Session recording
CATERING PRICE INCREASE
Q: Comms say a 6% increase in catering prices – but my experience so far (four of them tried) - has been higher than that – ranging from 10% up to 30%
A: It is an average 6% price increase. The price rises are different on different lines where we believe we had the greatest cost pressure or where we were much lower than high street prices. Some lines have been subject to a minimum uplift, overall the average aims to deliver a 6% increase in income to return to a balanced budget and financial sustainability.
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Q: Why are we using suppliers like Costa, who charging extortionate prices, when there are a lot cheaper options for the staff?
A: We use Costa and Starbucks under a licence agreement, and we are always cheaper than the High Street for their products. We also use LAVAZZA, Nestle at the Royal and Aintree and are currently working with local coffee suppliers to see if they suit our sites. However, our sales tell us that staff and visitors prefer Costa and Starbucks. The dining rooms will always offer a cheaper offer than the High Street options.
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Q: It would be helpful if the new pricing was available in the restaurant so you know how much each food item is now going to cost.
A: Current prices should be displayed and will be refreshed when new signage is created, apologies if this isn't clear right now, it will be raised with the Catering Team.
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Q: Understand about why prices have increased however portions have also reduced and the quality doesn't seem to be the same. Agree that it would be good to look at other suppliers - I have been to many of the other sites and they have more options and generally cheaper. WHSmith is ridiculous in price.
A: We have received some feedback regarding this that has been reviewed and some adjustments made. Portion size is linked to recommended nutrition and calorific values and therefore may be less than some people would serve themselves. Prices are already set based on the recommended portion size and this should have changed. If you have any issues at the point of purchase in our units, please provide feedback to the supervisor of the unit at the time so we can investigate. WHSmith is also not a Trust Unit and this was added to the Royal in response to feedback at the time.
LAASP
Q: How do LAASP plan to hear the voice of AHPs when there is no defined AHP strategy or AHP leadership?
A: Thanks for this question. It's really important that we don't pre-empt what structure we will have once the Group finally comes together. However, we will look at how we develop a more professional and strategic approach for AHP leadership over the coming months. That will be to support and lead AHP careers, professional leadership and accountability as well as research and innovation.
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Q: How do we introduce where we work? I know we are now University Hospitals of Liverpool Group. Currently cover all sites Aintree, Broadgreen & Royal. Previously said LUHFT. Can we still say LUHFT?
A: You can introduce yourself on the individual hospital you work for still. If you work at a site, you can still say that you work at the Royal/Aintree/Broadgreen/Liverpool Women's, but if you work corporately or across sites, you can say that you work for UHL Group.
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Q: Are there any updates for corporate staff about the UHL group model?
A: We will soon be sharing a road map of how we intend to align corporate services within LAASP. This will be done in a phased way over the next 6-9 months.
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Q: How is leadership of corporate teams being decided if they are coming together at pace across the 5 organisations? Are individual teams being involved - are competitive interviews being planned? Same roles across sites but at different banding could leave some feeling disadvantaged.
A: The Group Executive Directors for corporate teams are working with each of the 5 individual LAASP Trusts to design the leadership structures. There will be a consultation phase to ensure all views are taken on board. We will follow an agreed joint change management process, which we will ensure that roles will be subject to the HR principles of competitive interview as necessary. We will also be reviewing bandings and designing new job descriptions to ensure equity of approach to work done. It is not our intention to leave anyone feeling disadvantaged.
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Q: Once UHLG is fully developed, will LUHFT effectively cease to exist and will the Royal, Aintree and Broadgreen return to independent operations in things like business hr and finance – rather than the position we are in at the moment?
A: LUHFT as an employer will continue to exist as this is the legal entity for employment purposes. Corporate teams will be aligned to individual hospitals where possible and a central function for those services that are best done once or at scale will be developed.
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Q: When will the executive remit for corporate services be clarified, given departments sit under different directorates across Trusts i.e. departments sitting under Digital in LWH and Finance in LUH etc.
A: We hope to be able to give greater clarification on this over the next few weeks. Part of this depends on the direction being agreed by the system/national strategic teams. We just need to make sure that we work in partnership with everyone so that there's less confusion about any change.
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Q: Will there be a restructure of HR services across the group and if so when will this start? There is a lot of uncertainty at the moment and jobs feel very insecure.
A: Yes, there will be. We are currently designing a structure with LAASP colleagues and aim to share this very soon to gain input from all of our HR colleagues. Please don't be too worried about job losses as we are holding vacancies to minimise impact on people's roles and so that we can accommodate all moves to the new model.
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Q: Will each hospital still have a team based at their own site i.e. HR team, Finance Team, based at each site?
A: Each Hospital will have site based teams, whether or not they are actually physically on that site will depend on available accommodation, but that is definitely the plan and is what happens now for HR.
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Q: Any info in regard to where DCSS will be sitting within the new structure?
A: The DCSS division was within Aintree but a number of services have now transferred into the Group’s Diagnostic and Treatment centre. There is further work ongoing to look at the remaining services, such as Therapies, and how these can be best aligned to the individual sites moving forward.
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Q: When will the latest governance structure be published?
A: We are currently updating the structure which will be shared within the next few weeks.
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FINANCE
Q: Idea to save money for the Trust on envelopes/paper and time, as I didn’t know until a colleague in another dept mentioned this, with my clinic outcome letters. If they are going internal to any of the trust sites, why don’t we use ePRO’s email function, to send to the doctor specific email or dept email address. We have tested this with the other dept and all works well. If we do this trust wide, could be a large saving. Possible this may also work for electronic letters via email to other external trusts with NHS secure email addresses.
A: Thanks for your idea to continuously improve patient experience and how we can reduce costs in this area. Please share your idea with your site Leadership Team and line manager.
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Q: Why do we outsource our payroll to St. Helens & Knowsley? Does it cost us money to do that?
A: The service was outsourced circa 2008 to CAPITA, and due to service and staff experience it was brought back into the NHS around 2011/12. At this point the decision was made regionally to bring into STHK (now MWL). The service is now Cheshire and Mersey commissioned for value for money.
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Q: All the corporate teams are under pressure due to the recruitment freeze and we keep hearing about the Execs is that you have had another meetings or away days. Can a decision be made ASAP and allow the departments to merge so we can start improving staff morale and save money.
A: We do meet regularly to ensure that we are making those decisions that are needed to proceed at pace. Very soon we will have a timeline / road map to describe the pace being taken to bring corporate teams together.
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Q: I understand that the trust is under financial strain but would it not financially benefit to bring outsourced departments back in house. Surely, they would then save on bills etc?
A: Delivering all services in house is not always the most efficient and cost effective way of delivering a service. We will always review what is the best option for us from a quality standards perspective, but also a financially sustainable perspective.
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Q: Who is funding staff retirement buffet?
A: The UHL Charity fund.
MARS/WORKFORCE
Q: How long does it take to get a decision on MARS applications? When will people hear if they have been successful?
A: Once MARS applications are approved through the Hospital Leadership Team governance, they are presented to a corporate panel for final approval. The panel meets every month if there are applications to approve. If you've been waiting for a response for longer than a month, please speak to your line manager about where your application is in the process.
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Q: Given the scale of financial pressure discussed here previously why are MARS applications being rejected. This feels short sighted local decision making, takes up finance and HR time and reduces opportunity for staff who want to remain in the organisation.
A: For MARS applications to be approved, there are certain criteria that have to be met, such as not needing to replace the post and release enough financial savings for the MARS to payback in a certain time period. So each application needs to be reviewed on an individual basis. You can read FAQs on MARS here.
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Q: Does the recruitment freeze on non-clinical roles mean that non-clinical staff who leave will not be replaced?
A: Exec Managing Directors and Hospital Leadership teams have Vacancy control review meetings in place to review all roles. Roles are assessed against a number of criteria to understand the risk to delivery of patient quality, safety and service delivery. If you have any questions relating to this please speak to your line manager of local Hospital Leadership team.
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Q: Are the long service awards for overall career NHS service or just service within this organisation?
A: Overall NHS service is recognised. Thanks
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Q: Really disappointing regarding suspension of long service vouchers – undervalues staff.
A: We appreciate your honesty and the feedback relating to the voucher element of Long Service, as Heather has shared there is a significant cost to the Charity to support this, which unfortunately isn't sustainable, which is why we have looked to introduce other options to recognise colleagues for the work they do. Thank you.
ESTATES
Q: Why did we find out for the Liverpool Echo five days before the Trust Comms dept let us know about the new building works and road? A bit poor to not hear this from the Trust first.
A: We have shared some targeted communication regarding this recently and there have been several presentations about the Royal redevelopment that cover this at Royal team brief and on this forum over the last year.
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Q: Whist I welcome Maggies, how was this decision made? We have MacMillan both at Clatterbridge and on the Royal site.
A: The decision to host a Maggies centre on site is a longstanding one, predating the construction of the new Royal. Maggies operate a different service model for their users to the other providers and have a sister facility at Clatterbridge Hospital.
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Q: Do we have site plans (actual drawings) as to where new buildings and roads and if any green space, bus stops, extra carparking for disabled patients on the old site?
A: Yes, we do have plans/drawings. We can look to update and show the future plans on a future staff brief or at the Exec MD briefing.
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Q: I was walking into the Royal site this morning and I noticed that our new building is getting an unscheduled 'spot cleaning' by the local seagulls, their enthusiastic defecations are not very aesthetically pleasing. What are the plans to humanely yet effectively stop them from spoiling our new estate? Thank you!
A: Unfortunately we are not permitted to interfere with wild birds and have had to obtain a special licence to fly hawks to scare other species away during the demolition for safety reasons. We have considered bird screeches however there would need to be high numbers as they would disturb patients and our neighbours. We will investigate other options going forward.
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Q: Why is it ok for cars to just park anywhere in Broadgreen and they don't even get a ticket? They just get a white slip saying don't park here, but the same cars are parking where they like, day after day.
A: We now have an inhouse car parking enforcement team and have attempted to take a less regulator way of asking people to comply with site (and highway) rules. Going forward we will be issuing more breach of contract notices to try to improve site access and safety.
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Q: Should we expect the Linda Mc to become a full clinical building, there seems to be constant changes that are more and more clinical?
A: We are looking to utilise Linda Mc for the best needs of our staff and patients. This has recently been to create our expanded walk in centre/urgent treatment centre to support ED. We do not currently have any other confirmed plans for new clinical areas in Linda Mc but will be reviewing this as part of the future strategy/development plans for the Royal site.
OTHER
Q: With Broadgreen doing brilliant with the CQC (well done), have we taken on board what has been done well and then looked to see if the ideas can be used in the other sites or depts?
A: Absolutely – there is a lot of learning to take from all our reviews and this will form part of our improvement plans at sites to build on the great work the teams have done so far.
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Q: Given the amount of changes to staff on a ward level. Is there any plans to create a centralised "Ward Profile" list containing Management and Matrons?
A: Thanks for this – a great question and one that I will take away to the senior nurse leadership. One of the challenges we always have is how we keep it up to date! Thanks for the suggestion.
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Q: Would it be possible to have a PA directory? They often switch between Execs and it can be tricky to know who to contact.
A: Please contact Sarah Haslam.
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Q: How about providing a sufficient ‘Who's Who’ including Matrons, HoOP, CD's, PA's etc?
A: Thanks – I'll bring this up with the senior nurses when we think about ward directories.
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Q: Will the special Staff Brief that was done by James be made available to watch again?
A: We will be sharing detail of the Staff Brief, but are currently developing a supporting Q&A as we received more than 120 questions on the session.
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Q: We have an increase in patients needing EMI nursing homes, but number of beds across the city are reducing or closing. What are councils doing to increase beds across the city?
A: The local authorities are working with the providers to see how they can support improvements in quality and safety in those facilities (that is often a restriction on the use of beds). Obviously, care/nursing home providers are also struggling with recruitment as well - there is a Strategic Care Home Group across Liverpool that is trying to address this. It's a difficult issue across the whole country.
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Q: It will be great to see the return of 'Aintree to Home' model – will there be investment in Therapies to support this model?
A: We are in the early stages of looking at the models and therapies will be critical to this and need to be a key part of this project to understand the resources/staffing required and the model we want to deliver.
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Q: Will there be an annual staff awards this year?
A: The staff awards are paused for this year so that we can look at how we align the awards across UHL Group - we'll be providing an update as soon as possible about what the plan is for the staff awards.
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