Members E-Newsletter

  

Dear Member,

 

We have seen a steady increase of COVID patients much like the rest of hospitals across London and are ensuring our workforce are best prepared as  possible to cope with the rising numbers of patients.

 

We continue to take extra measures by providing COVID testing kits for asymptomatic staff; this has also been adopted nationally across all NHS. This will help us to reduce the risk of spreading the virus and further protect our staff and patients from contracting the virus.

 

Thermafy thermal screening was recently introduced at Chelsea. The thermal screening is part of keeping staff, visitors and patients safe and has been well received.  Our Hospital Director, Dominic Conlin demonstrates the process in a video about Thermafy – and we hope to introduce this at all hospital entrances in due course.

 

I am incredibly proud to share that our Trust has received a number of awards recognising their outstanding work. I hope you will join me in congratulating our research teams this month:

 

The Research and Development Team, has been awarded the NIHR Outstanding Achievement Team Award in recognition of their efforts for going above and beyond in delivering research in North West London during the most unprecedented of times.

 

The Clinical Research Team at West Middlesex Hospital has been awarded the NIHR Outstanding Collaborative Achievement Award, for working effectively to embed research into clinical pathways and have thereby made an outstanding contribution to the delivery of (NIHR CRN portfolio) studies.
  

Lastly congratulations to Dr Nicola Bridges, who has also been recognised with an individual award, the NIHR Outstanding Principal Investigator Award for First Commercial Study Delivered to Time and Target. This is a great achievement showcasing her commitment to research excellence. It’s great to know that despite the current climate we can still maintain our services to the highest standard.

 

I do hope you’re keeping well this winter, and I would like to encourage you to get flu immunised at this critical time.  By protecting yourself you enable us to prioritise those who are vulnerable and in need of urgent care during the winter months. The recent development with COVID vaccinations is an important development and we as a Trust cannot wait to be part of this. 

 

Our Trust remains safe and open. We have also made a number of changes for how we are resuming services, see here.

 

All the best,

Lesley Watts

 

 

Highlights

 

A musical thank you

We received a lovely message and incredible musical composition from a 6-year old boy, Apollo Premadasa as a thank you to our Trust.

 

Dear doctors, nurses and other staff at CHELSEA AND WESTMINSTER

 

My name is Apollo and I'm 6 years old and I live in London. I want to send you this piece because you are working very very hard and I hope it makes you feel better, happy, calm and give you energy. I have composed it for all the doctors, nurses, scientists and the people who are suffering because of coronavirus in the world. 

 

I am a musician and I play the trombone, cello, timpani and tune percussion because I love music. I love music because without music people would be gloomy but with music people would be happy and that's why I like it.  It is the way I can help. 

 

This piece is a string quartet that is played with four instruments: cello, viola, violin 1 and violin 2. What you see is the score of the music and the green line tells you what is sounding. I can't send you a video with a real quartet because there is a lockdown and the musicians can't record it yet...

 

Thank you very much for helping people that are sick and dying from COVID19 in the hospital. You are saving the world!

 

THANK YOU

APOLLO Premadasa


Listen to this wonderful string quartet here

 

 

Radiography Day

 


This was celebrated on the anniversary of the discovery of the X-ray, which you may remember was 8 November 1895. We all know how important our radiography colleagues are in the Trust’s work – in screening, diagnosis, monitoring and treatment. Happy belated Radiography Day!

 


A message for you

 

We have created a new way for patients and their loved ones to stay in touch. This will go a long way in putting a smile on some faces through these challenging times. A message for you service is run by our volunteers at the Trust. 
 
Helpforce recognises Trust volunteer

 

One of volunteers Paula has been recognised by help force for all her great work at our Trust.

 

Paula hit the ground running at a time when Covid-19 reared its ugly head, eliciting the Trust’s PROUD values every step of the way. She covered the width and breadth of the hospital, whether she was distributing food parcels to front line healthcare clinicians and more. Read here.

 

This year’s Research, Innovation and Quality Improvement Event – ‘RIQI 2020’

 

 

We ran a number of well attended Research, Innovation and Quality Improvement events to celebrate and showcase best practice across the Trust at our RIQI 2020 event.

 

It showcased our growing portfolio of staff-led research, innovation and improvement projects, whilst raising awareness of the support available to help staff bring new ideas that deliver better, more responsive and cost-effective care to fruition.  It focussed on three themes which will benefit patients greatly. Find out more information here.

 

 

 

 

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

 

 

International Men’s Day

 

 This month we celebrated ‘International Men’s Day’ which was a time for men to focus and reflect on their own health amongst other things.  A group of our male nurses completed this short film about their careers, and about how they try and keep healthy.

 

 

 

CW+ Hospital Charity

 

CW+ Festival of Flowers

 

This year we provided a virtual memorial service on Saturday 14 November for family, friends and staff to remember those who have died recently. We received heart-warming messages about those who lost loved ones/colleagues on a card and it was placed on a special tree of remembrance at each of our hospitals.  Read more about it here.

CW+ Digital Arts Programme: Virtual Connections

 

CW+ are uploading a host of new Virtual Connections content to their website. The online arts programme was created in response to the COVID-19 crisis and allows artists to engage digitally with patients, their families and friends, as well as Trust staff and the wider local community. Click here to take part in a range of free online workshops including music, mindfulness, yoga and more!


CW+ launches community fundraising initiative Republic of YOUmanity

 

 

A new fundraising initiative for CW+, ‘Republic of YOUmanity’, was set up by arts patrons Maryam Eisler, Maria Sukkar and Shirley Elghanian, transforming shop windows across Kensington & Chelsea into a pop-up gallery featuring large prints by award-winning photographer David Taggart. Participating retailers include interior design firm Linley, jewellers Laurence Coste, designers Catherine Prevost and Melissa Odabash, restaurants Aubaine and Daphne’s, upmarket pet shop Love My Human, and more.

 

Aiming to unite the local community during a time of isolation and disconnection, this new initiative was conceived only 36 hours before the latest nationwide lockdown, and will run until 13 December 2020. For one month only, prints of Taggart’s incredible photographs are now on a limited sale to the public, with all proceeds benefitting CW+ and its projects at the Trust. Click here to find out more and purchase a print.

 
 

National Stress Awareness Day

 

It's perfectly normal not to feel like yourself during these challenging times.

 

This National Stress Awareness Day allowed staff to take a look at what was on offer in the form of webinars and take some time to seek further support via support lines, wellbeing apps, advice and more.

 

 

 

Taking part in Movember?

 

 

In the month of November, many have been growing their moustachesin order to tacklemen's health,focussing on mental health and suicide prevention, prostate cancer and testicular cancer.

 

Would you like to take part? If so, post your moustache growth pictures on Twitter and tag @ChelWestFTand @WestMidHospital and we'll share! Have a look how to take part and 'growa moustache'.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Council of Governors election results – November 2020

 

As a Foundation Trust, we are accountable to our local communities and our staff through our membership and the Council of Governors which includes elected representatives of the public, patients and staff – as voted for by Foundation Trust members.

 

Governors represent their members' and local people's views when important decisions are taken about services or the future direction of the hospital, having a greater say in how services are run.

 

Voting for this year’s Council of Governors election closed at 5pm on Wednesday 25 November 2020 and the results have been declared. You can read the report of voting here www.chelwest.nhs.uk/elections

 

 

Meet a Governor Sessions

 

 

The Council of Governors play an important role in making sure your views as members and the wider public are represented by the Trust. As governors are directly elected by you, if you would like to speak to a governor directly, please attend our next up and coming Meet a Governor Sessions on the 3rd, 10th , 16th , 17th , 24th, and 31st December.

 

For more information click here.

 

 

Staying in touch

 

Your next e-newsletter will be out in December with more news and events. In the meantime, keep safe and well and thank you for your continued support, we will be in touch again to tell you more about events and opportunities.

  

There are several ways for you to keep in touch. We love to share information about our work, and you’ll find lots of stories about us on social media.

 

• Instagram: Trustwide

• Twitter: Chelsea and Westminster • West Middlesex

• Facebook: Chelsea and Westminster • West Middlesex

  

For any queries, or to update on any changes in contact information, please contact the Membership Officer by emailing [email protected] or call 020 3315 6725 for more information.

 

 

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