Staff briefing roundup
Here’s a summary of what was covered in today’s staff briefing…
Rob Gerlis
- Public board meeting took place last week
- A patient joined and shared a story about his positive experiences of healthcare in west Essex
- The independent chair of the Integrated Care System attended
- We plan to live stream the next board meeting
- Last week’s recording will soon be available on our website
- Cycle to work scheme – we can confirm the CCG is now a member of the scheme – details to be published on AskHUE
Primary Care updates (Peter Wightman)
View Peter’s Wightman’s full presentation
- Medicines management team has been supporting the development on clinical guidelines monitoring medicines that couldn’t been done before but now can
- Supporting practices on electronic repeat dispensing, so that patients don’t have to visit the GP
- Priority is supporting the care homes – there is a pharmacist aligned to every care home
- Hot hubs – have been fairly quiet, if there is a second wave we will be better prepared to see patients with and without COVID symptoms separately
- It is going to be a process of a gradual move to a new normal rather than a ‘return to normal’
- There will more virtual consultations – which may take some getting used to for some patients
Ian Tompkins
- For the CCG externally and internally – it will be a process of a ‘restart’ and ‘rethink’ rather than ‘return to normal’
- We are working on designs to get these rethink/restart messages across
Return to CCG
- We are still following government advice to work from home unless you cannot work from home
- We continue following government, and health and safety guidance on how, when and if people return to work in the office
- We have started detailed risk assessments of the building and will be carrying out individual working from home assessments
- Health and safety lead for Princess Alexandra Hospital has completed a risk assessment of the CCG site
- We will only consider bringing staff back to the Spencer Close when it is safe to do so – currently it is not
- We need to install hand sanitisers, wipes, perspex screen – these are in high demand
- Everyone needs to declutter once it’s safe to return
- Clean desk policy will be introduced – there will be a removal of clutter and some personal items
- Need to think about where to store stuff, whether we actually need things and doing things more electronically
- When we return we will only have limited numbers at the CCG at once
- Staff will not be able to sit opposite each other
Staff questionnaire
- So far, we have had 124 responses
- The information collected within the survey will not be shared and remains confidential, and will only be looked at by Jeneva Allison, our HR Business Partner and the HR team
- Any follow ups will be completed by line managers if need be – this will help inform our risk assessment
Testing
- Government has purchased £10 million test services
- Five suppliers are involved nationally
- Only 2/5 have been officially validated by Public Health England
- Work is in progress for other three to be validated
- 120,000 antibody tests to be completed by end of June. These will be prioritised for NHS staff and those who work on NHS premises
- The test will show if you have had it but doesn’t show if you are immune
- Normal COVID testing still ongoing – please visit gov.uk
Schools
- We are likely to hear more about a return to school for children later this week although some schools have said they won’t open
Any Other Business
- Volunteers’ week is next week (1-7 June) – we would like to share some case studies – if you have done any volunteering (formal and/or informal), we would love you to share your experiences. Please email the Comms team
- Kate Brown shared a lovely story about an elderly couple who, aged 86 and 92 do their own shopping and go for long walks, with a view to doing a charity walk in September.
1. Is there any update to the track and trace startup and the app? No one is saying anything.