THIS week has been another eventful one locally and nationally.
It has been a landmark week in many ways with the new national rule that everyone has to wear a mask in a hospital setting coming into force.
It is true to say that we were not given a great deal of time to get this up and running and operational. I dare say there are things we are learning still about this, but I want to congratulate everyone who got this ready for Monday in such a short period of time and I would like to thank everyone for following the guidance as well.
This has all taken a lot of effort and a great deal of teamwork and everyone who helped this happen should be applauded.
Please stick to the guidance and also remember to do all you can to keep to the rules around social distancing to make sure you keep yourself and your colleagues safe at all times.
BAME meeting
ON Monday I was really pleased to host the first of two planned engagement sessions this month for BAME colleagues on Microsoft Teams. There was a good turnout and some really good, open discussions between the staff that took part and my Executive colleagues Dr Jim Gardner, Peter Murphy and Kevin Moynes.
We spoke about a number of topics including risk assessments for BAME staff and other COVID-19 issues and it was a really positive session. We have another session planned for next Thursday, June 25th and we would love as many staff as possible to attend. We are committed to improving the working life of all our staff and these sort of meetings will help us do that.
To access the meeting please confirm your attendance to receive the joining instructions. You can do this by emailing Lee Watson in the Organisational Development Team at: lee.watson8@nhs.net.
Research to the fore again
A COUPLE of weeks ago I spoke about the success of our research department after the decision was made to host a national Patient Recruitment Centre on our site.
Today I can praise them again after the news came through this week that Dexamethasone – an anti-inflammatory drug that a UK trial has shown can be life-saving for critically ill COVID-19 patients and can be used now – had been identified as a drug that could help COVID patients.
This came as the result of some evidence from a research trial called Recovery. The Trust played a big part in that trial and recruited a large number of patients into the study.
As well as being good news for us it is a massive boost for COVID patients across the country – even the world – and really highlights the value of health research studies while adding to our reputation as a research friendly Trust.