Chief Executive’s Message – Friday 28 January

January 28, 2022

You will probably not be surprised that I want to write again about the mandatory vaccination legislation that is affecting our whole Trust and the rest of the NHS.

Firstly, thank you to those people who are attending the vaccine briefing sessions and find out more about vaccines and the impact of the legislation on your role. And thank you to everyone who has responded to my letter asking you to confirm your vaccination status where we have no record.

There has been lots of discussion over the past few weeks about who this new law applies to and who is exempt. I want to be very clear that it is my absolute wish that every employee, student, volunteer and contractor who supports our Trust is fully vaccinated. This is so that you are best protected but also so that well can provide our patients with the best chance of being protected. Remember, that many if not most of our patients are vulnerable and they deserve the very best care and protection that we can provide.  Whilst the current variant of COVID is proving to be less damaging, vaccination will protect us all against future, less forgiving variants.

Our organisation only works well because we are one team. Whether you work in a support service, in a clinical role or in management, we all contribute to improving people’s health outcomes and life chances. Let us please act as one team in getting ourselves protected, to protect each other.

There are very few exemptions within this legislation. There are a small number of roles within our Trust that have been defined as “out of scope” but these are roles where we can clearly demonstrate that there is no requirement to ever enter an area where there may be patient contact. The redeployment opportunities will be extremely limited and will need to be prioritised for those few medical exemptions that exist.

I appreciate that there are very real concerns and worries out there. I would urge you to take the opportunity to talk to your managers and make the most of the wealth of clinical expertise and knowledge that is within this Trust about the COVID-19 vaccines and how they work. Don’t rely on information that is not evidenced, or unfounded opinion. Please engage with the process to confirm your status directly with the workforce hub or through your line manager, so that we can support you in your decision-making and ensure that you are very clear on the implications.

Although probably not the best timing, we are in the last few days of the quarterly Pulse check survey being open for responses. I know we are asking a lot of you but, this national requirement is important. It enables us to hear regularly from staff about the organisation, your role and your team. The survey will take less than five minutes to complete. It was sent on email from survey@quality-health.co.uk and the subject is “The NHS Quarterly Pulse survey: Have your say” so please search for it now and fill it in. The survey closes on 31 January. Some staff groups received paper copies, so, again, please complete these. Your views are listened to and will inform our approach to the roll out of the strategic objective we have agreed on “Our People”.

It is great to see our colleagues Zaheer and Tracy nominated in the MyPortering Awards. Good luck to them and thank you for exemplary work within our portering team to provide a fantastic service to patients and staff. Congratulations too, to  Carmen Nuttall, who is this week’s very well deserving Star of the Week for her work in launching our Neonatal Community Outreach Team.

Thank you to everyone who is continuing to put together the plans, pathways and team requirements for the move to the new Midland Metropolitan University Hospital. The construction programme has continued, despite the latest COVID-19 surge, with pace and to a high quality standard, so that we can be confident that the building will be fit for purpose when we open. We are currently in the transformation and planning phase of our programme and I am pleased that we are getting ever closer to confirming with some precision the roles and pathways that will be in place when the hospital opens.

COVID-19 cases in our hospitals are beginning to fall but please be on your guard. Cases are still very high in some parts of our communities and the relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions nationally is likely to lead to a further increase. Our workplace IPC guidelines remain in place and must be adhered to. Please be cautious when you are not at work too, to protect yourselves and those you come into contact with.

Richard