Second doses of the Covid-19 vaccine at University Hospitals Dorset

All second dose appointments for staff who have had their first dose through our hospitals must be made via our online self-service system, which opens again on Wednesday (24 February). Regrettably, second dose appointments booked during the initial roll out of the vaccine here have been cancelled, in order for these appointments to be made by staff using our electronic system. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

Our electronic system works with the national vaccination service database to ensure a robust record of who has received which vaccination, and when, is stored. It also ensures that as far as possible, every member of staff can book their second dose in line with the Government's current recommendations of between 10-12 weeks.

Staff who are yet to have their first vaccination should click here for information on how to arrange this.

Covid and PPE posters for ward and department use

Click here to see a PDF with national posters which can be used in ward areas. Staff are encouraged to print and laminate copies and place them near PPE stations in your wards and departments.

Values Week launching next week

Next week we'll be starting our new trust values during Values Week 2021 and we'd love you to get involved.

Throughout the week we'll be sharing a new values video featuring colleagues, and sharing examples of how the values are already being played out at UHD. We'll be inviting you to share your examples of how you try to live the values or where you've seen them done well too.

We'll also be sharing information about how you can use the new values design and how you can start applying them in appraisals. Our values are key to our culture at UHD. We invite you all to get involved and inspired how you and your colleagues can help bring them to life. Keep an eye out for more information next week via the intranet latest news, Tuesday's (23 February) Staff Bulletin, screensavers and social media on the @UHD_NHS Twitter page.

POOLE - staff parking: extension of multi-storey availability

Parking remains free for UHD staff parking in line with their permit allocation. Currently, if you hold a permit for offsite parking and work a shift that finishes after 9pm or anytime at weekends, you can park for free in the multi-storey car park at Poole Hospital. You will need to validate your entry ticket at the car park office before leaving. This ensures that parking facilities are used fairly and distributed equally.

From Monday 22 February, we will be extending the multi-storey facility to offsite permit holding staff whose shifts end at or after 7pm, on a trial basis. You must remember to validate your ticket at the car parking office to qualify for free parking in this way. This will make the multi-storey car park available to more staff. We will assess the impact this may have on availability and will be amended if demand exceeds capacity.

Parking charges remain in place if you have a permit and are parking outside of your allocated zone or the above criteria.

Thanks to all who 'Asked Aly'

Thank you to all of those who attended our 'Ask Aly' Teams forum on Wednesday. For those of you who could not attend click here to watch via Teams.

The next 'Ask Aly' forum will be on 24 March, 12-1pm. A link to the Teams event will be provided nearer the time.

If you do not hold a permit, free weekly multi-storey car park passes can be arranged through the car park office. These tickets can be obtained a week in advance, ie collect this week for next week, and are on a first come basis with limited numbers available.

We have also arranged additional parking at Barclay's and Bournemouth and Poole College – please contact the car park office if you would like to find out more about these options.

Tributes paid to "wonderful" Krzysztof

Tributes have been paid to a "wonderful man" and much-loved colleague, Krzysztof Gogolewski, who died earlier this week.

Krzysztof joined Poole Hospital in 2009 as a maternity porter at St Mary's maternity unit, where he quickly became a popular and integral part of the team.

Claire White, matron for outpatients and community maternity services, described Krzysztof as a kind and much loved colleague.

"We are all so very sad to hear that our lovely porter, Krzysztof, has passed away," she said. "He was a wonderful man who was much loved by us all. His midwifery colleagues describe him as kind, fun, hard-working, genuine and overall a true gentleman - we will miss him hugely.

"Our love and condolences go out to his lovely wife, Margaret, and all his family and friends."

Steven Lee, Krzysztof's manager in the portering service, said he was an asset to the team.

"Krzysztof would always go the extra mile – nothing was too much trouble," he said. "He was very funny, and always friendly and approachable - everyone he met couldn't help but like him.

"He was a hugely popular and valued member of the wider portering team, and our thoughts are with his friends and family."

A book of condolence has been opened in the chapel for anyone wishing to pay their respects to Krzysztof.

Accidental inputting of password information in Teams

IT has been informed of occurrences of passwords or parts of passwords being input into Teams channels. This is easily done as by default Teams is set up to automatically open when a PC is first logged on. Please ensure you take care when first logging onto PCs and make sure you are inputting password information into the correct fields.

To help prevent the accident inputting of passwords you can set Teams to open in the background at first log on by following the below:

1. open Teams
2. click on your picture or initials in the top right hand corner
3. click on 'settings'
4. under 'general' tick the 'open application in background' option.

On your next log on, Teams will start and you will be logged in. Your colleagues will still be able to see your status and will still be able to contact you via chat and audio or video call but the Teams window won't open.

To open the Teams application if it is running in the background you can open it as usual through the 'start button' and then Microsoft Teams or from the system tray using the up arrow next to the time in bottom right corner of your desktop and then click in the Teams icon as shown below.

Flu vaccinations

There's still time to have your flu jab. Find your nearest peer vaccinator – trained staff able to provide the jab to colleagues in their clinical area on the intranet.

LGBTQ+ History Month: pronouns lunch and learn

Join us this month in celebrating LGBTQ+ History Month. Next week we will be holding the following virtual event:

• 25 February, 1-2pm - Pronouns – lunch and learn

The event will be hosted by Lucy Hart, business improvement manager, and everyone is welcome to join

During February look out for the rainbow flag at our hospitals and check out of social media on Twitter and Facebook.

To join the LGBTQ+ staff network or become an ally email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Pro Ability staff network Teams drop-in session

The Pro Ability staff network is holding an informal drop-in session via Teams on Wednesday 24 February, 1–2pm.

Network members and allies are welcome to join us for an informal catch up especially if you are working from home. The network are here for you to listen and aim to brighten your day.

Click here to join.

Care First webinars

Care First, our employee assistance programme, is putting on webinars this week and next. The themes are:

• Friday 19 February, 12-12.30pm – Mental health
• Monday 22 February, 12-12.30pm – Care First
• Tuesday 23 February, 12-12.30pm – Care First lifestyle
• Wednesday 24 February, 12-12.30pm – Wellbeing
• Thursday 25 February, 12-12.30pm – Covid-19 and business
• Friday 26 February, 12-12.30pm – Keeping optimistic

Roadworks

Click here for a list of the current roadworks taking place.