May 2012 - West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust

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General Trust News‘Making Things Work Better’NewI smile,The patientI keepintroduceis mypatientsmyself andpriorityinformedlistenA ringingI createphone is mya calmresponsibility environmentIn order to improve “customer care” for patients, relatives, GPs and eachother, a new set of Telephone Standards were issued in March by the ChiefExecutive, as part of the Making Things Work Better (MTWB) Project. TheseTelephone Standards must be fully operational across the Trust in advance ofthe summer holiday period 2012.Many staff were involved in developing the Standards, through pilots in ‘frontof house’ areas and via staff ‘drop-in’ sessions held across the three hospitalsites.The Chief Executive said: “I expect all staff to prioritise necessaryimprovements in our telephone communications. Divisions must incorporatethe monitoring of the Telephone Standards into routine performancemanagement.”Telephone Standards• I know which phones I am responsible for,• I answer any ringing phone within five rings,• I will answer caller enquiries or take and notify a clear message,• All messages are responded to the same working day,• I will ensure face-to-face conversations with patients, carers andrelatives are not curtailed by a ringing phone,• I will answer any phone by introducing myself by my name, role anddepartment,• I respond to voicemail messages the same working day,• I ensure my phone is covered at all times.A series of e-nuggets were distributed in April that explained the TelephoneStandards in more detail, and what is required for these to be implemented. Ifyou would like a copy of the e-nuggets, please see the ‘Hot Topics’ section ofthe Intranet or contact the Communications Team on WGH x8280.The Making Things Work Better Project Steering Group will be auditingprogress of the implementation of the Standards during May and June 2012.If you have any concerns or need support in establishing the TelephoneStandards in your area, for example the absence of voicemail, issues aroundroutinely covering phones during periods of leave or if you feel that any ofyour staff would benefit from ‘customer services’ training, please emailinfo@whht.nhs.uk or telephone WGH x3997.Personal Fair Diverse ChampionThe Trust has recently appointed Equality and DiversityManager Neil Carter.neil.carter@whht.nhs.uk. Neil is based on the Ground Floor in the AdminBlock at Watford.Neil joins the Trust fresh from working with MiltonKeynes Community Health Services and HospitalFoundation Trust where he helped to successfully embeda personal, fair and diverse approach to equality.Neil is relishing the challenges ahead. Neil said, “I want staff and patients tosee the relevance of equality and the best way to do that is to help peopleanswer the question, “How can equality help me in my job?” That’s why I’mchampioning a Personal, Fair and Diverse NHS – a place where patients andstaff are treated with courtesy, dignity and respect, a place where care doesn’tstop at the door, but helps people live healthier lives. I’m really looking forwardto making a difference”.Neil has spent the last twenty years as an equality practitioner working acrossa range of public sector organisations including the criminal justice system,local government as well as the third sector and brings with him a wealth ofexperience and expertise.Neil will be sharing his time with Hertfordshire Community Health Trustand can be contact on WGH x8787, 07717346254 or emailEquality Objectives publishedThe Trust published its equality objectives on 6 April 2012, as required by theEquality Act 2010 (Public Sector Equality Duties (PSED) Regulations 2011.The objectives have measurable aims that will help the Trust to meet thethree general equality duties it must deliver:These are:1. Eliminate discrimination, harassment and victimisation.2. Advance equality of opportunity between people who share acharacteristic and those who do not.3. Foster good relations between people who share a characteristic andthose who do not.The Trust’s objectives will be reviewed and published at least once every fouryears. To find out more about these objectives, go to the homepage of theTrust website and click ‘Commitment to Equality’.4May 2012
NursingThe 15 Steps ChallengeUniform ConsultationThe Trust is working with the Institute forImprovement on a project called The 15 StepsChallenge which focuses on the initialimpressions that an individual gets when theytake their first 15 steps onto a ward ordepartment.The 15 Step Challenge was piloted at the SeniorLeaders Day on 13 March 2012. Forty six seniorleaders were randomly put into pairs and given award to visit that they were not familiar with.Altogether, twenty three ward areas were auditedusing a series of questions and prompts. The visitswere kept to thirty minutes in order to capture‘first impressions’ only.At the end of the visits, each team reported backto the main group one positive and one negativetheme from their findings. Some of the positivekey themes highlighted during the exerciseincluded every ward visited was found to be calmand clean and the majority had good informationboards available. One of the negative pointshighlighted was that the walls on a number ofthe wards were cluttered with too many posters.All wards that took part have received a copy ofthe feedback in full for their specific area and willbe expected to develop an action plan designedto improve upon some of the negative themes.The Trust will continue to work with the NHSInstitute for Improvement on this valuableproject. When a final draft of the tool is agreed awide range of stakeholders will be invited toperform the 15 Steps Challenge across theorganisation, including patients, non executivedirectors, volunteers, and administrative staff sotheir perspectives and expertise can be used toimprove the experience for all patients in westHertfordshire.A consultation was held in February and March to ask nurses and midwives what they thought ofthe Trust’s proposed changes to uniforms. The consultation is now complete and the majority ofresponses were in favour of the proposals. The comments below were raised during theconsultation and each one was individually considered by a group specifically established to reviewnursing and midwifery uniforms in the Trust.No. Comment Uniform Group response1 I worked hard and was proud to gain my“blues” to be now told they are to be takenaway. The demotion of our uniforms back topre promotion uniforms is doing nothing forthe morale of nursing staff.2 Could the uniforms not be phased in sothat the colours stay the same and aspeople come to the Trust the new uniformsare given out? This would save a lot ofmoney by not replacing uniforms that stillhave a lot of wear in them.3 Why can’t a specialism radiograph nursewear the navy and red that the otherspecialisms wear?4 I prefer the uniform, but not the colour!Band 6’s will look like student nurses!5 Can you consider the uniform for thespecialist support workers? We would liketo be able to have the sky blue with a redor navy piping to match the trained nurse?The group understand that junior sisters haveworked hard for their position and wish tobe recognised. It is for this reason that thegroup agreed not to put all RNs in the samecolour uniform as many trusts have chosento do. The group believe that the Royal Bluewill stand out but allow the Senior Sisters towear the navy.There is no additional money available tochange the uniforms. The process will bephased to ensure maximum impact withminimal wastage.The Uniform Group feel that local decisionsregarding the choice of which uniform amember of staff should wear must be madeby the Matron and Senior manager forindividual areas.The Uniform Group have reviewed the royalblue colour. The group believe that it is avery different blue from the student nurseuniform and do not feel that there will beany confusion.The uniform group considered this request.There will be a specialist band 2-4 uniformof sky blue with red piping.Thank you to everyone who took part in the uniform consultation. Your feedback was invaluable inensuring that all nursing and midwifery staff have a uniform that they like and is practical andcomfortable for everyone.Stop the pressurePressure ulcers cause patients long term pain anddistress. To make it easier for you to prevent andtreat pressure ulcers, please see the new PressureUlcer Path, at www.stopthepressure.com/path.You may also like to look at a two minuteanimation at www.stopthepressure.com, which isfull of surprises and practical help for you andyour colleagues.Congratulations toFlaunden Ward whoare the latestwinners of ‘TheProductive Ward ofthe Month’ awardMay 2012 5
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May 2012 - West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust

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