January bulletin

/Board members/Shriti_Pattani

Dear Colleagues

I’d like to wish you all a happy, healthy new year.
 
The Network is starting the new year with a refreshed website which should be easier to navigate and even more user friendly. A big thank you to Andrew and Wendy who have been working hard on this and have done a marvellous job. Please do visit the website.  

I believe this year will be rewarding for us in OH despite the challenges we face in the NHS. There is a big focus on the health of care givers. Towards the end of last year the GMC, NMC and Health Education England were focusing their efforts on ways of supporting doctors and nurses. One of the recurrent themes is around providing investment and support to sustain NHS OH services including a drive for OH to be considered a clinical service rather than a back office function.
 
The National Workforce Skills Development Unit has with the help of an expert reference group developed a framework to support organisations in thinking about and addressing staff mental health and wellbeing. The Unit is inviting organisations to test the framework over January and February 2019. The link is within the bulletin if you would like to take part.

Best wishes

Shriti Pattani
Network Chair


The next edition will be circulated on 6th February 2019.

In this edition:

1. Network Chair
2. Network website
3. MoHaWK – Round 14
4. Doctors in training programme – workshop invitation
5. Health and Wellbeing at Work 2019 – Network member special discount
6. Workforce Stress and the Supportive Organisation: A framework for improvement through reflection, curiosity and change – Framework Testing
7. Population wellbeing portal
8. Lungs at Work courses
9. Essential legal skills for OH professionals – Network member discount
10. Recent articles
11. Flu fighter update
12. NHS Employers update

 

1. Network Chair

We are delighted to announce that Dr Shriti Pattani will extend her tenure as Chair of the Network for a further year (until March 2020), following a unanimous vote by Board members. This is very positive news and provides stability and additional momentum to continue Shriti’s excellent work in leading the Board and the Network. If there are any matters you think the Network should be getting further involved in, please don't hesitate to contact Shriti at shritipattani@nhs.net.

2. Network website

We hope that you like our new refreshed website.  If you have any problems logging in you can generate a new password here - just enter your email address and click on login.  If you have any difficulties please contact admin@nhshealthatwork.co.uk.

3. MoHaWK

Round 14 is open - new paper record keeping audit included

Round 14 has now opened for data inputting. It will be open for the full month of January which gives plenty of time to collate data from your system and input. If you need a reminder on the data requirements the briefing notes are attached.
Don’t forget due to popular request by members of the NHS Network, the new paper record keeping audit has been created for this round for those who are using paper records rather than electronic (electronic record keeping was added to the system for Round 13). For those services working towards SEQOHS accreditation, these two tools may prove very valuable to you. Two excel tools to aid data collection for the electronic and paper audits to assist you with collecting the data for these audits.

Any questions, please do contact me hilary.winch@nnuh.nhs.uk.

4. Doctors in Training Programme: Improving the onboarding and induction experience of Doctors in Training

Portable Immunisation & Vaccination Records Co-Design Workshop
 
NHS Improvement and Health Education England cordially invite you to be part of a national workshop to support improvements in the onboarding and induction of Doctors in Training (DiT). In inviting you to participate in the workshop, we would like to specifically ask for your expertise and guidance on:

  • Developing a core list, or a nationally agreed position statement on a core list, of immunisations and vaccinations, with a standard naming convention to assist in the portability of data
  • Developing a nationally agreed position statement on seeking consent to the transfer of immunisation and vaccination data between employers
  • Agreeing a national minimum dataset on a health questionnaire.

Professor Diana Kloss and Dr Shriti Pattani, Chair of the NHS Health at Work Network, are expected to attend the workshop and the background to the wider DiT programme and its aims is attached for information.  
 
The workshop is primarily aimed at occupational health professionals who are involved in the employment processes for doctors in training. We also welcome attendance from occupational health and HR administration and infection control teams (including microbiologists) at the workshop.

The workshop will be held on 05 February 2019 (10:30 - 16:00) at NHS Improvement’s offices in Wellington House, London, SE1 8UG and is free to attend.  Please note that there will be a limited number of places available on the day (4 places per region), which will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. Please register your attendance at the workshop with Simone Morris at simone.morris2@nhs.net  or on 020 3747 0771 / 07706 000749 by 5pm on Friday 11 January 2019.
 
Please also let Simone know whether you, or an appropriate representative from your team, would like to participate in the technological working group detailed in the attached background information.

5. Health and Wellbeing at Work 2019 – Network member special discount

Registration is now open for Health and Wellbeing at Work, the UK’s leading event for improving the health, safety, wellbeing and performance of work-aged people.

Now in its 13th successful year, it combines 21 conference programmes with workshops and an exhibition. This year sees the introduction of a dedicated conference programme for the NHS Workplace, profiling innovation and best practice within the NHS Workforce. Look out for leading experts from NHS England, NHS Improvement and NHS Employers discussing the new NHS Health and Wellbeing Framework, plus successful strategies for reducing sickness absence, improving resilience, protecting workers and cultivating a culture of wellbeing.

Members of the NHS Health at Work Network can register before 15 January at an exclusive rate of just £35 + VAT for both days – email admin@nhshealthatwork.co.uk to obtain your discount code. 

To register and view the full programme visit www.healthwellbeingwork.co.uk.

6. Workforce Stress and the Supportive Organisation: A framework for improvement through reflection, curiosity and change – Framework Testing

One of the biggest challenges facing the NHS is workforce resilience and wellbeing. The National Workforce Skills Development Unit has with the help of an expert reference group developed a framework to support organisations in thinking about and addressing staff mental health and wellbeing. 
 
The framework provides organisations with a structured process and space to think through and understand the issues confronting their people with the aim of creating a supportive organisation. The focus of the framework is on systemic rather than individual resilience.
 
The framework is currently being tested for accessibility and proof of concept. The Unit is inviting organisations to test the framework over January and February 2019. A tailored approach will be developed to best meet the needs of organisations engaging with this work.

For more information on the testing process and how to get involved, click here.
 
You can also find more information about the project and the Unit’s other projects on its website.

7. Population wellbeing portal

Early in 2019 Health Education England e-Learning for Healthcare (HEE e-LfH) will launch its Population Wellbeing Portal. The Portal will be free to access by anyone who can positively impact public health and wellbeing and it will offer free access to education, training and professional development resources, helping deliver improvements in public health and prevention. 

The Portal will provide a central location for numerous e-learning resources, reading material, guidance, toolkits, videos, factsheets and many more resources relating to population health.

The Portal will bring together material from multiple sources. This will include resources from HEE, Public Health England (PHE); the Academy for Public Health for London and the South East, the Faculty of Public Health as well as many others.  The Portal will link with All Our Health, PHE’s framework of evidence to guide healthcare professionals in preventing illness, protecting health and promoting wellbeing.  The aims of the Portal are to:

  • Centralise access to knowledge resources on public health and population health
  • Make it easier to find the resources needed to support the public to protect and improve their health
  • Equip people to help the public to stay healthy and deal with threats to their health.

If you would like to know more about the Portal, please contact population.wellbeing@e-lfh.org.uk.

8. Recent articles

If you haven’t seen them, you may find the following articles of interest.

9. Certificate in Managing Occupational Health Services – Network member special discount

25 – 27 March 2019, Central London

The At Work Partnership is delighted to offer NHS Health at Work network members a special discount of £200 + VAT for places on our Certificate in Managing Occupational Health Services.

This three-day Certificate programme is designed to equip you with the essential management tools to deliver a successful occupational health service.
Book and pay by 31 January 2019 to qualify for our early bird rates.
More information is available here. 

10. Lungs at Work courses

The Heart and Lung Institute is offering the following courses in London:

  • Lung Function Testing in the Workplace - Introductory Level - Wednesday 6 March 2019
  • Lung Function Testing in the Workplace – Intermediate Level - Thursday 4 April 2019
  • Introductory Medical Statistics (2 day course) - Thursday 23 to Friday 24 May 2019 – registration to open shortly
  • Occupational Lung Disease – Keeping Up to Date – 12 September 2019.  NB. Network members can claim £25 discount on this update, bringing the cost to £150 - please email admin@nhshealthatwork.co.uk for details.

FOM accreditation has been requested for all the above courses. Further information and registrations details are available on the course webpage or in the newsletter.

11. Flu fighter update

Public Health England flu letter

A new flu letter has been released by Public Health England, providing details of the recommended vaccines for the 2019 – 2020 seasonal flu vaccination programme. The Joint committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) reviewed the latest evidence on influenza vaccines and recommended two new vaccines which are currently not licensed but expected in December 2018, including: cell-grown quadrivalent vaccine (QIVc) and high-dose trivalent vaccine (TIV-HD). Read the letter in full on the flu letters page on NHS Employers website.

Feedback on opt out form

In September 2018, senior leaders in the NHS issued a letter to chief executives, confirming this year’s Trusts are required to report how many healthcare workers with direct patient contact have been offered the vaccine and have opted out. We would like to gather feedback from Trusts on implementing this new requirement, if you would like to share your thoughts, please email flufighter@nhsemployers.org.

Feedback on redeployment of non-vaccinated staff

We are also looking for feedback to gain some insight on trusts redeploying staff who are not vaccinated against flu from high risk areas following the same letter circulated at the beginning of the season. If your trust has started to do this, please can you let us know what it looks like operationally, any challenges you have faced and what the impact has been for NHS staff and patients. You can email us at flufighter@nhsemployers.org. 

Flu fighter awards nominations – deadline approaching!
 
The deadline is fast approaching to get your nominations in for the flu fighter awards. The awards aim to acknowledge the great work done by flu leads nationally this season and allows us to really exhibit the kind of praise worthy efforts being made. We can’t wait to see what great strategies you have been using this year in your flu campaigns!

Find out how you can enter here for any of our seven categories and be sure to get your nominations in by Monday 21 January!

November 2018 uptake figures

Public Health England have released the flu vaccination uptake figures for 1 September to 30 November 2018. So far, a total of 620,828 frontline staff have been vaccinated, representing 61 per cent of eligible frontline healthcare workers. This shows an increase of 36,992 more frontline healthcare workers receiving their flu vaccine compared to the same period last year. 
 
Please see a summary of the most improved and top performing acute, mental health, ambulance and community trusts on the NHS Employers website and a chance to see how your trust has performed.
 
Improving your flu fighter campaign workshop dates
 
We now have dates booked in for the improving your flu fighter workshops which will be held in Leeds and London. The London workshop will be held on 11 February 2019 and the Leeds workshop will be held on 25 February 2019, both from 10am to 4pm. These workshops are a great way of learning from other flu leads and will give you space to think about this year’s flu campaigns and planning for next year.
 
Registration is now open on the above links and spaces are limited so don’t delay in booking your place! 
 
Annual flu fighter conference and awards – save the date! 
 
We’re excited to let you know that the fourth annual flu fighter conference and awards will be taking place on Monday 25th March 2019 at The Midland Hotel, Manchester. Please do save the date in your diaries and we’ll let you know when registration is open in the new year. Nominations for the flu fighter awards are open now and you can find out how to enter here. The event celebrates best practice across flu fighter teams and campaigns and is a fantastic showcase of the work our flu leads do. We are looking forward to seeing your entries!

12. NHS Employers update

Health and wellbeing conference

Save the date for our annual health and wellbeing conference on Wednesday 13 March 2019, at Horizon Leeds. The conference will bring together NHS health and wellbeing leads to network, share and learn. Bookings will go live soon.

Inspire, attract and recruit toolkit

Read NHS Employers new interactive toolkit, containing examples of healthcare recruitment from across the NHS. The resource includes information about reaching new audiences, values-based recruitment, promoting rewards and much more to help you inspire, attract and recruit your future workforce. 

Health and safety at work summary statistics for Great Britain 2018

Annual statistics found that for every 23 workers in Britain one is suffering from ill health caused or made worse by their work. Take a look at the full summary statistics which show data on work-related MSK, work-related stress and anxiety and the costs to Britain. 

The Health, Safety and Wellbeing Partnership Group (HSWPG)

HSWPG are promoting safer working environments for all healthcare staff. They have produced a range of useful guidance and information on topics such as the safety of lone workers, management of back pain, sickness absence, stress and more. Find out more about the group and their useful resources.

 


The NHS Health at Work Network brings together all OH teams providing health and wellbeing services to NHS OH staff.  It is dedicated to providing consistent, high quality health at work services to all NHS staff through collaborative working.

Members of OH teams in NHS Health at Work Network member organisations can receive the bulletin and access the restricted areas of the website as a membership benefit – if you are not sure of your login details email admin@nhshealthatwork.co.uk.

Please share this bulletin with colleagues and encourage them to register to receive it regularly.

Non-Network members can also register to receive the monthly bulletin.

You can contact the Network through your regional representative or as shown below. Please get in touch if you have any queries or comments, if there is anything you would like to see in future issues of the bulletin, or if you have news to share.

Dr Shriti Pattani, Chair shritipattani@nhs.net
Andrew Gilbey, Network Manager andrew.gilbey25@gmail.com
Wendy Coleman, Network Administrator admin@nhshealthatwork.co.uk

Postal address: PO Box 642, BS23 9NG
Tel: 07584 269322