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Hello all,
In June we spent time as a Trust looking at the fundamentals of patient care and how we can make improvements to inpatient processes such as for patients with severe pressure ulcers. We also hosted a visit from our NHSE colleagues in the South East, and introduced the People Promise Exemplar programme at SASH.
Our services
Improving tissue viability patient care
This month, we held a Rapid Process Improvement Workshop (RPIW) to increase the understanding of pressure sores across the Trust and establish clearer routes for support and referrals to the tissue viability service. This was a much-needed area of focus for us, and I am really pleased with the results we saw - with improvements for both patients, and the staff treating them. By the end of the workshop, we had reduced this referrals process from 19 hours to less than two hours, with the team developing a visual checklist to help ward staff identify next steps and improve tissue viability patient care. Some brilliant improvement and patient safety work that ties perfectly into our wider patient safety work this year, which includes our new Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF) and ‘Purpose T’ – our new approach to prevent severe pressure ulcers.
Purpose T
This month we launched ‘Purpose T’, the Trust’s new approach to the early identification and prevention of severe pressure ulcers. Following an extensive training programme, our digital and nursing colleagues worked closely together on the rollout – offering hands-on help to wards as they embed this vital new assessment framework - which will provide a structured best practice approach to treating and preventing pressure ulcers for the first time.
Industrial action
As is the case across the system, the latest round of industrial action by junior doctors between 27 June and 2 July has increased the pressure on Trust services. In addition to our messaging signposting people to the alternative care options available locally, our consultants and other senior medical staff are working hard to help keep our services running.
Our partners
NHSE regional workforce and education visit
This month we welcomed colleagues from NHSE South East to SASH for a planned visit on our nursing workforce and education for the Healthcare Support Worker and International Recruitment programmes. It was great to hear all their positive feedback – including how they were particularly impressed by our offer of Maths and English for staff through the SASH Academy, as well as all the work the Trust has done to both recruit new Healthcare Support Workers, and offer them tailored support to help them adapt their new roles. On their visit NHSE colleagues also met a number of our internationally educated nurses, currently working as nursing assistants while they await their full UK registration, and heard about their individual journeys and how much support the practice development team and the Trust has given them to succeed. Our nursing workforce are integral to everything we do, so I’m proud to share all that we are doing to support some of our newest members!
Trust news
Introducing the People Promise Exemplar programme
As part of our journey to make SASH a great place to work, earlier this year we took up the opportunity to be an NHS England People Promise Exemplar organisation. This means working closely with colleagues at NHS England to increase the work we are doing across the Trust to promote and deliver more for our staff in line with the NHS People Promise – which sets out what will most improve people’s experience of working in the NHS and what will help make it the workplace we all want it to be. It should also improve Trust retention which is a key part of the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan. As an Exemplar organisation, we will soon be sharing with our teams the areas of the People Promise and the projects we will be focusing on as Trust this year. These will be areas where we think we can best improve our offer. This is an important piece of work for us as a Trust and I look forward to keeping you updated on this work as it develops.
Best wishes,
Angela Stevenson
Chief Executive