August 2017
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| Farewell to Aileen |
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On Wednesday 30th August, we said goodbye to Aileen McLeish.
She leaves after twelve years with the Trust, 4 years as a Non-Executive and 8 years as Chairman. |
| Appointment of new Interim Chief Nurse |
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We are delighted to announce the appointment of Sue Tranka as our new Interim Chief Nurse.
Sue joins the Trust from Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust, where, as Deputy Chief Nurse, she has led a portfolio covering workforce (safe staffing) and education, healthcare governance, quality improvement and non-medical productivity. She is a Registered Nurse, Midwife, Mental Health Nurse and District Nurse of over 25 years' experience and her professional qualifications include an MSc in Clinical Quality Improvement. Talking of her new appointment, Sue says: "I am delighted to be joining Ashford and St. Peter's Hospital NHS Foundation Trust as Interim Chief Nurse. The Trust has made great strides on its journey of improvement and I hope to play a significant role in providing great care for our patients. I was struck by the passion, commitment and professionalism of the staff I have met at the Trust and I will continue to work with colleagues to harness the talent and dedication in ensuring we nurture a learning culture where development, well-being and engagement of staff is key to releasing benefits for patients." Chief Executive, Suzanne Rankin adds: "We are extremely pleased to be welcoming Sue in her new role as Interim Chief Nurse. Sue will join us on 18th September and pick up the reigns of this very important leadership role at the Trust." |
| Pioneering hospitals lead the way to an agency-free NHS |
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The NHS has talked about creating "collaborative staff banks" for decades but the Royal Surrey County Hospital and Ashford and St Peter's Hospital NHS Foundation Trusts have founded the technology to make it happen seamlessly.
The collaboration will double the pool of clinicians both Trusts have to cover shifts and help reduce the bill for expensive locum doctors recruited from agencies. Instead of having a few hundred doctors each to call when doctors are ill or on holiday both Trusts will now be able to draw on more than 2000 clinicians. The initiative has been made possible by two junior doctors who couldn't believe it wasn't possible in a digital age to match their colleagues' availability with rota gaps that needed filling. Dr Ahmed Shahrabani and Dr Nicholas Andreou, set out to solve the problem themselves and developed the Locum's Nest mobile app to stop NHS hospitals spending up to £3.5bn a year on agency staff of which £350m goes directly in agency commissions. The app allows a hospital to create invitations to work and doctors to say when they would like to work. The app then matches availability with demand and all both sides have to do is press a button to accept- the app does the rest. Dr Andreou, 29, said: "The idea was born out of our mutual frustration with the system for recruiting locum doctors. We've both done shifts as locum doctors and we had a feeling that the hospital and the doctors would get a better service and more satisfaction if they organised the shifts themselves." |
| British Healthcare equipment could soon be making Nigerian patients more comfortable |
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Healthcare equipment routinely used in Britain's hospitals has caused a stir in Nigeria where such aids have been unknown - until now.
In a presentation to an international Global Health conference in Lagos, the Nigerian capital, last month, Sue Southey, Adviser on Moving and Manual Handling at Ashford and St Peter's Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, demonstrated – not in person but over the internet via Skype from Ashford Hospital 7,500 miles away – a range of aids like slide sheets and electrically-adjusted beds which are routinely used here to make the moving of patients safer and more comfortable. Such aids can hugely reduce the incidence of pressure sores and other problems. In her presentation, Sue explained how effective moving and handling, plus good patient positioning, can help to prevent pressure sores developing. The delegates had the opportunity to ask Sue questions, which led to excited discussions about how this could help staff and patients in Africa. The conference delegates were able to try out the slide sheets, thanks to the support of GBUK Banana, Ashford and St Peter's supplier, who had sent out 100 slide sheets in advance of the conference. Sue Southey said: "Patient handling and positioning is at the core of pretty much everything we do, so we need to do this well. We are privileged in this country that we have access to many moving and handling aids. "I strongly believe that a slide sheet, a simple and relatively inexpensive product, has revolutionised the way we move and handle patients. "Moving patients in bed has become safer and more comfortable by reducing friction and other factors responsible for potential pressure damage. There is the added benefit of protecting our staff by avoiding the need to lift patients." |
| Dates for your Diary | |
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Council of Governors
6th September 2017, 6-8 pm Education Centre, Ashford Hospital Why not come and observe your Governors undertaking their main duty of "holding the Non-Executive Directors to account"? The Council meetings are a good opportunity to see first-hand interactions between your Governors and Board members. |
Members' Event: "Let's Talk About It - your end of life wishes" 7th September 2017, 2.15-4.30 pm Postgraduate Centre, St Peter's Hospital We have the last few places remaining and if you would like to reserve your place, please call Anu Sehdev, Membership and Engagement Manager on 01932 722063. |
| Elderly patients enjoy songs on the wards |
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Patients on the four Care of the Elderly wards, Swan, Cherry, Cedar and Swift, at St Peter's Hospital, Chertsey, were treated to a song recital earlier this month by soprano Michelle Juengo from Musical Memories, which was originally set up to entertain patients at East Surrey Hospital in Reigate and was very popular there.
St Peter's occupational therapist, Myra Murphy, got to know about their success and on her recommendation an invitation was issued for someone from the group to come to St Peter's. Michelle's repertoire included 'Que sera sera', 'Danny Boy', 'Somewhere over the Rainbow', 'O what a beautiful morning' and 'Summer Holiday'. Matron Susan Hardy said: "The patients really enjoyed listening to the old favourite songs. It livened up their day and was a real benefit. We hope we can organise more, similar events on a regular basis." |