Hello everyone, welcome to my blog this week.
I wonder if you managed to see the powerful piece of TV we did this week with CNN? You can take a look here - but be prepared for a 'no holds barred' picture of life in ICU at the moment. I think it is imperative that this goes out far and wide so that people can see the impact of COVID, and of not following the guidelines. Everyone reading this - please remember, practice and share Hands, Face, Space and wear appropriate PPE. Always. It is surprising and disappointing to see these rules being overlooked, but especially so when it is in our own hospitals or by our own staff. So please, extend your influence - follow the rules, and encourage your families and friends to do so too.
There are other ways you can be an inFLUencer of course, and I'm delighted that our flu clinics will resume next week so we can carry on our staff vaccination programme. Details of the hubs can be found here. Remember - it's not JUST the flu. Flu can be devastating and getting vaccinated will help protect you, your family and your patients. Also, you can influence the Trust by taking the chance to have your say via the national NHS Staff Survey. ELHT continues to be the highest performing acute trust in the staff survey to date, with nearly 50% of staff responding so far. The more people who respond, who tell us how they feel, the more accurate the information. We are listening, so please - now more than ever - be an ELHT inFLUencer, make a difference and complete the survey!
Have you heard of the COVID Virtual Ward? This is a fantastic development, launched only this week, to provide remote support to patients in the community who have COVID, helping them to improve and recover, and to prevent deterioration. It has been a great success, much of this due to the excellent partnership working between primary, secondary and community care. I'd like to say a special thank you to our own IHSS team who have been hugely influential in its development.
It is great news that, despite COVID19 pressures, our maternity services in the Family Care Division were (re)assessed for the UNICEF Baby Friendly Award yesterday and achieved a Level 2. Our service is one of only a handful of units in the country to achieve this. We are immensely proud of our maternity services, and I know they are proud of themselves. Well done everybody.
Jasper the Therapy Dog has been visiting our sites this week, including Lancashire Women and Newborn Centre, Trust HQ, Park View Offices, and spent time with the Palliative Care Team. He has also spent time with the Critical Care Team last Friday, and the Emergency Department at RBH. You can book a session with Jasper for yourself or your team, email him at david.anderson@elht.nhs.uk. He's very busy at the moment so please be patient waiting for a slot to spend time with Jasper. He is I think, our most popular staff member! Take a look at these pictures, and you'll see why. Thank you Jasper.
Finally, I'd like to offer my congratulations to Aitor De Gea Rico, an Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (OMFS) speciality trainee, whose research into education and training in skin cancer has been awarded the prestigious Paul Toller Prize. This is an annual research prize given to the best presentation on a research topic, and s awarded to only one trainee each year. The project was designed as a national questionnaire directed to all OMFS trainees across the country to assess several aspects related to education and training in skin cancer. Over 60 trainees took part and the results have shown that there are areas for education and training that can be improved. The project took a year and has had a significant impact on future training, with educational authorities understanding the speciality curriculum requirements which will help OMFS trainees to provide the best treatment for their patients. Well done Aitor.
Well, I think that's it for now. I hope you have a great weekend everyone, and if you are working...sincere thanks.
Best wishes,
Martin.