After suspending visiting earlier in the year, we are now able to offer limited visiting to some wards at the discretion of the nurse in-charge.”
Read more on visiting times...
We recognise the impact that a long stay in hospital can have on families and the importance of maintaining strong communication. Our ward staff are keeping in touch with patients’ next of kin directly and our Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) can help pass on personal messages from family and friends.
After suspending visiting earlier in the year, we are now able to offer limited visiting to some wards at the discretion of the nurse in-charge.”
Read more on visiting times...
We recognise the impact that a long stay in hospital can have on families and the importance of maintaining strong communication. Our ward staff are keeping in touch with patients’ next of kin directly and our Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) can help pass on personal messages from family and friends.
The Queen Alexandra Hospital is located just on the hill slopes of Portsdown Hill overlooking Portsmouth. It is conveniently situated for both the M27 and A3M.
Family members and carers play an important role in supporting patients during an episode of ill health. We are committed to the active involvement of family members, friends and carers during a hospital stay. Family members and carers play an important role in supporting patients during an episode of ill health.
More information on visiting hospital for an appointment.
If you've had experience of using our services and would like to make a comment then please contact the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS). Your views are very important to us and we would like to hear where you think improvements are needed or where things have gone so well that you would like to share your thanks or gratitude with the staff involved. When things have not gone so well then you can be sure that we want to hear from you, so please get in touch with PALS.
During your stay in hospital you will meet a number of different members of staff. All members of staff wear name badges, but if you are not sure who someone is or what they do, please feel free to ask them to introduce themselves and explain what they do.
If you have any questions about your treatment, please ask a doctor or a nurse.
There are lots of opportunities for you to get involved with the Trust, from volunteering to attending our public meetings, our Annual General Meeting or our hospital open day which is held every year.
We welcome and value your feedback and use the views you share with us in a number of ways to learn and make improvements as well as sharing best practice. Feedback can be provided in a number of ways.
Date: 15 January 2019
Time: 11:51
Dear colleagues,
On Monday the Long Term Plan for the NHS was unveiled by Chief Executive of the NHS, Simon Stevens. Full details of the plan can be found at www.longtermplan.nhs.uk.
The plan sets out an ambitious future for the NHS and fundamental to delivering it will be ensuring many of the longstanding workforce challenges across the service are addressed. A national workforce implementation plan will be published later in the year to set this out in more detail. Now that the plan has been published local NHS organisations across the country will be working with their partners to develop system wide plans for the next five years, setting out how they will deliver the plan in their local area. We expect these system wide plans to be published in the autumn of 2019 and I will of course keep you updated on progress in Portsmouth and South East Hampshire.
The Wessex Clinical Research Network this week announced the shortlist for their annual awards and we have been shortlisted in no less than five categories. They are:
Congratulations to all those who have been shortlisted. The awards ceremony takes place on 21 March. I wish them all the very best of luck and I look forward to hearing the results.
This week I was also thrilled to learn that Mark Esbester, an optometrist working in our ophthalmology department received an MBE in the New Year’s honours list. Mark was recognised for his voluntary work with charity Vision Aid Overseas for services to eye care in Africa. Mark carries out clinical work in hospitals and health centres in countries such as Ethiopia, Uganda and Zambia. We are proud to have Mark working with us in the Trust and I’m sure you will all join me in congratulating him on this fantastic achievement.
On Monday John Knighton wrote to all staff to encourage you to participate in the safety culture survey being undertaken on our behalf by the National Air Traffic Service (NATS). We would like all members of staff, clinical and support staff at every level, to take a few minutes to download the NATS safety culture app and complete the short series of questions to help us improve our approach to safety and ultimately better protect our patients from avoidable harm.
As you will know, over recent months we have been taking steps to move towards being smoke free on the QA site and from Monday (14 January) smoking will not be permitted anywhere on the site. Rates of smoking in Portsmouth and SE Hampshire remain higher than the England average and as one of the largest employers in Portsmouth we have an important role to play in helping to reduce rates of smoking and, in turn, the serious illnesses related to it.
Supporting people to stop smoking is also a key feature of the NHS Long Term Plan. Our approach to implementing the policy is not one of strict enforcement, but of helping smokers to access support to give up. Information and signage will be introduced across the hospital to make patients and visitors aware of our smoke free policy and to direct them to where they can receive support to quit. Over the coming weeks we will also be doing a number of trolley dashes to wards and departments to explain the policy and give you an opportunity to raise any queries. Members of staff who would like to stop smoking can get help by contacting Occupational Health on extension 3352. Our hospital is at the heart of our community and we all have a responsibility to ensure our staff, patients and visitors can all share clean air.
And finally, you may have seen Director of Workforce and OD, Nicole Cornelius on the wards this week talking to staff about our how we best prevent episodes of violence against our staff. Taking action on violence against staff was one of the key actions to come out from last year’s staff survey and is an area all members of the Executive team are passionate about tackling. A series of focus groups (below) are taking place from 21 January so if you are available please do come along and tell us more about your experience and your ideas for how we can take further action on this important issue.
Thank you for the fantastic work you do every day, to support the delivery of the best quality of care to each of our patients.
Mark Cubbon
Chief Executive
On Monday the Long Term Plan for the NHS was unveiled by Chief Executive of the NHS, Simon Stevens. The plan sets out an ambitious future for the NHS and fundamental to delivering it will be ensuring many of the longstanding workforce challenges across the service are addressed
