Covid-19: Changes to guidance for household contacts

If you live in the same house as someone who has Covid-19, or are a close contact of a friend or relative, you can now continue to work as normal if you do not have symptoms and feel well.

You do not need to have a PCR test in order to return to work and a formal risk assessment is no longer required. However managers should consider the area in which the colleague is returning and ensure a risk-based approach to reduce contact with people who, in spite of vaccination, are at higher risk of serious illness from Covid-19.

You must continue to test twice weekly and report through the gov.uk portal.

Have symptoms? Take a lateral flow test and only return to work when you are feeling better. If positive, self-isolate and repeat your LFT on day 5 and 6 if you are well, before returning to work.

Symptoms: Please be aware NHS England has updated the list of Covid-19 symptoms, which can be viewed here.

Asymptomatic: Asymptomatic staff should continue to take LFTs twice a week. You can order your tests here.

Our HR guidance is being updated to reflect this.

Discharge services admin support

Effective from next week (11 April) until the end of the month, the admin teams across both sites will work 8am-4pm Monday to Friday. Weekend cover remains in place and the hours are unchanged, 8am-4pm.

If you require further information, please email 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: Palliative care team reduced service this weekend

Due to unforeseen circumstances there will be no RBH palliative care cover this Sunday (10 April).

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

For non-urgent queries, please leave a message on ext. 6021.

Microsoft office

Support for Microsoft Office 2010 ended in October 2020. From 1 May, outlook 2010 will no longer be able to connect to Exchange Online so your emails within the Outlook 2010 app will stop working.

Outlook web can be accessed via the staff intranet or clicking this link. Contact the IT service desk if you have any questions.

Important reminder: intravenous administration

Under no circumstances should trainee nurse associates, registered nurse associates and registered nurse degree apprentices be involved in any type of intravenous administration. This includes intravenous fluids, intravenous medication and involvement in intravenous preparation.

For any enquiries please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Bowel Cancer Awareness Month

Bowel cancer is a common type of cancer in both men and women. About 1 in 20 people will get it during their lifetime. April is Bowel Cancer Awareness Month and our bowel cancer screening team will be answering your questions in the Dome on Monday (11 April) and the Atrium at RBH on 19 April.

Paperless at Poole and Christchurch

From 1 June, the outpatient physiotherapy teams at Poole and Christchurch will no longer accept paper referrals or blue cards. This move will enable referrals to be processed in a more timely manner and reduce the scope for error and lost referrals. Any paper referrals received after this point will be returned to sender and may potentially delay triaging.

Referrals can be completed online via EPR under the create documents new request tab. Select ‘adult physio referral form'. IPT forms and referrals from outside the trust should be emailed to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for Christchurch, or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for Poole.

POOLE: Return your patient-controlled analgesia pumps

Please check your area and return any patient-controlled analgesia pumps that are not in use to the recovery team as soon as possible. These are essential for our patients, and we must ensure that our stock is returned and accessible.

RBH: Free bike tagging

On 12 April, our local police cadets will be in the marquee from 9am-3.30pm to offer bike tagging. Bikes can be left with the teams throughout the day or be collected from the bike shed. Please contact Julia Bassil, cadets coordinator, on 07912 898684 to arrange pick up.

RBH: Portable cabin removal

This Saturday (9 April) car park B will be temporarily closed while a small portable cabin is removed from site. Another portable cabin will also be picked up in the morning of 16 April close to car park F. This may cause a slight disruption in traffic. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

LGBTQ+ rainbow badges – it's time for phase two

Did you know that 23% of LGBT people have witnessed anti-LGBT remarks made by healthcare staff, and almost a quarter of healthcare staff have witnessed colleagues behaving in a way that could be considered homo, bi or trans-phobic? At UHD, we are one of 150 trusts enrolled in the rainbow badge scheme. We're now moving into phase two where we will be assessed and accredited for our commitment to support the LGBTQ+ community.

We want to hear your views and experiences so we can create a better and more inclusive healthcare setting for all LGBT+ colleagues and patients. Whether or not you are a member of the LGBT+ community, please fill out this anonymous 5-minute survey.

Click here to view the full programme details.

Take part in the Stress Awareness Challenge

April is Stress Awareness Month and you're invited to take part in a 30 day challenge that encourages you to pick one action each for your physical, mental and emotional wellbeing to carry out every day. Try and add actions for your social and spiritual wellness too. See this page for more details.

OPM Journal Club

The OPM Journal Club takes place in the glass room of the Library at RBH next Tuesday (12 April) between 1-2pm.

We will be discussing the paper "Decision-making capacity assessment for confused patients in a regional hospital: A before and after study". If you would like to come along or find out more about it, please email 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.. You can also join via Teams.

Consent training

There are still spaces available for consent training and updates with our education team at RBH. The training will be face to face in our education centre on 25 and 27 April. Book via ESR or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The Health and Safety Audit Tool is open for completion

It's time to complete your department's submission for the annual health and safety audit.

The reporting year runs from April to March, and data is collected in the first quarter, April to June each year. Department and service managers can access the form and further information on the intranet.

To see the trust's performance last year please see the >intranet pages. For further support please contact your local health and safety advisor.

Social media photograph reminder

If uploading pictures taken in the workplace to social media, please ensure people are adhering to our infection control measures, including wearing masks. If you are unsure of what photos we are able to share, please contact the communications team for advice on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

POOLE: Advance notice of travel disruption on Wimborne Road

Wimborne Road in Poole is going to be receiving a series of walking, cycling and bus improvements between Denmark Lane and the New Inn junction. These improvement form part of a 7km sustainable travel route between Poole town centre and Merley, Poole.

Work is due to commence later in spring, and may cause some disruptions and diversions that will affect patients and staff travelling to our hospital.

You can find out more information on the work taking place on the BCP council website. We will keep you updated with any further news as work commences.

Car parking at Littledown

Please be wary of leaving valuables on show when parking your car. There have been reports of cars being broken into in the Littledown car park and valuables being stolen.

Job of the week – fundraising officer

Our charity team is seeking an enthusiastic and driven individual who has a sound understanding of fundraising to join their team. Our charity works to enhance the care and treatment of patients accessing NHS services at our hospitals by fundraising to provide enhanced facilities, state of the art equipment and support NHS staff health, wellbeing and development. Take a look at the exciting opportunity here.

Have you lost your hand sanitiser?

Bottles of 520l of OrcaGel, hand sanitiser in 5l containers has been left in cages outside of the pathology flammable stores and general store room at Poole for a number of weeks. If this belongs to your department please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Free adult cycle training

BCP's Bikeability instructors are offering free cycle training for anyone over the age of 18 who lives, works or studies in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole. To read more about this offer, please click here.

Tickets from the Regent Centre, Christchurch

Our friends at the Regent Centre are offering us a 2-4-1 offer on 'Hello Again... A tribute to Neil Diamond'. Click here for tickets and enter 241OFFER at the checkout.