Staff briefing roundup

Welcome – Rob Gerlis

Vaccination update – Peter Wightman

• In terms of per 100,000, figures are still moving in the right direction. Although these figures date from 10 April, so don’t take into account easing of restrictions since then. There was a tiny blip in Harlow but there have been no outbreaks in care homes
• First dose supply is an issue, so although work has begun on over 45s, progress is slow. More supply expected 3 May
• No issue with supply regarding the second doses. We are now 70 to 80 per cent through the early cohorts second doses and HCT will then take over and there will be two centres on the site – one for PCN second doses and HCT focusing on vaccinating the under 40s

Ian Tompkins

• We are piloting a walk-in vaccination bus at Waltham Abbey Tesco on Wednesday 21 April. If the service proves to be a success, it is hoped the bus will travel around the area
• Another COVID vaccination engagement meeting is taking place with Harlow’s faith groups (Tuesday 20 April) as part of a series of events to promote take up of the vaccine. These have also been held with frontline staff at Epping Forest District Council, Uttlesford District Council and Essex Fire and Rescue service while another is due to take place with staff and students at New City College, Loughton, on Thursday 29 April
• Rob Gerlis – those events have been well supported by Shico Visuvanathan at PAH

General update – Peter Wightman

• The ICS Partnership group has met this week to talk about how things are progressing and representatives from each of the three ICPs gave updates
• There was also an update from the Mental Health Trust in Herts, who have recently won an award
• This is a period of transition for the CCGs, but we will know more by June
• Rob Gerlis – a date for the first public board meeting of the One Health and Care Partnership has now been set for October which gives us a focus
• Peter Wightman – I attended a team development session at the ICS executive team which is difficult when we don’t yet know which one we will be in

Spotlight on…

Primary Care – Anurita Rohilla

• Primary Care is not only about access to GPs, it is also dental, optometry, pharmacy and medicines optimisation
• Current priorities are access to dental care and health inequality as well as addressing the misconception GP practices are closed. The way they do things has changed because of the pandemic, however, and even when restrictions are lifted some of this will remain and our access to GPs going forward will change
• The work with tackling health inequalities has changed in light of the pandemic, which has identified issues which were already there and as well as looking at traditional hard to reach communities there are also the “lost” people suffering in silence so there is a prevention piece of work to be done there
• With Medicines Optimisation, the priority is around prescribing of antibiotics. We aren’t saying don’t prescribe them, but only to do so if they are going to offer value
• We are now working on re-starting services and looking at what PCNs and Primary Care will look like in the future

Health Inequalities – Ian Tompkins

• Health inequality is everywhere and takes in a number of factors such as life expectancy, mental health and avoidance of mortality
• We all have a part to play and COVID is actually bringing a positive legacy in that people are now talking about it – it runs through everything we do
• The vaccination programme has given us a platform on which to upsell – we can pass on information at the same time on a number of issues such as cancer services
• We are also giving it a big push within the CCG with the imminent recruitment of a programme/project manager to work on health inequality and what we are doing to address it
• In addition, £500,000 has been allocated by Essex County Council to each of the three ICSs in Essex to help people struggling with the effects of COVID
• We have to take action now – we have talked the talk and now we have to walk the walk
• View the Eight urgent actions slide
• Visit the NHS website for more information on the Action required to tackle health inequalities in latest phase of COVID-19 response and recovery

Long Term Conditions – Grant Neofitou

• Remote monitoring has been a massive part of this, which we want to maintain This is the case for diabetes, for example and it means when there is an alert the team can act quickly
• As well as My Diabetes and My Heart, a big piece of work has been surrounding the Long COVID clinic, which patients are referred to at 12 weeks by their GP. Chronic fatigue has been a major factor within this with the average of those suffering from Long COVID being under 50
• Finally, long term spirometry for which we are on a management plan which had to stop because of COVID. We can now start to get these things back on track
• Visit the Your COVID Recovery website for more information

Population Health – Charlotte Mullins

• Population health management (PHM) is the glue which provides the data which helps identify those groups of people who have long term conditions or are deprived and help us understand the impact we are having
• We are now five weeks into a national Population Health Management pilot programme with Uttlesford PCN looking at groups of patients with complex needs
• To be part of this, Uttlesford is focusing on 150 patients to understand what could be done to improve outcomes for them. In the past we have called them the frail/elderly but we are now seeing more complexity than that such as long term conditions and those with mental health issues
• The second area of PHM is procurement for which we have for the most part relied on Medi Analytics but now need to consider new tools. Joint work with Herts and West Essex is looking at taking that forward
• Outcomes – we have these because we need to be able to articulate our ambition and measure the effect of that. We need to engage with the public on this to find out what is important to them
• Sherin Nurmohammed has joined us on secondment to cover Natasha Sharda-Kalia’s maternity leave. Sherin is the Programme Management Office (PMO) Analyst within the PMO team and will be working with colleagues to support Transformation and BI through embedding our outcomes framework. I know you will all make her very welcome

Local update – Ian Tompkins

• If you had your first vaccine at PAH, but are yet to have your second email Ian direct
• Please do get involved in the Staff Partnership Group (SPG) which among many things is currently looking at actions to be taking as a result of the staff survey. As we come together in terms of an ICS/three CCGs, work to develop policies is taking place and the SPG will be involved in that. There is also work to be done around communications and organisational development and a steering group will be set up for this
• Email the Communications inbox if you would like to be involved

Managing stress / Lunch and learn sessions – Tanya Dewsnap-van der Merwe

Managing stress

• April is Stress Awareness Month – and there are many things currently contributing to stress levels for us all
• With this in mind here are 10 easy ways you can help reduce stress levels and build resilience:
  1. Look after your body and mind – exercise even while you work if possible
  2. Connect with others – reach out and talk to someone
  3. Smile – it makes you feel more confident, makes you more approachable and is contagious
  4. Hugging – crucially, hug yourself!
  5. Do that one thing – approach things at a manageable pace and do one thing, per hour to give you a sense of achievement
  6. Stay informed with the facts – don’t listen to speculation
  7. Take a break – go for a walk, sit outside in the sunshine
  8. Breathe – pause, make space and collect your thoughts
  9. Ask for help – this is not a sign of weakness
  10. Gratitude – having a grateful attitude shields us from negativity

Lunch and learn sessions

• A series of lunchtime learning events will launch on Wednesday 28 April, and take place fortnightly from 12.30pm to 1pm, with Civility Matters, followed by 40 Seconds of Compassion and then Developing Trust
• Email Tanya with any suggestions for future Lunch and learn sessions

BAME staff survey and consultation – Redhwan Ahmed

• Between November 2020 and February 2021 a survey was undertaken involving BAME staff at the CCG, the results of which were very positive but identified four key areas which need to be worked on. Read the research report
• The BAME forum is for all staff across the CCG, looking at data and addressing key issues so anyone who wants to drive equality forward is invited to take part