February 2015
Welcome
WELPACT 3: Interfacing
Welcome to the February issue of Inside
St John’s.
The third large West Lothian Pathways
Collaborative (WELPACT) event was
held at Howden Park Centre on 10
February. As well as more than 60
delegates we welcomed three members
of Scottish Government.
Pensions
New pension arrangements are to be
introduced for public sector pension
schemes from April 2015. Information on
the changes can be found here.
Smokefree Hospital Grounds
The Scottish Government requires all
hospital buildings and grounds to be
completely smoke free from 1 April 2015.
For St John’s site this brings significant
challenges, and concerns from staff and
patients alike. An implementation group
chaired by Chris Stirling, Site Director,
has been established and is meeting
fortnightly to prepare for this significant
change. Managers and staff from all
services on the site, staff side are
members of the group.
All staff should receive a leaflet on the
changes with their payslip this week. If
you have not received one and would like
a copy, please email
lothian.communications@nhs.net. There
will also be more information in the next
issue of Connections.
Staff should also take care not to put
themselves at risk if leaving the grounds
to smoke. They are also reminded that
the law prohibits smoking in certain public
places which are 'wholly or substantially
enclosed' and this includes underpasses.
On this occasion a panel made up of
working group members enthusiastically
described progress and challenges so far
in looking at reducing readmissions and
improving aspects of care. There followed
an interactive question time where
delegates expressed their desire to learn
more and were able to contribute ideas
and opinion that will further shape our
work. We were very lucky to have Dr
Andy Longmate, National Clinical Lead,
Scottish Government who gave an
inspirational talk on managing change
and Alison Taylor, Head of Strategy and
Delivery – Integration, Scottish
Government who provided information on
Integrated Joint Boards.
The afternoon gave us an opportunity to
consider in facilitated groups how we
might best serve the needs of the Frail
Elderly in West Lothian. We examined
the plight of “Scott” (one of the patient
profiles in the Lothian Clinical Strategy)
and examined principles of care. These
sessions and will inform developments as
we work on the frailty pathway along with
West Lothian Health and Care
Partnership, wider community services
and carers.
PVG Retrospective Checking
CCTV on site
The Protection of Vulnerable Groups
(PVG) legislation replaced the disclosure
arrangements for people who work with
vulnerable groups. After October 2015 it
will be illegal for anyone who is involved
in regulated work not to be on the PVG
Scheme. NHS Lothian needs to have
everyone in regulated work on the
Scheme by July 2015. More information
can be found on HROnline.
To ensure security and protection of our
property and maintain a safe environment
for the benefit of patients, visitors and
staff throughout the hospital complex, St
John’s has a significant number of either
fixed or rotating CCTV Cameras.
Car parking and lift sharing
Many staff and visitors continue to
experience difficulty with car parking
when visiting the site. Unfortunately,
there are more staff who want a parking
permit than there are available spaces.
Longer term we are looking to include
additional car parking spaces within the
masterplanning proposals for the site.
However in the short term the use of lift
sharing is a great way of reducing the
pressure on car parking and also helping
staff save some money through reduced
travel costs. This will also support the
environment and our commitment to the
Scottish Government target to lower
emissions from road transport.
The site team plans to create 20
protected spaces in one of the barrier car
parks for staff who are lift sharing. This
preferential space will be operated as a
trial for a period and if successful will be
expanded.Those staff currently on the
waiting list for a parking permit will be
receiving information in the coming
weeks about how they can register for
www.nhslothiantripshare.com
A meeting has been arranged for 9
March, 12.30pm–1.30pm in lecture
theatre, St John’s. Staff who are
interested in finding out more are
encouraged to attend.
We have recently introduced body-worn
video cameras in order to support the car
parking and security teams to reduce acts
of violence and aggression towards
facilities staff. This ‘silent witness’ has the
potential to significantly improve the
quality of evidence required in the drive to
reduce potential criminal acts. The PR5
body-worn video devices have an audio
facility and operational procedures are in
place to ensure compliance with the
relevant CCTV Code of Practice. NHS
Lothian does retain a public space
(CCTV) license, details of which are
retained at Waverley Gate.
Revised HAI Standards
The new HAI Standards have been
published on the Healthcare
Improvement Scotland website.
Traffic Management Safety
Observation Cards
Traffic Management Safety Observation
Cards have been introduced across NHS
Lothian sites.
The purpose of the cards is for staff to
bring traffic management concerns to the
attention of the traffic management team.
Examples of these concerns are unsafe
manoeuvres, unsafe behaviours and
inappropriate parking. The observation
cards are held within the security booth
for staff to complete. Following
completion they will be forwarded onto
the Facilities Area Manager for action and
they will be discussed at the Traffic
Management Group which meets on a
monthly basis.
Laboratories – Help us to
help you
The Laboratories at St John’s comprise of
Biochemistry, Haematology, Blood
Transfusion and Microbiology and aim to
offer a reliable quality service to users.
Therefore, they ask that all users
complete their survey which was sent out
in February. Additionally, they would
welcome any feedback by email to Ian
Jack, the Laboratories Operational
Science Manager
ian.jack@nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk
Paperlite eCase note pilot
A pilot of the Paperlite Programme is now
underway at St John’s.This programme
aims to remove the need for paper case
notes by moving towards an electronic
scanned version (eCase notes) and to
reduce the need to produce additional
paper by moving key components of the
paper record (Patient Clerking, Nursing
Forms, ECG Traces, Other) to electronic
form. It is a significant move towards the
longer term strategy of an Electronic
Patient Record. The pilot of eCase notes
is running in the GI clinic within the
outpatient department. This will be
followed by an inpatient pilot in March.
The information we gain from these pilots
will be used to inform how this work may
move forward throughout the hospital.
As part of the pilot, Health Records at St
John’s have been sending case notes to
the Scanning Bureau (based at Canaan
Lane) so that they are available to view
through TRAK. These notes have now
been returned to the St John’s library
(case notes are not currently destroyed
after scanning). A set of case notes has
been scanned if you open the front cover
of the notes and find a blue sheet telling
you the note has been scanned. Please
do not place anything into a scanned file
after the scanning process has taken
place.
Any documents for filing can be returned
to Lynn Kerr, health records supervisor.
Please also ensure that a patient ID label
is attached to the documents.
If you have any questions regarding the
eCase notes pilot at St John’s or the
Paperlite work then please contact
Hannah Fairburn, eHealth Project
Manager Hannah.fairburn@nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk
Site Refurbishments
Coffee Lounge and Howden Coffee
Shop
The Cakewalk coffee lounge will
temporarily close from 17 until 31 March
to allow fitting of new floor covering and
re-covering of furniture. Opening hours of
the dining room will be extended during
this period. The current computer
provision is being extended to allow more
people access to computers in the coffee
lounge. The area will also incorporate a
Unison information centre. During the
period of closure we are looking at
providing the vending service including a
snacks machine in an alternative location.
The Howden coffee shop at the front
entrance will be closed from 3 until 16
March to allow the fitting of new floor
covering. A full service will be available in
the dining room and coffee lounge on the
second floor.
Staff Changing Rooms
Phase three of the staff changing
refurbishment started on 23 February.
The staff from this area has been
requested to move to new lockers and
the partitions have been put up. Phase
four will then be reviewed as additional
partitioning will be required to be put up
to allow the contractor to have access
and protect the privacy of the staff.
The continued support from all the staff
with this work is much appreciated.
Implementation of the
Certification of Death
(Scotland) Act 2011
New arrangements for the certification
and registration of death will come into
force in Scotland on 13 May 2015.
The changes, which are required by
the Certification of Death (Scotland)
Act 2011, will:

introduce a new national system to
independently review a random
sample Medical Certificates of Cause
of Death (MCCD) to improve the
quality and accuracy of certification

mean that MCCD’s will be randomised
at the point of registration and the
registration process will be put ‘on
hold’ until the review has been
completed


mean that all deaths must be
registered before either a burial or
cremation can take place,
end additional paperwork and fees for
cremations.
Healthcare Improvement Scotland will run
the new independent review service and
has produced a series of Questions and
Answers to guide you through the key
points of the changes. This can be found
here.
Mediation Service
NHS Lothian has recently launched a
mediation service, which will provide
impartial, confidential advice, to help
resolve disputes amongst employees.
For more information and to access this
service, please contact the Mediation
Coordinator at:
mediation@nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk
Simulation Training
We are very fortunate to have a purposebuilt simulation centre. Over the past two
years, simulation training and exercise
has developed from humble beginnings
to having the whole Sim manequin family,
as well as a Clinical Lead, a Simulation
Project Manager and numerous members
of staff who have completed the
Simulation Faculty development course.
Our purpose is to facilitate and provide
training, through simulated scenarios and
debriefing in a non-confrontational
manner, to improve patient safety. This
may include training on how to recognise
the deteriorating patient and call for help
early (for a medical or nursing student),
or how to manage a failed intubation in a
child during anaesthesia (for a consultant
anaesthetist).
Emergency scenarios are run in
departments and wards. These can take
place as a single scenario or as part of a
recognised course. We have piloted
sessions where medical and nursing
students work together and, although this
is still in its infancy, the feedback that was
received was very positive.
For more information please email:
dutoitdewet@nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk
Celebrating Success Awards
The Celebrating Success Awards have
now launched.
This year we want to award those staff
who put their heart and soul into their job.
We’re looking for staff members who
embrace our values and contribute to the
beating heart of NHS Lothian.
Further information and a nomination
form can be found on the intranet.
This is your site newsletter and we want to hear from you about what’s going on in your
service.
Please send stories to Laura.Mancini@nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk