Here at the Trust, we are always looking at ways to encourage colleagues to progress their careers as we know that this is good for their development and helps us retain our staff who are so important to us and you. We have now created a career pathway for colleagues to realise their dream of becoming Registered Nurses by introducing [...]

I am really pleased to see that in-patient visiting has returned to our hospitals as my colleagues and I know how important it is to patients, and their family and friends to see their loved ones. Adult in-patients are now allowed one visitor for one hour per day between the times of 11.30am and 8pm at our hospitals. We continue [...]

This week we will be celebrating our wonderful colleagues at our Trust and I would personally like to thank them for all that they do. Tomorrow (12 May) is Nurses’ Day and Saturday (14 May) is Operating Department Practitioners Day (ODP) and as a Trust we’ll be making every effort to recognise and celebrate them. I want to thank each [...]

As mentioned in last week’s column, I am really pleased to confirm that in-patient visiting has been re-introduced at our hospitals after it was previously suspended in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This is a positive step for the Trust as we know how important it is to patients, and friends and family alike. It was a real difficult decision [...]

We strive to support our patients and their loved ones in the best ways that we can at our Trust and we have been working hard on reviewing our guidance on visiting after a recent change by the NHS. With any changes we make we have to balance the importance of allowing visiting for our patients against a number of [...]

As some of you may have seen already, our Chief Executive, Louise Barnett, last week published an Open Letter to our communities in response to the recently published final report of Donna Ockenden’s Independent Review of Maternity Services at our hospitals. The letter, which can be seen in full at our website (www.sath.nhs.uk), sets out again how truly sorry we [...]

This week, a special mention should be given to members of our Medical Retina team who will be aiming high when they take on Scafell Pike – England’s highest mountain – as part of a Three Peaks Challenge. A team of doctors, nurses, nurse injectors, optometrists, secretaries and administrative staff will be climbing Scafell Pike, which is a massive 978 [...]

Patients and carers are crucial to help us shape the care we provide to our communities in the future and we are looking for those who have used our services to become part of speciality groups at our Trust. This is an exciting opportunity for them to give their valuable insight and perspective as part of the Speciality Patient Experience [...]

The number of COVID-19 patients in our hospitals has risen considerably over recent weeks, as levels continue to increase in the community. Given this, it is valuable that a spring (or second) booster jab will now be made available to those at extremely high risk from COVID-19. Those eligible for the Spring booster are: adults aged 75 years and over; [...]