Are you readyfor winter?NHSGG getting ready to deal with the challenges.See page 4

NHSGGC has recently scooped upan array of awards, testimony to howhard our staff work right across theorganisation.

The organisation was crowned winners in the GOProcurement Innovation or Initiative of theYear Awardat the recent Government Opportunities (GO) AwardsScotland for the £110m laboratory contract for the newSouthern General Campus.

The Award recognises boldness, big ideas andcreativity ñ showing procurement at its best.

Colleagues in facilities were presented with theEnergy and Environment Award from Health

Facilities Scotland (HFS)which acknowledged their work insustainable development includingdelivering environmental improve-ment in a challenging environment,improvements in energy use and areduction in greenhouse gases.

We also won the HFS DesignAward forWest Centre, the new

Drumchapel Families Centre, and theoverall Paul Taylor award for the bestsubmission out of each of the three

winners in the categories oand Innovation.

The New Stobhill Hospitalwith the ward extension grHealth Care Best Acute CaInstitute of Architectsí Desiaward in the UK Rose Desior Project section.

Glasgow Royal Infirmary alsfor its ICU in the same cate

Our ìflying doctorsî are alsoof the Emergency Medical Rreceived £15,000 from thefor creating an app which hpatients in remote areas of

The money will be used toand further develop the app

Staff at Leverndale Hospitalyear’s No Smoking Dayís Othe Best Picture category, wbeing helped into an ambula

More Awards for the NH

SN 3

of Design, Facilities

is back to its winning ways,rabbing the Building Betterare Design and Glasgowign prizes, and the silverign Awards Health Building

so received a bronze awardegory.

o award winners. MembersRetrieval Service havecharitable Bupa Foundationelps clinicians reach and treatrural Scotland.

extend their researchp.

l were runners-up in thisOrganiser of theYear Awards inwith a picture of the Big Cigance.

Communications picked up Gold and Bronze at the

Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) Awards.

The Gold was for the various work streams that went

in to ìPutting The Pride Back InTo Nursingî the

Chairmanís nursing awards, the history of nursing in

Glasgow portal, staff news, team brief, core brief and all

the other content including the interview with our nurse

director shown on StaffNet to all our staff.

The Bronze was for the GlasGoals campaign, run

with our media partners the EveningTimes, to

encourage readers to set a goal to take part in

regular physical activity.

And in the recent UKAssociation of Healthcare

Communicators Awards our communications team

also won a Best Partnership Award for the health

improvement ìGlasGoalsî campaign and the Menís Sexual

Health team collected an award for Best Social Marketing

Campaign – MakeYour Position Clear.

Bronzesuccess atCasualty CupSix teams from across the organisation took partin this yearís Casualty Cup - a football tourna-ment which is open to all emergencydepartments and emergency ambulance crewsin Scotland.

A&E staff from Glasgow Royal Infirmary, theWestern Infirmary, the Victoria Infirmary, theSouthern General, Yorkhill and the Western’sx-ray department all took part, with GlasgowRoyal taking home the Bronze prize and theWestern a close fourth.

Charlie McCarthy,who currently works as a staffnurse in LarbetA&E, established the Cup eightyears ago,he said: ìI decided eight years ago therewas a gap that could be filled to bringA&E andambulance workers together and enjoy ourselvesat the same time. Over the years it has grownand this year we had 16 teams competing.

The feedback has been amazing, everyoneseemed to have a fabulous time with a healthycompetitive edge to keep us all on our feet.

HSGGC trophy cabinet!

If your emergency department isinterested in taking part in nextyear’s tournament,email: charlie.mccarthy@nhs.net.

Remember to

this winter

Winter is upon us once more and we are wellunder way with putting plans in place for thisyearís busy season.

Thereís no doubt that this year is going to bechallenging for us all. However, staff should beassured that as an organisation we are preparedto deal with these challenges.

In addition to the organisations plans to be

prepared, we are asking staff to get ready forwinter at home, as well as being prepared fortravelling during the winter months.

Neil Rogerson, head of civil contingencies,explains that the solutions to winter pressuresare not just to be found in our hospitals.ìEveryone can do their part to prepare for severeweather this winter. Simple changes and puttingplans in place can make a big difference.

ìWe are asking for everyone to take as manysteps as possibly in advance of severe weatherto ensure you, your family, friends and neighboursare safe and well.î

Below are some helpful hints and tips to keepsafe and warm this winter, however, you can findmore detailed information on the dedicatedmicrosite see blue box for details.

Are you ready for winter?

Get ready for winter at home• Know where your stop valve is andhow to turn your water off

• Know how to turn off your electricitysupply at the mains

• If cold weather if forecast and during acold snap, keep your heating on at a lowertemperature to help prevent pipesfrom freezing

• If you canít heat all your rooms, make sureyou keep your living warm during the dayand heat your bedroom before goingto bed

• Wear the right type of clothes ñ layersare best

• Make sure you clear your paths and driveway ñ itís a good idea to keep a shoveland some salt or grit at home

• Stay active and talk to friends and familyif you live alone

What to do encounter damage to yourhome this winter

• If your pipes freeze ñ turn off the stopvalve immediately. Drain all your cold tapsbut do not turn on hot taps

• Never attempt to thaw out frozen pipesby switching on your immersion heateror central heating boiler. Check forleaking joints or bursts in the pipes and ifsafe to do so, gently heat any frozensections with a hairdryer or heated clothwrapped around the pipe. Never apply adirect flame

• Be aware that snow and ice could fallfrom roofs. Be prepared and try topredict where it might fall and donít parkyour car or bike in its path. If snow or icehas caused damage to property contactyour household insurer.

Prepare for travellingPack a few essentials in your car to preparefor getting stuck while commuting, including:

• An ice scraper• A can of de-icer• A torch with spare batteries• A shovel for snow• A Blanket• Some food and a hot drink• A first aid kit• Battery jump leads• A map for unplanned diversions

You should also pay extra attention toplanning your journey during periodsof bad weather

• Check the weather forecast and roadconditions

• Consider alternative routes• Consider alternative modes of transport• All extra time for your journey• Make sure your mobile phone isfully charged

• Consider fitting winter tyres toyour vehicle

4 SN

The Scottish National BloodTransfusion Service (SNBTS)experienced great difficultymaintaining essential bloodsupplies last winter due to theextreme adverse weatherconditions.

They are therefore asking thatyou please play your part inensuring blood is available forour patients this year.

To register as a blooddonor or to find out whereto donate, visit:www.scotblood.co.uktel: 0845 90 90 999text BLOOD to 61611or visit their facebookpage at: www.facebook.com/givebloodforscotland

For information on how to keep safe & warm aswell as weather warnings, travel news andupdates please visit:www.nhsggc.org.uk/staffwinterinfo

SN 5

Top DJ George Bowie was the very special guestat a charity fundraising Christmas Fayre held onthe Gartnavel Hospitalsí Campus.The Radio Clyde joker came along to the fayre,organised by the Public Health Pharmacy team,because the £603 raised went towards thestationís well-established ìCash for Kidsî annualappeal.Karen Carberry, from the pharmacy team, said:ìWe decided on Cash for Kids because itís apopular charity and we wanted to play our partto help them support projects which helpvulnerable children and their families.î

A total of 28 stalls took part with gifts rangingfrom crafts, greeting cards and home baking tomini-makeovers from make-up artists.George said ìI was delighted to be invited to takepart in this fantastic fundraising event forGlasgow and the westís favourite childreníscharity. We greatly appreciate all of the hardwork Karen and the team at Gartnavel RoyalHospital have undertaken to generate muchneeded funds for Cash for Kids.îPictured right: some of the pharmacy team staffwith George Bowie and local school children

Clyde’s George Bowie supports pharmacy team’s fundraiser

Be alcohol aware thisChristmasTThhee ffeessttiivvee sseeaassoonn iiss hheerree aanndd ffoorrssoommee ooff uuss iitt’’ss aa ttiimmee ttoo rreellaaxx.. BBuutthhaavvee yyoouu ssttooppppeedd ttoo ccoouunntt tthhee ttrruueeccoosstt ooff tthhaatt eexxttrraa wweeee bbeeeerr oorrcchheeeekkyy ggllaassss ooff wwiinnee??DDrriinnkkiinngg ttoooo mmuucchh aallccoohhooll ccaann lleeaadd ttoo mmaannyy hheeaalltthhpprroobblleemmss.. OOnnee ooff tthhee mmoorree iimmmmeeddiiaattee eeffffeeccttss iissuunnwwaanntteedd wweeiigghhtt ggaaiinn.. TThheerree aarree lloottss ooff eemmppttyy ccaalloorriieessiinn aallccoohhooll,, ccoouupplleedd wwiitthh tthhee ffaacctt tthhaatt yyoouu aarree aallrreeaaddyyeeaattiinngg mmoorree aatt tthhiiss ttiimmee ooff yyeeaarr tthheenn yyoouu aarree mmoorreelliikkeellyy ttoo ggaaiinn wweeiigghhtt..

Don’t believe it? Read for yourself:• A litre bottle of cider contains the same calories as a cheese burger and you would need to do 30 minutes of aerobics to burn it off

• By switching to regular strength lager instead of stronger lager, you could cut down on half a stone of extra calories a year

• If you drank 75cl of Tonic Wine once a week on top of your daily calorie allowance, you could put on 9lbs of extra weight

• You would need to swim for 25 minutes to burn off one Alcopop.

So if you want to drink smarter this festive season here are a few tips:

• Stick to a small glass of wine and have non alcoholic spacers between drinks

• Stick to single measures of spirits with fruit juices or diet drinks as a mixer

• Donít drink on an empty stomach.

Morning after the night before – time to wake up! Alcohol stays in your body for approx 48 hours and itís virtually impossible to calculate how much you can drink and still be under the limit. The best advice is to avoid alcohol altogether if you are driving.

If you’re not driving, current guidelines suggest that:• Men can drink 3-4 units per day

• Women can drink 2-3 units per day.

• Everyone should have at least two alcohol free days each week

But what is a unit? In Today’s strengths and measures, one unit of alcohol is:• 25ml measure of spirits Half of a 175ml standard glass of wine (13% ABV)

• Half a pint of beer/lager (4% ABV).

It takes approximately one hourfor each unit of alcohol to beprocessed by your body. Thefollowing drinks will all takearound 10 hours to leave yoursystem:• One average bottle of wine

• Six bottles of premium beer or lager

• Seven pub measures of spirits

Remember• Any amount of alcohol will affect your ability to drive

• Many people wrongly believe that because they feel OK the morning after the night before that they are fit to drive

• Strathclyde Police are planning a festive Drink Driving Crackdown during December 2011.

Don’t risk it - don’tdrink and drive!

1

6 SN

A team of six midwifery professionals and three assessorsfrom Glasgow have taken part in the Midwifery LeadershipChallenge event organised by NES.

The main focus of the event wasësuccession planningí for thosefaced with the challenges ofhealthcare delivery and is part ofa wider approach to support lead-ership throughout the midwiferyworkforce.

Our team was made up of BettyAdair, lead midwife; ElaineChristie, Senior Charge Midwife;Diana Clark, practicedevelopment midwife; LindaFellows, midwife; Ailsa Fulton,

midwife team leader and VictoriaMazzoni, senior charge midwife.Rory Farrelly, director of nursing;Debbie Forsyth, project manager,infection control and EleanorStenhouse, head of midwiferytook on roles as assessors.

During the course of the day, eachteam had to deal with the sort ofplanned and unplanned issues andsituations that midwifery leadersface on a day to day basis whilstdelivering on four ongoing strate-gic challenges to address serviceredesign, workforce and financialplanning and engaging servicesusers. Very quickly, they had tooperate as a team recognising andcapitalising on individual strengths.

On top of these challenges,participants received a series ofënewflashesí outlining an emer-gency or critical event thatrequired rapid decision makingand urgent action such as tacklingan outbreak of infection in theneonatal unit.

In the midst of all this, each teamwas unexpectedly visited by a reallife journalist who put themthrough a mock interview aboutthe choices and decisions theywere making as they workedthrough the sequence of events.

Rory Farrelly, director of nursing,said: ìThe day itself was a greatsuccess. Experimental learningevents that use scenarios drawn

from real life to expose partici-pants to the sort of high levelchallenges faced in deliveringhealthcare services are not onlyenjoyable and also give staff theopportunity to learn and preparefor such eventualities.

Midwifery leaders of the future

Record take-up of seasonal fluvaccination

Record numbers of staff havehad their seasonal fluvaccination and the campaignisnít over yet!

This year during the multiplesite four week clinic sessionsheld between September andNovember, with a two weekbreak during the schoolholidays, 9896 staff werevaccinated compared to 4100for the first 4 weeks of the2010/11 campaign (4-29October 2010).

And the peer immunisationrates have soared from 74during the same period lastyear to an amazing 2450.

Scott Hanley, vaccinationprogramme manager, said:ìThis has been a fantasticresponse from staff so far, andthose who still havenít had achance to have theirvaccination can still contacteither occupational health foran appointment or their peerimmuniser.î

He went on to praise the team

effort behind this yearísvaccination programme whichproduced the currentoutstanding results:

The Staff Flu ProgrammePlanning Team devised theprogramme strategy andorganised all operationalaspects between April andSeptember.

The team consists ofOccupational Health, the PublicHealth Protection Unit,Communications, Pharmacy,Transport and Facilitiescolleagues.

From October onwards it wasdown to the hard work anddedication of Transport and thePharmacy Distribution Centre,Occupational Health nursesand bank nurses, to deliver theprogramme, with the planningteam maintaining a co-ordinating role,î said Scott.

This team work, together witha determined marketing andcommunications strategy thisyear has, I believe, resulted inthe increased uptake.î

Rona Wall, occupational health

service manager, added: ìTheuptake from clinical staff hasshown a significant increaseand I hope we can build on thisas the flu season continues intothe New Year.

I would like to thank all of mystaff who ran the clinics andthe bank nurses who wereinvaluable in this process. Weare continuing to offer thevaccine at the occupationalhealth clinics at the VictoriaInfirmary, GRI, IRH, VOL andRAH.î

Appointments for staffvaccinations can now be madeby contacting OccupationalHealth on 0141 201 5600Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.

Any department wishing toembark on a peer vaccinationprogramme should contactOccupational Health toarrange this.

And any further queries onseasonal influenza or theseasonal flu vaccine, contactthe Public Health ProtectionUnit on 0141 201 4917 oremail phpu@ggc.scot.nhs.uk

Record take-up ofseasonable flu vaccination

Pictured above: the Glasgow team

SN 7

Sisters Donna Airlie andPaula Laing did it fortheir mother when theyraised more than £826 to say thank-you for her rehabilitation.

The Paisley duo completed theChester marathon, a first for Donna,to raise the cash for WestMARC(West of Scotland Mobility andRehabilitation Centre), based at theSouthern General Hospital site.

This was where mum MoiraMcNicholas was fitted with a pros-thetic arm and is going throughrehabilitation following an industrialaccident in 2004 which led to herleft hand and part of her forearmbeing amputated.

Donna said: ìThe accident had ahuge impact on us as a family inmore ways than one, howeverWestMARC not only provided thepractical assistance my mum neededbut also helped her deal with thepsychological aspect as well.î

Moira, whose surgery took place atthe Canniesburn Plastic Surgeryand Burns Unit at Glasgow RoyalInfirmary, said: ìI am a strong personand this has helped my recovery,together with wonderful supportfrom the staff at WestMARC.

ìIím now working in the office of thecompany where I had my accidentand when the girls decided to run inthe marathon I took in sponsorsheets, and told everyone this is forWestMARC, where I came for myhand.î

Thanks to her prosthetic limb Moiracontinues to carry out most house-work, drives with the aid of aspecially fitted handle to her steer-ing wheel, and in the last couple ofyears has even learned to swim!

Handing over the cheque to DavidMorrison, WestMARCs lead pros-thetist, Paula added: ìThis money isour way of saying a big ëthank-youíto WestMARC staff for everythingthey have done to help our mumadjust as best she can with everydaylife.î

David said: ìWe are delighted toreceive the money, which will bespent on equipment to benefit ourpatients, and I want to thank Moiraand her daughters for thinking of uswhen it came to fundraising.

Moira has responded extremelywell to rehabilitation and everyonewho has been working with her arevery pleased with her progress.

Discounted gym membership available to staff

Turning over a new leaf with our stationary

Sisters sponsored marathon a runaway success for WestMARC

Activity Works is a physical activityinitiative offering discounted gymmembership for staff for a fixed period.

Run by Glasgow Life and The ScottishCentre for Healthy Working Lives,there are two options you can choosefrom; Activity Works Core or ActivityWorks Plus.

The Activity Works Core option offersstaff a 50% discount (£25) to aGlasgow Club membership for aperiod of eight weeks, giving you

unlimited access to gym and swimmingfacilities plus access to classes.

Activity Works Plus offers the same asthe Core offer with the inclusion ofsports coaching sessions at a cost of£45 for eight weeks.

The initiative is aimed at staff who areconsidering joining a gym and shouldbe considered as a trial to the GlasgowClub. Should staff which to have alonger term membership they canaccess the Glasgow Club 25% discount

through the corporate scheme.

Other options available under ActivityWorks include the Shape up healthyeating and weight managementprogramme plus a range of outdoorteam pursuits. For a full list of optionsava i lab le to sta f f v is i t :http://www.healthatwork.org.uk/pdf.pl?file=haw/files/Booklet FINAL1.pdf

Please note: payment for each optionshould be made on your first visit toyour local Glasgow Club. Staff who

already have a Glasgow Club gymsubscription are not eligible for ActivityWorks.

Our green credentialshave increased evenfurther now that we areintroducing 100 per centrecycled paper. We currently use approxi-mately 36,000 boxes ofpaper per year, the equiva-lent of 90,000,000 sheetsof paper. One of the mostsignificant things we cando for the environment isto reduce paper use. Theecologically sound alterna-tive is to switch to 100%recycled paper.

This new move will save: •10,760 trees per year,

equivalent to all the treesin Mugdock Park nearMilngavie•19.446 m≥ of water: Theamount of waterconsumed by Paisley andGreenock in one year•3.468 MWh of totalenergy: This amount ofenergy is consumed byapprox 890 typical familyhomes per year•286t CO2: an average car(140g CO2/km) can drive50 times around theworld (40.000 km) withthis total emission. Gordon Beattie, head ofprocurement, said: ìStaff

will notice a colourchange in the paper. Theslightly ëoff whiteí hue isthe paperís natural colourbecause the paper is madefrom discarded newspa-pers and magazines. It is not bleached nordoes it contain opticalbrightening agents whichare non biodegradable andharmful to ecology andhuman health. The use ofrecycled paper helps toreduce the volume ofwaste paper going to land-fill, requires less energy toproduce and savesforestry resources.î

The manufacturer of thepaper, Steinbeis, has 100years experience and areEuropeís number onerecycled copy papermanufacturer. Additionally the newcontract will save approxi-mately £30k pa forNHSGGC based on therange of stationery prod-ucts we normally buy. More details of thesustainability characteris-tics of this new paper canbe found on StaffNet onthe ProcurementDepartment pages. If youencounter any problems

with this paper pleasecontact the ProcurementDepartment helpline on0141 211 1200. For more information onour ecosmart efforts, goto StaffNet > CorporateServices > Sustainability

The Southern GeneralHospital is soon to beginwork to develop what ishoped to be one of the UK is most significant braintumour tissue banks, aninvaluable resource forthe scientific, academicand industry research communities.

This initiative is a resultof collaboration with thecharity brainstrustthrough a generous donation from Mrs AnitaSmith, whose daughterCharlotte died aged 16from an aggressive braintumour.

To mark this donation the braintissue bank facility will be calledìCharlotteís Bank of Hope.î

Dr Willie Stewart, consultantneuropathologist at the SouthernGeneral, said: ìThe resource willprovide a unique opportunity forprovision of much needed materialin brain tumour research.

With over 120 different types oftumour in the central nervoussystem, and more being recognisedas research develops, having accessto the highest quality tissue and asmuch clinical information to gowith it is crucial to understandinghow these tumours might ariseand how novel treatments might bedeveloped.î

All of the tissue collected for thisresource will be from surplus surgi-cal tissue removed from patients fortherapeutic and diagnostic purposes.

This acquisition and banking activityis carried out by Bio-repository.

Jane Hair, bio-repository manager,said: ìTo aim for the best outcomesfor our patients we need researchand good quality human tissue is abasic requirement to support that.î

Patients are asked for their permis-sion to use any surplus surgicaltissues in research prior to theirsurgery.

Jane went on: ìIn our experience theoverwhelming majority of ourpatients are very happy to donatedtheir surplus tissues and we appre-ciate their important contribution tomedical research.

To work with this material ,researchers can come to us andthen we can assess the project toensure that it meets the terms ofthe consent, and that it is a soundscientific study which meets NHSethical requirements.

We want Scotland to becomeknown internationally as a centre ofexcellence for research and thisrepository wi l l help attractresearchers from around the worldto come and work here.î

Core funding for the Bio-repositorycomes from NHS Research Scotlandand our Boardís research and devel-opment budget.

The state-of-the-art dental centre atthe RAH has been officially opened bythe Minister for Public Health MichaelMatheson.

The centre treats people unable toattend a general dental practitioner,such as infirm older people, patientswith long-term illnesses or people withspecial needs.

It also accommodates some dentalservices previously provided atGlasgow Dental Hospital, reducingthe need for approximately 3000patients to travel to Glasgow.

Karen Murray, director of EastDunbartonshire CHP and Oral HealthDirectorate, said: ìThis facility is fittedwith the very latest equipment inbright, modern accommodation,designed to reassure even the mostnervous patients.

ìIím particularly pleased that it alsomeans that we can treat more patientslocally by providing access to outreach

student clinics previously only availableto Renfrewshire patients if they trav-elled to Glasgow and providing sometreatments that were previously onlyprovided at Glasgow Dental Hospital.

All surgeries in the centre are designedand equipped to deliver a broad rangeof dental treatments, from oral surgeryto orthodontics. Two surgeries havebeen specifically designed to treatspecial care patients who may haveadditional requirements; there is asurgery for younger patients and asurgery for sedation/adult special care.Both surgeries are equipped withceiling mounted hoists to aid movingand handling of patients who requireassistance and have ample floor spacefor access.

The centre also gives the opportunityfor dental students from the Universityof Glasgow Dental Hospital and Schoolto undertake outreach training undersupervision of qualified dentists.

Minister opens state-of-the-art dental centre at the RAH

A UK first for the Southern