Our year magazine

Our year 2020 - 2021

Foreword by Lance McCarthy, chief executive Our achievements Our future

respectful caring responsible committed 1

Our

patients

Our

people

Our

performance

Our

places

Our

pounds

2

Our year 2020 - 2021

Welcome The past year has been a year unlike any other; a year of unprecedented demand on all of us.

My thanks to you all for your hard work and commitment to patient care and each other and for your extraordinary response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Your efforts in delivering care to our patients, or supporting those who are delivering care, have made a real difference and you have met the challenges you have faced with energy, effort and above all, dedication to our patients.

I know how tough this has been. However, against this ongoing challenge you have also delivered so much more; more change; more transformation; more high quality care and more kindness to each other.

In the following pages, I am pleased to chart these achievements and share them with you all.

Best wishes

Lance McCarthy Chief executive 3

Our year of COVID-19...

The 29 January 2021 marked a year since the first COVID-19 patient was admitted to a UK hospital. We didn’t admit our first patient until 15 March, but what a year. An unprecedented year in our lifetimes, an extraordinary year, an exhausting year, a sad year and a truly remarkable year in terms of what we have all done.

We have swabbed more than 23,000 patients for COVID; we have treated more than 1,800 positive patients; we have seen 1,200 of them discharged; but sadly we have seen nearly 500 die; too soon and from a virus we knew nothing about a year ago.

We have made hundreds of decisions about issues we would never have thought about a year ago; we have changed and transformed buildings, clinical pathways, teams and ways of working at a phenomenal pace; we have built things, moved things, lent things, borrowed things and procured things that we would never have dreamed of. We all now think differently.

We have a ‘red ED’ and a ‘red ITU’; we have run at more than 600% critical care capacity; we have turned wards to COVID-19 wards, back to non-COVID-19 and back to COVID-19 again; we have rolled out 1,000s of laptops for virtual outpatient appointments and home working; we have moved colleagues off site; we have built a temporary mortuary; we have installed screens between bed spaces; we have run loads of new assays; we have set up a health and wellbeing hub and an absence line. We have all done things differently.

We have worked extra hours, in different teams, in different roles; used different drugs, in different ways; measured, monitored and tracked numbers like never before and we have developed a new vocabulary - COVID, lockdown, tiers, lateral flow test, PCR test, Samba, social distancing, hands face and space, stay safe, SIREN, furlough, shielding, clinically extremely vulnerable, surge levels.

We have experienced more anxiety, adrenaline and pride than usual but we have also been more scared, exhausted and traumatised than usual.

We’ve experienced the strangest Christmas and New Year in most of our lives; we’ve home schooled; we’ve

4

worked from home and we’ve transitioned in to a virtual world; for families to speak to their loved ones in our care, for outpatient appointments, for meetings, or to speak to our family and friends. Zoom, Teams, WebEx...“you’re on mute!”

We have made new friends with colleagues that we never really knew a year ago and, sadly, we have lost old friends.

Colleagues, family members, personal friends, gone too soon and leaving holes in our hearts.

We have also embraced diversity, equality and inclusion; George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis and the realisation in the first wave of the increased vulnerability of our BAME colleagues and friends to COVID-19, affected us all. We have done and will always work together regardless of age, sex, sexual orientation, race, religion, disability and ethnicity.

Through all of this, we have built a new two-storey adult assessment unit, a sanctuary space and prayer room, a junior doctors’ mess, a refurbished paediatric ward, a new fracture clinic and an EBME workshop. We have looked out for each other and others less fortunate and we have been looked out for by others and seen the generosity of many.

Infection prevention and control is more centre stage than ever, PPE guidance at the front of our minds, scrubs (raspberry especially) worn almost everywhere and face masks part of everyday life. We’ve celebrated, we’ve thanked, we’ve been kind and we’ve been recognised, with scientists, technicians, nurses and doctors all receiving national awards, including an MBE. And as we welcomed in the new year, some of our amazing colleagues were busy setting up a vaccination hub in record time; administering more than 6,500 doses to local health and care workers in just four weeks, giving us all some hope and hopefully some immunity.

It has been a year of huge change and huge emotion.

We’ve been tested and pushed to our limits and beyond.

We’ve had good days and great days, bad days and terrible days.

It has been a year of huge contrasts, a year of opposites and a year that we wouldn’t want to see the likes of again.

Through it we have treated 1,000s of patients, cared for them, put their minds at rest and made them better.

5

The pandemic, the battle against COVID-19, is not over, but we’re slowly winning it. We will all need more health and wellbeing and psychological support than ever and being civil and kind has never been more important; but we will get back to ‘normal’, we will stop wearing masks everywhere, we will get to go out again and we will keep caring for sick members of the community.

Thank you. Thank you to all the doctors, nurses, midwives, pharmacists, scientists, technicians, radiographers, physios, dieticians, OTs, SALTs, ODPs, all other AHPs, HCSWs, MCAs, MLSOs, PAs, optometrists, audiologists, phlebotomists, domestics, porters, caterers, housekeepers, drivers, estates team, librarians, chaplains, assistants, associates, students, volunteers and all our administrative and corporate colleagues from all professions. You have all been amazing. #TeamPAHT Best wishes

Lance McCarthy Chief executive

6

Our

patients New models of care Our dedicated clinical teams have been working to improve and transform our models of care as our site continues to expand and we make progress towards our new hospital.

New models of care have been developed within urgent care, family and women’s services, diagnostics and cancer, discharge and elective care, including outpatients and surgery.

Each model of care will continue to be evaluated and redefined based on patient requirements, unmet need, new national policy initiatives and further advances in technology and science.

The models of care will deliver improvements in service delivery and make a difference for patients too.

Message to a loved one and video call service Whilst visiting was restricted to manage the demands of COVID-19, we encouraged friends and family members to contact patients by sending a message to their loved one by email or phone.

The patient experience team centrally coordinated the messages and ensured, with the support of the ward teams, that they were delivered to our patients.

Family and friends could also remain connected with their loved ones by arranging a ten-minute video call hosted by secure video conferencing as part of our virtual visiting scheme.

Language Line App Our patients can now benefit from a 24-hour language interpreting service, available at the click of a button. The Language Line App, which staff access on the PAHT iPads used for patient care, can translate more than 200 languages.

The App enables the staff member and patient to speak in turn on a live audio call with a qualified interpreter in the language of choice. This facilitates clear conversations about care and treatment.

There is also an option for a live video call to interpret British Sign Language.

7

873

We have received compliments from our patients and visitors over the last year – a real reflection of the compassionate care provided at PAHT

We tested more than

24,000 patients for COVID-19 more than

more than

22,000 1,800 patients tested negative

patients tested positive

We transferred or discharged more than

1,200

patients following treatment for COVID-19

Sadly more than 500 patients have died

8

Terry Philpot Our patients have shared their powerful stories and words of thanks with us, including grandfather Terry Philpot, 66, a retired London black cab driver, from Puckeridge, Hertfordshire, who said:

“The staff were one big team working together, everyone did something different, but it all mattered. I couldn’t have wished for any more and I am still standing here because of them. Those nurses and doctors are the reason that I’m alive – they saved me. I just think they’re angels, they cared so much.”

9

Great-grandmother Pippa Brunton, 62, a community care assistant from Harlow, said:

“I feel absolutely elated that I’m alive.

Pippa Brunton

“I had the best care and it will stay with me for the rest of my life.”

Retired police officer Stuart Ball, 63, from Ware, Hertfordshire, said:

Stuart Ball

“It has been a once in a lifetime – I hope – experience. It’s lifechanging, because of how close I came to not making it.

“I’m extremely grateful to the hospital staff – the treatment was fantastic and the NHS continues to be a support for me.”

10

Our

people

Health and wellbeing

Many of you have given positive feedback about how valuable you have found the range of health and wellbeing support provided over this time, from our sessions with keynote speakers at Events not in a tent and Winter webinars, to signposting to the wide range of information available. This includes our employee assistance programme, mental health first aiders and other support lines from our partner organisations.

Agile working

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic guidance from the Government, where possible many of you were able to work remotely from home. Agile working remotely has meant a lot of change for many in order to ensure that services continue.

Thank you to our IT department who have issued a large number of laptops, VPNs and equipment to support this change in the way we work.

Communications updates

During the COVID-19 pandemic and continuing now, our communications team issued key information about COVID-19 through a daily briefing, established the executive team briefing as a virtual live event, and held regular InTouch briefings through Microsoft Teams. This information was also shared across all of our internal communications channels, such as the digitally published InTouch magazine, with eye-catching graphics, posters, digital screens, screensavers and intranet content too.

Externally, the team published powerful patient stories, regular news releases, which received fantastic media coverage, and shared content with our community groups via our partner organisations. They responded to a large volume of media enquiries, and also continued to develop the new PAHT website and grow the audience across our social media channels with engaging content and updates.

11

The Awards event also paid tribute to the colleagues who had passed away in the year, including three who were COVID-19 positive. A poignant and moving way to remember and pay our shared respect for some very special people.

Events not in a Tent

Last year heralded a big change to the usual format of our annual Event in a Tent event for all PAHT people. The original event was reworked and delivered as an entirely virtual Events not in Tent.

A wide mix of webinars, videos and presentations from a range of invited speakers were built into a three day schedule in September. The webinars were all recorded and added to a RELOADED YouTube playlist so that everyone could access at a time to suit them/their shift and viewed on PCs and mobile devices on or offsite.

Hospital marks 55th anniversary

On 27 April 2020, we marked the 55th anniversary of the opening of The Princess Alexandra Hospital, having served many generations of the community of west Essex and east Hertfordshire.

The official opening ceremony was held on 27 April 1965, attended by Her Royal Highness Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy. HRH Princess Alexandra is The Queen’s cousin and a working member of the Royal Family.

HRH Princess Alexandra sent a message to everyone at PAHT.

Additionally, externally sourced content was used to create an Events not in a Tent YouTube playlist that could be viewed at any time The programme also included our annual Amazing People Awards and Long Service Awards.

Awarding our people

Our Long Service Awards were announced at an event, open to all, that gave people the opportunity to be recognised and celebrated by the executive team and colleagues. Certificates and badges were delivered to line managers who personally delivered them to the people in their team.

In a temporary move away from award categories, our Amazing People Award was awarded to everyone and, as a special recognition of the hard work and commitment of all, a gift of an extra day of leave in 2021 to celebrate each person’s birthday, or other special day, was announced.

12

The Alex Lounge

The aim of reverse mentoring is for a more junior colleague to mentor a senior colleague, with both gaining a different insight and a new perspective on the organisation.

Contributions to the build have included funds from the coronavirus (COVID-19) charity appeal, in recognition of your hard work and dedication from our local community and from NHS Charities Together.

New executive team members

In response to your feedback, plans are underway for a new lounge area with bright, modern space and facilities.

Three new directors have joined the executive team this year:

Your feedback is being used to shape the space and updates on progress will be shared with you about this important development to support your health and wellbeing.

Aircrew fly in to provide first class service

Dr Fay Gilder: joined PAHT as medical director in November 2020, having previously worked at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, where she was a consultant anaesthetist and the clinical director for improvement and transformation.

Project Wingman landed at PAHT in May, the initiative offered a first class service for our people in the fight against COVID-19.

Aircrew from a number of airlines based at Stansted Airport volunteered to serve refreshments in a designated ‘first class’ lounge area in the hospital, have conversations and give our people a chance to unwind before, during or after a shift.

Our reverse mentoring programme

A number of colleagues across PAHT are sharing their perspectives with our executive directors as part of an innovative reverse mentoring programme.

Saba Sadiq: joined PAHT as finance director in December 2020 from her previous role as deputy director of finance at East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust.

Phil Holland: was appointed as chief information officer in February 2021 from his role as director of operations for medicine and deputy chief operating officer for urgent care at PAHT.

The scheme is an opportunity for those in nonmanagerial and junior roles to regularly meet with an executive director to discuss their experiences.

13

Winter webinars and festive fun

In December we hosted a great range of virtual events and health and wellbeing webinars to support our PAHT people ahead of the festive period. The day consisted of sessions hosted by keynote speakers, pantomime teasers and a festive quiz.

Launch of new website and microsite

We launched a new PAHT website in March 2020 – the website now features functionality upgrades and is easy to navigate for our patients and visitors.

A number of private pages have also been created on the website with COVID-19 guidance, updates and health and wellbeing support information that can be accessed by you wherever you are.

We also launched a new microsite that is the home of information about our new hospital project. The microsite shares latest news, future plans and how the local community can get involved.

Remembrance Day service

We held a Remembrance Day service, led by our chaplaincy team, on 11 November via Microsoft Teams Live. Colleagues had the opportunity to hear a selection of poignant readings, prayers and poems, and we observed the two-minute silence together.

Your feedback included:

“After a busy day where I couldn't take time away from my day-to-day tasks at 11am, I have now been able, in a quieter moment, to think, contemplate, and pay my respects.”

“This was beautifully portrayed, highly professional and did PAHT proud – even with a tear too – well done.”

14

Our amazing people have been recognised with a variety of accolades in the last year – congratulations to all. They include:

Director of infection prevention and control awarded MBE Dr Shico Visuvanathan, consultant microbiologist and director of infection prevention and control, was awarded an MBE in the New Year’s Honours list.

Dr Shico Visuvanathan

Dr Visuvanathan was recognised for services to microbiology, infection prevention and control, particularly during the COVID-19 response.

Volunteer recognised in New Year’s Honours list

Dedicated volunteer Joanne Busson, who has supported patients to have precious video calls with their loved ones during the COVID-19 pandemic, received a British Empire Medal in the New Year’s Honours list.

Joanne Busson

Joanne, one of the original members of the virtual visiting team at PAHT, was recognised for services to the community in Harlow.

Surgeon receives award for teaching work

Mr Jehangir Mahaluxmivala, consultant orthopaedic surgeon, received an award in recognition of his teaching work.

Mr Jehangir Mahaluxmivala

Mr Mahaluxmivala was named the Trainer of the Year 2020 by the Royal London Rotation for Trauma and Orthopaedics. This is in recognition of his dedication to maintaining education and training standards during the COVID-19 pandemic.

15

Nurses presented with award from Ruth May, chief nursing officer for England

Two nurses were recognised for the outstanding patient care they give and the support they provide for colleagues by Ruth May, chief nursing officer for England.

Francina Mushaninga, matron, medical healthcare group, and Victoria Andrews, lead nurse for practice development, were each awarded a Chief Nursing Officer’s Silver Award. They heard the surprise announcement when Ruth May appeared via video link at a special event during our virtual staff recognition programme at the end of September.

Francina Mushaninga (centre)

Heart failure nurse wins national award

Ron Leslie, a heart failure specialist nurse in the cardiology team, (pictured below right) won a national award from heart failure charity, The Pumping Marvellous Foundation.

Ron was nominated by patients to receive a You’re Simply Marvellous award.

This award acknowledges the value that healthcare professionals bring to the treatment of heart failure, improving patient outcomes throughout the UK.

Ron Leslie

International recognition of sepsis work

PAHT received an international accolade in recognition of its work to improve the outcomes for patients with sepsis with the introduction of the Procalcitonin test for the early identification of sepsis in the emergency department (ED) and was awarded a Global Achievement Award. The Awards are run by a partnership of leading professional organisations.

16

Procurement team shortlisted for prestigious accolades

The United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) awarded accreditation to the PAHT pathology team across all services. UKAS assess against internationally agreed standards; accredited organisations are endorsed as being competent and trusted to operate safely and accurately.

We are now on Instagram

We are now on Instagram – please follow us @princessalexandranhs to find out the latest news and updates about PAHT.

Our COVID-19 vaccination programme

Thank you to everyone who has supported with the COVID-19 vaccination programme at our hospital vaccination hub in January and February, with second booster vaccinations taking place in March and April. Ongoing first and second vaccinations are now also available at local community vaccination centres.

Dr Sophie Adler

Doctor secures nomination from Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health

Dr Sophie Adler, a first year (FY1) academic foundation programme doctor with an interest in paediatrics at the time, was nominated for a prize by the Essex, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Foundation School of Health Education England, awarded in April 2020.

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

The Patient Panel honoured to receive the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service The Patient Panel were honoured to receive the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service in June.

They were awarded the accolade in recognition of their dedication to representing the voice of patients at PAHT.

Lindsay Hanmore, associate director of nursing, quality first, said: “It was an absolute pleasure and joy to be part of the vaccination programme. I met so many amazing people who helped to ensure the process ran smoothly, efficiently and safely for our staff and also for other local health and social care staff. Every member of the team was completely committed to supporting everyone through and it was so heartening to see them all living the PAHT values in everything they did. There was so much energy in the hub; as though the whole team knew they were part of the solution and making a huge difference.”

Lateral flow testing

Thank you to all who are involved in the lateral flow testing scheme for our staff.

Asymptomatic staff self-testing is part of a national roll-out across the country. The test is used to identify infections and helps to support the safety of you and your colleagues, as well as our patients.

The Queen’s Award is the highest award a voluntary group can receive in the UK. 17

Remembering our colleagues We were deeply saddened by the loss of our colleagues in the last year.

We lost Lynsay Coventry, midwife, Saima Bilgrami, healthcare assistant and Barclay Mason, senior ED nurse, to COVID-19.

We paused to reflect on our memories of all of our colleagues who have passed away in the last year at the Our Amazing People Awards held in September.

The people we recognised have now been joined by others who have passed since September. Together they are: Mary Bio, service manager Rachel Carey, clerical officer Peter Edwards, maintenance assistant Deyaa Elsandabesee, consultant Lyn Horne, office supervisor, cellular pathology Linda Jackson – domestic ward orderly Sarah Simcox, cardiac technician Robert Parmenter, ward clerk Norma Trendell, domestic ward orderly Mary Winfield, healthcare assistant Our thoughts remain with their family and friends.

18

Our

performance Dedicated team secure a place in top 20 for research study

Our dedicated research, development and innovation team secured a place in the top 20 for recruiting patients onto the GenoMICC research study, with almost 190 trusts taking part - a fantastic achievement.

The study is an observational study that aims to identify the specific genes that cause some people to be susceptible to specific infections and consequences of severe injury. The study compares DNA and cells from carefully selected patients and healthy people.

Research trials support in the fight against COVID-19

The research, development and innovation team have supported 11 research trials and recruited 1171 participants in the fight against COVID-19.

The studies were both observational to collect data on COVID-19 positive patients in order to assess any trends, or a complex interventional trial that compared many different treatments.

Gastroenterology team maintain prestigious professional accreditation

The gastroenterology team maintained a prestigious professional accreditation for their endoscopy services following a rigorous evaluation.

The department was accredited by the Joint Advisory Group in May 2020 for its high quality gastroenterology services, having held the accolade for the last five years.

19

Attend Anywhere – virtual outpatient appointments

In response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, we started to offer telemedicine appointments for our outpatients.

We were able to continue to provide patient appointments virtually, without the need for patients to visit or travel to the hospital.

Since April 2020, we have performed approximately 6,348 outpatient consultations, excluding maternity and community services.

New nursing, midwifery and AHP strategy introduced

The new nursing, midwifery and allied health professionals strategy was introduced in December 2020 during an InTouch briefing. We were joined

by Ruth May, chief nursing officer for England who supported our new strategy that aligns with the NHS Long Term Plan and thanked our fantastic teams for all of their hard work throughout the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

ED – taking care of the numbers The last year has seen our emergency department (ED) team respond to COVID-19 by putting in place many changes in the department and also the many changes needed to the ways that care is now delivered. This has meant some very busy and tough days for the whole team, which have also been reflected in the high numbers and high demand across the hospital as high numbers of patients were admitted. In the last year:

Total ED attendances:

87,987 Ambulance arrivals – 21,228 Walk-in – 66,266 Other (police transport; prison/ detention centre transport) – 493 Referrals by GPs and primary care: 7,673 This includes: GPs NHS 111 GP/practice nurse Advanced care practitioner Police service/forensic medical officer Out of hours GP service Social services Optician/optometrist Midwife Dentist (including community dentist) Pharmacist (including community

pharmacist) Community nurse (not practice nurse) Mental health assessment team Health visitor Community mental health nurse

20

Improving patient outcomes

Our work to improve outcomes (mortality rate) for our patients has continued throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. Original plans were amended as many of the clinical and operational leads had to prioritise supporting our response to the pandemic; however, there were some notable achievements from the previous year.

We have significantly improved our learning from death processes and standardised the mortality and morbidity meetings that happen in our speciality teams giving us greater ability to address lessons learnt as well as celebrate our successes.

We have appointed a lead medical examiner, who leads a team of independent consultant colleagues whose role is to enhance the governance and regulatory systems by scrutinising the deaths of patients not under review or inquest by the coroner.

We have also introduced new learning from deaths software to enable hospital staff to capture themes over time and provide an evidence base to target improvement efforts and, additionally, all of this work enables us to better target our improvement efforts.

A significant milestone is that we are now able to provide non-invasive positive pressure ventilation in our respiratory ward in addition to critical care.

We know beginning non-invasive positive pressure ventilation quickly can improve patient outcomes, reduce length of stay in hospital and reduce the need for admission to critical care.

21

Our

places

Design concepts We have had a vision for a modern, brand new hospital for many years and with the help of our patients, local people and you, we are working to bring that vision to life. Our new hospital project team are developing a plan for a building fit for the 21st century with technology at its heart that will be an outstanding place to receive care and a fabulous place to work.

Our progress

In March 2019, following the development of a detailed proposal for a range of options for a new hospital, our board voted unanimously to seek permission and funding to build a new hospital on a green-field site close to the current hospital.

Subsequently, in October 2019, we received the fantastic news that PAHT was one of six hospital trusts across the country to share funding to build the new hospital.

team have been working at pace to further develop and complete the necessary stages and plans for the development of the new hospital.

There is a huge amount of work already underway, including engagement of the design of the new hospital and an extensive clinical programme to develop new models of care, and there is more ahead of us. We have some very strict milestones to meet before the build will start. First, is the development of our outline business case (OBC) to be submitted to the national team by autumn 2021.

Same Day Emergency Care Unit opens The ambulatory care unit is now titled The Same Day Emergency Care Unit (SDEC). The SDEC team care for medical, surgical and urology patients.

With business case development work already underway the funding announcement that put PAHT in the first wave of the national Health Infrastructure Programme has meant that the new hospital project 22

Capital estates project update This year, the extensive estates capital programme includes almost £25m worth of investment to improve our hospital and the estate to ensure that we maintain a safe and comfortable environment for our patients and the teams caring for them.

The capital programme consists of three elements:

Emergency backlog and critical

infrastructure maintenance schemes

Capacity schemes

Development projects Across the Princess Alexandra Hospital site are a number of completed and projects underway, including: Emergency backlog and critical infrastructure maintenance schemes

Capacity schemes

Development projects

New generator

Mortuary department upgrade

Williams Day Unit rebuild

Colposcopy upgrade

Endoscopy - third room created

Alex Lounge – staff health and wellbeing space for all

The Fracture Clinic pre-assessment space has been

relocated and upgraded

The older persons assessment and liaison service build

Alex training and education centre

Labour Ward upgrade

Chamberlen patient toilets and showers installation

Kalmar House refresh

New laundry facility

Green Zone - electric vehicle points; bicycle store and

changing rooms

New compound security introduced, 120 new CCTV

cameras installed across the site and a dedicated CCTV

control room

New oxygen compound

New air handling for endoscopy

New electrical and biomedical engineering (EBME) workshop

New fire doors installed at The Princess Alexandra Hospital

New junior doctors mess

Alex Study providing a COVID-19 secure space to work

Quiet rooms in clinical areas as a space to pause during

busy shifts and difficult times

23

support social distancing. The ward is for patients who do not have COVID-19. This follows a number of moves of different specialties around the hospital to ensure that we are providing the right care in the best place.

Photo courtesy of Gavin Vickers

Mural artists paint the rainbow at our hospital to commemorate the COVID-19 pandemic

It will later be brought into use as a dedicated space to see patients for rapid assessment and treatment for a variety of illnesses and injuries, helping patients to avoid unnecessary admission to hospital and ensure a shorter stay for those who are admitted.

A local street art business painted a colourful, inspirational mural at The Princess Alexandra Hospital to commemorate the COVID-19 pandemic.

Marc Silver, CEO and founder of professional street art company MurWalls, donated the artwork to our hospital in August in thanks for the hard work and dedication of all of our people in the fight against COVID-19.

The mural features a rainbow to symbolise the COVID-19 pandemic and flowers as a representation of hope. It is located outside the Alexandra restaurant.

New facility to support the health and wellbeing of patients opens

In January 2021, we opened the Adult Assessment Unit (AAU), a new facility to support the health and wellbeing of patients. The AAU is a two-storey extension adjacent to the emergency department at the front of the hospital and next to Charnley Ward.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the facility has initially been used as a modern inpatient ward, with an efficient layout and agile use of space to

Brand new state-of-the-art facilities at Kao Park

One of our goals is to be a modern organisation.

We started this transformation by developing a brand new working environment – Kao Park. To improve the experience for our people, some of our corporate teams relocated from the Mitre Building to Kao Park in Harlow from the end of May. The new facilities represent a significant improvement for our people. There is bright, modern office space and amenities.

24

Ward moves continued throughout the pandemic to care for the growing number of patients who tested positive for COVID-19.

Additionally, a number of additional handwashing facilities were installed and deep cleaning rotas were increased. A huge thank you to the teams involved.

Digital messaging screens update

Refurbished sanctuary space opens

New software has been installed onto our digital messaging screens that allows us to produce our own high quality, effective messages for our patients, people and visitors. A huge thank you to the IT team and procurement team for their support with this project.

Our hospital sanctuary and prayer rooms reopened in December after being fully refurbished.

The wonderful sanctuary area is open to all for prayer, reflection or just to sit and find a moment of calm. There is also a quiet room where supportive conversations can take place.

Fracture Clinic hosts COVID-19 vaccination hub

The modern new Fracture Clinic facility opened at the start of 2021 and was temporarily been used as a COVID-19 vaccination hub for our people. A huge thank you to our surgical and orthopaedics teams who have been so flexible throughout this period.

Dolphin Ward upgrade

The Dolphin Ward upgrade works are now complete – the refreshed modern facilities help to support the health and wellbeing of our patients and enhance the patient flow across the hospital.

Keeping our people and patients safe throughout COVID-19

A huge thank you to all of the teams who were involved with changes in response to COVID-19 to keep both our patients and people safe. The changes included two separate emergency departments - a separate respiratory emergency department (RED) cared for patients with confirmed and suspected COVID-19 to reduce the risk of transmission.

25

Our

pounds We have continued to manage our pounds effectively to achieve our financial targets and control total.

We remain on target to achieve our annual financial plan of a £0.4m deficit. Our financial performance includes reimbursement for the vaccination and testing programme and receipt of lost income.

We have also been able to access national funds for the additional costs we have incurred as a result of the demands and needs of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Capital improvements This year, to ensure that we maintained a safe and comfortable environment for our patients and the teams caring for them, we had a wide ranging capital programme of almost £40m. The details of the areas improved and new build additions are included in the Our places section of this magazine – please take a look.

26

The last year has seen a huge generosity from local people in offering support and gifts to everyone at PAHT and donations to our charity. This ranged from an Amazon wish-list of items to make the dayto-day more comfortable to fundraising donations given to support health and wellbeing.

We have also benefited from the national support for the NHS through the NHS Charities Together charity including the funds to support the Operation Wingman first class lounge and, for new projects such as the Alex Lounge as a staff-only rest area and a Butterfly Hub space as a base point for our teams of Butterfly and PAHT volunteers to work from and co-ordinate the support they provide for our patients, including those in their last days and hours.

A head of fundraising joined us on November 2020 who has been leading on increasing our funds and ensuring that the many ongoing donations we receive continue to support the experience of our patients and your health and wellbeing.

27

Our future Now is a challenging time for PAHT and the NHS nationally. There is a need to continue to transform the way healthcare is delivered as we plan our future and work to meet the needs of a growing and ageing population who, increasingly, have more complex health and care requirements.

with colleagues inside and outside of the hospital

This major transformation involves healthcare across the UK. Nationally, we are moving towards a joined-up integrated care system that puts the patient at the heart by improving patient experience, outcomes and efficiency. At the same time, scientific, technological and clinical innovation is constantly pushing the frontiers of medicine and it is essential that we embrace these developments to meet the expectations of our patients and local people.

Our PAHT 2030 strategy details how we will meet the needs of our patients, our health and social care partners and our people.

PAHT 2030 PAHT 2030 is our collaborative plan that will enable us to achieve our vision and ambition and take us to 2030. The plan includes a wide range of significant projects and plans including, our new hospital project and electronic patient record (EPR) and is:

A plan that puts digitisation, data sharing and the use of technology at the heart of all that we do

Only going to be successful if we all exhibit the right behaviours, leadership and ways of working and are inclusive

What this means to you: The successful delivery and achieving the overarching courageous goals that underpin the PAHT 2030 strategy will need everyone to be part of making change happen and transforming the way we work and deliver care.

We have already put in place so many changes in the past year and adapted our way of working and delivering care in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and national lockdown. With the Government’s roadmap out of lockdown underway we will continue to adapt to the evolving needs of the COVID-19 virus in our community; a continual improvement will be part of our everyday.

Make sure you are part of it.

Aligned with the NHS Long Term Plan and recent national consultation on the development of integrated care

Designed in the context of the local health

inequalities, immediate and medium term

impact of COVID-19 and the financial

position of the NHS and the country as a whole

The largest transformation programme that PAHT has ever seen

Complex and describes significant, interlinked developments, which require everyone to work in more integrated ways

Produced by the communications team

28