In what is believed to be the first bespoke training of its

kind in the country, the RD&E security service has

teamed up with Devon Partnership Trust to provide

training and support for a range of hospital ward staff

on how to anticipate, prevent, diffuse and manage

scenarios related to this health condition.

Dementia is a syndrome (a group of related symptoms)

that is associated with an ongoing decline of the brain

and its abilities including memory, thinking, language,

understanding and judgement.

People with dementia may also become apathetic, have

difficulty controlling their emotions or behave inapprop-

riately in social situations. Aspects of their personality may

change or they may see or hear things that other people

do not, or have false beliefs. Most cases of dementia are

caused by damage to the structure of the brain.

On Kenn and Bovey elderly care wards at the RD&E

Wonford hospital about 35 staff have received training

on ways to improve communication with dementia

patients and how best to respond and manage patients

with this condition. At least 80 staff will be trained by

the end of this year.

• See page 8 for more on this story.

Royal Devon & Exeter ward staff have received specialist training on how to lookafter dementia patients who may be confused or agitated during their hospital stay.

www.rdehospital.nhs.uk

Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust staff newsletter Sept/October 2011

RD&Enews

Inside

Fit For The Future 2-3

Staff health & wellbeing4-7

Patient safety 10-11

Fit For The Future2

We have started this month a pilot of paid for externaladvertising in the RD&E News by local companieswanting to offer discounts on their goods and services toTrust staff.

This initiative has come about from our review ofcommunications activity to ensure we provide best valuefor money and drive down recurrent spending withoutcompromising the effectiveness of Trust internal andexternal communications.

The RD&E News is a valuable means of recognising staffand Trust achievements and initiatives. As part of ourcontribution to the ‘Fit For The Future’ financial savings

programme we changed the newsletter publication to bi-monthly in January. We also continue to monitor andreduce the number of required printed copies (currently900) distributed to colleagues who do not have regularaccess to the intranet in their working lives to read theelectronic version of the newsletter.

If evaluated by ourselves and our advertising partners tobe a success, we can see if this has more potential forincome-generation to off-set the cost of producing thisnewsletter and the quarterly Trust membership newsletter.

Wendy Shaw, Communications Service Manager

Administrative ServiceReview

The Trust’s Executive team met todiscuss:

n A paper outlining the options to beconsidered on the Administrative& Clerical services review

n The anonymised feedbacksubmitted from a wide range ofstaff in response to the informationbooklet produced in July 2011.

On the basis of the discussions,including a careful analysis of the viewssubmitted by staff, it was agreed thatfurther work was necessary to ensurethat crossovers with other Fit For TheFuture projects need to be explored

and ironed out so that the Executiveteam had a complete picture beforemaking decisions. This was felt to bevitally important both to understandthe implications of decisions in onearea on another and, as importantly, todevise a sustainable and flexibleadministrative service structure thatenables the Trust to continue toprovide safe, high quality healthservices into the future.

Over the next few weeks the Trust’ssenior managers will ensure thatfurther work is carried out to betterunderstand the links between thedifferent work streams so that anydecisions made take into full accountthe likely impact on staff, patients andservices. As a result of this work, the

Executive team will then task managerswith the job of translating their overalldecisions into proposals which will setout the implications of the review forindividual members of staff and widerteams.

No formal consultation will start untilthis work is completed.

If you have any questions or queriesabout the review or about your ownpersonal circumstances in relation toany of the options please discuss thesewith your line manager in the firstinstance and/or any of the projectleads (contact details available on IaNon the dedicated Admin Service Reviewpages) we will do our best to answerthese as information becomesavailable.

At the RD&E we want our outpatients tobe referred to the right clinic at the righttime, to receive the right diagnostictests and assessment and to have all therelevant information they need abouttheir results, care and futureappointments. We want to reduceunnecessary repeat visits and waits.

As part of the FFTF programme, wewant to greatly enhance theexperience for our outpatients and

staff in these departments. To achieve

this we want the review of theseservices to be clinician and staff led.

To compliment some outpatient workalready in progress, the FFTF OutpatientWorking Group is planning a structuredreview which will initially look at Surgery,West of England Eye Unit, Medicine,Orthopaedics, Child and Women’s Healthand the Diabetes centre.

Various opportunities will be organisedand staff will be invited to take partand contribute to this review.

If in the meantime you have enquiriesyou can contact:

Pete Adey Project Manager ext 6570

Sarah Hughes Outpatient ProjecCo-ordinator ext 6515

Jan Toms ext 6953 or ClaireBradford (Service DevelopmentLeads) ext 6902

Review of all our outpatient departments

Fit For The Future 3

New FFTF pages on IaN

Proposed new non-medical on-call arrangements

An electronic nursing handoversheet has been developed at theRD&E – reaping benefits for patients,staff and the Trust.

The Trust identified the need for anefficient, consistent and appropriateway of recording information forhandovers. This initiative was pilotedon Otter and Abbey wards before itwas implemented on all surgical wardsat Wonford. The project involved wardstaff, members of the ServiceDevelopment team, IM&T and surgeryadministration services.

The Ward support team or ward clerkadds the patient details onto the PASsystem. Information is then pulledfrom the electronic whiteboard and

inputted by trained ward staff on eachindividual patient admitted to theward. Once all the nursing care hasbeen input, a nursing handover sheetcan be printed out and given to eachduty nurse with a copy for the wardclerk records.

Matron David Stevenson said: “Asignificant benefit of the electronicnursing handover sheet is patientsafety being improved from havingcorrect details from PAS, alerts arepulled through from the whiteboard,handover follows the patient fromadmission rather than being startedfrom scratch when the patient moveswards and overall the communicationis clear, timely, consistent and

accurate.

“The nursing staff could see thebenefits immediately because itreduced the time of handover andinterruptions during this importantactivity; thereby releasing more timeto care.”

For the Trust this is contributing tomaking sure that all patients are safein our care; there is a clear audit trailof what happened to a patient and thedischarge team now has access to thisresource for complex dischargeplanning. In terms of real time bedmanagement is it a win for the RD&E –putting in place an incentive to keepthe whiteboard up to date.

A 13-week formal consultationperiod started on 9 September for

Trust staff and Staff Sidemembership to givefeedback on proposed newnon-medical on call

arrangements.

The RD&E, in line with NHS StaffCouncil guidance, started its ownreview of on-call arrangements fornon-medical staff in August 2010.

Data was collated from across thewhole Trust and showed there arecurrently over 30 differentarrangements for similar out of hourscover. This reflects an historic non-

standardised approachto providing non-

medical on-call whichthis review – inpartnership with Staff

Side – seeks to address.

The NHS Staff Councilagreed a set of toplevel principles forthe revision of on-call arrangements andrecognised the need to devolveresponsibility to a local level to ensurethat cover fits the needs of serviceswithin each Trust.

An information leaflet has beenproduced for staff, which sets out theproposed new on-call arrangements. Itdefines the type of on-call cover theTrust needs to maintain services andpayment staff will receive. This canbe viewed and downloaded from IaN.

To date there have been threenegotiation meetings between theTrust and Staff Side. Following thisinitial consultation phase, a fourthnegotiation meeting will be held inearly October 2011.

Re-distribution of stationerystock within the RD&E without acharge to the receivingdepartments is progressing well.

The vast range of items availableand changing on an almost dailybasis include

Printer Cartridges (various Hp,Epson, Canon, Longbow)

Trust Headed Paper (Black only)

Suspension Files

Lever Arch & Box Files

Assorted printer labels (notpatient labels)

ECG Paper – Hellige Fanfold &Hellige Z Fold

Index boxes & cards

Envelopes C4 & C5 sizes

If you want draw on this stock or tofind out what you need is availablecontact Debbie.ellis@rdeft.nhs.uk/ cresta.glass@rdeft.nhs.uk

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Staff health & wellbeing4

Early intervention is a good approach to looking after your health & wellbeing. With this

in mind the RD&E Occupational Physiotherapy Service has, as part of a ‘Fit For The Future

Invest To Save’ scheme, made their advice and support open to all Trust staff.

Making a confidential appointment couldn’t be easier – call extension 5800 and self-refer

for advice and treatment if you have musculoskeletal pain or discomfort. This can prevent

and injury or more damage being caused, as well as helping you to feel you are able to take

control and manage your health.

Should you have a health problem that means you have to take time off work then the team

can also support your return to work ensuring that your work load is appropriate and

managed.

Eat a balanced diet toavoid winter weight gain

Plan some me time to relax& have new experiences

,,

Staff health & wellbeing 5

For more winter wellness advice see IaN

Colleagues Karin Gibberd, Kate

Underwood, and Sue Stoddart showed

that it is possible to do a workout almost

anywhere when they demonstrated

‘deskercising’ as part of an Occupational

Health awareness campaign promoting

staff health and wellbeing. The team ran

a series of events in Oasis and publicised

advice on IaN including MOT checks for

winter wellness and a popular ‘Thought

for the Day’ by our hospital lead chaplain

Simon Harrison.

Stock up your home medicinesfor minor winter ailments

The Seasonal Flu programme for RD&E Staff is in place to help protectstaff, patients and family members against flu.

The following sessions will run by Occupational

Health (OH) in Bramble Seminar room during

October:

10th 7am-2pm

12th 9am-12.30pm

and 2pm-4.30pm

13th 2pm-4.30pm

14th 7am-2pm

24th 8am-12 noon

And on 30 November from 9am-12noon

To ensure that everyone is able to access the

programme Trust Vaccinators in the clinical

directorates will also be able to immunise staff

who are unable to attend one of the above

sessions. The team will also visiting some Ward

areas on an ad- hoc basis to try and reach as

many people as possible.

Remember this is only available for a limited time

period so please ensure you get vaccinated at the

earliest opportunity.

Staff health & wellbeing6

Have yourself a real workout at the Virtual Gym

Do you know about the Virtual Gym –

a facility for all RD&E staff that

allows you the convenience of taking

an exercise class at any time that

suits you within the privacy of your

own home? It is accessible via the

internet – registration details are

available on the health and wellbeing

pages of IaN. If you do not have

access to the internet at home then

you can download the sessions in

Waves (staff internet café) and take

home on a USB stick.

It is completely free of charge so

why not give it a go?

Hélène Waterhouse,

Head of Procure-

ment and Logistics

(pictured) said: “I

have found Virtual

Gym absolutely

fantastic! It is easy to register and use

and the system offers a huge range of

options, from Aerobics and Kick Fit to

Pilates and Relaxation, all provided by

a variety of trainers to ensure no two

sessions are the same. New sessions

are added every day, even over the

weekend. Exercising at the Virtual

Gym has saved me time and money,

while keeping fit and healthy.”

The Staff Lottery Committee needs you!The Committee would be delighted to hear from anyone whowould like to join the Lottery Committee. Anyone who is amember of the Lottery can join the Committee and we welcomenew members from all staff groups across the Trust. For anyqueries or to put yourself forward contact Marie Taylor by emailat marie.taylor2@rdeft.nhs.uk

n 1,661 members of RD&E staff currently take part in the lotteryeach month. BUT we need more staff to join - the more peoplethat take part, the higher the prizes will be and the bigger andbetter the projects the lottery will be able to fund.

n Sign up before 10 October to be entered into the Novemberdraw.

n The Staff Lottery is a monthly draw which all staff (excludingbank staff) are entitled to join.

n 70% of all the money raised through the lottery is returneddirectly to staff in prizes (a much greater proportion than theNational lottery).

n The remaining 30% funds items or projects that directly benefitstaff and improve their working experience. These vary greatly,ranging from the purchase of a fridge to revamping a staffroom.A recent example is the popular 'Waves' internet cafe situated inOasis.

n Any ideas you have for how money can be used to benefit you,your team and the Trust are always welcome.

Hand hygiene with soap andwater reduces the risk ofinfection,Such as the winter vomitingand diarrhoea bug norovirus

Staff health & wellbeing 7

www.rdehospital.nhs.uk

Are you struggling with a personal or work-related problem or have anissue you would like to talk about?

Counselling is different to talking to a friend. Trained counsellors are able to provide an objective and

non-judgemental approach because they are not involved in your situation. They can help you to

understand your feelings, focus on new ways of looking at an issue and explore ways of making

changes and finding resolutions.

The Trust Service has recently introduced a new telephone

triage system to further improve their support to staff by

ensuring it is responsive to individual needs and waiting

times are reduced.

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The triage system allows for:

An initial assessment to be

carried out to establish the

most appropriate source of

support for you

Immediate support if

required, prior to any

appointment

Referral to other

organisations and services

that can help

Individuals can contact the

service on 01392 405800where you will be able to book

a telephone appointment to

speak, in confidence, with a

counsellor.

More details about theseservices can be found on IaN.

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Improving patient care8

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n Continued from page 1.

Simon Dallas of the RD&E Security Service (pictured above) said: “The majority of reported

incidents of staff injuries in the workplace are accidental and involve patients who have

health conditions, such as Dementia, which can account for what has happened. We hope this

training can prevent and reduce occurrence of these incidents. As well as having a better

understanding and knowledge of how to identity dementia symptoms we hope the staff feel

more confident in their interaction with their patients and have the skills to keep patients

and themselves safe. ”

n Pictured: Matron Debbie Cheeseman working with security officer Jason Burford on Kenn Ward

Vera Byfield, Head ofManagement andVocational Educationat the RD&E, has beennamed ‘ProgrammeManager of the Year’by the NHS GraduateTraining Scheme.

The scheme, hosted by

the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement,

is a comprehensive programme that aims to equip

graduates with the expertise needed to become

successful leaders in the NHS. Trusts all over the

country provide the challenging work placement

element of the scheme, giving the trainee

managers on-the-job experience and opportunity

to develop skills and confidence.

Vera received her award for being top Programme

Manager for the scheme, a role which involves

supporting the trainees during the entirety of their

placement at the Royal Devon and Exeter.

Vera said: “I was delighted to be nominated for the

award by the trainees and was incredibly surprised

when I won. The RD&E has been very successful

over the years in attracting and securing

placements. The scheme is incredibly important

not just to the Trust, but also regionally, to ensure

we develop talent and produce high quality leaders

in the South West.”

Lynn Lane, RD&E Director of Human Resources said:

“This is a tremendous achievement. Vera works

tirelessly to support the trainees and her guidance

has resulted in many progressing swiftly in their

careers following graduation from the scheme. I

am very pleased that such a dedicated member of

staff has received national recognition.”

Movers & shakers 9

www.rdehospital.nhs.uk

Colleagues bid a fond farewell to BarbaraGilhooly, Theatre Scheduling Manager at the Centre

for Women’s Health, when she retired after working

for the NHS for over 30 years. Barbara started working

at the RD&E in 1988 on the Heavitree site as a

medical secretary. Her colleagues will miss her

experience and knowledge, describing her as their

‘very own oracle.’

Congratulations to Tracey Stevenson, Deputy

Manager Cytology department, on being awarded her

Institute of Biomedical Science award of Advanced

Practitioner in Cytology, an achievement managed by

only a couple of people in the South West. Tracey is

also the department Training officer and has an

outstanding 100% pass rate amongst the many

students she has helped to achieve their certificate

of competence in Gynaecological cytology.

Sincere thanks to Leigh Barron, Lead Research

Practitioner, South West Stroke Research Network

based at Noy Scott for her fundraising for stroke

patients. Leigh ran the London Marathon in an

amazing time to raise money for a special chair for

the stroke ward, which will allow patients to be

showered, and to put towards a TV system for the

unit. The team would like to say a huge thank you to

Leigh for her efforts and think that she is ‘fab and

very fit!’

And finally the RD&E’s reputation for highquality patient care around the world… New

Zealand’s Health Quality and Safety Commission’s

recent newsletter features an article by one of their

board members entitled ‘Leadership can transform

health systems’ citing the RD&E as their example of

best practice, proving that our reputation is truly

global.

Professional standards10

Congratulations to PEOC

Matron Debra Larsen and

colleagues whose work on

using real time patient

feedback to introduce safety

changes is featured in the next

edition of the RCN Nursing

Management magazine.

The five page article describes

how implementing a process

based on the ‘plan, act, study,

do’ model has raised staff

morale and resulted in better

quality care.

GAP Exeter

This discount applies to full price products across the men, women, and child and baby ranges. The discount will be available on production of

an NHS RD&E identity card.

Trust staff should ensure they follow the

uniform policy to maintain professional

standards and public confidence.

The public do comment and view negatively

staff coming and going off hospital sites

wearing their uniforms. Our uniform policy

states that staff wearing uniform to and from

work must ensure the entire tunic is covered

up or replaced with a T-shirt or other non-

uniform top. This applies to travel by car or

park and ride bus.

It is recognised the wearing of uniforms

outside the hospital does not compromise

infection control good practice but it is

important that we maintain public

confidence in our professional standards.

The policy can be viewed and downloaded on

IaN.

Patient safety 11

www.rdehospital.nhs.uk

A new vital signs chart has been introduced on wards to help staff recogniseand escalate actions for deteriorating patients, as part of Trust-wide work toimprove patient safety.

This new coloured chart will help staff recognise quickly when any of the patient’s physiological

observations, for example blood pressure and temperature, are outside of normal limits and causing

them to have a raised ‘Early Warning Score’ (EWS). A raise in this score provides an early indication that

the patients condition may be deteriorating.

The care of these deteriorating patients has been further enhanced by the introduction of a ‘medical

emergency team’ (MET). When patients are showing signs of the significant deterioration, staff are

triggered by the chart system to alert the MET to help stabilise the patient and review their level of care.

Alison Wootton, Senior Matron for Respiratory Medicine said

“Nurses have found that the new chart highlights in a very

visual way when any of the observations are out of the

normal limits. The chart in combination with the support of

the MET has been really beneficial at getting the right

people to the bedside of sick patients at the right time.”

n Pictured: Knapp ward staff using the new colour-coded

chart

A campaign called ‘You Matter’ is being rolled out across the Trust to raise

awareness and training on different aspects of patient care. It aims to bring

together activities and responsibilities of nurses to ensure the dignity, comfort

and safety of all patients is not compromised during their hospital stay.

The first two months of this campaign will focus on patient skin care in relation

to prevention and management of pressure ulcers.

Other aspects of nursing care to be included in this

initiative includes pain management, diabetes, nutrition

and working with carers.

n Pictured: Senior Tissue Viability Nurse Juliet Price with

nursing auxiliary David Mucklow and the ‘Your Skin

Matters’ information trolley which toured wards and

the staff restaurant area to raise awareness about this

important issue.

yo

ur skin

m

a t t e r s

Picture stories12

The RD&E News is now bi-monthly which gives colleagues more lead up time to contribute their

story and picture ideas by email to me. The deadline for the November/December edition of the

RD&E News is 11 November 2011.

Wendy Shaw, Communications Manager

Neil Tarn, Senior Orthopaedic Practitioner and friend Mark Mirko are set to take part in a charitychallenge to cycle 450 miles from Edinburgh to Exeter over one weekend. RD&E booking office

supervisor Alex Tarn will also be on hand as part of the support team for the duo.

The ride is in aid of the Billie Butterfly Fund, set up by the friends and family of Billie Bainbridge, a

local girl who is suffering from a rare form of brain cancer. The fund is to raise money towards the cost

of alternative therapy for Billie in the USA to the conventional medical treatment used and considered

to date, as well as promote research into the nature, causes, diagnosis and treatment of brain tumours.

To sponsor the team and make a donation to the fund visit:

http://www.justgiving.com/mark-neil-cycle-for-billiebutterflyfund

Former President Roger Ellis (pictured with his wifeMary, RD&E play specialist Cara Bennett, and nine-yearold Bramble patient Charlie Parms) chose Bramble astheir ‘Charity of the Year’ to thank the ward for thetreatment of twin girls in his family. Club supportersraised the money with activities including competitionsand a non-stop cycling challenge.

RD&E patients on Bramble ward will benefitfrom the fantastic fundraising efforts ofExeter Golf and Country Club to the tune ofover £1,900.

She took the plunge with a sky dive which raised

£1,225 for the centre ,which recently looked after her

friend Laura Stubbs.

They are both pictured with Senior Matron Sue

Tomlinson. The donation will be used to purchase

equipment useful for the patients.

The courage of Chantelle Jessop will reapbenefits for patients of the specialist RD&EMardon Neuro-Rehabilitation Centre.