Hello all,
I’m starting this week’s message a little differently, by taking a moment to revisit our values which are the central principles, guiding our actions, behaviours, and judgements. It’s important that we do not lose sight of them through all these challenging times.
This week we saw further ambulance strikes and on Thursday some of our physiotherapists went on strike. Our physiotherapists and support workers play a vital role providing quality care to our patients. Thank you all for going that extra mile at the moment and supporting our colleagues in exercising their right to strike.
I had a great meeting today with Liz Bruce, director of adult social care at Surrey County Council and I’m delighted to hear about the exciting work our teams have been doing together, supported by IMPOWER, on the setup of Godstone Intermediate Care Ward. We are piloting interventions that drive greater integration between health and social care to support patients requiring more complex discharges. So far Godstone has doubled its weekly discharge rate and reduced long-term care needs for patients following discharge since taking this new integrated approach. We will take learning from this, as well as broader improvement support in our assessment areas, as we roll out the Let’s Get You Home policy in the coming weeks. Thanks to all colleagues and partners who have supported this work so far. It’s great to see our teams working so well together.
This week I also took a tour of our new car park, and I was really impressed with the progress made despite significant complications with most of the site being below the water level. We are looking to open the first few hundred spaces of the new car park at the end of this month. I also saw the foundations are in for our new wards which are likely to start arriving in the next couple of weeks. Thank you for your continued patience and thank you to the estates team for all their hard work.
support workers
Yesterday, we created and celebrated our own ‘World Pharmacy Support Workers Day.’ Whilst there is a national day acknowledging pharmacists and technicians, there isn’t one for pharmacy support workers. Our pharmacy support workers play a vital role, so I want to take this opportunity to say a huge thank you for all that you do.
ceremony
This week we also celebrated National Apprenticeship Week, marking the occasion with a presentation ceremony. Well done to all 2022/2023 graduates for your dedication and hard work in completing your apprenticeships!
As part of our Green Plan and NHS’s collective goal of delivering a net zero health service by 2040, it’s important that we continue to do what we can do reduce our carbon footprint. We all need to travel, but by reviewing our travel needs, we can reduce our costs and environmental impact. Please take the time to complete a very simple and short travel survey on our intranet. We’ll take the findings from the survey to suggest smarter travel choices.
Some of you on IRU Ward and in the IT department have agreed to take part in the pilot of a new mental health training game, the “Don’t Walk Past” app, aimed at supporting the mental health and wellbeing of patients admitted into our care, as well as NHS staff. Players are rewarded for acting empathetically towards others and for signposting people for further support. Feedback from the two pilot areas will aid further development of the game and help us understand whether it can play a role in meeting more of our patients’ and colleagues’ needs. I look forward to seeing the feedback from the pilots.
It was lovely to see many of you in person at this month’s TeamTalk. Please do share your thoughts on how you think it went and any suggestions you have. The next TeamTalk is due to take place Wednesday 1 March, 3:30pm - 4:30pm in the lecture theatre.
I can’t end this update without acknowledging the terrible situation in Syria and Turkey following the devastating earthquake. My thoughts are with those of you with friends, family and connections in Syria and Turkey. Please remember that a variety of support services are available at SASH.
Have a good weekend everyone, and I’m looking forward to Scotland beating Wales in the rugby!
Best wishes,
Angela Stevenson
Chief executive