Our volunteers are making a comeback!

Volunteers are now able to return to wards to support patients and staff.

Volunteers are not permitted to assist in Covid-19 wards or in contact bays and we have limited numbers of volunteers, as many had to leave due to being at high risk of harm from Covid-19.

When making a request for a volunteer please ensure you prioritise it - don't request a volunteer all day every day, think about activity and when they would have maximum impact to our patient's experience.

Fill in this form to request assistance and we will endeavour to match a suitable volunteer. The form is also available on the volunteer intranet page nder patient experience team.

One intranet for UHD

Our new UHD intranet will be live in the next few weeks, bringing together the RBCH and Poole sites via one new homepage.

The homepage highlights the most popular sections from each of the existing sites, as well as quick links to latest news, policies, web mail, Covid guidance, and the ever-popular swapshop. 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.

Once the new intranet is established, we will start the process of training a limited number of superusers who will be able to update their own content. More details to follow.

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

Mandatory vaccination requirement update

The Government announced this week that staff now no longer need to have the Covid-19 vaccine as a condition of deployment (employment).

This means that the requirement for unvaccinated staff to have their first dose of the two-part vaccine by 3 February and the second before 1 April no longer applies.

Vaccination remains the best way to protect yourself, your family, your colleagues and our patients from the virus, and we continue to offer vaccinations for staff. Full details on how to book yours can be found on the occupational health pages of the intranet.

The Government's decision is subject to Parliamentary process and will require further consultation and a vote to be passed into legislation – in the meantime NHS England is advising NHS trusts not to apply the mandatory vaccination requirement, which was made law earlier this year.

Amanda Pritchard, chief executive of NHS England, visits UHD

We were delighted to welcome Amanda Pritchard, chief executive of NHS England, to our Poole Hospital site this week. Amanda joined us to learn more about some of our cutting edge cancer care and treatments, as well as to meet our staff, ahead of #WorldCancerDay today.

You can watch a video of Amanda's visit to Poole Hospital here on Twitter.

Reminder: trial of extended IT service desk opening hours

Our IT service desk team is trialling extended opening hours for eight weeks from 7am-10pm to better support colleagues, particularly those working more flexible hours.

During this trial the service desk will be open with the shortened out of hours service reduced to 10pm-7am.

The helpdesk can be reached in the usual way, via phone Bournemouth ext 4222 or for Poole 2347, and the IT Service Portal.

RBH: Electronic Prescribing and Medicines Administration (EPMA) update

After successfully completing the EPMA rollout onto the older persons medicine wards, and taking a break in support of clinical pressures, the project board has now given approval to continue with the deployment.

The team will be back on the wards next week, and the next phase is to deploy the system onto the ‘Medicine' wards, starting with:

• Ward 22 from Monday 7 February
• Ward 3 from Monday 14 February
• AMU & AEC from Monday 2 February

RBCH staff must complete training to gain access to the system and this needs to be done prior to the go-live dates, and a full list of dates can be accessed via the EPMA intranet page – Deployment Plan (RBCH)

In the meantime, if you have any questions, please call the EPMA team on 2984 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The EPMA MAC chart is also changing from Monday. The MAC chart, is the paper prescription that is generated out of EPMA and it has been modified to improve its usability.

Notable changes:

• Suspended or Inactive doses will now be shown as XX – these previously showed as a greyed box
• A "how to use" cover sheet will be shown at the front of the page
• A section for documenting the reason for non-administration of medicines
• Extra guidance for prescribing drugs on the paper chart (titled section for dose/drug/route etc.)
• Dedicated Pharmacy screening section
• RBH Only - A section for selecting discharge medicines next to each drug
• RBH Only - Additional sections replicating existing paper chart content (Front page, additional discharge medications, pharmacy screening, syringe drivers and infusions)

MAC charts should still only be used for a short period at Bournemouth and Christchurch when awaiting transcription to a full paper chart.

At Poole, these should still only be used during periods of downtime, or for passing information to other organisations.

Oncology multidisciplinary team (MDT) referrals have changed

All inpatients requiring referral to a site-specific cancer MDT need to be referred via the eForms portal icon, selecting cancer MDT.

Please ensure that when you access the portal, you do so through the managed bookmarks section in your browser (Edge, Chrome or Internet Explorer) as recent updates to Chrome mean some desktop shortcuts will no longer work.

If urgent advice or oncology input is needed bleep on-call specialist registrar on 0600 or acute oncology clinical nurse specialist Gemma Bryant on bleep 0667, or alternatively contact the site specific cancer nurse.

The acute oncology outreach service is available Monday-Friday via bleep 0667.

Join the February Junior Doctors Forum (JDF)

The next JDF is on Wednesday, discussing the development of the new mess, updates on working in both trusts, and the fatigues and facilities charter. We have also been allocated some extra funds to be spent helping to improve the wellbeing of junior doctors and it's time to share your ideas on how we can put them to good use.

If there is anything you'd like to discuss please get in touch with:

Poole: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

RBH: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

There will be pizza in the lecture theatres on both sites where you can join in person, or you can get involved on Teams here.

Remembering our colleagues

It is with deep sadness that we inform you of the recent deaths of two colleagues who worked on our Poole site.

Laura Acton, was an apprentice radiographer at Poole Hospital and previously worked on the A3 ward as an HCA. Michael Cox, X-ray superintendent, described Laura as "a kind, compassionate and selfless member of the X-ray team, who was enthusiastically trailblazing the radiographer apprenticeship flag for UHD at Poole Hospital." Laura joined the X-ray department in the summer of 2020 following her success at interview, studying diagnostic radiography as an apprenticeship degree at Exeter University.

Laura leaves behind her husband and two young boys. Family was always at the forefront of Laura's mind with her hard work and determination all to support her young family. She had an amazing working relationship with all her colleagues and will be deeply missed everyone that knew her. A GoFundMe page has been set up here for anybody who would like to contribute to Laura's family.

Catriona Chandler, from our ENT operational support team, passed away on 21 January. Catriona's funeral will take place at St Mary's RC Church on Wimborne Road at 1.30pm today, and a live stream will be available here.

"Catriona was a kind, loving, beautiful soul," said Claire Liddiard, ENT operational support manager. "It was often said throughout the team that they had never met somebody with such kindness. Selfless and calm, she always took the time to ask about your day, your family, right down to the pets! Catriona spent her most recent years working as part of the OMF secretarial team, bringing laughter, cups of tea, and the best blooming peace lily the office has ever seen. She will be dearly missed by all."

A space has been opened in our Poole chapel for us to reflect and remember our two dear colleagues. Books of remembrance are also available for staff to record their loving wishes and memories and our chaplaincy team at Poole are available to support staff at this time on ext 2167.

POOLE: Shower and changing room refurbishment is complete

Staff shower and changing room refurbishments for female rooms in F-block lower ground level (-1) and male rooms in A block lower ground level (-1) are completed

All existing lockers in the temporary female changing room have been relocated back to their original area in the refurbished room.

If you are in need of a locker for these rooms you can contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. on ext 2493 or ask at the FM helpdesk (Monday to Friday 8:30am – 4pm).

Support your colleagues as a health and wellbeing ambassador

We're all used to putting our patients first, and the care we provide to our community is something we should all be proud of, however, we cannot look after others without first taking care of our own wellbeing. Sometimes finding the right support or the time to look after ourselves can seem impossible, but we want to change that for #TeamUHD, and to help all of our colleagues understand how to ask for an access help, how to give their feedback and how to boost their own wellbeing.

We're looking for our first health and wellbeing ambassadors, who will assist in promoting and signposting colleagues to our support services, encouraging engagement with our health and wellbeing initiatives and listening to feedback to find out where we are getting it right, and where we could be improving.

Our new ambassadors will be working in partnership with our Mental Health First Aiders, Trauma Risk Management Practitioners, Wellbeing Champions and staff networks alongside the occupational health and organisational development teams.

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 to support #TeamUHD in improving the health and wellbeing of our colleagues.

See the health and wellbeing pages on the intranet for more information.

Check out our diversity and inclusion calendar

Our new diversity and inclusion calendar is available now on our diversity intranet pages, highlighting key diversity and inclusion dates throughout the year.

Being mindful of diverse holidays, events and celebrations – and opportunities for inclusion – can help to create workplaces and communities where everyone feels included.

The calendar is available to download and print for you to share with your team and in patient areas too. It is not intended as a prescriptive list, if you would like to suggest other noteworthy dates please email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Submit and approve expenses incurred prior to 1 February by next Friday

Easy Expenses, UHD's new expenses system, is here.

Any expense claims dated before 1 February should be submitted and approved via the old sel-expenses system 11 February.

Staff who claim expenses can now register and begin using the new system for their monthly expense claims, click here for more information.

No need to contact IT to reset your Microsoft password

Did you know that when you can reset, unlock, or change your password without having to contact our IT team by registering for self-service password reset (SSPR)?

You can complete the sign-up process using your existing username and password and after you register if you ever forget your password, you can reset it again yourself.

Click here to register for the service.

Share your experience as an international nurse

A survey was launched in November to capture the experiences of new international nurses who had recently moved to the UK and completed the onboarding process with NHS England organisations. This survey is being run by the University of Huddersfield, commissioned NHS Improvement, and there is still time for you to contribute.

If you have not yet completed the survey, you can share your views to strengthen the experiences of international nurses and the longer-term retention of such an important workforce population.

Click here to complete the survey.

Registration is now open for the Camino Way Charity Trek 2022

UHD Charity's new challenge is an incredible opportunity to trek 125km through rural northern Spain whilst raising funds for our hospitals.

You'll start on the Portuguese Coastal Camino in the elegant seaside town of Baiona and from there follow the pilgrims way, finishing in Santiago de Compostela.

Our charity challenge includes seven nights hotel accommodation, breakfast and dinner for 5 nights at hotel, luggage transfers, airport transfers and 24 hour phone assistance.

This unique, spiritual experience promises to be an unforgettable way to see out the summer, taking place on taking place on 10-17 September.

Find out more and register here.

Removing the age discrimination - busting common myths for staff moving to the NHS 2015 pension scheme on 1 April 2022

The McCloud judgement ruled that to stop age discrimination staff under protection to stay in their previous pension scheme will be moved to the 2015 scheme in April 2022.

All pension scheme members with the protection will end on 31 March 2022 and all members will move to the 2015 NHS Pension scheme on the 1 April 2022 regardless of age and scheme membership.

We are keen to help staff understand some common myths around this change:

• It is a myth that if you don't retire before 1 April 2022, you will have to wait until state pension age to claim your pension.
• Your Pension benefits already built up in the 1995/2008 schemes will not be lost – you do not need to retire in March 2022 to ensure your current 1995/2008 pension benefits are secure.
• All scheme members will be in the 2015 scheme from 1 April 2022.
• You do not need to make any decisions about retiring before March 2022 to secure your current benefits.

There are more helpful documents around how NHS employers is supporting this change here, and please see these FAQs about the change for further clarification.

Local road closures

Did you know we can all use the One Network tool to keep up to date with road closures in our local area?

Click here to use their helpful map to check for updates in our area.