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Tuesday 20 September 2022 |
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 MFT vaccination clinics are now open
It's that time of year when you're invited to get your annual flu vaccination and a COVID-19 booster.
COVID and flu, like other viruses, can easily spread and be harmful to those with underlying health conditions, and as we care for many, it's important we do what we can to protect everyone around us. Therefore, boost your immunity this winter by booking yourself in for your jabs.
MFT has launched their flu and COVID vaccination programme, and all LCO colleagues (clinical and non-clinical) are invited to book an appointment. At this stage, appointments are just for the COVID-19 booster (flu jabs should arrive soon).
To book a slot at one of our hospital sites, go to the MFT booking system. You can also promote within your team areas where you can go by using this poster [PDF, 134KB]. Social care colleagues can also book by choosing affiliate rather than staff.
Note: it’s possible that some staff-based community vaccination sites will be available within a few weeks’ time. We’ll keep you posted if these do arise.
MFT will expand their flu and COVID vaccination programmes to include your family members. For the time being, it is only for employees, as it is critical to protect our workforce in the first instance.
However, family members can book their COVID booster (if eligible) through the national booking system or by attending one of the walk-in sites. Flu vaccinations are also accessible via GP practices (if eligible) or via a local pharmacy for a small fee.
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Hello and welcome from Richard Spearing
 This fortnight, Richard Spearing, Managing Director for Trafford Local Care Organisation, recorded his briefing for you from Wales. He’s been on holiday there as part of his COVID-19 recovery. He talks about our neighbourhood and new models of care plans. Plus, he relates to his own journey of recovering from COVID-19 and how important he feels it is that as practitioners we consider the wellbeing aspect of those we care for.
Watch and listen to his video in full via our internal YouTube channel.
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 Remembering Queen Elizabeth II and thank you
 Over a fortnight ago, we learned of the sad passing of Queen Elizabeth II. She had been a constant in our lives, a female leader we’ll never forget and, of course, a mother and grandmother to her family. Her funeral was held yesterday (Monday 19 September) in London, where many flocked to the capital to see the events first-hand, whilst others watched from the comfort of their own homes. Wherever you were, we’re sure you’ll agree the funeral procession was truly remarkable.
Many staff were working to cover our essential community services over the bank holiday so, we’d just like to echo the thanks Katy Calvin-Thomas, LCO chief executive, made in her email on Wednesday 14 September. The last few weeks haven’t been easy with service pressures and the launch of Hive, so thanks for everything you’re doing and continuing to do.
For those of you interested, Books of Condolence are available at Trafford Town Hall, Sale Waterside and Altrincham Town Hall. In addition, the Royal.Uk website has a remembrance page for anyone who wishes to read about Her Majesty’s life and reign or leave a message. MFT will soon also have a digital tribute book available for staff, visitors, and patients on their public-facing website.
Equity First - issue 2 out now
After a successful launch back in August, we’re pleased to be able to share with you issue 2 of Equity First [PDF, 1.37MB].
Equity First is our equality, diversity, and inclusion-focused newsletter for all LCO staff.
This issue covers a variety of topics, including the NHS Workforce Disability Equality Standard (WDES) and Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES), as well as our action plan based on the results. Also included are details on key awareness dates that you can get involved with, such as National Inclusion Week, South and East Asian Heritage Month and Black History Month.
Please read and share a copy amongst your teams, and we hope you find it useful. Also, if you’d like to get involved or have an idea or story to include in the next edition, please email India Henry.
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Falls Awareness Week event in collaboration with AgeUk
Slightly later than planned due to the passing of Her Majesty the Queen, our physiotherapists, occupational therapists, and experts from AgeUK will be getting together on Monday 26 September to celebrate Falls Awareness Week (Monday 19 to Friday 25 September).
They’ll be hosting a drop-in event at the AgeUk base in Urmston to provide advice and guidance on all things falls!
Please help to spread the word of this event by sharing the promotional poster [PDF, 546KB] to your patients and networks. Thank you in advance.
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Plans for Allied Health Professionals (AHP) Day 2022
 On Friday 14 October, AHP Day will be returning to mark and celebrate our fantastic army of AHPs across the NHS. AHPs make up a third of the NHS workforce and all play a vital role in treating, rehabilitating, and improving the lives of those we care for.
Under the umbrella of AHPs, there are 14 professions; in the LCOs we have Dietitians, Occupational Therapists, Orthoptists, Physiotherapists, Podiatrists and Speech and Language Therapists. You can learn more at the NHS Health Careers website.
But back to plans to mark the day, MFT have devised two activities for all AHP teams to get involved with. This includes a Chief AHP showcase [PDF, 436KB] as well as a notice board and poster competition [PDF, 441KB]. MFTs Chief AHP will congratulate the lucky winners and in addition you could win a £75 John Lewis voucher!
The winners will be announced on AHP Day, so good luck to all our LCO teams who take part! See the LCO extranet for full entry details.
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The Greater Manchester (GM) Integrated Care Partnership and the GM Ageing Hub are working in collaboration to bring together the whole system, to develop a Greater Manchester Ageing Well Model. They want to gather insight to understand how this translates at a local and hyperlocal level across our neighbourhoods. If this is of interest, please save Tuesday 18 October from 9:30 to 12:30 to your diary for now and keep an eye out on future copies of the Fortnightly Bulletin for further details.
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Student counsellor placements available
The Counselling Team at the Trafford Macmillan Wellbeing Centre are currently accepting placement requests from students seeking a volunteer counsellor opportunity. Placements will be for 12 months commencing in January of next year. Please help to share this opportunity with your networks.
Application packs can be requested via the centre by telephoning 0161 746 2080.
Note applications should be made by midday on Wednesday 19 October.
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Give a colleague a shout out via our staff recognition scheme
LCO Stars is our staff recognition scheme. It’s been running for some time now and many of you have used the scheme already to share your kind messages of thanks to your fellow colleagues.
Remember though, we’ve made it even easier for you to put someone or a team forward for an LCO Star shoutout. Therefore, if you’ve anyone in mind, then we’d love to hear from you!
You can either email the communications team your message of thanks or shout out, or pop in straight into the LCO Stars forum.
For full details on the scheme, see the LCO extranet page.
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 September’s LCO Team Brief
Come along tomorrow (Wednesday 21 September) to join our Chief Executive, Katy Calvin-Thomas, as she hosts this month’s LCO Team Brief. She’ll be talking about the news from across the LCOs and answering any questions you may have.
To join, please use this Microsoft Teams link and the meeting will start promptly at 2:30 for half an hour. If you've not been to a Team Brief before, come and give it a try, it's a chance to hear some of the latest news direct from Katy.
 Reporting Hive related issues
Please be reminded that if you’re experiencing any difficulties with Hive or with hardware and the issue cannot be resolved locally or by your department's LCO superuser (if you’ve one) report them into the MFT IT Service Desk. This is really important so matters can be resolved efficiently and you receive a ticket number to track progress. Thanks to everyone for their support since Go Live.
Cost of living guide for professionals
Over the last few editions of our Fortnightly Bulletin, we’ve been sharing several websites and resources to help you, those we care for, and our residents know how to access cost of living support. Both at national and local level. We understand the rise in costs for housing, food, fuel, and energy will remain for some time, so we’re keen to keep sharing items that might be of some help.
Update on T34 syringes
Please be advised that from October, T43 syringes are to be replaced with the new BD BodygaurdT devices in all our LCO community health settings.
Staff training for the use of the new device is currently underway and a standard operating procedure is also being drawn up. Once this is available, it’ll be published to the policies and procedures section of the LCO extranet.
Should you have any questions or concerns, please speak to your team leader or matron.
The below new policies and procedures have been added to the LCO extranet. Please take some time to familarise yourself with these if they're relevant to your role.
The following vacancies have been posted to the jobs page of the LCO extranet:
- Administration and Finance Officer Healthy Schools, band 4. Closing date Tuesday 20 September 2022
- Physiotherapist, band 6. Closing date Tuesday 20 September 2022
- Assistant Practitioner, band 4. Closing date Wednesday 21 September 2022
- Children's Community Nurse, band 5. Closing date Thursday 29 September 2022
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A new creative wellbeing programme delivered by Lime Arts
Have you recently returned from a period of long absence? If so, in collaboration with Lime Arts, MFT have brought together Create+. It’s a brand-new creative wellbeing programme designed to help with your recovery and settle you back into work. You’ll receive peer support within a small group environment. For more information and for details of how to book a place, see the promotional leaflet [PDF, 1.7MB].
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