THE NHS HIGHLAND STAFF NEWSPAPER June 2016 HighNOVEMBERlights 2015 LONELINESS Four pupils of Drakies Primary School, Inverness, provided the highlight of the most recent meeting of NHS Highland’s board, when they gave a talk on the school’s recently launched community café and on how it is helping to address the wider issue of loneliness and social isolation. The pupils, who were accompanied by headteacher Michelle Taylor, were asked to give the presentation after the school’s participation in the launch of NHS Highland’s ‘Reach Out’ campaign, which is encouraging people to “make a difference for someone who’s lonely”. As well as giving a short speech, the pupils an- swered questions by members of the board, and also asked questions about the Reach Out campaign. For more on Reach Out, see pages 6 and 7. FINANCE How board could meet savings target A BROAD outline of how NHS lion were required. At that time, in unidentified savings. Highland will work to meet the around £13 million of savings had been In a paper to the board, finance di- “most challenging savings target identified “with a relatively high degree rector Nick Kenton explained that sev- that the board has ever faced” was of confidence” and a further £11.7 mil- eral initiatives were being taken across given to the board on 31st May.. lion of “opportunities” that would re- Scotland that should help to reduce that At its April meeting, the board ap- quire “transformational change” to de- savings gap, but he added that it had not proved its revenue budget for 2016/17, liver had been identified. and was told that savings of £28.8 mil- This meant there was a gap of £4.1 Continued on page 2 - - Savings target tial benefit of over £5 million,” Mr Help us to fight loneliness and Continued from front Kenton stated, adding that these fig- social isolation. Check out: yet been possible to quantify this. ures excluded NHS Highland's rural http://www.reachout.scot.nhs.uk He also set a national context for general hospitals and mental health in the board's savings targets. On aver- -patient facilities. Contents age, he explained, boards require Reducing the number of new and 4 My Home Life cash savings of around five per cent – return out-patient appointments – roughly double the requirement for respectively 73,000 and 140,000 in 14 Commuters’ corner the previous financial year. 2015/16 – by just two per cent could 15 New health centre opening He added that since the last yield £0.6 million. 18 At Your Service board meeting “good progress” had Reducing delayed discharges, cut- 20 Department profile been made in identifying “further ting the cancellation rate for planned 25 Rural fellowships everyday quality improvement effi- theatre procedures and continuing to 28 Comings & Goings ciencies”, totalling £8.1 million. work to reduce the number of pa- The director went on to explain a tients who harm themselves as a re- 33 Highland Quality Award range of cost-cutting measures that sult of falling could also deliver cash 34 Valuing Service Awards could be taken. For example, reduc- savings. 42 Diversity Champions ing acute hospital patients' length of In summing up, Mr Kenton told 55 Other Lives: Ian Beange stay by half a day could save £2.8 the board that he believes that deliv- 56 Q&A: Linda Moir million. Similarly, if community hospi- ering currently identified savings tal patients' length of stay was re- would bring NHS Highland to within Keep us informed duced from 24.3 days to 22.3 days £2.3 million of meeting its savings there would be potential savings of target, and that actions were needed Do you know of something you £2.5 million. to manage what he will call think should be featured in High- “Therefore, a relatively small “underlying cost pressures” probably lights? An award, an achievement, change of length of stay has a poten- of around £6 million. a piece of research, an appoint- ment, a retiral … you name it, COMING SOON... Highlights has a place for it. Please send your articles to [email protected] (01463 704903) or visit the Staff Dropbox Mental health on the NHS Highland intranet home page. You can follow minister to attend NHS Highland on... WEBSITE annual review www.nhshighland.scot.nhs.uk NHS HIGHLAND’S annual re- the Minister and members of the FACEBOOK view for 2015/16 is to be held on Scottish Government Health Depart- https://www.facebook.com/ Tuesday 16th August in Inver- ment. NHSHighland ness with Maureen Watt, Minis- The agenda is set by the Scottish TWITTER ter for Mental Health, in atten- Government Health Department www.twitter.com/NHSHighland or dance. based on national standards and @NHSHighland The performance of all NHS agreed local performance targets. boards is reviewed by the Scottish Members of the public can attend Government Health Department at the open session and are also invited annual reviews. They provide an op- to submit questions to be answered portunity for members of Highland’s on the day of the review. NHS board to highlight the year’s More detail on timings and venue achievements and discuss issues with will be issued in due course. - 2 - HEALTH WEEK Successful exercise is still going strong! SAMPLE exercise events organised working day. What also helps is that by for NHS Highland staff as part of a doing them with colleagues can make UK-wide workplace health week the activities mean a lot more because have proved such a success that we are supporting each other. several of them are still going “More than 400 of our staff mem- strong. bers stated in the last staff survey that According to co-ordinator Dan Jen- they would be up for helping motivate kins, some of the taster initiatives set up others so I hope the Health at Work for the week-long event last month Week, and little reminders like this arti- proved so popular that staff have just cle, can spur them on to grab their kept on doing them. workmates and give something a go.” Dan, a health improvement special- Dan said that he was open to help ist, and other colleagues based at Assynt start other group exercise events House in Inverness, had organised across NHS Highland. events such as yoga classes, mid-day “If people want ideas, then get in mile walks and even a Hula Hoop con- touch,” he said. test as part of the national campaign. “It doesn’t have to be too formal. It The idea was to inspire staff to enjoy can grow organically from what people moving more and breaking up sedentary want and like to do.” work habits. The Health at Work Week pro- Dan said: “We spend a large part of gramme at Centre for Health Science, our lives at work and for lots of us with led by technology enabled care team, desk-based jobs we can go hours and included: hours without moving. That’s not good A Raigmore staircase climb, in which for our bodies, and it’s not good for our people were urged to burn fat in 15 work or concentration either. Everyone minutes by climbing up and down the I spoke to who joined in the activities Raigmore Hospital staircase. during the week said they felt more A cycle challenge, in which staff energised and focussed afterwards. I’ve members were able to break their day met new people I didn’t know, and we by cycling on one of the cycle machines had a lot of fun in a short space of donated from Raigmore Sports & Social time.” Club at the front foyer in the Centre With help from similar-minded col- for Health Science leagues he was able to stage a range of A mid-day mile walk from the Cen- activities at NHS Highland sites includ- tre of Health Science front desk 12pm ing Larachan House in Dingwall, the A fitness session which involved a 20 Centre for Health Sciences and other -minute basic circuit training exercise departments at Raigmore Hospital, and In a similar spirit, events at Assynt Assynt House. House included yoga stretching classes And now it appears that some of the people to start doing these things a bit every morning in the board room, Hula activities such as the exercise bike ses- more often, and then others feel more Hoop sessions on Tuesday either out- sions at the Centre for Health Sciences confident to join in. Doing different side in the garden area or the staff and the midday walks in several sites things and different exercises like those room and a mid-day mile walk on look set to continue. we had in the workplace health week is Thursday around the nearby Beech- Dan said: “It only takes a couple of a way of threading exercise into your wood campus. - 3 - MY HOME LIFE Recruitment role for care home resident A RESIDENT of a Caithness care and put down what we thought of the home has participated in the inter- candidates’ answers,” said David view process for NHS Highland As the residents’ representative, employees as part of an innovative David also got to ask the interviewees programme that aims to trans- questions. form the way the board’s homes He said: “All my questions were on are run. health and safety. One of the jobs I’d Under the ‘My Home Life’ initiative, done at Dounreay was to go to health 85-year-old David Bruce was asked to and safety meetings.