In the lead up to planned RCN industrial action over the next few days, I want to begin my blog by recognising your efforts, dedication and respect the decision of anyone who is or isn’t taking part.  

Quality of care is a theme which runs through everything I’ll be sharing with you in my blog this month. Staff across our system really do put patients at the centre of everything they do.

At the end of last month I was invited to join the Regional Maternity Team and Nicola Lovett from the Local Maternity and Neonatal System team on a visit to the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital Maternity services. It was a joy to meet staff and I could see their commitment to safe and quality care for people giving birth and their families.

I learnt more about their Skills and Drills emergency training and while I was there I witnessed the team responding to an emergency, co-ordinating and using excellent clinical decision making for a positive patient outcome. The NHS at its best.

I met a new mum, dad and their new baby who was less than 24 hours old. They shared with me that despite the birth not being what they had planned, they had both had a very positive experience and felt safe and supported on their journey into parenthood.

Continuing the theme of quality, I’d like to highlight some workshops we are holding over the next couple of months to help inform our implementation plan for the ICS Quality Strategy and I would invite anyone to take part to help shape our future plans.

The ICS Quality Strategy outlines our quality priorities up until 2025 and makes a commitment to the people of Norfolk and Waveney, to deliver quality care, based on what matters most to the people using our services and the friends and family who support them.

While it does not replace existing quality assurance and improvement strategies developed by our partners, it highlights the importance of quality within our wider system working and sets out our collective approach.

If you’d like to get involved or have any questions please contact evelyn.kelly@nhs.net

The Home Secretary is set to spell out details of a new plan which would see people working with children in England put under a new legal duty to report ‘signs or suspicions’ of sexual abuse.

This is an ideal opportunity to remind you that safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility. It’s about people working together to prevent and stop the risks and experience of abuse or neglect, while also ensuring that the wellbeing, views, wishes and beliefs of adults and children are promoted within safeguarding arrangements.

Those most in need of protection include: 

• Children and young people including Looked After Children and care leavers as they may have increased vulnerabilities due to their past experiences and trauma and can be at risks of all forms of harm especially exploitation, even though they are in care there can still be safeguarding concerns.
• Adults at risk of abuse or neglect, such as those receiving care in their own home, people with physical, sensory and mental impairments, and those with learning disabilities.

You can report concerns about the welfare of an adult in Norfolk and Waveney via the Norfolk Safeguarding Adults Board (NSAB), Norfolk County Council and Suffolk Safeguarding Partnership. And if you are concerned about a child, please contact Norfolk Safeguarding Children Partnership or in Suffolk call Customer First on 0808 800 4005.

Next month in celebration of both International Day of the Midwife on 5 May and International Nurses’ Day on 12 May, we are planning to host an online drop-in session on 12 May for our nurses and midwives. More details about this event will be circulated in the coming weeks.

The session aims to acknowledge the incredible work and impact our nursing and midwifery colleagues make to patients’ lives across Norfolk and Waveney by sharing stories that demonstrate the best of nursing and midwifery.

We know our nursing and midwifery colleagues are working through challenging circumstances. But despite this, you continue to go above and beyond to deliver highly skilled care to your patients every day.

Kind regards,

Tricia

Tricia D’Orsi

Executive Director of Nursing NHS Norfolk and Waveney ICB and ICS