Hello all,
This week NHS England officially confirmed formal approval for the Sussex Collaborative Crawley Community Diagnostics Centre (CDC) which will support pathway redesign to ensure more patients can have faster access to diagnostic tests enabling swifter diagnosis. We have significantly contributed to the development of the planning for the CDC and will have a key role to play in its implementation, working collaboratively with our partners to deliver it. This is an exciting development for improving health outcomes for the local population, building on the previous approval we received for a CDC at Caterham Dene.
Thanks to those colleagues who took part in the mock evacuation exercise on Wednesday, and to those who organised the session. It’s a crucial part of keeping patients safe and I was pleased that we were able to evacuate everyone very swiftly and safely. Well done to all who were involved.
This week we managed to prioritise responding to a patient’s very special request. Sarah Mitchelmore, Katie Davis and the Brockham ward team heard that a patient and her partner, both under the care of the Macmillan Cancer Support team wanted to get married. The staff worked with the chaplaincy, catering, SASH charity, communications and estates team on the arrangements, along with the generosity of local businesses to make this happen today. It is lovely to see so many of our teams going the extra mile for our patients, so thank you to the teams involved and congratulations to the couple.
I also want to acknowledge and thank Dom Fitzmaurice and the car parking team for all their hard work this week, particularly coordinating staff parking in the temporary block-me-in-bays at East Surrey Hospital in the cold weather. I know the car park changes and long waits to get into our car parks continue to be really frustrating and upsetting, for visitors, patients, and staff, but next month we will have increased capacity that will makes things much better.
I’m delighted to share that the SASH+ Lean for Leaders programme has received an exciting accreditation, meaning going forward, all successful participants will receive 25 CPD credits upon completion of the course. Lean for Leaders teaches us new improvement methodology to reduce waste at work by getting the right things to the right place, at the right time, in the right quantities, while minimising waste and being open to change. This is the first major course from SASH that has sought and received external accreditation in this way from the Faculty of Medical Leadership and Management, so it’s something to be extremely proud of. You can read more about the accreditation on our website.
On Wednesday 1 February, teachers will be striking across England and Wales. I know this will impact many members of SASH staff when it comes to their childcare commitments. I know this will be difficult for many of them, so in order to understand what each of them need, I encourage staff to please speak to their line manager
As part of our wellbeing drive, I’m pleased to say we are once again welcoming back the Jump Start programme here at SASH, which will now be complemented by free-of-charge fitness classes. On Mondays and Wednesdays either Jump Start or a drop-in beginner’s session will run. Intermediate and advanced classes will also take place throughout the week. Cohort eight of Jump Start is now open for applications.
Finally, a reminder that staff have just a few days left to complete the short pulse staff survey and the wellbeing. Please tell us what you think about working at SASH so we can understand where we need to make improvements and also how we can help to support your wellbeing.
Best wishes
Angela Stevenson
Chief executive