Today sees the start of the junior doctors’ strike and we would like to reassure you that we, alongside our partners, are working together to lessen the impact on our communities.
It is important that patients who need urgent medical care continue to come forward as normal, particularly in genuine life-threatening emergencies – for example chest pains, severe bleeding or burns. If you have a life-threatening illness or injury please continue to dial 999.
If you have an urgent care need which isn’t immediately life threatening, there is a number of services available and all the information on the ‘Think which service?’ is on the website: www.thinkwhichservice.co.uk
The website has been set up to provide information about when to use which urgent care service and the range of other services available – from community pharmacies and NHS 111 online to our minor injury units.
If you have a hospital appointment, please attend unless we have been in touch with you.
I would like to also say a huge thanks for all the incredible efforts of my colleagues who have coped admirably in the exceptional heat.
They have all worked so well together and supported each other to ensure that our patients are safe and receiving the best possible care despite the challenging circumstances.
Our advice to you during this hot weather is to also follow the guidance to keep safe – drink plenty of fluids, stay in the shade and limit strenuous activity. Please also look out for people who might struggle to keep cool.
Last week, we celebrated Values Week, which provided us with an opportunity to highlight our commitment to our values, recognise the important role they play and the difference that living our values can make to our colleagues and patients.
We believe that by adhering to our vision and living our values we will behave in a way which will ensure the very best care and experience for the people that matter most – our patients, their families and each other.
Four key values, which have been developed in partnership with colleagues, our patients and our wider community underpin our vision. They are partnering, ambitious, caring and trusted.
One activity during the week was colleagues making pledges on their commitment to our values and how they planned to make a positive difference through living our values going forward. It was incredible to see how many pledges were made, which took pride of place on display boards at both hospital sites.
We are always looking at ways to grow and develop our workforce and an integral part of this is recruitment from overseas, particularly within nursing.
Over the last four years we have recruited more than 500 internationally educated nurses who come from 20 countries, including India, Kenya, Barbados, Cyprus and Singapore.
We are committed to delivering ethical and sustainable recruitment and supporting our colleagues when they arrive. We have recently received the NHS Pastoral Care Quality Award which recognises that we are supporting our internationally educated colleagues through high quality pastoral care.
There are also diverse career options at our Trust, which helps to fill key vacancies. This includes ‘growing our own’ with apprenticeships and leadership programmes, such as trainee nursing associates and operating department practitioner degree apprenticeship programmes.