YVONNE’S DEDICATION IS NOT LOST IN TRANSLATION SEE PAGE 8

For Southend University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust staff and volunteersOCTOBER 2014

‘BOXING’ CLEVER AGAINST FLUIt’s fighting talk at Southend Hospital as both frontline and behind the scenes staff are uniting as one to create the ultimate flu fighter as we race toward winter.

The hospital has produced a Rocky-style video to push the message home that everyone at the hospital must work together as one to fight against the flu virus, get the flu jab and help beat the spread of flu.

All staff are encouraged to have their flu vaccination to ensure that they stay healthy this winter.

Catherine Paget, head of occupational health, said: “Having flu is not like having a cold, it can last for at least a week if not longer; and it’s easily spread with people passing

the virus on to family, friends, work colleagues and patients.

The best way people can protect themselves is by having the flu vaccination - it’s quick, it’s simple, it doesn’t hurt much and it can’t give you flu. It targets those who are weakened and vulnerable, so it’s crucial that the NHS does everything it can to keep the virus away from patients.”

The short video, produced in-house by the communications team, was shot on location at The Locker Room in Southend, which is situated next door to Southend Central Station. The gym is no stranger to film crews as it recently featured in an advert starring Olympian, Daley Thompson.

Stepping into the ring as Sam ‘The Southend’ Slayer were gym members

Samuel Burrdock, 26, from Southend, who is also a personal trainer, and Luke Cassar, 21, also from Southend, really relishing his role as Ivor ‘flu’ Bugg.

The gym’s director, James Chisolm, explained why he was happy to help the hospital with the short film.

He said: “We’ve been part of the hospital’s flu fighter campaign before and were happy to get even more involved this year. Health and well-being is always at the forefront of our mind here at The Locker Room so if we can help spread the word and raise awareness with this video then it can only be a good thing for a great campaign.”

You can view the Rocky-inspired video here: www.youtube.com/southendhospitalNHS

02 Visit www.southend.nhs.uk | Call 01702 435555

SIP, SIP HOORAY FOR CANCER COFFEE MORNINGThe Macmillan information and support centre at the hospital has seen thousands of people affected by cancer since opening in March.

Taking part in the World’s Biggest Coffee Morning in aid of Macmillan, saw them raise £801.50 with cake and coffee sales.

Friederike Englund, the Macmillian information and support manager at the centre based at Southend University Hospital, said: “We were really pleased with the fantastic amount raised, but couldn’t have done it without the help of all the volunteers. The day really helped showcase the centre but also, more importantly, raised money that will help people up and down the country.”

STAFF SURVEYIt’s national staff survey time, and once again this year’s survey has been sent to every eligible member of staff rather than a randomly selected sample.

The process is run by Quality Health, an external company who distribute the survey on behalf of the trust. They receive and process completed questionnaires and check all of the data before sending us a copy of the final collated results. It is totally confidential and the completed survey form goes straight to the survey provider without anyone in the trust seeing it. We do not see any individual responses, only final collated results.

Acting director of HR, Keith Warrior, is encouraging staff to complete the survey fully and honestly.

“Please take the time to fill in the survey and tell us what matters to you. It only takes around 20 minutes to complete and the results are invaluable. They give a good overview of how staff feel and allow us to review how we are performing against other trusts.

“Most importantly, it lets us hear from our own staff about areas where they feel we most need to take action. Armed with this knowledge we can work to make improvements for staff which ultimately lead to improved patient care.”

MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS EVENTAs part of World Mental Health Day 2014 (Friday 10 October), the human resources team organised a staff event to help raise awareness of mental health and the many services available to staff.

Victoria Oram and Aline Clayson from South & Central Essex MIND, said: “We came to this event to reassure hospital staff that mental illness is nothing to be ashamed of and that our service is available to help them.”

Also at the event was Validium, who provide a free employee assistance helpline for all Southend Hospital staff. Rick Dallaway of Validium, said: “I think it’s important for staff to know that they can talk to our professional counsellors and specialists about anything that is worrying them or causing them anxiety or distress. We are a completely confidential service.”

The Validium helpline (free from a landline): 0800 3 58 48 58. Visit their website for full contact details at www.validium.com.

TALKING OF HEALTH AND WELLBEING…

All staff are invited to attend the health and wellbeing event on Thursday 20 November and take a moment to look after yourself for a change.

Internal services and external businesses are joining together to offer an array of complementary therapies and wellbeing support. Experience everything from karate to acupuncture and shamanic drumming to yoga and head massages.

There will also be free health checks on the night and a raffle with loads of prizes including tea for two at the Roslyn Hotel.

The event will take place in the education centre at Southend hospital between 5.30pm and 9.30pm.

For more details contact Rosemary Clark on extension 6492 or email rosemary.clark@southend.nhs.uk.

Visit www.southend.nhs.uk | Call 01702 435555 03

STAFF AND PATIENTS CMDSThe cardiac and medical day stay team (CMDS) has seen huge change over the years, from it becoming nurse led to a massive reduction in patients waiting to be seen and a virtual none-existent cancellation rate.

The Look caught up with ward manager, Emma Matthews, to find out how these changes have had a massive positive impact on not just patients but also on those dedicated nurses on the ward, ensuring that both time and resources are used to their full potential.

Emma said: “Five years ago we were very much a doctor led area, where what the doctor said goes, whereas now, as nurses we are a lot more proactive and we are working much more alongside the doctors. By doing that, although we have only got nine trolleys, it means that we are able to use them very efficiently, maximizing their use, discharging patients earlier and they are having a faster recovery time because they are so well prepared for the procedure. We are very much about admission avoidance here on CMDS.”

The staff check patients’ bloods, their ECGs and their history, and then it is checked again a week before the patient comes in, rather than a doctor checking it on the day. If there are any issues, the CMDS team then flag that up, cancelling the patient if necessary, which crucially gives the team enough time to fit another patient into that slot so it doesn’t get wasted. And its impact is amazing.

Emma added: “The cancellation on the day rate has gone down to 0.5%, three patients were cancelled for the whole of last year and two of those weren’t well enough other the weekend. Prior to the current system that would have been at least three or four patients a week, which at best is 153 operations a year.

“This success has been achieved primarily just by extending the pre-assessment period and making it more proactive by ensuring that patients are fit for their procedure. Previously I’d worked in acute medicine for 16 years and it is very much an idea taken from best practice, so we are not only efficient but cost-saving for the hospital as well.”

There is not huge turnover of staff in this self-motivated and confident team, those who have moved on have moved onto bigger and better things. Highly educated, CMDS staff get to go on courses and share their knowledge base with the rest of the team and two newly qualified staff members have been really nurtured. The HCAs and the ward clerk are also dedicated and invaluable members of the team.

Managers like Emma and teams like CMDS really bring to life the hospital’s ethos that everybody matters, everything counts and everyone’s responsible. Emma concluded: “The impact this team has on patients is far-reaching, if someone is on anti-coagulation now, we can get them in for a procedure within 72 hours if we need to, before that it would have typically taken a month, so things have really moved on.

Nurses are able to use their skills to their highest level and are autonomous in their role. Staff are rightly proud of the service patients receive, the minute they come through our doors until the minute they leave they get an excellent standard of care.”

“Because of that the anxiety levels of the patients is reduced dramatically and although, not being inpatients, we don’t build up a relationship with them for very long the patients do feel as if they have been looked after and had a positive experience at Southend Hospital.”

04 Visit www.southend.nhs.uk | Call 01702 435555

THE WRITING’S ON THE WALL FOR PAPERHealth Secretary Jeremy Hunt has stated that the NHS should be paperless by 2018, saving billions and saving time for both patients and nursing staff, and Southend Hospital is leading the way with its own in-house system.

The launch of CED+ will make the patient records trolley groaning under the weighty paper a thing of the past and free up local storage areas, advancing the hospital’s already existing paperless clinics drive. The portal allows doctors, nurses, medical records staff and secretaries to access everything from letters, blood results and images, meaning that care plans are fully integrated and all in one place.

The advantages of digital records improving and speeding up patient care will be massive as the system will become far more reliable, meaning an end to patient file mix ups or patients not being seen as their notes haven’t come through yet. It’s also got great benefits for being good for the environment, and eradicates the need for staff to move heavy folders around.

Consultant vascular surgeon and the trust’s chief clinical information officer, Mr James Brown, said: “Our new and improved system is already rolled out in outpatients and is a one stop shop for patient details, has notes since 2007 and is accessible anywhere in the trust including portable, hand-held devices. And of course the data is totally secure.

“Southend is ahead of the game, the system that the hospital is using has been developed by Andrew Currie and our IT team in conjunction with clinicians, medical records and the programme management office, ensuring that it is fit for purpose and has been very low cost.”

Mr Brown added: “Other trusts are working towards paperless clinics as well to meet the NHS 2018 target but many have gone externally, which is more costly. The one we are using here at the hospital is purpose designed by Southend Hospital for Southend Hospital, creating a very bespoke, popular and unique system.”

Fellow consultant and vascular surgeon, and renowned self-confessed technophobe, Mr Mike Salter, has also embraced the system. Cradling a tablet, Mike said: “I hate computers and I was completely wedded to paper, but having seen this new system in practice I can honestly say that this is very much the way forward.”

The system has attracted huge interest from other trusts and could potentially create additional income for the hospitalHead of IT, Alan Tuckwood, added: “The team are incredibly excited and proud of CED+ and what it can do to enhance patient care here at Southend. This launch delivers a major component of the trust`s information management & technology strategy and we`re already planning the next phase of functionality to be introduced over the next 6-12 months which includes integration with the new e-prescribing and pre-operative assessment systems as well as linking to the national Summary Care Record.”

The reputation and potential of CED+ has been recognised on a national level and the trust was recently encouraged by NHS England to submit a bid for additional funding to accelerate the development of CED+ and extend the system to patients providing them with secure access to information we hold about them which is relative to their care.

Visit www.southend.nhs.uk | Call 01702 435555 05

SAFETY FIRST IN SOUTHEND

STAFF BENEFIT EVENT SUCCESS

Southend Hospital is committed to the national Sign up to Safety three year government initiative to reduce avoidable harm by 50% and save 6,000 lives across the NHS.

Sign up to Safety is designed to help realise the ambition of making the NHS the safest healthcare system in the world by creating a system devoted to continuous learning and improvement.

Denise Townsend, associate director of nursing and governance, said: “This ambition is bigger than any individual or organisation and achieving it requires us all to unite behind this common purpose. We need to give patients confidence that we are doing all we can to ensure that the care they receive will be safe and effective at all times.”

Sign up to Safety aims to deliver harm free care for every patient, every time, everywhere. It champions openness and honesty and supports everyone to improve the safety of patients.

The hospital has committed to setting out actions they will undertake in response to the following five pledges:

1. Put safety first. Commit to reduce avoidable harm in the NHS by half and make public the goals and plans developed locally.

2. Continually learn. Make their organisations more resilient to risks, by acting on the feedback from patients and by constantly measuring and monitoring how safe their services are.

3. Honesty. Be transparent with people about their progress to tackle patient safety issues and support staff to be candid with patients and their families if something goes wrong.

4. Collaborate. Take a leading role in supporting local collaborative learning, so that improvements are made across all of the local services that patients use.

5. Support. Help people understand why things go wrong and how to put them right. Give staff the time and support to improve and celebrate the progress.

Following the official launch of Sign up to Safety in June, over 100 organisations, including Southend Hospital, have signed up to the campaign and committed to developing their safety improvement plans.

Our staff benefit day was a rousing success according to staff and exhibitors.

Over 1,000 members of staff attended events held at both the main hospital site and Britannia House, enjoying a free raffle, a chocolate fountain, free goodie bags as well as access to all of the staff benefits available at the hospital.

As well as My Trust Benefits, exhibitors included Costco, Nando’s and Virgin Holidays, who all did their best to inform staff of the great benefits and discounts available for staff.

Comments included:

“I have never seen so many people attend an internal event. You did an amazing job and should be proud of yourselves.”

“The event created a feel good element and got staff talking to other staff.”

“I’ve already taken advantage of the Domino discount.”

My Trust Benefits team collected ideas to extend their 300 staff benefits and discounts and will be communicating new discounts available soon.

06 Visit www.southend.nhs.uk | Call 01702 435555

HYPO AWARENESS WEEK

BLUE SKY THINKING

The diabetes team encouraged their patients to Talk Hypos by taking part in this year’s national hypo awareness week which ran from 29 September to 5 October.

A hypo (or hypoglycaemia) is a potentially dangerous complication of diabetes and is triggered when the blood glucose level of a person with diabetes drops too low.

Symptoms and their severity vary and can range from feeling hungry or dizzy to trembling, blurred vision or a pounding heart. Left untreated, symptoms can become serious and cause unconsciousness.

Diabetes is common in our area; on average 16.2% of inpatients at any one time have diabetes.

Diabetes staff have been visiting wards and departments around the hospital to raise awareness of hypoglycaemia using a special ‘hypo simulator’, a piece of equipment that allows the viewer to see and experience what a hypo feels like through the eyes of a person with diabetes.

Diabetes specialist nurse, Michelle Purchese, said: “We’re delighted to be a part of this year’s hypo awareness week, raising awareness

and helping to reduce instances of hypos occurring in hospital which can impact on patients’ recovery and their length of stay.

“Prompt and effective treatment of hypoglycaemia is essential so it’s important that we educate as many people as possible on recognising the signs and symptoms.”

Thanks to a generous £3,000 donation from Thames Mouth Lodge, we have just installed the hospital’s first ‘sky ceiling’ in the radiotherapy reception area.

Sky ceilings are photographic illusions of real sky views that trigger beneficial relaxation responses for mind and body, transforming enclosed interiors into spacious-feeling and memorable environments.

Radiotherapy services manager, Nicolai Greet, said: “With patients always at the forefront of

our minds, we always aim to make their experience at the hospital as calming as possible. When we became aware of sky ceilings and their calming benefits, we realised they could transform our radiotherapy reception area into a brighter and more welcoming space.

“The patients have been really positive about the sky lights and said it’s nice to show that we are thinking of them.”

Breast unit charity quiz

The venue is the Rochford Freight House. Entry fee is £6 per person and teams can have up to 8 people. 7.30pm for an 8pm start.

OctFRI

31

Annual grand quiz

Southend Hospital charity’s annual event with proceeds going towards

the Ladybird nursery. Teams of 8-10 are invited, entry is £10 per person,

which includes chicken and chips in a basket. Saxon Hall, Aviation Way,

Southend-on-Sea. 6.45pm for a 7pm start.

NovFRI

21

NovSUN

16Keyhole Cancer Appeal craft and gift fair

Includes Santa’s Grotto. Entry is £1.50 for adults and free entry for children under 16 at Mill Hall, Bellingham Lane, Rayleigh (free parking).

Winter Ball

Southend Hospital charitable

foundation winter ball in aid of

Keyhole Cancer Appeal at Orsett

Hall, Orsett. £50 per person and

includes a 3-course meal, bottle

of wine and live entertainment.

DecSAT

6

Dates for the diary

For more information on these

fundraising events, please email

fundraising@southend.nhs.uk

or call ext 5337.

Congratulations to...

Farewell to...

Congratulations to Miss Rachel Lythcott (dental core trainee in oral maxillofacial surgery) and Mr Kandasamy Ganesan, consultant oral surgeon, on receiving joint first prize at Junior Papers Day, which is jointly run by Health Education East of England and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow.

The award is in recognition for their work on ‘Management of large oro-antral communications: use of temporal extension of buccal fat pad’. This surgical procedure is proven to be a successful alternative to repair larger oro-antral communications.

Dr John Day, medical and infectious diseases consultant, who celebrated a ‘big birthday’ on 22 September. He was wished a very happy birthday from all the staff working in acute medicine.

Dr Ashraf Mahmood Syed, consultant physician in acute medicine, who joined the trust on 17 April 2012. His last day was 30 September and he has now started work at Medway Maritime Hospital NHS Trust in Gillingham Kent as consultant physician in acute medicine, on a substantive position. Dr Syed will be missed by both his collegues and patients and they wish him all the best in his new role.

Christine Stevens, volunteer in the volunteer befriender service. The memory service team would like to thank Christine for her valuable contribution to the service over the past two years. Christine has spent time chatting to patients with dementia, once they are over the acute phase of their illness. She is moving to Kent to be nearer her daughter. The team would like to wish her all the best for the future.

Mr Kandasamy Ganesan and Miss Rachel Lythcott

Visit www.southend.nhs.uk | Call 01702 435555 07

WORD ON THE TWEET

@harris20 Sep 20Back home this afternoon 2 days after successful knee replacement @SouthendNHS. Feels great! Thanks to all NHS staff involved

Highlighting some of the nice things said about us across the twittersphere in 140 characters or less, and the stories behind them. This month we hear from Trevor Harris, who tweeted:

Trevor said: “I had my left knee replaced in February, which went really well, and when I came into have my second knee replacement I was hoping for as good an experience as the first time around. I was having the same surgeon – Mr White – and in the same ward – Shopland, so I was reasonably hopeful. One thing I wasn’t expecting was that it would go even better!

As last time I had a spinal block and stayed awake; the anaesthetist was great, and it was interesting and reassuring (as before) to hear the team working and the operation being carried out. Staff in the recovery room were great too (and good fun).

Since then I have dealt with the limited pain with suggested pain relief and have kept the swelling down just with elevation. Mobility and range of movement in the joint are great. I’m taking plenty of rest as well as exercise and short frequent walks. I have been discharged on to one stick by the physios and have had the dressing and clips (lots of them) removed to reveal a lovely clean, neat scar, thanks again to Mr White’s team.

This was all-in-all a great experience, which is going to give me a much improved quality of life in the years to come. I can’t say how grateful I am to the NHS, Southend Hospital, all the staff who had dealings with me.

Follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/SouthendNHS

NEW SYSTEM OF GOVERNANCE TRAININGOne of the legal requirements for the trust is that all staff undertake their information governance training in line with their iLearn schedule, but by 31 March 2015 at the latest.

Previously staff have used the national online training system, which has proved slow and time consuming. Listening to feedback, the learning development and information governance teams have developed an in-house e-learning system. This new package, which went live on 1 October, brings a number of benefits to staff:

• The system runs on our own network so access is faster.• Navigating the system is more user friendly.• More relevance, as the system includes anonymous

incidents which have occurred in this trust to illustrate the importance of good information governance.

Dr Ashraf Mahmood Syed

08 Visit www.southend.nhs.uk | Call 01702 435555

HOSPITAL HEROES

YVONNE TRANSLATES AS SUCCESS IN ANY LANGUAGE

SUPER USERS TO THE RESCUE

Winner September 2014: Yvonne Garcia Nino service manager, medical specialties.

The hospital’s recruitment of Spanish nurses has helped many teams to support better patient care, but this month’s nomination recognises someone who has gone above and beyond to ensure those nurses are themselves ably supported.

Despite their highly regarded skills as nurses, coming to work in a foreign country is a massive cultural step and Yvonne Garcia Nino has taken the time and trouble outside of her own role, and in her own time to ensure they settle here in Southend.

Yvonne, who speaks fluent Spanish, picked up issues from the Spanish nurses and, supported by the nursing team, has set up classes for them.

Whilst their level of English is without question Yvonne is tacking pronunciation and accents - important when

you consider one example of an issue - “Thursday” and “Thirsty” - you will understand how important it is for our fantastic new nurses to be supported in this way.

Both Yvonne and her husband have been hosting the evening session for the nurses to help them learn more about the area and ensure they want to remain valuable members of the team here.

Her nomination states: “We are really privileged to have someone who has ‘gone that extra mile’ to help our colleagues so professionally.”

The ‘Medway PAS upgrade user acceptance testing super-users’ have been highly commended this month. The entire team was nominated by the Operational PAS Group, chaired by Margaret-ann Girvan, who said: “With Medway being the most important IT application in the trust, it’s essential that it gets tested for any serious defects that could damage operational performance and increase costs. This task is far too large and complex for one person to test, so the trust relies on volunteers from each business unit.

“Each member of the user acceptance test team volunteered to take several hours out from their busy normal jobs to test an upgrade to the Medway PAS. Operational ‘super-user’ staff volunteered to attend a briefing and then to test relevant areas of Medway on behalf of all Trust end-users. Some super-users tested beyond their areas and others attended in their own time outside their shifts.

“The super-users are all operational staff so software testing is not part of their role. They were enthusiastic and pro-active in suggesting to the supplier ways in which the system could be improved.”