Chatterbox - 230908

CHATTER BOX

Your fortnightly bulletin for SaTH colleagues and events

Lake Vyrnwy half marathon

Nine colleagues are putting on their running shoes to take part in the Lake Vyrnwy half marathon to raise money for SaTH Charity.

The half marathon is on Sunday 17 September and colleagues taking part represent various teams and are supporting several of the funds under the SaTH Charity umbrella, so they can support an area or service within the hospital that is close to their heart.

from Critical Care, alongside Charlotte Scarborough from the Hospital at Night team are fundraising for ITU and Critical Care, they hope to raise enough funds to purchase a reclining chair for relatives who wish to stay with their loved one.

Mat Morgan from Finance is running for the Respiratory Ward at PRH, and Finance team colleague Martin Hall, is raising money for therapies, Nigel Lee, Interim Director of Strategy and Partnerships, alongside Andrew Davies, Niall Fry and Stu Johnson

from Medical Engineering Services, are all raising much needed funds for our cancer services.

Nigel is taking part as his family has been hugely affected by cancer. The half marathon is part of a series of events which are leading up to a trek to Mount Kilimanjaro in January 2024. He is taking on the challenge with his son Tom who is now a serving RAF officer in Scotland.

Turn to the next page for more details.

Manda Pyper and Ollie Foster,

Friday 8 September 2023

Continued from page 1

Nigel said: “My mother passed away with breast cancer aged 61, and my father was in his early 70’s before succumbing to oesophageal cancer. My uncle had head and neck cancer, and my aunt has just passed away due to pancreatic cancer. My cousin was affected early by colorectal cancer and died aged just 52.

“My father-in-law is living with prostate cancer and I have two other close family members who are currently having chemo and immunotherapy. Working at the Trust and as Tom has also worked as a healthcare assistant, we are keen to raise funds for cancer services at the Trust”.

Julia Clarke, Director of Public Participation, said: “We are so grateful to all the staff who

have chosen to support the SaTH charity by running the Lake Vyrnwy half marathon. The money raised will help to make a real difference to our patients and staff.”

If you would like to donate to one of the funds you can find the links to the JustGiving page below:

• Manda Pyper, Ollie Foster and Charlotte Scarborough

• Mat Morgan

• Martin Hall

• Nigel and Tom Lee

• Andrew Davies, Niall Fry and Stu Johnson

Making a splash for charities

Beverley Sterry, a switchboard operator at RSH, is making a splash with sponsored swims to raise money for charity.

She has recently completed a 5,000-metre sponsored swim for Young Lives v Cancer, which is a cancer charity for children, young people and their families, and raised £155. It was in memory of a cousin she lost to leukaemia when she was a child.

During August, she swam half a mile every day and this month she will be swimming another 5k for the SANDS and Neonatal Death charity.

Beverley has also signed up for another challenge - a ‘chill swim’, which is an open water swim of the length of Lake Coniston in the Lake District. It is 5.25 miles long and is Beverley’s first swim in open water in the UK. This will also be for SANDS

and Neonatal Death Charity.

Last year Beverley raised £500 for Diabetes UK when she swam 22 miles.

Beverley said: “I will be swimming for SANDS for several reasons, not least the fact that I work for the NHS and in my former career as a police officer I went to many sad cases involving neonatal or ‘cot’ death. Several close family friends have had to endure this very cruel experience.

“I love swimming and it is great to be able to challenge myself and also raise money for worthwhile charities.”

If you would like to donate to Beverley’s fundraising efforts please look for Beverley Ann Sterry on Facebook or sponsor forms are available at the RSH switchboard.

27 September 2023

More information here

RSH Macmillan Coffee Morning 10am-2pm

28 September 2023

More information here

Our popular Healthcare Art Club held another session, this time creating abstract landscapes with acrylic paint and pallet knives. Thanks to the support of SaTH Charity, free sessions like this help our staff to unwind, connect with others and explore their creative talents!

Memories galore at 40-year reunion

A group who started their RGN training at RSH recently had a 40-year reunion.

They started training in September 1983 and were the first set to become RGNs and take the ‘new’ hospital set exam instead of the nationally set exam.

There were 16 in the set, many of whom went on to do further training or work in specialist areas. Some of the group are still working at SaTH.

From the left front, Sarah Kirk (recently ANNP) Deb Wharton PEF, Julia Thomas, Radiology PRH, Marie Lewis, Research Nurse Oncology QE Birmingham, Sarah Harnden, Endoscopy, Nikki Rocke working in Scotland, Teresa Tanner, Safeguarding Children and Kate Griffiths, retired from Hereford NNU.

They met up for afternoon tea at The Peach Tree in Shrewsbury and reminisced about their time training at RSH.

Reconditioning Games – why do we do it?

It was predicted that following the COVID pandemic we would see a deconditioning pandemic where multiple lockdowns restricted exercise and activity. The games were set up to reduce that risk and encourage everyone to stay active.

Some of the research done to date is startling with 50% of patients experiencing functional decline between admission and discharge.

Deconditioning has contributed to delayed discharges in more than 47% of older patients and up to 50% of older people becoming incontinent within 48 hours of admisison. Patients spend up to 83% of time in their beds in hospital where 60% of these patients have no clear documentation why.

Education of the dangers of deconditioning needs to be increased to prevent unnecessary harm to our patients.

The journey so far:

The Reconditioning Games started in November 2022 with a launch at each hospital site, we had some very early adopters of the concept that now have embedded their games into the daily ward routine.

Staff enjoy taking part and report that it has injected joy back into their work. Whilst at the beginning some were dubious of how they would find time to support the games, they soon adapted their working day so that the games didn’t feel like an extra chore but just found a different way of doing things.

The Quality team has encouraged other wards to join in with seasonal themed events, a Valentine’s walk,

Easter competition and most recently alternative sports days.

And let’s not forget the visit we had from Mr Motivator that made the local papers!

SaTH came first in the regional medal table for the engagement and different opportunities to participate and third in the national medal table. Whilst the medals are lovely to receive we must not let this detract from the important work that is underpinning these. We will be making a difference to our patients and our communities.

What next?

We have taken delivery of our Reconditioning Games equipment kindly supported by SaTH Charity and this will be launched during Falls Awareness Week (18-22 September) and will be accessible on each site in a trolley for all wards/ departments to use 24 hours a day.

We are in the process of replicating the winning patient information board designed by pre-op assessment at PRH for the Easter competition. This will sit at the main entrance of each site to raise further awareness amongst our communities, patients and visitors and still have plans to invite Radio Shropshire in to cover the topic.

A deconditioning dashboard will be developed that will allow a trust wide and ward level view of the impact the games are having.

We plan to feature in Chatterbox regularly – our next article will be focusing on areas that have embraced the games with some helpful hints and tips to get started.

If you would like to know more or are keen to get involved please contact clare.walsgrove@nhs.net

Bumper programme for Falls Awareness Week

Plenty of activities including mocktails, competitions and a celebration event are all part of Falls Awareness Week (FAW).

We will be encouraging patients, colleagues and visitors to get involved in FAW, which runs from Monday 18 September to Sunday 24 September. The aim is to raise awareness to prevent falls and is one of our key priorities.

Please see below some dates for your diary to get involved:

• Move it Monday (18 September) – wards to identify a patient activity of the day.

• Planet Doughnut sales at both sites in Captain Sir Tom’s courtyards – yellow glazed £2 each. All proceeds will go towards SaTH charity

• Wobbly Wednesday (20 September) – The Quality Team and Leeanne Morgan, Falls Prevention Practitioner, will be dropping in on the wards to provide workshops in monitoring lying & standing BP

• Thirsty Thursday (21 Sept) – Emmeline Venn (Fluid Nurse), the Quality Team and Leeanne will be taking around a mocktail trolley to wards and departments to promote hydration and giving out free pens for fluid balance chart completion

• Feel Good Friday (22 September) – workshops on the new ECS risk assessment tool will be running throughout the morning. This will be followed by the Reconditioning Games celebration events at both sites from 2-4pm –look out for your invitation soon!

Leeanne said: “We would like to encourage patients and our staff to get involved with this bumper week of activities. All of us will hopefully take away some valuable information on how to get moving and improve our health, but have fun at the same time.

“FAW is an ideal opportunity to push the message that we can help ourselves and each other to reduce the risk of falling by making small changes.”

From Monday 25 – Friday 29 September we will be holding our first ever Research, Innovation and Improvement Week.

This is a fantastic opportunity to celebrate our commitment to putting research, innovation and improvement methodology at the heart of what we do.

There is an exciting programme for the week so please do take the time to attend one or more of the events. Details can be found on the intranet

We will be sharing some excellent examples of research, innovation and improvement from our colleagues throughout the week. If you would like to contribute, please contact the Communications Team on sath. commsteam@nhs.net to share your stories.

The Human Library

The Human Library provides an opportunity to listen to a human book. Challenging stereotypes, breaking down barriers, and having an opportunity to engage in open and respectful conversations in a safe environment can change people’s attitudes and understanding of excluded or marginalised groups.

When: Thursday 3rd October 2023, 1:30pm to 3:30pm Thursday 30th November 2023, 1:30pm to 3:30pm

Where: Via a Zoom link that will be sent nearer the date Book a place by emailing: sath.patientexperience@nhs.net or calling extension 2503

More information: SaTH Intranet - Human Library

‘It was a truly inspirational experience that I would highly recommend and would like to explore further.’ (feedback following the Human Library event in December 20022)

Join us for Human Library sessions.

It is an interactive and different way of learning which can resonate, as people tend to remember conversations and learning through discussion, listening to a person describe experiences they have encountered and lived through. It is an opportunity for you or a member of your team to attend and take part in an inspiring way of learning about the EDI agenda and working with the rich and diverse individuals that we meet.

The OWEN Model for staff bereavement support at SaTH

Bereavement and grief can impact all our lives at some time. The way we cope with grief and loss is unique and people will react in so many ways. There is no time scale to grief and support can be needed at many different times along that journey. NHS staff can be affected by personal grief and through their professional life.

Staff who look after patients with long term conditions, will form friendships with those patients and the families. The loss of these patients can be very upsetting, and this must be factored into the care provided within a trust.

The OWEN model was devised to provide staff with a safe space to talk about their loss. It is not counselling but can be used as a tool to support and signpost staff to other organisations they may wish to access.

The model has been expanded to provide a bereavement café at regular intervals throughout the year. After initial 121 support, either by phone, MS Teams or face to face, staff are then invited to the cafés to interact with other staff who have accessed the programme. The cafés have been a great success and led to staff forming bonds which enable them to look out for each other.

Openness

Staff are given the time and space, to share their feelings about the death of a loved one or a patient they have cared for.

Wellbeing

The wellbeing of the staff is at the centre of the support we give. Signposting to other services is offered as appropriate. The needs of the staff will vary greatly.

E N

mpathy

Compassion, kindness and understanding, are at the centre of the model. The use of appropriate and kind language is key to everything we do.

ew Beginnings

Recognise that grief can remain with us for the rest of our lives. Enabling staff to move forward with hope, whilst never forgetting the person who has died.

LINGEN DAVIES CANCER CENTRE

FREE OPEN DAY

SATURDAY, 23RD SEPTEMBER, 10AM-2PM

Join us for tours of the Cancer Centre and the Hamar Centre and learn more about local cancer services in Shropshire

*Hot drinks and cake available*

Book your place by scanning the QR Code below or email hello@lingendavies co uk

Supported by

Nursing & Midwifery Revalidation requirements are that:

you must have undertaken 35 hours of continuing professional development (CPD) relevant to your scope of practice as a nurse or midwife, in the three year period since your registration was last renewed or you joined the register.”

Library are holding reflective reading sessions on the dates below:

How do the Revalidation Reflective Reading Sessions work:

Prior to the session you will be sent an article to read and a small checklist of points to consider when reading, this will earn you 1.5 hours of CPD time. When you attend the session the article will be discussed in a small group, reflecting on points whilst working through the checklist, this will earn you another 1.5 hours of CPD time. The 3 hours of credited CPD time that you earn from these sessions can be used towards the 35 hours of CPD that you need to acquire to revalidate. During the sessions a checklist is used and the emphasis is upon what can be learned and taken away from the article. You will receive a certificate of participation and attendance.

STAFF LOTTERY

This month ’s winners

1st £400

Shannon Poole, Pre-Op Assessment

2nd £200

Jane Tench, Maternity Screening

2nd £200

Gilda Cordero, Ward 25

3rd £100

Claire Gonnelly, IBD/Gastro

3rd £100 Chloe Dodd, X-ray PRH

Why not join our lottery?

50% of profits are given out in prizes and the other 50% is adding to our Small Changes Make a Big Difference Fund which is all spent on items for staff.

The SaTH Small Things Make a Big Difference Fund aims to improve the working environment and amenities for all employees. Click

I was referred to the breast clinic by my doctor a few days ago and I attended yesterday at 6pm.

The service I received was exceptional - professional, kind, thoughtful, timely and efficient.

Thankfully, I was told that everything was fine. It made an enormous difference to me to be able to get such a speedy diagnosis and it was so thorough.

I cannot thank everyone involved enough for the kindness and consideration I was shown. I really appreciated it - you are wonderful people.