With the New Year upon us I wanted to reflect on what a challenging year is has been. We’ve been through lockdowns and restrictions that have kept us apart from family and friends and changed the way we work. But we’ve also seen some of the best of humanity. Our staff in intensive care and across the Trust have gone the extra mile to care for patients who, during lockdown, could not see their loved ones. They wrote letters for patients and organised tablets to enable them to video call their families. Our colleagues offered more than clinical care, they offered kindness and compassion. And we were overwhelmed with acts of kindness from our local community.
We know it has not been easy for people experiencing delays to their treatment and we are grateful for their patience. We’ve navigated our way through one of the worst pandemics any of us will have ever experienced and we could not have done it without our amazing staff, our partners across the health and care sector and the local community. Let’s also not forget that while some of our colleagues will be taking a well-deserved break this festive season, many will be working throughout, so a huge thank you to them as well.
You will have seen the fantastic news about the COVID-19 vaccine breakthrough by Pfizer and the roll—out of the biggest vaccination programme in NHS history has begun. Nurses, paramedics, pharmacists and other NHS staff will work alongside GPs to vaccinate those aged 80 and over, as well as care home workers and residents, identified as priority groups for the life-saving vaccine. The NHS will contact people in the priority groups when it is their turn to receive the vaccine.
While this is wonderful news, I would like to echo my fellow NHS leaders who have written to the Prime Minister and have warned people to think carefully about the risk of more social contact over the festive season. The US saw “record numbers" of cases and deaths after the Thanksgiving holiday, and we are concerned about the likely effect holiday socialising will have in creating another surge of COVID-19 cases in January, on top of other seasonal illnesses such as norovirus and flu. So please continue to be careful and when you are with people not from the same household, make sure you wash your hand regularly, give each other space and cover your face.
I wanted to end my update in this issue with the fantastic news that our very own Chief Nurse, Karen Bonner, recently received the prestigious Baton Award. The Baton Awards celebrate female trailblazers from diverse racial groups and this year had a unique award dedicated to the contribution of thousands of BAME nurses and midwives. Karen has been at our Trust for less than a year but her incredible work ethic, passion for nursing and tireless efforts to champion diversity have already benefitted our organisation and staff in so many ways. Congratulations, Karen. Well deserved!
Wishing everyone a happy and healthy Christmas and New Year!
Neil
P.S. To read my last CEO's report to the board, please
click here.
The Trust’s innovative ophthalmology team has been leading the way nationally, not only by being one of the first NHS trusts to have resumed surgery just weeks after the first government-instigated lockdown in March but by charging ahead to tackle Buckinghamshire’s cataract surgery waiting list with a safe, sustainable approach throughout the pandemic and beyond.
The Trust is celebrating the launch of an upper limb studio within the National Spinal Injuries Centre (NSIC) at Stoke Mandeville Hospital. We are proud to announce that this facility is the first of its kind to be available within the NHS, and it is the first to focus specifically on the rehabilitation of the upper limb with spinal cord injured patients.
The Trust has launched a same day emergency care service (SDEC). This new service, which opened Monday 23 November, allows frail or elderly patients to progress straight to a specialist day unit following a GP referral or triage in the emergency department (A&E) reception and so avoid having to wait to be seen in the emergency department.
Earlier this month, a new facility was opened at Amersham Hospital to care for patients recovering from Covid-19. It will be used to care for up to 14 individuals who are medically fit to be discharged from hospital but are still testing positive for Covid-19. As a result of this they are unable to return to their care home or regular home if they live with someone classed as vulnerable.
Buckinghamshire residents are encouraged to ‘Just think 111 First’ if they are thinking of attending an Emergency Department (ED), also known as A&E. NHS 111 First is a national system that encourages people to contact NHS 111 if they need clinical advice. It launched nationally on 1 December but has already been trialled in Buckinghamshire since September.