MM52

MMMARY’S
MATTERS52
JUNE/
JULY 2006
NEWS FROM YOUR HOSPITALS
NHSSt Mary’s
NHS Trust
what.where.why St Mary’s
Our new website launches
Building blocks
New and improved services
at St Mary’s
Winnicott world leaders
UK’s first developmental care
training centre opens
What’s happening on our patch
London SHAs merge
Building blocks
New and improved services
at St Mary’s
Winnicott world leaders
UK’s first developmental care
training centre opens
What’s happening on our patch
London SHAs merge
what.where.why St Mary’s
Our new website launches

IT HAS BEEN a busy few months
with the publication of three key
documents: our inpatients survey,
staff survey and the National
Audit Office’s (NAO) report into
the Paddington Health Campus
(PHC) Scheme.
Unfortunately the inpatients survey
reported a generally poor picture of
how more than 300 patients felt
about our services last year. Major
problems highlighted include a
failure to provide single sex
accommodation, patients on wards
are not getting enough information
about their treatment, condition or
operation, and our facilities, such as
catering, need attention.
We are a national outlier on the issue
of mixed sex wards and we need to
urgently tighten our procedures to
minimise the mixing of men and
women in the same bays throughout
the hospital. Patients’ discomfort
over this may well have influenced
their feelings about other aspects of
their care and we need to give this
issue real priority. The other key
lesson for us is that we can never
over communicate with our patients.
This is the third year running that the
sample of inpatients surveyed have
painted a poor picture of the services
we provide and this is both
disappointing and concerning.
Clinically we continue to perform
very well, having one of the lowest
mortality rates of any hospital in the
country, but still patients don’t
perceive they are getting a good
service.
I have asked for urgent action on all
the problem areas patients
highlighted in the survey and
encourage all staff to contribute
everything they can to ensure
people feel confidence in St Mary’s
as a place to be cared for. For more
on both surveys see the MM feature
(pg 7), which includes links to both
the inpatients and staff reports.
The NAO published its long-awaited
value for money report into the PHC
scheme in May. It includes lessons for
us to learn locally, and for the
Department of Health in terms of the
support provided to organisations
working to bring complex Private
Finance Initiative (PFI) projects to
fruition.
The question I keep being asked now
that PHC is over, is where does this
leave St Mary’s and our
redevelopment programme? We are
developing an estates strategy which
will take a phased approach to
upgrading the site, with a bid for a
new critical care and interventional
care service recently submitted to the
Strategic Health Authority.
On a final note, we have just
published our self declaration of
compliance against the Healthcare
Commission’s Annual Health Check
core standards. This process replaces
the star ratings system, and will give
us two scores in the Autumn for how
we managed financially and on the
quality of our services in 2005/06.
For more information on our self
declaration see our website
www.st-marys.nhs.uk (or read pg 19).
A word from
the Chief Executive
Julian Nettel Chief Executive
MM
2 MM JUNE/JULY 2006
Editor: Sarah Prestwood
Contributing Writers: Claire Burroughs, Pedro Rodriguez, Maria
Murray, Ryan Wheaton, Nicola Morgan, Judith Chencinski -
Communications Department; Lucy Goddard and Karen Klassen -
Dietitics
Photos: John Goodman, Sarah Prestwood, Nicola Morgan and
Pedro Rodriguez
Cover Photography: Online Communications Manager Ryan
Wheaton checks out St Mary’s new website, by John Goodman
Contact us: communications@st-marys.nhs.uk, ext 2386/7783
or fax 1017
Design: Jane Evans
Print: Caxton House Press Ltd
Next copy deadline: 14 July 2006
MM reserves the right to edit all
material submitted for publication.
While contributors will be given the
opportunity to comment on articles
for factual accuracy, this policy is
about ensuring a consistent and clear
writing style throughout.
MMMARY’S
MATTERS52
Features
4 New St Mary’s services
Read about improvements for both staff
and patients
12 Strategic health authorities merge
London SHA in place
13 Developmental care training for
premature babies
UK training first, based in Winnicott Baby
Unit
18 Race Equality Scheme
Why recording patient ethnicity is vital
Regulars
9 Top of the Vox – Is the media’s current
portrayal of the state of the NHS accurate?
11 A day in the life: with PAS Administrator
Anna Lynch
15 Case notes with Lewis Loyd Ward
Manager Russell Knoll
16 Discount corner for some great bargains
and much, much more...
St Mary’s Consultant Cardiologist Jamil Mayet holds a
captive audience at a recent health improvement forum as
Prime Minster Tony Blair looks on (pg 14)

A NEW USER-FRIENDLY website giving
patients, the public and GPs improved
access to information about St Mary’s
will go live in July.
Visitors to www.st-marys.nhs.uk will find
navigation much easier and, in just a few
clicks, they can find information on all
St Mary’s services.
There is also advice about staying in hospital,
attending outpatients, visiting the wards and
detailed travel information (including maps of
each of the Trust’s sites).
Highlights of the new website include:
q full consultant and nurse consultant profiles
(including specialty details)
q Full hospital service directory
q Secure area for GPs and partner
organisations
q 360 degree virtual hospital tours, including
A&E and outpatients
q Downloadable patient information.
Phil Jones, Director of ICT, said the new
St Mary’s website aims to be one of the top
NHS websites in the country: “The new and
improved site will provide a single, central
point of access to key information about
St Mary’s. We have made a wide range of
improvements, including consultant and nurse
profiles, a secure area for GPs and partner
organisations and an enhanced search
function. One of the highlights must be the
virtual hospital tours which will enable users to
visit St Mary’s from the comfort of their PC
and get an idea of what their stay in hospital
might look like.”
Online Communications Manager Ryan
Wheaton who has spent the past 12 months
working on the website redevelopment hopes
the new site will satisfy both patient and GP
needs.
“In addition, people interested in working for
the Trust can find out more in a new section
which shows up-to-the-minute job vacancies
and details all the benefits of working for one
of the largest local employers,” he said.
Some areas of the website are still under
development and the site will be reviewed
regularly to make sure it continues to provide
current information about everything that is
happening at St Mary’s.
what.where.why
Our new and improved website - one click away
MM JUNE/JULY 2006 3
Friends turn 100
THE FRIENDS OF ST
MARY’S will be hosting
their 100th Annual General
Meeting on Thursday 15
June. The event will be
held in the Cockburn
Lecture Theatre, 2nd Floor
QEQM and will feature
former Lord Mayor of
Westminster Cllr Jan
Prendergast as guest
speaker.
MM feedback:
What you told us
A BIG THANK you to all the
readers who told us their
views on their favourite
staff magazine, in our
readers’ survey. Almost 90
per cent of you think MM
is excellent/good, and 83
per cent of you read it
thoroughly to regularly. You
told us that a mixture of
news and features, light
entertainment and profiling
services were what you
most wanted out of the
magazine.
Dragonboat racing
comes to
Paddington
DRAGON BOAT racing
arrives in Paddington - in
aid of local charities,
Thursday 29 June, from
5 to 9pm. To enter you’ll
need a team of 11 with the
entry fee set at £10 per
person, plus a minimum
sponsorship of £60 each.
For more information or to
register a team visit
www.paddingtonwaterside.
co.uk/dragonboat.
•NEWS IN BRIEF•

FOLLOWING A REVIEW of cardiothoracic services last year, St Mary’s has made
a significant investment to upgrade services for patients, relatives and staff.
A dedicated three-bedded Cardiac Recovery Unit, meeting modern building guidelines
(including improved bed spaces) and equipped with state-of-the-art facilities, has been
built next to William Coulson Ward – a specialist cardiac surgery ward – on 8th Floor of
the QEQM building.
Patients will benefit from modern facilities in a spacious environment, in which to recover
following cardiothoracic surgery. In addition, patients will also benefit from the proximity
that the unit now has to William Coulson Ward and its high dependency unit.
The unit has facilities for invasive respiratory ventilation, invasive haemodynamic support
and treatment. Its infrastructure is designed to meet level three critical care standards.
Each bed space benefits from two hydraulic pendants that allow equipment, such as
monitors to be suspended from the ceiling, allowing easy access for all staff and services,
improving patient care and reducing the risk of infection.
Mr John Wright, retired cardiac surgeon from Barts and The London NHS Trust, who, as
the new service director, is providing leadership and support to the cardiothoracic surgery
programme at St Mary’s, officially opened the unit on May 2.
Rachel Barlow, former Service Manager for Circulatory Sciences who oversaw the new unit
refurbishment said: “We are very pleased with the new unit and we hope that this
improvement to our services will significantly enhance the patient experience at St Mary’s.”
STAFF FROM GLOBAL INVESTMENT BANK
Lehman Brothers got the chance to see the
fruits of their labour at an event to mark
the official re-opening of the recently
renovated Education and Learning Centre.
Around 100 Lehman Brothers’ staff swapped their
shirts and ties for overalls in late 2005 to give the
centre a new lick of paint. The company also
donated floor tiles and staff produced over 20
pieces of art to help brighten up the environment
in the Mint Wing-based centre.
The Education and Learning Centre, where the
majority of the Trust’s training takes place
(including IT training, staff induction and
resuscitation training), now provides a pleasant
and comfortable setting for St Mary’s staff
undertaking work-based study.
Education centre gets a facelift
Dedicated Cardiac Recovery
Unit opens
Amanda McEvoy, Acting Training and
Development Manager, said: “We’re all really
grateful that so many Lehman Brothers staff
gave up their time to help renovate the centre.
Now we have a much more fitting environment
from which to deliver our courses.”
Andrea Sullivan, Lehman Brothers Head of
European Corporate Philanthropy and Client
Executive Services commented: “Lehman
Brothers was proud to support the renovation of
the Education and Learning Centre in
recognition of the dedication and
professionalism of St Mary’s staff during the
tragic events of the London bombings last year.
Our partnership with St Mary’s is greatly
appreciated by the firm and we look forward to
continuing our long term relationship.”
New MRI Unit opens
PATIENTS are already benefiting from two
new state-of-the-art Magnetic Resonance
Imaging (MRI) scanners based in a
purpose built unit in the basement of
the Cambridge Wing.
Previously, MRI scans at St Mary’s were provided
from a mobile scanner located in Norfolk Place
and a fixed scanner in the Cambridge Wing.
MM
4 MM JUNE/JULY 2006
New Developments at StMary’s
A Lehman Brothers employee shows off
one of the donated pieces of art
New Developments at StMary’s

MM JUNE/JULY 2006 5
Winnicott gets a makeover
Breast Screening Unit
moves to St Mary’s Hospital
THE TWO MOBILE breast-screening units in Westminster and Kensington & Chelsea have been
replaced by a permanent unit at St Mary’s Hospital to improve services locally and help fight
against breast cancer – one of the biggest killers amongst women in the UK.
The new service, based within the St Mary’s Radiology Department, is managed by the West of London
Breast Screening Service (WoLBSS) and commissioned by Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea Primary
Care Trusts. The service is available to women all year, improving choice of available appointments. Under
the previous service, the two mobile units were not available to local women at certain times of the year
because they were placed in other areas covered by the WoLBSS such as Hammersmith, Hillingdon and
North Surrey.
All women aged over 50 are encouraged to undergo breast screening once every three years however the
uptake of breast screening in Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea stands at 47 per cent - well below
the national average of 75 per cent. A public consultation in 2004 focused on
improving the delivery of breast screening to local women in the hope of
reducing the incidence of breast cancer in the area.
St Mary’s Clinical Director for Clinical and Diagnostic Services and
Consultant Radiologist Deborah Cunningham said the new fixed location
for breast screening at St Mary’s would offer women access to a range of
expert care.
“This is a potentially life saving tool for every woman aged over 50, as
a free breast screening check every three years can significantly
increase survival rates,” Dr Cunningham said.
Where: Radiology Department, 3rd floor, QEQM Building.
Patient inquiries: 0845 811 6636.
FOLLOWING EXTENSIVE refurbishments
the Winnicott Specialist Baby Care Unit
has returned to a ‘brighter and lighter’
home in the Clarence Wing.
The new and improved unit now includes a
much-needed visitor waiting area in reception,
increased clinical space improving infection
control measures and greater use of technology
to improve patient care.
The Badger database, an electronic patient record
system which includes all details on a baby, has
now been installed by all incubators, significantly
reducing a baby’s paper notes. Funded by the
Winnicott Foundation, it is the first neonatal unit
in England and Wales to offer a full electronic
system. While medical staff have been using the
system since 2004 nursing staff, therapists and
social services are now also using the database,
ensuring a more robust patient record system.
Ward Manager Gill Parker said the renovations
have greatly improved the working environment
for staff and increased the comfort for babies’
families. “The new unit has much more natural
light, seems more spacious and is more
welcoming. Parents really like it as there is still an
intimacy about the ward, but we have tried to
maximise the existing space.”
Lead Neonatal Consultant Karena Ghaus said the
cosmetic improvements, plus the introduction of
a full electronic patient record system would also
maximise the innovative work on the unit.
“It is very exciting that we are the first unit of
our kind to offer a fully intergrated paperless
records system for our babies. The introduction of
a parent web page is now under development
which will allow parents to view nursing records
at any time day or night and add their own
comments. The Badger system will also contain
parent information leaflets on medical conditions
that they can print out at home or view online.”
An MRI scan uses powerful magnet and radio
waves to produce cross-sectional images of the
body and is commonly used to look at the brain,
spinal cord and joints. It shows bones, muscles,
joints, blood vessels, nerves in great detail and as
it does not use X-rays it makes it one of the safest
imaging techniques available.
Radiology Service Manager Diana Braithwaite
said: “The new scanners will help us to provide a
vastly improved and modern service. The machines
have many advanced features that will help us
diagnose a range of conditions, including vascular
disease and fetal conditions.”
"We will have the facility to perform perfusion
and diffusion scans which are of value in brain
imaging, particularly in stroke sufferers. We will
also be able to perform excellent angiography of
the lower limbs which produces images of the
arteries and until now has meant an invasive
examination and an overnight hospital stay. The
new machines allow this to be done as an
outpatient procedure improving the quality of care
to patients." Costing around £4 million the
scanners have been funded by the Department of
Health as part of the NHS Cancer Plan, the North
West London Strategic Health Authority and the
Trust. In addition, waiting times for non-urgent
scans have been cut from 32 weeks to less than
20 weeks in line with current national waiting
time targets requiring that patients should not
wait longer than 20 weeks for a routine scan.
The MRI team have worked exceptionally hard to
achieve this target and it is envisaged that the
new scanners and unit, which has been
operational since March, will support achieving
the next set of targets.
Radiographers
Thandiwe Mathe
and Debbie
Nieuwoudt who
will be manning
the new breast-
screening service
Winnicott Sister,Wendy Wong uses the Badger System

Nursery opens in Paddington Basin
CHILDCARE NURSERY Primary Steps has recently opened on North Wharf Road. Open
from 7am to 7pm, the nursery accepts children from three months to five years, and will
accept virtual vouchers (St Mary’s childcare vouchers).
x For more information on the nursery call Beverly Smith
020 8864 5147 or for info on how to use childcare vouchers
contact Sarah Edwards, St Mary’s Childcare Co-ordinator on ext 7678.
What’s new in Paddington
The colours of little Venice
Pedestrians walk under the Bishops Bridge
MM
6 MM JUNE/JULY 2006
THE ACCIDENT & EMERGENCY Department
recently unveiled a plaque, presented to A&E
Consultant Nicola Batrick by Mayor Ken
Livingstone, expressing “recognition and
gratitude from the people of London… to the
services whose immediate response to the
incidents provided great reassurance to
Londoners (during July 7, 2005).”
The award ceremony, held at City Hall in December,
was attended by staff from all the emergency and
transport services – Police, Transport for London,
London Fire Brigade, London Ambulance, and the
receiving hospitals Barts, Guys & St Thomas’, Royal
Free, Great Ormond St, UCLH and St Mary’s.
The inscription reads: “Presented on behalf of the
people of London to the staff of St Mary’s NHS Trust
in recognition of their outstanding dedication to duty
in response to the London terrorist attacks of 7 July
2005. Ken Livingstone, Mayor of London.”
July 7 remembered
x A MEMORIAL SERVICE to mark the lives lost
during last Summer’s London bomb attacks
will be held at St Mary’s on Friday, July 7.
Held in Norfolk Place from 11.45am to
12 noon the service will conclude with two
minutes’ silence, which will be observed
around the UK. For more information
contact Lead Chaplain Stephen Flatt ext 1508.
DO YOU know what’s on your doorstep? The redevelopment of
Paddington Basin continues to flourish with a series of new businesses,
restaurants and bars opening within the area, plus this month sees
the long-awaited completion of the Paddington Bridge Project.
After more than two years’ construction the new Bishop’s Bridge reopened
to traffic on Wednesday June 14. The £62 million project will have major
implications for improving traffic flow, including the development of bus
routes and reconnecting Bishop’s Bridge Road and Eastbourne Terrace with
Harrow Road and North Wharf Road.
A series of new restaurants and businesses are now also open in the
Paddington Basin area. Pizza and pasta chain Zizzi has recently opened its
doors, alongside Japanese restaurant Yakitoria, canal side pub The Union
and salad bar Tossed. A Chinese and a seafood restaurant are also due to
open in the summer.
More than 4,000 people now live and work in the newly named Paddington
Waterside area and a planning application was submitted earlier this year for
the Merchant Square development, the final stage of the Paddington Basin
regeneration. This consists of six new buildings stretching over 1.8million
square feet. Plans include a 43 storey high residential building and proposed
square for sports and music events.
x For more information visit www.paddingtonwatersidepartnership.co.uk
or www.merchantsquare.co.uk
A&E consultants Nicola Batrick and Trish Ward

Disappointing results from the
national inpatient survey and mixed
results from the staff survey 2005
have focused attention on improving
the patient experience and staff
satisfaction at St Mary’s.
The inpatient survey published by the
Healthcare Commission provides us with
an independent view of what patients
think of our services and enables us to
compare our results with a national
average. For most areas of the inpatient
survey the Trust scores were average,
although staff in A&E were
congratulated for admitting patients
needing hospital care quickly onto a
ward and we were in the top 20 per cent
of Trusts offering patients opportunities
to give their views on quality of care.
Of great concern was the finding that
we care for more patients in mixed-sex
accommodation than any other trust
surveyed. The Trust also performed in the
lowest 20 per cent of trusts when
patients were asked about the cleanliness
of toilets and bathrooms. Many of the
patients questioned claimed that they did
not get answers they could understand
from staff, they did not have confidence
and trust in the staff treating them and
staff talked in front of them, putting us
in the lowest 20 per cent for these
important aspects of care.
Responding to the survey, Chief
Executive Julian Nettel said: “We must
all do better. We need to ensure that
every patient we treat has a quality
experience and has confidence in our
staff and the care we provide.”
On the specific issue of mixed-sex
accommodation he said: “This has to
stop. Of course it is a challenge to
provide single sex wards when there is
a pressure to admit patients faster than
ever before, but with the programme
of ward refurbishment we have been
undertaking in the older parts of the
hospital it should become easier to
meet this essential requirements.”
We know that high quality patient care is
closely linked to staff satisfaction and the
results of the staff survey 2005 have
highlighted areas where we need to do
more for staff. Staff satisfaction at St
Mary’s is average compared with all
teaching trusts, but the percentage of
staff stating they intend to leave within
the next 12 months is the highest for all
acute teaching trusts.
The most commonly stated reason (56
per cent of respondents) for intending to
leave is career development. We did
score highly for staff appraisals, effective
team relationships, supportive
management and acknowledging good
work. However, it is a cause for concern
that up to 10 per cent of staff are
working at least 11 hours over their
contracted hours and many staff are not
having the opportunity to work flexibly.
St Mary’s performs in the bottom 20 per
cent of all trusts when it comes to quality
of working life as measured by the
amount of extra hours and their work/life
balance. A higher than average
percentage of staff (13 per cent versus all
trust average of 7 per cent) report
experiencing discrimination and only 52
per cent of staff report that the Trust acts
fairly with regard to career progression
and promotion. Staff also reported
higher than average incidence of physical
violence, bullying and harassment from
patients and colleagues than average for
all trusts and all acute teaching trusts. It
was felt essential that this was addressed
by ensuring that there was immediate
support from managers for staff in these
situations, with a clear escalation policy
in place for particularly difficult situations.
x For more details of the inpatient
survey visit www.healthcare
commission.org.uk/_db/_documents
/St_Marys_NHS_Trust_RJ5.pdf
x For details of the Staff Survey 2005
click here www.st-marys.nhs.uk/
about/board_meeting_papers20060
523.htm
We must try harder
for patients and staff
MM JUNE/JULY 2006 7
Patient
Suggestion
Card winner
ALMROTH WRIGHT WARD Manager,
Glenn Holdsworth is the latest staff
member to be nominated by patients for
his hard work as part of the suggestion
card scheme.
Glenn who has worked at the Trust for nearly
eight years was “chuffed to bits” at some of the
patient comments, which earned him the highest
number of nominations in January.
He said: “It means I haven’t become too bitter
and cynical over the years. We see a mixed bag
of patients on the ward, caring for immunology,
hepatology, GUM and infectious disease
patients, it’s very hands on. The suggestion cards
are a great way of getting feedback from the
people who matter – the patients. As a ward
manager you don’t get this kind of praise very
often.”
As with all the previous winners, Glenn received
a surprise visit from the Director of Nursing,
Susan Osborne and the PPI Assistant Manager,
Tendai Chikasha who presented him with
champagne and a certificate.
What patients said about Glenn
“He was very caring and was always making sure
that I was okay. I could feel that he puts his heart
into his job.”
“Nice manner, relaxed and respectful. Ensured I
was not feeling isolated in a single room.”
“He manages to give ‘emotional support’ on top of
medical practice. He pulled me up out of some
dark moments. Cheers.”
“He was very polite, humble, cheers patients up
and he was always smiling. He was also supportive
and understanding and made my stay on the ward
easier as I hate hospitals. Thanks to Glenn for
making my stay.”
WINNER
Almroth Wright Ward Manager, Glenn Holdsworth
receives his certificate from Director of Nursing
Services Susan Osborne

MM
8 MM JUNE/JULY 2006
Hands up if you
want to beat stress
CENTRAL AND NORTH West London Mental
Health NHS Trust Child and Care Co-ordinator
Mottie Omideyi and St Mary’s Human
Resources Senior Project Lead Sue Roberts
(pictured above) put their day jobs to one
side as they receive a free massage at the
recent St Mary’s ’Stress’ event.
Open to all St Mary’s and CNWL Mental Health
Trust staff, the star attraction of the event was free
massages provided by four specialist masseurs,
taken up by more than 60 staff. Organised by NHS
Employers’, staff were also able to gain eating
advice from St Mary’s dieticians, have a blood
pressure and cholesterol check from occupational
health, and receive moving and handling advice
from risk management staff.
Co-organiser Sue Roberts said the event was a
reminder to staff that there are ways to control
and recognise stress. The event was also a further
opportunity to raise awareness of the Trust’s
policy on managing organisational stress, launched
last autumn (now available on the intranet
documents library).
“We know that managing and rationalising stress
can be incredibly difficult, however the purpose of
holding this kind of event is to remind staff that
there are ways to minimise the effects it can have,
and also gather extra support,“ Sue said.
Date for the diary:
x To find out more on how to manage stress
make sure you book a place on the ‘What
Stress in Healthcare?’ Seminar held on
September 6. For more information,
or to book a place, contact Ciara Madden
on ext 6760.
Antibiotic proves successful
in tackling symptoms of
acute asthma
IMPERIAL COLLEGE London
researchers at St Mary’s have
demonstrated that an antibiotic is
effective at treating acute asthma
attacks, potentially providing a new
way to help asthma sufferers.
Recently published research shows
that the antibiotic, telithromycin
(which is not currently used for
treating asthma), can hasten the
recovery time of patients who have
had asthma attacks by three days,
as well as reducing their symptoms
and improving lung function.
Professor Sebastian Johnston from
Imperial College London, who led
the research, said: “Traditionally
antibiotics have not proven
effective in treating asthma attacks,
but this development could open
up a whole new area of research in
the treatment of asthma. Although
we’re not sure about the exact
mechanism which caused this
antibiotic to be effective, this study
indicates it does clearly have a
beneficial effect. We still need
further trials to confirm these
results, to investigate the
mechanisms of action of this
treatment, to see if the same
benefits are seen with other related
antibiotics and to see which
patients are most likely to benefit.”
The study investigated 278 patients
at St Mary’s and 69 other test
centres around the world.
St Mary’s Research
Governance - are you up to
speed with our research
guidelines?
RESEARCH GOVERNANCE is
currently high on the national
agenda therefore it’s an ideal time
to remind all current and
prospective investigators at
St Mary’s of the procedures for
conducting research on site.
Any research conducted at
St Mary’s Hospital, Imperial College
Faculty of Medicine at St Mary’s
Campus, Western Eye and
St Charles Hospital that involves
patients, staff, data and organs
must have Trust Approval before
the project can commence.
The Trust approval process requires
the completion of an R&D Trust
Approval Application Form (which
can be found on the intranet at
http://smh-intranet/UserFiles/File/
Blue Form Application.doc).
Researchers should also complete
and submit an ethics application
via www.corec.org.uk or for further
information contact Ros Cooke on
ext 6514 or Erica Harris on ext 1236.
If you would like further
information on Research
Governance contact Selvy Raju
on ext 7952 or Nicola Hawthorne
on ext 5104.
Cardiology Researcher
receives commendation at
Parliamentary reception
ST MARY’S CARDIOLOGY Research
fellow, Justin Davies, was recently
awarded a commendation for his
presentation at a parliamentary
reception at the House of
Commons. Justin was one of
170 young researchers to present
his work at the biomedical sciences
reception and was one of just 11
entries to receive a commendation
and £500 prize, for his work on
coronary artery blood flow in
the heart.
Based at the International Centre
for Circulatory Health (ICCH),
Justin’s work focused on his
development of a pioneering
technique that allows doctors to
measure the energy waves
responsible for blood flow in
human coronary arteries.
R&D Round-up

MM JUNE/JULY 2006 9
TOP OF THE VOX
d
™
Sue Wood, QEQM Newsagent
No, I don’t think it is accurate. Patients from all
departments come into the newsagents all day long
and they are always very positive about St Mary’s.
And there’s nothing more demoralising for a doctor
or a nurse when they see a patient reading a paper
with a headline like ‘NHS in decline’.
™
Justin Gaffney, Project ManagerAgenda for Change,
and Staffside Chair
I think that the media tends to focus too heavily on
attention grabbing headlines such as ‘the financial
mismanagement of the NHS’, rather than focusing on
the pressures faced by frontline staff and managers alike
to provide quality patient services. Yes, always portraying
the NHS as a sinking ship lowers staff morale, most of
whom work extremely hard.
d
™
Nandy Chetram, Senior OPD Sister
The people I work with are all very able and do
a great job but I think it’s important to focus on the
patients rather than negative headlines. However, I
think it does affect staff morale.
d
Art Barron, Chaplains’ Assistant
I think the problems in the NHS are overstated.
Like any large organisation, I’m sure the NHS has its
fair share of problems and difficulties but generally,
when you talk to patients, I find that on the whole
they are satisfied... certainly with St Mary’s.
The views expressed in this column are those of the individual member of staff and not
necessarily held by St Mary’s NHS Trust.
d
This edition MM asks: Do you believe the media’s
current portrayal of the state of the NHS is
accurate and does it affect staff morale?
™
• I N T H E N E W S •
Media-wise St Mary’s is never far from the spotlight,
taking up column inches and airtime across a wide
range of issues.
Service Manager for Medicine, Rachel Richards was
interviewed by the Guardian, G2 as part of its ‘One day in
the life of the NHS’ feature profiling multiple NHS staff
during their working day. Rachel said: “I’ve got a big job
managing 350 staff and a £22 million budget, and I start
each day knowing there’s too much to do and that, unless
I prioritise fiercely, I’ll never get through it.”
Professor Sir Ara Darzi was a recent guest writer for a
HSJ clinical management column on ‘a new vision for
academia’. In the article he argued the creation of
integrated academic medical health centres would allow
organisations to become magnets for research and
economic development.
Consultant Nurse in Sexual Health & HIV Matthew
Grundy-Bowers was profiled by youth magazine Total
Spec, which wrote: “UK rates of teenage pregnancy are
the highest in Europe, chlamydia infection rates are rising,
as HIV infection continues to creep upwards... Why this
should be the case is a matter for some debate, although
one person who should know is Matthew Grundy
Bowers… one of the leading Nurse Consultants in the
country.” Total Spec also interviewed Lead Nurse Clare
Patterson, Clinical Nurse Specialist Christopher Collister
and Lead Consultant Paul Lamba.
St Mary’s doctors recently appeared in a Tatler Magazine
list compiling ‘Britain’s 225 best private doctors’. To
compile their list, Tatler convened a panel of GPs who
made their recommendations, stating these are the
doctors they’d call if they were ill: Mr Roberto Casula, Dr
Rodney Foale, Mr Solomon Abramovich, Prof Sir Ara Darzi,
Dr Julian Teare, Prof Lesley Regan, Mr Vik Khullar, Mr Peter
Mason, Mr Karl Murphy, Dr Diane Smyth, Mr John Smith,
Mr Dai Davies, Dr Martin Seifert and Mr John Wolfe.
The publication of the National Audit Office report into
Paddington Health Campus generated a variety of media
interest, including BBC London and The Evening
Standard. The report highlighted a history of cost
escalations and criticised the Department of Health for not
taking a more ‘hands on approach’ for such a large scale
building project.
The national inpatients survey results published in May
generated some alarming results for St Mary’s. Although
the majority of UK patients are generally happy with their
hospital treatment, results reported in the Evening
Standard show St Mary’s had the highest proportion of
patients who stayed on a mixed-sex ward, with 61 per cent
compared with an average of 22 per cent across England.
New Trust media policy - out now
WITH HEALTH now the public’s number one issue of
concern, according to recent MORI polls, it is not
surprising that on an average day the St Mary’s press
office alone will take ten or more requests for our staff to
work with the media.
While the Trust welcomes positive coverage, we have developed
some good practice guidelines on working with the media to
protect our patients’ and your right to privacy and
confidentiality. They also help ensure the Trust maximises any
health education opportunities, and has the right of reply when
there is criticism of our services or staff.
x To check out the new guidelines visit the intranet/news
and communications section
INTHESPOTLIGHT:

WITH MORE than two-thirds of
our beds occupied by older people
a taskforce recently set up within
St Mary’s is attempting to improve
the care given to this large patient
group.
More than 65 per cent of adult inpatients
and 15 per cent of A&E admissions at St
Mary’s are for those aged over 65, with
the highest length of stay of any patient
group. The Elderly Care Steering Group
has been created to raise awareness,
increase staff recruitment and enhance the
care older people receive.
Led by Breeda McManus, Lead Nurse for
Medicine, the group aims to celebrate best
practise by nominating a ‘model’ staff
member each month from one of the
three Department of Medicine for the
Elderly (DOME) wards. Reflective practise
sessions have also been set up, helping
staff build and reflect on situations
involving elderly patients.
Responding to patient feedback is also
fundamental to the group and a one-day
event for former patients to share their
experiences and feedback areas of
improvement was held on June 5, with
sessions to run quarterly throughout the
year. The group is targeted at previous
inpatients of a DOME ward within the last
12 months (or their carers or family
members) with the aim to:
q Involve patients/carers in the design,
planning and delivery of health
services at St Mary’s
q Feedback patient comments to
frontline staff and service managers to
help plan, deliver and evaluate better
services
q Ensure that older people are treated
as individuals and receive appropriate
care which meets their needs as
individuals, regardless of age, in-line
with NHS guidelines, including the
National Service Framework for Older
People.
Breeda said the group was also looking at
ways of retaining staff by introducing a
buddy system and peer support group for
new staff.
“There are often so many misconceptions
about what it is like to work with elderly
patients but it can be a rewarding career
choice on many levels,” she said.
Recent improvements within care of the
elderly include staggering patient meal
times within the DOME wards to ensure
patients are receiving their meals hot, and
have adequate time to eat. A two-year
programme to improve the care of
dementia patients was also recently
completed, which included setting up
training days to help staff better understand
and cope with dementia patients.
MM
10 MM JUNE/JULY 2006
(Left to right) Russell Knoll, Lewis Loyd Ward Manager, Diana Murrell, Albert Ward Manager,
Caroline Shipsey, Victoria Ward Manager
Falls prevention day
Learn more about falls prevention
and osteoporosis at a St Mary’s
awareness day on June 27. The Falls
Awareness Day is aimed at both
staff and patients, to promote
healthy ageing and awareness
around falls and fractures within the
elderly. Visit the McRae Function
Room between 11am and 4pm to
find out more, or look out for staff
providing information leaflets and
physiotherapy demonstrations
outside the QEQM building.
Age concerns:
Improving care for older people

The Patient Administration System
(PAS) currently provides the backbone
for all patient details within St Mary’s
and ensuring staff have no problems
accessing this information is the role
of PAS and ProWellness System
Administrator Anna Lynch.
Anna, who has worked at St Mary’s
for more than 15 years started her
career in medical records before
taking on the role of maintaining PAS
and the diabetes patient information
programme, ProWellness.
MM catches up with Anna to find
out just what it takes to keep PAS
ticking along…
After getting her kids ready
(one for school and the
other left in Grandma’s capable hands) Anna
takes the tube from her Islington home to St
Mary’s. “I usually get in for 9am but with
children no day is the same so sometimes I’ll
be delayed and can arrive at around 9.30am.
Luckily, my manager is very understanding
and flexible with my needs.”
Like most office-based
people, the first thing Anna
does on arrival is check her emails. “I work
very closely with ProWellness who are based
in Finland but as there is a two-hour time
difference I often get a lot of overnight
emails from them. At the moment we’re
testing the interface between ProWellness
9.00am
8.00am
and keep PAS up-to-date. GPs will often
contact me to say that the surgery has
moved or that certain important information
has changed and I have to action the
changes straight away. Believe it or not this
is one of the more time-consuming aspects
of my job.”
It’s the end of the day and
Anna prepares to leave for
home. “Other than emailing ProWellness,
I try not to leave too many things for the
end of the day but as there is a time
difference, I can just send my query and go
home. I’ll have a response by tomorrow
morning when it starts all over again.
No rest for the wicked!”
5.00pm
and PAS so today I received quite a lot of
correspondence.”
By now the calls from
the ICT helpdesk are
beginning to come through and Anna is
sidetracked helping a member of staff who is
having problems logging into PAS. “I am
basically the main contact for most things
PAS-related so if you call the helpdesk with a
PAS query, more often than not, you’ll be
put through to me.”
The next task of the day
is to upload an EPR
(electronic patient record) letter onto the
outpatients system. This might sound like a
simple job, but as Anna explains, it’s
imperative that each letter is correctly
formatted. “Most clinics have their own
appointment letters which are automatically
generated by the system, but a lot of work
goes on behind the scenes before it gets to
that stage.”
Anna dashes to an
offsite meeting with
local GPs at the South Westminster
Community Health Centre. The meeting is a
chance to give GPs an update on the status
of the ProWellness project.
“It is a long meeting but it is really important
to get the GPs on side and to keep them up
to date… and at least lunch was provided!”
Having returned from her
meeting, Anna is off again;
this time to the Mint Wing to provide one-
to-one ProWellness training for a diabetes
nurse.
“Although training is a part of my job I don’t
really have the capacity to train people very
often. In this case, the department was
learning about the interface between
ProWellness and PAS which should be up
and running soon so I made an exception.”
It’s back to the office to set
up some GPs on the PAS
system. “This is a System Administrator’s
bread and butter. Essentially I have to upload
GP details (which can be anything from their
name and address to their GMC number)
4.00pm
2.30pm
12.00pm
11.00am
10.00am
A day in the life of...
Anna Lynch – PAS and ProWellness System Administrator
What is PAS?
All patient information, including
appointments, test results and clinical coding
details are stored within the Patient
Administration System (PAS). If used efficiently
it is a vital tool in tracking ethnic origin,
appointment details and a patient's history.
The master patient database links with other
patient systems including Symphony (A&E),
CMiS (Maternity), Pharmacy, EDC (Electronic
Discharge) and others. The patient activity data
is clinically coded and allows our finance
department to manage the contracts with PCTs.
What is ProWellness?
ProWellness is a computer programme that lets
clinicians share and update information on
patients with diabetes.
It links clinical computers (via an icon on the
computer desktop) with ProWellness and acts
as an electronic patient record to allow staff
across the local health community real time
access to diabetes patient records as these
patients move through multiple areas during
their care.
The system supports the requirements of the
Diabetes National Service Framework. It also
improves patient care by reducing duplication
and enhancing continuity. In addition clinician’s
time can be better managed – as referrals can
be made directly from the system and/or email.
MM JUNE/JULY 2006 11

MM
St Mary’s and BBC
kidney documentary
win top award
KIDNEY TRANSPLANT, the BBC One
documentary that followed a living
kidney transplant at St Mary’s last year,
recently won a top international media
award. The programme was part of the
BBC One DoNation season, which was
awarded a Peabody Award in the
United States.
The Peabody is an international award that
recognises ’distinguished achievement and
meritorious public service by stations,
networks, producing organisations and
individuals.’ The prize was picked up in the
public service category and commended for
the partnership between factual, learning and
drama. The programme, which aired on
August 25 last year, was watched by more
than 3 million people and the DoNation
season led to 76,000 people signing up to
the organ donor register.
World Cup games can
be watched live in
staff restaurant
ST MARY’S STAFF can watch the World Cup in style
after a 42 inch plasma television was installed in
the Barge Restaurant, level 2, QEQM.
The big screen TV was first prize in a competition
sponsored by soft drinks company Britvic and was won
for St Mary’s by ISS Production Manager, Tina Wright,
who beat off the challenge of over 30 other trusts.
She said: “During last year’s Wimbledon fortnight one
of our suppliers, Britvic, organised a contest to see who
could produce the best soft drinks display amongst all
the hospitals that have a contract with ISS. I created
the display, sent off a photo and was thrilled when I
heard that I’d won the TV for St Mary’s.”
The Barge Restaurant menu will also be adapted to
include food from each of the nations involved in the
World Cup.
ISS Production Manager Tina Wright and ISS Catering Support
Manager David Priestley show off the Barge’s new TV
London strategic health
authorities to merge from July
MAJOR STRUCTURAL changes
across the NHS will mean from July
the North West London Strategic
Health Authority will cease to exist,
with five London SHAs merging
into one organisation - the London
Strategic Health Authority.
The changes have been made to SHAs
following the public consultation:
’Commissioning a patient-led NHS’,
which consulted with a wide group of
voluntary, public and patient
organisations around ways to create a
health service that would serve patients
best and help them make informed
choices about their NHS care.
The main changes introduced from the
consultation include the restructuring
of PCT, SHA and ambulance service
boundaries, with a new focus on
commissioning, involving GP practices
more directly in buying their residents’
health services.
The number of SHAs in England will
reduce from 28 to 10 and the number
of PCTs will halve from 303 to 152,
although no London PCTs will be
reconfigured at this stage. These
changes will also contribute to
management savings across the board,
with the new London SHA likely to
employ around 150 staff.
David Nicholson CBE has been named
as the Chief Executive of the London
Strategic Health Authority and Dr
George Greener, CBE, as Chair.
David, who is currently Chief Executive
of Birmingham and the Black Country
SHA and transition lead for the West
Midlands, will take up his appointment
from the beginning of July. Dr Greener
retired as Chairman of the British
Waterways Board in 2005 having also
chaired The Big Food Group plc and
the Swallow Hotels Group plc.

THE WINNICOTT Baby Unit is now
home to the UK’s first national
training centre in developmental care
for premature babies. The Unit, which
leads the country in the practice of
Newborn Individualised Developmental
Care and Assessment Programme
(NIDCAP), now offers training to
neonatology staff from around the
country, led by Consultant Paediatric
Occupational Therapist, Inga Warren.
Inga, who currently holds the only post of
its kind in the UK, has also recently
qualified as the country’s first certified
NIDCAP trainer, following the completion
of two years training with the Scandinavian
NIDCAP Centre, funded by the Winnicott
Foundation. This charity was set up 21
years ago by parents and doctors to
support the work of the baby unit.
Demand for places on the training
programme have already exceeded Inga’s
workload, prompting the foundation to
employ a second trainer, due to start in
September.
NIDCAP is a form of care that teaches staff
how to react sensitively to the clues babies
give about what they can handle. This
on a neonatal intensive care ward in the
UK. Breast milk is viewed as especially
beneficial to premature babies who
have immature digestive systems.
Pippa Jones, Chief Executive of the
Winnicott Foundation, which funded
the training centre, said this was an
opportunity for babies and families in
other neonatal units across the UK to
benefit from the exciting developmental
care work within Winnicott.
“The Winnicott Foundation is
committed to supporting high level
developmental care because of the long
term benefits for babies and families
and ultimately society. The charity
believes that providing further funding
for Winnicott staff training in NIDCAP
and providing more trainers in the UK
will continue to raise the profile of the
Winnicott Baby Unit. This in turn
benefits staff recruitment on the unit
and encourages other units to invest in
training.”
Winnicott Receptionist Sarah Bunn,
Consultant Paediatric Occupational Therapist
Inga Warren, Housekeeper Rebecca George
and Modern Matron Gill Parker
gentle handling approach of adjusting to
the individual needs of the baby leads to
fewer complications and developmental
learning problems, Inga said.
“When you look at a baby you must think
about what that little person is going
through, what their behaviour tells us
about how they’re feeling, when they’re
able to respond to us and how much
protection they need from a stressful
environment. It is essentially about reading
and becoming attuned to the baby.”
This can include allowing the baby to
sleep for extended periods, and not
waking them repeatedly for treatment.
Instead staff co-ordinate this around when
the baby is naturally awake. Light and
noise levels are kept low to reduce
disturbance, and babies are positioned in
a way that is comfortable for them and
will encourage normal movements.
Parents are also involved in their child’s
care from as early as possible, including
the feeding, clothing and changing.
Mothers are supported to breast-feed, as
the unit has one full-time breast-feeding
co-ordinator, and subsequently produces
the highest uptake rate of breast-feeding
Winnicott Baby Unit offers UK’s
first developmental care training
Winnicott Baby Unit offers UK’s
first developmental care training

MM
Clinical ethics event debating
euthanasia draws crowds
MORE THAN 200 staff flocked to
the first Clinical Ethics Committee
Open Day in March to listen to
the timely debate around
euthanasia. Headlining the event,
leading civil liberties lawyer and
former president of Oxfam,
Lord Joffe, outlined his proposed
Assisted Dying Bill, which is
currently before the House of
Lords. This was followed by
University College London
Professor of Neonatology John
Wyatt giving his opposing views
on the legislation.
Following a lively question and
answer session covering topics such
as alternative ways of relieving
suffering and the vulnerability of
patients contemplating euthanasia,
a panel of medical and nursing staff
facilitated by Deputy Nursing
Director Kathryn Jones discussed the
difficulties around the ‘do not
resuscitate’ procedure.
Clinical Ethics Committee Chairman
Dr Andrew Hartle said the large staff
turn out left no one in doubt about
the importance of ethics in medicine.
“We know these are timely issues
and judging by the way there was
standing room only, the discussions
illustrated that ethical issues in
medicine rarely have simple answers.
Finding the right way forward often
benefits from exposure to a range
of views and perspectives.”
Questionnaires completed by staff
also showed that many were
unaware of the role of the Clinical
Ethics Committee and work is
currently underway to address
this, he said.
ST MARY’S CONSULTANT CARDIOLOGIST Jamil Mayet
holds a captive audience at a recent health
improvement forum as Prime Minister Tony Blair
looks on. Jamil was speaking at a New Health
Network event, an independent think-tank set up to
promote sustainable health service modernisation.
During the forum Jamil and Vascular Surgeon Professor
Nick Cheshire highlighted a series of St Mary’s
cardiovascular initiatives including our joint heart failure
initiatives with primary care and the development of the
aortic stenting programme.
HIV patients from
across London share
experiences
AN INFORMATION EVENT for HIV positive
patients from across London was recently held
for the first time at St Mary’s. The event,
organised by the St Mary’s Wharfside Patient
Forum and the Bloomsbury Patient Network
covered sensitive issues for patients living with
HIV – including accessing GP services and how
to disclose HIV status.
Feedback for the event, held on May 13 and
attended by more than 30 patients, was
overwhelmingly positive. One of the event organisers
Martin Schwarz, co-chair of the Wharfside Patient
Forum, said the day, jointly funded by St Mary’s
Paddington Charitable Trust and the Bloomsbury
Clinic, proved to be a success for all involved.
“This event helped people to share their experiences
and learn how to tackle sensitive subjects like
disclosure. It also proved the need for peer-support.
Seeing people talking about their issues, problems
and fears is very encouraging. People with HIV and
AIDS encounter prejudice and resentment on a daily
base. HIV phobia is still commonplace even in the
medical profession,” he said.
q A bi-annual inspection of the
Trust was completed in March.
Improvements were noted in
areas previously visited last
October, including general
cleanliness, the use of posters
on wards, and the complete
refurbishment of various
bathrooms throughout the Trust.
q Forum members carried out an
informal visit in March
regarding the preparation,
delivery and serving of patient
food. Visiting Thistle and
Victoria & Albert wards the
group found the level of service
to be high, but some issues
were raised around uniforms
and heating of food. The forum
also spoke to several patients
who were overall very happy
with the food and the service
during meal-times. It was
concluded that there were vast
improvements in food quality
over the past year.
q The Forum signed off
comments on the Trust’s
performance against the
Healthcare Commission’s
Annual Health Check, which
will be reproduced in the Trust’s
declaration of compliance
document. Comments are
based upon work the Forum
has undertaken in the last year
and contain a mixture of
compliments and criticisms of
performance.
VOICE OF THE PEOPLE
St Mary’s PPI Forum update
St Mary’s Patient and Public Involvement Forum functions as the eyes
and ears of the public. Monitoring the Trust’s services and promoting the
views of patients and the public, their recent work includes:

CASE NOTES
Russell Knoll,
Ward Manager, Lewis Loyd
What is your middle name?
Ivan.
Would you be a good patient?
Yes – I’m quite easy going.
Where were you born?
Cape Town.
What is your biggest regret?
I don’t have any. I think it’s pointless
having regrets. When you have an
opportunity to do something you
should just do it.
If you could do lunch with
someone famous, who would it
be?
Nelson Mandela. He’s such an icon for
tolerance and forgiveness.
Describe your perfect day
I would come in to work and no one
would be off sick.
What is your current bedtime
reading?
Persuasion by Jane Austen.
If you could have chosen a
different career what would
you have done?
Maybe teaching, but I am quite happy
with nursing and I did try quite a few
different kinds of jobs before I started
my career.
What would you do if you won
the lottery?
I don’t play it, so it probably will not
happen. If I did, I would phone work
and announce that I was not coming
in for a while, then I would quite
happily take a year’s unpaid leave and
go to the States.
• Did you know the correct spelling of the Lewis Loyd
ward is actually spelt with only one ’l’.
No18
Moving everyone (over 3,000 staff were
eligible) onto the new national pay
system Agenda for Change in the space
of a year has been a massive project.
The team of approx 30 people comprising
of full-time and volunteer staff worked hard
to ensure the process of job evaluation was
fair and consistent with the national
evaluation scheme, that results were shared
regionally and that all staff had a process of
appeal should they have concerns with their
banding. So far, just under four per cent of
staff have appealed, compared to 7 - 9 per
cent in London as a whole.
The majority of staff certainly clinical groups,
have fared better under the new system.
There are a number of staff on wage
protection who the Trust is committed to
supporting career development-wise, and
through role redesign.
Director of Human Resources and Workforce
Development Deborah O’Dea said: “Can I
say a big thank you to everyone -
managerially and staff side - who have been
involved with the AfC process, who I know
have worked their very hardest to ensure a
fair and nationally-compliant approach to
job evaluation and banding staff. We are
very committed to supporting those staff
who want to develop themselves to move
into new roles or gain promotion, and aim
for the Transforming St Mary’s process to
lead on role redesign in many areas.”
A job evaluator’s view
Mike Pyett, Associate Director of Facilities,
reflects on his role as a job evaluator.
“The process provided greater clarity about
the overall structure of the organisation and
how professions and departments work
together. It also helped us appreciate how
everyone is important in contributing to
patient care, whether you are a frontline
member of staff or, for example, working in
the estates team. We were a diverse group
of management and staff-side evaluators
with job descriptions to base decisions on,
and the whole approach was based around
grading posts not people. We did our very
best to make sure the process was fair and
thorough, visiting departments to see staff
in action, interviewing them for clarification
about their roles etc. I can see benefits in
having a single system for everyone, the
structures before emphasised division and
hierarchy when we are all here to do the
best we can for patients which is more
effective through working as a team.”
The Agenda for Change team
Agenda for Change team members are
now Project Manager Justin Gaffney,
Project Manager Kerry Hargreaves, KSF
Lead Roy Perestrelo and Lorry Phelan.
There is now a major focus on supporting
managers to implement the Knowledge
and Skills Framework throughout all
departments, the process of continual
assessment and development to ensure
staff are fully qualified and competent to
carry out their roles, and that they have
access to learning and career development
opportunities. Team members can be
contacted on their exisiting extensions and
are still based in the Clarence Wing offices.
The team also continue to run review
panels for staff unhappy with their banding.
Because of the reduced number of staff
working on AfC, staff can expect reviews
to take between 8 - 12 weeks. Post holders
and managers are being encouraged to
attend the reviews as observers, where
review panels will explain the procedure
and their decisions as they are made.
A big thank-you to everyone else who
has played a part in implementing AfC
throughout the organisation.
How protection works
A small proportion of employees
assimilated to Agenda for Change have
been placed on pay protection. This
happens when an employee’s pay before
assimilation exceeds the maximum salary
that they could earn in their new pay band.
The employee is placed on the maximum
point of their new pay band and paid the
difference between this and their former
salary as ‘salary protection’ to ensure that
there is no reduction in their overall pay.
As the total value of pay under Agenda
for Change rises with successive pay
awards the level of protection reduces.
This will have the effect of ensuring that
the employee’s pay does not reduce nor
increase - it will not rise until the pay
rates for their new band exceeds the level
of protected pay.
Agenda for change

Surgical IT tracking
system to be set up
IN RESPONSE to Government legislation due to
come into force next April, the Trust is preparing
to implement a new Surgical Instrument
Management IT System (SIMS).
The system uses barcode technology to track surgical
instruments, appliances and instrument trays moving in
and out of the Theatre Sterile Supply Unit (TSSU) to
other areas within the Trust. Having real-time location
and cleanliness status for all instruments and devices
will enable these items to be located with ease, and
will make scheduling operations much easier.
SIMS will also allow the Trust to trace specific
instrument usage to particular cases or patients.
For example, if there was a case of infection or a batch
of faulty equipment, affected patients could be easily
identified and remedial action taken.
The Trust is evaluating a number of SIMS currently on
the market with plans to implement the system in
October 2006.
xFor more information about the SIMS project or
if you would like to get involved, contact Project
Manager, Greg Bird, via e-mail or on ext 7779.
MM
Alcohol Health Worker
celebrates first birthday
IN THE TWELVE MONTHS since St Mary’s became the first
London hospital to appoint an onsite Alcohol Health
Worker the number of patients attending alcohol health
work sessions has almost tripled.
Clinical Nurse Specialist in Substance Abuse, Adrian Brown was
appointed St Mary’s Alcohol Health Worker in May 2005 and now sees
an average of around 50 patients a month. His
role includes offering information and advice,
including detoxification guidance for inpatients
and where appropriate onward referral to alcohol
treatment services.
Patients are referred to Adrian through the short
alcohol screening tool, the ‘1 minute Paddington
Alcohol Test‘ (PAT). Trialled and developed at
St Mary’s by A&E Consultant Robin Touquet
12 years ago, the PAT screens A&E patients with
any of the 10 conditions associated with alcohol
misuse, including head injuries, collapse or upper gastrointestinal pain.
Patients who test positive are then offered an appointment with an
Alcohol Health Worker, with more than 61 per cent attending the
appointment in March 2006, compared to 27 per cent in April last
year. As part of a review of St Mary’s Alcohol Policy Adrian is currently
developing a modified PAT to help ward staff decide on alcohol
detoxification regimes.
Referrals have also more than doubled in the past year and while the
majority come via A&E (62 per cent from A&E Senior House Officers
and 10 per cent from A&E registrars) around 14 per cent are sent via
the wards and a further five per cent from the psychiatric liaison team.
Adrian says the increase in attendance is mostly down to the majority
of patients now being seen while they are still in hospital. “Seeing
patients within the first 24 hours is crucial as we know the chances
of people returning for an appointment reduces the longer they
have to wait.”
Professor Robin Touquet, whose work around alcohol related A&E
admissions has made St Mary’s a centre of excellence in the field, said
the role, which is funded by Westminster PCT, is a practical example
of preventative healthcare working across the primary and secondary
care sector.
“Adrian’s role has been a brilliant success story. We now have a much
better understanding of how to manage the problems of alcohol
misusing patients, and are able to offer prevention strategies to reduce
re-attendance to A&E by making best use of ‘the teachable moment’.”
Adrian’s statistics show around one-quarter of referrals are people who
say they do not drink every day, although the majority are drinking
between 15 and 30 units daily. Patients aged over 40 were more likely
to attend with those aged over 70 the most likely to be seen due to
the fact they also have the longest length of stay in hospital.
xFor inpatient referrals or information on how to sign up for
alcohol awareness training contact Adrian Brown on ext 7663.
PADDINGTON outlets offer a number of excellent
discounts to staff. In most cases, you just need to
present your ID badge to gain a discount.
JUST OPENED: Caffe Itto – Oriental and Japanese cafe,
offering 10 per cent discount off the bill, including lunch
menu deals. 127 Praed Street, W2
Frontline restaurant – fill in the online form (available
on the intranet) and qualify for a 10 per cent discount
for July and August. Norfolk Place, W2
Quality Crown Hotel Paddington – 20 per cent
discount off normal rates. 144 Praed Street, W2.
Call 020 7835 2000 for reservations
Quality Hotel Hyde Park – 20 per cent discount off
normal rates. 8-10 Talbot Square, London, W2 1TS.
Call 020 7835 2000 for reservations
Comfort Inn Notting Hill-Bayswater – 20 per cent
discount off normal rates. 5-7 Prince’s Square, London,
W2 4DU
www.nhsdiscounts.com – the number one
discounts/benefits website for NHS employees
D I S C O U N T C O R N E R

CMO top tips
for avoiding the
summer heat
Handy tips have been produced by
the Department of Health for
surviving the dangers of heat. A plan
produced by the Chief Medical
Officer gives practical advice to
health workers and those caring for
vulnerable older people so they
know what action to
take in advance
and in the
event of a
heatwave.
These include:
q If a heatwave is
forecast, try and plan your day in a
way that allows you to stay out of
the heat;
q If you can, avoid going out in the
hottest part of the day (11am-3pm);
q If you must go out stay in the shade.
Wear a hat and light loose fitting
clothes, preferably cotton. If you are
outside for some time, take plenty of
water with you;
q Take cool showers or baths and
splash yourself several times a day
with cold water, particularly your
face and the back of your neck;
q Eat as you normally would. Try to eat
more cold food, particularly salads
and fruit, which contain water;
q Look after older people. They are
much more prone to the effects of
heat. If you have older relatives or
neighbours you can help simply by
checking on them if possible every
day, and reminding them to drink
plenty and often. They should have a
mixture of drinks including fruit juice
and water. They should keep their
house as cool as possible.
xFor more information on
the plan visit
http://www.metoffice.
gov.uk/weather/europe/uk/
heat_health.html#advice
Staff
Health Matters
Summer produce
Asparagus
The British asparagus season is
very short, lasting from mid-
April to mid-June. Asparagus is
a good source of folic acid,
which is necessary for blood
cell formation, growth and
prevention of neural tube defects in babies. It is
also a source of B vitamins, potassium and fibre.
HOW TO EAT: Serve steamed, roasted or
barbecued with a balsamic vinegar and olive oil
dressing.
Tomatoes
The British tomato season now
extends from February to
November thanks to the use of
heated glasshouses. The rosy
red colour of tomatoes is due to
the mighty antioxidant lycopene. Some research
has linked eating plenty of tomatoes – especially
cooked, canned, pastes and sauces – with a
reduced risk of heart disease and cancer (in
particular, prostate cancer, although this is not yet
conclusive). Tomatoes are a source of antioxidant
vitamins C and E, flavonoids and also potassium,
which may help to regulate blood pressure.
HOW TO EAT: Any way you like, raw, grilled,
slow roasted stuffed with garlic. Tomatoes,
although often called a vegetable, are actually
one of the world’s most popular fruits.
Summer time is the best season for stocking up on a wide range of fresh
fruits and vegetables, but do you know the nutritional value of each?
St Mary’s dietitians Karen Klassen and Lucy Goddard give us the lowdown.
Courgettes
The home-grown variety is available
from June to October. As courgettes
get larger, the flavour depletes and
they benefit from additional
flavours, such as garlic, basil, parsley,
tomatoes and olive oil.
HOW TO EAT: Low in calories and versatile, eat them
raw, steamed, pan-fried or roasted.
Summer berries - strawberries,
raspberries, blueberries and
loganberries
Summer berries are packed full of
antioxidants thanks to their vitamin
C and flavonoid content. Raspberries
have an especially high level of
antioxidants and are also great
sources of fibre and folic acid.
HOW TO EAT: Eat them fresh and topped with
yogurt, or in desserts such as summer pudding, pies,
ice cream, sorbet, or in fruit sauces, jams and jellies.
Red and orange peppers
Peppers are an excellent source of
vitamin C – just half a red pepper
provides you with all your
requirements for one day. They are
also useful sources of flavonoids
and beta-carotene – both of which
might help to oppose the free radical damage that can
eventually lead to cancer.
HOW TO EAT: Serve them raw in salads or slow roast
them with olive oil.
What’s in
your basket?
Do dietitians have a penchant for chocolate?
So do they really practice what they preach? The dietitian’s fridge holds a variety of
foods, from a chickpea salad, mackerel sandwich, apples to chocolate and blueberry
biscuits. Louise Davies, Acting Dietetic Manager says: “A healthy diet is not a restrictive
one. All foods can fit into a balanced diet if you watch your portion sizes and don’t
overindulge in high-calorie options.”

MM
MOVERS AND SHAKERS
Bevoly Fearon
Operations Manager for
Jefferiss Wing
Bevoly joins
from
Wandsworth
PCT where
she worked
as the
Business
and Service Level Agreement Team
Manager. Bevoly’s role as Operations
Manager means she will be
responsible for the overall
management of administration in the
Jefferiss Wing as well as supporting
consultants, and other clinical staff.
Sophie Wilcock
Medical Staffing Coordinator,
Medical Directorate
Sophie
was PA to
Palliative
Care
Consultant
Katie Urch
before
starting in her new role as the
Medical Staffing Coordinator. Her
role sees her handling various
staffing issues for junior doctors from
annual leave to training, assisting
with the complaints processes for the
directorate as well as general office
management.
Penny Fletcher
Pharmacy Team Leader,
Women’s & Children’s
Penny joins
on a one-
year
secondment
from
Chelsea &
Westminster
Hospital
where she spent seven years as a
Senior Paediatric Pharmacist. She
replaces Julia Simmons (who is on
maternity leave) to manage the
Women’s & Children’s Pharmacy
team. Penny will also lead on
developing pharmacy services,
policies and guidelines for the
Women’s & Children’s Directorate.
Elle Turner
Team Administrator,
Transforming St Mary’s
Elle came to
the Trust in
March to
provide
admin-
istrative
support to
the
Transforming St Mary’s Board and
Team. She is also PA to the
Programme Director Suzanne Lawler
and the Head of Performance &
Planning Jason Seez. Previously, Elle
worked for the National Institute for
Health & Clinical Excellence in R&D
in a similar role.
WELCOME TO:
Sandra Iskander
Service Manager, Surgery
Sandra spent two years as the
Operational Manager for Surgery
before replacing Rachel Davies (nee
Wilcox) as the Service Manager for
the directorate. Her new role includes
management of ENT, Orthopaedics,
General Surgery, Urology and the
Western Eye Hospital.
Rachel Barlow
General Manager for Clinical
& Diagnostic Services
Rachel is
General
Manger for
C&D
following
nearly three
years as the
Service
Manager for Emergency and Critical
Care and Circulatory Sciences. She will
lead on delivering the directorate’s
top five priorities for 2006/07 which
include, meeting agreed local and
national performance targets such as
the 18 week outpatient waiting time
target, reducing hospital acquired
infections, improving medicines
management, enabling modernisation
by improving capacity and relocation
and achieving financial balance.
Rachel first came to the Trust as a
student nurse over 18 years ago and
has since worked at St Thomas’,
St Bartholomew’s,The Royal London
and West Middlesex hospitals.
BACK IN POST
June Davis Head of Therapy Services
(back from maternity leave)
Ellen Ryabov General Manager, in
Surgery, Cardiovascular Sciences and
Critical Care (back from maternity leave)
Lara Waywell Head of Nursing/
Deputy Manager Cardiovascular
Sciences (returns to post after acting as
maternity leave cover for Ellen Ryabov)
FAREWELL TO:
Sharon Barrington Acting Head of Therapy Services
Rachel Davies (nee Wilcox) Service Manager for Surgery,
moves to a new post working with Professor Ara Darzi and his team at
Imperial College, St Mary's Campus. Her new role will see her managing a
variety of Department of Health and service development projects, focusing
on how innovation, training and education can help shape the delivery of
elective care. Working closely with St Mary's, the DH, Imperial College and
other NHS organisations, Rachel will be based in QEQM and can be
contacted on ext 5202 or email: r.w.davies@imperial.ac.uk
Jamie Furse Architect
If you have a new staff member who has just started in your team and would like them mentioned in this column please
contact MM editor Sarah Prestwood on sarah.prestwood@st-marys.nhs.uk
It’s more than
ticking a box
RECORDING PATIENT
ethnicity is a vital tool if
we are to learn more about
our patients’ needs and
health trends.
Currently St Mary’s rate of recording
ethnicity on our patient
administration system (PAS) is below
average, however work is underway
to drastically increase these figures.
Co-project lead Anita Vincent, who is
working to increase the rate as part
of the wider Race Equality Scheme,
said staff often feel uncomfortable
about asking patients to specify their
ethnicity, meaning this information is
often left off patient files.
“St Mary’s has such a diverse
patient population so it is vital that
we record this information
accurately. Understanding the ethnic
mix of our patients will help us plan
our services and tailor needs for
specific ethnic groups.”
Currently only 84 per cent of St
Mary’s inpatients and 75 per cent of
outpatients have their ethnicity
recorded on our PAS system, below
the national target of 95 per cent
compliance.
A failure to provide this information
will also have financial implications
for the Trust with primary care trusts
set to penalise St Mary’s for not
providing full patient details.
“We know that for various reasons
some patients feel uncomfortable
about stating their ethnicity,
however we need to make them
aware that ultimately providing this
information will benefit them and
the treatment they receive,”
Anita said.
x For more information on
how to get involved with
the Race Equality Scheme
please contact Anita
Vincent on ext 1207

OCTOBER 2006 - rating awarded: Taking into
account our declaration and other indicators of
performance and quality, the Healthcare
Commission will award the Trust a rating on a
four point scale: excellent, good, fair, or weak.
Trusts which declare non-compliance with up to
four standards can still achieve the highest rating
band for this part of the Annual Health Check,
as long as the Healthcare Commission is satisfied
that all the lapses have been properly addressed.
Uncovering the Annual Health Check
The annual health check, overseen by the
Healthcare Commission, is the new system
for assessing and rating the performance
of NHS healthcare organisations in
England and replaces the previous star
ratings regime.
The check is made up of two elements, the
use of resources score and the quality
score, which covers core standards, existing
and new national targets and improvement
reviews/acute hospital portfolio.
Use of resources score: To assess how
effectively a trust manages its finances,
focusing on five key themes - financial
reporting, financial management, financial
standing, internal control, and value for
money. To score ‘excellent’ overall, trusts
must have sound financial arrangements,
plus evidence of exceptional performances
and innovation.
Quality score: The quality score rewards
trusts that have achieved basic standards
and national targets, and have
demonstrated they are improving
themselves and delivering good quality
services to patients and the public.
q quality is scored between ‘excellent’,
‘good’, ‘fair’ and ‘weak’
q the lowest score (‘not met’) in core
standards will lead to ‘weak’ overall
q the lowest score (‘not met’) in existing
national targets will lead to ‘weak’
overall
q no trust that is failing to meet existing
or new national targets can get a final
score of ‘excellent’
q for a trust to get an overall score of
‘excellent,’ it must show good results
across the assessment
q all Trusts starts with a default position
of ‘fair.’
Our story so far:
NOVEMBER 2005 - our draft
declaration: Following a rigorous process
of self-assessment, St Mary's submitted a
draft declaration to the Healthcare
Commission that we were meeting all but
one of the 44 core standards it expects
NHS trusts to meet.
Head of Clinical Governance, Keith
Soper said: “The policy will be regularly
audited and should enable us to
demonstrate compliance with the
relevant standard next year.”
JANUARY 2006 - checking what we
said: We were one of 10 per cent of all
trusts that the Commission randomly
selected to check self-assessments.
Inspectors spent a day here reviewing
our evidence of compliance with five
selected standards. Happily, the
Commission agreed with the Trust's
declarations of compliance and
commented that the evidence showed
that our self-assessment process had
been rigorous.
MAY 2006 - our final declaration:
We were required to submit our final
declaration on compliance for 2005/06
to the Commission and to publish it
(see box).
Improving medicines
management
The Trust Board concluded last
November that it could not yet
demonstrate compliance with core
standards concerning medicines
management. Since then, a
comprehensive policy has been
approved and is now being rolled-
out to reinforce existing practice,
and introduce some new quality
measures. New requirements
include:
q a patient's drugs sensitivities, or
a negative response, must be
recorded before medicines can
be dispensed;
q improvements to security - for
example, drugs cabinet keys
must be stored separately from
other keys and a spare set held
by Security.
Final declaration 05/06
The Trust has declared non-compliance with
three further standards, in additional to
C4d on medicines management, for 2005/06:
C4a - Infection control
As we have not been able to achieve a
reduction in the number of MRSA
infections this year compared with last, we
are not able to meet the requirements of
this standard. To ensure that we can meet it
next time around the Trust is taking a
number of steps, including:
q Action to reduce infection via IV routes
including promotion of timely switch to
oral antibiotics.
q A renewed focus on hand washing for
patients and visitors, and monthly
targets set for improved staff
compliance.
C2 - Child protection
C11a - Staff are recruited appropriately
Keith Soper explains: ”Both of these
standards require that Criminal Records
Bureau (CRB) checks are conducted for all
staff and students in line with NHS
regulations which became effective in
February 2005. Although there has been no
lapse with staff recruited by St Mary's, it
has come to light that our contract with ISS
Mediclean has not required the company to
undertake CRB checks on its employees
who work at the Trust. This has now been
put right for all new starters, and the CRB
checks which should have been carried out
since February 2005 are being conducted in
prioritised phases.”
x For further information visit:
www.healthcarecommission.org.uk

MM
Dates for your diary...
3-8 Twins, Triplets & More Week
Email: enquiries@tamba.org.uk
www.tamba.org.uk
4 Trust Induction for new starters
Time: 8.45am-4.30pm
Venue: Education Centre,
2nd Floor Mint Wing
Contact: ciara.madden@st-marys.nhs.uk,
ext 2070
5 Conflict Resolution – statutory study day
Time: 9.30am-4.30pm
2nd Floor Mint Wing
Contact: ciara.madden@st-marys.nhs.uk,
ext 2070
5, 20 Trust Statutory Study Day - Neonatal
& Midwifery
Time: 9am-4.30pm
2nd Floor Mint Wing
Contact: tanya.russell@st-marys.nhs.uk
or pauline.charles@st-marys.nhs.uk,
ext 1002
5, 20 Trust Statutory Study Day - Paediatric
Nursing
Time: 9am-4.30pm
2nd Floor Mint Wing
ext 1002
5 Trust Joint Staff Committee
Time: 1pm-3pm
Venue: Clarence Wing Boardroom
Contact: terry.roberts@st-marys.nhs.uk,
ext 7889
July 7 Memorial Service
Time: 11.45am-12pm
Venue: Norfolk Place
Contact: stephen.flatt@st-marys.nhs.uk
ext1508
7,18, Trust Statutory Study Day - Medical
Staff (half day study update)
Time: 9am-12pm (morning session)
1am-4pm (afternoon session)
2nd Floor Mint Wing
ext 1004
9-15 National Transplant Week
Email: sue@transplantsinmind.fsnet.co.uk
www.transplantsinmind.co.uk
12 Trust Management Group Meeting
Time: 10.30pm-12pm
Contact: michelle.andrews@st-
marys.nhs.uk,
ext 7784
22 Brunel Guided Walk
Time: 11am-12pm and 1pm-2pm
Venue: Meet at Brunel statue,
Platform One, Paddington Station
Contact: walks@paddington
waterside.co.uk, tel 020 7313 1011
26 International Day Against Drug Abuse
and Illicit Trafficking
United Nations www.un.org
26-2 National Deafblind Awareness Week
Email: info@deafblind.org.uk
www.deafblind.org.uk
27 Audit & Assurance Committee
Time: 9am-12pm
Contact: luke.aspinall@st-marys.nhs.uk,
ext 1340
27 Trust Board
Time: 11.30am-1pm
Contact: luke.aspinall@st-
marys.nhs.uk, ext 1340
28 Conflict Resolution training
Time: 9.30am-4.30pm
2nd Floor Mint Wing
Contact: ciara.madden@st-
28 Team Briefing with the Chief Executive
for Senior Managers
Time: 11am-12pm
Contact: claire.burroughs@st-
29 Paddington Bear & more...Guided Walk
Time: 1pm-2pm
Venue: Meet at the Paddington Bear
Statue in Paddington station
Contact:
walks@paddingtonwaterside.co.uk,
tel 020 7313 1011
2-8 Alzheimer’s Awareness Week
Email: info@alzheimers.org.uk
www.alzheimers.org.uk
3 Staff Presentation Day
Time: 2pm-5pm
Venue: Landmark Hotel,
Marylebone Road
Contact: pedro.rodriguez@st-
3, 6,10,19, 21, 24, 27 Trust Statutory
Study Day - Adult Nursing
Time: 9am-4.30pm
2nd Floor Mint Wing
ext 1002
JULY
1-30 Everyman Male Cancer Awareness
Month
Email: everyman@icr.ac.uk
www.icr.ac.uk/everyman
1-30 National Osteoporosis Month
Email: info@nos.org.uk
www.nos.org.uk
17-25 Bike Week (including Bike2Work)
Email: hq@bikeweek.org.uk
www.bikeweek.org.uk
17-25 Motor Neurone Disease Week
Email: enquires@mndassociation.org
www.mndassociation.org
18-25 Learning Disability Week
Email: pressoffice@mencap.org.uk
www.mencap.org.uk
19 Trust Statutory Study Day -
Paediatric Nursing
Time: 9am-4.30pm
2nd Floor Mint Wing
ext 1002
Neonatal & Midwifery
Time: 9am-4.30pm
2nd Floor Mint Wing
ext 1002
19-25 Child Safety Week
Email: csw@capt.org.uk
www.capt.org.uk
Professions Allied to Medicine (PAMS)
Time: 9am-4.30pm
2nd Floor Mint Wing
ext 1002
21,26, 27 Trust Statutory Study Day -
Adult Nursing
Time: 9am-4.30pm
2nd Floor Mint Wing
ext 1002
22 Best Practice in Recruitment & Selection
for managers
Time: 9.30am-4.30pm
2nd Floor Mint Wing
JUNE 14 Managing Performance & Conduct
training (KSF)
Time: 9.30am-4.30pm
2nd Floor Mint Wing
Contact: caroline.snell@st-marys.nhs.uk,
ext 7891
17 Trust Statutory Study Day - Professions
Allied to Medicine (PAMS)
Time: 9am-4.30pm
2nd Floor Mint Wing
ext 1002
17 Managing a budget in the NHS
Time: 9.30am-1.30pm
2nd Floor Mint Wing
19 Managing Absence training (KSF)
Time: 9.30am-1pm
2nd Floor Mint Wing
Contact: palwasha.mehrzad@st-
20 Best Practice in Recruitment & Selection
Time: 9.30am-4.30pm
2nd Floor Mint Wing
20 Trust Medical Advisory Committee
Time: 5.30pm-7pm
Venue: McRae Function Room
Contact: helen.mole@st-marys.nhs.uk,
ext 1470
25 Trust Board
Time: 9am-2pm
Contact: luke.aspinall@st-
Administration & Clerical
Time: 9am-12pm
2nd Floor Mint Wing
ext 1002
Technical Staff
Time: 1pm-4pm
Venue: Education Centre, 2nd Floor
Mint Wing
ext 1004

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