Clean and safe hospitals – they're everyone's responsibility

It's more important than ever that we work together to keep our hospitals clean and safe. In addition to the proper use of PPE, effective cleaning is essential to reduce the spread of Covid-19, which can remain active for three days on surfaces.

Watch this short film showing some of the ways we can all make a difference – regardless of your role, good infection prevention and control is everyone's business.

Covid-19 vaccinations

All Covid-19 vaccinations for staff across UHD are being provided at the Royal Bournemouth until we are ready to begin offering staff the second dose.

This is due to the significant reduction in demand for the vaccine across our hospitals, and the need to make best use of the substantial resources the vaccination programme requires. This will also allow us to release clinical staff back to other much needed duties.

Whilst overall lower, UHD staff demand for the vaccine remains higher at the Royal Bournemouth than at Poole, and RBH is also the better suited of the two outpatients departments in terms of safely managing flow.

Our expectation is that this model will operate for several weeks until we are ready to stand up our readiness again at both hospitals to deliver the second vaccine dose to staff at significant scale. At this time, this remains scheduled for 10-12 weeks after the first dose, but we will continue to monitor and respond to the latest national guidance on this as necessary and keep you updated.

Staff do not need to do anything at this stage regarding booking their second dose. We will communicate the process as the national policy becomes clear in the next couple of weeks.

Any staff member yet to have the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine should book online now. You can also find a useful FAQ on the intranet.

Update from the hospital palliative care team

We are currently experiencing an unprecedented demand for advice and reviews at a time when our staffing levels are lower than usual.

The end of life care team, part of the hospital palliative care team, is reviewing an unprecedented number of patients who are in the last days of life and are on the personalised care plan for the last days of life (PCPLDL).

Please ensure that all referrals meet the referral criteria as below:

Specialist palliative care services are for patients with complex problems.

Complex problems are defined as those which are severe and intractable and have persisted after competent palliative care by generalists.

Complex problems can arise from multiple domains of need including:

• physical symptoms
• psychological symptoms or spiritual / emotional distress.

Prior to referral patients must provide consent. Referral must be judged to be in the best interests of patients who lack the capacity to consent to referral.

We are keen that we continue to receive all appropriate referrals but please bear with us if response times are slower than usual.

The RBCH palliative care team can be contacted on extension 6021.

The Poole Hospital palliative care team can be contacted on extension 8102.

In addition there is a wealth of resources that can be found on the intranet.

Thanks to all who 'Asked Aly'

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

The next 'Ask Aly' forum will be on 17 February, 12.30-1.30pm. A link to the Teams event will be provided nearer the time.

Construction work at RBH underway

Construction work at the Orthopaedics, Eye Unit and Jigsaw Building entrance started this week. These works are in preparation for start of construction for the new Maternity, Children's, Emergency and Critical Care Centre (MCEC) building and will provide new facilities in the West Wing of the hospital during the construction period.

Look out for posters detailing the changes around the hospital or click here for more.

Transport booking for new users

New users no longer need to request access to the transport request form before using the e-forms portal.

To request non-emergency patient transport for patients being discharged/transferred from wards/ED, simply log in using your PC or email user name and password from the non-emergency patient transport pages on the intranet.

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

RBH – Docketline unavailability

Docketline will be unavailable via the intranet on Wednesday 3 February between 9am and 2pm. During this time please use ext. 4287 for emergency calls only. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

LGBTQ+ History Month

Join us this month in celebrating LGBTQ+ History Month. This month we will be holding the following virtual events:

• 4 February, 9.30am-12.30pm - Gender identity – Basic awareness training
• 9 February, 9.30am-12.30pm - Gender identity – Basic awareness training
• 12 February, 12–1pm - Pronouns – lunch and learn
• 23 February, 3.30-4.30pm - Film premiere: 'Any Other Business'

During the month 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..

POOLE - National Apprenticeship Week 2021

National Apprenticeship Week 2021 will be held from 8-14 February.

We will be holding a drop-in session for those who are interested in doing an apprenticeship to find out more which will be held in the education centre on Wednesday 10 February, 12:30-5:00pm.

The session will be socially distanced and all Covid regulations will be adhered to.

If you are unable to attend and would like more information email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call ext. 8473.

You can be any age to do an apprenticeship and your salary will not be affected whilst on the programme.

Flu jabs

Our incredible team of peer vaccinators are able to provide flu jabs to colleagues. If you have not yet had yours, there's still time to get protected. Visit our flu vaccinations portal and use the links on the page to find your nearest peer flu vaccinator.

Introducing our patient experience team

UHD's new patient experience team brings together a number of functions that collectively support our ambition to provide high quality care for the people who use our services. These include:

• patient engagement
• complaints and PALS
• volunteers
• chaplaincy
• patient information
• interpreter and translation services
• carer support
• youth development and work experience

We are delighted to announce the appointment of three key members of the team:

L-R: Jenny Williams, head of patient experience and lead for the service; Declan McConville, lead chaplain; and Laura Northeast, lead for patient engagement and deputy head.

Over the next few months the team will be working to align processes across UHD and look forward to working with everyone to provide the best experience for patients and carers.

New UHD name badges

The new style UHD name badges are available to order now via Powergate.

These badges supplement staff photo ID badges. Name badges are available in one colour only; the black text on a yellow background is recognised as the most easily read for those with visual and cognitive impairment.

Staff may choose to display first name only or first name, surname and role.

Care First webinars

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

• Tuesday 2 February, 12-12.30pm - Resilience
• Wednesday 3 February, 12-12.30pm - Children
• Thursday 4 February, 12-12.30pm - Counselling
• Friday 5 February, 12-12.30pm – Covid-19
• Monday 8 February, 12-12.30pm – Care First
• Tuesday 9 February, 12-12.30pm – Relationships
• Wednesday 10 February, 12-12.30pm – Self-esteem
• Thursday 11 February, 12-12.30pm – Long Covid
• Friday 12 February, 12-12.30pm – Domestic abuse

#RidesForHeroes: free Beryl bike and e-scooter minutes for UHD staff

To help support key workers during the Covid-19 pandemic, the Arts University Bournemouth and Bournemouth University have donated a package of 200 minutes free riding on Beryl bikes and Beryl e-scooters for up to 400 UHD staff. This is valid for all bay-to-bay rides in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole area.

To sign up and claim your free minutes, simply download the Beryl app on your smartphone, register with your UHD email address and use the code BCPNHS0221. The first 400 registrants will be able to claim their free minutes.

For more information about Beryl and this initiative, click here.

Be alert to Covid-19 fraud

Our counter fraud service is warning of a new fraud relating to Covid-19 vaccinations.

Some colleagues and patients have received messages via email, encouraging them to follow links to accept/decline vaccination appointments. The link will take you to a fraudulent website that is made to look genuine. Any personal or financial details you give this website is then in the hands of the fraudster.

Click here for more.

Roadworks

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