A big thank you as system-wide pressures remain

Health and social care services in Dorset remain at OPEL 4 with continued operational pressures on our hospitals. Our emergency departments are extremely busy and we are still caring for a significant number of patients with Covid. Staffing remains very pressured so a huge thank you to everyone who is working tirelessly to support our patients and colleagues. You are phenomenal. Wellbeing support is available to all of us. Please take a look on our dedicated intranet wellbeing pages and share the information with your teams.

To help us discharge patients who are ready to leave as soon as possible, please make sure necessary swabbing, TTOs and transport are organised as early as possible. Our tactical group hotline is also open throughout the day for support and advice on ext. 2735.

A video update from our chief executive, Debbie Fleming

Debbie also highlights a recent visit from Amanda Pritchard, chief executive of NHS England, to our outpatient assessment clinic at Beales and the Dorset Cancer Centre.

You can watch Debbie's update here.

Annual leave carry over and selling back leave

Last year we were able to carry over leave due to the operational pressures arising in the pandemic. This was partly due to a government agreement that a two-year arrangement should apply.

For our wellbeing, we should all take our holiday in the given year, however it is possible to sell back and/or carry over some leave into 2022/23 if operational pressures dictate.

The following guidelines apply:

• carry over into 2022/23 is a maximum is 10 days net, pro-rated for part-timers (we anticipate most people will carry-over much less than 10 days as we are in the second year).
• part days cannot be carried over and you cannot add any remaining carry over from 21/22 to this.
• all carry over is subject to authorisation by the manager.
• staff may also sell back up to five days of their 21/22 leave (pro-rata for part timers) with payment expected in the May/June payroll.
• sell back and carry over taken together should not exceed the equivalent of 10 days.
• the authorisation process will be shared with managers and following submission of the necessary e-forms, ESR and health roster will be updated accordingly.
• booking of future leave is subject to usual authorisation with periods of extended leave only allowable in exceptional circumstances.

Please ensure that your holiday records are up to date as non-recording of annual leave could affect your carry over or sell back. There are two e-forms on the e-forms portal that need to be completed for this year's carry over and sell back process:

• For carry overs please complete the annual leave adjustment e-form
• For sell backs please complete the sell back e-form

To access the portal open google chrome, managed bookmarks, clinical systems, electronic forms.

Please note we will not accept the old paper sell back forms.

A reminder from our catering teams

The Dolphin Restaurant, Shelley Restaurant and Oasis Coffee Lounge remain staff only, enabling you to have a break and hot meal while adhering to social distancing measures. Please wear your ID badge when attending so our servers know you are a member of staff.

Patients and visitors should be advised to only use Purbeck Rise or Costa Coffee at Poole or the Atrium Café at RBH.

RBH: Significant noise expected from BEACH build site this week

This week the IHP team will be installing sheet piling immediately adjacent to the existing hospital building as a part of the ongoing building works. We have been advised this will create significant noise on site, so please let your patients and colleagues know.

Your February safeguarding newsletter

Our safeguarding team has released their February newsletter. The newsletters aims to remind, educate and inform us all of the importance of safeguarding, the role of our safeguarding team, and how we should act in situations where extended actions around safeguarding may be necessary.

This month's edition's core topic is adult safeguarding, with a focus on domestic abuse.

You can read the newsletter here.

LGBT+ History Month - poetry session with the LGBT poet laureate Trudy Howson this week

Our LGBTQ+ staff network is delighted to welcome the LGBT poet laureate Trudy Howson to host a poetry session 'An LGBT+ Life: How it was, How it is' for all our staff and staff in the wider ICS during LGBT history month.

The session with Trudy will run this Thursday 17 February from 1.30-2.30pm on Teams. Click here to join.

Don't forget, you can also visit the library to make a pledge of support to your LGBTQ+ colleagues and sign up to receive a rainbow lanyard and badge. Wearing these helps you indicate your support and demonstrates our commitment to inclusion at UHD. Find out more our LGBTQ+ network's brand new magazine, which you can read here.

Remembering Laura

We announced the sad news of the passing of our colleague Laura Acton in the 4 February Staff Bulletin.

Laura's funeral is on Thursday (17 February) at 10.30am, and our Poole Hospital chapel will be broadcasting the service for those unable to attend in person.

A member of the chaplaincy team will be on hand and Laura's book of condolence will be available for dedications, thoughts and kind wishes.

Hot food for our night shift staff available this week

This week (14-18 February) from 11pm-3am hot food is available to our night shift teams.

At Poole, the hot food stand will be outside the main hospital entrance, and at RBH the stand will be outside between Ward 1 and medical physics, making the location more central for everyone.

We're offering a wide range of healthy meal choices from new vendors. Food stands from Rob's Filling Station and Tattie McSpudface are offering jacket potatoes, curries, hot baps, paella and more with prices ranging from £2-£5. We would love to hear your feedback on the trial, so please if you use the service fill in this short survey about your experience.

More details are available on the intranet latest news pages.

Support your colleagues as a health and wellbeing ambassador

Our first health and wellbeing ambassadors will work alongside the occupational health and organisational development teams assisting in signposting colleagues to our support services, encouraging engagement with health and wellbeing initiatives and listening to feedback.

Becoming an ambassador is voluntary and is open to any staff member with approval from your manager - all that we require is enthusiasm and commitment to health and wellbeing. The deadline to sign up is 4 March.

See the wellbeing pages on the intranet for more information.

PCA cassettes at critically low level

Nationally there is a critically low level of PCA cassettes, this is affecting UHD and we are waiting to hear of a delivery date from the suppliers. Our acute pain service has tried to divide the supplies that are remaining so be mindful and share if another ward requires one for a patient.

Prefilled morphine cassettes are still available to order through pharmacy so consider if there is a clinical reason to have an alternative. In the event we run out of cassettes completely and a patient requires IV analgesia, this will need to be prescribed and given as IV bolus doses titrated to pain.

Please could all stores and stocks be checked for any cassettes that may be unaccounted for.

RBH: New dual PICC lines coming soon

We have a temporary change to our dual PICC lines due to a global shortage and as a result we may have up to three different manufacturers of lines. The main change using the new lines is CT compatibility.

Please note:

• there are no changes to the care and maintenance procedures, continue to follow current CVAD SOPs and policies
• only PICC lines with 'power inject' or 'pressure injectable' written on either the hub or clamp are suitable for use in CT
• if in doubt, always check with CT staff before the scan

Nasogastric (NG) tube eLearning available via our BEAT VLE

All healthcare professionals responsible for inserting, managing and position checking NG tubes must complete theoretical and practical training. This involves following UHD's policy and procedure - including the NG insertion safety checklist.

Theoretical training takes around one hour and is available on the BEAT VLE. Click here for a guide on how to access the training. You must then be assessed in practice by a trained and competent practitioner within two months. Annual training updates are also required to ensure continued safe practice.

For more information please contact Jonathan Gregory, nutrition nurse, on ext. 4732 or bleep 2561.

Coagulation departments launching a new analytical platform

As part of the continuing pathology analyser replacement for One Dorset Pathology, a new analytical platform is launching today (15 February). This will not have an impact on the way that results and test ratios are reported with the exception of D-dimers.

For D-dimers the cut off value results to indicate venous thromboembolism (VTE) will change to 500 ng/mL, with no age adjustment. Normal ranges for all tests will show a slight different to those previously reported – these will reflected on reports and be displayed in EPR.

If you have any questions please contact the coagulation laboratory on ext. 4787 (RBH) and ext. 8189 (Poole).

RBH: Workforce systems team moving to Yeomans House on Wednesday

This Wednesday (16 February) our workforce systems team will be moving to their new office in Yeomans House.

For new smart cards or unblocking of smart cards please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to book an appointment as we will no longer be on site every day.

If you use a smartcard we would advise signing up for the smart card self-unlock service here and this will allow you to reset the card if you lock yourself out. When you sign up select 'launch care identity service' and once loaded click 'my profile', a new page will load. Scroll down to the self service section where you can follow the instructions.

Reminder: our new staff intranet is rolling out this week

Don't forget that our new staff intranet will be rolling out this week, bringing together the RBCH and Poole sites via one new homepage.

Make sure you take the opportunity to get to know your new homepage, which will highlight the most popular sections from each of the existing sites.

While you will still be able to access the existing sites for certain sections that have yet to be moved over, there will be just one homepage with at least 80 UHD sections sitting underneath.

If you need support with your intranet pages contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Sign up to March for Men

March for Men will return to Bournemouth Pier Approach on 13 March, welcoming participants of all ages, abilities and genders to challenge themselves whilst doing something truly amazing. Walk or run 3km, 5km or 10km and raise important funds to support men's health - you can even bring along your four-legged friends!

You can also sign up online now.

What should I do if a patient or relative wants to make a donation to our hospitals?

University Hospitals Dorset NHS Charity receive many donations from grateful patients and relatives as a result of the great care we provide. Our charity team are here to manage all fundraising and donations received alongside supporting the spend of the donations to enhance patient treatment, staff wellbeing and the environment we work in.

All enquiries, donations to the Trust and donation correspondence, including solicitors letters about a legacy being left to the hospital, should be directed to the charity office at Poole Hospital or RBH; if you receive a donation on your ward then please follow the procedure as outlined in the ward donation policy.

Please note that:

• Only the charity office can confirm how donations will be spent
• Receipts and acknowledgement letters will be issued by the charity office
• Donation envelopes are available for direct donations – if you receive one please ensure this is locked away safely until it can be taken to the charity office
• Easiest way for donations is online

The charity teams are located:

Poole: charity hub, main entrance or charity office North entrance

RBH: Charity office, management suite, East Wing

If you would like any further information or would like a member of the charity team to talk at a team meeting please contact the team on ext 4060/8449