Welcome to another edition of the News in Brief, where we round up the latest news in healthcare.
Recently, we’ve reported on a Twitter discussion on the future of midwives and the expansion of the NHS Graduate Scheme to ICSs – but there’s also been plenty more news that you may have missed.
NHS Trust awarded carer friendly tick
Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust has been awarded a carer friendly tick, in recognition of its work to identify and support staff who are carers.
Caring Together is the charity that awards the certification and aims to raise awareness of carers in the community.
Caring Together’s Carer Friendly Tick Award – Employers, is available to anyone in the Norfolk, Peterborough and Cambridgeshire areas.
Andy McGowan, Head of Carer Services at Caring Together, said, “With three in five of us likely to be a carer at some stage in our lives we are seeing more and more organisations in our communities recognising the importance of identifying and supporting carers of all ages.
“We are very pleased to see Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation Trust having their work to identify and support carers who look after a family member or friend, now recognised by the Carer Friendly Tick Award. We want to congratulate them on this and to thank them for the work that they are doing which makes a real difference to carers.”
StreetDoctors launch awareness campaign
A charity set up to tackle violent crime has a launched a social media campaign to raise awareness of how to deal with emergency situations, by teaching CPR skills.
StreetDoctors released a short film highlighting their work and one of their volunteers, Kwaku Duah-Asante, a medical student from London.
StreetDoctors is currently operating in 17 cities and runs training sessions on what to do if someone is knocked out or has been stabbed.
New race equity course launched
A new race equity course has been launched by Mental Health First Aid England (MFHA) to raise awareness on racial equality.
The course is designed for senior leaders and will be led by MFHA Instructor Members.
Simon Blake, Chief Executive of MHFA England, says; “I am proud we are offering this critically important training to help leaders address racial inequity and better support the wellbeing and mental health of People of Colour and Black people within their workplace.
“As a Chief Executive, I like many others have taken a long and careful look at our organisation in these terms. We have had to ask ourselves some difficult questions and have both important and uncomfortable conversations about race equity and mental health.”
CEO of NHS Charities Together honoured by Queen
Ellie Orton, the CEO of NHS Charities Together, has received an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List.
The charity has been at the forefront of fundraising during the COVID-19 pandemic and raised £150m for NHS causes and has enlisted the help of Captain Sir Tom Moore, Joe Wicks, and Premier League footballers.
Ian Lush OBE, Chair of NHS Charities Together, said: “Ellie thoroughly deserves this award. She has led the charity through the most extraordinary year as it has gone from a tiny organisation with a team of four and an income of £400,000 to one that has raised over £150m and got vital support out to the NHS in every part of the UK.
“Ellie seems to have limitless energy and has worked so hard with her team to channel the funds we have raised out to where they can make the biggest difference supporting NHS staff, volunteers and patients. She is just a passionate champion for the NHS and the people who make it tick.”
New accessibility partner for Chapel Allerton hospital
A new guide for accessibility in Chapel Allerton hospital has been released by Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.
Detailed disabled access information will be available in a guide produced by AcessAble. The guide will be available throughout the hospital and will be able to view on the AcessAble app, on the app store and on the Google Play Store.
Craige Richardson, Director of Estates and Facilities at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust said: “Chapel Allerton Hospital is a busy site, with our teams caring for patients with a wide range of different accessibility needs. This includes a number of busy outpatient departments, patients having elective orthopaedic surgery and patients being cared for at our complex and neurological rehabilitation unit.
“We are pleased to be working with AccessAble to launch the new guides, which provide accurate and detailed information about the accessibility of our wards and departments to help our patients feel more confident about coming into hospital.
“We know there is always more we can do, and we are keen to hear any feedback about the Chapel Allerton Hospital AccessAble guides as we explore the possibility of rolling this out at our other hospital sites in Leeds.”
Sleep pods installed for frontline staff
New sleeping facilities for staff have been unveiled by Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, at Royal Preston Hospital.
The funding for the state-of-the-art sleeping pods was made available via a £250,000 donation from a Lancashire-based family business. A grant from the hospital’s fundraising arm and funds from NHS Charities Together also contributed to the overall funding of the project.
In addition to the sleep pods, other staff facilities were installed, including a small kitchen, new changing and shower areas and a dedicated breastfeeding room for nursing staff.
Karen Swindley, Strategy, Workforce and Education Director said: “We are extremely grateful to James Hall & Co Ltd for enabling us to make such wonderful improvements to benefit our colleagues, who since the start of the pandemic, have gone above and beyond to provide the best possible patient care. These state-of-the-art sleep pod facilities will make a huge difference to staff both mentally and physically”
