THE NHS HIGHLAND STAFF NEWSPAPER June 2017 HighNOVEMBERlights 2015 QUALITY AND SUSTAINABILITY Elaine outlines our ‘direction of travel’ again over the last year you would have A message from Elaine noticed that it is becoming ever difficult Mead, chief executive of to sustain the current models of care. The impact of the changing demo- NHS Highland Continued on page 2 Dear Colleagues Last week saw the signing of the 2016/17 accounts for NHS High- land. This showed a break-even posi- tion, in fact a tiny £111K under spend, with savings of £28M on the annual budget of £811M. Given the current financial environment across the coun- try this is an excellent achievement, and not been sufficient to allow us to con- I would like to thank you for your con- tinue to create additional capacity in tribution to this effort. many areas and specialties. However, this has not been without This year we have savings target of pain and that is only set to get harder around £47million. Clearly the need to with tough choices and decisions now deliver break-even, which is a legal re- having to be made. For some time now quirement for every Health Board, will we have not been able to treat all pa- have implications for how we all work in Do you recognise Morag tients that have been waiting for routine the delivery of care, and there must Drew? Turn to pages 12 to outpatient appointments or surgery in a now be an urgency to this change. We 14 to see who else you can timely way, or to meet the demand for need to make the changes and start to recognise receiving Valuing care provided at home. deliver the savings with immediate ef- Whilst we have been fortunate to fect, not wait for another six months. Service Awards this year…. secure some additional funding, this has It is not all about the money. Once - - Our direction of travel We will continue to provide sup- Continued from front port and use quality improvement Help us to fight loneliness and techniques to minimise this waste, social isolation. Check out: graphics are also realised within our but we now urgently need you to http://www.reachout.scot.nhs.uk ageing workforce. redesign your own ways of work as We have known for some time individuals and teams to deliver more Contents that it simply will not be possible to at less cost with fewer people. recruit to all of the vacancies that we Every penny and every minute 4 Charter for Involvement signed expect to see in our services, and it will count this year more than 7 At Your Service: Les Hood is important that we increase our ever. We cannot be in a position 8 Department profile efforts to fundamentally change how where we are spending more than 9 Redesign architects announced we deliver care across the Highlands we can afford, so we need to deliver 11 Duo win HQA and Argyll and Bute. on all of the ideas that you have al- In December I drew your atten- ready given us, through the Rapid 12 Valuing Service Awards tion to the National Operational Process Improvement Workshops, 15 Laughing with Elaine C. Smith Delivery Plan for Health and Social team meetings and the ‘Breaking the 18 GP of the Year Care, and never has it been more rules for better care’ feedback. 19 Rock Challenge winner important for us to move quickly to Our trade union partners are also 21 Saltire Society success change the way we are organised and aware of this situation, so I will now 26 Campbeltown retains plaque how we deliver care. This blue print be seeking urgent meetings with rep- for services has been translated into resentatives and colleagues in human Q&A: Derek Brown 29 our own NHS Highland Quality and resources to look at a suite of op- Sustainability plan. Full report HERE. tions which we may have to con- Keep us informed This year (2017/18), and for the sider. Do you know of something you next three financial years at least, we While there will be no redundan- think should be featured in High- will need to take concerted and de- cies we will need staff to work more liberate action to reduce the costs flexibly. In addition I am considering lights? An award, an achievement, particularly in our hospitals, whilst giving opportunities to staff to reduce a piece of research, an appoint- protecting our emergency and urgent their working week temporarily if we ment, a retiral … you name it, response for patients when they do not have to replace this time with Highlights has a place for it. Please need to access our services. additional hours. We will provide send your articles to There should be an expectation more detail on these options as we [email protected] (01463 that people will not be admitted to work up these proposals. But I hope 704876). hospital unless there is absolutely no you can see things are quite different other way that the care can be deliv- this year and therefore we need to ered at home, with a guarantee that consider all necessary action. patients will return quickly to their I am happy to speak with any of You can follow home with necessary support as their you, as individuals, as groups or medical condition has been resolved. teams along with my colleagues and NHS Highland on... To achieve this we must provide Board members to explain how you better alternatives to hospital, includ- now need to contribute. It is not a WEBSITE ing 24/7 support available to fami- time to lament the loss, but a time to www.nhshighland.scot.nhs.uk lies. We have already started this celebrate the opportunities that this FACEBOOK work and will continue to work now provides in changing the way we https://www.facebook.com/ closely with other organisations, both work. This is about sustaining ser- NHSHighland public and third sector, to develop vices for the future, for our people, alternatives to the current and his- and for their children, and I am grate- TWITTER torical models of service. ful for your continuing support. www.twitter.com/NHSHighland or We continue to identify much I plan to keep you all regularly up @NHSHighland waste and unwanted variation within to date with our progress as the year our services. Many things we are unfolds and I will be relying on real doing are not cost effective and some time feedback on both the changes of our systems and historic ways of we have to make and how we com- working are simply serving only to municate about the next phase of add to your burden of work. our NHS Highland journey. - 2 - HEALTH PROMOTION COMMUTING Staff encouraged to end pj paralysis Breakfast treat COLLEAGUES IN in Raigmore Hos- pital and Larch House were treated to a special breakfast during Bike Week this month. NHS Highland’s active travel engagement officers Lizbeth Collie and Sheila Wickens laid on a bite to STAFF AT Raigmore Hospital in bed and get dressed helps with that. It’s eat for colleagues as part of a na- tional campaign to encourage more Inverness showed up to work in easier to get back into and maintain people to get on their bike. their pyjamas this month in a bid your normal routine when you are “We wanted to put on a special to understand what it feels like to dressed and ready for the day ahead. breakfast for colleagues to encour- be a patient. “Wearing pyjamas longer than you age them to think about cycling on a The dress up was used to highlight need to can actually make you feel vul- regular basis, including when com- the “End PJ Paralysis” campaign which nerable. Patients don’t feel ready to get muting,” Sheila explained. looks to getting patients up and about which can “The bike breakfasts at Raig- up and about and out of lead to loss of muscle more Hospital and Larch House their pyjamas as soon as strength, a higher risk of were a visible presence and encour- they are able to in order infection and a longer aged colleagues to stop and have a Research has chat with us over a cup of coffee and to improve recovery. stay in hospital.” a scone. The campaign has shown that be- There is evidence that “We also held ‘bike doctor’ ses- started on Ward 6C, a suggests that for people sions in the afternoon which offered medical ward, and will ing mobile over the age of 80 ten a bike health check, security tagging encourage patients who days in bed ages the and advice on NHS Highland’s cy- are fit to get dressed helps you re- muscles by 10 years, cle2work bicycle access scheme.” NHS Highland joined forces with and get moving. while one week of bed- Dr Susan MacGre- ‘ cover more rest results in 10 per UK Charity Sustrans to appoint two gor, occupational ther- cent muscle loss. active travel engagement officers quickly from earlier this year. apy and physiotherapy Nicola Rocke, senior Sheila continued: “A big part of service manager for illness and charge nurse on Ward our role is to support staff to make a Raigmore Hospital ex- 6C where the campaign behaviour change in commuting and plained that promoting injury is starting, said: “Loss of business travel.” and supporting patients strength for our patients Sustrans is a leading UK charity in getting up and getting could make the differ- which enables people to travel by dressed can improve ence between depend- foot, bike or public transport for patient recovery but also gets them ence and independence.