Need to know
For #TeamEEAST Last updated: 27 April 2024 at 03:56
Once again, I want to begin this message by thanking you for all your hard work keeping our patients safe while we continue to meet high levels of demand. We took 5,000 calls on Monday alone.
It feels quite relentless right now, and we know that many of you are tired. We need to support all of you, whether frontline or back-office staff, and doing that will ensure we are also keeping our patients and colleagues safe. Please do check out the resources that are available to you on the Well-being Hub on Need to Know.
The whole of the NHS is feeling the pressure. We are working with our counterparts in acute trusts and other parts of the system to look at what we can do to ease the flow of patients through emergency departments. To ensure we continue to have a safe level of staffing within our own organisation, we have launched an incentive for anyone wishing to work extra shifts – particularly if you work on a DSA, within PTS, call handling, dispatch, ECAT or TOC roles.
An important part of self-care at work is being able to finish on time. As you may know, we have been trialling an End of Shift initiative in West Hertfordshire and West Norfolk which aims to do just that. We’ve had some very positive feedback from colleagues who were part of the trial with people telling us it has created a much happier work environment, improved staff morale and their overall quality of life. Due to the unprecedented demand that the Trust has faced over the last two days we have had to temporarily suspend the trial. I want to assure you all this is a short term action. We will restart the trial as soon as we are able. We will then look at how we can extend the trial within Herts and Norfolk and then, providing we get the same positive results, further across our region
Between 10th and 17th September we will be recognising the World Health Organisation (WHO) global event, World Patient Safety Day (17th September). During the week we will be looking at how we are supporting the WHO goal for 2021-2022, ‘Safe Maternal and Newborn Care’. This will include our Maternity Masterclass which will be held on 15th September, you can sign up now on Evolve. All the information will be on NTK nearer the time.
This Friday also sees the return of the NHS Virtual Pride event, coming at the end of our first ever Pride in the NHS Week – a five day celebration dedicated to our LGBT+ colleagues. It’s been great to see the coverage on social media over the past few days from trusts right around the country. We know that we work best when we can bring our whole selves to work, so let’s continue to develop a culture where all of our colleagues feel able to do this.
And finally, please continue to keep an eye out for updates on the ongoing work we are doing to improve our culture and performance. We still have much to do, but I have no doubt that we will get there.
Keep safe,
Juliet Beal
Director of Nursing, Clinical Quality and Improvement
Published 9th September 2021