Need to know
For #TeamEEAST Last updated: 18 May 2024 at 13:54
The Time to Lead pre-consultation period will begin next week and we will shortly be releasing information to help support this. Time to Lead is about improving the leadership support and development that we provide to our people, and we are initially looking at our Leading Operations Managers (LOMs) roles.
We’ll soon publish dates and venues for face-to-face sessions around the Trust for people to listen to proposals and ask questions – working on two days per sector and two sessions per day – so hopefully everyone who wants to will be able to attend and give their feedback about the proposals. In the meantime, please continue to email TTL@eastamb.nhs.uk.
CQC inspection preparation
In anticipation of our next CQC inspection, which we think may happen over the summer, a series of webinars have been created as a reminder about the key lines of enquiry (KLOE). Each KLOE will be an area of focus for the inspection, and it is important that all of us, as trust staff, are aware of what they include and the work we are doing to meet the requirements for each one.
The webinars are all available on Need to know for you to watch at a time that is convenient and we will be sharing reminders and producing a leaflet with more detail over the coming weeks. If you have any questions about the inspection please speak to your line manager in the first instance or email CQC.Group@eastamb.nhs.uk.
Patient Safety changes update
Many colleagues are now undertaking training ready for the changes in patient safety incident reporting, which will begin to be implemented from September. I’ve spoken about them before, but the shift to a new reporting framework is happening nationwide, it will move the focus from looking at individual actions to look at our processes and systems when we receive an incident report.
As we move to the new Patient Safety Incident Reporting Framework (PSIRF), the patient safety team will be on hand to support colleagues with additional training and learning. We will also have patient safety partners based around the trust and we have recruited new patient safety specialists who will support the process in local areas. You can find all the information about the changes on East24 and we will be adding any new information over the next few weeks. If you have any questions, please contact the patient safety team at patientsafety@eastamb.nhs.uk.
When it comes to patient safety the most important thing is that we learn from any incident that occurs. Please do continue to report any issues on Datix, the more we report the more we learn, and the better the safety quality of care we are able to offer to our patients.
Supporting mental health conversations
It’s not always easy to start a conversation about how someone is feeling, particularly when it comes to mental health. I’m sure that we’ve all had moments when we can see someone is finding things difficult, but it can be hard to know how to help or support them.
This is why we are encouraging all our managers to complete an online ‘Managing mental health in the workplace’ course. We hope it will help them to develop the skills and confidence needed to navigate those conversations and support their team members in managing work-related stress, whilst also being able to recognise signs of it in themselves and understand where to go for help.
Further details, including course dates and times, are available on Need to Know.
Celebrating our Armed Forces colleagues
This week on Need to Know, two of our EEAST colleagues shared their experiences of being reservists to mark Armed Forces Reserves Day on Wednesday (21st June). Both Gavin and Mia are clinicians and spoke about how their reservist roles have complemented their day job here at EEAST, increasing their confidence and giving them a wide range of additional skills, which have enhanced the work they do for the trust.
Many of you within the trust are also reservists, or indeed veterans, and you bring a wealth of experience to the job for which we are hugely grateful. We also work closely with members of the military who support us as volunteers during times of extreme pressure, and of course, we also deal with many patients from the armed forces community. Earlier this year, as a trust, we resigned the Armed Forces Covenant which means we are committed to providing care and support to all our armed forces colleagues and we recognise the unique skillset and knowledge base that you bring with you as members of our team here at EEAST. This Saturday (24th June) is also Armed Forces Day and we’ll be sharing a video message on Need to Know to mark the occasion, so do keep an eye out for it.
Local Q&As
It’s a local Q&A week and if you have the chance to attend a session then please do try to dial in for it. The Q&As are a really good way of ensuring you are up to date with any wider issues that might impact your particular area of work, and they also give you the opportunity to raise concerns or ask questions directly to members of the leadership team for your directorate.
Thank You Thursday
This week’s Thank You is from a patient who used our Patient Transport Service in Thurrock.
‘He was excellent, polite, friendly and very professional in helping me to and from the ambulance, which I really appreciated given my medical issues.’
And finally…
Over recent days a few people have mentioned an issue with colleagues leaving idling vehicles outside offices where windows are open. In the main, these have been DSA’s, with no patients inside, but they are causing noise and sending exhaust fumes into offices. Can we please think of other colleagues and switch engines off where possible.
Thank you
Melissa Dowdeswell
Interim Chief Operating Officer and Director of Nursing, Safety and Quality
Published 22nd June 2023