Pennine News 83 - June 2010 - Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust
Pennine News 83 - June 2010 - Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust
Pennine News 83 - June 2010 - Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust
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A golden year as Northern<br />
Air celebrates 50 years<br />
‘cOngraTULaTiOnS’ will surely be<br />
a popular request title as northern<br />
air Hospital radio achieves its 50th<br />
anniversary of broadcasting in <strong>June</strong><br />
this year.<br />
The radio station has evolved since 1960 from<br />
the initiative of Stanley Langer and Norman<br />
Mendelson who devised the idea of screening<br />
films to patients at North Manchester General<br />
Hospital and later covering all the local<br />
hospitals. Backed by The Rotary Club, Stanley<br />
also established a hospital radio service<br />
and every Thursday would broadcast record<br />
requests and dedications direct to the wards.<br />
Marshall Gellman, disc jockey and Sidney<br />
Wander MBE also joined in those early days.<br />
Half a century later, Marshall still entertains<br />
patients with his daily music show and Sidney<br />
continues to produce a classical show. Northern<br />
Air Hospital Radio is now a 4/7<br />
service produced and delivered by 5 volunteers.<br />
Stanley’s son, Dave Langer still has some<br />
involvement, assisting Joe Sambrook, station<br />
manager and Dave Bee, programme controller.<br />
Joe Sambrook, said, “I have seen Northern Air<br />
Hospital Radio grow from strength to strength<br />
during my 0 years as a volunteer and in the<br />
15 years as station manager. The future is<br />
looking very positive with the station about<br />
to start broadcasting on line very soon. To<br />
coincide with our 50th birthday, we have<br />
completely re-fitted Studio .<br />
“After 15 years as the station manager, I have<br />
decided to hand over the reins to someone<br />
younger with the idea of taking Northern Air<br />
forward into the next 50 years. However, I will<br />
POLICY NEWS ... POLICY NEWS … POLI<br />
Absence policy - career grade medical and dental staff<br />
THE absence policy – career grade medical<br />
and dental staff has recently been updated and<br />
is now available to view on the <strong>Trust</strong>’s intranet<br />
site.<br />
The main amendments to the policy are<br />
amendments to the study / professional leave<br />
flowchart to reflect the addition of leave forms<br />
and expenses claim forms as appendices - 4.<br />
Reference is made to the new appendices within<br />
the text of the policy and there is also the<br />
inclusion of the approval process for clinical<br />
directors.<br />
This document is designed to set out the <strong>Trust</strong><br />
policy relating to medical and dental absences<br />
for consultants, associate specialists, staff grade<br />
doctors, speciality doctors and <strong>Trust</strong> equivalent<br />
career grade posts as well as hospital<br />
practitioner and clinical assistants in The<br />
<strong>Pennine</strong> <strong>Acute</strong> <strong>Hospitals</strong> <strong>NHS</strong> <strong>Trust</strong>. It contains<br />
information about the processes for requesting<br />
annual and study leave, who should be<br />
still be a part of the team and continue as a<br />
volunteer with Northern Air.”<br />
Although staffed solely by volunteers, Northern<br />
Air Hospital Radio offers a range of<br />
programmes to the North Manchester General<br />
Hospital and Salford Royal Hospital communities<br />
that would be the envy of any professional<br />
broadcasting organisation. This includes<br />
regular broadcasts of the Halle Orchestra, live<br />
from the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester. The<br />
volunteers are proud of the fact that they can<br />
play virtually any record request from the<br />
station’s vast record library. <strong>News</strong> is broadcast<br />
every hour via a satellite and sports shows and<br />
regular sports updates are a high priority at the<br />
weekend.<br />
The Northern Air volunteers and invited guests<br />
are looking forward to their 50th Anniversary<br />
celebration to be held at The Fairways Lodge,<br />
Prestwich on 6th <strong>June</strong>.<br />
Happy birthday Northern Air hospital radio and<br />
a big thank you from all our patients and staff.<br />
� The radio station has also been<br />
enjoying a celebration of a different kind<br />
when it was recognised at the Hospital<br />
Broadcasting Association annual<br />
conference and national hospital radio<br />
awards 010.<br />
Nominated in the best speech package<br />
and male presenter of the year, programme<br />
controller and breakfast show presenter<br />
Dave Bee, went to Scotland to pick up<br />
the silver prize for the male presenter of<br />
the year and was commended in the best<br />
speech category.<br />
notified, who authorises the forms and where<br />
they should be sent on completion. It also<br />
contains references to policies and procedures<br />
relating to all types of absence which may<br />
necessitate absence from duties, with the<br />
exception of sick leave where staff should refer<br />
to EDH0 7 for the <strong>Trust</strong>’s attendance<br />
management and sickness absence policy.<br />
Staff should familiarise themselves with the<br />
content of the policy, which can be found on<br />
the <strong>Trust</strong>’s intranet site under documents/non<br />
clinical/HR policies & procedures.<br />
Line managers should ensure that appropriate<br />
staff who do not have direct access to the<br />
intranet have a hard copy of the policy<br />
available locally to review.<br />
For further information or advice please contact<br />
your divisional HR team/medical staffing or<br />
divisional absence manager where appropriate.<br />
…To provide the very best care for each patient on every occasion…<br />
Thought for<br />
the month<br />
Lots of questions<br />
and answers<br />
by chaplaincy co-ordinator<br />
Rev John Hall<br />
pennine<br />
news<br />
WHEN we talk about the term ‘Spiritual Care’<br />
there are often a number of questions that are<br />
raised to do with what ‘Spiritual Care’ means.<br />
Some people think they know straight away<br />
and offer an immediate answer whilst others<br />
ponder and need time to work out an answer<br />
that they are happy to stand by.<br />
When I am taking induction training with new<br />
staff I like to ask the question to whoever is<br />
there and the variety of answers never fails to<br />
impress me. I reassure those attending that I<br />
am not looking for the ‘right answer’, whatever<br />
that is, for the point of the whole task is to<br />
try and see ‘Spiritual Care’ as something that<br />
includes everyone, those from all belief groups<br />
and those who prefer not to align themselves<br />
with any particular belief group.<br />
Yet questions always arise and when you think<br />
about those who are inpatients who are feeling<br />
very uncertain about themselves due to a<br />
change in their own lives those big questions<br />
about life tend to emerge.<br />
In the recent general election lots of questions<br />
were raised yet no one political party gained<br />
an overwhelming backing of the public as<br />
people were divided on what they thought the<br />
main questions should be and how you try to<br />
answer those questions.<br />
Who knows what has happened since then but<br />
it could be a lot of constructive listening and<br />
working together with people of different view<br />
points and different backgrounds in order to<br />
try and offer something positive to the general<br />
public.<br />
Good constructive times of questions and<br />
discussions are an important part of our work<br />
as well as in other areas of our lives. Good<br />
spiritual care allows very difficult questions to<br />
be asked, to be properly listened to and to be<br />
taken seriously.<br />
Some questions come from a faith perspective,<br />
at times questioning why things happen in<br />
the way that they do, some questions are left<br />
hanging in the air, never neatly answered but<br />
all the better for being asked.<br />
When we are being told not to ask questions,<br />
that I believe is the time to be concerned.<br />
Many of us of faith ask our own faith traditions<br />
awkward questions. At times those questions<br />
remain unanswered, but again we feel better<br />
for being heard.<br />
As a team we want to encourage those<br />
opportunities to question, for patients, staff,<br />
and relatives as we welcome the time to listen.<br />
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