Session Recording
Q&A
Redundancies and recruitment
Q: With it being in the news this morning that NHS England and ICBs are getting more money for redundancy payments, will this potentially affect staff across UHLG/LAASP?
A: Heather: The funding for redundancies is ringfenced for the NHSE and ICB staff going through change. It isn't intended to impact or affect staff across provider Trusts; therefore, we don't see it impacting UHL Group/LAASP directly.
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Q: There is significant concern and extreme stress amongst admin & clerical staff particularly following ongoing freeze on recruitment. Processes are unwieldy, systems are not fit for purpose and more & more work is being passed to A&C staff to complete with no resource. What is the Trust/Board doing to help to alleviate staff fears and reassure the staff they will not be made redundant, as per recent news reports
A: Heather: Please see response above re redundancy position for provider Trusts. In terms of vacancies, once we have agreed our UHL Group corporate team structures, we will be in a position to recruit to vacant posts. We expect to be able to remove vacancy controls as soon as possible after Target Operating models are agreed and by 1 April 2026 for corporate teams.
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Q: Is the MARS scheme coming back?
A: Heather: We are in the process of submitting our application to run a MARs scheme from January to March 2026 - this requires NHSE approval.
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Parking
Q: Could you please clarify why there appears to be an inconsistency in car parking arrangements across the Broadgreen site? It has come to my attention that LUH staff are required to pay the standard rate, while LHCH staff receive subsidised parking through their Trust. I would appreciate your rationale behind this difference.
A: James: The rationale behind this is that these were two completely different organisations until now. Like we’ve done elsewhere when we’ve brought organisations together, we will now start to work our way through these things and when we can, we will sort those differences out.
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Q: When will road safety be taken seriously in Broadgreen Hospital? Yesterday I was almost run off the road by a speeding taxi who manoeuvred around a car parked half on the pavement up by the sterile services building. People are still selfishly parking where they want, causing obstructions and getting away with it. It is getting dangerous now. Especially with drivers using the hospital roads to circumvent the roadworks on Thomas Drive.
A: Alison: We will soon be introducing more robust traffic management and parking enforcement across the site. This is pending audit of the signs, and we hope to be in place before Christmas.
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Q: Any update on Mulgrave Street car parking at LWH? We were told we would be getting an update at the end of Oct, it's now mid-Nov.
A: Jenny: This will be provided at the next LWH 'In the Loop' on Monday 17 November.
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Q: I have been informed that new starters at LWH have been told they are not able to get a parking pass for the car park and directed to park in visitor’s car park or in side roads. I realise we are waiting for the car park update but this does not help new staff working clinical shifts that cannot park when they come to work. We all know there is no on street parking which is part of the problem.
A: We are clarifying this to allow new starters to be accommodated in Mulgrave Street for the next couple of months pending changes to be announced shortly.
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Q: As a new staff nurse, I have waited a number of weeks for a car parking space and I have had to pay for daily parking. I now have a space will I be reimbursed for what I have paid while awaiting a response regarding my application? It is not a small amount as you can imagine for a long day.
A: Unfortunately, car parking is not guaranteed, and we do not reimburse staff for parking or travel arrangements.
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Q: Are LUHFT staff able to park at the Women’s?
A: There is not a blanket arrangement for this, but some staff where required who regularly move across sites can have access approved on an individual basis. This will be taken into consideration as the new car park arrangements come into place.
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Q: Why are women on maternity leave made to pay car parking fees or lose their space whilst on leave and on reduced pay.
A: If the car parking team are informed payments can be suspended, spaces are retained and reinstated when work and payments resume.
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Estates and Facilities
Q: Why is there no wheelchair access for patients between Level 1 (outside A&E) and the Main Entrance on the Podium/Level 0 Ground Floor? I've seen relatives of patients pushing people up/down the podium road. The original master plan for the Royal had an outdoor pedestrian ramp on the fly through vids but now this is just an unused patch of grass. They have to rely on the outdoor lift with poor signage, and no signage whatsoever inside the lift itself with people getting confused between the main entrance and lower ground floors. Thanks
A: Paul: We are also reviewing access at all levels to improve wayfinding, including the lift. The outdoor lift was specifically added at the time of the interim podium design, which wasn't planned previously. If this isn't working the intended route internally at L1 is made accessible.
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Q: Has the road works been addressed by the Trust in regard to the traffic around Thomas Drive and surrounding areas in the morning.
A: James: The current roadworks on highways is related to external agencies, and unfortunately there isn’t a lot we can do around this.
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Q: There are always delays leaving the site, could staggered leaving be introduced or could something be implemented for better traffic lights or traffic movement at busy times (Aintree specifically)?
A: James: You’re right and I know Paul has had so many conversations about that and trying to resolve this issue. But when it’s a highways issue outside that then bleeds into the site, it’s really difficult to do anything about.
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Q: Is it possible for the trust to consider making the existing Prescot St entrance one way when the new entrance opens? It would stop people turning right in the ambulance lane and congestion in general.
A: Paul: Due to other users it is not possible to make it one way, the Dalby Street entrance will give an alternative route next year albeit with further work on the podium. Subsequently there will be another route to Prescot Street from the Podium that will spread the traffic more.
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Q: The estate and buildings at Aintree are looking really old and grim. Is there any talks in place for a new build? The new Royal is excellent.
A: Paul: We continue to invest in the existing estate such as recladding and reroofing, and this will continue including some new buildings - but there isn't a plan to wholesale replace the hospital.
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LAASP
Q: Given the news around Clatterbridge and the Walton not joining the group yet, is the 'Diagnostic Treatment Centre' going ahead or has this been parked?
A: James: Yes, the DTC already exists, and it is still going ahead. The Women’s and LUHFT have brought services together within this, and the next stage will be to work through that with LHCH.
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Q: I would like to raise a concern regarding the lack of progress with the Target Operating Model. This delay appears to be contributing to several managers staff leaving the Trust, as it is preventing the planned merger of departments that would otherwise help build resilience. Current vacancies and spending controls are placing additional pressure on both managers and staff, leading to increased workloads and a decline in morale. Could we please have an update on the progress of the Corporate Services review, to enable departmental managers to begin merging services and improving staff wellbeing.
A: Heather: Target Operating Models for corporate teams are all under development, some are more advanced than others, but the expectation is that all models will be defined by 1 April 2026.
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Q: Did anyone consider the fact we don’t have infrastructure in place for LAASP? We don’t have enough space as it is but the more people coming in, the more we are on top of each other. Coming to work shouldn't be this hard. This is not ideal to deliver the "best care".
A: James: If you take the physical estate owned by the five organisations in LAASP, we have more than enough estate to do everything, and this is one of the good rationale for why we need to do LAASP.
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Q: What has changed in terms of UHL Group. There must've been a business case approved by NHSE, so what's changed? A key difficulty now is, how can corporate services for UHL come together, with decisions made before WC and CCC join (assuming approved).
A: James: There wasn’t a business case prior – it is currently being produced. Up to now, we were instructed by previous ICB and NHSE people to move ahead with the formation of the Group. There was a case for change developed, which people have seen, and then a formal business case was always due to be done in time. So, in short, nothing’s changed. NHS E have asked us to do the business case and then when that’s done, we can move forward, so it’s just delayed.
The coming together of the three before the five - there are two choices; I can suggest that we wait another six months for the formation of a business case and then the however many months it takes to mobilise the changes in corporate services, but I’ve got to balance that against many questions regarding vacancy freezes and lack of clarity around corporate services.
The staff that I have responsibility for in UHL Group, I’ve had to make the difficult decision to move ahead with the three for now. I’ve been clear with colleagues in Clatterbridge and Walton, that this is not an effort to be non-collaborative, but I have a responsibility to the people who work in UHL Group, and therefore we’re moving forward with the three. When the business case is done in the future, we’ll address what happens with everybody else. But right now, everybody tells me that vacancy freezes, uncertainty around corporate services, and a lack of stability mean morale is low, so I’ve had to make that difficult decision for now for what is right for us.
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Q: Regarding the corporate TOM, can you confirm if E&F are still in 'discovery' mode? Feedback is quite slow. Thanks
A: James: As previously mentioned, because we’ve had to move from five to three, we’ve had to sort of reset a little bit and go back to the start. So from an E&F perspective, yes that’s still in that sort of discovery mode, but this should move forward quickly now as we go forward with the three.
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Q: Given the pause/delays with the Group - why were the senior appointments not paused. It feels like once again the people on the big money are getting their house in order while those of us on lower salaries and less expensive to the Trust are left feeling anxious and uncertain. If saving money is the priority, why have these posts not been delayed to save money.
A: As the Group has formed, there have been significant savings made through the creation of one Board for three organisations. This has allowed us to put in place Hospital Leadership Teams and removed layers of management within those teams.
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Q: Why is recruitment freeze just in some Trusts and not all in the Group, this is sending uncertainty across other Trusts.
A: Heather: All Trusts within LAASP should be complying with the system recruitment restrictions. However, not all trusts are in the same level of financial challenge and scrutiny, which does influence the level of recruitment restrictions.
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Q: What is the time frame for UHL corporate nursing services to be integrated. As a manager of a service no one has made contact to even start discussions about the possible TOM and this is causing nervousness that colleagues who are LUFHT have an insider knowledge over colleagues across LWH and LHCH. It’s getting difficult to calm the nerves of staff in my team who think they are going to get moved to fill gaps across LUFHT.
A: David: I'm sorry if there's a feeling of not being aware of what the process is. Your site Director of Nursing has been part of a briefing on the timescales. Obviously, some processes have now changed because of TWC and CCC not joining the Group at this time. In brief, there first outline of the service delivery will be completed by the end of December. Colleagues will receive a briefing during the process, we are only in the very early stages of the process with Corporate Nursing Services. Thank you.
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Q: You often reiterate that this is not a LUHFT takeover - and we are keen to share and learn best practice across LAASP as we moved to a shared service - however, on the ground we are still hearing from LUHFT colleagues that they do not have any intention of reviewing/amending their processes and don't see the point anyway. This is frustrating. Any suggestions on how we move this forward?
A: David: From a Corporate Nursing perspective, when we review the whole of the services, we will be adopting the best model for each of the sites with the availability of workforce. The processes that we will implement will be based on best practice and any regulatory compliance.
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Q: What happens to joint leadership appointments that have been made across LUHFT and Walton given the pause on Walton joining?
A: James: Walton and ourselves have an agreement which takes us through to the end of April whilst the business case is being developed about how we share our leadership arrangements. We’ve done that so we’re clear on what we’re doing up until the end of April.
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Q: If the other 2 trusts join the 3, will this mean a second wave of restructures? My team have gone through several already. Thanks
A: James: We don’t really know until we go through that whole business case process. We don’t know what the structure is going to look like, so we’ll just have to look at that as a sort of vacancy issue at the time and I suspect we’ll probably be able to absorb that, but to be frank, we don’t know until the business case is done.
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Q: Will the views of frontline staff be taken into account when looking a clinical services and pathways going forward or will decisions be made without their input?
A: Jim: It is certainly our intention to consult widely when designing and developing any services. There are some principles in design that we are anxious to observe: equity of access, equity of outcome, equity of experience. And now, of course, we must consider the priorities of the 10-Year Plan: upstreaming, prevention over treatment, digital over analogue. If you can see opportunities for clinical development in your area that address these principles, I'd be delighted to hear from you.
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Q: DTC has caused marked lack of stability for staff. There are big concerns amongst imaging staff that there is no firm plan, unlike other specialities who are able to remain site based. Is there a timeframe to having leadership structure and firm plan in place?
A: A target operating model for services within the DTC is currently being developed, the aim to be in a position to share plans by the end of the calendar year.
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Q: Moral is so poor particular in corporate services, with no certainty on our jobs. However, we are being asked for so much data from many different people but with no explanation on why and what the information is for. There seems to be a disconnect on the collaboration with demands for data being done in one way and not looking at how each trust works, and which way is best.
A: James: Yes absolutely, I’ve addressed the corporate services point previously. We have raised concern about the number of people coming in and asking for information from the organisation due to the number of people involved in the turnaround processes. That is going to get better very quickly – we’re already seeing several meetings and other things asking for certain things in sort of duplication being taken out of diaries now.
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Q: Has there been agreement for protected pay for staff being TUPE'd from LHCH? Is it 1 or 2 years? The wait for this information is causing anxiety for staff.
A: James: That process is going through the corporate services meeting. The pay protection issue was taken from the meeting to be discussed, and more information will be shared. My understanding is that people have been working with Staffside to have a conversation about what we do with that across the entirety of the organisations with the Group, because they’re all different.
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Q: What will the trusts coming together mean for referrals to services within the group that don't have an existing referral pathway in place?
A: Jim: You point to an opportunity that we see as the Group develops. In truth, we find clinical hand-offs even within existing organisations and we must continue to work together to address these. I've talked above about the principles of service design that address equity for our patients. If you've got a particular example that you think warrants attention, I'll be delighted to hear from you.
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Q: Will corporate job titles and pay bands be made consistent across the Trusts, some Trusts pay higher salaries for the same job role.
A: James: Yes, one of the things we must do in all of this is trying to tackle through this Group work fairly. We’ve been doing this gradually since day one and we’re getting there on a number of things. We’re trying to design corporate services and our structures when we move into the eventual Group model all align to consistency. So if your job is X, or you do job Y, we’re all really clear that it’s consistent whether you do it on this site or that site.
General
Q: Hi, will a recording of this meeting be available for staff that are not able to attend. Many thanks.
A: Hi, yes we put recordings and the Q&A on the intranet as soon as possible after the session – you can find it here.
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Q: Can I ask why staff aren't being offered COVID injections when we have many cases of patients within the hospitals presenting with such.
A: David: Thank you – the national roll out of the covid vaccine is based on individual vulnerabilities rather than a wider scope of professions and staff groups. If you have a specific medical condition and you have not received a letter inviting you for a vaccine, please contact you own GP.
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Q: Is the 4-hour breach still in place, there are rumours it is now 72 hour?
A: Yes, national standards for patients to be seen, treated and discharged are still at 4 hours. Since Covid, all EDs have struggled to meet this with the national ask - currently for 78% of attendances to achieve this - we are continuously working on plans to improve our performance against this and get our EDs functioning to the 4 hour standard.
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Q: It speaks volumes that the NHS continues to function even during almost a week of doctors’ strikes. This resilience is a testament to the dedication, skill, and teamwork of the wider workforce — nurses, allied health professionals, admin teams, porters, cleaners, and so many others who keep patient care going under immense pressure. Their commitment ensures that the system doesn’t fall over, even in the toughest circumstances. Perhaps it’s time the rest of the NHS workforce received the recognition they truly deserve.
A: I totally agree that your resilience and commitment to patient care and safety is amazing and that without all of our workforce, we couldn't function.
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Q: Why is the communication from senior leaders so delayed - staff heard about potential new builds (and the departments affected) on the Aintree site through the Liverpool Echo.
A: Paul: We can understand how this is frustrating. The Liverpool Echo published information based on a contractor’s planning application. When planning, discussions take place and funding is sought, and there is a need for planning applications which show context of other departments. There has been engagement with core teams to develop the design, and wider communications follow when these approvals are agreed. We are still awaiting planning and funding approval for the developments we would like to progress, and we will share more details in the near future.
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Q: While it’s great to hear about the positive updates, could these be shared with us in writing before so we can read them at our own pace? That way, we could use more of the meeting time to address the recurring questions that we don’t always get through.
A: Thank you for your suggestion - we will consider this in how we can share post-event information.
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Q: Is there any options for vegan flu jabs to be introduced for flu jab?
A: David: There are no fully vegan flu vaccines, most are produced using animal-derived products like chicken eggs or porcine gelatine, there are some egg-free cell based vaccines available for those with aa sever egg allergies. Please contact OH to get more details that may suit your individual requirements.
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Q: According to the Organisational Change policy at LHCH, decommissioning of services/service redesign constitutes an organisational change that would merit a consultation stage. Correct me if I am wrong, but decommissioning a ward, and redesigning as a palliative care ward appears to fall under this?
A: As per the policy, this is reviewed based on complexity in relation to the impact they have on employees and the organisation.
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Q: What plans have been put in place to support staff in the palliative area? This is such a specialist area and requires skills which are staff do not have.
A: David: Support from the Palliative Care Service, the HLT and Corporate Services will be in place for colleagues working on the ward. There is already an education plan.
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Q: Why are away days a thing at all when no other trust, to my knowledge, does this?
A: All organisations have away days. It is important for Boards, Executives and leadership teams to come together to discuss strategy and to build relationships - this is an important part of leadership development and improvement.
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Q: Can NED and board meetings be rotated across the sites? It would be nice to see leaders at the other sites too.
A: The board room and facilities are largest and best placed for the meetings at Aintree, but the NEDs complete walk rounds across all sites every month – they were in Theatres at the Royal yesterday and the Hospital Leadership teams and execs are available and undertaking walk rounds regularly across all sites.
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Finance
Q: I would like to highlight that the current financial control processes within the organisation appear to be generating additional costs rather than savings. The Trust is currently paying enhanced rates for hiring equipment and engaging external companies due to the existing system. This approach is inadvertently restricting departments from identifying and realising potential cost savings.
A: Rob: The financial challenge has required enhanced controls which have overall started to reduce spend - however if there are specific examples where an alternate route saves money, then please do let us know and we will certainly look into.
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Q: There are a lot of delays from the restrictive spend panels for staff wanting to attend courses as part of their professional development. There have been staff waiting for several months for courses which are externally funded and this is impacting on access to courses as part of their CPD? Is this being looked into to enable a more seamless process which is more timely for staff especially for staff who have external funding to support this?
A: David: If you are a member of regulated professions and that CPD is required for your ongoing professional registration, CPD monies are not restricted in any other way that is different from other years. Not all CPD requests are approved because the money is always less than demand (it is every year). If you feel that your CPD opportunity has not been granted fairly, please contact your professional lead for further information on how to get a clearer explanation. It also doesn’t affect the apprenticeship levy.
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Q: NHS suppliers often over inflate cost – for example, a cabinet we required was £150 cheaper on Amazon – exactly the same item. Can there be better processes for competitive purchasing?
A: Supply chain are authorised to get us best price of adequate quality consumables - we are continuing a process on consolidating choice to best value items.
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Q: Not wishing to be fun sponge but can I ask why the senior leadership team has an away day once a month at Aintree racecourse? This must be costing a small fortune and with all the brutal cost cutting staff are having to endure, this feels unnecessary and could easily be held in one of the large meeting rooms at one of the sites.
A: James: We understand why people would feel this way. Unfortunately, we don't have an internal space large enough to bring all our Group leadership teams together for Senior Leadership Forum, which takes place bi-monthly. We need the meeting to engage with colleagues on all the difficult and challenging things that we’re doing at the moment. We are reviewing it, and we’re always looking for the cheapest option we can possibly do.
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Q: In relation to the question around Aintree Racecourse Team Leadership meeting and the cost that comes with it. Is the use of Microsoft teams not a more sensible option?
A: Teams is an option for certain types of meeting, but the style of meeting / discussion would make that difficult as we do a lot of table top exercises that require face to face engagement.
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Q: With all the financial scrutiny just now I was surprised to see LCL could afford a flashy staff awards event but others in LUHFT didn’t. How could this happen?
A: Thank you for your question. We honoured the planned event this year, but this was the last staff awards which will be held as a separate site/hospital. Any future events will be for Group. To note, a significant proportion of event costs were met via ticket sales and contributions from LCL suppliers.
Cleaning
Q: Can the freeze on window cleaning please be reconsidered temporarily - now that demolition is complete the windows of the Linda Macartney Centre are caked in dirt so a one-off clean would I'm sure be appreciated by all colleagues who work there.
A: Rob: The demolition plan does have this incorporated as part of the project so we will check the timing now we near completion.
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Q: One of our consultant surgeons has hoovered the office areas today - is this acceptable?
A: Jim: We all agree that the situation is far from ideal. It reflects the seriousness of the financial situation we are working together to address. We will look to resume 'normal' cleaning arrangements as soon as we can –
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Q: Another SOS from the Edwards Building – we lost our full-time domestic(s) a while back and we now have a sporadic/inconsistent (bare minimum) cleaning service which is leaving us vulnerable from a health & safety perspective. It's also disheartening to see all the 'Thankyou Thursday' messages for other offices (not clinical areas) around the Royal who appear to have full-time cleaning services that are obviously up to standard. Can we please have a resident full-time cleaner back in the Edwards Building?
A: Alison: As Jim says above, the reduction in cleaning of non-clinical areas is far from ideal. Until normal service is resumed, domestic services are prioritised for other areas.
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Q: Can you clarify why nurses, doctors, and other clinical staff are being asked to clean non-clinical areas? Who made this decision, and to whom are they accountable? Are they aware that many non-clinical areas in the hospital are dirty, and that in a hospital environment, dirt can lead to superbugs?
A: Jim: This was a collective decision made by the Executive, myself included. I'm afraid it reflects the incredibly difficult decisions we're having to make in order to meet our financial obligations to NHSE and the ICB. We're cleaning our own corporate areas also. The point about risks to Infection Prevention and Control is noted and we are prioritising clinical areas and monitoring the situation closely.
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Q: I can tell you that it costs more money asking doctors and nurses to clean during their shift rather than paying domestic staff to just that. People do not just stay late for free every day to clean. There is a cost saving for the board immediately.
A: As previously discussed in this forum with the finite resources we have available we made the difficult decision to temporarily reduce office cleaning during this period and refocus on patient facing areas.
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Q: May I ask what clinical input was obtained prior to making the decision to stop cleaning 'non clinical' areas? Was the head of infection control in agreement Is there an evaluation set up to look for spikes in infection due to staff now working in a dirty hospital?
A: David: Hi – we are remaining vigilant for unintended consequences of the decision taken. Colleagues would be required (in normal times) to make sure that their own workspace is kept clean and tidy.
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Q: Conscious that IPC issues don't just occur in clinical areas, but offices too. Could cleaning be increased? The 9th Floor have been told their cleaning will increase to fortnightly but what about the rest of us?
A: All open plan areas are being reviewed to consider more frequent cleaning - the 9th floor decision was taken to initially improve the situation and then review again in due course.
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Staff wellbeing
Q: As part of staff wellbeing ECG and blood pressure checks were to be rolled out having first taken place at RLH – at the last staff brief we were advised this would be rolled out to the other sites, when are they coming to AUH – as I haven't seen anything yet.
A: Heather: We will find this out and make sure we flag this to AUH colleagues.
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Q: Nurses have been asked to hand over and complete sick notes for patients without any additional training. Is there a training or guidance in place so we can do these tasks safely?
A: David: Colleagues who don't feel equipped to be able to do this should talk to their line manager for additional support/training. Thanks.
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Q: Do you ever do a "you said, we did" to show how you are improving the workplace following staff surveys? It seems we fill them out and nothing changes for the better, so it would be good to have clear examples of what changes/improvements are being made for staff based on their feedback.
A: Heather: yes we do and that is a really important part of feeding back to staff about how your feedback helps us to make changes. When we have the outputs from this year's survey, sites will be able to feedback on the main areas of concern and what we will be doing to improve these areas over the coming 12 months. We will make sure we highlight this further.
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Q: A comment – at LHCH there is VERY limited opportunity to get the flu job unlike on other sites. I have emailed the flu email to arrange for them to come to the department but had NO response.
A: Jonathan: We are trying to increase access to flu jabs on site, but if you email Jenny Taylor we can look how we can support.
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Q: Staff Morale in Broadgreen, especially within the Admin Teams, is at the lowest it has ever been. The level of sickness within Admin Teams is extremely high with their workload just simply being put onto the remaining staff with no appreciation and no gratitude. How as a Trust do you plan on addressing this issue?
A: Jonathan: As part of the HLT coming in to place, we will be trying to get to know teams and see where we are able to support. I will pick this up with the Divisional teams on how we can help.
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Q: Given the amount of questions on the Staff Brief each time we have it: why not bring back the old Q&A board that was in place at the old Royal? People want to anonymously ask questions mostly, rather than submitting them through comms. And not everyone has chance to join this brief live. It can only be a good thing culturally surely, showing that staff are being listened to by senior management. Obviously not every question can be answered, and there has to be rules for good conduct, but you can pick up on themes and answer appropriately etc.
A: Thank you for your suggestion. We are considering how we can best implement effective Q&A or engagement within staff brief, MD briefings etc, so we will take your query away for when we are reviewing the sessions / how to improve. Many thanks, Comms.
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Q: Can we have a proper hybrid working system? To enable work life balance, at least twice a week
A: Flexible working requests should be discussed with your line managers and there are policies in place to support flexible working and work life balance.
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Q: Why are people in some hospitals being recognised for long service but not being recognised in other hospitals? One took place this week in Aintree.
A: Long service is currently recognised in different ways across the Group, and bringing this together will be part of the work we are doing to harmonise reward and recognition. The event at Aintree is part of the LUHFT Moments That Matter initiative and will be taking place across LUHFT sites during November.
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Q: Is the Trust looking to stop hybrid working? I believe it should as staff learn more on-site – it looks like loads of staff have started to work from home from COVID and it's not been reviewed.
A: There is no directive to stop hybrid working but we should regularly review existing patterns of working to ensure they remain fit for purpose for the department as well as the individual. Sometimes this means patterns of working need to change and evolve over time.
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Q: Will the results of the staff survey be relayed and acted on in a timely manner. In the past by the time issues /concerns have been identified and not addressed for many months, meaning they have been embedded or filling the survey feel futile.
A: Yes, we aim to get the results out asap as the initial results come out in January. We would expect sites to feedback within their staff briefs and for staff to be involved in the action planning coming out of the feedback.
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Redundancies and recruitment
Q: With it being in the news this morning that NHS England and ICBs are getting more money for redundancy payments, will this potentially affect staff across UHLG/LAASP?
A: Heather: The funding for redundancies is ringfenced for the NHSE and ICB staff going through change. It isn't intended to impact or affect staff across provider Trusts; therefore, we don't see it impacting UHL Group/LAASP directly.
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Q: There is significant concern and extreme stress amongst admin & clerical staff particularly following ongoing freeze on recruitment. Processes are unwieldy, systems are not fit for purpose and more & more work is being passed to A&C staff to complete with no resource. What is the Trust/Board doing to help to alleviate staff fears and reassure the staff they will not be made redundant, as per recent news reports
A: Heather: Please see response above re redundancy position for provider Trusts. In terms of vacancies, once we have agreed our UHL Group corporate team structures, we will be in a position to recruit to vacant posts. We expect to be able to remove vacancy controls as soon as possible after Target Operating models are agreed and by 1 April 2026 for corporate teams.
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Q: Is the MARS scheme coming back?
A: Heather: We are in the process of submitting our application to run a MARs scheme from January to March 2026 - this requires NHSE approval.
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Parking
Q: Could you please clarify why there appears to be an inconsistency in car parking arrangements across the Broadgreen site? It has come to my attention that LUH staff are required to pay the standard rate, while LHCH staff receive subsidised parking through their Trust. I would appreciate your rationale behind this difference.
A: James: The rationale behind this is that these were two completely different organisations until now. Like we’ve done elsewhere when we’ve brought organisations together, we will now start to work our way through these things and when we can, we will sort those differences out.
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Q: When will road safety be taken seriously in Broadgreen Hospital? Yesterday I was almost run off the road by a speeding taxi who manoeuvred around a car parked half on the pavement up by the sterile services building. People are still selfishly parking where they want, causing obstructions and getting away with it. It is getting dangerous now. Especially with drivers using the hospital roads to circumvent the roadworks on Thomas Drive.
A: Alison: We will soon be introducing more robust traffic management and parking enforcement across the site. This is pending audit of the signs, and we hope to be in place before Christmas.
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Q: Any update on Mulgrave Street car parking at LWH? We were told we would be getting an update at the end of Oct, it's now mid-Nov.
A: Jenny: This will be provided at the next LWH 'In the Loop' on Monday 17 November.
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Q: I have been informed that new starters at LWH have been told they are not able to get a parking pass for the car park and directed to park in visitor’s car park or in side roads. I realise we are waiting for the car park update but this does not help new staff working clinical shifts that cannot park when they come to work. We all know there is no on street parking which is part of the problem.
A: We are clarifying this to allow new starters to be accommodated in Mulgrave Street for the next couple of months pending changes to be announced shortly.
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Q: As a new staff nurse, I have waited a number of weeks for a car parking space and I have had to pay for daily parking. I now have a space will I be reimbursed for what I have paid while awaiting a response regarding my application? It is not a small amount as you can imagine for a long day.
A: Unfortunately, car parking is not guaranteed, and we do not reimburse staff for parking or travel arrangements.
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Q: Are LUHFT staff able to park at the Women’s?
A: There is not a blanket arrangement for this, but some staff where required who regularly move across sites can have access approved on an individual basis. This will be taken into consideration as the new car park arrangements come into place.
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Q: Why are women on maternity leave made to pay car parking fees or lose their space whilst on leave and on reduced pay.
A: If the car parking team are informed payments can be suspended, spaces are retained and reinstated when work and payments resume.
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Estates and Facilities
Q: Why is there no wheelchair access for patients between Level 1 (outside A&E) and the Main Entrance on the Podium/Level 0 Ground Floor? I've seen relatives of patients pushing people up/down the podium road. The original master plan for the Royal had an outdoor pedestrian ramp on the fly through vids but now this is just an unused patch of grass. They have to rely on the outdoor lift with poor signage, and no signage whatsoever inside the lift itself with people getting confused between the main entrance and lower ground floors. Thanks
A: Paul: We are also reviewing access at all levels to improve wayfinding, including the lift. The outdoor lift was specifically added at the time of the interim podium design, which wasn't planned previously. If this isn't working the intended route internally at L1 is made accessible.
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Q: Has the road works been addressed by the Trust in regard to the traffic around Thomas Drive and surrounding areas in the morning.
A: James: The current roadworks on highways is related to external agencies, and unfortunately there isn’t a lot we can do around this.
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Q: There are always delays leaving the site, could staggered leaving be introduced or could something be implemented for better traffic lights or traffic movement at busy times (Aintree specifically)?
A: James: You’re right and I know Paul has had so many conversations about that and trying to resolve this issue. But when it’s a highways issue outside that then bleeds into the site, it’s really difficult to do anything about.
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Q: Is it possible for the trust to consider making the existing Prescot St entrance one way when the new entrance opens? It would stop people turning right in the ambulance lane and congestion in general.
A: Paul: Due to other users it is not possible to make it one way, the Dalby Street entrance will give an alternative route next year albeit with further work on the podium. Subsequently there will be another route to Prescot Street from the Podium that will spread the traffic more.
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Q: The estate and buildings at Aintree are looking really old and grim. Is there any talks in place for a new build? The new Royal is excellent.
A: Paul: We continue to invest in the existing estate such as recladding and reroofing, and this will continue including some new buildings - but there isn't a plan to wholesale replace the hospital.
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LAASP
Q: Given the news around Clatterbridge and the Walton not joining the group yet, is the 'Diagnostic Treatment Centre' going ahead or has this been parked?
A: James: Yes, the DTC already exists, and it is still going ahead. The Women’s and LUHFT have brought services together within this, and the next stage will be to work through that with LHCH.
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Q: I would like to raise a concern regarding the lack of progress with the Target Operating Model. This delay appears to be contributing to several managers staff leaving the Trust, as it is preventing the planned merger of departments that would otherwise help build resilience. Current vacancies and spending controls are placing additional pressure on both managers and staff, leading to increased workloads and a decline in morale. Could we please have an update on the progress of the Corporate Services review, to enable departmental managers to begin merging services and improving staff wellbeing.
A: Heather: Target Operating Models for corporate teams are all under development, some are more advanced than others, but the expectation is that all models will be defined by 1 April 2026.
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Q: Did anyone consider the fact we don’t have infrastructure in place for LAASP? We don’t have enough space as it is but the more people coming in, the more we are on top of each other. Coming to work shouldn't be this hard. This is not ideal to deliver the "best care".
A: James: If you take the physical estate owned by the five organisations in LAASP, we have more than enough estate to do everything, and this is one of the good rationale for why we need to do LAASP.
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Q: What has changed in terms of UHL Group. There must've been a business case approved by NHSE, so what's changed? A key difficulty now is, how can corporate services for UHL come together, with decisions made before WC and CCC join (assuming approved).
A: James: There wasn’t a business case prior – it is currently being produced. Up to now, we were instructed by previous ICB and NHSE people to move ahead with the formation of the Group. There was a case for change developed, which people have seen, and then a formal business case was always due to be done in time. So, in short, nothing’s changed. NHS E have asked us to do the business case and then when that’s done, we can move forward, so it’s just delayed.
The coming together of the three before the five - there are two choices; I can suggest that we wait another six months for the formation of a business case and then the however many months it takes to mobilise the changes in corporate services, but I’ve got to balance that against many questions regarding vacancy freezes and lack of clarity around corporate services.
The staff that I have responsibility for in UHL Group, I’ve had to make the difficult decision to move ahead with the three for now. I’ve been clear with colleagues in Clatterbridge and Walton, that this is not an effort to be non-collaborative, but I have a responsibility to the people who work in UHL Group, and therefore we’re moving forward with the three. When the business case is done in the future, we’ll address what happens with everybody else. But right now, everybody tells me that vacancy freezes, uncertainty around corporate services, and a lack of stability mean morale is low, so I’ve had to make that difficult decision for now for what is right for us.
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Q: Regarding the corporate TOM, can you confirm if E&F are still in 'discovery' mode? Feedback is quite slow. Thanks
A: James: As previously mentioned, because we’ve had to move from five to three, we’ve had to sort of reset a little bit and go back to the start. So from an E&F perspective, yes that’s still in that sort of discovery mode, but this should move forward quickly now as we go forward with the three.
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Q: Given the pause/delays with the Group - why were the senior appointments not paused. It feels like once again the people on the big money are getting their house in order while those of us on lower salaries and less expensive to the Trust are left feeling anxious and uncertain. If saving money is the priority, why have these posts not been delayed to save money.
A: As the Group has formed, there have been significant savings made through the creation of one Board for three organisations. This has allowed us to put in place Hospital Leadership Teams and removed layers of management within those teams.
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Q: Why is recruitment freeze just in some Trusts and not all in the Group, this is sending uncertainty across other Trusts.
A: Heather: All Trusts within LAASP should be complying with the system recruitment restrictions. However, not all trusts are in the same level of financial challenge and scrutiny, which does influence the level of recruitment restrictions.
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Q: What is the time frame for UHL corporate nursing services to be integrated. As a manager of a service no one has made contact to even start discussions about the possible TOM and this is causing nervousness that colleagues who are LUFHT have an insider knowledge over colleagues across LWH and LHCH. It’s getting difficult to calm the nerves of staff in my team who think they are going to get moved to fill gaps across LUFHT.
A: David: I'm sorry if there's a feeling of not being aware of what the process is. Your site Director of Nursing has been part of a briefing on the timescales. Obviously, some processes have now changed because of TWC and CCC not joining the Group at this time. In brief, there first outline of the service delivery will be completed by the end of December. Colleagues will receive a briefing during the process, we are only in the very early stages of the process with Corporate Nursing Services. Thank you.
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Q: You often reiterate that this is not a LUHFT takeover - and we are keen to share and learn best practice across LAASP as we moved to a shared service - however, on the ground we are still hearing from LUHFT colleagues that they do not have any intention of reviewing/amending their processes and don't see the point anyway. This is frustrating. Any suggestions on how we move this forward?
A: David: From a Corporate Nursing perspective, when we review the whole of the services, we will be adopting the best model for each of the sites with the availability of workforce. The processes that we will implement will be based on best practice and any regulatory compliance.
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Q: What happens to joint leadership appointments that have been made across LUHFT and Walton given the pause on Walton joining?
A: James: Walton and ourselves have an agreement which takes us through to the end of April whilst the business case is being developed about how we share our leadership arrangements. We’ve done that so we’re clear on what we’re doing up until the end of April.
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Q: If the other 2 trusts join the 3, will this mean a second wave of restructures? My team have gone through several already. Thanks
A: James: We don’t really know until we go through that whole business case process. We don’t know what the structure is going to look like, so we’ll just have to look at that as a sort of vacancy issue at the time and I suspect we’ll probably be able to absorb that, but to be frank, we don’t know until the business case is done.
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Q: Will the views of frontline staff be taken into account when looking a clinical services and pathways going forward or will decisions be made without their input?
A: Jim: It is certainly our intention to consult widely when designing and developing any services. There are some principles in design that we are anxious to observe: equity of access, equity of outcome, equity of experience. And now, of course, we must consider the priorities of the 10-Year Plan: upstreaming, prevention over treatment, digital over analogue. If you can see opportunities for clinical development in your area that address these principles, I'd be delighted to hear from you.
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Q: DTC has caused marked lack of stability for staff. There are big concerns amongst imaging staff that there is no firm plan, unlike other specialities who are able to remain site based. Is there a timeframe to having leadership structure and firm plan in place?
A: A target operating model for services within the DTC is currently being developed, the aim to be in a position to share plans by the end of the calendar year.
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Q: Moral is so poor particular in corporate services, with no certainty on our jobs. However, we are being asked for so much data from many different people but with no explanation on why and what the information is for. There seems to be a disconnect on the collaboration with demands for data being done in one way and not looking at how each trust works, and which way is best.
A: James: Yes absolutely, I’ve addressed the corporate services point previously. We have raised concern about the number of people coming in and asking for information from the organisation due to the number of people involved in the turnaround processes. That is going to get better very quickly – we’re already seeing several meetings and other things asking for certain things in sort of duplication being taken out of diaries now.
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Q: Has there been agreement for protected pay for staff being TUPE'd from LHCH? Is it 1 or 2 years? The wait for this information is causing anxiety for staff.
A: James: That process is going through the corporate services meeting. The pay protection issue was taken from the meeting to be discussed, and more information will be shared. My understanding is that people have been working with Staffside to have a conversation about what we do with that across the entirety of the organisations with the Group, because they’re all different.
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Q: What will the trusts coming together mean for referrals to services within the group that don't have an existing referral pathway in place?
A: Jim: You point to an opportunity that we see as the Group develops. In truth, we find clinical hand-offs even within existing organisations and we must continue to work together to address these. I've talked above about the principles of service design that address equity for our patients. If you've got a particular example that you think warrants attention, I'll be delighted to hear from you.
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Q: Will corporate job titles and pay bands be made consistent across the Trusts, some Trusts pay higher salaries for the same job role.
A: James: Yes, one of the things we must do in all of this is trying to tackle through this Group work fairly. We’ve been doing this gradually since day one and we’re getting there on a number of things. We’re trying to design corporate services and our structures when we move into the eventual Group model all align to consistency. So if your job is X, or you do job Y, we’re all really clear that it’s consistent whether you do it on this site or that site.
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General
Q: Hi, will a recording of this meeting be available for staff that are not able to attend. Many thanks.
A: Hi, yes we put recordings and the Q&A on the intranet as soon as possible after the session – you can find it here.
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Q: Can I ask why staff aren't being offered COVID injections when we have many cases of patients within the hospitals presenting with such.
A: David: Thank you – the national roll out of the covid vaccine is based on individual vulnerabilities rather than a wider scope of professions and staff groups. If you have a specific medical condition and you have not received a letter inviting you for a vaccine, please contact your own GP.
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Q: Is the 4-hour breach still in place, there are rumours it is now 72 hour?
A: Yes, national standards for patients to be seen, treated and discharged are still at 4 hours. Since Covid, all EDs have struggled to meet this with the national ask - currently for 78% of attendances to achieve this - we are continuously working on plans to improve our performance against this and get our EDs functioning to the 4 hour standard.
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Q: Why is the communication from senior leaders so delayed - staff heard about potential new builds (and the departments affected) on the Aintree site through the Liverpool Echo.
A: Paul: We can understand how this is frustrating. The Liverpool Echo published information based on a contractor’s planning application. When planning, discussions take place and funding is sought, and there is a need for planning applications which show context of other departments. There has been engagement with core teams to develop the design, and wider communications follow when these approvals are agreed. We are still awaiting planning and funding approval for the developments we would like to progress, and we will share more details in the near future.
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Q: While it’s great to hear about the positive updates, could these be shared with us in writing before so we can read them at our own pace? That way, we could use more of the meeting time to address the recurring questions that we don’t always get through.
A: Thank you for your suggestion - we will consider this in how we can share post-event information.
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Q: Is there any options for vegan flu jabs to be introduced for flu jab?
A: David: There are no fully vegan flu vaccines, most are produced using animal-derived products like chicken eggs or porcine gelatine, there are some egg-free cell based vaccines available for those with aa sever egg allergies. Please contact OH to get more details that may suit your individual requirements.
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Q: According to the Organisational Change policy at LHCH, decommissioning of services/service redesign constitutes an organisational change that would merit a consultation stage. Correct me if I am wrong, but decommissioning a ward, and redesigning as a palliative care ward appears to fall under this?
A: As per the policy, this is reviewed based on complexity in relation to the impact they have on employees and the organisation.
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Q: What plans have been put in place to support staff in the palliative area? This is such a specialist area and requires skills which are staff do not have.
A: David: Support from the Palliative Care Service, the HLT and Corporate Services will be in place for colleagues working on the ward. There is already an education plan.
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Q: Why are away days a thing at all when no other trust, to my knowledge, does this?
A: All organisations have away days. It is important for Boards, Executives and leadership teams to come together to discuss strategy and to build relationships - this is an important part of leadership development and improvement.
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Q: Can NED and board meetings be rotated across the sites? It would be nice to see leaders at the other sites too.
A: The board room and facilities are largest and best placed for the meetings at Aintree, but the NEDs complete walk rounds across all sites every month – they were in Theatres at the Royal yesterday and the Hospital Leadership teams and execs are available and undertaking walk rounds regularly across all sites.
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Finance
Q: I would like to highlight that the current financial control processes within the organisation appear to be generating additional costs rather than savings. The Trust is currently paying enhanced rates for hiring equipment and engaging external companies due to the existing system. This approach is inadvertently restricting departments from identifying and realising potential cost savings.
A: Rob: The financial challenge has required enhanced controls which have overall started to reduce spend - however if there are specific examples where an alternate route saves money, then please do let us know and we will certainly look into.
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Q: There are a lot of delays from the restrictive spend panels for staff wanting to attend courses as part of their professional development. There have been staff waiting for several months for courses which are externally funded and this is impacting on access to courses as part of their CPD? Is this being looked into to enable a more seamless process which is more timely for staff especially for staff who have external funding to support this?
A: David: If you are a member of regulated professions and that CPD is required for your ongoing professional registration, CPD monies are not restricted in any other way that is different from other years. Not all CPD requests are approved because the money is always less than demand (it is every year). If you feel that your CPD opportunity has not been granted fairly, please contact your professional lead for further information on how to get a clearer explanation. It also doesn’t affect the apprenticeship levy.
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Q: NHS suppliers often over inflate cost – for example, a cabinet we required was £150 cheaper on Amazon – exactly the same item. Can there be better processes for competitive purchasing?
A: Supply chain are authorised to get us best price of adequate quality consumables - we are continuing a process on consolidating choice to best value items.
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Q: Not wishing to be fun sponge but can I ask why the senior leadership team has an away day once a month at Aintree racecourse? This must be costing a small fortune and with all the brutal cost cutting staff are having to endure, this feels unnecessary and could easily be held in one of the large meeting rooms at one of the sites.
A: James: We understand why people would feel this way. Unfortunately, we don't have an internal space large enough to bring all our Group leadership teams together for Senior Leadership Forum, which takes place bi-monthly. We need the meeting to engage with colleagues on all the difficult and challenging things that we’re doing at the moment. We are reviewing it, and we’re always looking for the cheapest option we can possibly do.
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Q: In relation to the question around Aintree Racecourse Team Leadership meeting and the cost that comes with it. Is the use of Microsoft teams not a more sensible option?
A: Teams is an option for certain types of meeting, but the style of meeting / discussion would make that difficult as we do a lot of table top exercises that require face to face engagement.
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Q: With all the financial scrutiny just now I was surprised to see LCL could afford a flashy staff awards event but others in LUHFT didn’t. How could this happen?
A: Thank you for your question. We honoured the planned event this year, but this was the last staff awards which will be held as a separate site/hospital. Any future events will be for Group. To note, a significant proportion of event costs were met via ticket sales and contributions from LCL suppliers.
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Cleaning
Q: Can the freeze on window cleaning please be reconsidered temporarily - now that demolition is complete the windows of the Linda Macartney Centre are caked in dirt so a one-off clean would I'm sure be appreciated by all colleagues who work there.
A: Rob: The demolition plan does have this incorporated as part of the project so we will check the timing now we near completion.
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Q: One of our consultant surgeons has hoovered the office areas today - is this acceptable?
A: Jim: We all agree that the situation is far from ideal. It reflects the seriousness of the financial situation we are working together to address. We will look to resume 'normal' cleaning arrangements as soon as we can –
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Q: Another SOS from the Edwards Building – we lost our full-time domestic(s) a while back and we now have a sporadic/inconsistent (bare minimum) cleaning service which is leaving us vulnerable from a health & safety perspective. It's also disheartening to see all the 'Thankyou Thursday' messages for other offices (not clinical areas) around the Royal who appear to have full-time cleaning services that are obviously up to standard. Can we please have a resident full-time cleaner back in the Edwards Building?
A: Alison: As Jim says above, the reduction in cleaning of non-clinical areas is far from ideal. Until normal service is resumed, domestic services are prioritised for other areas.
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Q: Can you clarify why nurses, doctors, and other clinical staff are being asked to clean non-clinical areas? Who made this decision, and to whom are they accountable? Are they aware that many non-clinical areas in the hospital are dirty, and that in a hospital environment, dirt can lead to superbugs?
A: Jim: This was a collective decision made by the Executive, myself included. I'm afraid it reflects the incredibly difficult decisions we're having to make in order to meet our financial obligations to NHSE and the ICB. We're cleaning our own corporate areas also. The point about risks to Infection Prevention and Control is noted and we are prioritising clinical areas and monitoring the situation closely.
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Q: I can tell you that it costs more money asking doctors and nurses to clean during their shift rather than paying domestic staff to just that. People do not just stay late for free every day to clean. There is a cost saving for the board immediately.
A: As previously discussed in this forum with the finite resources we have available we made the difficult decision to temporarily reduce office cleaning during this period and refocus on patient facing areas.
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Q: May I ask what clinical input was obtained prior to making the decision to stop cleaning 'non clinical' areas? Was the head of infection control in agreement Is there an evaluation set up to look for spikes in infection due to staff now working in a dirty hospital?
A: David: Hi – we are remaining vigilant for unintended consequences of the decision taken. Colleagues would be required (in normal times) to make sure that their own workspace is kept clean and tidy.
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Q: Conscious that IPC issues don't just occur in clinical areas, but offices too. Could cleaning be increased? The 9th Floor have been told their cleaning will increase to fortnightly but what about the rest of us?
A: All open plan areas are being reviewed to consider more frequent cleaning - the 9th floor decision was taken to initially improve the situation and then review again in due course.
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Staff wellbeing
Q: As part of staff wellbeing ECG and blood pressure checks were to be rolled out having first taken place at RLH – at the last staff brief we were advised this would be rolled out to the other sites, when are they coming to AUH – as I haven't seen anything yet.
A: Heather: We will find this out and make sure we flag this to AUH colleagues.
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Q: Nurses have been asked to hand over and complete sick notes for patients without any additional training. Is there a training or guidance in place so we can do these tasks safely?
A: David: Colleagues who don't feel equipped to be able to do this should talk to their line manager for additional support/training. Thanks.
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Q: Do you ever do a "you said, we did" to show how you are improving the workplace following staff surveys? It seems we fill them out and nothing changes for the better, so it would be good to have clear examples of what changes/improvements are being made for staff based on their feedback.
A: Heather: yes we do and that is a really important part of feeding back to staff about how your feedback helps us to make changes. When we have the outputs from this year's survey, sites will be able to feedback on the main areas of concern and what we will be doing to improve these areas over the coming 12 months. We will make sure we highlight this further.
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Q: A comment – at LHCH there is VERY limited opportunity to get the flu job unlike on other sites. I have emailed the flu email to arrange for them to come to the department but had NO response.
A: Jonathan: We are trying to increase access to flu jabs on site, but if you email Jenny Taylor we can look how we can support.
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Q: Staff Morale in Broadgreen, especially within the Admin Teams, is at the lowest it has ever been. The level of sickness within Admin Teams is extremely high with their workload just simply being put onto the remaining staff with no appreciation and no gratitude. How as a Trust do you plan on addressing this issue?
A: Jonathan: As part of the HLT coming in to place, we will be trying to get to know teams and see where we are able to support. I will pick this up with the Divisional teams on how we can help.
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Q: Given the amount of questions on the Staff Brief each time we have it: why not bring back the old Q&A board that was in place at the old Royal? People want to anonymously ask questions mostly, rather than submitting them through comms. And not everyone has chance to join this brief live. It can only be a good thing culturally surely, showing that staff are being listened to by senior management. Obviously not every question can be answered, and there has to be rules for good conduct, but you can pick up on themes and answer appropriately etc.
A: Thank you for your suggestion. We are considering how we can best implement effective Q&A or engagement within staff brief, MD briefings etc, so we will take your query away for when we are reviewing the sessions / how to improve. Many thanks, Comms.
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Q: Can we have a proper hybrid working system? To enable work life balance, at least twice a week
A: Flexible working requests should be discussed with your line managers and there are policies in place to support flexible working and work life balance.
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Q: Why are people in some hospitals being recognised for long service but not being recognised in other hospitals? One took place this week in Aintree.
A: Long service is currently recognised in different ways across the Group, and bringing this together will be part of the work we are doing to harmonise reward and recognition. The event at Aintree is part of the LUHFT Moments That Matter initiative and will be taking place across LUHFT sites during November.
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Q: Is the Trust looking to stop hybrid working? I believe it should as staff learn more on-site – it looks like loads of staff have started to work from home from COVID and it's not been reviewed.
A: There is no directive to stop hybrid working but we should regularly review existing patterns of working to ensure they remain fit for purpose for the department as well as the individual. Sometimes this means patterns of working need to change and evolve over time.
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Q: Will the results of the staff survey be relayed and acted on in a timely manner. In the past by the time issues /concerns have been identified and not addressed for many months, meaning they have been embedded or filling the survey feel futile.
A: Yes, we aim to get the results out asap as the initial results come out in January. We would expect sites to feedback within their staff briefs and for staff to be involved in the action planning coming out of the feedback.