Suzanne Rankin
Chief Executive

One of the things that sometimes strikes me as I walk around the hospitals is the way colleagues address each other according to their band. For most it’s not a conscious decision – more ‘learned’ language – but it’s likely we’ve all heard and experienced comments such as ...

• “The band two does that”
• “Ask the band five”
• “That’s the responsibility of the band seven”
• Or even “ask the student”

I’ve been reflecting on this and how referring to someone as a band may make them feel. Maybe discuss it in your teams and decide for yourselves. I suspect it can make colleagues feel fairly disregarded and dehumanised. We are a team of people who care about the NHS and the patients and come to work to do the best job possible, not a group of abstract bandings!

Dr David Fluck
Medical Director

I’ve taken over the message for this week and would like to talk about a really important event happening over the next five days - World Antibiotic Awareness Week. This event is dedicated to increasing awareness of global antibiotic resistance and to encourage best practices among the general public, health workers, and policy makers, to avoid the further emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance- one of the biggest threats facing us today.

Since their discovery, antibiotics have served as the cornerstone of modern medicine. However, persistent overuse and misuse has encouraged the emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance, occurring when microbes such as bacteria, become resistant to the drugs used to treat them. Public Health England’s latest Surveillance report shows that there were an estimated 61,000 antibiotic resistant infections in England during 2018 - a 9% rise from 2017.

Suzanne Rankin
Chief Executive

Coming into hospital can be a daunting time for many and some of us can react in an unexpected and uncharacteristic way. Some patients or visitors may not have the ability to hold back emotions in stressful situations. This can lead to unpredictable behaviours that can result in a violent or aggressive incident. We also recognise that some of the violence and aggression we experience can be due to patients having cognitive impairment.

Because the NHS has seen an increase in violence and aggression against members of their team, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care announced the first ever NHS Violence Reduction Strategy with a zero tolerance approach. To support this strategy and Team ASPH, we are piloting the use of Body Worn Cameras this month.

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Suzanne Rankin
Chief Executive

This week I wanted to take the opportunity to talk about a really important upcoming initiative, focusing on improving patient care at ASPH. Autumn Action - Reset Week, is taking place 7th - 13th November, and will focus the whole Trust and partners on improving inpatient care, by challenging ourselves to do whatever we can to remove unnecessary delays for patients. Patients time is the most important currency in healthcare and how we efficiently utilise our own time and prioritise patients time is imperative.

To make the necessary care improvements at ASPH, we need to address the current challenges with patient flow from the Emergency Department / Acute Assessment Units through the hospital. During Autumn Action, the objective is to discharge more people than we admit. This will help prevent the need for medical patients to be cared for in non-medical beds, help timely assessment (in our assessment areas), and provide the right care to those who need to be in hospital.