Get winter-ready: autumn vaccinations coming soon

This autumn's Covid and flu vaccination programme starts next month, with all of us encouraged to take up the offer of separate Covid-19 booster and flu vaccinations to protect ourselves this winter. These will be provided in weekend clinics in the same appointment.

This will be the only chance for staff under 50 to have the Covid-19 booster as these will not be offered in the community, unless you have underlying health issues and are in a higher risk cohort.

The Covid vaccine booster provided this year is made by Moderna and is bivalent, and offers protection against the highly transmissible omicron variant, as well as a number of other strains. The vaccines not only protect you but those around you, and directly support our hospitals in delivering safe, effective care as we move towards winter and the anticipated further increase in activity this brings.

Clinics will run during at weekends in our outpatients departments for four weeks, alternating between Poole and RBH, starting at RBH on the weekend of 8-9 October. Details on how to book your vaccinations online will be announced shortly.

Be a jabber! If you can help deliver the vaccines in our clinics at weekends, and have given vaccinations in the last couple of years, please contact Gemma Lynn, head of occupational health, via This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

We're also looking for clinical colleagues to support our flu peer vaccinators programme across UHD too – this year we will be including our patients. If you can help, particularly if you are based at Poole, please speak to your ward lead in the first instance, or email Gemma.

Join us for the all staff briefing tomorrow

Join us for our next all staff briefing tomorrow (7 September) led by Siobhan Harrington. We will be holding this live event in the Oasis at RBH with an opportunity to chat to executive colleagues from 8am before the briefing starts at 8.30am. Colleagues who cannot come to RBH can join the live event online at 8.30am here and a recording will be shared via email afterwards.

#YouMatter - Help us keep improving with the People Pulse survey

The national NHS People Pulse survey is open this month. This five minute survey is your opportunity to share how you have been feeling, and our opportunity to make changes at UHD and in the wider NHS. There is a focus this month on speaking out and we would welcome your views on this important topic.

By sharing your views, you'll ensure your voice is heard across our organisation and we can act and respond on your concerns and help improve the support that we provide to you. Click here or scan the QR code to tell us how you feel. When you access the survey, select University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust as your organisation.

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

Join our first UHD career fair this Friday

Join us on Friday 9 September for our first Careers Fair – a brilliant opportunity to find out more about careers progression at UHD!

Look out for:

• talks, workshops and information stands
• celebrate achievements in our awards ceremony
• get hands on in our brand new Lakeview SimWard
• come and speak with us for tailored career advice, practice interview skills and how to write a personal statement that stands out above the rest
• got questions about apprenticeships? Our team is here to answer them and more!

You can join in person in the RBH Education Centre or watch as we stream live on Teams. Find out more about the day on the BEAT intranet page.

MyPorter – coming next week!

My Porter will go live over the coming weeks, with full implementation effective from 12 September, after which all request for portering support will need to be input by wards and departments.

The new system is designed to help us improve patient flow and deliver better patient outcomes. Other benefits include full visibility of all porter requests to and from your department, full sight of when a porter is on the way, and improved timeliness. You can find the user guide and spreadsheet listing user names already created on the latest news pages of the intranet.

Please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. at RBH and This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. at Poole if you have any questions and for training support.

Reduced tissue viability service

Due to unforeseen circumstances our tissue viability service across our sites is running a reduced service for the next two weeks. We will be triaging the referrals and prioritising our visits focusing on supporting patient flow and individual need. Be aware during this time we will be providing more telephone advice with the support from our medical photographers. The tissue viability intranet pages also provide first line advice and access to the wound dressing formulary.

Find out how Alertive can help you

We are looking to introduce a new app that will improve our non-emergency communications across UHD. Representatives from 'Alertive' will be demonstrating the app this Thursday (8 September). Find out more here.

There will be two sessions in boardroom one at Poole between 9-10am and 10.30-11.30am and at RBH in the marquee between 2-3pm and 3.30-4.30pm. Everyone is welcome.

It's Gynaecological Cancer Awareness Month

September is Gynaecological Cancer Awareness Month, and our women's health gynaecology team work together to support timely patient access, review and treatment. The team are asking that you take some time for you this month too, by heading to the Foundation for Women's Cancer site for useful resources around symptoms, risk factors and risk reduction.

Also look out for information boards on the top floor of the Jigsaw Building at RBH, and in the Harbourside at Poole. Keep an eye on our trust social media over the next few weeks too for more info from the team.

Save the date for the next Ask Aly

Join us at 12noon on 22 September for Ask Aly, hosted by our deputy chief medical officer, Dr Matt Thomas. It's a great opportunity to ask questions, raise concerns or share your views. You can join the meeting here and if you'd like to send any questions in 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.

Recruitment updates

Clinical day two inductions

New joiners who require a clinical two day induction need to have their start date booked to coincide with the induction course they are booked on, so they do their induction as soon as they start. By not attending induction first they will not have had access to their mandatory training which could be a risk to the new staff member and their patients, hence the need to be supervised until they attend induction.

Please note this does not apply for new joiners who need to do the corporate one day induction.

Approvals

When you add a vacancy to Trac, to minimise delays please add the following approvers as standard:

1) The correct finance email address: 'FinanceTRAC-CorporateCG', 'FinanceTRAC-SpecalitiesCG', 'FinanceTRAC-MedicalCG' or 'FinanceTRAC-SurgeryCG'

2) Add 'VacancyReviewPanel' as an approver for admin/non-clinical roles and all roles which are band 8a or above.

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

RBH: Ambulatory emergency care doppler missing

A mobile doppler on a stand has gone missing at RBH. This is vital equipment for the vascular hot clinic in ambulatory emergency care surgery. If anyone has seen this, please return it as soon as possible.

Do you know anyone looking for a new career?

Our healthcare support worker open day is being held this Saturday (10 September) in the education centre at RBH between 9am-5pm. Everyone is welcome to find out more about future opportunities. Visitors can also find out more about a career in healthcare and speak to managers and staff from different departments around the hospital.

Find out more about the event or apply here.

Planning for your retirement

Join us on 18 October from 9am-12.30pm in the lecture theatre at Poole where we will provide as much information as possible to support informed choices and decisions regarding retirement. Information will include state pensions, income tax and the self-assessment tax regime, savings, mortgages and much more. Places are limited so if you would like to attend, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call Lindsay Brazier on ext. 8206.

Big welcome to the team running key worker accommodation

A big welcome to Helen Stringer and her team who transferred from Sovereign Housing to UHD Residences on 1 September. Helen will be working with the existing RBH residential team to create a fully integrated offering across UHD sites.

Climb new heights for UHD Charity

This month, Andy Barber our laboratory manager in microbiology at Poole, is reaching new heights in the 'For Rangers Ultra' 230km race. Andy will be raising money to support our UHD Charity, click here to donate!