Temporary changes in our paediatric ED at King George Hospital came into force this week

As I’ve shared with you in recent updates, temporary changes come into force in our paediatric Emergency Department at King George Hospital this evening.

If you haven’t already, please do read our statement on our website for more information. I would also be grateful if you could continue to share this information across your networks so as many people as possible are aware of it.

As I have previously said, this closure is a temporary measure due to the Covid-19 pandemic. We are absolutely committed to reopening our paediatric ED at King George Hospital as soon as it is safe to do so. We want to do this by April 2021, subject to the impact of the on-going pandemic. We continue to monitor the situation on a daily basis.

Changes to our visitor policy

The pandemic has been a difficult time for us all, and we absolutely understand how tough it has been for our patients and their families, due to visitor restrictions in place to keep everyone safe.

We’re constantly reviewing these to see how we can better support our patients, and just last week I shared with you that partners are able to come to 20 week scans again. Now we’re allowing a visit from a family member for patients who have been in our hospitals longer than one week, arranged by our ward staff.

I’m delighted that we’ve been able to safely introduce this change, and I’m sure it will make a difference to our patients and their loved ones. Information on visiting in our hospitals during the pandemic can be found on our website.

NHS Covid-19 vaccination programme

As I’m sure you’ll have seen in the news last week, a Covid-19 vaccine has moved closer to becoming a reality. While we don’t expect the vaccine to be widely available until next year, the Government has asked us, along with the rest of the NHS, to be ready to deliver a vaccination programme from next month.

This is so those who need it most will be able to have the vaccine as soon as it is available. Detailed planning is underway, building on the expertise and strong track record the NHS already has in delivering immunisations, such as the annual flu vaccine, to ensure that a Covid-19 vaccination programme does not impact on other vital services. You can read the latest stakeholder update from NHS England and NHS Improvement here.

The BBC has also published a number of very helpful responses to questions posed to them about the upcoming potential vaccine and other related topics. You can read them all on the BBC website.

“I dream big. I aspire for the best. I don’t want to be judged anymore by my colour or my tone of voice”

Throughout September, Devesh Sinha, consultant and co-clinical lead for stroke at our Trust, shared three thought-provoking blogs on his experience of racism in the NHS. Now he has spoken about his experience with Talk Radio, as part of their ‘Equal Britain’ series.

I’ve been impressed by Devesh’s courage in speaking out, and am determined that his call for change should not be ignored, within our own Trust, or much more widely too.

Hear Devesh on Talk Radio.  And if you didn’t read them at the time, you can find his blogs on our website.

Recognition for the transformation of our Stroke service

The team Devesh leads, alongside fellow co-clinical lead for stroke Amanda Martin, was highly commended in the Quality Improvement Initiative of the Year category of the 2020 HSJ Patient Safety Awards.

The Stroke team was recognised for their hard work transforming our service from being D rated to the highest possible A rating. They put in place a raft of changes which led to quicker decision-making for our stroke patients, reduced stay in hospitals by almost four days, increased bed availability on the Stroke unit, and a reduced mortality (death) rate by 25 per cent.

I’m hugely proud of the team for their achievement. You can read the full story on our website.

Our Endoscopy Optimal week

Hot on the heels of our ‘BONES’ (BHRUT Orthopaedic NHS Elective Surgery) week, where we ensured 250 patients got the care they needed in just seven days, our Endoscopy team completed its own version, which was an Optimal week.

With endoscopy capacity in high demand even before the pandemic, Covid-19 has had a big impact, even more so than in other areas.

So holding a week-long focus on getting as many patients seen as possible was really important. The team aimed to perform 350 procedures across the seven days, however, as previous focused weeks have taught us, we can exceed our own expectations.

In total, 412 patients had endoscopic procedures, a 47 per cent increase on our performance in September.

To help make this happen, the entire team worked extremely hard throughout the week, not to mention all the work that went beforehand, including lots of overtime from our admin team getting patients booked in.

Since the pandemic hit, we’re finding we need to put in a lot more work reassuring patients it’s safe to come into our hospitals to get the care they need. I’m glad we could provide this for the hundreds of patients we saw during both our BONES and Optimal weeks. We’d also really appreciate your help among your own networks, encouraging people that our hospitals are safe and open for business, and that people should be coming in to get the care they need.

In this case, patients were kept safe by having their procedures in our Covid-secure green zone, which prevents staff from moving between zones, and requires patients to have a Covid swab test before coming in, and then self-isolating.

Chief Nursing Officer for England pays us a virtual visit

Ruth May, Chief Nursing Officer for England, visited King George Hospital on Friday (13 November). It was the first time she’d undertaken a virtual visit, using technology to see our wards, and even congratulate three nurses she’d recognised with silver Chief Nursing Officer awards.

Among those receiving the award was Kalvinder Jandu, senior sister on our Gynaecology ward. She was praised for leading her team through immense change during the pandemic, all while acting up as the matron. The ward was changed to a medical ward, meaning Kal and her team faced very different challenges, while caring for male and female patients.

You can find out more about the other nurses who received this award by reading the full story on our website.

Showcasing our Living With and Beyond Cancer team

We’re delighted that our Living With and Beyond Cancer team was selected for a showcase piece this month by NHS Providers.

NHS Providers is keen to highlight how trusts are bringing back services innovatively and safely amid the pandemic, and spreading the message to encourage people to seek the care they need. They are doing this by each month showcasing the work being undertaken to recover services under a newly branded programme: Restoring Services: NHS Activity Tracker.

In this month’s case study, Alix Holmes, our Macmillan information and support manager, and Lucy Brookes, our Macmillan living with and beyond cancer lead, talk about the work of the team to find new ways to support our cancer patients. You can read their story on the NHS Providers' website (scroll down to the bottom of the page!)

Lastly, as I shared last week, we are now publishing weekly Covid-19 related data. You can check the latest data on our website.

Tony Chambers

Chief Executive