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Members eNewsletter - August 2021
The hospital has been very busy this month, with unusually high attendance in our accident and emergency departments and strong demand for other services. We have seen more Covid-19 patients, largely from those who have not had two doses of the vaccine, and this adds pressures on our other work. Staff have been working hard for a long time and supporting their health and wellbeing is important. Staff are taking well needed leave but each department plans to maintain our ability to deliver care.
I remind you all, infection measures including wearing masks remain in place in our hospitals.
We are keen to show we still have a strong grip on our performance, both in terms of meeting our financial plan, and in terms of waiting times and high standards. We need to use money wisely in order to be able to invest in our staff, facilities, and innovation, all for the benefit of patients. We are also proud of the quality of what we do and there has been renewed effort in recent months around work to be outstanding all the time.
Our vaccination programme has been a great success, with the Science Museum celebrating 100.000 doses given. Looking forward to the autumn, there will be a strong emphasis on encouraging staff to get both the flu vaccine and proposed booster jab against Covid-19. This will protect them and their patients, and make the service more resilient by reducing winter sickness. The exact criteria for eligibility for the public will be announced. I very much hope that if you are eligible, that you take them up.
I hope you enjoy reading about the other developments in the hospital.
Council of Governor Elections
We have a really exciting opportunity coming up for members to nominate themselves for election as a Governor. Our Council of Governors are a very valued and important part of our Trust. They represent different communities, patients, staff and key partner organisations such as Local Authorities. Our Governors help to shape our services and our future, provide important feedback and perspectives on our services, help us to improve the care that we offer and also hold some critical roles such as the appointment of Non-Executive Directors on our Trust Board of Directors. Our Council of Governors hold our Board of Directors to account and ensure that the services we provide reflect the needs and priorities of our patients, staff and local communities.
We have a total of 12 vacancies available and will be opening our nomination process for these vacancies on Friday 10 September 2021. We will contact you at this point in writing with the details of how you can nominate yourself for a seat on the Council of Governors, should you wish to do so. The deadline for submitting a nomination for one of the vacant seats is Friday 8 October 2021. Voting will be open for all nominated candidates
on 1 November 2021 and close on 24 November 2021.
The seats that are available:
- 2 x public seats representing the London Borough of Hounslow
- 1 x public seat representing the London Borough of Ealing
- 1 x public seat representing the London Borough of Wandsworth
- 2 x public seats representing the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames
- 5 x patient seats
- 1 x staff seat representing Nursing and Midwifery Staff
As a Governor you will be required to attend quarterly meetings of the Council of Governors which are held in public.
David Erskine Development
Our latest capital development project is underway. Work has started on the £1.5m development of David Erskine ward at our Chelsea and Westminster hospital site. This refurbished 28 bedded ward will be home to our new respiratory unit and will improve management of acute and respiratory needs of the local population - a key population health need even before Covid-19. The design has embedded the Lessons Learnt from the first two waves of the pandemic. The works are scheduled to be completed in the autumn in two phases across October and November.
Celebrating diversity in our workforce
We were delighted to welcome the Philippine Ambassador to the UK, Antonio Lagdameo and the new UK Ambassador to the Philippines, Laura Beaufils to our Chief Nursing Awards event which also celebrated the amazing diversity of our workforce.
Congratulations to Josephine Tidon, Ward Manager for Marble Hill 2 at our West Middlesex site for being awarded the Chief Nursing Officer Silver award which recognises outstanding nurse leadership.
Jane Marie Hamill, Lead Nurse for ICU for many years prior to her retirement in April, was also awarded the Chief Nursing Officer silver award.
Offering more opportunities to physiotherapy students
 Well done to Michael Shaw, Clinical Lead Physiotherapist for ED, Acute Medicine, Medical Rehabilitation & Frailty and his team for successfully bidding for a Health Education England grant that allowed them to offer opportunities to students through the pandemic. The department provided placements for 41 additional students who would have otherwise seen their training delayed. A great example of working to our objective of being the Employer of Choice, this has helped build links with the students and their universities, below are some of their comments:
"As my first placement within a hospital setting, I think the standards have been set very high for my future placements!"
" I'm really enjoying my time at C+W, all the team on Nightingale Ward have been so helpful and friendly"
" Great last placement getting ready for the real world of physiotherapy, a great opportunity for MDT working."
New Digital tool for mental health care support
 Our Trust and CW+ have worked together to create Best For You, a profoundly different model of care in child and adolescent mental health.
The first phase of Best For You is the programme's website which has launched to provide a much-needed and widely accessible online resource including a library of free, safe and accredited apps that have been rigorously vetted and tested by ORCHA (the Organisation for Review of Care and Health Applications).
This is the first of many milestones in our Best For You programme, which will integrate, for the first time, physical, mental health, in-patient, day and community care in a cohesive and comprehensive way.
Visit the website to find out more
Volunteers needed for a Dementia and memory study
 Would you like to take part in new research for the diagnosis of Dementia and other types of memory related diseases?
We are looking to recruit individuals both with dementia and healthy elderly volunteers to participate in our research. It is none-invasive research that will take up to 1 hour.
You will receive £15 Marks & Spencer's voucher for your participation.
To find out more, please email the research team on [email protected].
Research Award Win
 Congratulations to Dr Anusuya Kawsar, Dr Louise Fearfield, Dr Eirini Merika and Dr Randa Akel for winning an award for their research into dermatology. The research was carried at Chelsea and Westminster and Royal Marsden Hospitals. The award from the British Association of Dermatologists was for the category of Best Poster - Case Report.
Well done to all involved.
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Our Council of Governors are elected by you. They play an important role in making sure your views as members, and those of the wider public are represented by the Trust.