Hello all,
With lots in the news this week about waiting times in emergency departments, I thought it was important to thank our teams across the trust for all the work to see people as quickly as possible. In November, our performance against the national four-hour standard improved by more than 10% compared with October. As we continue to get used to our new electronic patient record, and focus relentlessly on quality, safety and patient experience, we will continue this improvement.
Behind these statistics there are thousands of patients, each with a unique story, who we are helping and supporting. A particular well done to Lucy Brodrick, staff nurse, and John Stygle, advanced care practitioner, for providing exceptional support for a family last weekend. Not only did they help a mother with her immediate health issue, they also made sure the family received holistic support. They worked with social services to provide them with supplies and equipment that would help with their wider needs and contribute to preventing them needing emergency care again. I have heard several reports of how grateful the family were for the kindness you showed – what a great example of going above and beyond.
Speaking of kindness – yesterday, students from East Surrey College donated a range of gifts including toys, toiletries and books for patients in hospital in the run up to the festive season. We’re very grateful and were pleased to give them a behind-the-scenes tour to say thank you.
We’re once again seeing high prevalence of COVID and of flu, so it’s really important that we maintain our high standards of infection prevention and control. Face masks must be worn in our buildings – this is a really effective way of reducing the spread of the viruses. Please also remember your vaccines. The flu vaccine is available from our occupational health department – please get yours as soon as possible. Yesterday marked two-years since the NHS administered the first COVID vaccination too; we’ve administered around 15,000 doses for our colleagues since then and it’s made such an impact in reducing the chances of people getting seriously ill from COVID. If you still need your latest booster, you can book online here.
18-month programme as regional international
recruitment fellows
Last week I told you that our procurement team had been shortlisted for a national sustainability award for their work to introduce a new way of providing sharps bins across the Trust. Well, I am absolutely thrilled to tell you that they won the award! What a fantastic achievement – well done to our procurement team and all colleagues across the Trust who played a part in this initiative.
Well done to Funmi Ajose and Rizza Cadiz for completing their 18-month programme as regional international recruitment fellows. We are proud to have many colleagues from overseas build their careers with us and it’s so important that we develop the very best way of doing this that ensures new colleagues are given as much support as possible. Funmi and Rizza’s expertise will certainly help us to do that.
Finally, a date for your diary. We’re holding a carol concert at East Surrey Hospital on 19 December at 5pm. It’s being organised by our chaplaincy and spiritual care team and they hope to see lots of you there!
Best wishes
Angela Stevenson
Chief executive