Better Together – October 2022
In this edition, we highlight our excellent physio rotation programme, our new non-executive directors in common, changes to our recruitment services and a bit about our Black History Month celebrations!
Band 5 physio rotation at HRCH and Kingston
Band 5 physios Joe Hooton and Lucy Brett are trailblazers on our journey towards greater integration of acute and community physiotherapy.
Joe has rotated from MSK at HRCH to orthopaedics at Kingston and Lucy has swapped acute outpatients for the Richmond Rehabilitation and Response Team.
The swap is seen as a way of developing our physios’ skills and knowledge, while making it easier for patients to transition from acute to community support – and vice versa.
This is the first time both trusts have collaborated across Kingston and Richmond. The long-term goal is to develop rotations with other services that naturally align with each other, like orthopaedics and Richmond Response and Rehabilitation Team.
Joe and Lucy tell us about their experiences so far in this video
A reminder of why we are Better Together
Following the government’s Health and Care Act 2022, we know the future of the NHS lies in creating partnerships between organisations. By coming together now, we are charting our own path in a way that will benefit local people.
In other parts of the country where organisations have come together in this way, this has reduced hospital stays and more people are living independently at home.
Working together as one team makes us more resilient to provide the joined up health and care services that local people want, equal and equitable for all, while making the best use of our resources.
Local people have told us they don’t want to go to hospital for services that could just as safely and effectively be provided in the community. They want their care at home, in local clinics etc, or at their GP practices as much as possible.
But they also want good communication between NHS organisations, plus services that are joined up and a system that is easy to navigate. By coming together, we have an opportunity to share knowledge and resilience and to improve care and overall patient experience.
Coming together and sharing our resources will also allow us to achieve things we could never do as individual organisations – removing barriers to care and providing services that meet the needs of local people in a more holistic way.
Working with our partners we will also invest more in addressing inequalities and take action on the wider determinants of health.
New non-executive directors in common
Joanne Hay ended her term of office as an HRCH NED on 30 September and we would like to thank her and wish her well with all her future endeavours.
HRCH and Kingston Hospital have appointed two new non-executive directors (NEDs) in common, Dr Nav Chana, MBE (primary care), and Sylvia Hamilton (workforce).
Nav is a GP at the Cricket Green Medical Practice, where he has worked for over 25 years. As chairman of the National Association of Primary Care, he has co-led the development of the primary care home model, which is one of the new care model programmes endorsed by NHS England.
He has had a varied career in healthcare education. Most recently he is clinical adviser for the workforce stream of NHS England’s New Care Models Programme and continues as an adviser to Health Education England.
Sylvia is an experienced senior human resources (HR) professional and most recently served for 9 years as group HR director at Grosvenor, the international property and fund management business.
Prior to that she was an HR director at EY, the accountancy firm, where she held responsibility for graduate recruitment.
Sylvia worked at BT from graduate entry to senior HR positions and also held operational roles in customer service, managing large groups of people.
Changes to recruitment at HRCH
HRCH has joined the South West London Recruitment Hub – a single service that manages recruitment for Kingston Hospital, St George’s, Epsom and St Helier and Croydon Health Services.
This transfer directly supports the work we are doing through our beyond-the-pandemic programme, as we continue to work in a more integrated way with our local partners.
Since establishment of the hub, trusts such as Kingston have seen improvements in recruitment, including reductions in the time to hire and get people into post.
Through the hub, we will have access to largescale recruitment campaigns and regular open days, additional activities that we hope will attract highly skilled and engaged staff.
Black History Month 2022
Time for Change: Action Not Words
This October, across Hounslow & Richmond Community Healthcare, Kingston Hospital and Your Healthcare, we are celebrating Black History Month, with this year’s theme focusing on Time for Change: Action not Words.
This national celebration aims to promote and celebrate the contributions of people with African and Caribbean heritage to British society and to foster an understanding of Black history in general.
As part of our Black History Month, we invited colleagues to our virtual launch on Monday 3 October.
View the recording of our meeting
Various talks are planned for October, including:
- Living with Sickle Cell Disease – we will hear from a member of staff and consultants from Kingston Hospital who will lead the discussion
- Local author Simon Hudson will discuss History through the Black Experience
- Local community health inequalities – members of the local Race Equality Council will be joined by Dr John Chinegwundoh to discuss local services
- Breast and lung cancer awareness – specialist consultants from Kingston Hospital will lead the discussion
As always, I’m interested in hearing your thoughts and ideas as we move forward together in this partnership, so please do speak to me if you see me out and about or drop me a line.
Thank you,
Jo
Jo Farrar
Chief Executive