wellbeing workshops y We were visited by mental wellbeing charity Retune for a series of workshops to help our people understand more about their own mental wellbeing and how to improve their mental health. y y The workshops were led by Tom Ryder who founded Retune after he was hospitalised due to bipolar disorder in his early twenties. While in hospital, Tom realised that patients with mental health issues like his would often use creative outlets to cope with their problems during their recovery. y y These creative outlets included drawing, painting, writing poetry, and writing music. Tom tried writing his own music, and that’s when he realised creativity’s potential to improve mental health. y y During the workshops, our people were presented with the chance to take part in various different creative exercises which taught attendees how to balance their mental wellbeing with their daily lives and the problems that everyone experiences. They began by writing a song as a group, but

with the challenge of writing it in five minutes. Once they had written the song, Tom played his guitar and sang the song and encouraged everybody to join in.

y y As well as singing, the group were given the task of drawing, where they were asked to draw a guitar. This was the base of the next exercise, to think about a guitar’s strings being out of tune, with the guitar acting as our mental health, and the out of tune strings being the real life situations that could cause our mental health to fall out

of tune. Everybody gave examples of how aspects of their life, including social, exercise, creativity, and their sleep habits affected their wellbeing and how to find balance and keep their mental wellbeing ‘in tune’.

y y The workshop gave everybody the understanding of how to check in on their own mental health and how small changes can improve mental wellbeing for the better. For more information, please visit www. retunewellbeing.com.

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#PAHTPeople International Day of Persons with Disabilities

We were proud to support the International Day of Persons with Disabilities (Friday 3 December).

The international awareness day first took place in 1992 and this is the 29th year of the celebration, marking nearly three decades of meaningful change for the disabled community. The awareness day was an opportunity to recognise visible and invisible disabilities and to promote the importance of inclusion in life and at work. We have an accessibility-working group who meet regularly to review how we can improve accessibility for our patients and people. Over the last year, the group have also hosted monthly disability awareness sessions on the last Wednesday of every month. Open to all - you can join the team at the next session.

Please email Kerry Riches, head of patient experience and disability inclusion champion, at kerry.riches@nhs.net.

Our dedicated play specialists bring happiness to younger patients

Our play specialists went to great lengths to put on a week of fun and games for unwell children during National Play in Hospital Week.

Play in Hospital Week, which took place in late October, was an opportunity to celebrate and raise awareness of the importance of play and activity for young people staying in hospital.

Play specialists take on a vital role in using different play techniques to help younger patients understand their illness and provide them with reassurance and techniques to feel more relaxed before receiving their treatment.

Lisa Piper, play specialist lead, said: "This year, the Play in Hospital Week theme was 'play matters', which gave us an opportunity to highlight our fantastic service and why play is so important for our younger patients. We encouraged the children to get involved with a range of fun activities such as painting with water colours, playing with interactive toys and dressing up as a superhero. The smile on their faces was priceless - it was an enjoyable and rewarding week for all of us."

Marking #StopThePressure day

We are committed to improving and reducing pressure ulcers (bed sores) for our patients and it is one of our top priorities at PAHT. Our dedicated tissue viability nurses marked Stop Pressure Ulcer Day (Thursday 18 November) by visiting each ward and area and department to explain more about pressure ulcers. As many of you will know, a pressure ulcer is an area of damage to the skin and underlying tissue that is caused by unrelieved pressure or friction. Severe ulcers are susceptible to infection and may even be life-threatening. At least 20,000 patients are in UK hospitals at any one time with pressure ulcers.

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The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust, Hamstel Road, Harlow, Essex, CM20 1QX 01279 44 44 55

NHSHarlow @NHSHarlow @PrincessAlexandraNHS The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust 17