Making a difference

Our staff are making a difference.

Read about the achievements, dedication, hard work and professionalism of everyone at Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust (SASH) for making such a difference to the people we care for.

Dementia friendly SASH

Since May 2016 over 2,000 members of SASH staff, volunteers and board members from across the organisation have successfully completed the Alzheimer’s Society Dementia Friends awareness sessions.

At the sessions staff have an opportunity to learn more about what it is like to live with dementia and how they can use this knowledge in the way they care for patients living with dementia. 

The Dementia Friends sessions form part of the SASH dementia strategy which aims to make the organisation dementia friendly. 

Chris O’Connor

Chris O’Connor, nurse consultant for dementia and older people said: “The sessions highlight what it is like to live with dementia and how we can use this learning in the way we care for patients affected. People living with dementia and their carers’ have said how reassured they feel to see so many staff from across the organisation who wear their Dementia Friends badges.”

More information

To find out more about dementia, living with dementia, staying independent if you have dementia or looking after a loved one with dementia, visit NHS Choices

If members of the public would like to find out more about dementia or attend a Dementia Friends session please visit dementiafriends.org.uk

SASH+

In March 2015 SASH began a five year long transformation partnership with NHS Improvement (NHSI) and the Virginia Mason Institute, one of the safest and highest rated hospital organisations in the USA.

The Virginia Mason Institute (VMI) hospital delivers general primary and specialist services to the people of Seattle. Following a visit to the Toyota car manufacturing factory in Japan, VMI adopted and adapted Toyotas production system to develop the Virginia Mason Production System, which is based on lean methodological improvement techniques. Reflecting the Japanese history of the programme some of the references and language used are Japanese in origin. The aim of this development partnership is to fundamentally improve the quality, performance and financial sustainability of the organisations selected to take part as well as share learning with others.

SASH, along with four other Trusts in England are working in partnership with the VMI to develop a transformational management system that will help to deliver better care by reducing waste and variation resulting in improving quality.

This work is known as SASH+ and led by Sue Jenkins, director of Kaizen (continuous incremental improvement). Sue said: “Our aim is to pursue perfection, putting our patients at the forefront of everything we do, improving safety and quality by reducing variation and waste in every process. Our SASH+ work supports an accelerated transformation in quality by providing us with a structured approach to continue our improvement journey taking us from a good to an outstanding organisation.”

Over the last year, the SASH+ work has established three value streams (work streams), which have been specifically selected to help deliver the organisation’s priorities, in making care even better, they are: cardiology, outpatients and the management of diarrhoea. We assessed each value stream to identify any processes which we could make leaner to improve patient experience. Each work stream has a Rapid Process Improvement Workshop (RPIW), a five day workshop focused on a particular process, within a value stream, in which a multidisciplinary team of staff who do the work come together, empowered to improve the work flow and patient care. To ensure the perspective of the patient remains the priority during each workshop, patient representatives are invited to become a team member for the week working in partnership with staff to redesign processes. Sue said: “It is fantastic to see the difference that the focused work on our three value streams and the extensive range of positive changes being made to the way that we provide care.”

Our friends and volunteers

Friends of East Surrey Hospital

The charity Friends of East Surrey Hospital raise money to contribute to the service provided by hospital for the comfort and welfare of patients,staff and visitors.

The Friends of East Surrey Hospital have 100 volunteers and they run a coffee shop (pictured below) in the East Entrance of East Surrey Hospital. Since 1983 Friends have helped to raise money for East Surrey Hospital to buy medical equipment and by the provision of equipment and amenities and by supporting the voluntary work of the hospital.

SASH volunteers

There are around 115 volunteers who help at SASH. They include people from many walks of life with varying experience. Joy Matthews Trust lead for volunteers said:

“People volunteer for a lot of different reasons and our volunteers work flexible hours and bring a wealth of skills to the hospital.” SASH volunteers fulfil diverse roles ranging from administration and nursing support to working with therapy dogs, gardening and arts and crafts volunteers. SASH also has volunteer complementary

therapists to provide care and support to patients and their families at the East Surrey Macmillan Cancer Support Centre. If you would like to give your time and volunteer at SASH. Please contact SASH volunteers manager Joy Matthews to find out more. You can reach Joy on 01737 768 511 x2438 or at joy.matthews1@nhs.net

Behind the scenes

Working behind the scenes the housekeeping, portering and catering teams often go unnoticed. These teams described as the arteries of the hospital and they work 24 hours a day, seven days a week keeping the hospital operational.

Nicola Berry, housekeeping and portering manager said: “I can say that I am proud of each and every team member across the housekeeping, portering and linen teams. I thank the supervisors for supporting and promoting equality and diversity within the team. It is a very challenging role to be front line staff in a customer/patient focused environment and the staff do this with dedication, respect and total enthusiasm.”

There are 40 porters working at SASH, not only do they help to transport patients around the hospital but they also manage all the recycling and waste at SASH. Jason Barrell, porters supervisor said: “The porters walk miles around the hospital every day.” As well as moving patients around the hospital they also transport drugs to wards, co-ordinate delivery and collection of medical gasses and collect and remove general and clinical waste from the hospital.

The housekeeping team is made up of ward hosts and hostesses who work closely with the nursing teams to ensure that all patients are fed according to their dietary requirements, often the team go over and above their duties by walking to the shops on site and purchase newspapers or snacks for various patients. The cleaning staff, deep clean team, floor team and supervisors make up over 350 staff, inclusive of some part time or working on the nursing bank. The team keep the entire hospital, patient and staff areas clean and tidy. Carol Dixon, head of patient environment, said: “Our housekeeping team work tirelessly every day to keep the hospital environment clean and tidy.”

The 39 people in the catering team ensure that all staff and patients are fed and hydrated. Whilst running the hospital restaurant, Three Arches, the catering team also feed and serve coffee, tea and soft drinks to every patient on each ward, three times a day. This equates to over 2000 meals a day, some of those meals are tailored to support individual dietary requirements. The catering team includes; chefs, kitchen porters, catering assistants, restaurant and ward hosts and hostesses. Michael Wilson CBE, chief executive said:

“Every day I see the difference that individuals teams make to the people we care for. I am incredibly proud of their professionalism and hard work.”

The East Surrey Macmillan Cancer Support Centre

The East Surrey Macmillan Cancer Support Centre is a partnership between Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust and Macmillan Cancer Support.

The Centre which was designed with input from people affected by cancer is an informal, nonclinical environment. The staff there provide a welcoming atmosphere where patients, carers, family members or friends can get practical advice, emotional support or simply a listening ear, during any stage of their cancer experience.

Last year the Centre supported 4000 supported contacts. A team of 55 volunteers support the work of the centre and help provide a programme of complementary therapies; group activities and workshops; including physical activity; creative workshops; drop-in coffee mornings and afternoon tea and support groups. Support is available through: complementary therapies such as art groups, yoga and pilates, walking for health, a wig fitting and styling service and image workshops.

The volunteer therapists can also visit the hospital if patients are unable to come to the Centre to provide therapies such as light hand or foot massage. If you can donate any wigs or would like to volunteer at the East Surrey Macmillan Cancer

Support Centre please contact Lesley Aldridge, centre manager at Lesley.aldridge2@nhs.net for more information. Opportunities exist for qualified therapists, counsellors and coaches. The Centre is open 9.30am – 4.30pm Monday to Friday and is a drop-in service, you do not need to have an appointment or a referral to visit the Centre.

Mouth Care Matters

With the full support of Health Education England, Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust (SASH) now has an established Mouth Care Matters team providing hands-on ward based mouth care training for all health care professionals working at East Surrey Hospital. Mouth care training is provided for nursing staff along with speech and language therapists; pharmacists; dieticians; the palliative care team and doctors. A pathway has been established so that any clinician can refer a patient for advice and, if needed, also be referred to an onsite dentist. In July 2017, SASH hosted the inaugural Mouth Care Matters conference, which showcased the improvements the Mouth Care Matters initiative has made to patient care across SASH and, most importantly, provided an opportunity to discuss

how to make these changes sustainable. The day was well attended by nearly 100 delegates from around the country. Following last years success of Mouth Care Matters at SASH, the initiative has already been introduced in 12 Trusts across Kent, Surrey and Sussex. Each Trust has been funded by Health Education England to recruit a mouth care lead nurse for 12 months, who is responsible for implementing a training programme in their hospitals.

SASH is now working with Health Education England on a national roll-out for Mouth Care Matters.

Making your hospital better

At SASH we are constantly improving the environment for patients and staff and this year has been no exception, we have seen building and improvement works taking place across East Surrey Hospital.

The past year has seen the opening of the new Surgery Centre. The centre brings together expert surgical and specialist care for local people needing a wide range of day surgery and combines waiting and recovery areas and dedicated rooms for specialist pain and cystoscopy procedures. Space for the new Centre was created as a result of some reconfiguration of existing rooms and provides a tailor-made area for day surgery patients during their short time at the hospital. It is anticipated that over 10,000 patients a year will be cared for by the Surgery Centre team,

both as day cases and appointments. A&E at East Surrey Hospital has also been redeveloped to provide a remodeled ambulance parking area and a new canopy which will provide better shelter for parked ambulances. The A&E building has also been extended to provide a primary care streaming area. (pictured below). Last year we saw the ambulatory care service move location from the Acute Medical Unit (AMU) to the new Kingsfold Unit, which has trolleys and reclining chairs for assessment and treatments along with clinic rooms to support the management of up to 23 patients at any one time. The highly skilled multidisciplinary Kingsfold Unit team provide rapid access to telephone advice, assessment, diagnostics and treatment between 8am – 8pm, seven days a week. In addition to these major schemes, a number of smaller schemes will take place including works in wards and the outpatient department.

SASH Charity

SASH Charity supports Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust to enhance the care our local community receives.

In support of SASH Charity, staff and local people raised money by running marathons, walking many miles and shaking collection buckets all

over the country. Andrew Bickerdike, fundraising manager said: “We would like to thank everyone who gave up their time and participated in events to raise money for SASH.” SASH Charity are also raising money to create Camomile Courtyard, a garden for patients living with dementia. Being in hospital can be an overwhelming experience and an important part of the care they receive, is to help with their rehabilitation to get them get ready to leave the hospital. The aim of the garden is to create a hospital. The aim of the garden is to create a calming environment that becomes a destination for our therapy and nursing teams to bring patients to. A well-planned garden area provides a place to exercise and an opportunity to relieve tension and frustration. It also offers additional interest with colours, smells and the sounds of wildlife which can stimulate memories for people living with dementia. We look forward to the Camomile Courtyard becoming a space for patients, their families and the nurses and therapists caring for them to enjoy. If you would like more information about or to support SASH Charity visit www.sashcharity.org