Get winter-ready: autumn vaccinations coming soon

This autumn's Covid and flu vaccination programme starts next month, with all of us encouraged to take up the offer of separate Covid-19 booster and flu vaccinations to protect ourselves this winter. These will be provided in weekend clinics in the same appointment.

This will be the only chance for staff under 50 to have the Covid-19 booster as these will not be offered in the community, unless you have underlying health issues and are in a higher risk cohort.

The Covid vaccine booster provided this year is made by Moderna and is bivalent, and offers protection against the highly transmissible omicron variant, as well as a number of other strains. The vaccines not only protect you but those around you, and directly support our hospitals in delivering safe, effective care as we move towards winter and the anticipated further increase in activity this brings.

Clinics will run during at weekends in our outpatients departments for four weeks, alternating between Poole and RBH, starting at RBH on the weekend of 8-9 October. Details on how to book your vaccinations online will be announced shortly.

Be a jabber! If you can help deliver the vaccines in our clinics at weekends, and have given vaccinations in the last couple of years, please contact Gemma Lynn, head of occupational health, via This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

We're also looking for clinical colleagues to support our flu peer vaccinators programme across UHD too – this year we will be including our patients. If you can help, particularly if you are based at Poole, please speak to your ward lead in the first instance, or email Gemma.

Join us for the all staff briefing tomorrow

Join us for our next all staff briefing tomorrow (7 September) led by Siobhan Harrington. We will be holding this live event in the Oasis at RBH with an opportunity to chat to executive colleagues from 8am before the briefing starts at 8.30am. Colleagues who cannot come to RBH can join the live event online at 8.30am here and a recording will be shared via email afterwards.

#YouMatter - Help us keep improving with the People Pulse survey

The national NHS People Pulse survey is open this month. This five minute survey is your opportunity to share how you have been feeling, and our opportunity to make changes at UHD and in the wider NHS. There is a focus this month on speaking out and we would welcome your views on this important topic.

By sharing your views, you'll ensure your voice is heard across our organisation and we can act and respond on your concerns and help improve the support that we provide to you. Click here or scan the QR code to tell us how you feel. When you access the survey, select University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust as your organisation.

If you have any questions please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Join our first UHD career fair this Friday

Join us on Friday 9 September for our first Careers Fair – a brilliant opportunity to find out more about careers progression at UHD!

Look out for:

• talks, workshops and information stands
• celebrate achievements in our awards ceremony
• get hands on in our brand new Lakeview SimWard
• come and speak with us for tailored career advice, practice interview skills and how to write a personal statement that stands out above the rest
• got questions about apprenticeships? Our team is here to answer them and more!

You can join in person in the RBH Education Centre or watch as we stream live on Teams. Find out more about the day on the BEAT intranet page.

MyPorter – coming next week!

My Porter will go live over the coming weeks, with full implementation effective from 12 September, after which all request for portering support will need to be input by wards and departments.

The new system is designed to help us improve patient flow and deliver better patient outcomes. Other benefits include full visibility of all porter requests to and from your department, full sight of when a porter is on the way, and improved timeliness. You can find the user guide and spreadsheet listing user names already created on the latest news pages of the intranet.

Please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. at RBH and This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. at Poole if you have any questions and for training support.

Reduced tissue viability service

Due to unforeseen circumstances our tissue viability service across our sites is running a reduced service for the next two weeks. We will be triaging the referrals and prioritising our visits focusing on supporting patient flow and individual need. Be aware during this time we will be providing more telephone advice with the support from our medical photographers. The tissue viability intranet pages also provide first line advice and access to the wound dressing formulary.

Find out how Alertive can help you

We are looking to introduce a new app that will improve our non-emergency communications across UHD. Representatives from 'Alertive' will be demonstrating the app this Thursday (8 September). Find out more here.

There will be two sessions in boardroom one at Poole between 9-10am and 10.30-11.30am and at RBH in the marquee between 2-3pm and 3.30-4.30pm. Everyone is welcome.

It's Gynaecological Cancer Awareness Month

September is Gynaecological Cancer Awareness Month, and our women's health gynaecology team work together to support timely patient access, review and treatment. The team are asking that you take some time for you this month too, by heading to the Foundation for Women's Cancer site for useful resources around symptoms, risk factors and risk reduction.

Also look out for information boards on the top floor of the Jigsaw Building at RBH, and in the Harbourside at Poole. Keep an eye on our trust social media over the next few weeks too for more info from the team.

Save the date for the next Ask Aly

Join us at 12noon on 22 September for Ask Aly, hosted by our deputy chief medical officer, Dr Matt Thomas. It's a great opportunity to ask questions, raise concerns or share your views. You can join the meeting here and if you'd like to send any questions in advance, pop them through to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and we can ask on your behalf.

Recruitment updates

Clinical day two inductions

New joiners who require a clinical two day induction need to have their start date booked to coincide with the induction course they are booked on, so they do their induction as soon as they start. By not attending induction first they will not have had access to their mandatory training which could be a risk to the new staff member and their patients, hence the need to be supervised until they attend induction.

Please note this does not apply for new joiners who need to do the corporate one day induction.

Approvals

When you add a vacancy to Trac, to minimise delays please add the following approvers as standard:

1) The correct finance email address: 'FinanceTRAC-CorporateCG', 'FinanceTRAC-SpecalitiesCG', 'FinanceTRAC-MedicalCG' or 'FinanceTRAC-SurgeryCG'

2) Add 'VacancyReviewPanel' as an approver for admin/non-clinical roles and all roles which are band 8a or above.

Any queries please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

RBH: Ambulatory emergency care doppler missing

A mobile doppler on a stand has gone missing at RBH. This is vital equipment for the vascular hot clinic in ambulatory emergency care surgery. If anyone has seen this, please return it as soon as possible.

Do you know anyone looking for a new career?

Our healthcare support worker open day is being held this Saturday (10 September) in the education centre at RBH between 9am-5pm. Everyone is welcome to find out more about future opportunities. Visitors can also find out more about a career in healthcare and speak to managers and staff from different departments around the hospital.

Find out more about the event or apply here.

Planning for your retirement

Join us on 18 October from 9am-12.30pm in the lecture theatre at Poole where we will provide as much information as possible to support informed choices and decisions regarding retirement. Information will include state pensions, income tax and the self-assessment tax regime, savings, mortgages and much more. Places are limited so if you would like to attend, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call Lindsay Brazier on ext. 8206.

Big welcome to the team running key worker accommodation

A big welcome to Helen Stringer and her team who transferred from Sovereign Housing to UHD Residences on 1 September. Helen will be working with the existing RBH residential team to create a fully integrated offering across UHD sites.

Climb new heights for UHD Charity

This month, Andy Barber our laboratory manager in microbiology at Poole, is reaching new heights in the 'For Rangers Ultra' 230km race. Andy will be raising money to support our UHD Charity, click here to donate!

New emergency pagers in September

Our emergency pagers are due to be replaced. Our new system will offer us more resilience. During this change, we are bringing in standard calls across the trust for 2222 (medical, fire, security) and 5555 (major haemorrhage) at all acute hospital sites.

If you have any questions regarding this change contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Poole: Healthcare support workers' (HCSW) forum

All our HSCWs are invited to join our drop in sessions on 14 September in the education centre to meet our new HCSW practise mentors based across Poole and RBH. The sessions will be held in seminar room 1 and 3.

This is an opportunity to speak up about any concerns you may have, find out about wellbeing sessions, information on speech and language therapy, and meet other colleagues. There will also be a cake sale in support of our UHD charity. Contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to find out more.

Save the date for the next all staff briefing

Join us for our next all staff briefing on Wednesday 7 September. We will be holding this live event in the Oasis at RBH with an opportunity to talk to executive colleagues from 8am before the briefing starts at 8.30am. Colleagues who cannot come to RBH can join the live event online at 8.30am here and a recording will be shared via email afterwards.

Face to face Schwartz Rounds are back

We are thrilled to announce our next Schwartz Round will be held in person at RBH on 15 September at 1pm in the lecture theatre. The theme of this round will be ‘Small acts of kindness'.

Schwartz Rounds can help us feel more supported in our jobs, and give us time and space to reflect on our roles. The September event is open to all UHD staff and a light lunch will be available from 12noon in seminar room 5. Future Schwartz Rounds will be held at different UHD sites to make it accessible for staff to attend. These rounds will not be available online.

Discounted staff tickets for Walk for Wards 2022

Walk for Wards returns on 17 September. Join our UHD Charity at Upton Country Park and walk 3km, 5km or 10km along our wheelchair friendly routes to raise money for a ward or department close to your heart. We're offering discounted tickets to all staff – just choose ‘Staff Discount' as your ticket option and sign up using your uhd.nhs email address.

This year's event will feature live music from The Late Shift, a mini-makers market, and refreshments from Rapid Relief UK who will be on hand to provide a delicious free burger meal to every participant. Sign up here.

A new website domain for UHD

Each user that logs in on any device that connects to the hospital's network is connected to a domain – this then allows the users and computers to talk to each other and our systems. Currently most devices are connected to one of two domains, XPOOLE (Poole) or XRBCH (RBH and Christchurch).

As a result of the merger, all users and devices will be required to migrate across to the new domain so that the old domains can be retired. The migration is scheduled to start in autumn 2022 and each trust area will be contacted with suggested migration dates. If you have any questions, contact our domain team via Teams or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Creating change for the people of Dorset

The Dorset Health Inequalities website and Virtual Academy is now live and can be found here. It has been set up by the Dorset Health Inequalities Group which aims to reduce health inequalities through raising awareness, creating learning and development opportunities and supporting services to think differently to create new ways of delivery.

Poole: Advanced warning of road closure 16-19 September

The crane on the IHP theatre build site in Longfleet Road will be removed from 16 September. The crane lift over the building will take place on the Saturday and Sunday and there are areas below the lift zone that will need to be vacated for short periods during the day. The areas affected will be the mortuary, help desk, porters lodge, mitie store room and pathology labs.

Access into ED for ambulances and access to the underpass will be maintained at all times.

Your Total Reward Statement (TRS) is here

Your TRS is a personalised summary that shows your full reward package, including basic pay, pension information and local benefits. Find out how to access your statement here.

Update on Covid-19 testing for patients and staff

The Covid-19 testing guidance for patients and staff has changed, with continuation for some and relaxation for others.

Staff

Routine lateral flow device (LFD) testing for most asymptomatic staff is now no longer required, except for staff working on wards 11, Durlston, Sandbanks, HODU, NICU and critical care, who should continue to test twice a week.

Tests for this purpose will remain free from the national ordering portal. Please ensure you have a supply of LFD tests at home to support your return to work following Covid-19. A very limited number of kits are also available through the trust. Testing for staff with Covid-19 symptoms will continue under current processes.

Patients

There are significant changes to the guidance on testing patients covering admission areas, maternity, inpatients, stepping down, transferring, discharging, and pre-admission, which have been updated.

Find out more

Full details, including a list of higher risk patient groups for whom testing should continue, can be found on the Covid-19 pages of the intranet.

Emergency pager changeover on 13 September

Following the update in Tuesday's bulletin (30 August) it's been confirmed that our emergency pagers will be replaced on 13 September – until that time please continue to use the current arrangements.

More information will follow, but the new system will give us more reliable reception and better resilience . On that date, as well replacing our pagers, we are bringing in standard calls across UHD for 2222 (medical, fire, and security) and 5555 (major haemorrhage).

If you have any questions at this time, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Feed supplier change – training required

Our dietetics team is organising training on new enteral feeding pumps, tube feeds and sip feeds following a supplier change to Fresenius-Kabi. This training will take place throughout September and October ahead of the new equipment being in place in November. The company representatives will be on site next week visiting wards to book in the training for those who need it. Thanks for your support.

Join our first UHD career fair

Join us on Friday 9 September for our first Careers Fair – a brilliant opportunity to find out more about careers progression at UHD! Look out for:

• talks, workshops and information stands
• celebrate achievements in our awards ceremony
• get hands on in our brand new Lakeview SimWard
• come and speak with us for tailored career advice, practice interview skills and how to write a personal statement that stands out above the rest
• got questions about apprenticeships? Our team is here to answer them and more!

You can join in person in the RBH Education Centre or watch as we stream live on Teams. Find out more about the day on the BEAT intranet pages.

RBH: No palliative care team this Sunday (4 September)

For urgent concerns, 24 hour advice is available from the Macmillan Unit, please call ext. 5470 option one between the hours of 8am to 5pm and option three between the hours of 5pm to 8am.

For non-urgent queries, please leave a message on ext. 6021 and a staff member will pick these up on Monday (5 September).

RBH: Reduced ACTS service

There will be no RBH ACTS service next Tuesday (6 September). For further clinical information go to the Alcohol Care and Treatment Service pages on the intranet.

Join the next Women's Network event next week

Join us on Tuesday (6 September) from 2-3pm on Teams for the latest updates from our new Women's Network, launched last month to support and advocate for women across our trust and in our wider community. As this network grows, we aim to support staff and make positive, constructive changes on policies and processes. This network is open to anybody who wants to raise their voices for and support women.

Preparing for our future with IT

IT projects need your help! The team is working to plan and manage our current data flows across the trust to support clinical colleagues with IT innovation, while at the same time preparing the trust for the challenges of introducing a new EPR. Contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to book a visit from the team to start creating your process map or to find out more.

Dragon Medical One (DMO) licences available

With DMO eventually replacing all eCaMIS digital dictation, it's a good time to get your licence via the Dragon Medical One form on the service desk. You can also:

• click here for all training materials on how to use DMO
• click here to book on to a short training session

Leading your team through integration workshops

Are you managing teams that you need to bring together in support of the wider integration work? We are launching a new workshop and toolkit to provide you with the principles of what makes an effective team and some of the theory and research behind this.

This is an opportunity to empower team leaders to be proactive in planning their approach to team integration and have the confidence and capability to facilitate some exercises around basic team principles. Delegates will be expected to complete some pre-course learning and come to the workshop with ideas about the event you wish to develop. Click here to request a space.

Poole: Healthcare support workers' (HCSW) forum

All our HSCWs are invited to join our drop in sessions on 14 September from 12-2pm in the education centre to meet our new HCSW practise mentors based across Poole and RBH. The sessions will be held in seminar room 1 and 3.

This is an opportunity to speak up about any concerns you may have, find out about wellbeing sessions, information on speech and language therapy, and meet other colleagues. There will also be a cake sale in support of our UHD charity. Contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to find out more.

New head of safeguarding

Pippa Knight has been appointed as our new head of safeguarding for UHD. She will be working across the trust to support the delivery of both our adult and children safeguarding service.

You can contact Pippa at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Counter fraud survey

"Every year the NHS Counter Fraud Authority (CFA) encourages organisations to conduct an Annual Counter Fraud Survey which is now known as the Fraud Culture Review. This survey is aimed at all staff. I would be most grateful if you could take a few minutes to take part in the survey which can be found in this link. These surveys help the organisation identify which areas of fraud awareness require greater understanding and clarity for staff and what we can do to improve this in the coming years".

Pete Papworth, our chief finance officer

Have you updated your webpages?

On both our intranet pages and external website pages, we all have a responsibility to ensure the information on them is correct. Please check your webpages are up to date – especially with contact details - and if you have any amendments, please send to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Update to Our Dorset URL

The Our Dorset website has recently undergone an update and a change in the URL. As a result the Our Dorset Video Library is now hosted at the following address here. Please note this will also affect all individual video links which may be embedded within patient letters, websites and leaflets.

Staff lottery

Our staff lottery was drawn on 31 August and the lucky winners have been contacted by email – so check those inboxes! The winning numbers can also be found here.

We are also looking for new members to join the committee which will involve a Teams call once a month when the lottery is drawn and helping to promote the lottery around our trust. If you are interested or want to join the lottery please visit the staff lottery pages on the intranet.

BMJ Learning

We now has access to BMJ Learning, a high-quality medical education tool for doctors and other healthcare professionals. It features hundreds of accredited, peer-reviewed learning modules in text, video, and audio formats. To find out how to access this and for more information please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Job of the week: Staff nurse in palliative care

We are searching for a compassionate nurse to join our specialist palliative care team on a rotational post between our hospice at home and inpatient hospice at Christchurch. Find out more here.

CAN Wellbeing collaborative

The CAN Wellbeing Collaborative is now open to receive referrals within the Poole and RBH pathways to connect people to personalised information and support from local charities and community services. In order to refer, you can complete this short form here.

UHD Excellence Awards – who's your August hero?

Do you know someone who has gone above and beyond, or is a shining example when it comes to living our trust values? If so, why not nominate them for this month's staff excellence award.

Every day our colleagues and volunteers are living our values to help care for our patients and for each other and we want to celebrate where you have gone above and beyond. The winners will be chosen by Siobhan Harrington, our chief executive. Find out more and nominate someone here.

Speak to the Schwartz Round team today

Our Schwartz Round team met colleagues in RBH earlier this week and will be at Poole today (Friday) and Christchurch in September to find out what Schwartz topics would be useful for you.

• Today - 12-2pm in the dome at Poole
• 6/9 September – the team will walk about at Christchurch, visiting and speaking to staff

You can also watch our short video about Schwartz Rounds and find out more about future rounds here.

Ward clerk listening events

A series of listening events will take place at the Village opposite RBH and in St Mary's Church in Poole throughout September. If you're a ward clerk, come along and tell us what works well, whether you have any issues or concerns and what needs to improve.

• Tuesday 13 September - Village
• Tuesday 20 September - St Mary's
• Tuesday 27 September - Village
• Thursday 29 September – St Mary's

Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by 30 August to find out more and book a session.

Shoot your shot with our new netball team

Do you want to play for netball for fun, and improve your health and wellbeing? If so, there could be a spot for you on our new trust netball team, funded by the UHD Charity. Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you're interested in becoming a team coach, joining the trust team as a player or if you want to create your own departmental team. Please include your preferred first and second position preference.

RBH: Atrium coffee shop opening times

Our atrium coffee shop will have extended opening hours from Monday 5 September.

• Monday to Friday: 7.30am-6.30pm
• Saturday, Sunday and bank holidays: 10.15am-5pm

Five-a-day audit results and winner

Thank you to all of you who took part in our recent five-a-day audit as part of Clinical Audit Awareness Week. Participants had the chance to win a £25 M&S gift card, and we are delighted to announce that Tracy Moran, lead nurse of workforce and education, was the winner! Tracy is pictured receiving the gift card, and the results of the audit can be viewed here.

For further information about clinical audit and if you would like to register a project, please visit our intranet pages. Note that five-a-day is also one of the activities promoted by UHD's new sustainability and wellbeing app, EcoEarn.

Healthcare support worker vocational scholarship – spread the word

Calling all young people between the ages of 18-21. UHD has collaborated with Join Our Dorset and Bournemouth and Poole College to offer a healthcare support worker vocational scholarship programme. It will run over five weeks starting 19 September, taking place at The College. To find out more email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Get ready for the 2023 TCS London Marathon

Our UHD charity is launching its ballot for the 2023 TCS London Marathon, taking place on Sunday 23 April 2023.

To enter, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with your name, DOB, email, telephone number and why you'd like to run the TCS London Marathon 2023 for your hospitals. Find out more here.

We don't like cricket, we love it!

Congratulations to our Hospital Services Cricket Team for taking part in a charity match earlier this week against the Bournemouth Wanderers. While they didn't win, they helped to raise an impressive £1,000 for the RBH vascular fund and welcomed a visit by Harry Redknapp. The match was set up by Bournemouth Wanderers player, George Stratford, one of our thankful patients who was thrilled to discover his surgeon played cricket too. Well done all!

Job of the week: Corporate governance assistant

This is an exciting opportunity for someone to join our company secretary team. Primarily the role will support our Council of Governors and the successful candidate will play a key part in the development and implementation of the trust's membership strategy at this really exciting time for our hospitals.

This is a great development opportunity for the successful person to work with a broad range of stakeholders throughout the organisation. Find out more and apply here.