Staff briefing roundup

Welcome – Rob Gerlis

The headline is levels of coronavirus continue to be low and there is no sign of an increase after relaxation of lockdown. Key aspect is levels are below national level in all three of our areas
Most movement has been in the 40 to 50 bracket which is going really well. A decline in supply of first doses, not due until later in May, is now expected this week due to the situation in India affecting Astrazeneca supply. There is enough stock, regardless of supply, to give first doses to cohort 10 as and when that is opened
Second doses are going well
Rob Gerlis – neighbours of mine, in their 70s, are in a situation where one has been called before 12 weeks for their second vaccine but the other has not heard yet – why are we doing that?
Josephine Smit – PCN sites have been inviting people in early for the second dose where they have had supply left over – it depends on vaccine stock

There was a board development session where we imagined what might happen if we were joined with Essex and what that would mean – whatever happens we need to make sure everything is done for East Herts patients
The first boundary discussion has taken place, to collect info and different views – there was not a lot of consensus, but it is an open process and a report will go off to the secretary of state for Health for his decision
The PAH CQC visit report has gone public today re the findings in the Emergency Department

Four levels of concern were identified and actions were put in place by end of March
It is fair to say the team in the ED are “devastated” and we are mindful they are going through a challenging time. The CQC will come back any time after June and we need to close off areas of concern before then and there is emphasis on quality improvement and sustainability of change

Elsewhere the hospital reaches an important stage with its plans for the new hospital
We had a good catch up with Faye Gilder, Medical Director, at PAH who is settling in well

The team includes Ros French, Rachael Keene, Dawn Slater and Clodagh Hewins, along with Dr Liz Owen one day a week and whose input is hugely valuable and we are so lucky to have
Children are not a single service and we are working across every area
We do not look at children in isolation; we look at health needs, their families and what is going on in their lives, relationships, school – this all affects their needs
Children are the adults of the future and we need to get it right in order to build stronger, more resilient, adults
Over the past year we have developed great relationships between the CCG and providers including Healthier Together
We are adding content every week and are hoping to develop an educational platform
We are also working in the local maternity system
There has been a lot of programming at PAH – in fact they are one of the leaders in this area where teams of midwives work with women right the way through their pregnancies
We are also now in year five or a 10-year contract with the Essex Child and Family Wellbeing Service where it has been business as usual for their families throughout the pandemic
We have future plans to develop this and we are working to join up re our SEND work which we knew we need to align but the 2019 Ofsted report gave us a push to do this, focusing in particular on therapy, neuro pathways and access for parents

This consists of seven CCGs and three local authorities, with Dawn Bolingbroke and Clodagh, shared with children’s services, completing the team in west Essex
A major piece of our work currently is the re-procurement of CAHMS contract
We have got a redesigned service spec and are looking forward to working with providers; this will be in place by April 2022 which seems a long way off but there is much to be done
Over the COVID period we have also supported North East London Foundation Trust (NELFT)
Referrals have been down by 20 per cent – due to the schools being out for a while but we are expecting a boom, including in eating disorders
The demand has gone up 100 per cent in one week, these are usually late diagnoses and 300 per cent in non-urgent cases which means they should be seen within four weeks
There is lots of other work we do – but I will go into that another time

If staff need to leave their homes to go out to work at a different location, they may need to complete a Lateral Flow Test. We have a supply of these at Spencer Close. Please contact Jackie Hall if you need some Lateral Flow Tests
Please let family and friends know GP practices are seeing patients who need medical advice and help. Patients will be triaged first before being given an appropriate appointment – this could be a telephone consultation, video consultation or face-to-face appointment if necessary
The first Lunch and Learn session is on tomorrow at 12.30pm. Join Tanya for the Civility Matters session. A Teams invite has been shared with all staff. If you don’t have the invitation and link please email the Comms team
There have been issues with ESR this week surrounding pay – if this has affected you email Agnes Annan
Anurita Rohilla – a big thank you, and good luck to Josephine Smit as she starts her new role with the ICS next week
Josephine Smit – Thank you, it has been lovely working with you all and I am sure I will continue to do that in my new role with the ICS
Peter Wightman – Thank you also to Louise Hall for the very important work she did on the recent Day in the Life of PAH, which was so successful it has been picked up by region as a real model on how to do it – so a big thank you on behalf of the CCG