Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust

As part of Mental Health Day this year, our Wellbeing Team announced the winners of their annual mental health photography competition. This year's theme was 'movement' and the team received many wonderful photography submissions from staff at PHU. Radiology Department Assistant, Marcin Jedrysiak, took home first place with his photo of the red arrows. Healthcare Support Worker, Neil Dawkins, came second with an image of his dog and Ward Clerk, Laura Law, came third with her seafront snap. Winner Marcin said: "Photography has been my passion for a long time. This passion lets me enjoy the balance between work and this hobby. I take pride and pleasure when I get appreciation on my photographs." #ProudToBePHU

This #LongServiceSunday we are celebrating Staff Midwife, Amanda Goss, who has achieved 40 years working in the NHS! Amanda started her Registered Nurse Training in 1984, a month after her 18th birthday. Following a six month maternity placement, she was amazed by the experience and knew it would be her future career path. She currently works on B6 at QA Hospital and loves her role and fantastic team. #ProudToBePHU

Last week was Play in Healthcare Week - an annual awareness week showcasing the importance of providing the opportunity, space and time for children to play while in hospital. To celebrate, children at QA Hospital had lots of fun throughout the week making slime, meeting our therapy dogs Louis, Mabel and Ernie; learning magic with Nikki and Charlie, playing music with Louise - a music therapist with Georges Rockstars, and lots of arts and crafts. Thank you to everyone who helped make the week a success #PIHW

Earlier this week, our Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) team were visited by staff from Wellington Grange Care Home in Chichester whose residents had kindly knitted some beautiful teddies, blankets and clothing for babies on the ward. These kind donations are just some of the lovely items groups and individuals have made for the unit, so thank you to everyone who has taken the time to do this. The team are currently able to accept donations of knitted blankets (46cmx61cm approx) and knitted cardigans (premature or first size). Due to the dedicated knitters already supporting the unit, they are not accepting hats at this time. If you are interested in knitting for the unit, you can drop items directly to NICU when visiting the hospital. Thank you 💙

Last month we congratulated Head of Ward Accreditation, Alison Cole, on achieving 40 years in the NHS! Alison started her student nurse training in 1984 and began working in NICU at Portsmouth in 1987. Over the years, she has worked in a wide range of areas including Prosthetics, Tissue Viability, and Corporate Nursing. Alison is a hugely respected nurse, who demonstrates professionalism at all times and always puts the patient at the centre of everything she does. Alison's team said: "Friends describe Alison as someone who ‘will do anything for anyone’ and colleagues are always grateful for the spontaneous costa that might arrive (and biscuits) in times of need. Alison is a mentor and a great support to many and we hope she will know just how much she is truly appreciated and loved by us all." #LongServiceSunday

Recently we spoke to Rute Silva, a Senior Sister in the Emergency Department. Rute has worked in the department for nine years and her role handles the management of the staff and department, from staff and patient safety to well-being. Rute spoke to us about the team's fundraising efforts and the excitement round our brand new Emergency Department that's set to open soon. How are you feeling about the new emergency department? It’s very exciting because this building has been dreamed of by people, before I even came here. Since I started here everyone was talking about the need for a new emergency department, and now it’s finally come to that day, and as one of the people that is helping with the move is very exciting, it’s like a fresh start that we need. Can you tell us about the team’s fundraiser? We decided to do this fundraiser because we will have a new staff room in the new ED where we will need quite a lot of different things, there is some furniture included in the building but there is not enough for 200 members of staff unfortunately. One of my colleagues came to me and said well let’s do the Great South Run- I do run but not ten miles! So it is a big challenge but we said why not! We have six people who are doing the run to raise money for the staff room, and we also had a bake sale in the atrium. It's been really nice because everyone came together as a team to work for this and we’re all excited to move into the new building and have all these new changes. Your sponsor the team on the Great South Run here: https://ow.ly/Mr6j50TNJ3R #ProudToBePHU

Congratulations to the Springfield Renal Care Centre for being named our latest Hidden Heroes. Melloney Poole, Chair of IWT and PHU was delighted to present the team with the award. This amazing team of 16 provide treatment to patients closer to their home which reduces travel time to and from treatment, allowing them more time to continue with regular daily living activities. The patient’s consultant conducts clinics from the unit regularly which allows the patients and their family to feel more relaxed to see a doctor in familiar surroundings. A benefit of this ‘in the community’ service is seeing patients’ health and quality of life improve as well as keeping them healthy and well enough to have a kidney transplant. It is a joy when patients return to the unit to let the team know how well they are feeling post-transplant. Melloney was inspired by the team’s commitment and compassion as well as their exceptional skills and knowledge to provide the excellent care given to our patients. Melloney visited the team to present them with a certificate, trophy, and other goodies. #ProudToBePHU

In this Black History Month special edition of our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion newsletter, we are sharing the latest initiatives taking place at PHU and talking to colleagues about their experiences. The quarterly newsletter is the chance to share the amazing work of our teams. This quarter's newsletter covers health inequalities, initiatives at PHU and much more! Read the full newsletter here: https://lnkd.in/eYgZ_ETk

Stopping smoking is the single best thing you can do for your health. No matter how long you’ve smoked for, quitting helps to improve your health straight away. Find out more on how to stop smoking this #Stoptober: https://lnkd.in/eksDhqMw

Specialty and Associate Specialist (SAS) doctors form a significant part of our senior medical workforce, playing a vital role in delivering high-quality patient care. Their expertise is invaluable across many clinical teams, and we are committed to supporting their professional growth, working towards adopting initiatives like the #SASSix, which enhances the careers of SAS and locally employed doctors. #SASsix is a grassroots campaign by SAS doctors for SAS doctors, initiated by a group called the SAS Collective. The #SASsix campaign calls for: 1. Every early career SAS doctor should have access to an educational supervisor. 2. All SAS doctors should have equity of access to professional development opportunities relevant to their stage of career. 3. All specialty doctors who meet the required capabilities should have the opportunity to become specialists. 4. Senior SAS doctors should be offered the opportunity to be educators at every level on a par with consultants e.g. educational supervisors, clinical supervisors, directors of medical education. 5. All extended roles in leadership and management should be open to all substantive medical staff i.e. consultants and appropriately experienced SAS doctors. 6. All LEDs employed for more than two years within one NHS employer should be offered the opportunity to transfer to the appropriate SAS contract. You can read more about how we are supporting SAS and LED doctors on our website: https://ow.ly/zuLo50TKnkJ