| 1. Time to focus now on your wellbeing
Please make sure you are taking time to consider how you are getting on. The intensity of work is quite overwhelming. Over 200 patients have died in our care. Distance and PPE can blur the contact we associated with care. Colleagues are ill or absent. Everyone is worrying about someone. We need you to be concerned about you too.
Our extensive SWB offer is summarised on Connect, and on My Connect there is a specific page devoted to wellbeing. Click here to find out more.
There is a well-regarded and useful NHS-wide resource, which can be accessed here.
This NHS wide offer includes a helpline number which includes signposting and support to lots of different pathways, including domestic abuse, mental health, coaching and bereavement support and a 24/7 text number. The helpline number is 0300 1317000 or text frontline to 85258
2. Social distancing matters very much
Two metres apart. In lunch queues. On garden benches. In your office. During handover. On the bus. It’s ok to challenge people standing too close to you.
You may work in an environment where you feel social distancing is almost impossible. For example, the room where you do handover in critical care may be too small for the number of people now working there. Speak up. Ask you line manager what can be done, make your suggestions or get in touch with Rachel Barlow or Toby Lewis. We want to find solutions where you work.
3. Managing and mitigating risk – a Board priority
Our silver plan – to gear up for the surge – is now widely understood in the Trust. The gold plan charts our work on Exit and then Recovery. The timing of these is dependent on second and third surge, and decisions being considered in May nationally.
Part of our work to prepare for the longer term is to make sure that we have strong Risk Mitigation for the likelihood of downstream difficulties. This might cover obvious things like Oxygen supply, really complex subjects like psychological wellbeing, plans for training of staff and students who have their careers and rotations changed, and how we re-start work like PDRs, or key services like day surgery. The Trust’s Risk Management Committee is still meeting regularly, and there is an expectation that local teams will pay attention to risk registers and issues arising from incidents. If you have concerns or ideas get in touch with Kam Dhami, our Director of Governance.
4. If you are symptomatic or isolating off work you need to be swabbed…
Thank you to everyone who is back at work. We are down below 10% absence, which is an extraordinary effort. Thank you too to those shielding. Remember you must provide us with the documentary evidence to support your shielding decision. We want to support you.
Just over 80 colleagues are away from work with now and not yet swabbed. Most are off work isolating for another household member. We need to get you tested this weekend or Monday, so please respond to our contact. The Trust is flush with testing and are working to make sure that key workers in our partner agencies get their tests done soon.
5. We are still looking for 60 Mental Health First Aiders!
The Trust already has some mental health first aiders, as well as wider psychological support offer in place associated with the Pandemic. As advertised yesterday we now want to scale up that support in each frontline department, and to provide key staff with specific TRiM training to tackle issues like Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) which are predicted to arise in coming weeks and months. A training package has been purchased and is now in place. We are looking for volunteers to be considered for this role. The advert can be accessed by clicking here. Training will start in coming days, with more intensive training for the TRiM work taking place in May.
You will know who your local mental health first aider is – because soon their photographs will be on the wall where you work. It is ok to talk about mental wellbeing.
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