November 2015
Welcome
Welcome to Inside St John’s, bringing
you the latest news from St John’s
Hospital in Livingston.
Health and Safety Issues
Jacquie Campbell, Site Director and
Caroline McDowall, St John’s
Partnership Lead would like to make all
staff, visitors and patients aware of some
concerns that have been raised again
regarding the number of people using
uncovered cups containing hot liquids.
This leads to increased risks of slips and
falls as well as the possibility of
burns/scalds. We would like to remind all
of their responsibility to look after the
health and safety of themselves and
others in the workplace and hospital
setting. In order to ensure the safety of
staff, patients and visitors we would like
to remind everyone that when walking in
public areas all cups must be covered
over.
Health Promotion and
Resource Centre
The way you order your posters and
leaflets has changed. Since 5 October
2015, there is a new online ordering
system.
You will be able to order DVDs,
teaching kits, models, pull-up exhibitions
and books.
All you need to do is register online for a
username and password. For further
information contact 0131 537 9337/8 or
Email
resource.centre@nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk
or visit
www.nhslothianhpac.scot.nhs.uk.
Healthy Living Award
St John’s Hospital undertook their annual
revalidation of the Healthy Working Lives
Award in September this year and are
delighted to have been informed that they
will retain the Gold Award. The award
recognises the level of activities,
campaigns and commitment the site has
to improving the working lives of its staff.
Over the last year we have held a
number of events such as the Mini
Healthy Working Lives and Active Travel
events in the dining room along with
information campaigns such as trip share
and smokefree sites. Over the next year
we plan to continue to work with West
Lothian Health and Social Care
Partnership on our joint action plan and
tailor activities to the specific needs of
West Lothian staff.
Please also remember that for some
seasonal, delicious and healthy recipes
visit: www.healthylivingaward.co.uk
Clinical Change Forum –
next event
For further information please visit the
intranet or contact Sandra MacGillivray,
eHealth Project Manager
The next event in the series of Clinical
Change Forum meetings will take place
on Wednesday 16th December 2015,
9.00am-11.00am, Paul Taylor Lecture
Theatre, St. John’s Hospital.
(sandra.macgillivray@nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk)
Please register your interest by emailing
ourhealth.ourfuture@nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk
Trakcare Paper Lite
Programme
Electronic clerking and inpatient progress
notes have been live from Monday 5
October in the following wards - Stroke
Unit, 8, 9, 14, 21, Medical Assessment
Unit/Primary Assessment Area, 25,
Tippethill and St Michael’s. This means
all patients in these wards now have the
following information recorded
electronically – clerking, progress notes
from all staff groups, AHP assessments
and a subset of nursing forms. A number
of these patients have also had their
casenotes scanned meaning over the last
six months these wards at St John’s have
taken a huge step forward in paper lite
working.
The West Lothian Frailty
Programme
We are seeking to improve our services
provided for our frail elderly population.
This involves joint and close working
across primary, community and acute
care and with patients, families, carers
and other sectors throughout West
Lothian to improve our services and
quality of care. The whole programme is
led by the executive teams in the Health
and Social Care Partnership, West
Lothian Council, Primary Care and St
John’s Hospital; and the core
components of the programme are being
tested by our cross-sector staff, led by
our Consultant Geriatricians Dr. Latana
Munang, Dr. Jane Rimer and Dr. Maria
Corretge.
We are specifically looking to introduce:
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The project team would like to thank all
staff for their commitment to ensuring that
these significant changes to working
practices have been as smooth as
possible.

In order to go-live with the Head and
Neck wards some changes are required
to Trakcare – these are underway and
once solutions confirmed, training will
start on these wards and a go-live plan
confirmed.
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A frailty screen
An initial assessment
A comprehensive geriatric
assessment
Robust implementation of
recommendations from these
assessments
Service redesign that meets the
needs of West Lothian’s
population
The role of our new REACH nurse
(Rapid Elderly Assessment and
Care in Hospital) – Louise
McKay’s role is pivotal and is
already providing a positive
impact.
We aim to update our intranet over the
coming months:
The Medical Assessment
Unit (MAU)
Since August 2015 the assessment of all
emergency and potential medical
admissions and medical ambulatory care
assessments have combined into one
streamlined unit.
In order to meet this large volume
demand we have recognised the need to
upgrade our MAU.
From 16 November 2015 major works will
start to:
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Take unnecessary office rooms
out of the area and convert for
patient use
Combine two smaller offices into
one well-equipped larger
multi-disciplinary office
Combine two smaller rooms (that
are too small to be used for patient
care) into one large clinical room
Convert an office back into its
original use as a clinical room.
The work will stop over the festive break
and resume in January with it being
completed by the end of January at the
latest. The works will add pressures in
MAU and your patience would be
gratefully appreciated during this time.
If you have any questions please contact
Carolyn.Swift@nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk in
the first instance.
Get Ready for Winter
Winter planning in November is focusing
on encouraging good hand hygiene
practice as part of infection control to
minimise the spread of illnesses such as
Norovirus over the winter. Washing your
hands properly with soap and warm water
is the single most important thing you can
do to help reduce the spread of infections
and help protect you, your patients and
those around you.
Information and resources to help
promote good hand hygiene can be found
on the intranet.
In relation to flu, Australia has had a
record number of flu cases this winter
(25,000 more than the previous year) and
is an indication of what may follow in the
northern hemisphere and we encourage
staff and patients to get the flu
vaccination.
Further information on staff flu
vaccination clinics can be found on the
intranet.
NMC Revalidation Update
The NMC has confirmed that the new
process of ‘Revalidation’ for nurses and
midwives will go ahead as planned on
1 April 2016.
The NMC has written and/or e-mailed all
nurses and midwives on the register to
inform them of this and all information is
available on their website at the link
below.
http://www.nmc.org.uk/standards/revalidation
NHS Lothian will also contact all nurses
and midwives due to revalidate in the first
quarter - April, May and June 2016. This
contact will be by letter and e-mail. We
also have an NHS Lothian Revalidation
Helpline on 35546 (0131 465 5546) so
that staff with concerns or those with a
question can call and talk things through.
The Helpline will be available from
Tuesday 5 January 2016 between 9am
and 3pm, Monday to Friday except public
holidays. At other times you can leave a
message and someone will call you back.
In addition, workshop sessions for those
who will be revalidating in the first
quarter, along with Confirmers’ sessions,
are being set up at various venues across
NHS Lothian. These dates will be
available on the NHS Lothian NMC
Revalidation page on the intranet
Talk to other colleagues and your
manager about Revalidation and make
sure to log in with the NMC through their
website.
Volunteer Thank You Event
NHS Lothian appreciates volunteers and
everything that they do. As part of this,
Jacqui Campbell, Site Director and Agnes
McKenna, Volunteer Service Manager
would like to warmly invite all volunteers
to a Volunteer Thank You Event on
Wednesday 16 December 2015 from
3pm to 5pm within St John’s Hospital
dining room.
Volunteers wishing to attend please
advise Agnes McKenna by Friday 27
November for catering purposes.
Entertainment will be provided.
Any staff wishing to come along to thank
the volunteers personally will be warmly
welcomed.
This is your site newsletter and we want to hear from you about what’s going on
in your service.
Please send stories to Frieda.Cadogan@nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk