Cascade Live
Moving to Excellence: Our performance
• Seismic improvement made – thank you!
• SaTH ranked 113 out of 134. In Segment 5
• Performance measured across all key standards
• Elective care – in top performing half for patients waiting over 52 weeks
• Top performing half for patients waiting less than six weeks for diagnostic test
• Greatest challenges in UEC and finance – steady progress. Need to go further, faster
• We have a plan – Moving to Excellence
State of the art cancer care
Our fantastic new Linear Accelerator is now operational – with the first patient having had treatment this month.
The machine is a vital tool in the treatment of cancer and means we can provide better care for our patients using the latest technology in a new healthcare environment #StrongerTogether
Stronger Together: Winter planning
We, and our system partners, are working together to increase our resilience this winter to reduce waits and improve the experience of our patients
Demand and capacity
• RSH - modular wards and reconfiguration of Acute Medical Floor – 56 additional inpatients beds
• PRH - expansion of AMU, AMA, SDEC, introduction of Frailty SDEC, increased medical inpatient capacity
System partners, includes:
• Community front door practitioners
• Expanding urgent community response
• New out of hours GP provider – health hero from 1 October
Flu campaign
• Increase our vaccination target to 60% colleague uptake
IPC precautions
• Maximising all precautions, including ED point of care testing from October, RediRooms
Flu vaccination programme
Flu vaccinations will be available for all staff from October. The vaccine is free and helps protect you, your colleagues, our patients, and your family and friends. Further details on clinic dates and locations will be shared shortly.
Before attending your vaccination, please complete a flu vaccination record form and bring it with you to the clinic. The form can be downloaded here.
Thank you to everyone who had their flu vaccination last year. Your actions helped protect our patients, your colleagues, and your loved ones.
If you are pregnant or about to become immunosuppressed, it is strongly recommended that you receive your vaccination from September onwards. The flu vaccine is safe at any stage of pregnancy and offers important protection - including reducing the risk of serious complications such as pneumonia, particularly in later pregnancy. It also helps protect your baby, as infants born to vaccinated mothers are around 70% less likely to be admitted to hospital with flu in their first six months.
For a vaccination in confidence, please contact Karen Mann, Flu Co-ordinator on karen.mann2@nhs.net.
Stronger Together: Adding value for patients
• We remain breakeven at month 5 – thank you.
• We have delivered £14.4m of CIP efficiencies so far this year.
• We have to keep meeting our targets to receive agreed deficit money from NHSE.
• It is important to deliver what we have promised, so we don’t have to find additional savings within the trust.
• It is going to get harder to deliver from this point onwards – we will need to do more as we head into winter
• We are seeing emerging cost pressures so need even more focus on productivity to deliver maximum value for communities.
We are doing well – keep working together and build on this positive momentum #TeamSaTH.
• Thank you to our Undergraduate Education Team which is reducing both waste and costs
• Tutors, examiners and simulated patient actors are now asked to bring in their own reusable cups, rather than using disposable ones.
• The team also orders large bottles of milk for hot drinks, rather than single portion capsules.
• It saves the cost of purchasing disposable items, whilst also being a more environmentally friendly option.
• At a recent OSCE exam, this new approach halved the amount of waste produced.
MARS update
• You will be aware we need to reduce the number of posts we have – MARS is one of the different ways we are doing this
• All colleagues who applied for MARS have now received an outcome and we are in the process of sending out settlement agreements
• National expectation requires us to halve the growth in corporate services seen since 2018/19, by 50% during Q3 (2025/26). We still have further to go
• We are here to support you and your teams - we will work through these changes together
• Wellbeing services, including the Psychology Service, are available to any individuals who need support. Please use these
• Thank you for your continued professionalism and compassion.
Better Together
Thank you to everyone who has responded to our Better Together survey and taken part in our engagement events during the Summer while we explore forming a Group model with ShropCom
We have compiled your views into a summary report of your feedback. Your comments and suggestions has helped us to write our Case for Change. This summarises the opportunities, issues, risks and our early plans for managing the transition to a Group of organisations.
What happens next?
Both Boards will meet together in Common, in public, on Tuesday 23 September at 10.15am. They will discuss the Case for Change, whether to approve the case and to move towards developing and implementing a Group model.
We will keep you updated on the Boards’ decision on Tuesday and what this means for us all.
If both Boards agree the Case for Change and decide to form a Group, next steps include:
• Developing Governance and leadership structures - aim to become a Group by April 2026
• Involving you in developing our vision and values
• Encouraging conversations between teams to identify opportunities for collaboration
Come
We are holding an engagement session for colleagues to come and hear about our Case for Change, which will be submitted to both Boards and NHSE in the Autumn.
Monday 22 September, 12-1pm Join here
Hospitals Transformation Programme
• Ongoing refurbishment work within the Emergency Department (ED) at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital is progressing well, with the next phase of Majors and Resus now open. To continue with our progress and to support the remaining HTP enabling works, the Fit to Sit area will relocate into part of the current escalation area.
• We are pleased share our Transforming PRH Hub is now open –thank you to SaTH Charity and other partners for making this possible. The hub will serve as a central information point for patients, visitors and staff to find out more about the work happening to transform PRH and how they can get involved.
• Congratulations to our first cohort of HTP Change Agents who completed their training this month – we have more sessions scheduled at the end of the month
• We are holding a drop-in session for colleagues in the entrance of the Copthorne Building at RSH on Thursday 25 September, 12–2pm.
Feel free to come along and chat with the team to hear about the latest developments
First cohort of Change Agents
Internal walls now being constructed
HTP naming and colour palette survey results
Naming convention: There was a clear winner, with 'Hills' taking just under 50% of 1,615 votes cast.
Thank you to all those that contributed.
Colour palette: Palette 1 took a slim majority of 1,572 votes cast and Palette 3 came in just behind. These were given further consideration in the HTP Focus Group held on 4 September, where Palette 3 was a clear winner. The below graphic shows how this colour palette will be used across the four floors of the new building.
Our estate: Car parking
• In September, when you redeem your loyalty card for your free drink you will also get a free snack biscuit.
• Team challenge – challenge yourself or your teams to try the bus in September if you haven’t already.
• Awareness events – come and see us at Mytton Oak Restaurant, RSH on Thursday 11 September 12-2pm and Apley Food Hub, PRH on Tuesday 16 September 12-2pm.
• Like and share our social posts about the service to ensure more of our patients and visitors hear about the Park & Ride.
Your bus stories
The Tissue Viability Team (Nicky and Leanne) with PRH Park & Ride drivers Stuart and Mani. You can read their story in the next Parking newsletter.
Due to the traffic lights on Mytton Oak Road, drivers may face delays coming on site. There may also be delays to the Park & Ride service. Please leave extra time for your journey. You can track the Park & Ride buses via the SaTH App.
Neighbours are reporting an increase in hospital staff parking on neighbouring roads. We are asking our staff to be considerate and use the Park & Ride as an alternative.
Information Governance: Secure data handling
In accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018, every person working for or on behalf of SaTH must ensure that personal information is only made available/accessible to those who have been authorised or have a ‘legitimate’ reason to receive it
• Every effort must be made to ensure that any information being shared/transferred electronically or manually is done so in a safe and secure manner
• Access to confidential information must only be granted on a ‘need to know’ basis. Only those who need access to confidential information should have access to it, and then only to the items that they need to see (Principle 4 – Caldicott Principles)
• Information can be found within the Secure Data Handling policy (IG05) on the Information Governance intranet policy page
Update from the Risk Management Team
The risk management team supports teams Trust-wide with clinical and non-clinical risks. We provide assurance that the Trust is providing high quality care in a safe environment and that it is complying with legal and regulatory requirements. Below is a table that demonstrates how each division is managing its risks that affect its achievement of the Trust’s strategic objectives.
Moving to Excellence: Staff Survey
The Staff Survey opens on Monday 29 September. We will share how you can get involved shortly
Lots of good work is underway as a direct result of last year’s survey including flexible working, appraisal and talent conversations, civility, respect and inclusion and supporting our managers to be great leaders. We have also developed our Culture Programme focusing on compassion, teamwork, health and wellbeing, goals and performance and learning and innovation
Following feedback, the Neonatal Unit has embraced a new flexible way of working by implementing self-rostering. The ward manager reviews requests and creates the final rota. It can be difficult at times to support all of the rota requests, though any issues are usually resolved by having open and honest conversations about flexible working and ensuring that the team know that keeping the area safe is the priority.
• Over 75% of the team have said they are ‘very satisfied or satisfied’ with their roster
• Over 75%, when asked ‘do you feel that team-based rostering provides you with a roster to support home/work life balance?’, answered ‘all the time or majority of the time’
• 95% of colleagues feel they could continue to use team-based rostering.
Meet the Team: Drug and Alcohol Liaison Teams (DALT)
Dr Kevin Eardley, Clinical Lead (SaTH)
RSH Team
Nicki Johnston, Clinical Nurse Specialist (SRP)
Lou Hammersley-Gecan, Specialist Recovery Worker (SRP)
Claire Eagleton, Lead for Health Inequalities & EDI (SaTH)
Team
Zen Tanaka, Specialist Recovery Worker (SRP)
RSH Contact: Ext: 2594 or 2431 | Bleep: 307
Email: SRPhospitalteam@wearewithyou.org.uk
Ros Dalton, Clinical Nurse Specialist (MPFT)
Natasha Allen, Aquarius Drug and Alcohol Practioner (MPFT)
PRH Contact: Ext: 4562 Bleep:308 or Care Flow
The Alcohol Liaison Service was established in 2012 and includes Drug and Alcohol Liaison Nurses based at both the Shrewsbury and Telford sites.
The team support patients with drug and alcohol needs by providing staff training, assisting in the identification and management of hazardous substance use, and delivering interventions to reduce intake. The team also help with patient assessments, refer individuals to community services after discharge, support families, and review care protocols.
The teams are funded by different partner organisations at each site but work collaboratively to ensure consistent care across the trust.
PRH
New colleagues and new roles
Rodney Muskett, Interim Deputy Director of Finance – Operational
Rodney has recently joined the Finance Team. He has worked at Deputy/Board level in NHS finance for over 20 years having started his career in private practice with KPMG. Most of his career has been spent in the South-West but for the last two years he has held positions at Doncaster and Bassetlaw NHS Foundation Trust. He is enjoying being part of SaTH’s award-winning department and contributing to the Group model.
Rebecca Jones, Trainee Advanced Clinical Practitioner
Rebecca has worked in the Trust for 10 years, starting as a Health Care Assistant. In 2017, she started university to do a nursing degree and has worked mainly in acute medicine. In September, she starts her dream job as a trainee Advanced Clinical Practitioner in Acute Medicine. Rebecca is excited to take on this new role and embrace all the training and challenges that come with it.
Sethulekshmi Vijayan, Trainee Advanced Clinical Practitioner
Sethulekshmi joined SATH in 2020. She started in the Acute Medical Unit and is currently working in the Emergency Department. She has recently secured a new role as Trainee Advanced Clinical Practitioner in Acute Medicine.
Jan Sweet, Lung Cancer Clinical Nurse Specialist
Jan has become a Mesothelioma UK Nurse Affiliate for the West Midlands region, supporting Mesothelioma patients from diagnosis to palliative care. Jan has facilitated the regional Mesothelioma support group for the last eight years and contributes to the Action Mesothelioma Day and other events.
Recognising our colleagues
Congratulations to John Skelton who has been nominated for Workforce Developer of the Year in the National BAME Health and Care Awards. This award honours the educators and workforce developers who don’t just teach - they inspire. The winners will be announced later on today (21 September).
We have been nominated for two awards in The Excellence in Waste Management for the NHS in England Awards.
Estates Compliance Manager, Mark Leighton, has been nominated for Waste Management Champion of the Year. SaTH has been nominated for the Best Reduction of Clinical Waste of the Year.
Our endoscopy service has been awarded accreditation from the Joint Advisory Group on adult gastrointestinal endoscopy (JAG). Accreditation is awarded to services which have demonstrated they meet best practice quality standards covering all aspects of an endoscopy service.
This Housekeepers’Week – we would like to say the biggest thank you to all our wonderful housekeepers who do a wonderful job day in day out to care for our patients and colleagues.
Our Vision: To provide excellent care for the communities we serve
Nominations are open for our Moving to Excellence Awards
This is a bi-monthly reward and recognition scheme that celebrates the outstanding dedication and commitment of colleagues and teams.
There will be five winners every other month, one for each division.
Nominate by Friday 3 October.
Winners announced November.
Nominate here
National Inclusion Week
This week we are celebrating National Inclusion Week. It is the perfect time to discuss intersectional issues and include all our communities – across gender, race, religion, LGBTQ+, disabilities, carers and social mobility. There has been so much going on and there is still time to visit the Mukasse Caribbean food stall in Captain Tom’s Courtyard, PRH, who will be there until 3pm today.
Earlier this year, Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin’s health and care system launched the ‘Everyone Belongs Here’ campaign to celebrate equality, diversity and inclusion across our county. This National Inclusion Week we are sharing our colleague’s voices to put a spotlight on equality and diversity.
Watch the video and view the gallery plus download the Teams background and e-mail signature to show your support here.
Looking forward: Key messages
Please get involved with, and support, Moving to Excellence and Stronger Together
Share your ideas –sath.strongertogether@nhs.net
Please familiarise yourself with the finance communications
Please continue to use the two Park & Ride services and be mindful that patients are using it at RSH
Did you know there is a Loop app? Download now via your app store
Please consider joining our Staff Networks AGM – Thursday 25 September Join the Better Together staff session on Monday 22 September to hear about the Case for Change
We are here to help and support you
If you would like to raise a concern, you can contact our FTSU team
Contact sath.ahealthieryou@nhs.net for support if you are facing pressures due to rising cost of living
Familiarise yourself with the health and wellbeing support available – details on the intranet
