Critical incident stand down

Following our trust tactical group review yesterday, we have stepped down our critical incident status. The group considered whether we were able to maintain critical services over the next period and concluded that we had robust plans in place to maintain these services. However, our hospitals remain very busy and the number of staff we have self-isolating and symptomatic are also still high.

We anticipate that we have some very difficult weeks ahead of us and might need to go back into critical incident to help us ensure we can still provide our critical services.

Thank you to all colleagues and our external partners for your hard work and support to help improve the situation.

Inpatient Covid-19 vaccinations – referral details

Dear colleague, I'm pleased to confirm that we are able to continue our offer inpatient Covid-19 vaccinations this month to eligible patients. This will ensure that access to the vaccine is as equitable as possible, and particularly for vulnerable groups. Please note:

• The vaccine available is Pfizer, and doses offered may be the first, second, booster or fourth dose
• Vaccinations will be delivered by a nurse vaccinator once a week in cohorts to ensure every dose in each vial is used
• The programme is targeted predominantly at longer-term inpatients in older people's services, but is available to patients in all specialties.

Referrals may be made by any doctor, advanced nurse practitioner or prescribing pharmacist – please use this form.

Completed forms, or any questions you may have, should be directed to sent to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (RBH) or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (Poole).

The vaccine will be offered throughout January – please encourage your patients to take advantage of this service. We will review future provision of the vaccine to inpatients following this, ensuring any extension works in harmony with the national vaccine roll out programme.

Staff Covid-19 vaccinations

Vaccinations – first, second and boosters – are still available for staff, and are especially important as full vaccination (both first and second doses) against Covid-19 become mandatory for most staff on 1 April.

See Tuesday's bulletin for full details on the clinics and locations.

Don't forget to pick up your lateral flow kits

You can collect lateral flow kits directly from a Public Health Dorset van on site at Poole and Bournemouth without the need to order them online. The packs of tests will be available to collect from:

• RBH: The Village Hotel car park on Mondays from 8am-7pm
• Poole: In between the patient experience centre and multi-storey car park on Thursdays from 9am-7pm

Please take your ID badge when collecting.

Training for non-clinical staff to support our patients

In response to current pressures we are looking for non-clinical members of staff who would like to upskill themselves to potentially work as a volunteer on our wards.

This would involve supporting patients at mealtimes with delivery of meals/water jugs and feeding of patients together with answering telephones and contacting relatives.

If you are interested, please have a conversation with your line manager, and watch the training videos and presentations available on the Covid-19 training pages on the RBCH intranet under the heading 'non clinical staff ward volunteers' these cover mealtime companion training, basic food safety and patient confidentiality reminders.

When you have completed the training please email this form to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

If you have any queries please contact Miriam Lester at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Switchboard priority given to all external callers and '2222' emergency calls today

There are high call volumes and reduced staffing levels on our switchboard today (7 January). Priority will be given to all external callers and '2222' emergency calls.

For internal enquiries please use:

• '0' for voice recognition system
• our internal phone directory for UHD
• the intranet page for all on call information (under informatics)
• the intranet page for instructions on how to bleep a member of staff

Join us for the first Ask Aly of 2022

Join us at 12pm on 13 January for our first Ask Aly of the year, hosted by our chief medical officer, Dr Alyson O'Donnell.

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.

Focusing on your wellbeing in 2022

We know how many challenges our colleagues are currently facing, and how when we are all under pressure it can be easy to put the wellbeing of others before our own.

We have resources available to help us all boost our physical and mental wellbeing and we want to share these to remind you of the importance of taking time for yourself, and asking for support when you are struggling. We'll be sharing highlights from our #YouMatter intranet pages every week in the staff bulletin, alternating focuses between physical and mental health.

This week we'd like to remind you about our employees assistance programme Care first. Care first is a 24 hour, free, confidential, information and emotional support service for UHD staff. The Care first team of information specialists and counsellors provide information, support and advice on a range of personal issues including relationships, bereavement, child support, legal issues and money management as well as workplace issues including relationships, maternity and sickness. They also provide online and telephone emotional support through their accredited counsellors.

Care first can be accessed on freephone 0800 174319 or via the Care first website Log on using username: UHD password: wellbeing

If you have any queries or concerns about your wellbeing, or wellbeing in your working area, please contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Let us know how you are feeling in the People Pulse survey

We have been facing an extremely challenging time and have all been working incredibly hard, which makes it more important than ever for our views on health and wellbeing to be heard.

The quarterly national NHS People Pulse survey is your opportunity to share how you have been feeling, and our opportunity to make changes at UHD and in the wider NHS.

Take five minutes to tell us about your experiences at work. 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 now 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..

Are your ESR details up to date?

Please ensure your details - including address, phone number and email - are up to date on ESR.

You can update via the ESR self-service.

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

RBH: No hospital palliative care team cover this weekend

There will be no RBCH hospital palliative care cover this weekend (8-9 January).

For urgent concerns, 24 hour advice is available from the Macmillan Unit. Please call ext 5470 and select option 1 between the hours of 8am and 5pm and option 3 between the hours of 5pm and 8am.

For non-urgent queries, please leave a message on ext 6021 and a staff member will pick these up on Monday (10 January).

Poole: CD Oxygen cylinders are being replaced on emergency trolleys

The current CD oxygen cylinders on our emergency trolleys will be replaced with E size cylinders and new regulators.

Please make sure you are familiar with this new equipment. If you have any questions contact the resuscitation department on ext 2010.

RBH: Acute kidney injury (AKI) nurse absences in January

There will be no AKI nurse cover on the 7, 13, 14 and 21 January.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

Join our gender identity workshops

Our gender identity workshop will give LGBTQ+ and gender identity awareness training to attendees, enabling them to discuss and understand the complex issues around gender.

Register in advance for our gender identity workshop on 26 January 9.30-12.30.

Click here to register.

RBH: Marsden scale checks start next week

An engineer will be on site to check all Marsden scales from 10-13 January and 17-19 January.

Please ensure your scales are available for inspection.

What do you know about accepting gifts and hospitality?

Test your knowledge with a fun quick quiz from our counter fraud team on what we can and can't accept as gifts or offers of hospitality from patients, members of the public and suppliers.

Click here to take the quiz.

Free staff bike maintenance next week

Bike Fixed will be returning next week to offer you a free bike tune up and will be on site at RBH on Tuesday (11 January), Poole on Wednesday (12 January) and XCH on Thursday (13 January).

If you suspect your bike may need replacement parts, Bike Fixed may be able to supply these, but they will incur a charge. If something is spotted which may need to be replaced, he'll advise you about this at the time of the service.

A limited number of appointments between 9am-3pm are available on each day.

If you'd like your bike to be serviced, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..