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December 2021 - festive edition

InTouch

Season's greetings AlexNet The Alex Lounge The Alex Learning, Education and Development Centre

A message from Lance and Hattie - at Christmas-time

As Christmas-time approaches and a moment when many of you will be taking some time to spend with family and loved ones, a huge thank you from us to all of you for your continued commitment to our patients and for supporting each other through another year of exceptional levels of demand and pressure.

This time last year, we all wished for an improved new year and although the COVID-19 vaccine has had a positive impact on infection rates, we know how hard you have continued to work and the impact this has had on you. We also know how difficult the impact of the current Omicron variant is having on you all and the disruption to many team parties and gatherings.

Welcome to InTouch magazine

Season's greetings

Tottenham Hotspur visit

AlexNet is ready

It is important, for your own health and wellbeing, that you are able to stop and take some leave time to rest and relax and make the most of the festive holiday. We are so proud of your ongoing proactive approach to manage the challenges of the pandemic, the high demand that we are currently experiencing and the impact of the current Omicron COVID-19 variant as well as our focus on getting our patients the care they have waited for. We want to share our personal thanks and those of the executive team and board to you all for everything you have achieved in 2021. Our volunteers have had a very different time again this year and our thanks goes to them too for their continued support.

Christmas-time will be different for many of you and we hope that you are able to take some time to rest and relax even if you are not celebrating. Thank you to all of you who will be working over the holiday period and please make sure that you too take a break very soon. Let us hope that 2022 brings us a better year for all. Best wishes Hattie Llewelyn-Davies Chair Lance McCarthy Chief executive

Foreword

Welcome to InTouch magazine – your insight into the latest news and updates from across PAHT. This special edition features a focus on festive traditions around the world and Tottenham Hotspur's virtual visit to our children's ward. You can also find out more about our new Extranet, AlexNet, together with the latest update on the Alex Lounge and the Alex Learning, Education and Development Centre.

The Alex Lounge The Alex Learning, Education and Development Centre

This magazine is for and about you, our #PAHTPeople – please contact the communications team if you would like to see your team featured, at paht.communications@nhs. net.

Our patients said...

Best wishes

#PAHTPeople

Lance McCarthy Chief executive

Season's greetings to our #PAHTPeople y Thank you for your continued hard work and dedication as we manage the additional pressures of the new COVID-19 variant, Omicron, alongside a high demand on all services across the hospital. A huge thank you to everyone who will be working during this time to care for our patients or support those who provide patient care. For those who are taking some time away from work over the Christmas and New Year period, we hope you enjoy your festive break. Thank you for your support across the year. y y Festive traditions y At PAHT, we are proud of our diversity. There are many festive traditions celebrated by your colleagues - you can find out more below. y y Philippines y In the Philippines, the giant lantern festival is held each year on the Saturday before Christmas Eve. The festival attracts spectators from all over the country and across the globe and everyone pitches in trying to build the most elaborate lantern. y y Spain y Spanish people traditionally eat Christmas cake on 6 January to celebrate the arrival of the Three Wise Kings in Bethlehem. On this

Befana, an old woman in Italy, brings gifts on Christmas Eve. Legend has it the Three Wise Men came to her house and invited her to join their search for Christ. She was too busy with housework so declined, but later changed her mind, and to this day is still searching for the child. She leaves presents for any good children she comes across.

y y y

holy day, they bake the Roscón y de Reyes, a sweet bread-like y New Zealand cake filled with whipped cream, y As Christmas falls during summer time for people topped with candied fruits, and who live in New Zealand, crushed almonds. A fava bean a number of their traditions and a small figurine are hidden centre around a barbeque, inside the cake. Whoever finds or grill, where families and the figurine in their slice will friends gather for a casual be blessed with good luck for cookout of fresh seafood, the whole year, but if you get meat, and seasonal the fava bean, you have to pay vegetables. The New for next year’s cake. It is a fun Zealand Christmas tree is Spanish Christmas tradition the Pohutukawa, a coastal and a wonderful way to finish species that blooms a brightthe festive season. red colour in December. y Iceland Similar to 12 days of Christmas, y Denmark Iceland celebrates 13 days of y Homes in Denmark are decorated with superstitious Christmas and children are characters called nisser visited by the 13 Yule Lads. who are believed to provide After placing their shoes by protection. On Christmas Eve, the window, the children will Danish families place their go to bed and in the morning, Christmas tree in the middle they will either have received candy if they are good, or rotten of the room and dance around it while singing carols. potatoes if they are bad. y y Poland Italy Although many children receive y On Christmas Eve in Poland, presents from Father Christmas many families share oplatek, a religious wafer. Each person on Christmas Eve, a unique breaks off a piece as they Italian tradition is that La 3

wish each other Merry Christmas. Dinner does not begin until the first star appears in the night sky and, traditionally, an extra setting is left at the table should someone show up uninvited.

y y Portugal y In Portugal, several friends gather on Christmas Eve at an old tavern called Casa das Bananas, in

Braga, to wish everyone a Merry Christmas while having a glass of Moscatel de Setúbal and eating a banana. The tradition started around 40 years ago. The tavern was a fruit warehouse many years ago, so the owner and his son decided to serve their liquor with a banana, combining the two sides of the business.

y y Ukraine y One of Ukraine’s favourite festive traditions is

y y

decorating their house and tree with fake spider webs. The tradition goes back to a folktale about a poor widow who could not afford to decorate a tree for her children. Legend has it that spiders in the house took pity on the family, and spun beautiful webs all over the tree, which the children awoke to find on Christmas morning. Spiders' webs are also considered to be lucky. in Ukrainian culture.

Tottenham Hotspur bring festive joy to local children’s ward y Tottenham Hotspur Football Club (THFC) brought festive joy to our children’s ward last week. y y Harry Kane MBE, star striker for THFC and captain for the England national football team, held a surprise video call for children and staff on Dolphin Ward to start the lead-up to Christmas. y y The North London football team also gifted patients with cuddly toys and interactive games, whilst treating the dedicated children’s team to luxurious goods and food to enjoy. y y Kelly Parker, paediatrics matron at PAHT, said: “We were delighted to virtually greet Harry Kane and the Tottenham team. The festive season can often be a challenging time for our patients and their families,

the club, said: “It was a pleasure to meet some of our young football fans and the children’s ward team at PAHT.

y y “It was great to send gifts for the hard-working teams and presents for the children to help put a smile on their faces. Merry Christmas all.” y y Pictured left: Harry Kane greets a patient. y Pictured below: The PAHT team with the gifts. so this welcome surprise helped to lift their spirits.

y y “We cannot thank them enough for their generous gifts; it means the world to our patients, their loved ones and our hard-working team. Thank you for thinking of us.” y y Harry Kane, player for

AlexNet is ready - come on in Come on in and take a look

It’s the time that you have been waiting for – we introduced our brand new Extranet, AlexNet, this week. Features include:  Brand new workspaces for all teams and services  Event and noticeboard listings  Easy to locate policies and procedures  Your most frequently used pages populated on the home page  Available from your phone or tablet, as well as your laptop and desktop PC How to log in To use AlexNet, please follow the steps below: 1. Restart your computer 2. Open a new internet tab 3. Under sign in, select login via NHSmail 4. Type your NHSmail email address and your NHSmail password in and sign in 5. Take a look around It really is that easy - all you need to know; all you want to share; all in one place; all at the click of a button. Find the missing pieces of the puzzle Four puzzle pieces are hidden on random pages on AlexNet for you to find. To be in with a chance of winning a £50 Amazon

voucher, email paht. communications@nhs.net with the following: y Which pages you have found the four missing puzzle pieces on y What you like most about AlexNet

the executive team briefing on Tuesday 18 January.

The competition will close on Wednesday 12 January and the winner will be announced at 5

New for 2022

The Alex Lounge – your health and wellbeing space y The Alex Lounge, next to the y Alexandra restaurant at The y Princess Alexandra Hospital, y will be a hub for you to meet colleagues and relax together, to take some time out for yourself, or to join one of the health and wellbeing sessions planned for the dedicated space at the lounge. y y You can see the latest artist’s impression (right), however this may be subject to change. The space is set to open soon, with the date to be confirmed.

The Alex Learning, Education and Development Centre

y The winning name is… y Thank you to everyone who took the time to vote for the name of your new dedicated centre for learning and development. We are pleased to share that the winning name is the Alex Learning, Education and Development Centre. y y Your learning starts here y Our fantastic Alex Learning, Education and Development Centre is soon to be open for our people in the new year. y y Open to all, the facility consists of a new library, lecture theatre, training rooms, a clinical skills room, a resuscitation training room, a simulation suite, IT training room, and a manual handling training room. The centre is adjacent to The

Princess Alexandra Hospital and group discussion. main entrance. y Our new library y The teams below will be Our new library is a quiet based at the new facility: and tranquil space to support y Clinical skills and simulation your learning and wellbeing. y IT training The extensive book collection y Learning and organisational covers a wide range of development topics from evidence-base, y Library supporting professional y Medical education development, clinical and y Resuscitation training management decision-making, education, and research. More about our new facility Our growing collection caters Our digital knowledge hub for all of our people, with Our digital knowledge hub is areas dedicated to equality front and centre of the new and diversity, mood boosting, facility and gives you access fiction, and children’s picture to nine computers, a printer books. The library offers a and scanner. Our seating dedicated study space with area invites reflection and a five computers, a printer and space away from the work scanner and a quiet zone for environment, whilst being a online meetings, study and place for creative collaboration research. 6

You can access the new library from Monday to Friday, 9am5pm, and library members can access the new facility 24 hours a day, seven days a week, using their swipe access card. Clinical skills room The clinical skills room is designed to facilitate procedural skills training

such as IV cannulation, catheterisation and surgical skills.

will keep you updated with progress and room booking information.

Simulation suite The simulation suite room replicates a hospital ward bay to enhance and improve training available for our clinical teams.

Your learning starts here

Resuscitation training room The resuscitation room offers a large space to carry out resuscitation training. We

Our patients said... "I want to express my sincere and heartfelt gratitude to the virtual visiting team. It was a real blessing to be able to have a virtual visit with my brother. "Thank you all for making these visits possible and for enabling families to maintain contact in these difficult times. "You provide a much-needed and invaluable service for patients and their families."

"I am writing to say how proud I am of the people who cared for me before, during and after my two recent operations. We are in a pandemic situation, one that has taken its toll in many ways. Despite this, these people have shown how lovely they can be. "Each have lives away from the hospital, but you would never know it. The care and dedication is on show and each have become good friends. "They have all touched my heart with their selfless help and support."

#PAHTPeople Teams thank local restaurants for their kindness and support

Our teams are sending their thanks to local restaurants and venues for their support in refunding and postponing Christmas party bookings in light of the new COVID-19 Omicron Government restrictions. Although national guidance for general Christmas celebrations has not been altered, given the current high demand on hospital services and the anticipated additional pressure from the new COVID-19 variant all colleagues have been asked to consider changing their plans to celebrate with their team. Lance McCarthy, chief executive, said: “The unprecedented demands on the hospital and our ongoing plans to meet these demands has meant we have had to make the really tough decision to ask our people to reduce the risk of infection outside of the hospital and reschedule planned celebrations. This decision has not been made lightly and reflects our duty of care to our patients and our people too. “A huge thank you goes to the many local restaurants and venues who have generously agreed to refund deposits and rebook in February and March 2022. Their understanding means that our people do not have be concerned about any financial loss. We know that the restrictions are also putting extra pressures on the hospitality trade and want to acknowledge their kindness in offering to refund and rebook events planned by our clinicians and support teams at what is a very difficult time for everyone.”

Midwife receives Cavell Star award

A dedicated midwife at The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust (PAHT) has received a prestigious Cavell Star Award from the Cavell Nurses’ Trust. Midwives, nurses, and healthcare assistants can be nominated for a Cavell Star Award if they show dedication to their role and give exceptional support to their patients, patients’ families, and colleagues. Kirstie Savege, midwife,, was nominated for the Cavell Star Award for her hard work and commitment and for continuously going above and beyond for the people that she cares for. She was surprised with her award on 8 December, which was presented to her by Giuseppe Labriola, director of midwifery at PAHT. Kirstie said: “I was totally shocked and also incredibly honoured to have received the Cavell Star Award. The team I work with are fantastic and I couldn’t do my role without the support of each and every one of them.” Giuseppe said: “I am extremely proud that Kirstie has been recognised for the Cavell Star Award. Kirstie received this as she continually places women and birthing people at the centre of care. She develops personalised care plans to support birth choices and in addition to her matron role, has put herself on call to support. Kirstie is a compassionate leader and an absolute asset to our team.” Sharon McNally, director of nursing, midwifery and allied health professionals, added: “I am extremely proud of Kirstie for her dedicated, compassionate service to our patients. This is wonderful, much deserved recognition of her outstanding care.” 8