Anna Oddy, Children's Complex and Palliative Specialist Nurse, Children's Community Nursing

Please Note: Some of the photos included in Connect were taken before we introduced our Infection, Prevention and Control Measures. Please continue to follow our guidelines around the use of face masks and social distancing

10th September 2020

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We recognise that our staff members are more than just our colleagues. Whilst you do amazing things at work, you also do amazing things within your personal lives… and we want to hear about it. Anna has been a part of the charity Jolly Josh since 2017 as a trustee. Jolly Josh aims to relieve the needs of those with additional and complex needs, disabilities and those with profound and multiple learning disabilities, their families and carers within Rochdale and the wider area.

The Children's Acute and On-going Needs Service have supported Jolly Josh and a health professional regularly attends each session.This is great for Anna and the team as they are able to see children and their families in a relaxed environment. During the COVID pandemic Anna and the team have supported Jolly Josh taking professional photos of families during shielding. This helped make a big difference to the families who thoroughly enjoyed this experience.

Check out some of the photos here.

To submit your story, click here

Pauline Mulhall, Baby Friendly Initiative (UNICEF) Project Manager, Salford Care Organisation Children's Services

Our new 5 minutes with... feature will give The hope that I have helped families to you the chance to get to know your make the right decisions for them. colleagues across the NCA. Working with all the staff in the 0-19 This week we asked Pauline Mullhall, teams who are amazing every day and Baby Friendly Initiative (UNICEF) Project have put up with me for 9 years now. Manager, Salford Care Organisation Children's Services some questions so Meal out or takeaway in front of the you can get to know her a bit better. TV?

Describe your job in 3 words? In front of the TV with Vegetarian Biryani with all the trimmings. Promote, Protect and Support Breastfeeding. What’s your favourite holiday destination? What is your career highlight so far? Can’t decide between Borneo (Kota I have had varied careers in different Kinabalu) or Italy especially Florence. disciplines and it has been difficult to decide but it has to be supporting the 0-19 Who would be your 3 dream dinner team in achieving the first gold award from guests? UNICEF in the North West and knowing Dalai lama so we could discuss what his that staff are really skilled in supporting philosophy is. Ricky Gervais as he is more mothers to choose to breastfeed really funny and aware of the challenges their babies and in turn this helps parents we all face. William Morris my favourite to build lasting and positive relationships poet and artist who knows all the scandal and be healthier. I am also a speak up around the pre Raphaelites. sub-guardian.

Who or what inspires you? My family especially my husband of over 40 years.

Click here to take part in our 5 minutes with feature

NCA Logistics Teams

We will be shining the spotlight on our Hidden Heroes who are busy working behind the scenes to support our colleagues on the frontline. Those of you who may not be visible on the shop floor but who all play a crucial role and help to keep our organisation running and make what we do on the frontline possible.

Our Hidden Heroes campaign will celebrate the contribution our NCA Family make in our hospitals and out in the community, ensuring our day to day operations run smoothly. The Procurement Department have been incredibly busy during this unprecedented time. The Strategic Sourcing and Purchase to Pay Teams have sourced and arranged delivery of hundreds of thousands of PPE items for all sites across the NCA and our Logistics Team have been working around the clock to ensure that these items reach our frontline staff. As part of the response and to deal with the demand for PPE due to the impact of Covid19, bulk storage areas have been created at Salford within the existing logistics areas including seven temporary pods that have been placed onsite and these bulk storage areas serve Salford Care Organisation including all Salford community locations.

Similar arrangements have also been put in place within the logistics warehouse on the Royal Oldham Hospital site where there is also a bulk PPE storage area and this feeds the central PPE stores on the Royal Oldham, Fairfield General, Rochdale Infirmary and North Manchester General sites along with three central PPE locations that serve Oldham (Horton House), Bury (Humphrey House) and Rochdale (R.I.) community teams. In excess of 25 million individual pieces of PPE have now been received via the logistics teams and the majority of this is pushed via a daily delivery from the National PPE supply channels. This has been fantastic example of a team that has really pulled together and supported each other during these challenging times.

Sai Lee, IT Support Engineer, IM&T

This is your chance to give a ‘shout out’ to your colleagues - celebrate those who are going above and beyond, thank someone who has really made your day, shine a light on a colleague who really makes a positive difference on your ward, department or office. “I believe that Sai is a credit to the IM&T Division. Nothing is too much trouble and he always delivers on his promises and will sort things at the drop of a hat, if he can. He is really pleasant, courteous and professional. I think he is an asset to the IMT department and his dedication to his job is commendable.” – Louisa Wilde, Assistant Directorate Manager, Urgent Care and Intermediate Tier Services, Rochdale Care Organisation.

Submit your nominations here

Betsy says 'Covid is still real' as she returns to the classroom and mum returns to work following Covid-19 diagnosis A primary school pupil preparing to head back to the classroom has spoken out about the need for people to maintain social distancing, wear a mask and keep washing their hands to keep NHS staff, patients and communities safe.

Betsy Sutcliffe, age 7, from Moorside in Oldham is fronting the ‘It’s in Our Hands’ campaign launched by the NCA, which has seen young people across Bury, Oldham, Rochdale and Salford record messages to emphasise the importance of continuing to follow infection prevention and control guidance.

Her determination and passion for communicating the important safety message comes after mum, Tammy Sutcliffe, a Directorate Manager for The Royal Oldham Hospital, spent six days in the Acute Medical Unit being treated for Covid-19.

Betsy explains: “My mummy had to go into hospital because she had Covid. I missed her so much, and me and my daddy didn’t know when she would come home, so it was very worrying. She’s gone back to work now, but Covid is still real. People should still wash their hands, wear a mask and social distance to help protect my mummy, her patients and everyone else. Please follow the rules and keep everyone safe. It’s in our hands.”

As the child of an NHS key worker, the brave youngster attended school during the peak of the pandemic and after following the Covid-19 rules put in place by teaching staff at Christ Church Denshaw Primary to the letter, Betsy was awarded a prize for her efforts.

Mum Tammy, explained: “Betsy has been an absolute superstar during what has been an incredibly tough time for us as a family, but her response to the rules around protecting each other from Covid has really blown us away. We are a very open family and didn’t keep anything from her when I was poorly, but she completely took it in her stride, staying strong and setting the example that some adults seem to be struggling with.”

Read more click here. You can watch a short clip of Betsy as part of the campaign here.

Colleagues cycle 100 miles for Organ Donation Week Congratulations to our team of cyclists who travelled 100 miles on Tuesday to mark this year’s Organ Donation Week. The Join the Journey event takes the cyclists on the journey donated organs take from the donor to the recipient waiting for a life-saving transplant. This year’s event – scaled back due to the pandemic – went from Salford Royal to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham. The team were also joined by some colleagues from Stepping Hill Hospital on the way. Dr Justin Roberts, Consultant in Intensive Care Medicine and Anaesthesia at Salford Care Organisation, completed the ride and said: “We had very challenging weather conditions with rain and wind for the first 50 miles - then the sun came out, and we finished warm and very proud to have supported such an important cause that is close to our hearts. “Personally, I have never cycled over 65 miles so this was a first for me. I will never forget the experience and sense of achievement. “We cycled 102 miles to raise awareness for organ donation. All we ask in return is to visit the website and register your decision.” Register your decision here: https://bit.ly/2QR7F4A Huge thanks to Raynie Thomson, Specialist Nurse for Organ Donation, and Josh Wharton, Respiratory Nurse, for their support on the day.

NCA supports World Suicide Prevention Day The NCA is helping to commemorate lives lost to suicide during a vigil of remembrance being streamed across the world. As part of World Suicide Prevention Day on Thursday 10 September, START – a mental health charity in Salford – is hosting a Vigil of Remembrance to remember those that we have lost and demonstrate to those that have lost loved ones to suicide that the community is here for them. NCA Chief Executive Raj Jain and Dr Pete Turkington, Chief Officer at Salford Care Organisation, will join speakers, poets and musicians in reading a pre-recorded roll of remembrance before a minute’s silence takes place. Read more here.

Our midwives help raise awareness of the effects of drinking alcohol during pregnancy

Specialist Midwife, Jen Michaels has been busy promoting FASD Awareness Day 2020 with families this week to help raise awareness of the effects that drinking alcohol during pregnancy can have on children as they develop. Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) is a range of lifelong conditions caused by prenatal alcohol exposure, some of which are physical. It is recognised as the leading preventable cause of birth defects and developmental learning disability worldwide. It is not always detected at birth and often becomes apparent later in life. Symptoms can include learning difficulties, birth defects, limb damage and problems with memory, attention or judgement. It’s a lifelong disability; there is no cure but people with FASD can be supported to manage their lives successfully. The Royal Oldham Hospital has been a key partner for the Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Alcohol Exposed Pregnancy Programme and has featured in their ‘Drymester’ campaign since it was launched in 2018. Midwives like Jen are helping to spread the word about the potential long-term effects of drinking alcohol in pregnancy with families in Oldham, Bury, Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale. In fact, since the pilot campaign was launched, Jen, whose work focuses on alcohol exposed pregnancies, has trained over 160 midwives to support pregnant women to make an informed choice about whether or not to drink alcohol during pregnancy or to at least keep the risk to their baby to a minimum. Jen is a member of a NICE quality standards committee that advises on FASD quality standards, which are set to be published shortly. The publication of these new standards will see other NHS trusts being advised to follow the standards set by the committee. Let’s all do our bit by spreading the word about the Drymester campaign on social media (@DRYMESTER_GMHSC) to help parents-to-be to go alcohol free and keep the risk to their baby to a minimum this #FASDAwarenessDay. For more information, please visit the Drymester campaign website.

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Celebrating our strengths - more training dates

To help us discover more about the brilliant things that are happening across the organisation, we are trialling a new approach to supporting the mental health and wellbeing of our staff through the application of Appreciative Inquiry (AI). This will initially be trialled with Salford staff and rolled across the NCA if successful. Appreciative Inquiry (AI) is a provocative approach to learning and change that can encouraging and enable people to be positive and build relationships that enable people to understand how roles relate to each other. For details on training dates, click here

NCA team shortlisted for national HEFMA award

The Group catering, estates and facilities team are celebrating after being shortlisted for a national award. The team, made up of staff from across all our sites have been chosen as one of the 14 finalists for the Team of the Year Award in the Health Estates and Facilities Management Association (HEFMA) awards. They were nominated for the collaborative work which the catering, estates and facilities teams undertook to deliver significant and sustainable service improvements enabling staff, patients and visitors of the Jewish faith, to have access to safe and clean Shabbos rooms. A Shabbos room is a place to rest while observing the Sabbath, when Jews should obey a number of rules, such as not working or cooking. The designated Shabbos rooms are available for members of the Jewish faith community 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Feedback from email: "I had an operation on at Fairfield hospital. I was initially on ward 12 and then moved to an overnight stay room - I was in room 3. I just wanted to give feedback as I can’t express how grateful I was for the exceptional care and kindness I received from all of the staff. I was constantly checked on, made comfortable and cheered up by all of the nurses. I’m quite an anxious person and I can honestly say that for all of my stay I was relaxed as I knew I was being looked after."

Feedback from Facebook: "Thanks to the B8 angels at Salford who looked after my partner in September- October 2019 after a brain haemorrhage. They were amazing and he's fully recovered now. We will be forever grateful. Much love to you all."

Feedback from email: "I was referred to the Rapid Diagnostic Centre at Rochdale Infirmary by my GP on 111 in August and I would just like to what a fantastic service this is. The nurse that met me and the Pathway Co-ordinator were so helpful and informative about what was going to happen during CT scan. Later that day, they called me with the wonderful news that nothing had shown up. Such a relief! Please pass on my thanks and appreciation to them both."

Feedback from Datix: “I wish to say thank you to all the staff on the Wolstenholme Unit, Rochdale Infirmary. I can't thank you enough for all the care and help you gave to me during my recent stay; from cleaning staff through to housekeeping and physiotherapy, nurses and doctors. I can't speak highly enough of your genuine and friendly care. I can only hope some of you remember me, I shall certainly never forget you."

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