Issue 13 May – June 2005

www.nhsgg.org.uk

Inside this issueNew EquipmentDecontaminationCentre LeadsEurope

page 2

Amazingresponse toSpecialOlympicsplea

page 6

FromEastto West

page 12Plus… The Endoscope • Agenda for Change • Freedom of Information Guide

Opinions have been flowingin on NHS GreaterGlasgow’s smoking

consultation, which is scheduledto come to a close on May 30.

Staff have been viewing the draftpolicy (which is available online atwww.nhsgg.org.uk) and feeding backtheir views which have ranged fromthe desire to ban smoking completelyon NHSGG property, to the need forareas for patients who still wish tosmoke.

Since the consultation waslaunched on March 22, the viewshave been collected at Dalian Houseand will be evaluated after theclosing date on May 30.

Following this, the CorporateManagement Team will study staffand public feedback before goingback to the Board with a revisedversion of the draft policy.

And those who haven’t alreadyseen the draft policy that’s out forconsultation, or filled in the responseform, can check outwww.nhsgg.org.uk/smoking orrequest a printed version of thematerial from Smoking Concerns on0141 201 9825 in advance of theclosing date.It’s hoped that NHSGG’s finalsmoking policy will be in placeacross the health service laterthis year.

Exclusivelook atfuture ofnewhospitals

see pages 6 & 7

There’s no smokewithout fire…

2

Europe’s largest, mostadvanced centre for thecleaning of hospital surgical

and medical instrumentation will beopening in Glasgow later this year.

Glasgow’s hospitals use approx. 12million re-usable instruments annually,ranging from single surgical instrumentsand complex theatre sets, to variousitems of medical equipment. All of thisinstrumentation has to be collected,decontaminated, tested, repackaged,sterilised and returned to hospital staffquickly to ensure that thousands ofpatients can be treated each and everyday.

The new £9m, 40,000 sq. ft centre,based in Cowlairs Industrial Estate,Springburn, will open in July 2005 withexisting decontamination facilities ineach acute hospital transferring on aphased basis over the following 17months.

Boasting a wide range of uniquedecontamination and sterilisationequipment designed specifically for thenew unit, the facility is one of the mostadvanced and environmentally friendly ofits type in Britain. The £9million projecthas already won national awards and themethodology developed has been sharedwith the NHS Scotland Property andDevelopment Forum with a view tobenefiting other hospitals.

Jonathan Best, Chief Executive ofYorkhill and Project Lead for the PanGlasgow Decontamination Centre, said:“This a great success story for Glasgow,bringing together people from allbackgrounds to create an unparalleledsterilisation service for our hospitals.

“Our existing sterilisation units haveserved us very well over the years,however the NHS has been given strictnew standards for the decontaminationof hospital instrumentation that none ofour existing units can meet. The result isa centralised state-of-the-art unit withwhich Glasgow can lead the way forothers to follow.”

Stobhill will be the first to transferits services followed by The RoyalHospital for Sick Children, the Victoria

Infirmary, Gartnavel General, GlasgowRoyal Infirmary and finally the SouthernGeneral. It is anticipated that thetransfers will be completed by December2006.

Mark Lavery, Head of SterileServices, said the layout andsophistication of the new unit will play anessential part in combating hospitalacquired infection. He said: “Theequipment we have here enables us totrack instrumentation through thedecontamination process and record thepatient history of specific instruments.This enables speedy identification ofwhich instrumentation was used onindividual patients in any of ourhospitals.

Alex Graham NHS Greater GlasgowProperty and Planning Manager hasnever known a project of this size andcomplexity to be completed in such ashort timescale. He said:“I have workedin NHS Estates project management forover 30 years and this undertaking hasbasically re-written the rules of what canbe achieved with the application,dedication and commitment of our ownpeople. The unit has been designed ona stand-alone basis with its own filteredwater supply, a dual fuel boiler, cleansteam raising plant and an emergencygenerator.

“In terms of the NHS in Glasgow,there has never been such a projectwhich has harnessed the expertise of somany people from different disciplines,including staff from microbiology,supplies, HR, IT, transport, TSSU, Health& Safety, Quality control staff and manymore.”

New Decontamination Unit

Glasgow’s new equipmentsterilisation centre leadsEurope

JOB FOCUS

David Shaw is the EstatesOperations Managerbehind the new Central

Decontamination Unit. It’sDavid’s job to ensure the newfacility is up and running totimescale and that hospitaldecontamination services aretransferred seamlessly.David said: “I’ve worked in theNHS for 17 years and have neverseen a project of this complexitybefore. My previous role was inthe Royal Infirmary where I wasthe Chief Engineer and jumped atthe chance to apply for this newposition.“To give you an idea of theuniqueness of this project, whenyou plan to build a new hospital,around 30-40% of the total cost isbased on services such aselectricity, steam, water, gas etc.Due to the amount of hi-techequipment, as well as the stricthygiene control protocols, theservices costs for our newdecontamination centre will bearound 60-70% of the totalcost…it really is leading edgetechnologies and practice.“It’s been a real benchmarkproject for NHS Greater Glasgow,bringing together people not onlyfrom a variety of differentbackgrounds, from IT toMicrobiology, but from all of thecity’s former NHS Divisions. Theresults of the project team’s workspeaks for itself.”

David Shaw

3

IN BRIEFHELP RAISEMONEY DOINGTHE BACKSTROKE!Do you enjoy a swim in your localswimming pool? How aboutturning that enjoyment intofundraising for a worthwhile cause!

ENABLE is having a Swimathonweek in the Greater Glasgowarea between June 19th and 25thand are hoping as many peopleas possible will take part.

All funds raised from the challengewill be used to enhance the livesof children and adults with learningdisabilities throughout Scotland.

If you are interested in taking part orwould like more information contactKevin Thomas on 0141 225 1643.

NEW GOLDENHILLCENTRE OPENSITS DOORSColleagues and service users gottogether recently to officiallylaunch the new purpose built£1.3 million Goldenhill ResourceCentre.The Centre – which providescommunity based mental healthservices in Clydebank andsurrounding areas – was officiallylaunched by Vice Chairman ofNHS Greater Glasgow, AndrewRobertson, on April 19.The brand new building onDumbarton Road provides muchimproved accommodationincluding more group andinterview rooms for patients andthe multidisciplinary team, whichincludes nursing, medical,psychology, occupational therapyand social work staff.

Four NHSGG members ofstaff have definitely gotthe X-Factor and that’s

official!Dietician Tomoyo Fujiwara and

Business Manager ViktoriaMcGuinnity from the Royal Hospitalfor Sick Children, Naeem Akhtar,Consultant Urologist at theSouthern General and Alia Gilani,Primary Support Pharmacist,Gartnavel Royal have been selectedas some of the new faces ofScotland’s NHS.

Last year the Scottish Executivekicked off a nationwide search tofind 20 faces of the health servicewho would represent the culturaldiversity that we have across ourNHS.

They were inundated withapplicants and, after Staff Newsmade a plea for NHSGG staff toenter, our fair city was wellrepresented.

The lucky 20 will now star in anational ad campaign and postersfeaturing them are alreadyappearing throughout the city’shealthcare settings.

The successful Glasgow fourrecently joined the other ‘faces’from across Scotland for aprofessional photo shoot – andthoroughly enjoyed their moment inthe limelight!

“I had never been involved in aphotoshoot like that before,” saidViktoria McGuinnity, who originallycomes from Russia. “It was acompletely unique experience butvery relaxed and good fun! On amore serious note, it’s great to seea range of people from differentbackgrounds being featured in thisway.”

“It’s great to see NHS GreaterGlasgow so well represented,” saidNHS Greater Glasgow ChiefExecutive Tom Divers. “This is anexcellent way to show the range ofcultural diversity that exists withNHS Scotland and I am delightedthat NHS Greater Glasgow has beenable to play such a prominent role.”Make sure to look out for theposters at a noticeboard nearyou…

We’ve gotthe X-Factor!

Staff in the Limelight

Naeem Akhtar,Consultant Urologistat the SouthernGeneral

Alia Gilani, PrimarySupport Pharmacistat Gartnavel Royal

ViktoriaMcGuinnity,BusinessManager atthe RoyalHospital forSickChildren

TomoyoFujiwara,Dietician atthe RoyalHospitalfor SickChildren

The Endoscope

Searching through our newsarchives, we came acrossthis story about a dead MP

who finds himself at the pearlygates. “Welcome to Heaven”,says St Peter, “We don’t oftensee your type here and we’re notsure what to do with you.”

The MP replies: “That’s easy, justlet me in.”

“Not so simple”, replies the haloedone, “The orders from higher up arethat you must spend one day in Helland then another in Heaven and onlyafter that can you decide where to

Having spent so much timepeering around the danknether regions of the NHS,

The Endoscope has becomeconvinced that the only way tosave it is to form a politicalparty and stand for election.This is our manifesto:

To avoid more tedious argumentsabout hospital locations, all GreaterGlasgow hospitals will be closed down.The SS Tuxedo Princess will be reclaimedfrom the Clyde and refitted as an adultinpatient/sick kids/maternity hospital.On Mondays it will berth on the northbank of the river, on Tuesdays the southbank, on Wednesdays the east end andThursdays the west end. On Fridays,Saturdays and Sundays it will beavailable for weddings, discos andbirthday parties, thereby cutting thejourney time to A & E for the majority ofattendees by 99.9%.

The Ikea superstore will be re-designated as an inpatient hospital. Thisis because if you encounter another bedsshortage, you just have to go down to thewarehouse and assemble a few more.

spend eternity.”So, the MP goes to Hell. Much to

his surprise, he finds himself in a vastgolf course, where he meets all his oldfriends and the politicians who’veworked with him, including severalHealth Ministers. They reminisceabout old times, have a great game ofgolf and finally dine on lobster, caviarand fine wines.

The next day, the MP goes to

Heaven. As he expects, he movesfrom cloud to cloud playing a harp: it’srather boring.

Afterwards, St Peter asks, “Well,what’s your choice?” The MP reflectsfor a minute and replies, “Well, to behonest I think I’d be better off in Hell.”And so, off he goes.

On returning down below, he isshocked to find himself roasting in averitable inferno. “ I don’t understand,“ the MP quavers, “it was all sowonderful the day before yesterday”.Satan replies, “We were campaigningthen. Today you voted for us!”

Choose after-life

The vision thing

4

The diary that peers into the darkest recesses of the NHS

In case, dear readers, you haven’t noticed it, there’s a general election going on. The Endoscopetherefore feels obliged to offer some perspective on the brawling and verbal belching of thevarious candidates as they relentlessly disturb our TV schedules and generate thousands of extrapages between the TV and sports pages of our newspapers.

And you can get a nice sofa too.The scandal of Scottish Executive

Health Department circulars will beended. They are clearly ‘rectangulars’and that is what they will be called.

GPs will be paid on the basis of thesquare yardage of patients treated ratherthan numbers – greater attention willtherefore be focused on the problem ofobesity.

Golf courses will be re-designated as‘Outpatient Departments’. In this way,patients can be sure they will see theirconsultant.

Health journalists will be required tosubmit their work to the Booker PrizeCommittee along with all the othercreative fiction.

Flat-packed patientscan be collected at thecustomer service desk.

Finally, this is your chance todemonstrate what a shrewd judge ofpolitical character your are. Check

out the candidates below and exert yourdemocratic will accordingly. Then peekat their names to see if you made a wisechoice. Mind how you vote!

Candidate A – Used Class A drugsas a university student. Has beenthrown out of office twice. Sleeps tilnoon every day and drinks a bottle ofwhisky each night.Candidate B – Linked with crookedpoliticians. Has had two mistressesand consults an astrologer. Drinks abottle of Martini every day.Candidate C – A decorated war hero.A non-smoking tee-total vegetarianwho has shown absolute fidelity tohis wife.

Who did you vote for?

A – Winston ChurchillB – Franklin D. RooseveltC – Adolf Hitler

Put your here

5

General News

Following an appeal in thelast edition of Staff News,more than 60 busy NHS

Greater Glasgow staff havevolunteered to give up their timeto help at this summer’s SpecialOlympics.

Fifty nurses and 18 doctors havecome forward – some with abackground in A&E or sportsmedicine and some without.However even those who don’t, canstill help out with administration andoffer advice on health-related issues.

The event – which is being heldbetween July 2 and 8 - is beingorganised by the Special OlympicsGreat Britain Team, Glasgow CityCouncil and NHS Greater Glasgow.

Special Olympics Great Britain isa volunteer-run organisation thatprovides sporting opportunities forpeople with learning disabilities andfocuses uniquely on providing equalityfor all athletes regardless of theirlevel of ability or degree of disability.

The organisation’s mission is “togive athletes with learning disabilitiescontinuing opportunities to developphysical fitness, demonstratecourage, experience joy and

participate in the sharing of skillsand friendship with their families,other Special Olympics athletes andthe community.”

Over the eight days, athletes willcompete at 15 venues in and aroundGlasgow. These include ScotstounLeisure Centre, Kelvin Hall andStrathclyde Park.

Alan Dorn, NHS Greater

Amazing response to StaffNews Special Olympics plea

NHS Greater Glasgow’s HRteams are working withtheir national counterparts

to develop NHS Scotland’s firstnationwide staff database.

The Scottish WorkforceInformation Standard System (SWISS)project - known as E-you – will hold allnecessary information about NHSScotland staff.

At the moment there are a varietyof different Human Resources (HR)systems in use across NHS Scotland.In fact in some areas there are noHR systems in use at all! This meansthat collecting and analysingworkforce information is a time-consuming task that is occasionally

prone to inaccuracies.The new E-you database is

therefore vital in the drive to informand improve the planning anddelivery of NHS care across thecountry.

A national project board has beenset up to see this work through withrepresentation from the NHS,including a full time Trade UnionOfficial, and the Scottish ExecutiveHealth Department.

Given the scale of the project itwill take some years to be fullyimplemented, but key milestoneshave been identified and will begin tobe met as early as May this yearwhen you will be asked to complete a

vital questionnaire.The questionnaire will be issued

with your payslip at the end of Mayand will ask some detailed personalquestions in line with equalopportunity legislation. However forparticularly sensitive issues you willhave the opportunity to decline tocomment.

Staff News will keep you updatedon the project as it develops.

NHS GEARS UP FOR NEWNATIONAL STAFF DATABASE

If you have any questions pleaseemail Caroline Hutchinson, the

SWISS Project Lead, atcaroline.hutchinson@nhs.net

Glasgow’s Emergency PlanningOfficer, who is part of the teamhelping to organise the Games said:“We’re absolutely delighted with theresponse from NHS Greater Glasgowstaff – these are all hard workingbusy professionals and for them togive up their free time is very muchappreciated.

“This is the seventh nationalgames and we are expecting around2,500 participants to be involved.

“Our message to people is thatno matter what background you have,everyone with any medical experiencewill be of great use to us. The morevolunteers we have helping out thebetter.”Anyone interested involunteering cancontact Alan Dornon 0141 201 4554or Tracy Curtison 0141 201 4553.

The eagle-eyed amongst youmay have noticed somenew boards that have been

erected around the site ofStobhill and Victoria. The signswere put up at the turn of theyear to mark not only thelocation of the hospitals but alsoa first step in the major buildingprojects that will begin nextyear.

And as work continues to reachfinancial close, the project team hasbeen liaising with architects to drawup designs for the new hospitals.

These first images of Stobhillshow how bright and spacious thenew hospital will be. When completedin 2008, the hospital will cover fourfloors and an area the size of 30,000square metres.

Detailed designs are alsocurrently being finalised for the newVictoria Hospital; these latest imagesshow clearly - for the first time - thesize of the new hospital. Again, thehospital will cover over 30,000

A first glimpse of the nStobhill and Victoria Ho

6

Update on the new Stobh

Where it is: the new Victoria inrelation to the current Victoria Infirmary

The main entrance tothe new Victoria hospital

An artist’s impression ofthe new Victoria Hospital

7

square metres and will be built overthree floors.

The current designs for eachhospital include an atrium stretchingfrom the ground floor to the ceiling,giving an open airy feel to thebuilding. Also planned are well-equipped treatment areas and state-of-the-art theatres and therapy areas,making the new hospitals the finestfacilities for outpatient and day casetreatment in Scotland.

Alex McIntyre, Project Manager forthe new Hospitals, said: “Theseimages provide the first opportunity tosee how the new hospitals might lookfrom the inside as well as theoutside. They also begin to show thescale of the hospitals – a similarfootprint to five full sized footballpitches.

“The designs are likely to befurther modified, as we continue towork with our architects to refine ourplans. As and when the final designsare agreed we will ensure that theseare covered in Staff News.”

newospitals

hill and Victoria Hospitals

The spacious atrium that forms theheart of the new Stobhill Hospital

How it will look:the new

Stobhill Hospital

The process of moving 33,000 NHSGG staff from WhitleyCouncil to Agenda for Change terms and conditions moveson relentlessly.

Staff involved in the initial step of the process – job matching andevaluation – report that they are making real headway, despite somesluggishness in submission of up to date job descriptions.

Paul Watt, management partner on job matching and evaluation, said:“Volunteers on our panels tell us that the procedures we have in place areworking well and they’re encountering no real problems. A lot of preparatorywork was undertaken and it does seem to be paying off.

“My main concern is that we are still not getting the throughput ofcompleted job descriptions we’d anticipated. There may be a number ofreasons for this, including simple administrative delay, and we have noillusions about the scale of the task.

“I heard rumours that staff are nervous about signing off revamped jobdescriptions. All I can say is that, of course if you are concerned the jobdescription is not accurate, you should speak to your line manager, local HRteam or staff representative. But as soon as you are ready, please sign itoff and make sure it is submitted into the Agenda for Change process – anyunnecessary delay may have a knock on effect on the timing of your actualassimilation onto the new terms and conditions.”

Thanks to NHS GreaterGlasgow paying an annualmembership to Glasgow

City Council, all staff can takeadvantage of a reducedmembership rate of £20 permonth for the Glasgow Club.

Giving access to all local authoritysport and leisure facilities inGlasgow, including swimming, gymand fitness classes – there’s noexcuse for being lazy this spring.

NHS Greater Glasgow staff are

entitled to Glasgow Club membershipfor 12 months with one extra monthincluded. All we need to do is sign asalary mandate form and the moneyis deducted on a monthly basis fromour salary at a rate of £20 per monthfor a period of 13 months.

If you are interested in joiningthis scheme download an applicationform fromhttp://www.nhsgg.org.uk/content/default.asp?page=s11_7_2 and returnto:

Alex DawsonCorporate Reporting OfficerFinance DepartmentGreater Glasgow NHS BoardDalian House350 St Vincent StreetGlasgow G3 8YYEmail: Alex.Dawson@gghb.scot.nhs.uk

Get a springin your step

Staff News Roundup

8

The medicalequipmentservice isthere for youThe Community Care medicalequipment team based at theSouthern General is expanding itswork and encouraging more GPpractices and health centres in thearea to use the valuable service.The team – led by Technical managerJohn Henderson – covers the testingof equipment ranging from ventilatorsin patients’ homes to defibrillators inhealth centres and GP practices.John Henderson explained: “We wantto encourage more people to use usbecause we are affordable, have highstandards and solid accreditation,we have rigorous test proceduresand protocols for the health service,and are NHS employees (not aprivate company) so there’s a senseof loyalty as well as comeback forusers.”The Technical Manager added thatthe service has:A database that records whatmedical items have been tested andwhen the next tests will be due;Appointments that are arranged onemonth prior to testing;Rapid response times; British Standard accreditation;Additional reliable pointers for thepurchasing of new equipment.So to find out what the team can dofor you in the NHS, call 0141 2011895 or emailjohn.henderson@sgh.scot.nhs.uk.

Agenda for Change -UPDATE

9

MakingClinical Staff’sVoices Heard

The term “advisorycommittee” might ring abell, but what does it

mean for NHSGG staff?Basically there are six statutory

clinical advisory committees in NHSGreater Glasgow and each one –which is made up of experiencedemployees/contractors from its‘field’ – works hard to reflect theviews of particular professions andto get pressing issues dealt with bythe Board.

As instructed by the ScottishExecutive to health services acrossthe country, these groups must beoperated to serve six differentcategories of clinical staff.

So Glasgow has:• The Area Medical Committee• The Area Dental Committee• The Area Pharmaceutical

Committee• The Area Optometric Committee• The Area Allied Health

Professionals Committee• The Area Nursing and Midwifery

CommitteeThe Area Clinical Forum also exists

to provide clinical advice across theabove professions.And to find out more about thecommittee that represents yourfield of work in NHSGG,contact Shirley Gordon – email:Shirley.Gordon@gghb.scot.nhs.uktel: 0141 201 4477.

General News

As part of an unprecedentedlevel of investment formodernising healthcare

facilities in Glasgow, a new £6million (£1 million charitabledonation from Magic Million) state-of-the-art Intensive Care and HighDependency Unit will open its doorsat the beginning of May.

The new unit at the Royal Hospital forSick Children will demonstrate the verylatest in technology, clinical training andparent accommodation, replacing theexisting facilities at the hospital.

Professor Sir John Arbuthnott,Chairman of NHS Greater Glasgow, isdelighted with the new facilities and theinvestment by NHS Greater Glasgow toensure critically ill children from all overScotland receive the best possible care.

He said: “NHS Greater Glasgow isinvesting more than £750 million onhealthcare facilities in Glasgow over thenext decade and this improvement inservices for critically ill children is part ofour drive to modernise services forpatients from Glasgow and beyond.

“The new unit will provide care forchildren with a wide range of lifethreatening conditions including heartdisorders, cancer and meningitis.”

NHS Greater Glasgow’s Jonathan

Best, Chief Executive of the YorkhillDivision, praised everyone involved in theproject saying: “By bringing Intensive CareUnit and High Dependency Unit togetherin a modern, bright purpose builtdepartment, co-ordination of patient carewill be improved along with the potentialto reduce cancellations of elective surgeryand inappropriate use of ICU beds.

“Everyone who was involved inhelping us to make this a reality shouldbe very proud of this fine achievement.

“We have been very conscious of theneed to focus not only on the clinical andtechnical aspects of eth new build withour staff, but also take into account theviews of former patients and theirfamilies.”

Sister Edith Gracie from thePaediatric Intensive Care Unit said: “Ournew unit replaces the existing facilitiesthat have served us well for the past 20years.

“The difference between the old andnew units is night and day, and will bringimprovements not only to the level ofcare, privacy and comfort we can offerpatients and their families, but providesus with dedicated staff areas includingspecific clinical training rooms anddedicated labs.”

With 14 paediatric intensive carebeds and six high dependency beds (witha potential to increase to 10 highdependency beds) the new unit willprovide a seamless critical caredepartment with ready access to all of thestaff and facilities our young patientsrequire.

More than £1 million of the projectwas contributed by Yorkhill Children’s

Foundation. Donations and gifts-in-kindcame from all over Scotland thanks to the‘Magic Million’ campaign launched byGlasgow newspaper The Evening Times.The massive fundraising drive hasprovided the unit not only with the latestclinical information system, but a widerange of modern soft furnishings andcomforts for families who have to stayclose to their sick children.

State-of-the-art unit forcritically ill children

The state-of-the artfacility as it is now

The ITU before itstransformation

10

From hospital theatre tothe Himalayas – it’s all ina week’s work for Carol

Parkin!The ambitious Southern Generaltheatre nurse has an ongoing driveto raise money for autism, and in ayear’s time (April 2006) she willbe undertaking the Everest BaseCamp Challenge - with a totalsponsorship aim of £10,000.Carol told Staff News: “I’ll bedoing the Everest Base CampChallenge to raise funds for TheScottish Society for Autism.

“The trek will begin at Lukla, whichis situated high in the NepaleseHimalayas at an altitude of 9,350feet, before finally reaching thehighest point of 18,448 feet at thesummit of Kalapathar.”Carol added: “Not only will thechallenge let me fulfil a lifetimedream, but it will also raise vitalfunds for a fantastic and worthwhilecause.”And this isn’t the only thing Carolhas taken on for Autism Scotland.The theatre nurse went on: “If I domanage to reach my £10,000Everest target, it will take the total

From the Southern to theI’ve raised for the charity to£25,000 over five years.“So far I’ve done fun sponsorshipwork like abseils, zip wires, SCADdiving, a 10,000 feet freefallparachute jump and a 500km cyclein China. It has been exhilarating!”Carol added: “I really hope I canmake the Everest Base CampChallenge target by next April, asthe Scottish Society for Autism isworking to build a great new centrefor children, adults and theirfamilies.“Autism is a lifelong condition thatmakes the world a very confusingplace and makes people feel veryisolated and unable to communicatewith others. To know you can helpthose affected in some way is agreat feeling, so I hope mycolleagues across NHSGG will showtheir support and we can make thetarget by April 2006.”Any member of staff who wishes todonate to Carol’s Everest trek andplay a part in achieving the cashtarget, can visit

Carol’s previous charity challengesincluded reaching higher heights inan exciting skydive

General News

The efforts of dedicatedNHSGG staff wererecognised earlier this year

at the 2005 Health Council andLay Advisers Awards ceremony.

Greater Glasgow Health Councilreceived 531 nominations frompeople who wanted to praise staffthey felt had worked above andbeyond the call of duty – the highest

number of nominations since theawards began in 1992.

The finalists who received thecoveted award certificates andcheques were:

■ Paul McNeill – Dentist in CastlemilkWest of Scotland Mobility and RehabilitationCentre, Prosthetic Service (based at theSouthern General); National Centre forTraining and Education in Prosthetics andOrthotics (based at the Southern General)

■ Dr Douglas Wilcox, Honorary Consultant inMedical Genetics for YorkhillAccident and Emergency Department at theVictoria InfirmaryGastro-Intestinal Centre, Southern General

■ Elizabeth Roddick – Pharmacist in Cathcart

■ Allison Smith - Lung Cancer Clinical NurseSpecialist, Gartnavel GeneralArndale/Riverside Intensive CommunityTreatment (mental health services)

Easterhouse Health CentreThe North Avenue GP Surgery in CambuslangCentre for Rheumatic Diseases, Glasgow RoyalInfirmaryLevel 8 Orthopaedics team at the WesternInfirmary

Although the Health Council hasnow ceased to exist in Glasgow, it’shoped that the popular annualawards will be carried on in years tocome – so watch this space…

Dedicated staffreap awards

the worthy winners; staff from theArndale/Riverside Intensive Community

Treatment (mental health services) Teamaccept a Health Council award for

outstanding service.

Paul McNeil accepts his awardfor praised dentistry work.

11

UK STAFF DIRECTORYTO INCLUDE NHSGGA contract signed recently by theScottish Executive HealthDepartment means that all NHSstaff in Greater Glasgow willfeature in a national electronicdirectory.The National Directory Project isto be used as a single point ofaccess for accurate and up todate information about staff inevery NHS organisation in theUK. Its purpose is to allowauthorised personnel to trackdown information about individualstaff – including name,organisation, job title andcontact details – and to browsethrough the workforce of anygiven organisation.A project team is being set up tocollate and input the details ofNHSGG staff to the directory inthe coming months. Further information about thedirectorycan be obtained by logging on towww.nhsgg.org.uk/ds orby calling 0141 201 7584.

Sahara!www.justgiving.com/everest2006.This is classed as a secure serverwhere people can quickly andeasily donate online. Alternatively,to find out about posting a chequeto Autism Scotland, contact Caroldirectly by calling the SouthernGeneral theatre number on 0141201 1662.

Carol braves thegreat wall of chinato boost vitalfunds for autism

CUT OUT AND KEEP GUIDE TOFREEDOM OF INFORMATION

Anyone can be asked under the new FoI (Scotland) Actfor information they hold ….

So what do you do if a request comes directly to you?

Here’s a simple step-by-step for NHSGG staff.

Most requests will come directly to one of five designated FoIContacts.

Some will come in from journalists directly to the NHS PressOffice.

But others will come directly to clinicians, nurses, managers,other staff or non-executives. The legislation sets out clearly howrequests have to be dealt with and in what timescale.

The Act is intricate and interpretation can be complex. Advice isavailable in dealing with any request that comes to you.

Steps:

■ Retain the receipted copy of the request which must be inwriting or other permanent form (normally letter or e-mail).

■ Alert your local FoI Contact (listed below) and if from themedia also alert the NHS Communications Office.

■ Follow advice received from the FoI Contact on who shouldrespond to the request.

■ Keep involved/informed as the response is prepared andunderstand why information is being given or withheld.

The clock starts ticking immediately it is received – there’s 20working days to provide information to so take action early. Thisperiod cannot be extended.

The FoI Contact will assist in the process. They will advise on anybarriers to giving out the information … it may even already beavailable in our Publication Scheme - www.nhsgg.org.uk/foiIt’s crucial individuals do not attempt to deal with such requeststhemselves if they have not been fully trained in the requirementsof the Act – and the protocols surrounding response times andappeals processes.

Board: John Hamilton ext 64608e-mail foi.board@nhsgg.org.uk

North: Isobel Brown ext 51790e-mail foi.northglasgow@nhsgg.org.uk

PCD: John Dearden ext 30214e-mail foi.pcd@nhsgg.org.uk

South: Gavin Barclay ext 61257e-mail foi.southglasgow@nhsgg.org.uk

Yorkhill: Coral Brady ext 89279e-mail foi.yorkhill@nhsgg.org.uk

Communications Office ext 64429e-mail foi.press@nhsgg.org.uk

Always there to help and provide advice are:

✁

12

Focus on Overseas Health Professionals

In the first of a new seriesStaff News will beinterviewing some NHS GG

staff who’ve come to work withus from overseas. In thisedition we meet Majid Sohrabi,Staff Nurse in Renal Dialysis atthe Western Infirmary, who isfrom Tehran, Iran.

SN: Majid what made you leave Iranto come to Scotland?

Majid: I qualified in Iran andworked in Tehran for four years as anurse in renal dialysis and a relateddiscipline, nephrology. After that I leftnursing for a while to do other thingsand one of the jobs I had during thattime brought me regularly toEdinburgh. After a while I realisedtwo things; I wanted to return tonursing and I wanted to do that inScotland. The process for achievingthat ambition wasn’t easy I have tosay. Although I was a qualified nurseI wasn’t registered here so I couldn’tpractice until I had passed theadaptation course. You can only dothe adaptation course if you live inthe country. Getting through thosemonths was difficult. You have torely on friends, get used to life inanother country and also pass anexam to prove that your English isfluent enough to allow you to do yourjob properly.

SN: What was the hardest part ofthe process for you?

Majid: I think the hardest thingwas that I had to work as an enrollednurse for six months. When youconsider I was a Head Nurse inNephrology in a hospital in one ofIran’s major cities it was veryfrustrating to find myself in thatposition. My confidence reallysuffered. It was the time in thewhole process when I wondered if I’ddone the right thing.

SN: So what made you persevere?

Majid: The patients. They’llalways decide whom they trust. Inthe end that’s what gave me myconfidence back. Their faith in megave me enough faith in myself tosee me through.

SN: What are the differencesbetween nursing in Tehran andGlasgow?

Majid: Well, the circumstances inIran after the war were very differentfrom here. There was a real lack ofdoctors so nursing duties wereexpanded to help cover - bloodtransfusions, most things to do withIVs, all sorts of work that wouldrequire far greater legislation herewere a regular part of my job.Working in a hospital post-war you dowhat you need to – not becausethere are no rules, but becausethey’re not the same. That’s thebiggest difference; the rules andregulations in Scotland that governhow you work. While I found thatdifficult at first, I’m convinced of theneed for it now that I’ve had time towork that way. It protects us asnurses as well as the patients.

SN: What could NHS GreaterGlasgow do to improve the processfor overseas practitioners cominginto the system?

Majid: When I first got a job –and admittedly this was in London,but I expect it’s the same everywhere- we had an induction course, but itwas for everyone at the same time.Those of us new to the country hadthe same orientation as all the othernew staff. While I can understandthere are reasons for this, it was toomuch to take in. People who areBritish have not only been trained forthe National Health Service, but havegrown up with it as part of their lives.There are assumptions made about

things that are understood becausethey’re part of the culture. It wouldbe helpful to overseas staff to have aseparate induction taking that intoaccount. Also, it would be reallyuseful to inform staff who are goingto be working with those of us fromoverseas so that they know what toexpect in regard to differences inculture and practice so that we allunderstand one another better.

SN: Now you’ve been here for awhile how do you feel about things?

Majid: You know, we’ve talkedabout differences, but I don’t feel likea foreigner. As a dialysis nurse youhave the same patients over a lengthof time and you get to know eachother. When the earthquakehappened in Iran, patients wereasking me “What about your family?Are they okay?” They wereconcerned for someone they knewand wanted to be supportive. That’swhy I wanted to live and work here inGlasgow.

From east to westMajid is enjoying his

new post at theWestern

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