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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 will be made available 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].
For NHS community staff, choose staff to book your slot. Social care colleagues can also book by choosing affiliate.
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 later 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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 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 then 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.
We know for some of you, though, that you may have been 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 the introduction of Hive and other service pressures, so thanks for everything you’re doing and continuing to do.
For those of you interested, the Manchester City Council Book of Condolence will close this evening (Tuesday 20 September) at 8:00pm. However, 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 issue 2 of Equity First [PDF, 1.37MB].
Equity First is our equality, diversity, and inclusion-focused staff 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. 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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Plans for Allied Health Professionals (AHP) Day 2022
 Next month, on Friday 14 October, AHP Day 2022 will be returning to mark and celebrate our fantastic army of AHPs across the LCOs. 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.
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]. MFT's 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.
Falls Awareness Week 2022
Trips and falls at any age at difficult to overcome. That’s why we’re supporting once again Fall Awareness Week which is on now until Friday 23 September.
Our physiotherapists, occupational therapists and other experts have pulled together a schedule of events across our different neighbourhood and invite all to come along. People can ask questions about how to prevent falls and why it’s important, try exercises and supporting equipment and much more.
To see the full schedule, check out the news post on our Manchester LCO public facing website. Please also share the details to those you’re supporting and to your networks.
You’ll also be able to see the team’s activity over the course of the week by following our social media accounts. As a reminder these are:
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Don’t be ‘short sighted’
Blog post by Maggs Hancock, Community Orthoptist
It is currently National Eye Health Week, which runs until Sunday 25 September.
To raise the importance of looking after eye health, Maggs Hancock blogs about how you can refrain from becoming short-sighted. Particularly how you can encourage children to do the same. She writes about how we’re seeing an alarming number of children with difficulties in our Orthoptic clinics and encourages everyone to share the word that just a few changes in our habits can help to overcome these.
Read her blog post [PDF, 519KB] in full which include her top tips.
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Will you be taking part?
On Friday 30 September, the Macmillan Coffee Morning, their largest fund-raising event, will return to help raise valuable funds for cancer patients. There are a variety of events (see page 2 and 3) for staff at our Manchester hospitals taking place, but if you want to organise your own within your team area, then see the Macmillan website for details and resources.
You’re even invited to the coffee morning that our community Macmillan team are hosting at Cornerstones Health Centre on Friday 30 September. It’s on from 10:00am to 2:00pm and members of the public and patients are also welcomed to join. See the promotional poster [PDF, 715KB] for further details.
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Health Innovation Manchester seeks lived experiences
Health Innovation Manchester are seeking the views of people who have accessed and work for community services. This is to help them develop new technologies that could improve patient care.
If you’d like to get involved or know someone who may, then please see this overview for full details. Expressions of interests should then be directed to Emily Gray at Health Innovations.
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Round up of recent nominations
Over the last fortnight, the below staff members have been nominated by fellow colleagues as LCO STARs. To read their lovely messages, just click on the image of the star.
- Matthew Lewis, MLCO and TLCO Operational Lead for the Care Navigators nominated by Lucy Hobson
- Kerry Bishop, MLCO Occupational therapy Apprentice nominated by Fatema Mullamitha
- Anne-Marie Dillon, MLCO Stroke Nurse nominated by Fatema Mullamitha
- Levenshulme Health Visiting Team, nominated by Helen Mason
Please do keep your STARs nominations coming to us! You can do so by either dropping us an email or by posting your thank you to our LCO STARs forum. We’ll then give them a shout out in a future bulletin.
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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.
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 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.
- A new resource is the comprehensive guide to help with bills by Ofgem (The Office of Gas and Electricity Markets). It's been designed to help front-line practitioners explain and give the right advice to anyone they might supporting. You can download a copy from the Ofgem website.
- In October, there will also be cost of living focused sessions at our Communities of Practice. These will be led by Citizens Advice and details of how to join can be found within this document [PDF, 150KB].
 New policy for pressure ulceration
This new policy which has been added to the policies and procedures section of the LCO extranet defines the Trust’s approach to the prevention and management of pressure ulcers in hospital and community services care.
If you’re involved in the prevention or management of patients at risk of, or with new or existing pressure ulcers, please take some time to read the new policy and ensure you’re familiar with it.
Manchester Equipment and Adaptions (MEAP) referral criteria
MEAP is a citywide service, based at Philips Park Road in Beswick. They provide a range of services including moving and handling for disabled and older people. As a reminder of the referral criteria and acceptance criteria for any moving and handling requests, please see this document [PDF, 151KB].
Questions or queries should be directed to Jane Downs, Service Manager.
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.
Medication management options for individuals
We’ve a range of Technology Enabled Care devices and systems in place in Manchester to help individuals to live independently at home. Some of these devices and systems can even be used to help people with their medication management.
Learn more about what help is available from this guide [PDF, 199KB]. This can also be found under the medication management section of the LCO extranet TEC resource page.
Job vacancies
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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 Create+
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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