Homerton Life May-June 2008 v5 - Homerton University Hospital

HAPPENING AT HOMERTONA&E staff visit AuschwitzFour A&E staff members were privileged to be able to participate in a visit to theconcentration camps in Auschwitz recently as a mark of appreciation from Jewishambulance service Hatzola.Anne Sellick, Debbie Wallis, Paul Wallman and Ben Teasdale were given the opportunity tofind out more about Jewish history and culture along with representatives from the policeand London Ambulance Service.Debbie Wallis said: “The trip has really allowed us to develop a better understanding of theOrthodox Jewish community and their needs.”Volunteer scheme pilotBY LEE NATHANIEL-WURIELast year, Homerton began what became a flourishing volunteer programmeaimed at utilising local members of the community. The importance of volunteerservices can’t be overlooked as it is extra help to staff – and best of all, it’s free!The programme was initially targeted atthe Acute Care Unit a ward that is “alwaysvery busy taking admissions from A&E”says Jackie Bines, Lead Nurse. It wasdesigned to help friends and relativeslocate the beds of their loved ones;volunteering takes place on the unit fivedays a week for two hours in and aroundthe evening rush hour. There are eighteenpeople who vary in age, ethnicity and sexwho collectively echo the diversity of thesurrounding boroughs. “The differencesbetween the volunteers is immense” saysChris Currell, cofounder of the programme,with some volunteers joining to gain workexperience, some to give back to a hospitalthat has served them well and otherssimply willing to help in any way they can.Now that the pilot scheme seems to beflying high, talk of expanding has alreadybegun, perhaps in different wards or indifferent capacities. Considering theNHS and the fact that it’s free, one feelsthat although we’re not obliged to payfor it we are still obliged to say ‘thankyou’ – at least that’s the way I feel aboutit as one of Homerton’s eighteenvolunteers myself.More information about volunteering isavailable on www.homerton.nhs.ukAs a volunteer wecan really make adifference even for the shorttime we are there.Fizle Sagar(Homerton Volunteer)Internalcommunicationssurvey resultsThank you to everyone whocompleted the internalcommunications survey, sent to allstaff last year. We had 460responses to the survey, whichfocussed on how staff find outinformation about the Trust andwhat they thought about ourmethods of communication.As a result we have made a number ofchanges – some of which you may havealready noticed.One key change is the relaunch andexpansion of the Homerton life format– you are currently reading the newstyleHomerton life magazine, whichhas more of the things that you askedfor including staff stories, what’shappening at a corporate level, as wellas social news and competitions.We’ve also recently introducedHomerton life online (see ‘specialfeature’ for more details) and Homertonlife extra, a fortnightly e-newsletter sentto every Homerton email account.In addition, we have developed afeedback mechanism for chief executiveTeam Brief allowing you to feed yourthoughts and comments back directly.Over the coming months we will alsobe looking to start a series of breakfastbriefings with the chief executive sostaff can find out what’s happening ina more informal setting.The survey results and furtherinformation aboutchanges to internalcommunicationsare available onHomerton lifeonline.Congratulationsto Mona Nathanfrom DoSH whowas randomlyMona Nathanselected from allthose who completed the survey andwere entered into a prize draw. Monawon a brand new iPod.HomertonLife May 2008 5