Team Update Issue 32 November 2006 www.nhshighland.scot.nhs.uk N orth East Floods—A M ajor incident for N H S H ighland A multi-agency major incident was called in High- land in response to the storm and flooding on 26 October in East Highland. Management Teams and staff in Ross and Cro- marty and Caithness and Sutherland co-ordinated actions and interventions for the continuity for ser- vices in these areas and support for other agen- cies. The level of risk was assessed with regard to po- tential flooding and loss of sanitation at Ross Me- morial Hospital. Staff liased throughout with Scot- tish Ambulance Service and with Raigmore Hospi- tal over the possible need to evacuate patients. The situation with regard to hospital services at Dingwall was under constant assessment and re- Picture: Anne Macleod, Senior Radiographer and Tina assessment and the high tide passed without inci- Rae, Enrolled Nurse, Ross Memorial Hospital. dent. Management also kept in touch with the OOH hub Service Continuity Group, which has been set up to ensure there was appropriate OOH doctor cov- to review and harmonise NHS Highland’s Major erage in light of the road closures and worsening Incident Plan and Service Continuity arrange- weather expected. ments. Highland Council contacted Ross Memorial Hospi- tal for the supply of blankets and towels for several evacuated people. Public Holiday Dates are on “Everyone was superb, calm and supportive of oth- ers, all pulling together, considered in their re- p ag e 5 sponses and going that extra little bit that makes these things easier to manage. Thanks all those involved. “ said Alison Phimister, Assistant General Manager, Mid Highland CHP Inside ... Roger Gibbins, Chief Executive, says: “I would like to express my thanks and appreciation to all staff who have worked above and beyond the Page call of duty during the bad weather affecting the 2 Smoking Ban Proposals Mid-Highland and North CHPs. 3 Medical Director Staff in NHS Highland have shown their initiative in 3 December Pay responding to the staffing and clinical issues which 4 Agenda for Change Update occurred due to the weather. I know many staff 5 Public Holidays have gone to extra lengths to ensure they got in to 6 Acute Medical Assessment Unit work and that shifts were covered, and that those 6 Caithness Laboratory Investment who needed help and assistance were supported. 7 Translated Materials Once again, many thanks to all staff for all their 8 Syringe Pump Changeover Programme hard work and effort.” 9 Letters The major incident came just a couple of days after the first meeting of the Emergency Planning and 10 Staff Flu Jab 10 Events Page 1 Working with you to make Highland the healthy place to be M oving tow ards a site w ide smoking ban The Board is consulting staff and patient groups This would mean that Smoking would not on aspirations to ban smoking on all sites permitted in all NHS Highland buildings and across NHS Highland and has asked the To- their grounds (whether owned or leased), bacco Working Group, which reports to the Area vehicles, and areas, which ventilate into Partnership Forum, to identify and recommend buildings. There would be no exceptions to solutions to the implementation of a site wide the ban in any of NHS Highland’s facilities. smoking ban. The Board recognises the substantial Changes to the Tobacco Policy are being pro- change and the challenges involved in im- posed, which strengthen NHS Highland’s com- plementing such a complete ban, but feels mitment to providing a safe and healthy environ- that this is an important strategic step to- ment for all staff, patients and visitors. In line wards a healthier population. with this changes are being proposed to our No If you wish to comment on the proposed Smoking Policy to reflect our move to have changes to the Tobacco policy, please write smoke-free sites for the delivery and support of to Douglas Seago, Raigmore Hospital, Old all NHS Highland activity. Perth Road, Inverness. Appointments: Dr Alison Graham will be leaving her post as Medical Director for NHS Highland at the end of January 2007. Alison will be taking up a new post as Medical Director of NHS Lanarkshire. This is a great loss to NHS Highland. Alison has made a valuable and significant contribution to the NHS in the Highlands over the last eight years and she will be very difficult to replace. We will miss her wise advice at the NHS Board. I am sure that you will join me in wishing Alison well in her new post. We are arranging for recruitment of Alison's successor immediately. Inevitably, there is likely to be a gap between Alison leaving and her successor taking up post and we will need to review how her responsi- bilities will be covered. We will let you know when this has been agreed. Roger Gibbins, Chief Executive, NHS Highland From the editor ... agenda for change etc. I do appreciate this is du- plication for a number of staff, but the over-riding view was that this was, for a relatively small print- Some staff have raised concerns about the ex- ing cost, (some 9p per staff), a worthwhile thing to pense of sending out last month’s Team Update to do. all staff. As Anne Gent, Director of HR, has ex- plained, we had to post a pension leaflet to all If you would like to write an article or submit in- staff and we decided to take advantage of this nec- formation or photographs for the Team Update or essary expense to enclose a special edition of the Staff Magazine, in-touch., please write in to Team Update. We always make sure this is avail- me or email the Corporate Team via the email ad- able electronically, however, many staff still do not dress on the NHS Highland Website: staff@haht. have electronic access to read this or print it off. scot.nhs.uk They may work remotely, where it is often difficult to If you would like a copy of this or a previous download documents, or in a ward situation, a clini- edition of the Team Update, please contact Erin cian may not in the course of her/his day have ac- Greig on 01463 705771 or myself on 01463 cess or time to see the Intranet. Also, we have a 704781. Remember, your news and views large number of facilities staff who don't have elec- are important! tronic access. This was a one-off opportunity where Ruth Cleland we could circulate the Team Update to bring every- H ead of Internal Com m unications, one, regardless of their role or electronic access, up N H S H ighland, A ssynt H ouse, B eechw ood Park, to the same speed with regard to news about NHS Highland and raise awareness about where to get Inverness IV 2 3H G information. We also have staff governance obliga- Email: ruth.cleland@ haht.scot.nhs.uk tions to ensure all staff are kept informed about the organisation and important information about Page 2 A PF to take a lead role in tackling D ignity at W ork issues October’s Team Update reported on the initial findings of the staff survey, which were discussed at length at the Area Partnership Forum (APF) meeting in September and the Board meeting in October. Bullying and harassment has been highlighted as a priority for the organi- sation to tackle, with the APF taking a lead role. Early discussions are tak- ing place as to what has been achieved so far and what can make an ad- ditional difference. A staff governance action group, chaired by Anne Gent, Director of HR, and reporting to the APF, has been meeting to analyse and develop a co- ordinated response to the key themes identified in the survey. The report analysis is broken down by area and each of the operational units is identifying local themes, which can be tackled locally. N ew R ights for Expectant M others Expectant mothers with babies due on or after 1 gering a return to work or affecting SMP; April 2007 have new rights to maternity leave and • The start of the Maternity Pay period has been pay. Babies with a due date prior to 1 April 2007 brought into line with the start of Maternity will not qualify for these new provisions even if they Leave. SMP or MA will start on the same day are born on or after 1 April 2007. Changes to the as your Maternity Leave, i.e. the day stated in rules affecting adoption leave, adoption pay, and your notice or, if applicable, the day after your return to work, where adoption placement is due first day of pregnancy related absence (in the on or after 1 April 2007 will also come into effect at four weeks immediately prior to your due date) this time. These changes mirror statutory mater- or the day after the birth. nity provisions. • Employers can maintain "reasonable contact" Employees should be aware that we are still await- with women on maternity leave. ing HDL direction with regards to how this will im- Future Changes pact on contractual maternity provisions. Our Ma- Further changes to maternity provisions are ex- ternity Packs will be updated with this information pected by 2010. The government intends to in- as soon as this becomes available. crease maternity pay to 52 weeks by 2010 and to Under the new regulations: introduce additional Paternity Leave (APL) and Ad- • Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) increases from ditional Statutory Paternity Pay which can be taken 26 to 39 weeks; in the second six months of the child’s life.