In form Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust’s Staff Newsle er 

June 2015 

While many of us enjoy the hot weather during the summer it is important we remember the things we need to do to protect our pa ents, family and friends. 

Whenever we get a bout of very hot weather, it can cause problems for the way we deliver some of our services, and can, naturally, cause health concerns or exacerbate condi ons for some of our pa ents. As healthcare professionals it is important that we are familiar with the Heatwave Plan. This provides guidance on how to prepare for and respond to sustained hot weather, in par cular what we must do to support those in high risk groups due to their medical condi on or vulnerability.

When the Met Office or Department of Health issue alerts about poten ally serious weather condi ons this informa on will be cascaded down to Trust staff. If appropriate, teams will need to consider the impact the likely weather will have on the delivery of that service or on their pa ents. An ‘alert’ is now func oning on the homepage of the Trust public website and of the Staff Zone too, where further informa on and advice, and links to the na onal Heatwave Plan and Ac on Cards, can

be found.

It is also important that we look a er

ourselves, family and friends during spells of hot weather, par cularly children and the elderly.

Again, you can find more hints and ps about looking a er yourself during the summer on the Trust website.

Keep up‐to‐date with what’s happening around the Trust by following @ShropCommHealth

Heatwave Alert Levels There are five levels of 'alert' in the na onal Heatwave Plan.

Level 0: Long term planning ‐ all year

Level 1: Heatwave and summer preparedness programme

Level 2: Heatwave is forecast – Alert and readiness

Level 3: Heatwave Ac on

Level 4: Major incident ‐ emergency response 

June 2015 

What is Sit & See? This simple observa on tool captures and records the smallest things that make the biggest difference to pa ent care. The observer usually sits for 20 minutes to watch for

ny examples of care and compassion or how to improve aspects of care.

Who are the Observers? 

The Observers come from both lay people (Pa ent & Carer Panel) and our staff, in all professional groups. They are trained in the Sit & See Observa onal Tool and in feedback. They have had a DBS check and are verified as ‘safe’ to support us. There are no confiden ality issues unless the pa ent/carer themselves do not wish an observa on to take place. On 1‐2‐1 Sit & See (i.e. not on a ward area), previous consent may be sought from the pa ent/carer prior to the observa on taking place. Obviously each individual case is considered separately.

What are they observing? 

They are NOT watching you! They are observing the experience from a pa ent’s point of view. For example a smile, a li le banter, or a reassuring touch. A simple recording system is used by the Observer to iden fy posi ve, passive and poor care. This is then feedback immediately to the senior member of staff to help show how good the care has been or what they may need to think about changing.

What’s in it for you? 

Staff learn to see care through the pa ent’s eyes which gives them an understanding of the difference their interac ons can really make to pa ent dignity, care and compassion. Things you probably haven’t even thought about because you see them every day.

Get involved 

If you would like to take part in the next Sit & See training session taking part at William Farr House on 17 July then contact Louise Owen or Mark Donovan by telephone 01743 277669 or 01743 277620 or by email at mark.donovan@shropcom.nhs.uk or louise.owen@shropcom.nhs.uk 

“We welcomed the Sit & See because it helped us

see that the You Said, We Did was working. In fact we asked for a further 3 Sit & See observa ons to make sure we had got it right”

 MIU staff, 2015

Can you help us gather pa ent and carer stories? 

Sharing the stories of our pa ents, carers and staff is an important way for us all to learn from our experiences. 

We want you to let us know if you have pa ents and/or carers who would be willing to share a story or let us know their experiences with our services. This helps us to understand what we do well and where we can improve. These stories can remain anonymous if people would prefer.

Stories from our staff are also important. We want hear about any problems you have faced and overcome, or other experiences that you think your

colleagues would benefit from hearing.

We have 30 staff and volunteers already

trained to help us gather and share these stories, and we would like to see more.

The stories that we gather provide strong first‐hand feedback and are used to help us make improvements. They are regularly shared with the Trust Board so that important issues are being shared throughout the organisa on, and we now want to share these as far and wide as we can.

If you have a story you would like to share then please contact Louise Owen or Mark Donovan by telephone 01743 277669 or 01743 277620 or by email at mark.donovan@shropcom.nhs.uk or louise.owen@shropcom.nhs.uk 

Commitment to Quality 2 

June 2015 

A new Therapeu c Garden for pa ents, visitors and staff has been officially opened at Whitchurch Hospital.

This is the culmina on of a project to transform an una rac ve and inaccessible piece of land at the hospital into an a rac ve area specifically designed to help people with their rehabilita on, while also providing a place for visitors and staff to relax. The project was made possible thanks to a fundraising campaign launched by Councillor Peggy Mullock during her me at town Mayor, and received lots of support from the community. Councillor Mullock was joined by pa ents, guests and staff at the hospital on 12 June to officially open the new garden. It was a huge landscaping effort that included pu ng in new paths with varied surfaces, which is important for rehabilita on, focal points of interest, an area for outdoor exercise and leisure ac vity, and carefully planned sensory plan ng for relaxa on, privacy and mental s mula on. Andrew Thomas, Clinical Services Manager at Whitchurch Hospital, said: “This was a big landscaping project to create an area that will really benefit our pa ents, as well as providing an a rac ve open space at the hospital. We are really pleased with the way the garden looks and grateful for all of the support we have received from the community and from the Friends of Whitchurch Hospital.” To get the design right we took into account the views of demen a care environment guidelines, local chari es, nursing staff, occupa onal therapists, and physiotherapists, as well as architectural and estates advice. The garden can be accessed by both wheelchair users and pa ents in beds.

Opening the new garden at Whitchurch Hospital 

Respect and Dignity Everyone Counts  

June 2015 

4 

The University of Stafford organised a Nurse Recruitment Day on the 1 June 2015 at the Telford Interna onal Centre.  

The event was organised to showcase the number and variety of employment opportuni es in many aspect of health care, including Community Nursing. It a racted more than 300 students and Registered Nurses from Adult, Children and Mental Health courses.

We were the only Community Trust there that day with other employers including The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, hospices, private agencies and the Military.

Sarah Yewbrey, Placement Educa on Facilitator and Catherine Chaplin, Clinical Educator did an excellent job of ‘selling’ the best a ributes of our work, our diversity of clinical roles and our Health & Wellbeing opportuni es. I was there to offer support and of course coffee and a comfort break! They both needed it, the stand was crowded and never without someone enquiring about us.

The stand looked fantas c with lots of informa on and things for the visitors to take away. Many of the people interested in working for us were offered the chance to complete a short ‘postcard’ detailing their area of interest and contact details. These were passed to the HR Team who will make contact and follow up.

All of the visitors were clear about what they wanted and almost all had spent me in the community as a result of their placement rota ons. Only one said that she hadn’t enjoyed it, but on further inquiry it wasn’t our Trust she had been placed with!

One Nurse did tell us that she had applied for a post and been told not to bother as she didn’t have at least 12 months post‐registra on experience. We assured her that that was not the case and followed it up with a conversa on with the senior staff at the university. This is a message we must all send, par cularly with the exci ng Preceptorship Programme that is currently in development.

Overall, an excellent event with high visibility for us, let’s hope that converts to our vacancies being filled!

 Recrui ng New Staff Andrew Coleman, Deputy Director of Nursing & Quality, reflects on a  trip to a recent Nurse Recruitment Event 

Michelle Hermiston is the new Hospital and GP Link Worker based within the Carers Centre in Telford.

If you would like to know more about the Carer Centre and how Michelle can help you to help carers please contact her and arrange a visit. She can also give a short presenta on to your team/department explaining what they do and how carers can be signposted.

In addi on, if appropriate and prac cal, Michelle is

available to a end clinic sessions where carers could approach her directly about the support available to them.

Michelle can be contact at the Carers Centre on: 01952 240209

Email: micmichelle.hermiston @carerscentre.org.uk 

Introducing Michelle Hermiston 

June 2015 

5 

Teaching the next genera on about our Minor Injuries Units 

Pupils from Bellan House School in Oswestry have been to see exactly what we do in our Minor Injuries Units. 

The youngsters visited Oswestry MIU earlier this month and took part in a whole host of ac vi es to help them understand more about the services provided there.

During the visit staff were able to involve their visitors in lots of demonstra ons, such as how to apply bandages and plaster casts, the importance of hand hygiene, and how to check blood pressure, among other things.

This visit was part of an educa on programme that is being created to engage children and their parents to use both health and educa on combined to reduce injury to children and show them how to use their local community health services effec vely.

This work is s ll in its early stages and you will hear much more about it once it’s up‐and‐running.

June 2015 

Each month in Inform, Risk Manager Peter Foord focuses on a par cular topic and explains why it’s so important to report and manage the risks. 

Duty of Candour Update

The Duty of Candour is a legal duty on hospital, community and mental health trusts to inform and apologise to pa ents if there have been mistakes in their care that have led to harm. The aim is to help pa ents receive accurate, truthful informa on about their care and ensure we have an open, honest and transparent culture.

Its now over seven months since the Duty of Candour came into force as part of the Health and Social Care Regula ons. It applied to NHS trusts from November 2014, and for all registered providers from April 2015.

Since November, 41 incidents have been bookmarked by the reporter that the duty applies, of these 4 have received both the verbal and wri en no fica on requirements of the regula ons.

Examples of where the duty would apply include:

a pa ent develops a Grade 2 pressure ulcer where the correct pressure relieving equipment was not in place 

a medica on error leads to the pa ent requiring monitoring for a protracted period of  me 

In the majority of the other cases it has been appropriate to make sure that the pa ent or their representa ve is no fied of the incident, and an apology is given, even though the regulatory duty does not apply (normally because there is no harm caused).

Regardless of the regula ons we have a general duty, you could say a moral duty, to be open and honest with our pa ents and certainly apologise to them when care is not as it should be, harm or no harm.

You may find it useful to use the incident form as a means of recording conversa ons with pa ents following an incident, and of course must record it on the form when the regulatory duty applies

Regula on 20 of the Health and Social Care Regula ons, the Duty of Candour, the Duty of Candour applies to unintended or unexpected incidents that occurred during provision of care that lead to the death of a service user, or caused severe harm, moderate harm, or prolonged psychological harm:

Moderate harm is defined as requiring a moderate increase in treatment 

Prolonged psychological harm is defined as an impairment of the sensory, motor or intellectual func ons a con nuous period of 28 days 

If in doubt, apply the Duty!

Contact Details 

If you have any queries or concerns about managing risks contact you line manager or:

Peter Foord, Corporate Risk Manager,  01743 277661 

Anita Bishop, Assistant Risk Manager, 01743 277660 

R  I S K Repor ng 

Coming Soon: New Electronic Pa ent Records 

Following feedback from our services we are now looking to buy a new Electronic Pa ent Record (EPR) system. 

We are looking for a system that will improve the way that pa ent informa on is recorded and shared, and aid clinical decision making across our services.

Once we have found and bought the right system for us we will share more details about it and about the programme of training that will be rolled out, which we expect to start later this year.

We are expec ng our first services to “go live” on the new system star ng in November 2015, with a plan to have all services up‐and‐running by April 2016. 6 

Incident Repor ng ‐ closing the loop 

Using the Communica ons and Feedback tool within Da x will help you to make sure the person who reported an incident is kept up‐to‐date with any ac on that has been taken.

This will also help with any learning to come from the event and to acknowledge the value of repor ng an incident by showing the person that ac on is being taken.

273 miles for Samaritans Jon Aston, Alcohol Liaison Nurse, tells us a bit about the challenge he has set for himself over the summer months: 

I am a staff nurse employed by Shropcom working at the Princess Royal Hospital in Telford. Over the summer months I am taking part in five long‐distance running events and raising money for the Samaritans. I have chosen the Samaritans as I needed to make use of them whilst unwell with severe depression in 2013/14 and I really want to give something back.

The first two events were the Aston Subedge Ultra Marathon on 6 June, which was a 30‐mile race in the countryside of Worcestershire, Warwickshire and Gloucestershire. Then came the Holly Marathon in Telford on 13 June.

In July, I will be taking part in a 50‐mile event, which is part of the Much Wenlock Olympics. August will see me running a 37‐mile event on the banks of the River Severn in Shropshire and finally the challenge will culminate in the 130‐mile non‐stop Liverpool to Leeds Canal Race at the end of August.

If successful I will be running 273 miles hence the name of my challenge 273 miles for Samaritans.

If you would like to find out more about Jon’s challenge or sponsor him then go to: www.justgiving.com/JonsSamaritansChallenge/

Going the extra mile 

Jon has a lot of ground to cover this summer 

Cycling 100 miles for the Bri sh Lung Founda on 

Elsa Davies, Respiratory Team Leader, is planning to take part in the Pruden al Ride London Surrey 100 in August, which is a 100‐mile route through London and parts of the Surrey countryside. It features leg‐tes ng climbs and a route made famous by the world’s best cyclists at the London 2012 Olympics, it's a truly spectacular event for all involved.

Elsa is doing it to raise money to support the Bri sh Lung Founda on, a charity which campaigns for be er recourses, funds research and provides support and informa on for pa ents with respiratory disease. The charity also supports a network of pa ent groups, the local branch of which is a huge support to many local people with respiratory disease.

You can show your support for Elsa at: h p://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/ElsaDavies   

7 

Members of our School Nurse Service completed the Race for Life in Telford Town Park on at the end of May and want to thank everyone who supported them. 

Cancer Research UK's Race for Life is the largest women‐only fundraising event in the UK and once again had plenty of people taking part. 

Improving Lives 

June 2015 

Staff Benefits From July the range of staff benefits available will be extended to include schemes for buying computers and mobile phones.   

Phones for Staff allows you to take advantage of the tax free allowance on mobile phones (either just a handset or a handset and contract). This means you can get a mobile phone from your employer through easy monthly payroll reduc ons whilst saving up to 47% on the cost. Through this method, you do not have to pay Income Tax, Na onal Insurance and NHS Pension Contribu ons (if you are a member of the NHS Pension Scheme) on the value of the phone. You can select a phone from an online brochure, which includes all the major brands such as Apple, Samsung, Nokia, HTC, Blackberry and Sony.

The Home Electronics for Staff scheme allows you to buy equipment of your choice through easy monthly payroll reduc ons whilst saving up to 25% on the cost. Through this method, you pay reduced Income Tax, Na onal Insurance and NHS Pension Contribu ons (if you are a member of the NHS Pension Scheme) on the value of the equipment. Again, you can select a wide range of goods from the online brochure, such as laptops, tablets, desktop PCs, so ware and printers.

Ini ally, the order window will run from 1 to 28 July. For more informa on go to the benefits portal at www.benefitsbrochure.com or call 01252 784540.

Total Reward Statements (TRS) have been introduced to provide you with a be er understanding of the benefits you have or may have access to as an employee of the Na onal Health Service (NHS).

What a Total Reward Statement includes 

Your TRS will provide personalised informa on about the value of your employment package and include details about your remunera on and the benefits provided locally by your employer.

For members of the NHS Pension Scheme your TRS may also include an annual pension benefit statement.

Obtaining Your Total Reward Statement 

Your TRS is held securely. To see your statement you can access it with your Government Gateway ID (see Log‐in or Register) at www.totalrewardstatements.nhs.uk or if you have access to ESR Self Service ‐ you can access your statement using the link in your portal.

Total Reward Statements 

8 

June 2015 

Are you following us on Twi er? 

Do you use Twi er? If so, did you know the Trust has a Twi er account? 

We use our twi er account to promote news and events from across the Trust, to support the ac vi es of staff and the wider health and social care community, and to interact with the growing number of followers we have every week.

You can find our official Twi er account at @ShropCommHealth  

Our School Nurses are also using Twi er now. You can follow them at @SCHTSchoolNurse  9 

Everyone Counts  

June 2015 

Celebra ng what we do well Do you know a person, a team, a service, or a project that has delivered something extra special for pa ents in Telford & Wrekin during 2014/15?  

If you do, then Telford & Wrekin CCG is invi ng nomina ons for its Care with Confidence Awards 2015. The awards were launched during the CCGs inaugural AGM last September as a way of recognising the achievements of the people and organisa ons that deliver health‐related services to people across Telford and Wrekin.

Anyone can nominate someone else for an award. The winners could be a member of a voluntary group or charity, local NHS staff, a health‐related team, a local hospital, or a member of the public whose posi ve deeds in health‐related provision are deemed worthy of recogni on.

Nomina on forms are available from the homepage of the Telford & Wrekin CCG website at www.telfordccg.nhs.uk or email enquiries@telfordccg.nhs.uk or via twi er @telfordccg.

The deadline for entries is Friday 24 July 2015.

Local Offer: The Local Offer is your One Stop

Shop for services and informa on rela ng to Special Educa onal Needs and Disability. The informa on and services are there to help you navigate your way through the world of SEND. You can find out about the new Educa on Health Care Plans, how to access CAMHS, or where your local ‘All In’ ac vity is based. With over 500 services to look through, including schools, colleges, health and social care provision, we can help you find the right service

for you and your family. You can out more

informa on at:  www.shropshire.gov.uk/local‐offer 

Sing‐a‐long: Staff who like to sing are

invited to a sing‐a‐long event being held at The Redwoods Centre on 25 June. This follows a successful that took place in March. It will start at 6pm, and there are no audi ons. For more informa on contact Jessica Kent at jessica.kent@sss .nhs.uk or call 01743 210048.

Trust News: Keep up to date with news

from the Trust by visi ng the Staff Zone of the website. Also, if you have news that would like to share with colleagues please send it to communica on@shropcom.nhs.uk 

News in Brief 

10 

Queen’s Birthday Honours List 2016 Do you know someone who deserves to be recognised for their hard work and dedica on, and who really makes a big, posi ve difference to our pa ents and carers?

Right now the Department of Health is asking us to nominate those people who have made an outstanding contribu on within the health and care system to be considered in next year’s Queen’s Birthday Honours List, and I would encourage to have a think about the people you work with.

Every day we see a wide range of commi ed and modest staff striving to make a posi ve difference for our pa ents. This would be a really powerful way of showing them how much their work is valued. It doesn’t ma er what role, status or seniority someone has, what ma ers is what they have done and the impact they have had on people’s health or care.

If you know someone who you think is deserving of an honour then the process for nomina ng them is rela vely straigh orward. The nomina on form and guidance on comple ng it is available at on the Gov.uk website at: www.gov.uk/government/news/health‐and‐care‐nomina ons‐wanted‐for‐honurs‐list

Nomina on forms need to be submi ed by 15 July 2015.

June 2015 

11 

Na onal News A message from the Secretary of State for Health, Jeremy Hunt 

The Secretary of State for Health talks about the new deal for GPs and how this will deliver be er services for pa ents. 

Thank you for having me back as Health Secretary. I always believed doing this job is one of the biggest privileges of my life and I am incredibly proud to be responsible once again for so many remarkable people doing their best for pa ents every day. Last week I spoke about one of the cornerstones of the NHS; general prac ce. The Royal College of GPs es mated that there were 370 million consulta ons in general prac ce last year ‐ 90% of all pa ent contact ‐ and demand is likely to keep growing as a result of an ageing popula on, changes in pa ents’ health needs, and rising public expecta ons. The number of people with 3 or more long term condi ons is set to increase by 50% to almost 3 million by 2018, while people understandably expect to be able to access services at evenings and weekends. None of this is possible without a transforma on in the way we deliver GP services. That means more GPs ‐ around 5000 more ‐ on top of increases in other parts of the primary care workforce including more prac ce nurses, district nurses, physicians’ associates and pharmacists. It means be er infrastructure, which our investment of £1 billion for improvements in the primary care estate will help. And it means tackling the bureaucracy and burnout that have too o en sapped morale in the profession. In return pa ents should find it easier to see a GP with prac ces working collabora vely across their communi es to provide evening and weekend access to services. We also need to empower GPs to take greater responsibility for the overall care that pa ents receive and their health outcomes. The new GP scorecard will help support quality improvement by providing unprecedented transparency about the quality of primary care. Going forward we will see more changes in general prac ce than any other part of the NHS in the coming years ‐ changes that recognise the vital role GPs play at the heart of a modern, pa ent‐centred healthcare system.

The Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt MP

NHS England Staff Bulle ns 

NHS England publishes a variety of regular news bulle ns aimed at different NHS organisa ons and staff groups (such as Health Visitors, and AHPs).

You can find details about these bulle ns and how to subscribe on the NHS England website at: www.england.nhs.uk/publica ons/bulle ns/

May 2015 

Inform is produced by the Communica ons Team. If you have any ideas for features or you would like to promote you and your team’s success then simply email communica ons@shropcom.nhs.uk 

Staff Lo ery Winners Here’s a list of the latest set of Staff Lo ery winners. All employees of this Trust, as well as The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals NHS Trust and Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Founda on Trust are eligible to join.

To join the scheme you can download the lo ery applica on form from the Staff Zone on the Trust website. This needs to be returned to Wendy Hall, Staff Lo ery Administrator, William Farr House, My on Oak Road, Shrewsbury SY3 8XL. If you have any queries please email Lucy at wendy.hall@shropcom.nhs.uk or call 01743 277500 (ext 4017).

3512 Mrs. Elizabeth Reece S&TH Theatres (RSH) £500 3867 Mrs Sheila Gould S&TH Ludlow Maternity £250 2905 Mrs. Jane Good SCHT Ludlow Stretton Ward £100 1950 Mrs. Cheryl Callaghan S&TH Ward 26 (RSH) £50 789 Ms Emma Clark S&TH Specialist Nurses - Cancer £25 185 Mr Stephen Wear SCHT H.R. Occ Health £25 117 Mrs Ursula Fielding S&TH Apley Ward / Clinic £25 347 Mrs Dinah Radford SCHT Quality £25

2512 Mrs. Louise Walton S&TH Biochemistry (RSH) £25 943 Miss Astrid Wilde S&TH Strategy Management £25 722 Miss Sophie Wright S&TH Pathology - Multi- £25 760 Mrs. Sharon Clews S&TH Medical Secretaries - General £25 552 Mrs. Elizabeth Shanklin S&TH Physiotherapy Department £25

4027 Mrs. Gillian Griffiths RJ&AH Theatres £25 1656 Mr. Robert Fry SSSF CRHT Shropshire £25 2006 Mrs. Lorraine Vaughan S&TH Medical Secretaries - General £25

Culinary challenge serves up na onal award shortlis ng 

A cooking compe on aimed at raising awareness on nutri on for older people in Telford & Wrekin has been shortlisted for a na onal award. The Come Snack With Us event that we hosted with Telford & Wrekin Clinical Commissioning Group, at Shrewsbury Town Football Club in March, has been shortlisted in the Nursing Times Awards 2015 in the Care of Older People category. The challenge asked entrants to plan and prepare appe sing, nutri ous, easy to make and easy to eat finger food with the emphasis on temp ng older people to improve their healthy food intake and was won by Cheswardine Hall Nursing and Residen al Care Home near Market Drayton, who made Banoffee Tarts, commended for being ‘of restaurant quality’ by the panel of judges. Chris ne Morris, Execu ve Nurse at Telford and Wrekin CCG, said: “We’re really thrilled to have been recognised in the

shortlist for the Nursing Times Care of Older People Award. “It’s a testament, not just to the hard‐work and dedica on of the team that made the event happen, but to the crea vity of everyone involved. We’re very proud to have been shortlisted for the award and believe it reflects the commitment of health professionals in the area to ensuring that awareness is raised around this important issue, said Mrs Morris.” Steve Gregory, Director of Nursing and Opera ons, said: "It is great to see the compe on has been recognised for the real purpose it was put together and for the hard work that went into making it happen. While it was a fun event, it highlighted some really significant issues which we felt it was important to support."