FT Focus. Issue News Vote in the Staff Awards! News New Deputy Director of Nursing. News Trust Open Day

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1 FT Focus Issue News Vote in the Staff Awards! PAGE 3 News New Deputy Director of Nursing PAGE 3 News Trust Open Day PAGE 4 Welcome to the latest edition of FT Focus! I would like to draw your attention to the Open Day which will take place on Wednesday 9th May (see page 4 for details). This provides you with a fantastic opportunity to come along to the hospital, to learn about our services and what we offer and also to listen to consultant talks on a range of very important issues. This is just one of the benefits of being a Member of the Trust, I do hope that you will become a member of the new merged organisation, once approved by Monitor (see below for more on this). The appointment of Ellen Bull (see page 3) with her focus on improving the experience for patients is important. It is encouraging to note that the Trust has continued to deliver very high quality services over the year, and the recent results of patient surveys have confirmed that we are responding to what patients are telling us, and improving our approach even more. Likewise our staff survey has also reflected a real pride in working here and the Trust features in the top 20% of all Trusts on many issues. Our staff are vital in continuing to deliver the best possible patient care and their commitment and dedication at a time of some change is much appreciated. Finally I would like to say a special thank you to our Governors, who give up many hours of time in support of the Trust. Many congratulations to Sue Bungey on her re election as Deputy Chair of Governors - now in her fourth successive year in this role. Meanwhile David Triplow (see page 6) has shone a light on his experiences as a new Governor! The year ahead promises a range of new challenges, but you can be sure that the team here at Bournemouth and Christchurch are working hard to continue to provide the very best health care to local people. Jane Stichbury, Chairman Keep involved become a member of the proposed new foundation trust You may have read about the proposed merger between The Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (RBCH) and Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. We are keen to ensure that current public members of our hospitals become members of the new organisation which will be created if the application for merger is approved by Monitor. We will contact you later this year to invite you to become a member of the proposed new foundation trust. Please look out for this letter as we want to ensure that the membership is representative of the local community. We will be accepting applications for membership of RBCH Trust up until the merger is approved so if any of your family or friends are interested in becoming a member, they can apply online at or by contacting the Governor Co-ordinator on

2 Car parking improvements what s happening? Over the last few weeks there have been the following improvements to the car parking at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital: A new entry/exit barrier system A pay on exit system - Drivers will need to take a ticket on entering the car park and pay for their parking before returning to their car. This will reduce the anxiety that patients and their visitors experience if their appointment is longer than expected. It means that they will only pay for the time that they are at the hospital. Pay machines will be located in a shelter and will have the facility to give change. Patients/visitors will also be able to pay using a credit card or by mobile phone. Additional signage will be put up around the hospital site to explain charging rates. Actual charge rates have not changed. Improved drop-off areas - There will be a new and safer area where patients can be dropped off, to the right of the main entrance. This will improve safety and congestion which currently happens on the roundabout at the front of the hospital. There will be a small number of spaces here which the public can use. (They will have a 20 minute waiting limit). Improved bus terminals - More space to help increase access to buses, and reduce congestion when buses are waiting. This work will be undertaken by Bournemouth Borough Council. A covered walkway - This walkway will provide safer passage to the hospital building, particularly in the dark and when it rains. This walkway will be provided in conjunction with the improvements to the bus stop area. Occasional use car parking. A new visitor car park by the Eye Unit. Overall parking spaces increased slightly. The improvements being made are funded through the income received from car parking - money is not being directed away from patient services. Website: Tel:

3 New Deputy Director of Nursing joins the Trust Ellen Bull, the new Deputy Director of Nursing and Midwifery, officially joined us this month from her previous role as Head of Nursing at the Royal Surrey County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. Ellen has both a clinical and leadership background, and her clinical experience ranges from general surgery to acute cancer care, gynae-oncology and women s health. Ellen s focus will be to develop clinical practice, lead on improving the experience and safety of patients and ensuring that we do our very best to communicate meaningfully with patients, their families and carers. This includes making sure that comments and feedback are acted upon to make a real difference to their experiences of the Hospitals. Have you got an Unsung Hero? Ellen Bull If you ve had a recent excellent hospital experience thanks to a member of staff or the whole ward, you can now nominate them as your unsung hero! Each year as part of our Staff Excellence Awards we ask you to tell us who you think deserves this title. Nominations for 2012 are now open and you can nominate anyone who works at either the Royal Bournemouth or Christchurch Hospitals. For an application form, or to find out more, please call the Communications Department on or log on to The deadline for nominations is 25th May Do you have equipment which has been loaned to you by the hospital, a community service or clinic, and is no longer required? The equipment may be small/simple items, e.g. walking aid, toilet aid, perching stool etc. or larger/complex equipment such as a bed, mattress or hoist. We want to make it easy for you to return these items so that they can be re-used or recycled, and arrangements have been made for the organisations listed below to collect the equipment from your home. The number you need to call depends on where you live: Bournemouth and Poole residents For collection of small and large aids, contact Nottingham Rehabilitation Supplies, Wallisdown Road on Dorset County Council residents For collection of small aids: South and West (Christchurch, Highcliffe, Ferndown and West Moors) contact Dorset County Collections on North (including Blandford, Wimborne, Ferndown, Ringwood, and Sturminster Newton) contact PLUSS on East (Purbeck Area) Contact Purbeck Mobility on For collection of large aids contact the Dorset Integrated Equipment Service on Hampshire residents should contact Hampshire Equipment Store on Alternatively, small items can be brought to the reception at The Royal Bournemouth Hospital, or to the drop off area at Christchurch Hospital. For further information or if you have any difficulties in arranging collections please contact: Rosemary Mead, Therapy Services on

4 Our vision, your legacy Legacies have always been an essential part of the funding for hospitals and historically have provided the much needed funds to enable the very latest, new and improved equipment to be purchased, above what the NHS can afford. We want to ensure our patients have the highest standard of care, supported by the very best medical staff who have access to the best possible equipment. Your legacy could help enable this vision to become reality. To learn more about legacies and how you can make a gift that continues long into the future, please contact the fundraising team on Hospital consultants to talk at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital Open Day The annual Open Day at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital takes place between 10am and 4pm, on Wednesday 9th May. The day gives members of the public the opportunity to find out about some of the services and treatments available at the Hospital. The hospital atrium will host information displays from different hospital departments, each with their own interactive stand, including quizzes, challenges and basic health checks. The day will also see the return of the popular and informative consultant talks, with presentations ranging from an explanation of how diagnoses are made, to how the hospital reduces the risk of infection. The talks will be held in the Hospital Chapel and are completely free. The talk titles and timings are as follows: 10.30am: How do we prepare for an emergency? Farhad Islam, Consultant in Emergency Medicine am: How do we make a diagnosis? CT and MRI scanning Matthew Benbow, Senior Radiographer pm: Ultrasound scanning and interventional radiology. Mandy Turner, Consultant Radiologist. 1.30pm: Endoscopy. Ray McCrudden, Consultant Gastroenterologist. 2.30pm: How do we prevent the spread of infection? Mick Martin, Consultant Microbiologist. If you would like to attend one of the presentations, please call us on to book your place or events@rbch.nhs.uk. FT Focus 4

5 Meeting dates Board of Director s meetings are held on the second Friday of each month (except August) at 8:30am in the Committee Room at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital. The Council of Governors meets on 19th July at 9:00am and 25th October at 2:00pm in the Conference Room at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital. The Annual Members Meeting is on 9th October 2012 at 10.30am in the Education Centre at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital. For further information please contact ftmembers@ rbch.nhs.uk or telephone Governor activity update The Council of Governors has been extremely busy since the last update. They have met with Governors from Poole to discuss the proposed merger and presented ideas for the public consultation, attended the Trust Board meetings and the public meetings being held to consult on the proposed merger throughout the constituencies. A very successful Governor training session was held at the end of January. Governors heard an excellent presentation from one of the Non-Executive Directors (NEDs) about the role and responsibilities of the NEDs plus how the Governors committee structure is made up and fits in with the various Trust committees. A seminar for Governors was held in March when Dr. Sue Hazel, Consultant in Medicine for the Elderly, gave an excellent presentation on dementia and how the Trust is developing ways to help patients when they are discharged from hospital. Dr. Claire Simpson, Consultant, from Kings Park Hospital spoke about dementia in the community. Governors have travelled to London to attend the Foundation Trust Governors Association (FTGA) Development Days for both experienced and newly appointed Governors. Three Public Governors also attended an NHS finance seminar in Taunton given by NHS Finance Skills Development Network. Dates for your diary Understanding Health Daytime Events Monday 25th June 2012, at 11am Understanding Osteoporosis Neil Hopkinson, Consultant Rheumatologist. This event takes place at: the Village Hotel (opposite RBH) To book your place, please phone or events@ rbch.nhs.uk providing your name, how many places you would like and your telephone number. Annual Members Meeting: 9 October 2012, 10.30am (Education Centre, The Royal Bournemouth Hospital). Your feedback sees volunteers take action In working to continually improve the patient experience, the Royal Bournemouth Hospital has streamlined the way it works with volunteers, to ensure that there is a quick response to feedback received. Closer working will help to ensure that our volunteers time is used in the most useful way to meet the needs of patients. For example, recent feedback shows that many patients would like to use the bedside televisions, but are not always confident to use them. We are hoping to train hospital volunteers to help patients make use of the technology at the bedside. It is often not difficult and patients just need a bit of time and confidence to use a system they are not familiar with. Volunteers are also being trained as meal companions, a need which has been identified through patient feedback. Volunteers have very diverse skills and the hospital wants to work in partnership with them and develop the roles which they can take in response to the needs of patents. If you would like to support the Trust in a volunteer role, we would be delighted to hear from you. Please contact Jacky Taylor on or jacky.taylor@rbch.nhs.uk. 5

6 Experiences of a new governor Last summer I retired from being a deputy head teacher in one of our local secondary schools. At 61 years old I felt I had the energy and time to give something back to the community of Poole and Bournemouth where I have lived for 35 years. I knew that The Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust was advertising for Governors and I put myself forward for election. My wife used to work as a hospital pharmacist, and one of my sons and my daughter-in-law worked in hospitals, so I thought I had some idea of the working of hospitals. I was delighted to be elected and I attended the Annual Members Meeting in October. A day later our training started. I soon realised I had a lot to learn and I am still learning. The medical profession use acronyms all the time and it is important to know their meanings and roles. The Directors of the Trust, from the Chief Executive, Tony Spotswood, downwards are very friendly and willing to answer my questions, some of which may seem obvious to them. Governors go to part one of every monthly Board of Director s meeting, so I soon realised that the Trust is run very efficiently and the needs of patients are the priority. It was astonishing to find out how many targets have been set by the Government, and these are reported on monthly. As Governors we meet four times a year and sit on various committees. We have regular training and need to read many long and detailed documents. Governors have varying roles but mainly we hold the Board of Directors to account for the performance of the Trust, represent the members interests and bring these to bear on strategy decisions. I would recommend becoming a member of the Trust. The easiest way is to go to the Trust website at nhs.uk and follow the links for members or request an application form by calling The main focus for this year is the proposed merger of the Trust with Poole Hospital. We had many hours listening to the reasons for the merger and I am absolutely convinced this is the best way forward for the people of Bournemouth, Poole and surrounding areas. We meet regularly with the Governors of Poole at this exciting time and we also attend the public consultation meeting. Overall I am honoured to be a Governor. I am very proud of our hospitals and it is great to be associated with such dedicated staff. I look forward to an exciting future. David Triplow Public Governor, Bournemouth and Poole Public consultation results The results of the proposed merger and annual strategy consultations (which include proposals for Christchurch Hospital) will be available at the end of May. For information on the outcomes of these please visit or phone Sue Bungey re-elected as Deputy Chair of Governors Sue enters her fourth successive year in this role, facilitating communications and a good working relationship between the Council of Governors and the Board of Directors. She will also continue her role as Lead Governor acting as the Council of Governor s contact for Monitor (the regulatory body for Foundation Trusts). Website: Tel: Your Governors are here to represent the community and Trust members. If you would like to get in touch with your local Governors please contact Dily Ruffer, Governor Co-ordinator on: or ftmembers@rbch.nhs.uk. You can also visit FT Focus 6