Update on operational pressures

A huge thank you to individuals and teams across UHD for the contribution you have made in supporting operational flow this week. As a result we are in an improved position today compared with this time yesterday, with 11 patients currently requiring inpatient beds in our emergency departments (compared to almost 40 at this time yesterday).

Timely TTO medicines and transport booking, early medical reviews, the use of sitting out and RBH's departure lounge, and specialties teams working alongside colleagues in urgent and emergency care, helped make a fantastic 133 discharges possible yesterday.

When we work together we can make a difference.

The position still remains very difficult across both Poole and Royal Bournemouth, and we need to consistently take the steps that we know progress our patients' care to ensure we go into the weekend in a healthier position. Please think about flagging patients for early review with medical teams, booking transport early, ordering TTOs in good time and discussing alternative packages of care with our discharge teams where this may be delaying discharge.

At times of significant operational pressure it's essential that we look after each other. Please ensure that you and colleagues make use of the wellbeing and emotional support that is available if needed – talk to your manager or visit the wellbeing pages on the intranet for more information.

Relaxation on face mask guidance

With reductions in the Covid-19 rates in the region, and in line with our local NHS partner organisations, masks are again no longer required in 'public' areas in our hospitals, including entrances, waiting areas, corridors and restaurants.

Staff and visitors who choose to continue to wear masks (or due to a risk assessment) in these areas should do so, and we will keep providing masks at our entrances for this purpose.

Mask wearing for visitors and staff will remain in place in all inpatient (ward) areas, as well as in clinic rooms and in our urgent and emergency care settings, eg our emergency departments, urgent treatment centres, same day emergency care (SDEC) facilities.

Masks will continue to be required for patients with suspected Covid-19 as tolerated and clinically safe.

Please continue to follow good hand hygiene practices including the regular use of hand gel. Please stay away from our hospitals if you have any symptoms of Covid-19. Staff without symptoms should continue to take twice-weekly lateral flow tests, remain vigilant and closely follow infection prevention and control practices.

Changes to Covid-19 swabbing

Due to reduced activity the Covid-19 swabbing service opening hours will change from Saturday (20 August). The team will be available on Monday to Friday from 8am-4pm, Saturday from 8am-12pm and closed on Sunday. Outside these times, swabs needing to be authorised will be done with clinical site.

Give your views on impact of actual and estimated discharge dates

As you may know, wards and teams have been working to improve our understanding, application and reporting of estimated discharge dates (EDDs) and actual discharge dates (ADDs) for all our inpatients, to help improve quality of care and hospital flow.

NHS England would like you to hear your thoughts and experiences about the differences and impact it has had for your patients, your ward and yourself. This will be used to help shape future steps both within UHD and nationally.

The feedback is anonymous and should take no longer than 5-10 minutes.

Click here to take the survey.

RBH: No nutrition ward round Monday (22 August)

The nutrition and dietetic team will prioritise parental nutrition referrals and reviews. Please refer on ext. 4732. The Thursday nutrition ward will go ahead as normal.

Tips for successful recruitment

As has been widely reported in the press, there are fewer potential candidates per job vacancy than there have been for many years. Accordingly we too are finding it much harder than usual to successfully recruit to many different roles, including administrative positions we would usually fill without problem.

To aim to recruit as successfully as possible please see some recruitment tips here. For any feedback/queries please contact Danny Edwards, recruitment manager at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Sian Wright, our recruitment communication and social media officer, can also offer help with marketing advice for extremely hard to recruit roles at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Changes to cancer multi-disciplinary team (MDT) referrals

A new electronic process to refer patients to cancer MDT is due to be launched on 13 September. To refer a patient to a cancer MDT please use 'managed bookmarks' via the intranet and select 'clinical systems – electronic forms -cancer MDT referral'.

You will be prompted to answer a number of questions about the patient you are referring, including which cancer MDT you want to refer to and at which hospital site (if applicable).

Once the referral is submitted, the MDT clinical lead / representative will either accept the referral for discussion at the MDT (and will appear on EPR) or decline for a specific reason or if more information is required.

If you require further information, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Mindfulness for wellbeing

Join our UHD mindfulness sessions to help train your mind to be in the present moment though the practice of mindfulness techniques such as mindful breathing, mindful movement and different types of meditation. When you practice being mindful, you practise accepting your present experience and are able recognise when your mind has wandered from the present, and learn to bring it bring back to what you want to focus on. For more information see our intranet pages. We have a range of taster sessions available for our staff over Zoom on 22 August and 9 September from 1-2.30pm and 5 December 3.30-5pm.

All staff welcome, to book a place email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with the date you wish to attend and you will be sent confirmation.

Reminder: not everyone is entitled to free NHS healthcare

Anyone of any nationality who is not ordinarily resident in the UK at the time of treatment is regarded as an 'overseas visitor'. This means that they may be charged for the treatment they received at the trust. We have a legal obligation to establish whether a person is an overseas visitor, and whether charges apply or if they have an exemption. If you have any queries about overseas patients, get in touch with This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or check the finance pages of the intranet.

'Induction Switch' phone directory app being withdrawn

UHD's entries within the induction telephone directory app are due to be withdrawn within the next month. The telephone and bleep directories can be accessed via the intranet on the telecoms page.

We have produced some FAQs on the withdrawal of the app, which can be found here. Please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with any additional questions.

Good People Management induction – more dates

Further dates have been released for the UHD Manager's Induction Module 2 - Good People Management.

• 5 October 2-4pm
• 1 November 10-12 noon
• 1 December 10-12 noon

For more information go to the professional development pages under education and training on the Poole intranet.

To book on to your preferred date, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Please note that you must have completed Module 1 before taking Module 2.

Leading your team through integration - workshops

We are launching a new workshop and toolkit to support you to design a team session to start you on this journey. The objectives of this workshop are to provide you with the principles of an effective team, why developing your team is important, and how to facilitate your own team event.

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 place.

New training available on BEAT VLE

Thanks to the work of our e-learning team, we have new courses available through the useful links page of BEAT VLE.

Autism Unlimited: a two hour programme designed to help support patients and others with ASD by learning more about neurodiversity. This does not count as your mandatory training requirement. There will be additional mandatory autism training (Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training) coming soon.

eLearning for Healthcare Programme: Children and Young People with Mental Health Needs, Autism or Learning Disability: a digital resource designed to help staff in an acute hospital setting to enhance their confidence and skills to care for children and young people and their families (CYP) with mental health needs, autism or learning disability.

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Graduate Management Trainee Scheme (GMTS) with NHS England

NHS England is holding two information webinars in the South West region for NHS staff who might be interested in applying for the GMTS programme in September 2023. Find out more here .

Staff Lottery draw postponed

The recent cyber attack on NHS111 via the Adastra system provided by Advanced has meant a delay to this month's lottery draw.

Advanced also provide a significant number of NHS organisations, including ours, with financial ledger services and have taken them offline to mitigate the risk of further impact. In light of this we are unable to run this month's staff lottery until the systems are back online. At the current time we are unable to state when this will be but the committee would like to assure all lottery members that we will run the draw as soon as we can.

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 UHD netball team, funded by UHD Charity. For those who would like to express their interest in becoming a team coach, joining the trust team as a player or if you want to create your own departmental team, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Please include your first and second position preference.

Yellow Buses pre-paid tickets update

The 18, 33 and 36 routes will be operated by Yellow Coaches for the next six months. Please note that they will honour pre-bought 30 and 90 day tickets until next Friday (26 August) and drivers will be made aware to accept cards. Please keep your staff ID badge with you on your journey.