Covid-19: Best practice guidance for restarting face-to-face meetings and away days and social media

Our IPC colleagues are finalising best practice guidance to allow us to restart face-to-face meetings and events, both for staff and patients, in a safe manner.

In the meantime, if you have organised a face-to-face group meeting, or a team away day, a risk assessment should be carried out. This should include:

• is the meeting indoors or outdoors
• does the room have an up-to-date Covid-secure assessment and how many people can it accommodate safely
• are participants able to maintain social distancing in the room, even if they are wearing masks?

Please note, while social media is a great tool to promote the fantastic work in our trust, please be mindful that images of staff grouped together in work time, especially indoors, can send a wrong message out to the public, especially with the extension of the Covid lockdown restrictions. Thank you for your co-operation.

It's Learning Disabilities Awareness week

Look out for stands in the atrium at RBH and the dome at Poole for information about services available for people with a learning disability in Dorset. Naomi Rees and Teresa Izzo will be visiting the wards on both sites during the week to introduce themselves, give out some information and discuss any queries you may have.

This week we are also launching the new Reasonable Adjustment Learning Disability Risk Assessment eForm. This form must be completed by ward staff on admission for patients with a learning disability. It will be available on the intranet with accompanying guidance on how to complete.

We have a legal obligation to make reasonable adjustments and this form provides evidence that we are doing this, in addition to ensuring that important information is communicated between staff on the wards.

There will also be screensavers popping up to remind all staff about what is important when caring for a person with a learning disability in an acute hospital setting, to make sure that we get things right.

Ask Aly this Thursday

The next 'Ask Aly' event with our chief medical officer, Dr Alyson O'Donnell, takes place this Thursday 17 June from 12.30pm. It's a great opportunity to ask questions, raise concerns and share your views.

This month Alyson will be joined by Stuart Lane, our sustainability and carbon manager, who will be on hand to field any sustainability questions as we launch our UHD Green Plan.

You can join the meeting here and if you'd like to send any questions in an 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.

Updates to the individual Covid-19 risk assessment

Our individual Covid-19 risk assessment has been updated to provide a clearer guide to your vulnerability, an acknowledgement of your vaccination status and can be updated if cases rise locally.

It should be completed initially launching for those who are not working in their contracted role due to vulnerability to Covid-19, new starters, and those who have a change in their medical status or condition.

Click here to download the new form.

Support for those affected by Covid-19 in India

We would like to remind any of you who have been affected by the Covid-19 situation in India of the range of contacts available to offer support.

Visit the You Matter pages on our UHD staff intranet for wellbeing and emotional help, advice and guidance. Alongside our wellbeing support the NHS offers a range of bespoke resources for ethnic minority staff (click here), and a range of contacts at the British Indian Nurses Association (BINA) are also available to offer support.

Prerana Issar, NHS England's Chief People Officer is working on behalf of NHS England as part of a government-wide coordinated response. NHS England are working closely with the High Commissioner of India, non-government organisations and members of the House of Lords among others. This support includes expertise on surge hospitals and staffing, advice on clinical pathways, reviewing aid inventory to ensure equipment supplied is most useful and also sharing expertise based on our NHS experience, which is being led by the Chief People Officer Clinical Advisory Group.

BINA (British Indian Nurses Association): This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 01234 363272
BAPIO (British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin): This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 01234 363272 / 212879
British Sikh Nurses: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
All Pakistani Nurses Association (APNA): This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

New patient TIA clinic at UHD goes face to face

All information for patients about their appointments will be included in the letters generated by eFAB when an appointment is booked.

Could referring clinicians please advise and remind patients that they will now have to attend appointments in person rather than wait for a phone call.

NHS Heroes donations and grants update

Since the pandemic began, the combined income from the previous Poole Hospital and Bournemouth Hospital Charities, University Hospitals Dorset NHS Charity, and our local NHS Heroes now totals £865,000. Funding was also given for both immediate response and recovery from Covid-19.

The funds given were a combination of donations from the public and grants for specific projects from NHS Charities together, the national charity that received funding from activities such as Captain Tom's amazing challenge.

Funding has been spent on a wide range of supports including the following items:

• local recognition fund (for those teams that have not yet spent their allocation further information will be shared early July on how this can be accessed)
• food, hydration, wellbeing bags and care packs during the two waves to frontline staff
• Christmas refreshment vouchers for all staff, IPC approved decorations
• "Thank you" refreshment voucher
• safe spaces provision
• enhanced wellbeing support: counselling, wellbeing practitioner, physiotherapist and psychological support
• items for patients including whiteboards for improved communication and free Hospedia at Christmas
• mentoring sessions
• yoga and relaxation classes

Future programmes of spend to aid recovery include:

• resilience workshops
• menopause support/guidance
• increase in physical activity supports
• reverse mentoring
• wellbeing activities
• further rest / safespaces for staff across the sites

Update: Change in uniform requirements for mandatory training

All staff attending mandatory face-to-face training in the trust must now attend in uniform. This is in line with current infection control advice.

Staff on training are reminded to continue with good infection control procedures by wearing masks, wiping down surfaces and practicing good hand hygiene.

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

Enhancements to the IT self-service portal

The IT self-service portal will have a series of updates this week. These changes will make the tool more user friendly and allow for faster access to useful forms, problem reporting, password resets and more.

The changes will go live on 17 June and a training video is coming soon. If you have any problems or questions please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Free staff bike maintenance at UHD

Bike Fixed will be returning to UHD on the following dates to offer you a free bike tune up - Tuesday 22 June (RBH) and Wednesday 23 June (Poole).

If you suspect your bike may need replacement parts, Dave may be able to supply these but they will incur a charge. If Dave spots something which needs to be replaced, he'll advise you about this at the time of the service.

A limited number of appointments between 9am-3pm are available on each date. If you'd like your bike to be serviced, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Urgent - Abbott FPP blood glucose and ketone meter upgrade

The new networked Freestyle Precision Pro (FPP) Abbott meters cannot be used by any member of staff that has not completed specific FPP meter training.

Access will only be activated on receipt of evidence of training sent to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. along with staff assignment number and location of work. There has been very little uptake of the sessions advertised to date and this will delay implementation.

Check the pathology pages of the Poole intranet to access more information and register for the online training webinars or contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

PH: ID badge office closures

The ID office will close at 2pm on 22 June to relocate to the portacabin adjacent to Gala Lodge (occupational health) where it will reopen at 10am on 24 June. Any urgent ID badge enquiries on 23 June will be handled at the Porters Lodge.

The Health and Safety Audit Tool (HASAT) completion deadline - end of June

The self-assessment deadline for completion is the end of June. This is a mandatory return and managers can access the form and further information on the health and safety pages of the Poole intranet.

The purpose is to provide:

• evidence of a systematic audit in each department
• a natural signpost towards required risk assessments, depending on department's needs
• evidence that legal health and safety requirements are being met throughout the trust in accordance with current legislation
• an opportunity for audit input by associate operational managers and risk managers if necessary.

For further support please contact your local health and safety advisor.

POOLE: New 'Droplet mug' trial success

Our nutrition and dementia team has trialled 'Droplet mugs' on some OPS and orthopaedic wards. These cups allow carers to easily identify who may need additional support with fluid intake.

The trial was a success and the cups and beakers will be distributed across OPS wards, who will each receive five sets. It is the responsibility of the wards to identify patients who would benefit from using them.

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

Changes to blood donation eligibility rules

New eligibility rules came into effect yesterday (14 June) that will allow more men who have sex with men to donate blood, platelets and plasma, marking an historic move to make blood donation more inclusive while keeping blood just as safe.

From 14 June the questions asked of everyone when they come to donate blood in England, Scotland and Wales will change. Eligibility will be based on individual circumstances surrounding health, travel and sexual behaviours evidenced to be at a higher risk of sexual infection. Donors will no longer be asked if they are a man who has had sex with another man, removing the element of assessment that is based on the previous population-based risks. Instead, any individual who attends to give blood - regardless of gender - will be asked if they have had sex and, if so, about recent sexual behaviours.

Anyone who has had the same sexual partner for the last three months will be eligible to donate. The changes to the re-named Donation Safety Check form (previously known as the Donor Health Check form) will affect blood, plasma and platelet donors. The process of giving blood will not change.

Launch of the national NHS Stammering Network for staff

The network provides information and resources to staff on stammering (stuttering) and its impact on work. This includes practical suggestions on how to support people colleagues, patients and members of the public who stammer.

More information can be found at: www.nhsstammeringnetwork.uk.

Job of the week – radiology staff nurse

With the growth in service provision this is an opportunity for an experienced general nurse to join a multi professional team and develop their career and skills within the imaging specialty of interventional radiology.

The varied nature of this specialty means there is always something new and interesting to learn. The post consists of a variety of roles including working as a scrub assistant for sterile interventional procedures, circulating nurse duties for recording patients' observations, IV drug administration and managing patient care during the pre, peri and post-operative stages of treatment.

Click here to find out more, closing date 24 June.

Your weekly wellbeing offers

A new page has been created on the staff intranet bringing together all your 'Here For Each Other' weekly wellbeing offers across UHD. This week we have Tranquil Tuesday yoga, Men's Health Week special and the opportunity to sign up for outdoor wellbeing teambuilding sessions.

All offers are available on the new UHD intranet, just look for 'W' for wellbeing on any of the intranet A-Zs.

Care first sessions this week

All at midday, click the link to join:

• Tuesday 15 June, Men's health awareness.
• Wednesday 16 June, How to identify if someone in the workplace is struggling with their mental health.
• Thursday 17 June, Ways to avoid feeling isolated whilst continuing to work from home.
• Friday 18 June, The possible emergence of a mental health pandemic.