Staff handbook

September 2020

Available on the
intranet. Search for
“Staff handbook”
This handbook will be updated on a regular basis. For the latest
version, please search on our intranet for “Staff Handbook”.
Supporting all our colleagues
We’ve produced this handbook to ensure that all
colleagues are aware of the benefits available to you
as a Trust employee, as well as key changes we’ve made
in response to your feedback.
We are committed to supporting all our staff as part of
our drive to become a great place to work for everyone.
This means listening and then working with you to
introduce the improvements and changes that you
want to see.
This approach has led to a number of developments over the last year, as
outlined over the following pages. We’ve signposted where more information
is available on the intranet and included a list of useful contacts on the back
page, following feedback that it can be difficult to find all this information.
We know that we’ve got more to do, and we hope that you will play a key role
in helping us continue to improve. Please don’t hesitate to drop me a line –
through lg.askben@nhs.net – if you’ve got any queries or want to discuss
other ways that we can support you.
I’m proud to be part of this organisation and am delighted to be working
with you.

Ben Travis, Chief Executive

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Our values are key to everything we do
We developed our values in partnership with staff across the Trust.
Whatever your role, we ask you to demonstrate our values in everything you do,
and we provide training to help you do this. Our values are also central to our
annual appraisal system.
The illustration below shows some examples of what our values mean.

We treat our
colleagues “I am always polite,
with respect honest and friendly.”
and compassion

We take
“I always take ownership
responsibility
and don’t blame others.”
for our actions

We learn,develop “I share ideas and

and share encourage others to do
knowledge the same.”

We work together “I always make sure those

for patients affected by decisions are
and colleagues involved in making them.”

We work as a team “I am open to improvement

to improve quality and change.”

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Listening, learning and taking action
We are fully committed to working with colleagues to introduce the changes
you want to see.

Recent initiatives include:

„ Appointing and training 150 staff wellbeing champions – nominated
by colleagues to offer support to staff across the organisation
„ Introducing our one-day #ImprovingTogether values worksop to ensure
we display our Trust values at all times – attended by around
3,500 colleagues so far
„ Introducing an independent speaking up service to support colleagues in
raising concerns
„ Improving our processes to support flexible working when possible,
becoming only the second NHS Trust to gain Timewise accreditation.

Let us know what other changes you want to see by taking part in
staff surveys, contacting a member of the leadership team or emailing
lg.communications@nhs.net.

Violence against our staff

is never acceptable
Any violence or abuse directed at NHS staff by patients, relatives or members
of the public is unacceptable.
We are fully committed to supporting you and work closely with the 24/7
security teams at our hospitals (ext: 5555 at UHL and 2222 at QEH), and with
the police, to keep you safe. We also provide conflict resolution training to
staff to give you and your colleagues confidence in bringing aggressive
situations to a safe conclusion.
If an incident does take place, make sure you call our security teams so they can
come and support you. It’s then really important that you report any incidents
through the Ulysses incident reporting system, so we can bring offenders to
justice and give the help you need, including any psychological support.

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Tell us if something isn’t right
Let us know about safety issues, or if you feel that you or your colleagues are
not being treated in the right way. We know this is how we can provide the
best care to patients and make the Trust a great place to work for everyone.
For more information search for ‘Speaking Up’ on our intranet.

Reporting concerns
„ Safety incidents – “Ulysses” on your desktop
„ Speak to your line manager, another
senior leader or a staff wellbeing champion
„ Chaplaincy service for spiritual and religious
support – whether or not you are religious
(tlh-tr.chaplaincyuhl@nhs.net)
„ Contact the independent Guardian Service for advice
(0333 577 5299 or contact@theguardianservice.co.uk)
„ Support from staff-side trade unions. Search for “Speaking
Up” on our intranet
for more information

We will help you develop your skills

We offer a huge amount of training opportunities for all our staff to help you
develop in your career. This includes in-house courses, apprenticeship schemes,
e-learning, national programmes and bespoke courses.
Contact LH.TrainingAdmin@nhs.net for more information.

Did you know?

You can download “LGT E-Assessments”
as a mobile app, to do all your mandatory
training at your own convenience
We have a special microsite to help you
access training opportunities:
https://onlinelearning.lgt.nhs.uk
In 2019, we provided the equivalent of 7,900 study
days for staff and 14,100 days
for mandatory training.
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Get involved in our improvement plan
We have a central Quality Improvement (Qi) team in place to support frontline
staff in delivering improvements. We know that you have the answers to the
problems you face at work. Qi is about giving you the tools and skills to make
changes for patients and colleagues in a systematic way.
To get involved and find out more, contact lg.qi@nhs.net.

Help us work
more efficiently
We are looking for staff to help us work more
efficiently by making savings and reducing waste.
We’ve launched a campaign called “SAVE 7”
– to encourage staff to save £1 per day – which will
amount to £1m worth of savings over the year.
If you’ve got ideas or want to get involved, please
email lg.save7@nhs.net.

Help us to celebrate success

We are proud of our amazing staff, and want to celebrate all the great work
that takes place every day. Please help us to do this by letting colleagues know
when they have done a great job. It only takes a few minutes to nominate a
colleague for our Employee of the Month scheme through the online form on
our intranet. We also regularly run events to showcase great work, such as
Quality Improvement projects run by our staff.

Did you know?

Over 170 members of staff were
nominated for our 2019/20
annual staff awards
Many colleagues have won
national awards for exellence
Teams are asked to present their
success at various events.

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Supporting your health and wellbeing
We provide a range of benefits to support you
We offer a huge amount of benefits to support all our staff and we update
what’s available on a regular basis. We are always looking to improve our
health and wellbeing provision, so please share your ideas with us.
For more information search for “staff benefits” on our intranet.

Health and wellbeing

„ 24/7 employee support line
„ Fast-track staff physiotherapy
service for any discomfort or injury
„ Flexible working
„ Staff stop smoking service
„ Wellbeing activities – yoga, Pilates,
aqua fit, football and mindfulness
„ Support from 150 staff
wellbeing champions
„ Chart-topping Trust choir
„ Running club.

Did you know?

„ Our employee support line is open
24/7 and offers counselling, stress
support and career coaching.
Call: 0800 111 6387
„ Our Trust choir achieved the Christmas
number 1 in 2015, and have since
recorded an album, as well as playing
at Glastonbury, the FA Cup Final and
OnBlackheath. Email lg.choir@nhs.net
if you are interested in joining
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„ Last year, we recruited over 2,000
patients for research studies. Research
offers a chance for staff development
while improving care. Contact
LH.RD@nhs.net to find out more
„ There were over 250 successful
applications for flexible working in
2019. Over 25 per cent of our staff
work flexibly or part-time.
 Financial support
„ An interest-free season ticket loan
from your first day
„ Salary sacrifice schemes
(for cars and electronic equipment)
„ Cycle to work scheme
(and bike lockers)
„ Specialist financial advice.
Lifestyle benefits
„ Chance to buy and sell
annual leave
„ NHS shopping discounts
„ Discounts on holidays.

Search for “staff

benefits” on our
intranet for more
information

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Improving equality, diversity
and inclusion (EDI)
Our EDI action plan was developed with colleagues.
The work we’re doing includes:
„ A range of steps to improve the representation of black, Asian and
minority ethnic (BAME) colleagues and other under-represented
staff in senior roles
„ A reverse mentoring programme to increase senior leaders’
understanding of the issues that staff in under-represented
groups face
„ Work on reducing and tackling the violence, bullying and abuse
that BAME staff face from patients
„ Plans to make our workforce more representative of local
communities and enhance our relationship with our communities.
Read the plan in full and get involved – search for “equality and diversity plan”
on our intranet.

Join our staff EDI networks

Our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) network, run by our staff,
gives a voice to staff to promote inclusion. To support all staff,
the EDI network has set up networks for:
„ LGBT+ staff and allies of all sexual
and gender identities
„ BAME staff
„ Staff with disabilities
„ Staff who are under 30.
To find out more and to get involved,
please email lg.edinetwork@nhs.net.

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How we are run
You can find structure charts for the Trust on our intranet. Each division has
its own leadership team, who is committed to supporting you. Please do not
hesitate to get in touch with them if there are any queries, ideas or concerns
that you want to raise.

Help us become more

environmentally friendly
In response to your feedback, we’ve set up a staff
sustainability group to address climate change and
promote a greener way of working. The group is
open to all staff, so contact lg.sustainability@nhs.net
to share your ideas and to get involved.

We want your views

We issue a twice weekly staff ebulletin to let you know the latest developments
and stories. We also produce regular films for staff on our YouTube channel,
and a quarterly printed newsletter for people who do not regularly have the
time to access emails. If you’ve got any queries or want to share your news
stories, please contact lg.communications@nhs.net.

Did you know?

We have over 11,500 followers

on Twitter: @LG_NHS
You can also follow us on Facebook,
Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube.

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Our vision
To work together to provide high quality care
for every patient, every day.

Our priorities

Quality
Continually improve safety and quality

Patients
Put patients at the heart of everything we do

People
Support and develop our workforce to live our values every day

Partnership
Work effectively with partner organisations

Money
Ensure we spend every penny wisely

Did you know?

We launched our Trust strategy -
“Caring for our communities”
- in 2020
The strategy describes key pieces
of work, and how we will continue
to engage with staff to
deliver improvements.

Search for “Caring for our communities”

on our intranet
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We are a busy Trust, serving our
local communities
We serve a population of over one million people.
Each year, we have...

600,000+ 580,000+
Community Outpatient
contacts with appointments
patients

7,700+ 900
Births Beds

6,800 300,000+
Members Emergency
of staff attendances

UHL QEH
c. 130k c. 170k
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 Did you know?
We are transforming outpatient We serve a population
services, and in 2019 became the of 1 million people
first NHS Trust in the country to
We won a 2019 Health Innovation
offer patients virtual cardiology
Award for using technology to
appointments
improve patient care
University Hospital Lewisham (UHL)
Our community services are rated
is one of the few hospitals in the
“Outstanding” by the CQC
country to offer opt-out HIV testing
in the Emergency Department. This The critical care unit at QEH is one
means that any patient who has of the few in the country to meet
a blood test as part of their care is the gold standard for consultant and
routinely screened for HIV junior doctor staffing, due to new
ways of working. We are introducing
Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) has
similar plans for UHL
the fastest ambulance turnaround
times in London The stroke rehabilitation centre at
UHL is the largest in the country,
UHL has the third largest
and consistently meets best
Haemoglobinopathy Centre in the
practice standards.
UK for treating blood conditions
such as sickle cell. The centre was
awarded specialist status in 2019,
after meeting all of NHS England’s
best practice standards
We are one of the largest employers
of physician associates in the country
and provide a range of new roles to
support staff and improve
patient care
We provide advice to new and
expectant parents online, through
Edie the E-Midwife (@e_midwife)

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Your support makes
a huge difference.
Donations to our charity help us to purchase additional equipment and
make improvements to benefit patients, staff and visitors at Lewisham and
Greenwich NHS Trust. In response to staff feedback, the charity is funding
additional psychological support for staff, which will be introduced
over 2020/21.
To donate, visit www.lewishamandgreenwich.nhs.uk/charity.

Registered charity under the full name of “Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust Charitable Funds”: 1050522
Key contact details
These contact details are correct at the time of writing (September 2020).
We will update the handbook on the staff intranet if there are any changes.
„ Appraisals – „ Helpline – counselling, information,
lg.appraisals@nhs.net legal and/or debt advice –
„ Bank staffing team – 0800 1116 387
lg.bankrecruitment@nhs.net „ IT Helpdesk –
„ Business continuity – ithelpdesk@uhl.nhs.uk
lg.business-continuity@nhs.net „ Leadership Training –
„ Careerguidance – lg.leadershiptraining@nhs.net
0800 1116 387 „ Mandatory training –
„ Chaplaincy at UHL – lg.mandatorytraining@nhs.net
tlh-tr.chaplaincyuhl@nhs.net: „ Occupational health –
Chaplaincy at QEH – general line: 0845 1309174
tlh-tr.chaplaincyqeh@nhs.net sharps injury advice: 0845 3710572
„ Chief Executive – „ PALS – pals.lewisham@nhs.net or
lg.askben@nhs.net pals.qeht@nhs.net
„ Communications – „ Payroll & pensions –
lg.communications@nhs.net gst-tr.lgtpayqueries@nhs.net
„ Emergency planning – „ Productivity and efficiency –
lh.emergency-planning@nhs.net lg.save7@nhs.net
„ Employee relations – „ Quality Improvement –
lg.employeerelationsteam@nhs.net lg.qi@nhs.net
„ Equality,
diversity and inclusion „ Recruitment –
network – lg.edinetwork@nhs.net lg.recruitmentandretention@nhs.net
„ Estates and facilities helpline at „ Sustainability working group –
UHL – 8080: at QEH – 6585 (or call lg.sustainability@nhs.net
Vinci on 6858 for estates issues) „ Training –
„ Fire safety – 020 8333 3318 lh.trainingadmin@nhs.net
„ The Guardian Service (raising „ Volunteers at QEH –
concerns) – 0333 577 5299 lg.qehvoluntaryservices@nhs.net,
contact@theguardianservice.co.uk volunteers at UHL –
lh.voluntaryServices@nhs.net

© 2020 Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust Search for “Staff Handbook” Version 1.0 - (Sept 2020)
University Hospital Lewisham on our intranet for the latest REPU000975
London, SE13 6LH version of this document