Well, it has been another busy week here at NELFT and in the wider NHS following the announcement from the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care reversing the government’s decision to mandate the vaccine for NHS staff. We are doing all we can to communicate this to colleagues as sensitively as possible as we know this issue has caused a lot of anxiety for people across the Trust. As we receive information we will share it with our colleagues and review any actions for the Trust. I would like to take the opportunity to thank colleagues who have worked hard over the past few weeks to support the original request as I know many people had to reprioritise workloads to manage this.

This month is LGBT History month and it was great to see the timeline and display set up at Trust HQ by our LGBT+ staff network. There are lots of activities planned throughout the month opportunities to celebrate our LGBT+ colleagues and patients.

I was pleased to see so many of our NELFT colleagues attending the Admin Professionals forum that took place last Thursday. This forum has really gone from strength to strength. Whether we work in clinical or non-clinical roles, we are all part of Team NELFT, supporting the Trust to deliver the best care by the best people. It is so positive to see the Admin Professionals Forum offer space and time for learning, development and networking.

We are currently working to develop our Digital Strategy for the future to help us to build on the innovation and transformation we have seen over the last few years. This is not only about how we can deliver services to our patients and their loved ones but also looking at how we can make best use of technology to support our workforce, deliver our estates strategy and work effectively across the health and care systems we work within. I was pleased to take part in a visioning workshop earlier this week and I know our Informatics team are working hard to engage stakeholders in this work.

I was pleased to attend one of the virtual community meetings as part of public consultation on services to be delivered from the St George’s Health and Wellbeing Hub when it has been redeveloped. This week there was a focus on ensuring both the building and the services provided are dementia friendly as those in attendance were part of local dementia groups and services. Through these meetings and the online survey we have been able to seek feedback and views from patients, local residents, community groups and partners. It’s been heartening to see so much support for the Hub which will provide a mix of primary care, mental health care and outpatient services for the local community. If you would like to share your views you can do so here.
St. George's Hub Survey

Take care and stay safe.

Jacqui