Walk-in vaccinations available this Sunday and next as cases increase

Our staff Covid-19 booster and flu vaccination programme starts this weekend at RBH, before moving to Poole the following weekend.

The clinics, held in our outpatient departments, come as we see increasing Covid-19 hospital admissions, and the first patients this season with flu.

If you have yet to book your jabs through the online portal here, you can turn up this Sunday between 8am-3pm without making an appointment in advance, or Poole between the same times on the following Sunday (16 October). Please ensure you bring your staff ID badge with you.

The Covid vaccine booster is made by Moderna and is bivalent, which 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.

If you can't make our weekend clinics, NHS staff registered with a GP can book the Covid booster - or any of the preceding doses – for free via the national Covid-19 vaccination booking portal here, or search 'NHS Covid vaccinations' online. Please contact your GP practice to find out if you are also able to have your flu vaccination there, also free for NHS staff.

Find out more on the intranet, including how to tell us if you have had your jabs elsewhere.

A message from our IPC team

We are now seeing not only patients with Covid-19 but flu too. If you feel unwell please test yourself using a lateral flow device. If this is negative but you still feel unwell please make sure you are well enough to come to work before attending. While we see this rise in cases we will maintain the guidance around mask wearing within clinical areas but this remains under regular review.

Staff Survey update

The National Staff Survey was launched on 30 September. Due to an administrative error a number of staff may not have received their survey and others may have received a survey relating to an historic role or legacy department.

The issue has now been rectified and new invitations where applicable are being issued by our survey provider IQVIA.

Where possible any surveys that have already been completed will still be eligible and counted, however if you are asked to complete a new survey, this will replace your previous submission.

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

Thank you to colleagues

Across the NHS and at UHD we have seen some of the most extreme pressure we have ever faced recently. An unprecedented number of people are attending our hospitals and the strain has been felt across our Trust and wider system. We wanted to take a moment to say thank you to all of you and our partners who are making a positive difference. We know you are going above and beyond. Without your dedication, commitment and highly-skilled interventions, alongside your work in partnership our challenges would be even greater.

From Paula Shobbrook, chief nursing officer, Ruth Williamson, chief medical officer and Mark Mould, chief operating officer

We're speaking up

Speak Up Month is an opportunity to raise awareness of how much we value speaking up at UHD. This week we've focused on how important it is to speak up about patient care and staff safety. Speaking up is about anything that gets in the way of you doing a good job, and we want everyone to feel safe to have these conversations. As part of this month we are visibly celebrating this work by flying the FTSU flag, listening to staff who have spoken up in videos, visiting clinical and non-clinical areas, and holding conversations to understand some of the barriers to speaking up. It's also great to see so many colleagues take part in Wear Green Wednesdays.

Remember, you can speak up to many people at UHD including your line manager, human resources, using our LERN forms, staff governors, occupational health and our networks. You can also speak up with our Freedom to Speak Up Team by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., leave a message on x4220, or via the UHD app.

Stay up to date: The Brief and all staff briefing

Your October edition of The Brief is out now, complete with your handy 'The Brief in brief' document to help you cascade the key information to your teams and feedback any queries or comments. Please return this cascade feedback form to Siobhan Harrington, CEO, or email it to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

You can also catch up on Siobhan's all staff briefing from earlier in the week here and see all of the chief executive briefings on the communications pages of the intranet.

Ask Aly becomes Ask Me...

Join us at 12.30pm on Thursday 13 October for Ask Me, hosted by our acting chief medical officer, Dr Ruth Williamson. Originally established as 'Ask Aly' it's a great opportunity to ask questions, raise concerns or share your views about all things UHD with leaders from across our trust in a really informal setting.

You can join the meeting here and if you'd like to send any questions in advance, send 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.

Register now to become a Liftshare Super Commuter!

In less than 24 hours nearly 70 staff have registered ahead of the launch next week of Dorset NHS Liftshare – a car sharing portal designed to help you to save money on your commute and reduce pollution.

You can be a super commuter too: register now and either offer someone a lift or look for someone to give you a lift. By using Liftshare you can save money, have access to priority parking spaces and help reduce the number of cars on the roads, reducing congestion and air pollution.

Click here for more information about the scheme.

Covid-19 swabbing for patients

We are extending the 'no authorisation' process until the end of October.

Swabs can still be collected from Samba/Micro as usual without the need to bleep the swabbing team for authorisation. Please continue to only swab your patients for urgent/clinical reasons and ensure that your ward number or department is clearly marked on the SAMBA card when submitting to the suite. This makes sure that patients' results can be returned to the requesting location. We would be grateful if you could you pass this information on to your colleagues.

Portering task allocation system updates

From 9-9.30am on Wednesday 12 October, the site will be down and users will not be able to access the system, input new tasks or view existing tasks. During this time emergency requests can be made by calling ext. 2340 at Poole, or ext. 6336 at RBH.

Volunteers needed to support our coaching apprentices!

Our UHD coaching apprentices are looking for volunteers for them to practice their coaching with in order to develop their skills and confidence. Our coaches are required to have 50 hours of coaching practice in order to complete their qualification. A typical coaching programme is normally about 6 sessions over a number of weeks.

Have you identified from your appraisal next steps in your career progression or development? Are you facing a challenge at work? Are you dealing with lots of change in your role or team?

Coaching supports you to work towards a goal through supportive questioning by the coach, helping you to reflect and think of different perspectives and possibilities. The nature of coaching is self-directed learning and development, and so your coach typically will not offer you solutions or advice.

This is an exciting opportunity to get involved and support our apprentices, while also receiving valuable support towards your own professional development. Once our apprentices qualify, they will be able to offer this high-quality coaching service more widely across both UHD and the Dorset ICS.

If you are interested and would like to volunteer for some coaching, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Manager modules

Are you a new manager? Are you looking to learn more about your role and for support with managing your team?

There are spaces available on our upcoming workshops. Modules include 'being a UHD manager' and 'good people management'. For more information, go to the education and training pages on the Poole intranet. If you would like to book on, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Feedback Skills workshops

These three-hour virtual workshops are a great leadership and management development opportunity for all staff to improve their skills around giving and receiving feedback. The impact of feedback, both positive and developmental, can be far reaching and has the potential to help us increase our self-awareness, motivation and performance levels. If you would like to book please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

RBH - BEACH Building hoardings installation next week

If you're working or visiting the RBH site next week look out for the team from Think Signs who will be installing information panels on the hoardings that surround the BEACH Building construction site. These have been designed by students from Arts University Bournemouth, showcasing the exciting transformation plans across our three main sites. The panels will be on display for 2 years.