It has definitely felt like winter this week with the cold weather, I do hope you have been managing to keep warm. Our message has of course been to stay safe and to work from home where you are able. However, I do want to thank all of our colleagues who don’t have the ability to work from home because they are on wards or out in the community supporting our patients. I am so grateful for your efforts to ensure we are delivering the best possible care. Please do look out for each other and of course any of our patients who may be struggling in these cold temperatures.

Last Friday was the Significant 7+ Conference 2022 and it was great to see so many colleagues from across the health and care sector sharing learning and experiences all with the aim of improving outcomes for those people who are being supported in care homes. Thank you to everyone who participated and to the team for organising the event. You can find out more about Significant 7 here. Partnership working and collaboration is key to our success in delivering the best care for our local communities and I’d like to remind nursing colleagues working in our mid and south Essex services that you can attend our Mid and South Essex Community Collaborative community nursing check-in session on Thursday 20 December to share and learn with colleagues from Essex Partnership University NHS Trust and Provide CIC. (For more information and a link to join the session, email askus@communitycollaborative.co.uk)

It was our monthly NELFT induction last week and it was great to see so many new colleagues joining us. I know our senior leaders who attend the induction welcome the opportunity to talk with colleagues as they start their journey with us and it is really helpful to get feedback about how it feels to join the Trust and what the experience of both recruitment and onboarding is like. This helps us to ensure we are continually improving. Recruitment and retention is a priority for us, as it is across the NHS, to ensure that we minimise the pressures on our staff and services, improve patient outcomes and offer opportunities for development to colleagues. We have been continuing our focus on targeted recruitment campaigns as well as looking at ways we can transform the use of agency to achieve better value for money and staff and patient experience. We will share more over the coming weeks and I’m grateful to colleagues who have already been sharing feedback and ideas in this space.

On that note, with the mention of our busy services, I would like to remind you to focus on your own wellbeing. We can often neglect our own needs as we put others first. You can access support and information about a whole host of health, wellbeing and general issues via KeepingWell NEL. I know this time of year can be difficult for many people, particularly people who may find themselves alone over the festive period. I wanted to take the chance to highlight a heartwarming initiative from one of our Governors, Mark Dale, who is supporting an online get together on Christmas Day for anyone who may find themselves on their own. Thank you for being so caring Mark!