Welcome to the April edition of your UHSussex staff newsletter, a round-up of the news stories from across our hospitals this month. |
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With the rare overlapping of Easter, Ramadan and Passover earlier this month, we hope that you all were able to find time to celebrate and spend time with loved ones.
We hope you all enjoyed your recent treats too - a small gesture of appreciation for your continued hard work and dedication. A big thank you to our Health and Wellbeing and catering teams for all their efforts in making this happen. It’s been wonderful to see the photos and hear the positive reactions from colleagues. One colleague said: “I cannot believe that it is a full size box of Milk Tray each! Everyone has commented on how delicious the fruit is and I can personally vouch for the plums. This is a very kind gesture and my staff are very grateful.”
Other news this month includes stories on our Mobility-a-thon, Brighton Marathon, Covid stories, the laundry team at St Richard's and much more.
So please grab a cuppa and take some time out to catch up on our news.
Thank you,
Communications
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Brighton Marathon - thank you to our volunteers, fundraisers and research team |
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Over 9,000 people took part in this year's Brighton Marathon and UHSussex played an important part in this local event.
Volunteers, fundraisers and researchers from UHSussex provided medical care, piloted a life saving research project and raised money for our hospital charities.
Read more in our marathon stories:
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Gemba visits across our hospitals |
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The executive team, led by chief executive Dr Andy Heeps, has been busy visiting wards and teams across our hospitals.
As part of the Patient First programme, the visits are known as Gemba, which means 'where the work is done'. The visits aim to find out more about the challenges and successes in our teams.
After a successful first Gemba visit to St Richard’s Hospital on 6 April, Andy and team visited Princess Royal Hospital on 13 April and spoke to colleagues in ED, on the labour ward, in the urology team and on Ansty ward. They also visited Royal Sussex County Hospital on 20 April and will continue visiting other sites over coming weeks. So look out for the team and be sure to let them know about your challenges and successes.
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Be part of the Our Covid stories commemoration |
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Last month we launched the UHSussex Our Covid Story website which holds over 100 stories from staff on what it was like working through the first and second waves of the pandemic.
The next step in our commemoration of staff covid stories is our leather bound book which will be kept in our chapels and sacred spaces. It's not too late to submit your story to be included. We'd love to hear from you on your reflections of working through the pandemic so we can include these in our book.
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From shaking hands with a 'super spreader' to victory with the vaccines - Dr Rob Haigh's Covid story |
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Continuing the Covid stories theme if you missed the online talk by Dr Rob Haigh, Deputy Chief Medical Officer, then it's not too late to watch again.
Dr Haigh reflected on the extraordinary onset of the pandemic in 2020 and how our hospital teams have been responding ever since. From meeting the first ‘super spreader’ to the incredible breakthrough of vaccines that broke the link between infection and severe illness, Dr Haigh shared his experiences and answered questions.
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Patient First STAR Awards 2022
The excitement is building towards the first Patient First STAR Awards for UHSussex with gold envelopes being delivered to our finalists. Look out for our awards special newsletter featuring all our shortlisted stars coming out soon.
Star of the Month scheme reopened
The Star of the Month Award is also open again for entries from Tuesday 3 May so if you have someone you'd like to recognise and thank for the way they have gone over and above then complete a nomination for them today.
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A fond farewell to Nurse Consultant Denise Hinge
We recently said a very fond farewell to our colleague Denise Hinge who has hung up her nurse’s uniform to start a very well-deserved next chapter in retirement.
She leaves us with 38 years’ experience working in Critical Care and over 20 years leading the Outreach Service, during which she became the first Nurse Consultant appointed in Sussex.
We caught up with Denise to find out more about her achievements and what’s next for her.
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Free health checks
All UHSussex staff can take advantage of free health checks on offer. Appointments are 30 minutes long and available across Royal Sussex County, Princess Royal, Worthing, St. Richard’s and Southlands hospitals, until July 2022.
Free mindfulness courses
Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) can help us learn ways to reduce worry and negative cycles of thinking. The free course for staff lasts for 8 sessions with each session at 2 hours long. Each week there is a mixture of mindfulness practice, discussion and exercises.
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Laundry refresh at St Richards presses ahead.
The Laundry Team at St Richards washes upwards of four million items each year. In February, a project got underway to completely refurbish the Laundry and provide its hard-working staff with the latest equipment.
The new machinery will be much more efficient in both processing laundry and in energy use, in line with the Trust's Green Plan.
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Some of the new equipment has already been delivered and commissioned. To carry out the main refurbishment though, the Laundry will have to be shut between mid-May and mid-July this year. Thanks to the outstanding work of the Laundry Team and those supporting the project there will be no noticeable change to the service during this time. The laundry will be done at Eastbourne Hospital and extra stock has been bought to cover the time it takes to transport it.
Once the St Richard's Laundry is back up and running in July, the team will be able to process more items with less environmental impact while still providing the best quality of service.
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Mobility-a-Thon
Over 100 staff at Worthing Hospital took part in our first ever Mobility-a-Thon on 8 April to raise awareness about the benefits of exercise and activity for physical and mental health for staff and patients.
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Staff could get involved in a number of different ways - from the green challenge of ditching the car and finding an active way to travel to and from work, to the ultra-marathon on a static bike, and a smartwatch baton to record step counts.
Luke Hodgson, Intensive Care and Respiratory Consultant, explains how the idea for the mobility-a-thon came about:
“Behavioural mapping of the wards found that our patients spend the majority of the time in bed, with most of the remainder sat in a chair. Being active is so important for physical and mental wellbeing. We hope to generate conversations with staff, patients and their relatives, and get us all thinking about how we can overcome barriers to mobility in our hospitals.”
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Brighton bands take to the stage in support of UHSussex!
Love Your Hospital and BSUH Charity are teaming up with music institution, BIMM Brighton.
On Thursday 11 May, 20 up and coming bands will take to the stage at the Old Market in Brighton and raise funds for our hospitals.
Don’t miss a brilliant night out with a diverse mix of outstanding live performances in support of our hospitals.
Entry is just £3, please enter the promo code ‘NHS11’ when booking.
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Wishing our Muslim colleagues a happy Eid-ul-Fitr |
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“As the month of Ramadan shortly draws to a close, let’s join together in wishing our Muslim colleagues a joyous and blessed Eid-ul-Fitr”
Revd Jo Elliott, Joint Lead Chaplain, UHSussex
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In case you missed it....
Here's our round-up of all the stories and updates across the Trust in April:
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Patient feedback highlights |
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