Chatterbox - 230609

Friday 9 June 2023

CHATTER BOX

Your fortnightly bulletin for SaTH colleagues and events

VALUES WEEK 2023

This week we have celebrated Values Week which has provided an opportunity to celebrate our commitment to our Values, recognise the important role they play and the difference they make to our colleagues and patients.

Thank you to everyone who took part in the activities, whether you attended a civility and respect session, a Lunch and Learn, a Schwartz Round, a talent sessions or resilience courses.

Meet Some of Our Colleagues Living

Partnering

The Integrated Discharge Team

We work with other local healthcare partners, Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust (Shropcom) and Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin Councils, to improve the hospital discharge process for patients, reducing the time patients wait for assessments enabling them to be discharged from hospital with the right support.

The multiagency Integrated Discharge Team have introduced a programme which has cut the length of time between being declared medically fit to being discharged. A fine example of partnership working!

Ambitious

Louisa Bowen, Adult Safeguarding Specialist Nurse

“My younger years were not without challenges. I was brought up within the care system and I had lovely foster parents who supported and guided me to finish my exams. “I applied for the position of Healthcare Assistant in Ophthalmology in 2008 and I was supported to complete a Level 3 NVQ. I then completed my A-Levels through Learndirect. I did this in 14 months, using every spare evening and weekend, as well as caring for

three young children.

“In 2014, I started my nursing degree. I qualified in 2017 and started my first staff nurse position on AMU. Things came full circle when I returned to Ophthalmology as a staff nurse.

“I am now a band 7 Adult Safeguarding Specialist Nurse. I am so passionate about my role, and I will continue to teach, raise awareness and strive to protect our most vulnerable patients/staff. I believe if you really want to succeed, with dedication and self-belief you can do it.”

Our Values Every Single Day…

Caring

Sarah Davies, Lead Diabetes Specialist Midwife

“I have worked as a diabetes specialist since 2004, however I have lived with Type 1 diabetes since I was seven years old, so I have a real passion and personal connection to this role.

“When I first wanted to be a midwife, I said to my parents that I would love if a role was created where I could specifically look after diabetic women - and here I am. I absolutely love it.

“My favourite part of the role is educating women and giving them enough information to reassure them. We see women come in worried or scared, and when we listen to their concerns and talk with them, they leave confident, reassured and with a smile on their face.”

Trusted Medical Assistants

Medical assistants play a really important part in delivering excellent care for our patients. They support our medical and surgical wards with clinical procedures, including cannulation, blood tests, blood cultures and ECG recordings. Recognising that the role may not be as well-known as others in the Trust, a new uniform has been introduced to help raise awareness and increase the visibility of medical assistants across our hospitals. Colleagues working on wards are reminded that medical assistants can provide additional cover out of hours, so please get in touch if you require their support.

You can contact the team on bleep 941 at RSH or bleep 077 at PRH.

Taya Chapman, a former Medical Assistant, said:

“Whilst in my 5th year of medical school I worked as a Medical Assistant and thoroughly enjoyed the role. It was an excellent opportunity to integrate within the hospital environment and work as part of the healthcare team. Now working as a Foundation Year 2 Doctor I can fully appreciate the value of the role.”

Thank you to everyone who made a pledge to continue living our values and make a positive difference, as well as celebrating the NHS People Promise - to work together to improve the experience of working in the NHS for everyone.

NHS75 – 1 month to go!

There’s less than a month to go until we celebrate the 75th birthday of the NHS on 5 July.

An array of exciting activities is being planned and more will be shared about this in the coming weeks.

As part of our celebrations, we will be creating some artwork made up of the faces of SaTH. For this, we need a large selection of headshot photos of our colleagues and volunteers, so please send in your photo to sath.commsteam@nhs.net

We are collecting colleague and volunteer stories

too. If you work with someone inspirational who embodies the values of the NHS, we’d love to showcase them. Please send your stories to sath. commsteam@nhs.net

There are many other ways to get involved. You can host an NHS Big Tea, take part in your local ‘parkrun for the NHS’, or it’s not too late to Join the NHS1000 miles challenge.

We will also be celebrating the 75th anniversary of Windrush and the diversity of our workforce on 22 June. Stay tuned for more information.

Dietitians Week: Kate’s Story

Our dietitians play a valuable role, not only offering advice to patients, but working with colleagues to ensure the best outcome.

Dietitians Week runs from 5-9 June and to celebrate, we’re sharing the amazing story of one of our student dietitians, Kate Southan. Read Kate’s story here

Happy Pride Month!

Pride Month is an annual event which provides the opportunity to celebrate LGBTQIA+ communities all around the world.

It commemorates the Stonewall Riots in June 1969 that inspired the historic gay liberation movement and the fight for LBGTQIA+ rights that followed. Today, it is the celebration of the LGBTQIA+ identity and a call to action to recognise pressing issues about equality above all else.

We are fully committed to becoming a more inclusive place for colleagues, patients, and visitors. We have an array of activities happening throughout Pride Month. Find out more here.

Volunteers’ Week 2023

To mark Volunteers’ Week we held a thank you event to celebrate our volunteers who touch every corner of our hospitals, dedicating over 2,000 hours of service each month. Thank you!

Our Volunteers in the Spotlight

One of our inspiring volunteers who works in the Emergency Department at PRH, Mel Amor, spoke with BBC Radio Shropshire about her role and how honoured she is to be representing SaTH at Westminster Abbey for the NHS75 service.

Click here to listen to the interview (39:50).

Biomedical Science Day

On Thursday 8 June we marked Biomedical Science Day. The team held an open day for colleagues to visit the laboratory and see what goes on in each discipline. Thank you to everyone who attended.

A Perfect Score!

Well done to the Catering department at RSH who recently had a partial Food Safety inspection by the Environmental Health Officer and had a great result, achieving the highest score and maintaining their 5-star status.

Areas visited during the inspection included the main kitchen, the Mytton Oak restaurant servery and Cafe Bistro.

Well done to the team!

Football Tournament Nets £1,000 for SaTH Charity

On Sunday 4 June the first annual SaTH Charity football tournament took place at Shrewsbury Sports Village, netting an incredible £1,000.

Organised by porter, Mark Rawlings, almost 100 colleagues took part, with 10 teams playing in total.

The winning team was Drongos Utd (porters, catering and medical

records). Runners-up were Unathletico Madrid (PRH porters) with third place going to Parton’s Predators (colleagues from a mixture of departments) following a tense penalty shoot-out.

Julia Clarke, Director of Public Participation, said: “I really enjoyed the tournament – all the teams showed remarkable team spirit and enthusiasm, as well as competitiveness! It

was great to see so many different staff groups from across the hospitals join in to support our charity – and the sunshine on the day was a bonus!”

Teresa Boughey, NonExecutive Director, also attended and presented the winning team with their cup as well as gold, silver and bronze medals. She said: “It was a lovely afternoon. Well done to everyone involved.”

A Tribute to Ron Haseman

Ron Haseman, a patient treated at the Haematology Unit, sadly passed away in February 2023 after a two-year battle with Myelodysplasia and Acute Myeloid Leukemia.

His family have raised £3,000 for SaTH Charity in loving memory of Ron.

His family said: “Instead of funeral flowers, we know that Ron would have loved to help raise funds to enable the Haematology Unit at the hospital to help more patients in the future.”

Jo Haseman, Ron’s wife of 25 years, said: “On behalf of Ron, and all the family, we would like to share our immense gratitude and sincere thanks to all the amazing nurses, who looked after Ron with such love and care.”

Reflecting on Ron’s time on the unit, Julie Gooding, a Clinical Nurse Specialist who had the privilege of treating him, said: “Ron brought a ray of sunshine with him whenever he came in for treatment. His energy and spirit were truly extraordinary.”

Ron was an accomplished storyteller and writer, having published three books. Ron wrote a poem called ‘I Am The Air’ that his wife Jo shared during his funeral, a poignant tribute to his spirit and legacy. You can read his poem here

Staff Psychology Service

The Staff Psychology Service was launched on 1st March 2023 and is commissioned to provide a range of evidence based psychological support and interventions to staff, to enable them to manage the emotional impact of working in the NHS

The fundamental aim of the Staff Psychology Service is to meet the psychological needs of staff, increase psychological awareness across the organisation and to support the Moving to Good workstreams.

How we can help:

• Individual support for staff

• Support for teams

• Critical incident debriefing

• Embedding psychological thinking across the organisation

How to contact us:

You can contact the team directly or ask a manager to contact us on your behalf by emailing us at sath. staffpsychology@nhs.net

A member of the team will contact you by email, or by telephone if you prefer, to arrange a time for an initial conversation.

This will usually take place on Teams but we can also arrange to meet in person.

Individual support for staff:

Our team are available to provide psychological support to staff who are struggling with the psychological and emotional impact of their work.

Our service is confidential. That means that no information will be shared outside our conversations with you without your consent. The only exception is regarding concerns about your safety or the safety of others.

Should a manager make contact with us on your behalf we will email to acknowledge that the request has been received and that a member of the team will make contact but will not share any further information.

If in doubt please get in touch. We welcome any conversations to explore whether psychological support would be helpful for you.

We are looking for volunteers aged 16 upwards to help in our shops within the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital. Volunteering with us is a great way to meet like minded people, add life skills, build your social confidence and can also boost your CV.

Shifts start at just 2 hours a week and we work around your availability.

LAST month ’s winners

1st £400

Annette Taylor, Medical Secretary

2nd £200

Clair Chalkley, Theatres PRH

2nd £200

Mandy Anderson, Endoscopy

3rd £100

Donna Moxon, Medicine Management

3rd £100 Emma Griffiths, Emergency Department

I’m currently 20 weeks pregnant and had my 20 week scan on Wednesday the 3rd of May at 10am. The two ladies who did my scan, one was in training, were so lovely and really were just everything I could have asked for.

I was feeling anxious before my scan due to some bleeding and both ladies made me feel so reassured and at ease I honestly cannot compliment them enough. I wish I’d said more after the scan which is why I’m writing this email, they are honestly an asset to your team and I just wish every woman could have them do their scans because they were patient, they checked in with me regularly, they were excited over baby, it was just lovely and didn’t feel as ‘routine’ as possibly some other scans have felt. They really made it feel like a special day and special experience and I’m just really grateful.

Thank you again to you both.