Issue No. 33 Summer 2021 dgft.foundationmembers@nhs.net www.dgft.nhs.uk DudleyGroupNHSFREE!

YourTRUST

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Special eventsmark 73 years of NHS

A message from chairmanDame Yve Buckland and chief ex-ecutive DianeWake

The challenges of providinghealthcare in the midst of a globalpandemic have led to The DudleyGroup NHS Foundation Trust trans-forming the way we provide some ofour services.

As the world got to grips withlockdowns and seeing friends virtu-ally, digital solutions became vital tosupporting delivery of care withoutincreasing the risks to patients orstaff. During COVID-19we have usedinnovative ways of working thatcould have taken months or years toimplement previously. We want toensure we capture the best of whatwe have learned and also progresshow we deliver treatment and careas we return to ‘normal’.

Across the whole Trust we arenow delivering around 40 per centof our routine outpatient work viasome form of virtual pathways. Our‘Attend Anywhere’ clinics, whichallow patients to speak with a con-sultant by secure video link, arepopularwith patients and staff alike.Wewere one of the first trusts in thecountry to introduce this and av-erage 200 video appointments perweek, with 59 ‘virtual clinic waitingrooms’.

Our Electronic Patient Record –taking us away from the old worldof paper notes – has developed,bringing in new uses throughout the

The changing face ofcaring for community

The NHS celebrated its 73rdbirthday on 5th July – and The Dud-ley Group joined in with the NHS BigTea and aweek of special events.

Events includedMindfulMonday,Talk Tuesday, Win a salsa sessionWednesday, Thoughtful Thursdayand Fitness Friday.

Chief executive DianeWake said:“It has been very difficult, over thelast 18 months, to take time to relaxand celebrate our wonderful staff.

“The NHS birthday was a wel-come opportunity to do somethinga little special for everyone here atThe Dudley Group, who have been soamazingly committed and resilient.”

n Seemore on Page 4

Chairman Dame Yve BucklandChief Executive Diane Wake

Working as a system withour partners across the BlackCountry is becoming increas-ingly important as we restoreservices.

The Trust has worked closelywith the three other acute trustsin the Black Country and WestBirmingham on how we shouldcollaborate to improve the ser-vices we offer to patients.

A programme of clinicalchange has been agreed, to im-prove clinical outcomes, effec-tiveness and accessibility ofservices within a sustainablesystem.

Our chief executive DianeWake is the lead senior responsi-ble officer for the Black Countryfor cancer and elective services,and talks have already startedabout how we do things differ-ently to support great care forpatients and deliver better out-comes.

The pandemic has strength-ened our relationships with ourcolleagues in the local authorityand primary care networks, andwe look forward to building onthis as healthcare is not some-thing which can be provided inisolation.

Closely

We already worked closelywith local authorities in termsof ensuring patients could bedischarged with the correct carepackages in place. In addition,OwnBed Instead is an integratedservice between Dudley Counciland ourselves led by therapistsand supported by social carers.

The pilot began in mid-Octo-ber to avoid admission to hospi-tal or facilitate early discharge.It proved successful and we havereceived permanent funding forthis service from April 1st.

On October 1st 2020, theDudley Clinical Hub began sup-port for 1,000 care home pa-tients within Dudley through theCare Home Direct Enhanced Ser-vice (DES) contract.

We have continued to workwith our local partners on thedevelopment of a ‘place’ basedmodel for the delivery of inte-grated care in Dudley. DudleyIntegrated Health and Care NHSTrust was set up on 1st April2020.

Partners areworking asa system tobenefit patients

pandemic to improve patient care,timely diagnosis and new digitaldashboards to monitor performancein real time.

We’re using an integrated recordto create more effective links withGP surgeries, enabling them to seeresults of tests in real time, improv-ing timely care.

Two-way texting reduces thenumber of no-shows by patients.Texts are sent to patients with theinformation for their outpatient ap-pointment and allowing them to ac-cept the appointment, rearrange it orto cancel the appointment.

Another area which has seenchange inspired by the challenges ofthe pandemic include the develop-ment of nurse-led pathways in sur-

gical emergency patients to supportfaster turnaround times.

We have developed a post-oper-ative care unit (POCU). Patients areadmitted to POCU after major sur-gery and these patients are revieweddaily by one of the critical care con-sultants aswell as their own surgicalteam.

Our clinical support services di-vision also took the opportunity tostrengthen the cancer services teamthat supports the delivery of cancertargets with new posts in key ar-eas, enhanced training and robustprocesses including supporting newtelephone clinics, daily patient re-views, regular harm reviews and pa-tient prioritisation.

Retained pathology services has

supported patient and staff testingduring the pandemic. Antibody test-ing for the Trust and wider commu-nity has been co-ordinated and aCOVID swab service set up at GuestOutpatient Centre for all our pre-op patients. A new online portal forGP blood tests has been establishedand the phlebotomy service has in-creased capacity to factor in socialdistancing.

Despite the challenging environ-ment of a pandemic, several success-es have been delivered in pharmacyservices and medicines optimisa-tion. The team has developed inno-vative solutions to improving accessto medicines for patients duringCOVID-19 through home deliveryof medicines, enhanced seven-dayward-based pharmacy services,and implementing a liquid oxygenescalation and communication cas-cade system. The year also saw thesuccessful rollout of a full electronicprescribing and medicines adminis-tration system.

In our community services, asacross the NHS, we have had to rap-idly adapt how we deliver our ser-vices as a result of COVID-19, suchas caring for patients in their ownhomes instead of attending clinics.

Community teams have workedtremendously hard with care andcompassion to support their patientsphysically aswell as emotionally andholistically.

n Compassion – See Page 2

Growing tomeet needs of community

Progress continues on the mod-ular build that will be our new AcuteMedical Unit (AMU) outside RussellsHall Hospital.

The two-storey build has beennamed the Rainbow Unit after a pollof staff and comprises an assessmentarea on the ground floor and a shortstay area on the first floor.

It will provide 60 additional baycapacity to improve flow, improvepatient experience and provide sus-tainable care. It will also releasemore beds for Same Day EmergencyCare referrals.

The ground floor assessmentarea comprises of five four-beddedbays plus two single rooms with en-suite alongwith eight-baymonitoredbeds.

The assessment floor also has anautomated digitalmedicinemanage-ment system.

The short stay area on the firstfloor has four-bedded bays on oneside of the corridor and six singlebeds with en-suites.

We have received £3m in Gov-ernment funding towards the newfacility.

Work under way onAcute Medical Unit

Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust pro-vides good, safe care to local people in hospitaland through adult community services.

The Trust also works closely with GPs,neighbouring hospitals, mental and communityhealth services, charities and local councils tosupport our community’s health and care needsand improve their wellbeing.

The Trust has invested substantially in itsstaff, equipment, technology and buildings toimprove services, improve access to servicesand give pride and confidence to staff and localpeople in their NHS. We are proud of the learn-ing culture we have developed.

Since 2017, the Trust has worked hard to

improve some services which were not meetingnational standards at that time, and to ensuremany of our other services develop to meet thegrowing needs of the people we serve.

Our teams have also continued to innovateto keep region-leading and award-winning ser-vices at the cutting edge of clinical excellenceand discovery.

The last year has been dominated byCOVID-19, which touched every part of every-one’s lives at home, at work and across our com-munity. No-onewas ready for this unknowndis-ease, but we learnt and adapted and were therefor our communities when they needed us. Ourcommunity was also there for us. COVID-19 has

been a shared experience of love and bravery,tragedy and fear, innovation and exhaustion forall of us in our ownways.

As a Trust, our staff and organisation re-sponded superbly and we are proud of how weresponded and acted and using our expertise,skills and compassion that epitomise our valuesto standwith and for our community.

COVID-19 has demonstrated that we couldadapt, learn and make a positive difference topeople’s lives in the worst of times.

We will continue to learn from these andevery other experience of our staff and patientsas we develop and grow to meet the needs of lo-cal people.

Continued fromPage 1During 2020/21 we have

also introduced a number of newcommunity services and teams.The end of life rapid responseteam works closely with com-munity teams to ensure thosepatients identified as palliativeare supported to remain in theirpreferred place of care.

Our research team hashelped put Dudley well and trulyon the map for several studies.COVID-19 patients have had ac-cess to some of the newest treat-ments thanks to the Trust beingthe top national recruiter incertain treatment trials. We arepart of the urgent public healthREMAP-CAP research which isdesigned to find which treat-ments work best. We have re-cruited more patients than anyother trust in England to trialconvalescent plasma and alsoimmunemodulation therapies.

We are incredibly proudof allthose involved who have workedso hard and shown such commit-ment in helping develop the bestways to treat those who fall illwith coronavirus.

As part of the COVID-19 re-sponse the Trust was the leademployer for thevaccinationpro-gramme for the Black Countryand West Birmingham. Our corerole was to provide the work-force capacity required to deliv-er the vaccination programmeacross the patch. This involvedrecruiting, training, rosteringand paying the workforce that isrequired for the hospital vacci-nation hubs, vaccination centresand providing workforce capaci-ty to the Primary Care Networks(PCNs).

Credit too to our pharmacydepartment which has been piv-otal in the design and implemen-tation of the vaccination pro-gramme across the sites.

We have also picked up anumber of national awards in thelast year and you can read moreabout these elsewhere.

We are pleased that we arenowinastrongpositionwith res-toration of our services and arereducing the numbers of patientswaiting a long time for treatmentvery well. We are also workingcollaboratively with partners tosee where we can support oneanother in providing equitableaccess to treatment for all.

Finally, the Trust’s Board ofDirectors would like to put onrecord their appreciation for ourworkforce and volunteers andour PFI partners over the last 12months. Everyone who worksfor, or in, The Dudley Group hasshown amazing resilience, de-termination and professional-ism in these most challengingof situations we have all foundourselves in. They are a credit tothemselves and the communitywe serve.

We are proud that this hasbeen recognised in the decisionto grant the Trust Freedomof theBorough, and the Queen’s awardof the George Cross to the NHS.

Supporting ourpatients withcompassion

Ground floor assessment area The ground floor corridor A single room with en-suite

An artist’s impression of how the new Acute Medical Unit will look on completion

The first floor nurse station is taking shape The exterior of the new unit where the main door will be

dgft.foundationmembers@nhs.net www.dgft.nhs.uk DudleyGroupNHS2

Committed to Excellence, our an-nual staff awards, is a highlight in theTrust’s year – a glittering celebrationof our wonderful people with three-course meal, entertainment, celebri-ty host and Oscar-style ceremony.

Sadly those plans had to bescrappedwhen COVID-19 hit, and in-deed no awards took place in 2020.

This year we were determinedthat the extraordinary work of ourteams would be recognised, anda virtual awards evening was ar-ranged.

This live online event sawvirtualdinner tables and finalists celebrat-ing with fizz and fun. We even hada DJ and quiz, plus a personal videomessage from celebrity Frank Skin-ner!

It also meant that everyone inthe Trust had the chance to watchthe award announcements which

were live streamed via our website.With everyone across the Trust go-ing above and beyond during thepandemic, pickingwinners was evenharder than ever.

Congratulations to all thosenominated and shortlisted.

COVID-19 Special Awardswent to:Marie Banner & C5Corporate ResilienceDr David StanleyAndy BakerExcellence in Patient Care:Emma BaxterCOVID-19 non-clinical:ProcurementHealthcare Heroes team award:Mortuary teamHealthcare Hero individualaward:Holly HadenTeamExcellence:Pulmonary Rehab

SteveFordVolunteerAward:DavidCooperCOVID-19 Chairman Award:Vaccination Hub teamCOVID-19 Chief Executive Award:Critical CareCOVID-19 Chief Executive High-ly Commended: CommunicationsteamOutstanding Achievement,individual:Maria DanceOutstanding Achievement, team:Infection Prevention and ControlPatient Choice Award:Claire FradgleyUnsungHero, non-clinical:Philippa AllcockUnsungHero, clinical: Jackie BathImprovement Practice Award:Sunrise EPMA

This year we also gave awardsto people outside the Trust who

have shown particular support. TheCOVID-19 Friend Award went toFourWays Bar andGrill, who provid-ed us with free hot meals every dayfor threemonths.

We also recognised our healthand social care partners, with Part-nership Awards going to Matt Bow-sher, director of adult social care atDudley Council, and Sarah Knight ofDudley CCG.

Our thanks also go to eventsponsors Summit Healthcare andAllscripts, and to all who donatedprizes for our grand raffle, which in-cluded a luxury three-night countryescape with a hot tub, supercar driv-ing experience and a private planeflight experience.

Since the awards, our executiveand non-executive directors havebeen meeting up with winners topresent themwith their awards.

Celebrating our staffin virtual ceremony

A life-savingdigital project toensure patients are screened forsepsis and get treatment quick-ly has won The Dudley GroupNHS Foundation Trust a nationalaward.

The Trust picked up theaward for Best Use of Data atthe Leading Healthcare Awards2020. The project has increasedthe Trust’s sepsis screening ofeligible Emergency Departmentpatients to 97.7 per cent, and hasled to deaths from sepsis fallingto an historical low and belowthe national average.

The Emergency Departmentat Russells Hall Hospital co-ordi-nated with the project team whoare rolling out digital innova-tions across the Trust, includingthe move to seamless ElectronicPatient Records (EPR). They alsoworked with the Trust’s dataanalytics team to collect and un-derstand sepsis data includingthemes and incidents. A desig-nated sepsis screening EPR tooland sepsis live dashboard wereboth introduced. As a result,more patients were screenedand intravenous antibiotics ad-ministered within the crucial 60minutes.

Chief executive Diane Wakesaid: “There are around 250,000cases of sepsis a year in the UK.At least 46,000 people die annu-ally as a result of the conditionand timely sepsis managementcontinues to be a national issue.

“We wanted to find betterways to manage sepsis care toprovide the very best for our pa-tients. Improving the screeningfor sepsis and ensuring timelyadministrationof antibioticswascrucial. I am delighted that thehard work has been recognisedwith this award – but we are alleven more delighted that we areseeing improved outcomes forour patients. However we are farfrom complacent andwill contin-ue to do all we can to ensure livesare saved.”

The Dudley Group was alsohighly commended in the Teamof the Year category. It had en-tered Dudley Respiratory Advi-sory Service, a multi-profession-al team dedicated to improvingthe care and quality of life forrespiratory patients. With aforward-thinking, innovativeapproach to respiratory health,they integrate services acrosssecondary, primary and commu-nity settings ensuring accessible,holistic care for their patients.

Diane Wake added: “Our res-piratory advisory service is agreat example of team workingacross all disciplines – consult-ants, specialist nurses, physio-therapists and clinical supportworkers – based in hospital andcommunity sites. Theyhavebeensuccessful in getting people outof hospital safely as quickly aspossible, and also keeping themin their homes in the first place.Congratulations on their com-mendation – it is very well de-served.”

The Leading HealthcareAwards celebrate and sharegreat work across the health andcare sector.

Digital projectis saving lives

Procurement team with chief operating officer Karen Kelly

dgft.foundationmembers@nhs.net www.dgft.nhs.uk DudleyGroupNHS 3

Vaccination hub team with chairman Dame Yve Buckland

Corporate resilience team and chief operating officer Karen Kelly

Jackie Bath and non-executive director

Professor Liz Hughes

Phillipa Allcock with chief people officer

James Fleet

Pulmonary rehab team with Karen Hanson, associate director of operations –

medicine and integrated care

Mortuary team with divisional director for surgery Pradip Karanjit

Colourful thank-you

The NHS celebrated its 73rd birthday on5th July – and TheDudley Group joined inwiththe NHS Big Tea and aweek of special events.

Tea stations across all the Trust’s sitesprovided a hot drink and cake for staff, whilecards from Timbertree Academy in CradleyHeathwere also sharedwith staff.

Five staff who are this year picking up longservice awards, ranging from 25 to 50 years,shared their stories on our website, giving aninsight into their roles and their NHS journeys.

Theweek of events included:n Mindful Monday, with a free mindful-

ness webinar to help staff with their mentalhealth.

n Talk Tuesday, when chief people officer

James Fleet hosted an online chat about any-thing not related to work!

n Win a salsa session Wednesday, whenone member of staff was able to win a privatesalsa lesson for two.

n Thoughtful Thursday, which saw staffpersonalise thank you cards and take a treatfor a colleague.

n Fitness Friday, with free sessions on theAction Heart outdoor gym at Russells Hall.

Diane Wake said: “It was a chance to re-flect on justwhat aworld-leading organisationthe NHS is, one which has always been held inthe hearts of our country, but now even morethan ever. I’m truly proud to serve in the NHSand I know our staff here feel the same.”

Happy birthday NHS!

A business owner has thankedRussells Hall Hospital in Dudley forcaring for her poorly son by donatingstunningwall art to a children’s area.

Carly Mills, of Two Thirds DesignLtd, says she wanted to give some-thingback and,with business partnerGill Slassor, came up with an under-sea design to brighten up the assess-ment unit on the children’s ward. Thewall art will help distract children atwhat could be a scary time.

“I personally spent a lot of time inRussells Hall Emergency Departmentwithmyeight-year-old sonduring thefirst lockdown as he was experienc-ing severe abdominal pain,” said themum-of-two from near Stourbridge.

“He was diagnosed with a herniain November 2020 and needed an ur-

gent operation. Iwas very grateful forhow quickly they tried to get him op-erated on, under the COVID issues thehospital was trying tomanage.”

Her business has specialised intransforming school spaces for morethan 10 years with window, floor andwall vinyls, and custom wallpaper.She came up with a design printedon special vinyl wallpaper featuringfascinating facts about sea creaturesand fish playing hide-and-seek foryoung patients to spot.

Diane Wake said: “This is a lovelygesture from Carly and Two ThirdsDesign and helps to make the unit areally bright and friendly placewhichshould help to put young patients attheir ease. We are glad we were ableto provide first-class care to her son .”

Members of the team with Gill and Carly (left) from Two Thirds Design Ltd

dgft.foundationmembers@nhs.net www.dgft.nhs.uk DudleyGroupNHS4

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Russells Hall Hospital is install-ing special facilities for people withdisabilities so they can attend ap-pointments in comfort and safety.

Staff have begun work on aChanging Places toilet facility, whichcan be used by peoplewith profoundand multiple learning disabilities,motor neurone disease, multiplesclerosis and cerebral palsy, as wellas older people.

Each Changing Places toilet pro-vides a height adjustable, adult-sizedchanging bench; a tracking hoistsystem or mobile hoist; space forthe disabled person and up to twocarers; a centrally placed toilet withroomeither side, and a screen or cur-tain to allow some privacy.

Standard accessible toilets donot provide changing benches orhoists, and most are too small toaccommodate more than one per-son. The Trust is converting one ofits standard accessible toilets in themain corridor at the hospital.

Jacqui Passmore, lead nurse forthe learning disability team, said:“To have this facility in the Trustwill make a huge difference for peo-ple when they need to come intoRussells Hall Hospital. It will enable

Work will improvevisits to hospital

The Dudley Group NHSFoundation Trust has picked uptwo national awards for its careof patients reaching the end oftheir lives – and is now in line foranother.

The Trust won the KeriThomas Team of the Year Awardwhile the coronary care unit atRussells Hall Hospital has beennamed Hospital Ward of theYear.

The awards, from the GoldStandards Framework (GSF),recognises that the coronarycare team in Dudley is the firstsuch unit in theUK to achieve na-tional accreditation for its careof patients approaching end oflife.

Now the Trust has beenshortlisted for ‘End of Life CareInitiative of the Year’ at thisyear’sHSJPatient SafetyAwards,recognising its outstanding con-tribution to healthcare duringone of the toughest years in thehealth and social care sector.

Ward staff at Russells HallHospital have worked hard toembed GSF, and a number ofwards have achieved accredita-tion from the National GSF Cen-tre for End of Life Care, whileothers are working towards it.The aim is to enable a gold stand-ard of care for all people in theirfinal year of life.

Trust hailed forend of life care

dgft.foundationmembers@nhs.net www.dgft.nhs.uk DudleyGroupNHS

From left, learning disability team lead nurse Jacqui Passmore, Trust governor Helen

Ashby, service user David Ashby and head of patient experience Jill Faulkner

Our specialist treatmentcentre for women with com-plex cases of a debilitating con-dition has achieved nationalaccreditation after a successfulfirst year.

Dudley Endometriosis Cen-tre, based at Russells Hall Hos-pital, has gained accreditationfrom the British Society for Gy-naecological Endoscopy aftermeeting the criteria requiredbased on an audit of work un-dertaken in 2019.

Endometriosis occurswhen tissue, similar to the lin-ingof thewomb, is found inoth-er parts of the pelvis or outsidethe pelvis. This lining can startto cover the ovaries, fallopiantubes, ureters, bladder or bow-el and sometimes even the dia-phragm.

Medical treatment, whichsuppresses the disease and itssymptoms, can be beneficial inearly cases but does not resolveendometriosis or help thosewith infertility.

For those with moderateor severe endometriosis, spe-cialist laparoscopic surgery isneeded.

The Trust was chosen as aprovisional centre for special-ist care in 2019. In that year weoperated on 20 women, havingbeen set a target of 12.

Centre gainsaccreditation

5

them to attend appointments with-out fear or stress.

“People currently have to limitthe amount they drink to avoid need-ing the toilet, or need to be changedeither on the floor or have a risk totheir safety by being manually lift-ed out of their wheelchairs by theircarers. This facility will enable ourpatients to be independent with thedignity they need.”

Trust chief executive DianeWakesaid: “It’s really important that theTrust provides this facility – theChanging Places campaign is a greatinitiative which highlights a needthat is often overlooked. We areproud that our hospital will be add-ed to the list of venues providing thisfacility.”

For more on Changing Places goto www.changing-places.org

Pool continues toaid patient recovery

A new service to improve out-comes for anaemic patients havingsurgery haswon anational health in-dustry award for The Dudley GroupNHS Foundation Trust.

It sees patients undergoing ma-jor surgery at Russells Hall Hospi-tal receive intravenous (IV) ironto boost their red blood cells by ateamof specialists in the communitywithout the need to go to hospital forthis treatment.

The unique integrated hospi-tal and community service, whichmakes patients suffering from irondeficiency fitter for their operations,won the Perioperative and SurgicalCare Award at the HSJ Patient SafetyAwards 2020.

“Surgical patients who have lowblood iron levels are more likely toneed a blood transfusion during orafter surgery,” said Dr Adrian Jen-nings, consultant anaesthetist andclinical lead for theatres at The Dud-ley Group NHS Foundation Trust.

“Administering iron intrave-nously through a cannula is more ef-fective and works faster than givingiron tablets.”

He added: “Once a patient is as-

sessed as requiring IV iron by thepreoperative assessment team, thereferral process is quick and treat-ment is usually administered withina few days.”

Patients attend at a clinic run bythe specialist community intrave-nous therapy nurses at Brierley HillHealth and Social Care Centre.

Kate Owen, community IV teamleader, said: “It’s much more conven-ient for patients to have treatment inthe community instead of going tohospital and the feedback we’ve hadfrom patients has been very good.”

Chief executive DianeWake said:“This innovative service is mak-ing a real difference to our patientsand there are huge benefits to theirhealth, wellbeing and experience ofcare and treatment at our Trust. Itshows multi-disciplinary working atits best with teams coming togetherto provide a solution for our patientsand we are delighted that this hasbeen recognised nationally.”

Judges described the project as a‘great common-sense intervention,and a strong example of using allmembers of the team to deliver animportant pre-operative therapy’.

Trust scoops awardfor safety of patients

Physiotherapists at Russells HallHospital helped ensure their patients’recoveries went swimmingly by con-tinuing treatments in the hydrother-apypool during the second lockdown.

TheTrustworkedwith regulatorsto ensure they could carry on seeingpatients at the pool safely, helping tospeed up their recovery.

The pool, one of very few in theMidlands region, is used by peoplerecovering from lower limb injuries,multi trauma caused by car accidents,mums-to-be with pelvic girdle painand children with fractures and dis-locations. It’s also used to help neuro-logical patients.

Caroline Swain, clinical specialistphysiotherapist, said: “We are seeingless patients overall but it’s a reallysafe environment and patients aredelighted to have their treatments.”

With social distancing, enhancedcleaning and other measures reduc-ing the number of patients seen, theservice has also had to copewith staffhaving been redeployed to COVIDwards at the height of the pandemic.

Caroline said that they were nowback up to full strength with staff-ing, and as more elective procedureswere carried out, they expected tosee more and more patients referredto them.

A multidisciplinary health-care team, which works withcare homes across the area, wasshortlisted for a prestigious na-tional award.

Our enhanced care hometeam was a finalist the HSJAwards 2020 in the category In-tegrated Care Partnership of theYear. Now in their 40th year, theawards are the largest annualprogramme for healthcare andrecognise outstanding contribu-tions.

The enhanced care hometeam was set up in October 2018to work with care homes acrossthe area to reduce 999 calls andhospital admissions by support-ing staff.

The team has successfullyimplemented and embeddedteaching and education on a va-riety of subjects including oralhealth, chest infection preven-tion, hydration and recognisingthe deteriorating resident.

The awards received over1,000 entries and the shortlistwas based on the ambition, vi-sionary spirit and demonstrablepositive impact that the projecthas had on patient experiences.

Chief executive Diane Wakesaid: “The enhanced care hometeam is a wonderful example ofhow bringing together differentskillsets and working with thecommunity can have a positiveimpact on people’s health.”

Care home teamon shortlist

The hydrotherapy pool at Russells Hall Hospital

Members of the community IV team with the award

dgft.foundationmembers@nhs.net www.dgft.nhs.uk DudleyGroupNHS6

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An assistant therapy practition-er at The Dudley Group NHS Founda-tion Trust has won a national ‘RisingStar’ award.

Lorraine Allchurch is the leadAHP (allied health professionals)support worker at the Trust, andpicked up the award at the virtualAdvancing Healthcare Awards 2021.

She was also in the final three ofthe NHS Employers Award for Out-standing Achievement by an AHP orhealthcare science apprentice, sup-port worker or technician.

There are 152,000 AHPs work-ing across all health and social caresettings nationally, and they are thethird largest workforce in the NHS.

Lorraine’s nomination praisedher for being positive andmotivated,and dedicated to patient care.

During the pandemic Lorraine’srole adapted from treating frailtypatients to working on COVID-19positive areas and ensuring col-leagues were correctly fitted withrespiratormasks.

She was nominated by her clin-ical team leader, Jackie Bath, whosaid: “I nominated Lorraine for thisaward as she is definitely a risingstar. She is a positive and motivated

person, dedicated to patient care,service and professional develop-ment for both herself and colleagues.Lorraine embraces opportunities fordevelopment and shares any oppor-tunities with the wider team.”

Lorraine said: “The awarddemonstrates clearly that supportstaff can, when given the time to doso, make a valuable contribution topatient care whilst developing theirown professional development.

“Support staff do amazing workevery single daymaking a differenceto patients’ lives and to get this rec-ognition is not only for me but forall support staff to realise their im-pact to patient care is invaluable. Wemake a difference together!”

Lorraine, who is an associatemember of the Chartered Socie-ty of Physiotherapy, was recentlyappointed to a national referencegroup to look at education and ca-reer development for speech andlanguage therapists’ assistants andsupport workers.

She is a core teammember of theWestMidlands Regional Network forthe Chartered Society of Physiother-apy and has worked for the Trust for12 years.

National award forrising star Lorraine

Our Trust has gained nationalrecognition for our employment ofstaff with disabilities and the sup-port it gives them.

The Dudley Group NHS Foun-dation Trust is just one of 13 NHStrusts to be awarded Disability Con-fident Leader status – a Governmentscheme to recognise employers whorecruit the right people for theirbusiness regardless of disability.Overall only 352 organisations haveLeader status in the UK.

Shabir Abdul, head of Equality,Diversity and Inclusion, said: “Weare proud to be awarded Disabil-ity Confident Leader status. Thisis about us providing employment

opportunities for people of all abili-ties which we believe is not only theright thing to do, but benefits us asan organisation through accessingand unleashing diverse talent andexpertise.”

SiobhanPreston, chair of theDis-ability Staff Network at the Trust,added: “The Trust’s new status as aDisability Confident Leader is a hugeachievement and testament to ourhard work over the last year to helpsupportourstaff througheverystageof their employment with us, fromrecruitment onwards, meaning theyget any support they might need tolook after our patients to the excel-lent standardwe all strive for.”

A seven-day service at Rus-sells Hall Hospital for older peo-plewith urgent care needswas afinalist in a national award.

The Frailty Assessment Unitwas shortlisted in the ‘Care ofOlder People’ category of theNursing Times Awards 2020.

The unit was set up in Oc-tober 2019 in response to theincreasing number of older peo-ple attending emergency de-partments and accessing urgenthealth and social care services.The aim was to provide highquality, rapid, medical and nurs-ing care for frail patients whowould not benefit from being ad-mitted as inpatients.

FAU is clinically led by aconsultant geriatrician, andsupported by a wide rangingmultidisciplinary team includ-ing nurses, support workers,junior doctors, therapists, phar-macists and discharge co-ordi-nators. They work closely withthe team on the hospital’s frailtyshort stay ward for patients re-quiring admission, and alsowithcommunity colleagues to ensurea seamless discharge back to thepatient’s preferred place of care.

Chief executive Diane Wakesaid: “The unit delivers an ex-ceptional level of care and com-passion to our elderly patients,going above and beyond to en-sure that theyhave a smoothdis-charge back to their preferredplace of care.”

Disability policy hailed

Frailty Unit onthe shortlist

Siobhan Preston, chair of the Disability Staff Network, with Shabir Abdul

dgft.foundationmembers@nhs.net www.dgft.nhs.uk DudleyGroupNHS

Assistant therapy practitioner Lorraine Allchurch won a national ‘Rising Star’ award

7

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Howwespendourmoney

Each year the Trust sets outour quality priorities for the fol-lowing 12 months. This is donein consultation with staff, gov-ernors, our commissioners andHealthwatch colleagues.

This year we will be carryingforward our quality priorities fromthe previous year as the impact ofCOVID-19 has meant we have notbeen able to fully realise our ambi-tions.

Here, we look at how we havedone against our targets for lastyear, and outline our targets for thecoming year. We have two priorities– patient experience, and dischargemanagement.

Howwe did in2020/21

Priority 1 2020/21 –Patient Experience1. Improve thewaywe communi-

cate and engagewith patients.a) ‘Do staff treating and examin-

ing you introduce themselves?’ (Na-tional baseline Maternity 2019 99%,Children 2018 93%with the aim be-ing 95% overall).

b) ‘Have you been told what isgoing to happen to you today (testsetc.)?’ (Local survey baseline 59%with suggested improvement to95%) (At present, the first questionis not part of the local survey butwillbe added.)

c) Hold a quarterly forum/focusgroup with each prioritising twokey planned actions and undertak-ing those actions and measuring thesuccess.

d) Hold the newly developedCitizen Panel at least quarterly (thismay be more frequent depending onthe views of the attendees at the firstmeeting).

e) Establish a group of ExpertVolunteers to ensure we raise thepatient voice so that services are de-livered compassionately.

2. Ensure all complaints are re-sponded to in accordance with theTrust complaints and concerns pol-icy. Action plans will be shared forreview and learning so that patientsand other professionals can seechange beingmade.

a) Improve the percentage ofcomplaints responded to within the

internal timeframe of 30 workingdays, which currently stands at 23%(2019/20).

Our progressa)TheNationalMaternity Survey

2020 was postponed but the 2021Maternity Surveyhas been launched.For the Children and Young PeopleSurvey, the patient group has beenidentified with surveys commencingJanuary 2021 toMay 2021.

For Friends and Family Test(FFT) a business card/sticker hasbeen designed with online links andQR codes to improve the accessibil-ity of giving feedback in maternityservices. This has resulted in an in-crease in the number of women giv-ing feedback via onlinemethods. Go-ing forward the maternity ward willbe piloting bedside tablets whichwill include information such as theFFT, local surveys and informationon how women can share feedbackon their experience of care and treat-ment.

b) Local surveys have been setup online to allow patients to pro-vide feedback on their experienceof services across the trust. Thenewly-implemented Patient Report-ed Experience Measure (PREM),launched in September 2020, in-cludes questions about dignity andrespect, involvement in decisionsabout care, andwhether patients areprovided with enough informationabout their care and treatment. Themajority of results were positive.Patients were particularly positiveabout being treated with respect,staff were understanding abouttheir individual needs and that theircare environment was comfortable.Patients agreed that they felt in-volved in decisions about care andtreatment, and they were being pro-vided with enough information. Ourclinical divisions are provided witha full breakdown of scores to agreeactions to be taken as a result of pa-tient feedback.

c) All teams and departmentswere to hold a Listening Into Actionevent for their area, however dueto COVID-19 fewer were held thanplanned. The numbers will increasewhen restrictions are eased andTrust capacity allows.

A Maternity Voices Partnershipmeeting took place to sharewomen’sthoughts aboutourmaternity servic-

es to help shape future services. Thefeedback from attendees about theirexperience of care was extremelypositive. In response, a number of ac-tions have now been implemented toimprove the experience for women.

d) Our People’s Panel took placevirtually in March 2021 to help usshape future service planning anddevelopment of services. Patients/carers shared their experience ofbeing discharged from the hospital.The feedback from the event wasvaried with many of the responsesconfirming generally staff did not in-troduce themselves, with the excep-tion of doctors. Not all patients/car-ers felt able or confident to speak upand ask questions about their careand treatment. Attendees stated thatthere are many barriers to commu-nication for those with visual/audioneeds and for patients with learn-ing disabilities and dementia. Inresponse, the professional develop-ment and patient experience teamshave now implemented customercare training for staff. The ‘Hello MyName’ campaign is shared with allstaff when they join.

e) A plan is in place to recruit anumber of patient voice volunteers(PVV) to use their experiences ofservices to inform and influencethe delivery, planning and qualityof services we provide. Implemen-tation has been delayed due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.

The Trust has recommenced lo-cal survey feedback through virtualmethods only. This is a temporarymeasure andwe are encouraging pa-tients and carers to use online com-munication channels such as NHSChoices, Patient Opinion, the PatientExperience team and FFT online.

a) The percentage of complaintsresponded to within the internaltimeframe of 30 working days hasshown a marginal improvementover each quarter of 2020/21, how-ever it is recognised that significantimprovement is still required. Com-plaints continue to be monitoredclosely and action taken so that re-sponses are completed in a timelymanner.

In particular, March 2021 had aresponse time of 43 per cent whichis an indication that working close-ly with the divisional chief nursesis having a positive impact and im-proving the response timeframe.

Additional staff are assistingthe complaints department with ar-ranging local resolution meetings,some of which had to be placed onhold due to the COVID-19 pandemic.Complaint co-ordinators are activelychasing complaints responses andattending divisional meetings to en-courage accountability and respon-siveness.

Action and learning plans areshared in monthly reports, quarter-ly reports, at governance meetingsand during complaints training withTrust staff (these are anonymised toensure confidentiality).

Priority 2 2020/21– DischargeManagement

By the endof the year, 20per centof patients will be discharged before10am and 35 per cent beforemidday.

Our progressThese highly ambitious targets

were set prior to the beginning ofthe year and the performance hasbeen considerably affected by theCOVID-19 situation and the typesand severity of patients’ illnesses,which have varied markedly fromthose seen during normal condi-tions. To achieve this objective arange of measures are now in place,both pre and post admission.

The Trust works in partnershipwith primary care through the clin-ical hub to triage referrals that couldbe managed by community servicesand through GPs. This is showingsome benefits, especially for pa-tients residing in care homes as thenumber of calls from these servicesto the clinical hub has increased overrecent months.

Conveyances through ambu-lances are being targeted to ensurethat earlier intervention and careat home prevents attendance; thisis supported through clinical triageby a paramedic, which forms part ofa trial supported by West MidlandsAmbulance Service, the Trust andthe CCG.

A dedicated team oversees thefacilitation of patients back to theirhome. This team works in partner-ship with local authority colleaguesand a system-wide call takes placetwice daily to review those patients

Our quality prioritiesWe monitor safety, clinical

effectiveness and patient expe-rience through a variety ofmeth-ods.

Each area has aQuality Dash-board that all staff and patientscanviewso that theperformancein terms of quality of care is clearto everyone. The key qualityindicators are published, moni-tored and reported to the Boardof Directors every quarter. Thereare also monthly audits of keynursing interventions.

We have a variety ofways pa-tients can give us their feedbackand ongoing patient surveys givea ‘feel’ for our patients’ experi-ences in real time, allowing usto quickly identify any problemsand correct them.

A variety of senior clinicalstaff attend the monthly threekey sub-committees of the boardto report and present on perfor-mance and quality issues withintheir area of responsibility, en-suring we have clinical engage-ment throughout the organisa-tion.

We have an electronic dash-board of indicators for directors,senior managers and cliniciansto monitor performance. Thedashboard is essentially an on-line centre of vital informationfor staff.

We work with our local com-missioners, scrutinising theTrust’s quality of care at jointmonthly reviewmeetings.

There are external assess-ments of the Trust services, andwe take part in national clinicalaudits and confidential enquir-ies.

You can read our full qualityreport on ourwebsite www.dgft.nhs.uk Go to about us – publica-tions – annual reports.

n Babies born – 4,055n Hand gel used (individualbottles and dispensers) – 32,410n Visits to patients in their ownhomes or care home – 71,238n Day-case admissions – 25,196n Operations across ourmainand obstetric theatres – 7,391n Patients through our A&E –79,643 plus 50,946 to the UrgentTreatment Centren Inpatient admissions –111,616 includingmaternity andpaediatricsn Pieces of patient feedback –46,002n Tests carried out in ourpathology labs – 545,0539n Items dispensed by ourpharmacy – 411,457n Aprons used – 2,420,000n Surgical/examination glovesused – 13,543,100 pairsn Community clinicappointments – 306,561n Bandages used – 16,431

Monitoring thequality of care

2020/21 insummary

dgft.foundationmembers@nhs.net www.dgft.nhs.uk DudleyGroupNHS8

Income from activities for

2020/2021

n Patient income receivedfrom Clinical CommisioningGroups, Local Authorities,other Trusts and HealthBodies and Department ofHealth: £402.1m/89%

n Income received from edu-cation, training and research:£12.2m/3%

n Income received from othersources: £37.1m/8%

Total income 2020/21:£451.4m

Operating Expenses for

2020/2021

n Staff costs: £280.2m/64%

n Services from other NHS bodies:

£8.3m/2%

n Supplies and Services: £39m/9%

nDrug Costs: £35.7m/8%

n Establishment, transport and

premises: £10.3m/2%

nDepreciation, amortisation and

impairments: £9.3m/2%

nOther spend – Includes £26.9M in

relation to ‘payments to the Trust’s

PFI partner for services’ provided:

£53.2m/12%

Total Spend 2020/21: £436m

Working as a system with ourpartners across the Black Countryis becoming increasingly impor-tant as we move to provide betteraccess to health care.

The Trust worked closely withthe three other acute trusts in theBlack Country and West Birming-hamonhowweshould collaborateto improve the servicesweoffer topatients. A programme of clinicalchange has been agreed, to im-prove clinical outcomes, effective-ness and accessibility of serviceswithin a sustainable system.

Our chief executive DianeWake is the lead senior responsi-ble officer for the Black Countryfor cancer and elective services,

and talks have started about howwe do things differently.

In addition, Own Bed Insteadis an integrated service betweenDudley Council and ourselves toavoid admission to hospital orfacilitate early discharge. We re-ceived permanent funding for thisservice from 1st April 2021.

On 1st October 2020 the Dud-ley Clinical Hub began support for1,000 care home patients withinDudley through the Care HomeDirect Enhanced Service (DES)contract.

We have continued to workwith partners on the developmentof a ‘place’ basedmodel for the de-livery of integrated care inDudley.

Joining forces to improve services

dgft.foundationmembers@nhs.net www.dgft.nhs.uk DudleyGroupNHS 9

that could receive support from com-munity and domiciliary care.

A new initiative supported byNHSE, to encourage use of hotel ac-commodation for medically opti-mised patients, is also under way inthe Trust.

Patients awaiting a decision fordischarge are being supported withpatient trackers who monitor thejourney of patients by ward, escalat-ing key milestones for decision mak-ing.

Patients awaiting transfer canuse the Discharge Lounge which isnow operational and patients can re-ceive theirmedicationpost dischargethrough the medicines delivery ser-vice, which is being co-ordinated byour pharmacy team.

Patients with a longer length ofstay benefit from a senior medicalreview co-ordinated by the deputychief medical officer.

However, COVID-19 continues tocause delays for discharges due toneeds such as test results, accept-ance by certain homes, designatedCOVID settings and family and homecircumstances.

Quality priority 1 for2021/22 – Patient

Experience1. Improve the way we communi-

cate and engagewith patients.a) Staff treating and examining

patients will introduce themselves(target of 95%).

b) Patient will have been in-formed about what is going to hap-pen to them each day, ie tests, inves-tigations (target of 95%).

c) Hold a quarterly forum/focusgroup with each prioritising keyplanned actions, undertaking thoseactions and measuring the outcomesand success.

d) Hold at least quarterly PeoplePanel, each prioritising key plannedactions, undertaking those actionsand measuring the outcomes andsuccess.

e) Engagewith Expert Volunteersensuring we raise the patient voiceso that services are delivered com-passionately (providing assurance ofinvolvement, recommendations andactions taken forward).

2. Ensure all complaints are re-sponded to in accordance with theTrust complaints and concerns poli-cy.

a) Improve the percentage ofcomplaints responded to within theinternal timeframe of 30 workingdays.

b) Actions will be completed andlearning/changes in practice identi-

fied and shared across the organisa-tion.

c) As of 2020/21, our current po-sition at the end of quarter four is a34% response rate to complaintswithin 30working days.

Communication and engagementwith patients will be measured viareal-time surveys, local surveys,national survey scores and the out-comes from relevant forums/panels.They will be monitored through thequarterly Patient Experience Groupmeeting and the Quality and Safe-ty Committee, looking at recurrentthemes and whether recommenda-tions are embedded and result in im-provement.

Our complaints database con-tains a number of recorded datessuch as the date the complaint wasreceived and the date of response.The response rate is monitoredmonthly and measured as a percent-age and recorded as ‘plot the dot’data to monitor any special causes ofconcern/improvement.

A quarterly ‘Learning from Ex-perience’ meeting is open to all staffacross the Trust. Complainants areinvited to the meeting to talk abouttheir complaint, how it made themfeel and the effect it had on them/their relative.

The quarterly Patient ExperienceGroup shares actions and learningfrom across the Trust. Trends aremonitored for any recurring themesto ensure that learning and actiontaken as a result of a complaint hasbeen embedded.

Communication and engagementwith patients will be reported quar-terly through the Patient ExperienceGroup meeting and the Quality andSafety Committee.

The Complaints Departmentshare actions taken, improvementsmade, and learning throughmonthly,quarterly and annual reporting.

Quality Priority 2 for2021/22 – Discharge

Management30% of discharges to have left

their bedded area by 12 noon, 80%by 5pm (for patientswithout an iden-tified right to reside)

The Trust will monitor the pro-gress of this quality priority on a dai-ly basis through the capacity meet-ings and this indicator will be addedto the capacity planner.

We will report on this through anumber of forums to ensure there isappropriate focus and oversight onthe progressmade.

Group Foundation Trust

Year Ended Year Ended Year Ended Year Ended

31 March 31 March 31 March 31 March

2021 2020 2021 2020

£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000

Operating Income from patient care activities 402,090 380,377 402,090 380,377

Other Operating Income 49,351 31,788 48,666 31,803

Total Operating Income from continuing operations 451,441 412,165 450,756 412,180

Operating Expenses fromcontinuing operations (436,031) (395,347) (435,790) (395,435)

Operating Surplus / (Deficit) 15,410 16,818 14,966 16,745

Finance Costs

Finance income 54 175 0 132

Finance expense - financial liabilities (11,964) (11,772) (11,964) (11,772)

PDC Dividends payable (1,474) (1,819) (1,474) (1,819)

Net Finance Costs (13,384) (13,416) (13,438) (13,459)

Gain/(loss) of disposal of assets 25 29 25 29

Corporation tax expense (35) (48) 0 0

Surplus/(Deficit) for the year from

continuing operations 2,016 3,383 1,553 3,315

SURPLUS/(DEFICIT) FOR THE YEAR 2,016 3,383 1,553 3,315

Other comprehensive income/(expense)

Will not be reclassified to income and expenditure:

Impairments (223) (3,805) (223) (3,805)

Revaluations 2,287 35 2,287 35

Fair value gains/(losses) on equity instruments

designated at FV through OCI 219 (174) 0 0

Other reserve movements 1 0 1 0

May be reclassified to income and expenditure

where certain conditions are met:

Fair Value gains/(losses) on financial assets

mandated at fair value through OCI 0 0 0 0

TOTAL COMPREHENSIVE INCOME / (EXPENSE)

FOR THE YEAR 4,300 (561) 3,618 (455)

There are no Non-Controlling Interests in the Group, therefore the surplus for the year of £2,016,000 (2019/20 surplus

of £3,383,000 and the Total Comprehensive Income of £4,300,000 (2019/20 Total Comprehensive Expenditure of £561,000)

is wholly attributable to the Trust.

Group Foundation Trust

31 March 31 March 31 March 31 March

2021 2020 2021 2020

Non-current assets £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000

Intangible assets 10,406 9,701 10,406 9,701

Property, plant and equipment 199,896 176,214 199,896 176,214

Other Investments/financial assets 1,405 1,186 0 0

Receivables 13,736 12,466 13,736 12,465

Total non-current assets 225,443 199,567 224,038 198,380

Current assets

Inventories 3,775 3,482 3,459 3,288

Receivables 8,856 25,501 8,653 25,296

Other Investments/financial assets 500 500 0 0

Cash and cash equivalents 19,307 5,137 17,928 4,190

Total current assets 32,438 34,620 30,040 32,774

Current liabilities

Trade and other payables (35,444) (33,160) (35,084) (32,888)

Borrowings (5,206) (5,510) (5,206) (5,510)

Provisions (1,239) (241) (1,239) (241)

Other liabilities (3,040) (2,518) (3,040) (2,518)

Total current liabilities (44,929) (41,429) (44,569) (41,157)

Total assets less current liabilities 212,952 192,758 209,509 189,997

Non-current liabilities

Trade and other payables 0 0 0 0

Borrowings (110,095) (113,999) (110,095) (113,999)

Provisions (899) (753) (899) (753)

Total non-current liabilities (110,994) (114,752) (110,994) (114,752)

Total assets employed 101,958 78,006 98,515 75,245

Financed by Taxpayers’ equity

Public Dividend Capital 49,207 29,555 49,207 29,555

Revaluation reserve 25,830 23,765 25,830 23,765

Income and expenditure reserve 24,511 22,810 23,478 21,925

Others’ equity

Charitable Fund reserves 2,410 1,876 0 0

Total Taxpayers’ and Others’ equity 101,958 78,006 98,515 75,245

Consolidated and Foundation Trust Statements of

Comprehensive Income For the Year Ended 31 March 2021

Consolidated and Foundation Trust Statements

of Financial Position as at 31 March 2021

Message from Fred Allen, pub-lic elected governor: Central Dud-ley and lead governor The DudleyGroup Council of Governors

Have you thought about being aTrust governor?

TheCouncil of Governors ismadeup of people of all ages and back-grounds who volunteer in the role.Governor elections are due to startin September with five vacanciesavailable. We are keen to hear frompeople who would be interested inapplying for the role in the followingareas:

Brierley Hill

Stourbridge

Central Dudley

Nursing andMidwifery x 2

You do not need any formal qual-ifications to be a governor (with theexception of the Nursing and Mid-wifery vacancies, where you needto be a member of staff employedwithin that category). The main re-quirement is that you support thecontinued development of The Dud-ley Group. It can help if you have hadsome experience of the NHS eitheras a patient or in an associated orlinked area of your working life.

Iwas originally elected as aTrustgovernor inMarch 2013 andwas for-tunate enough to be re-elected a fur-ther two times.

I had spent my working life sup-plying the NHS with medical equip-ment and had an understanding ofthe issues faced by our local hospitaland community provider and want-ed to help my local trust in any wayI could.

I alsowanted to help local peopleby being someone who would listento their views and take them to theappropriate people at the Trust tomake a difference and in turn pro-vide information in language theycould understand.

I would like to take this opportu-nity to introduce our newly electedand appointed governors, who havejoined the council during the previ-ous year.

nHelen Ashby, public elected gov-ernor, Stourbridge

n Karen Clifford, public electedgovernor, Halesowen

Could you becomea Trust governor?Your involvement will help

us to improve the way we pro-vide health services; you can tellus howour services could be bet-ter based on your experience.

You can choose your levelof involvement to suit your life-style, but whatever choice youmake, your input will make a dif-ference.

As amember youwill receivea monthly email to keep you in-formed about the Trust’s latestnews. You will also receive invi-tations to events and meetings,including our Annual MembersMeeting.

Asmembers elect the councilof governors, youwill also be giv-en the opportunity to elect yourlocal governor or even stand as agovernor yourself, represent theviews of foundation trust mem-bers and help shape the direc-tion of the organisation.

Members and governors arethe centrepiece of the foundationtrust’s accountability and gov-ernance.

If you are interested, thensign up for free:

Visit: www.dgft.nhs.uk/about-us/foundation-trust/be-come-a-member/

Email: dgft.foundationmembers@nhs.net

Telephone: 01384 456111Ext 1124

Community Groups

Do you run a local com-munity group? Interested inhearing more about the workof our Council of Governors andthe Trust? Then why not get incontact with us and invite ourgovernors to attend your nextmeeting – email dgft.foundationmembers@nhs.net

If you are interested instanding as a governor andhelping make a difference toThe Dudley Group NHS Foun-dation Trust, let us know andwe may be able to offer somesupport with your application.

Potential governor ‘virtual’workshops are scheduled for28th September, 5th Octoberand 12th October.

If you would like to book aplace or an informal chat in thefirst instance, please contactthe foundation trust office on01384 321124.

To stand as a governor andhave the opportunity tomake areal difference, you will firstlyneed to sign up as a public foun-dation trust member.

To findoutmoreandsignupsimply visit www.dgft.nhs.uk/about-us/foundation-trust/become-a-member/

Your input canhelp to shapeour services

Why not join us!

Fred Allen, lead governor The Dudley Group Council of Governors

dgft.foundationmembers@nhs.net www.dgft.nhs.uk DudleyGroupNHS10

n Councillor Rebbekah Collins,appointed governor, DudleyMetro-politan Borough Council

n Louise Deluca, staff elected gov-ernor, Allied Health Professionalsand Health Care Scientists

n Dr Syed Gilani, staff elected gov-ernor, Allied Health Professionalsand Health Care Scientists

n Vicky Homer, public electedgovernor, South Staffordshire andWyre Forest

n Maria Lodge-Smith, public elect-ed governor, Brierley Hill

n ChauntelleMadondo, publicelected governor, Rest of England

n DrMohitMandiratta, appointedgovernor, Dudley Clinical Commis-sioning Group

n Elizabeth Naylor, public electedgovernor, North Dudley

n Michelle Porter, staff electedgovernor, partner organisations

n Alan Rowbottom, public elected

governor, Tipton and Rowley Regis

n Louise Smith, staff elected gover-nor, Nursing andMidwifery

Please visit our website to findmore information about our Coun-cil of Governors - http://www.dgft.nhs.uk/about-us/foundation-trust/our-council-of-governors/

Frequently AskedQuestions

If you are thinking about becom-ing a governor, have a look at thefollowing FAQs about why our foun-dation trust members and Council ofGovernors are so important to us.

How are governors supportedin their role within theorganisation?

As a foundation trust, we are re-quired to have in place a Council ofGovernors. The council comprisesa set of individuals from three maincategories: public, staff and rep-resentatives from some of the keyorganisations and academic insti-tutions with which the Trust worksclosely.

It is the Trust secretary’s respon-

sibility to ensure that the election orappointment to these key positionshappens efficiently and to providethe governors with the tools theyneed to be able to discharge theirlegal duties. This includes induct-ing new governors into the organi-sation, training them and ensuringthey have the opportunity to holdthe non-executive boardmembers toaccount for the performance of theTrust.

Howdo foundation trustmembers and governors addvalue to the organisation?

Members are local people andstaff from all walks of life who canbecome governors themselves. Thevalue of members and governors isthat they provide the Trust with theopportunity to develop using thevoice of our local community. Fromsharing thoughts and ideas to help-ing out in and aroundourTrust, fromelectingour governors tobecoming agovernor – there are many differentways you can help us deliver the bestin care as amember of the Trust.

The more members we havemeans more opportunity to reflectthe views of our patients.We need asmany interested people as possibleto join us – and we’d love you to beone of them.

What does it take to be agovernor?

Havinga real interest in theTrustis important. We are very proud ofthe organisation and the part it playsin the lives of people in Dudley andthose living beyond its borders. Youshould be willing to be a part of thisand to speak up and represent yoursand the views of others on the waytheTrust is run so that it continues tobe a trusted provider of safe, caringand effective services.

There is no expectation for youto have undertaken a similar role be-fore or have a particular skill set orexperience, as training in the role isprovided.

What commitment is needed to bea governor?

The Dudley Group NHS Founda-tion Trust holds four meetings of theCouncil of Governors each year.

As a governor, youwill be expect-ed to attend these meetings. DuringCOVID-19, these have been heldusing web conferencing with mem-bers of the public invited to submitquestions in advance.Wewill set thedates of meetings for the year ahead,and circulate this information wide-ly through the Trust website andnewsletter publications tomembers.

Governors are also asked toserve on sub committees of the coun-cil that meet between four and sixtimes each year.

Are governors paid?No, the role is voluntary and gov-

ernors do not receive payment.Reasonable travelling and other

expenses will be paid. These couldinclude caring costs.

Membershipconnect, contribute,community

TheTrusthasappointed twonewboardmemberswho haveworked asmedics in top level sport.

We are pleased to announce theappointment of associate non-execu-tive board members who are at theforefront of their professions andbring with them significant exper-tise.

Dr Gurjit Bhogal is a freelanceGP who began his career in 2009 asa medical officer for the British Box-ing Board of Control for the AmateurBoxing Association of England. Since2012, he has beenmedical officer fortheOlympicGames, London (boxing)and the Paralympic Games, London(table tennis).

He has held the position of FirstTeam and Academy Doctor at AstonVilla Football Club since 2015 andhas also held lead club doctor rolesat Kidderminster Harriers FootballClub, the British Triathlon Federa-tion, Worcester Wolves basketballTeam and for Bristol Bears RugbyClub.

For three years (2010-2013), hewas chief medical officer and gov-ernance lead for Worcester CountryCricket Club.

Dr Bhogal has also been involvedin a number of sporting committeesincluding holding the position of

Good sports bring theirexperience to the board

dgft.foundationmembers@nhs.net www.dgft.nhs.uk DudleyGroupNHS

Dr Gurjit Bhogal Dr Thuvarahan Amuthalingam

The Trust board will nextmeet on Thursday 16th Sep-tember and themeeting will beheld online.

The agenda and meetingpapers will be available on theTrust’s website the week be-fore along with future meetingdates.

There is an option for gov-ernors and members of thepublic to submit any questionsthey may have to the board forconsideration.

Questions should be keptbrief and to the point andemailed to dgft.foundationmembers@nhs.net

Responses to your ques-tions will either be posted onthe Trust’s board meeting webpage following the meeting orcan be found in the minuteswhich will be published in duecourse at www.dgft.nhs.uk/about-us/board-of-directors/board-meetings/

Visit the Trust website atwww.dgft.nhs.uk to find outmore about the work of ourBoard of Directors and theCouncil of Governors.

If you do have any ques-tions to submit, please emaildgf t .foundationmembers@nhs.net

Trust board’smeetings for2021/2022

11

chair of the Ground Safety Commit-tee at Warwickshire County CricketClub (2017-2020).

He was a medical panel memberfor the England and Wales CricketBoard (2015-2021) and is on the Lo-cal Organising Committee for the ICC

CricketWorld Cup 2019.Dr Thuvarahan Amuthalingam,

who works strategically across theBlack Country andWest BirminghamSTP, is former academy doctor at Bir-mingham City Football Club (2019-2020).

He is an experienced strategistwith a track record of innovationand improving outcomes across theprivate and public sectors.

He has considerable experienceat board level and is currently anelected member of the BMA WestMidlands Regional Council and aboard member of the Royal Collegeof GPsMidland Faculty.

He began his career at The Dud-ley Group in 2015 before movingto Sandwell and West Birminghamworking as an occupational healthdoctor.

He went on to work as a locumdoctor at a number of Midlandstrusts including The Royal Wolver-hampton NHS Trust working on pri-mary care workforce recruitmentand retention.

Trust chairman Dame Yve Buck-land said she was very pleased withthe two new appointments. “Thenew appointments add an excitingnew dimension to our Trust boardwhich will support our commitmentto providing safe patient care andstrategic effectiveness,” she said.

“Gurjit and Thuvarahan bringwith them a range of skills andknowledge to our board andwill addfresh perspective and expertise tothe Trust.”

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Families who suffer the heart-break of losing a baby at birth cannow spend time together in a home-ly, private space thanks to a £70,000fundraising appeal.

We launched the appeal, to cre-ate a baby bereavement suite in thematernity department at RussellsHall Hospital, in 2018. While COV-ID-19 has prevented an official open-ing, the suite is now being used bylocal families.

It has been paid for by public do-nations, fundraising events by staffand the public, and the Trust char-ity, which held a glitzy Sparkle Par-ty. Donations were given a fantasticboost of £40,000 from the fundrais-ing efforts of local woman HannahSwancott inmemoryof her own littlegirl, Luna, whowas stillborn.

The room provides a deliverysuite for parents who know theirbaby has died or a space for thosewhose babies die shortly after birth.It means families can spend timetogether, creating lasting memoriesin a home-from-home environment.The appeal will also pay for special-ist training formidwives.

Trust chief executiveDianeWakesaid: “Offering the right support tosomeone who is going through sucha devastating time is extremely im-

Supportingparentsat devastating time

The Dudley Group NHS Charitymakes a real difference to thosebeing treated in our hospitals ortheir own homes.

We are not about providinghealthcare; charitable donationsenable us to provide comfort andfacilities above and beyond thosewhich are provided by the NHS.Enhancing a person’s visit to uscanmake all the difference to theirwellbeing, improving recovery andoverall experience.

All the Trust charities comeunder the umbrella of the DGNHSCharity and when raising mon-ey for our charity you can choosewhere yourmoneywill go.

You can raise money for a par-ticular area of care, or you canspread your donation over a vari-ety of causes. We will ensure yourdonation goeswhere youwant it togo.

Making our vision happen in-volves all our partners: staff, pa-tients and the local community.

n Twitter: DGNHSCharity

n Facebook: DudleyGroupN-

HSCharity

n Website: www.dgft.nhs.uk/

our-charity

n Nithee Kotecha, Fundraising

and Community Development

Lead

nithee.kotecha@nhs.net

n Karen Phillips, Fundraising

Manager

Call: 01384 456111 ext 3349

Email: karen.phillips5@nhs.net

Address: 2nd Floor, South Block,

Russells Hall Hospital

Dudley DY1 2HQ

n Charity Ref No: 1056979

Hard-working Trust staff cannow get a socially distanced breakin the sunshine thanks to the gen-erous donations raised by localpeople.

After asking our 5,000-strongworkforce how our charitablefunds could support staff wellbe-

ing, the response indicated theneed for more picnic tables forstaff to take breaks or eat lunch inthe fresh air.

The Trust installed 17 new ta-bles and benches which have beenput in the grounds of Russells HallHospital and some of other sites.

About the charity

Donations fund staff picnic tables

Midwife Holly Haden and maternity ward

manager Sharon Roberts in the suite

dgft.foundationmembers@nhs.net www.dgft.nhs.uk DudleyGroupNHS

portant to us. This appeal has creat-ed a lovely, serene space for familiesto come to terms with their loss andspend time with their baby, awayfrom the hustle and bustle of a hospi-tal, andwithout feeling rushed.

“The support we received hasbeen phenomenal. It has clearlytouched a chordwith somanypeopleand it’s a pity that we have not beenable to invite people in to see what awonderful facility we have been ableto create thanks to their support.”

12

Major fundraiser Hannah Swan-cott, who was able to visit the suiteprior to lockdown, said: “The trans-formation of the room is absolutelyincredible, the hospital have workedso hard to make it perfect and reallyhelp future families who sadly haveto use the room. It’s exactly what theward needs.”

Among those to raise money forthe appeal were maternity matronClaire Macdiarmid, who raised justunder £3,500 running the LondonMarathon in 2019.

The Trust’s specialist bereave-ment midwife Holly Haden added:“It provides families with a spacethat isn’t clinical and the sound-proofing is so important to removebackground noise. Families have theoption of using the suite for as longas they need to, so because of thiswe are hoping to relaunch the appealand create a second suite.”

The pandemic prevented an op-portunity for the Trust to officiallythank all those who contributed. In-stead we used social media to showall the wonderful people who helpedtomake the room a reality.

To support this importantcause visit www.justgiving.com/campaigns/char it y/dghc/babybereavement

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WewelcomeNitheeKotechawhohas joined us as the new fundraisingand community development leadandwill be working alongside KarenPhillips for the charity.

She comes from an extensivebackground in fundraising withinthe charitable sector having workedfor national charities such as StreetLeague andMencap.

She is looking forward to review-ing the Trust’s fundraising approachand meeting with all the key depart-ments over the upcomingweeks.

She will be looking to create anew fundraising strategy whilststrengthening internal relationshipsand networking with new externalfunders.

In her spare time, Nithee spendsher time experimenting in the kitch-en with various cuisines and fla-vours. She is also a fitness enthusiastand spends much of her time run-ning or in the gym.

She has completed several char-itable fitness challenges over theyears and most recently she trekked100miles in the Sahara Desert.

Contact her on: 01384 456111ext. 3403 nithee.kotecha@nhs.net

New face on Trustfundraising team

On Sunday, October 3rd,2021, 50,000 runners will havethe chance to be a part of the big-gest marathon ever staged any-where in the world.

The virtual Virgin MoneyLondon Marathon will returnthis year and the Dudley GroupNHS Charity was lucky enoughto gain five ballot places whichhave all been filled by our staffmembers plus we have an ad-ditional staff member who haswon their own individual ballotplace.

All the runners will be fund-raising for our charity over thenext fewmonths, wewill be pro-filing their personal journeysand supporting them with theirfundraising efforts.

In response to the effects onstaff during the pandemic, theTrust launched an exciting well-being programme, in conjunc-tion with ViaVita Health, fundedby our charity.

The programme encourageswellness, with free one-to-onecounselling sessions, webi-nars, exercise programmes, keyhealth resources, monthly news-letters and fun challenges with awellbeing theme.

Marathon effort

Supporting staff

Nithee Kotecha

After 18 months of workingunder intense pressure in diffi-cult circumstances to care forpatients, our NHS staff are physi-cally andmentally exhausted.

During 2020, the Trust char-ity received fantastic donationsvia our COVID-19 Crisis Appeal,which helped to support patientsand staff through the pandemic.These funds continue to improvethe environment in which ourstaff work, and to help our pa-tients to getwell with all the bestsupport possible.

The Better Brighter FutureAppeal is aimed to build on theseinitiatives to make a better,brighter future for both patientsand colleagues.

Keep an eye on our socialme-dia as, during the coming weeks,we will be publishing a host offundraising ideas and eventsthat you can get involved with.Please help the charity give thebest experience to our patientsand support the wellbeing of ourstaff. Donate or set up a fundrais-ing page. Visit www.justgiving.com/campaign/LoveDudleyNHS

Help our appeal

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Fourth endoscopyroom is opened

We would usually have around500 volunteers from the local com-munity giving their time on a regularbasis tomake a real difference to pa-tients, visitors and staff at the Trust.

However, the pandemic meantthat many of our volunteers wereshielding, resulting in reduced num-bers of individuals offering support.However we also welcomed peoplefurloughed from their ownwork!

Restricted activity in clinical ar-eas kept our remaining volunteerssafe, and there was still much theycould do to help.

At the beginning of the pandemicthe volunteers rallied to produce andsupply 19,000 face visors for staff,using materials kindly donated bylocal companies and individuals.

Visiting patients was no longerallowed so our volunteers’ hub atRussells Hall Hospital extended itsopening hours to take belongings toand from reception for relatives andpatients. Running errands betweenwards for staff also enabled staff toremain in their areas caring for pa-tients.

A volunteer driver service wasset up to help with deliveries ofmedication to our most vulnerable

Volunteers making abig difference to NHS

In November we were delightedto open a fourth endoscopy room atRussells Hall Hospital.

The extra capacity was a recom-mendation from last year’s very suc-cessful JAG accreditation visit at thehospital.

Accreditation is awarded tohigh-quality gastrointestinal endos-copy services and the new room atRussells Hall Hospital will supportthe high demand of patients that arecurrently coming through the endos-copy department.

Speeding up appointmentsand cutting waiting lists is es-sential in the NHS – and that’sjust what The Dudley Group’sophthalmology appointment hasachieved for glaucoma patients.

Nationally, ophthalmologyis one of the areas with the larg-est waiting lists, but our listsare the shortest they have everbeen as a result of changes. Thenew pathway generated extraappointment slots and patientswho were overdue a follow-upappointment were brought for-ward.

Our team set up a diagnosticshub at Corbett Outpatient Centre– so patients did not have to goto the main acute hospital wherewe were caring for COVID-19patients. Here, they have all thediagnostics tests requested bytheir consultant including 3Dimaging of the eye, OCT (opticalcoherence tomography) of theoptic nerve and anterior segmentof the eye and automated visualfields testing.

Diagnostic test results areuploaded to the new electronicMediSight system where theycan be reviewed by the consult-ant. The new 3D camera allowsthe consultant to get a clearer,magnified image of the eye in3D on their laptop, replacing anin-person examination.

Consultants then have a vir-tual meeting with the patient.

Helping to cutwaiting times

Staff in the new endoscopy room at Russells Hall Hospital

Volunteer Gary in the vaccine centre which was set up in Action Heart at Russells Hall

dgft.foundationmembers@nhs.net www.dgft.nhs.uk DudleyGroupNHS14

patients and for urgent deliveries ofPPE to community clinics.

Throughout the pandemic, vol-unteers have also greeted visitorsto outpatient areas and helped themwith PPE requirements. Althoughclose contact with patients in clinicalareas was no longer allowed, theywere still able to make drinks for pa-tients in non-COVID-19 areas.

With the introduction of the

vaccination programme, volunteersonce again stepped up and helpedwithmarshalling both at the hospitaland in the local community.

NHS England and NHS Improve-ment (NHSEI)made an offer of finan-cial support to NHS trusts to contrib-ute to reducing pressure on staff andNHS services due to the pandemic.The Trust made an application for£15,000 andwas successful.

The monies awarded are beingused as follows:

n Volunteer drivers’ expens-es – our volunteer drivers delivermedication to patients, return lostproperty to its owners, collect anddeliver equipment, PPE deliveries,4 x 4 vehicle service to assist in badweather including bringing staff intowork aswell as any other reasonablerequests.

n iPads – The Trust purchased10 iPads for thewards and chaplainsto enable patients to stay in contactwith their loved ones.

n Communication system – APDA system will be put in place forthe utility volunteers who are run-ning errands throughout the Trust.This will enable them to stay incontact with each other rather thanhaving to report back to themain re-ception after each job has been com-pleted.

Anyone interested in volunteer-ing should contact Jane Fleetwood,hospital volunteers’ coordinator, on01384 456111 ext 1887 or via email:dgft.volunteering@nhs.net

Further information can befound on our website www.dgft.nhs.uk

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A new Sensory Pod which willprovide a secure and quiet area forchildren and for patients who havelearning disabilities attending ap-pointments, has just been installedat Russells Hall Hospital.

Based within the Fracture Clinicin the Outpatient Department, thePod – complete with an underwaterdesign and steps – was installed byMurraysMedical UK, a companywhospecialise in healthcare aids.

Katrina Kerr, lead nurse for theOutpatient Department, said: “TheSensory Pod was paid for by theTrust Charity and we hope that itwill reduce the stress on parentsand carers when they are bringing apatient in who struggles with clinicvisits and in the long-term increaseattendance to appointments bymak-ing the experiencemore positive andrelaxed.

“It will enhance the overall pa-tient experience and support thosewhoattend appointmentswith thosepatients.”

The thought behind the instal-lation is the need to provide a safespace for younger patients and thosepatients with learning difficultieswho find attending hospital daunt-

New Sensory Podprovides sanctuary

Patients are being given con-trol of when they see a hospitalclinician in a new initiative inDudley.

The new scheme means thatrather than being called for rou-tine follow-up appointments,patients will be able to decide if,andwhen, they need to be seen.

Patient Initiated Follow Up(PIFU) appointments are be-ing introduced first as a pilot inthe orthopaedic department atThe Dudley Group NHS Founda-tion Trust and will be rolled outacross other areas of the TrustduringMarch.

Consultant and clinical ser-vice lead for the department MrSohail Quraishi said: “The ser-vice is specifically designed forpatients with stable long-termconditions to allow them to di-rectly access clinical teams asand when they have a flare-upof their condition. Rather thanwaiting for an appointment forweeks or months as was thenorm, orthopaedic patients cannow expect to speak to a clini-cian within three days after call-ing the service.

“This will be a real benefit topatients, reducing anxiety andunnecessary visits to hospital.The new way of working willalso have a real benefit for staff.”

Scheme set tobenefit patients

dgft.foundationmembers@nhs.net www.dgft.nhs.uk DudleyGroupNHS

Debbie Meredith and grandaughter Aryia Raden try the new sensory pod

Russells Hall Hospital wasone of the key buildings lit upacross the borough for BonfireNight, to pay tribute to the workof NHS and frontline staff in thefight against coronavirus.

Dudley Council organised a‘Light Up Dudley’ firework dis-play visible from most homes inthe borough.

It was accompanied by mu-sic on Black Country Radio andour chief exec Diane Wake wasamong those to have recorded aspecial message which went outduring the Bonfire Night show.

Buildings lit upto say thanks

The Dudley GroupNHS Foundation Trust

If you would like this information in an alternative

language or format, for example in large print or

easy read, please call us on 0800 073 0510, email

dgft.pals@nhs.net or write to: Patient Advice and

Liaison Service, Russells Hall Hospital, DY1 2HQ.

JOINUS!

BECOME A FOUNDATIONTRUST MEMBERSign up on our website today!www.dgft.nhs.uk/become-a-member

BECOME A VOLUNTEERWe’re always on the lookout for volunteers.Go towww.dgft.nhs.uk/volunteering

WORK WITH USYou can see all our latest vacancies on theNHS Jobs websitewww.beta.jobs.nhs.uk/candidate

ing and uncomfortable. The SensoryPod offers this, somewhere they cantake their mind off the situation andthe hospital staff can carry out theirappointment in a calm environment.

The pod’s functions include col-

our changing lights, the ability toplay music via Bluetooth, a door thatcloses and blocks the outside sounds,a two-way window and even a TV,providing plenty of sensory optionswhich offer a distraction.

15

A change in Mitieleadership

Amanda Mitchel joinedMitie in January 2021 andassumed the role as theAccount Director at TheDudley Group NHSFoundation Trust.

Amanda has vastexperience in operationalmanagement on projectsand joins us from ISSwhere she was theProjects Director.

Since joining the teamAmanda has identifiedareas for improvement andhas built an action plan tore-energise Mitie.

Mitie at RussellsHall HospitalsMitie’s 700 employees at Russells Hall Hospital manage and deliver non-clinical facilitiesmanagement services. This includes everything from maintenance, security, and car parkingthrough to catering and portering. Most services are delivered 24 hours a day, 365 days of theyear.

On a daily basis, our delivery incorporates:

• 14 miles of corridors cleaned• 550 helpdesk calls answered• 2,500 patient meals served• 600 visitor cars managed• 7,500 items of linen washed and folded• 350 portering jobs performed• 7,000 items of mail handled

On an annual basis, our delivery incorporates:

• 37,000 instruments and 912 surgical trays sterilised• 700 tonnes of clinical waste collected and disposed of• 36 tonnes of confidential waste collected and disposed of• 850 tonnes of domestic waste collected and disposed• 100% of waste diverted from landfill

The partnership looks to improve delivery, with measures implemented to increase cleaningproductivity and changes to portering processes in order to support better theatre efficiency.One of Mitie’s key goals is improving our technical service to keep the hospital working, fromlights and doors, to the theatres where patients undergo expert medical treatment.

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‘Our diversity makes usstronger’ is one of Mitie’s corevalues. With 77,500 employeesand 168 different nationalitiesrepresented across a workforcespanning five generations, weare a hugely diverseorganisation. Mitie thereforeseeks to engage and developpeople at all levels, helping us todeliver the exceptional, everyday.

We are also doing our bit to bemore sustainable. Plan Zero isMitie’s commitment to leave theplanet in a better condition thanwe found it and we havepledged to achieve net zerocarbon emissions by 2025. Todo so we are in the process ofimplementing a 100% electricvehicle fleet. Mitie also sources100% renewable energy, haschallenging waste reductiontargets and innovates to reduceour impact on the planet: closedloop paper recycling is just oneexample of how we do so.

Mitie continues to work withthe Trust to make Russell’s HallHospitals more sustainable. OurVision and Values are a set ofguiding principles that help us towork together as a teamtowards a common businessgoal. As a people-focusedbusiness, our colleagues are ournumber one priority. Mitie’sLiveSafe programme and culturekeeps employees safe andcontributes significantly towardsthe success of the business. Theprogramme demonstratesMitie’s commitment to a zeroharm workplace. All employeesare empowered to 'Stop theJob' if they believe a colleague isin the process of doingsomething unsafe, or if theyhave noticed safety standardsare lacking. www.Mitie.co.uk