To submit your questions for the next staff brief please email: communications
2025
RECRUITMENT AND VACANCIES/HR
Q: When LUHFT becomes UHLG and the rest of the hospitals come under the same umbrella, does that mean the pay difference within the different trusts will be the same across the board? For example, Liverpool Heart and Chest security guards are paid as Band 3, but security guards in LUHFT are only paid as Band 2. Also, would temporary staffing remain in-house across all trusts, or would it all change over to NHS Professional?
A: In terms of the banding differences, as teams come together under the UHL Group, we will need to understand any difference in banding and also any difference in job descriptions. Where there is inconsistency, we will need to address this. However, this may mean that new job descriptions are needed for jobs within the group and they will be banded accordingly. In terms of the temporary staffing function, as there is a mix of in house services and Trusts using NHSP, we will carry out a full evaluation of both to determine how we will provide temporary services going forward, as part of our improvement work and coming together. As yet, this decision hasn't been made. (Heather)
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Q: As a nurse, I recently moved wards at Aintree and found that the sickness policy regarding bank shifts differs from my old ward. If I call in sick, my bank shifts are restricted for one week on my old ward, but on my new ward, they are restricted for two weeks. How can wards have different rules? Shouldn't all wards be equal?
A: Please contact jenny.
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Q: Are the recruitment restrictions at LUHFT also the same at LWH?
A: No, due to the different workforce and financial challenges both organisations face. However, there is work going on across LAASP (5 future group organisations) to agree consistent recruitment restrictions and we already share the same approach to appointing senior posts across the system. (Heather)
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Q: Is there an update on when the recruitment freeze will be lifted?
A: The recruitment restrictions will continue as we go into next year, although we are regularly reviewing the impact the restrictions are having on key areas, not least our corporate teams. We need to maintain our control over pay expenditure as we go into another difficult financial year, which will mean a continued pressure on us to restrict vacancies. (Heather)
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Q: Is there any update on the cost of living rise?
A: We haven't yet heard whether or not the recommended cost of living increase has been signed off by the Secretary of State. As soon as we know, we will communicate this.
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Q: Can you update on recruitment restrictions of admin staff please? Admin staff in the back offices are not coping, and only patient facing admin roles seem to be getting approval from the HLT. Staff are looking for jobs outside of UHLG or going off sick with the incredibly stressful workloads from being so understaffed and no promise of any change.
A: We recognise that our admin teams and corporate teams are suffering as a result of current vacancy restrictions. Any post that is held should be quality impact assessed and any risks to non-recruitment escalated. We realise it is tough and we need to look at what we stop doing as a result of lower staff numbers. For corporate teams, we need to bring together the Group trusts to alleviate some of the pressures, but realise this is not going to happen overnight. (Heather)
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Q: Regarding the band2/band 3 pay award, it's very disheartening for people already at the top of the band 3 scale, that they are not receiving any uplift the way colleagues elsewhere on the scale are going to receive.
A: Each band has an upper pay scale, which when reached they don't receive any further uplift. All staff should receive the national cost of living uplift. (Heather)
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Q: Vacancy restrictions at RLH/BGH are having a detrimental impact to staff mental health and wellbeing and feeling undervalued. We are not able to provide the appropriate service for patients and managers cannot do anything more for their staff as they too are facing immense pressure. Despite many escalations to HLTs and staff going off sick or leaving as a result it feels as though admin are not being listened to. It provides no hope that restrictions are going to be ongoing, and sadly we are going to lose even more members of staff. The future doesn't look bright for admin. And even if all vacancies are lifted soon, it will take at least six months to feel a difference for admin departments. What support can be offered to all staff, including managers as they are also feeling the pressure of feeling unheard.
A: I know this is difficult, but we need to prioritise workloads, focusing on patient impacting tasks first. We need to support people whilst at work and only ask of them what is physically possibly to achieve. We need to find different ways of doing things and sharing workloads within teams. We need to make sure people are given support to rest and have time off. We need to stop doing things in a controlled managed way. I wish it were different, but we are trying to unlock these restrictions as James describes as soon as we can. (Heather)
CAR PARKING/TRAVEL
Q: I have had several complaints about the car park in Broadgreen. When leaving with a blue badge, you now need to press the buzzer at the barrier and show your badge to the staff member in the office. Both staff and patients have stated that it is really difficult to get near the buzzer in your car and they are having to either try and lean out or physically get out of the car. Majority of people with a blue badge would have mobility issues and this seems unfair. Would it be possible to have a function at the machine you pay where you can enter blue badge details so that the ANPR scanner can read the reg on exit?
A: It’s a good question and if the ANPR scanner could do something on that, that would make it a lot easier. We will raise this to our Estates colleagues – James.
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Q: Can we work with Clatterbridge on the Royal site to look at a shared patient bus service - going from Paddington, Q-park and all three entrances. Their bus is disbanding from April.
A: Thank you for raising this, we’ll find out what is happening with the Clatterbridge bus service. There is, again, a big opportunity in the Group of Five to have a look at interorganisational and inter-hospital transport because as things change over time, you’re going to have more clinicians working across sites so we need to make sure that’s all addressed, but I was not aware of the disbanding of the service from April, so I will find out more about that – James.
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Q: The NCP car park at the Royal – what support is there when the barrier won't open? They have removed the buzzer now so if it fails there are no options to seek help and this leads to having to pay in another public car park – also leads to queues!
A: I’m not aware of this, we will pick this up with NCP and find out why that buzzer has been removed. Thank you for raising this – James.
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Q: Do our staff parking payments also cover new sites such as LWH and Liverpool Heart and Chest?
A: We are looking at staff car parking and we’re looking to assimilate that gradually so everybody’s paying the same and so it’s fair – James.
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Q: Encouraged to use EV vehicles but must have blue badge to access the limited charge points at the RLH when BGH and AUH have multiple, will we be getting more charge points and have access without bays being blocked by other non EV vehicles?
A: I know this is something that has been asked previously and we will pick this up to see what can be done at the Royal – James.
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Q: Good afternoon. Will it be possible to get a staff bus from LIP to any of the sites or at least the Royal? Only one Arriva bus runs past here and is always late. This will be useful especially in winter. Thank you.
A: Thank you for your question, we will raise this with our Estates/Travel colleagues.
GENERAL
Q: What is planned for bringing research together across all of the Trusts?
A: We are developing a single research and innovation strategy for the five Trusts. The first event has been held just to share existing good practice and this is being led by Lynn Greenhalgh from LWH who is leading this work. Please contact Lynn if you want to be involved: Lynn.
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Q: 23 April 2025 is Administrative Professionals Day - does the Trust have anything planned to recognise its vast and varied administrative and clerical workforce?
A: Yes, we will be celebrating this day – more details will be shred over the next few weeks.
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Q: So we put in a pound and can only win back 50p? As the other 50p goes where? To the Charity? The lottery organisers should report the spend.
A: Please email fundraising
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Q: 50% of the staff lottery goes to staff welfare?
A: 50% goes towards the charity (supporting staff welfare etc) and 50% goes towards prizes for those that have entered the lottery.
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Q: How does LUHFT plan to continue improving the reward and recognition work started in 2024 against the UHLG backdrop? Is there still momentum to continue improving the offer for staff?
A: Our OD Team is working closely with hospital leadership teams at each site to agree local plans around reward and recognition. Each site will be forming engagement groups with colleagues and the plans around reward and recognition will be one of the first topics to be discussed within these groups.
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Q: What is the plan for the old Royal site? I get questions from patients and staff asking but not sure what we are building if it’s even going to be ours?
A: Yes – firstly, to clarify the Royal site belongs to us, and over the next year to 18 months we will start to get better road networks in and out of the hospital. So from the Podium, down to Daulby Street will be done by the end of the year and then the next one will run through where the old Royal was to the bus stop on Prescot Street.
In terms of building on it, we are looking at a couple of things: one is the Academic Health Sciences Centre – that’s the University wanting to build a medical dental school and potentially reintroduce Dental Hospital accommodation as well. We then have the opportunity to look at bits of land for inward investment for people who might want to come and work with us on research and innovation, especially.
The other thing we’re looking at is multi-story carparking as we realise both patient and staff carparking is dreadful at the moment. This is all financially dependent and nothing has gone to Board yet, so more to come over the next month or two – James.
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Q: What are long term plans for Linda Mc Building? Lots of refurb downstairs for WIC but on other hand heard rumours it's going to be demolished.
A: The Linda Mc building – in the long term master plan – wouldn’t be there and it would be replaced over time. The plot where the Linda Mc currently is, would be the place where you would do future clinical expansion because that is the part of the site that can connect directly into the main chunk of the Royal building and access to Critical Care and access to the lifts and other floors. Just to note, there’s no plans right now for future clinical space so nothing is going to be demolished any time soon – James.
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Q: Is the Group considering stopping the use of certain social media apps? The Police have stopped using X due to the unreliability and inconsistency of their policies and practices. There are alternatives and we also have the website for news and updates. As a public organisation we have a responsibility to demonstrate our values and ensure our messages are clear and accurate.
A: It is something that we continue to take advice on from the national NHSE Communications Team. At present, the view is that X continues to be a platform that has a wide reach for patients and members of the public and therefore supports our effective communication with them. We will continue to review our position on this and will inform colleagues if it changes.
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Q: It would be good to see the Organisation offering flexibility to colleagues observing Ramadan, I can see it in the guidelines but genuine actions in supporting colleagues rather than policies that are not activated - i.e. varied start/ finishing times, WFH.
A: Where services allow and there is no patient detriment, we should be able to vary working hours to support people observing Ramadan. If you aren't feeling supported through the flexible working policy, please escalate up through your management structure or HR team on site.
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Q: Should we have to make requests for grants for charitable grants or money to support staff health and wellbeing? Shouldn't that be a priority for the Trust to address sickness absence, retention etc? Having to fill out a form or make a bid for positive health and wellbeing feels a bit odd.
A: Charitable funds is designed to support staff and wellbeing initiatives that are above and beyond what is already provided by the organisation. A grant process supports prioritisation of requests as the charity receives a large number of requests, far more than could be covered by the fund.
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Q: Please inform what actions would be taken against staff vaping in the hospital? Smoking outside is one thing but smoking inside, in the staff rooms, wards MDT rooms, toilets it is a real problem.
Q: It's raised every staff brief but patients and staff continue to smoke and vape right outside of entrances - often while leaning against the 'no smoking' sign! What more can be done to address this?
A: Smoking or vaping is not permitted in the hospital. If detected, then quitting support should be the first port of call to help the individual. If repeated then potential disciplinary action would be taken. Heather
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Q: Is there any plans for new IT equipment in the Lecture Theatre at the Royal. I've held numerous events there in recent months and I’ve faced problem after problem which can be embarrassing when I have new members of the Trust present and we have to skip certain parts of training. Any update would be much appreciated.
A: We will ask the Digital Team about this – please can you email Communications with more detail around what the specific problem is so it can be forwarded to IT – James.
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Q: Will room bookings be improved? As a clinical educator I am finding room bookings extremely difficult meaning we quite often do not have enough time to book a room and get the advertisements out there for colleagues to be able to have them factored into their off duties.
A: A new process for room bookings is being rolled out soon and additional communications will be shared.
RECRUITMENT AND VACANCIES
Q: LUHFT has for several years now been bringing services inhouse. Now we are moving to a group of five can you give assurance that all of the Pharmacy, Estate, Procurement and Facilities team will not be TUPE’d out to Clatterbridge Propcare Services Limited which is a private limited company that don’t offer NHS AFC T&C’s
A: Developing commercial income and shared models for corporate services are a priority for the LAASP programme. However, there are no plans within LAASP to move people off NHS terms and conditions.
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Q: Given the scale of the financial challenges that have been set out previously, in terms of the requirement to live within our means, do you expect there to be fewer staff working in the group in future, being expected to do more?
A: We would expect that bringing corporate teams together will generate some efficiencies, by doing things together and removing the need to repeat tasks, rather than asking people to do more.
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Q: I work at LWH and we have NHSP for our bank. I am aware that LUH use an internal bank. Are there plans for things to change as part of the LAASP work?
A: There are no plans at present to move our bank workforce to NHSP. We will be working with the LAASP Trusts to determine whether or not it would be beneficial for all Trusts to move to NHSP or whether an internal bank for the Group is the best option. An options paper will be developed with all involved to determine the recommended position.
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Q: Is it possible that there may be redundancies in the admin staff?
A: We are currently holding admin vacancies within LUHFT sites as part of our current vacancy controls, which should prevent us from having to make anyone in an admin service redundant.
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Q: When is the embargo on filling clerical vacancies be reversed? Does the Trust not realise that eventually more services will be providing substandard care because of a lack of Admin support.
A: We are conscious of the impact we are having holding clerical vacancies and corporate posts over a prolonged period. Although each post held has a quality impact assessment, we recognise that continuation of holding posts will have a potential negative impact on our teams. We do review specific risks to service delivery when they are raised and have approved recruitment to these posts. However, we also need to continue to manage vacancies as part of our financial controls. This balance is really difficult.
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Q: Why has our department’s agenda for change not finalised the job descriptions yet, and why are the three team vacancies still unfilled despite being told not to recruit – what’s going on and when will we get clarity?
A: To understand a little more about this, are you able to please email Heather Barnett directly:Heather.
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Q: How does the Trust intend to support administrative staff who are expected to continue to deliver a sustained – or in a lot of cases, increasing - workload as the number of administrative staff across the Trust continues to decrease?
A: We need to ensure that line managers are supporting people with prioritising their workloads. We also need to design and develop new ways of working, using technology for example, to support people to do their jobs differently. Health and wellbeing is extremely important to us and we shouldn't expect people to be working increased hours or doing additional work for any prolonged period of time. If this is the case, risks should be raised in relation to this.
Site leadership teams need to be discussing the current areas where vacancies are held, and people are being asked to do additional work for a prolonged period of time. They then need to support staff to manage this. In terms of modernisation of services, we need to test new ways of working and an example of this would be the multiverse programme, encouraging people to design new ways of working digitally. In terms of H&WB, we have lots of offers for people to access, but line managers are key in ensuring the health and wellbeing of their teams.
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Q: Will LWH staff have access to internal job opportunities advertised over in LUFT and vice versa? If so, when?
A: All internal vacancies are open to employees of the Group and all adverts confirm this.
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Q: We have significant issues with HR functions across LUHFT, is there a plan for recruitment? How does that fit in with the vacancy freeze?
A: A paper was discussed at Execs yesterday, outlining the high levels of vacant posts and issues that this is causing to departments and staff across LUFHT. We agreed that these vacancies need to be filled, with the first opportunity to fill them to be offered to LAASP partners.
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Q: Will we be ensuring equity across the group in terms of vacancy freezes? Staff are getting new roles (within the group) which is great for them but then some of those vacated roles can't be filled because of the existing vacancy freeze.
A: This is something that James and the other CEOs are currently discussing as we cannot continue with LUHFT being the only Trust holding vacancies within our LAASP system.
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Q: Where is the health and wellbeing support for the staff who are directly affected by the vacancy freeze? We are losing staff due to stress related illnesses, and they feel they are unheard. This is also having a direct impact to service delivery, and we are unable to meet the needs of our patients
A: Please talk to your line manager about your wellbeing. Everyone should have the opportunity to have a wellbeing conversation.
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Q: When do you imagine the recruitment freeze will be lifted? This is very demotivating for staff members who are trying to follow development pathways
A: The recruitment freeze will be reassessed in the coming months as we approach a new financial year. However, we don't expect that all vacancies held will be released due to our ongoing financial pressures to deliver significant CIP in 2025/26.
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Q: Re the recruitment freeze, if this is down to cost, why was a Deputy DIPC/Divisional Director of Nursing advertised in January at Band 8D? Do 6 figure salary jobs take precedence over front line staff nurses and HCAs? I really don't understand how these jobs are banded.
A: A decision to recruit will be based on risk to the organisation of not having this role. we have statutory requirements around IPC, so I would expect this is the reason for having to recruit to this post. I do understand how this might appear though to other staff.
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Q: How are those areas that do balance their budgets in 25/26 going to be acknowledged.
A: Unfortunately, we’re not going to be able to offer financial reward or other incentive, it’s not really an incentive situation and we’re going to have to manage to our budgets and the main focus should be getting those budgets right.
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Q: Outpatients has had a vacancy freeze for admin, which has had a massive impact on booking appointments, why was this not thought through especially when we want waiting times to come down for outpatients?
A: At the moment we’re balancing a huge number of risks, and we’re sighted on them. The vacancy controls were imposed on the organisation effectively because we’re not where we need to be financially. The long-term plan – the Group of Five – will offer a better balance of smaller scale challenges across the five organisations rather than all of it sitting with LUHFT, for example.
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Q: Will there be any divisional structure changes with the new group model – in particular DSS based at Aintree?
A: We’re in the middle of those conversations now and more of that will come out in the next few weeks. It’s not huge, it’s not cross organisational, but we have talked for a while now about thinking around how diagnostics comes together across a broader group in the future as we do know we have multiple DSS type divisions/structures across various organisations.
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Q: Band 7 Operational Manager posts that were held at HLT last Thursday – do you have an update as to when these will be released to allow Care Groups to recruit and support long term acting staff etc? It will only further support them to ensure the Elective recovery to improve, thanks
A: Unfortunately, as I don’t know which site this is in reference so I can’t answer this for you. The easiest thing for you to do would be to contact your Exec Managing Director of the site you’re based on.
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Q: Additional clinics/waiting list – How does the blanket ban on WIL rates save the Trust money when KPI recruitment is used instead, at a much higher cost?
A: How this works is, we have to move a standard payment rate for people in the organisation, particularly for an agenda for change. Where we’ve got services where people say they don’t want to work for their contracted rate, then we have no other option than to either look at outsourcing that waiting list to other Trusts or paying over the odds for someone else to do it – as insourcing in this case – but that is still more cost effective than constantly breaking the agenda for change rate rules and that spreading across the organisation and creating a constant issue.
ELECTRONIC PATIENT RECORD
Q: Will you be exploring EPIC EPR which is used at MFT?
A: No EPR vendor is off the table and providing they submit a response to the invitation to tender, we will review and evaluate.
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Q: Projects like EPR and other trust projects require experienced staff to take part. How are any improvement projects going to move forward when services are on their knees due to staffing and the vacancy freeze putting immense pressure on the staff on the ground floor doing the work.
A: The vacancy freeze is a this-year issue we know we’ve got to deal with, it’s not going to go away but we hope that we can reduce the impact of it by spreading it further and wider across organisations and resolving this issue of a funding gap that we’ve got.
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Q: Are there examples across the country where hospitals have successfully used the same EPR which incorporates maternity, particularly the fetal monitoring in labour? Feel like we have worked so hard to get k2 to where it is just to start all over again?
A: Not sure of specific examples but will make sure the EPR teams get your query. If you email me directly, I can provide a formal response once the team have considered this. Where we have existing specialist systems that need to remain, we will ensure they are fully integrated. We will engage with staff groups regarding their specialist systems as part of the procurement and evaluation process.
CAR PARKING
Q: Broadgreen parking has been for a while and is still an issue, grass is ruined under link near Queens Drive exit as people have taken to parking on it recently, posting a warning does nothing as the same people continue to park on double yellow all around the site.
A: We are constantly monitoring the site, and unfortunately this is down to staff behaviours as we have had capacity in the multi-storey car park of over 50 spaces a day - yet they are choosing to park near the exit. We have recently recruited to the car parking team and will be re-introducing car parking enforcement.
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Q: Is there any extra provision for car parking at the Royal. I have applied for a permit but am on the waiting list and have recently been approached for money and as a lone female this quite a frightening experience as I am having to park further from the hospital and there is not a lot of people around in the morning – at RLH site I should say
A: We still have a waiting list in operation and are regularly reviewing this and utilising Paddington as much as we can. Car parking options are also being reviewed by the RLH HLT.
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Q: Parking at the Royal still has been parking on double yellow lines and in dangerous positions putting people and cars at risk. What is being done to penalise these drivers
A: We know it’s a reoccurring issue and we are working on managing this as best as we can. We’re so close now with the Old Royal coming down to have the opportunity to move to a different traffic management system at the Royal.
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Q: If I already have an existing car parking pass for Broadgreen, can I have a transfer to Royal? I know well in advance that I will be moving to the Royal, but I can only apply 2 weeks before my move apparently. Why can't I be added to the waiting list now?
A: This is to help manage the car parking waiting list, as we currently have existing Royal based staff on the list. This is the fairest way to effectively avoid queue jumping.
GENERAL
Q: Do you think this planning guidance is relatively short/ not as detailed as we await the 10 year plan?
A: In keeping the planning guidance relatively short, NHSE are trying to ensure that each organisation has clarity on key priorities for the coming year. The NHS 10 Year plan remains on target for being completed in Spring 2025, but this is dependent on completion of further workshops with NHS staff in February and a national summit in Spring the exact dates are still to be confirmed.
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Q: When can we expect report of the Trust’s latest CQC inspection?
A: The CQC have an aim to publish inspection reports within 50 days of the inspection which takes into account the opportunity for the Trust to review in terms of factual accuracy. Once we have received the formal findings, we will inform colleagues.
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Q: Given that access to mental health for young people being a priority, is/would the Trust consider establishing psychological support inhouse for young people with long term health problems that is not specifically funded by certain specialties and would be accessible for all departments?
A: We are starting to look at whether we can access funding and we’ll absolutely be looking at whether we can do that in collaboration with Mersey Care.
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Q: How do we learn from the critical incident in terms of business as usual? Can the learning be shared
A: Again, this will come back via the EPRR route. Yes, we can share this and I will pick this up with the EPRR Team to see how they intend to do that.
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Q: Is Broadgreen now sitting within the Royal HLT?
A: The same Executive Managing Director, Natalie Hudson, is now covering both sites.
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Q: Complaints process is still awful; will this be reviewed?
A: We need to ensure that any complaints or concerns are dealt with timely, and we will be working closely to fully understand the current position and any improvements. We will cover any changes in future sessions.
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Q: Whilst I appreciate the focus on EDI, I didn't notice a message for Hanukkah nor did I see anything around Holocaust memorial day. Was this just an oversight?
A: Screensavers and digital screens were displayed for Hanukkah and the Trusts (LUHFT and LWH) took part in the national Holocaust Memorial Day events with NHS England, details of which were shared in Liverpool News. Together with our ED&I team we are always reviewing how we can mark days such as these.
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Q: What is the trust looking to do for International Women's Day on 8 March given that so many staff are women?
A: We shall be sharing information about this in the coming weeks – Comms
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Q: The recent staff pulse survey had a question on Martha's rule and whether staff are aware of it. I'd never heard of it or seen anything on in from the comms team. Is this Trust piloting this initiative, and if so, when will staff and patients get further information on it?
A: Within our organisation it is being piloted in some select areas at the moment. This will be rolled out further at a later date and information shared.
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Q: There are so many broken things in the offices on the 9th floor. They are reported and get fixed, but consistently breaking. Did we buy everything cheap, and do we use cheap labour/materials to repair them? It's hard to want to come to the office 5 days a week when there is constantly broken taps, toilet roll holders, soap dispensers, doors, fridges etc.
A: If things are breaking to that level, we have to look at how people are using these things as they should not be breaking at this level. There is ongoing work in the Royal team to look at the 9th floor and some of the issues up there so I will feed this back to the Royal team to pick up.
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Q: Why is smoking person not out on West Derby Street, most are staff of course! but they need moving on, sick of seeing new chairs out front. should this not be part of security role, as I don't think this is worthy of a position of course, money better spent elsewhere.
A: We do have a group looking at this at the Royal, so I will ask them to specifically answer this through their Exec MD briefing.
2024
Group
Q: Are job roles and banding going to align across both trusts?
A: We will review job roles and bands across trusts where it is appropriate to do so and if the roles are the same across organisations. This will happen over time and with those people who are carrying out those roles.
Q: Are corporate jobs at risk?
A: Corporate jobs are not at risk. Individual corporate teams will be working through their operating model within a group which will identify opportunities for coming together and the future design of corporate services.
Q: Will MARS be on offer at all next year?
A: MARS is currently open to staff at LUHFT until end of January. We will consider a further scheme from March/April next year for both LUHFT and LWH, which would be dependent on NHSE approving our scheme application. This would also need ULG Board approval to extend into next year.
Q: Who is making the decisions about how corporate services will be shaped for the Group those in the group now or will it include those who will be coming into the group. Will there be any meaningful engagement with the people working in those corporate teams about how they feel services could be run and time allowed in the process by Jan 2025?
A: By January 2025, we are aiming to have a roadmap which details the order in which we're going to approach shaping UHLG, and there will be plenty of engagement as we then go through this process. We are not looking to determine how Corporate Services might look by this point, but rather setting out what the next few years look like, and which areas we are going to look at first when it comes to any services, corporate or otherwise. This will absolutely involve the people in those services from all the organisations involved, and the design of any future configuration.
Q: Will there be job losses/amalgamation due to the new ULHG merge and inevitable restructuring?
A: Until we have gone through the process of reviewing what services may look like, we don’t know what the future looks like. However, we are not looking at any sort of job losses, but rather looking at getting things in the right shape and size to deliver what we all want to deliver.
Q: Is there a plan to move LWH site to LUHFT site?
A: There is a consultation that is being led by the ICB about hospital services for maternity and gynaecology, which will be taking place throughout the whole of the next year. Whatever the determination is of that, which includes moving services, that will be led by clinicians and those involved. Until this consultation is over, there is not a plan to move anything.
Q: Please could we look at incorporating the LUHFT catering into LWH much more choice and healthier options?
A: Our estates and facilities teams are reviewing this and looking at how we can get the best of both worlds in our catering options.
Q: Question from last time wasn't answered, with research being a focus in the UHLG, will the various R&Ds and specialities (e.g. cardiology, women's health) all combine or stay separate?
A: At this point there is no confirmed future model as to how research will operate within the Group. However, research, development and innovation is a core thrust of what we want to do with the five organisations together, bringing together the best of what everyone has to power up what we do. If things do stay separate, you'd want to see them combined under one strategy so that we are all heading in a similar direction, and doing things the same way, but it doesn't mean that departments necessarily must become one. However, this will be answered once we reach that point in or roadmap in the coming years.
Estates
Q: Why are drinks in the vending machines so expensive a bottle of diet coke £2.50. Also why in Aintree do we have old vending machines 1 by the Sefton suite 1 by the chapel of rest they have been out of use for a few years now.
A: We will look into this but understand that as the organisation do not own these vending machines, the prices will not be within our control. We will also follow up on the removal of old vending machines.
Q: Are the doors to the Royal NCP car park going to get fixed? In the bad weather the door doesn't open so you have to walk in through the car entrance.
A: Estates have followed this up with NCP who operate the car park. The failure was reported to the automatic door specialist on 6 December who attended the same day and returned the doors to service.
Q: Can you explain why we are now eating side plates but paying the same price for food?
A: We had ordered new plates to top up our current stock levels, however our usual plates were out of stock. An alternative plate, which met the same dimensions of our standard plate, were delivered. This alternative plate looked visually smaller than our usual plate, but were in fact the same in size. Once our standard plates came back into stock, we were able to order and all alternative plates have been removed from use. Whilst in use, the portion size had also not been reduced, and all meals meet the nutritional content of a 400–500-gram meal.
Q: Can the menu in the Level 10 restaurant be improved and more healthy options available – such as a good salad bar for example?
A: Absolutely, we were taking this forward to create a sandwich and salad bar. Level 10 currently offers a selection of the following:
- Breakfast cereals
- Vegan/vegetarian wraps
- Pre-packed salad boxes
- Gluten free wraps
- Fresh fruit
- Pre-packed sandwiches (400kcals and below)
- Jacket potatoes with various fillings
- Alternative milks
- Fresh pasta and rice dishes
- Fresh, healthy Poke bowl options
- Sandwich and salad bar.
Level 10 Starbucks has also introduced a healthier range of doughnuts, which have a 30% lower calorie content.
Q: Are there plans to fix the AV in the Royal Lecture Theatre? Three times this has not worked for an important session with external attendees. You can tell the team there are absolutely worn out trying to help but it obviously needs some investment or an alternative space in the new hospital.
A: Apologies, we know this is frustrating. The digital team are working on a solution with external support to get this resolved as soon as possible.
Q: Are there any initiatives to improve way finding around the new Royal building/site? It is quite a complex building to navigate and there is no adequate maps on the website. Signage is quite limited. It must be very confusing for patients as it confuses me as staff! What happened to the navigation app that there was talk of?
A: A group has been established by Natalie Hudson to look at this. We will also be looking at the app as part of that to see if its viable. This is being led by Royal Director of Nursing, Lindsey Vlasman. If you would like to get involved, please drop her an email.
Workforce
Q: Is scouse school an option for rotational doctors/trainees who are international graduates (i.e. employed by lead employer to work in Mersey deanery but their first year may be at Aintree/Royal)
A: I'm sure this is possible. Please reach out to Jo Marinas who runs the programme: Joselito.
Q: How can the laboratories in LCL be celebrated more and have more visibility in the Staff Brief?
A: Where possible we try to celebrate as many teams and services as possible. If there is something you would like to be celebrated in Staff Brief, please let us know by contacting the Communications Team.
Q: Will the Trust do another engagement with staff to get ideas on how to make savings? It has been a period since we do this exercise and more ideas may be generated and help the CIP.
A: Answer to come
Q: RE: Multiverse, unfortunately cannot release people for the time required as resource capacity is so pressured. Would love to.
A: My understanding is that most of the learning is done on the job so to speak, so we would encourage you to explore further whether there is a way to enable you to release staff to attend any necessary training.
Q: Another Trust in the region has a "day in your shoes" initiative whereby Senior Leaders spend a day shadowing staff across the Trust to get real exposure to the day to day working lives of staff. Is this something UHLG can consider?
A: Hospital Leadership teams are looking at many ways we can be visible and understand and support the services across our sites - happy to consider this and will discuss with the teams.
Q: What's been put in place for the festive meal vouchers for night staff and also bank staff being able to get hold of a voucher as substantial staff have the ward manager to get theirs from
A: Bank staff have been included in the voucher allocations. With reference to night staff, we will update soon on further on options for colleagues.
Q: Scouse School is a fantastic idea how about an Indian school or Philippines school for staff to learn about their culture
A: I believe that Scouse School and the Ethnic Minority Staff Network are exploring this currently. It is a great idea and something that we feel would teach others about different cultures.
Q: How about an international school for local staff to learn about diverse cultures and practices and festivals?
A: This is what the networks are currently looking at – it would be great if you wanted to get involved. Please email Sophie Favager or Charlotte Woodhall to connect into this work.
Q: Has the Kinder Life Programme been extended to LWH?
A: We are currently working with the OD leads at LWH to see how we can combine our current programmes.
Q: What IS happening with Kinder LUHFT programme? Lots of things seem to be linked to it but it doesn't seem to be going anywhere.
A: Following the creation of UHLG, we are currently developing how we work in these new arrangements across LUHFT and LWH. Whilst we navigate these changes and look at how we can share resources and explore a joint approach to building a kinder, compassionate and more inclusive culture across the Group, some of our programmes are taking a short pause in any further development. We will keep colleagues updated as work progresses in how we are combining our Organisational Development programmes across the Group.
However, there are still resources available to colleagues from what was created as part of the Kinder LUHFT programme Colleagues from across LUHFT reviewed how our values can be embedded into people processes such as recruitment, appraisals, and when we challenge poor and inappropriate behaviours. From this, working with strategic partners, A Kind Life, two toolkits were created and are available to people managers:
- Recruit for Values toolkit: This is available to all recruiting managers to access, involving a short training module and toolkit to use at interview
- Respectful Resolution Pathway toolkit: We have launched a pilot programme, pending publication of NHS England’s National Resolution Framework in early 2025, as this will inform our policy and process for resolution. The programme is a three-hour workshop on use of the toolkit, which is available to people managers who can share with their teams locally. Dates for sessions in 2025 have been advertised at People Manager’s Forum and through December’s POD meetings. Virtual sessions will also be launched and advertised in the new year as part of the pilot programme. Work has also been ongoing around building toward a supported resolution package for informal timely resolution, where a little help is needed by training 16 new mediators, 30 neutral resolution facilitators, and we will shortly offer a facilitation skills development session for colleagues.
Offers are regularly advertised at the People Manager’s Forum, discussed at our ACT network meetings and shared in internal communications, such as Liverpool News. If anyone would like further information, please contact organisational.
Q: Can the festive food voucher be used for breakfast?
A: Yes, you can use your voucher throughout the day.
Nursing
Q: Why is it that Aintree, out of the 3 hospitals, night staff have to do this the last few weeks: I've been on numerous wards and ward managers / day staff are expecting night staff to do a minimum number of washes before the day staff arrive on shift, i.e. W33 expect 3 washes per bay, so the night staff are expected to do 18 washes. W25 are expecting 10 to 15 washes across the ward and breakfast to be served to patients at 07:00. W17 still doing washes, W23 washes and breakfast. Frailty wash patients and sit them out, strip the bed and day staff make up the bed, so it forces the patient to stay in the chair. There are just a few more wards do similar washes as other wards.
A: Thank you for your question and raising your concern. We have spoken to the wards and there should be no set expectation in terms of mandated number of patient washes from night staff. Only patients who may require support to wash and change due to continence needs, or patients who are awake and wish to have support with hygiene, should be offered this by night staff during the last intentional round of a morning (6-7am). Other than this, patients shouldn’t be washed early. If you have any additional concerns, please contact your Ward Manager, Ward Matrons, or Assistant Director of Nursing.
Communications and branding
Q: Can I ask about the LUHFT name and branding? It seems to have disappeared in favour of UHLG across the board and on websites etc. Should everyone be talking about us working for UHLG now?
A: Yes, there is now an interim UHLG brand which is being used whilst we work through the new arrangements, and future plans of other organisations integrating into the Group. The LUHFT branding will be phased out. You can talk about working for UHLG or if you are site specific, the hospital that you work at - which is part of UHLG. More information on how we talk about ourselves and brand will be communicated in the future.
Q: The UHLG logo takes up so much space on presentations. Is there any way this can be changed so that UHL is on one line with Group underneath so it's less space consuming please?
A: There are branded PowerPoint templates on the Communications Hub which have smaller logos in the top right corner. If you have any queries please get in touch with the communications team.
Q: When will we get a new intranet?
A: Work is ongoing regarding the new intranet and will be communicated in the new year.
Car parking
Q: Will Liverpool City Council's plans to increase their car parking fees affect the costs for staff who use Paddington or are these agreed separately by the Trust?
A: We set the pricing for car parking, and we pay more to buy Paddington spaces than colleagues are charged to use it. As our rate with LCC is agreed in advance, there will not be an increase at this time.
Q: The Royal NCP was queued up the roof again for over an hour this week due to people continuing to turn right onto Prescot Street. Can nothing be done to prevent this and enforce the no right turn? This is the last thing staff need after a long day looking after patients.
A: We're looking at this in terms of enforcing that right turn, however a lot of what could be done is the Council’s responsibility. Some of this issue will be resolved once the demolition is complete as there will be three entry and exit points from the site, but we acknowledge there is still a problem now. We are equally aware of the issues at Aintree the last couple of weeks which have been related to road works. Those have now been stopped. However, the Estates team have been talking to the council regarding traffic light timings to improve leaving the site. These are issues associated with the main infrastructure around the hospital, rather than the hospital itself, but we'll continue to try and improve as best we can.
Q: I'm concerned about the amount of vehicle damage taking place in Aintree multi-story car park. Would it be possible to allocate staff only parking areas at Aintree along with more CCTV?
A: We will ask the Estates team to look at whether we've had more reported vehicle damage. There has been improvements in the CCTV generally in the car park but we will take this query away and come back to answer.
Q: There is a real problem with cars being parked on the double yellow lines opposite the Linda McCartney Centre, causing problems on the access road to the Royal, and also blocking pavement access. Yesterday I had to walk on the road when leaving work as the pavements were inaccessible due to parked cars. The other day a car parked on the pavement blocking the bus shelter for the staff bus, with barely any room for pedestrians. It seems to be worsening every week. Can something be done about this?
A: A new traffic enforcement team is being recruited and this will ease some of the issues both with staff parking in visitor bays and with illegal parking.
Q: Any chance The Estates parking team can link with Liverpool City council to look at the entry and exit of Paddington car park, Elm Grove? There is plenty of space to make the road one lane in and a two lane left and right turn on the junction with Smithdown Lane, clear road markings and signage will help again this week on a couple of occasions it has taken over 30 minutes to exit due to the traffic jam turning right?
A: We acknowledge there are issues with getting out of Paddington car park. As this isn’t a car park that we own, we will ask the question to the Council.
Q: Is it possible to have NCP monitored? A lot of people park over two spaces meaning there is less available.
A: The NCP car park is not owned by us and unfortunately, we are unable to have a constant monitoring presence in the car park, but we do try and police wherever possible. The new traffic enforcement officers will include the NCP in their visits to site and issue staff with notices for inappropriate parking.
Q: Can lighting at the back of Aintree be looked into? Particularly around the car parks by Woodlands, especially across the winter period, it's hard to navigate when crossing roads etc.
A: Lighting in this area has been renewed following the works to the additional car park, which resulted in some disruption.
This Staff Brief session was a special on the creation of NHS University Hospitals of Liverpool Group.
You can find the Q&A from this session on the dedicated UHLG FAQs page.
Q: Access to Royal site if using public transport is very poor. Buses that drop patients off on Prescott St leaves patients with a very difficult walk especially if you have mobility/disability issues. Then once you arrive at the site you end up with a confusing situation of gaining access and trying to find were to go, which once you do, leaves you with one outside lift or a set of stairs to walk down. I have recently been stopped so many times whilst walking in or out of work by patients coming in for appointments or relatives visiting complaining about the access from that side being so poor. I’ve even found people wanting to get to the Clatterbridge site stuck and confused on the Prescot St side of the building with same issue trying to navigate their way to it. Are there any plans to improve or change this?
A: In response to access issues. The new plan which is currently being drawn up with Liverpool City Council Planning and LUHFT will address the issue across to the new hospital from Prescot St. There was an interim position for a number of years until the old hospital was demolished and new access built so the teams have put in place agreements on bus routes along West Derby St, more bus stops higher up Prescot St already in place and also initiatives such as the pick-up bus from Q-Park.
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Q: Hi, the entrance to Axess Sexual Health via the Linda McCartney Centre stairs is really not very nice. There is a pile of rubbish and equipment being stored at the bottom of the stairs right next to the fire escape (I've reported this twice to the fire team over the last six months but no change). The stairs are cleaned infrequently and are often dirty or have rubbish on them including used plasters/ cotton wool etc. If you look out of the window on the way up the stairs, there is a load of rubbish outside between the LMC and the Education Centre corridor. It looks terrible and gives a really poor impression to a marginalised and stigmatised group of patients about the value we place on them. Maybe someone from management could pop over and have a look please. Thank you.
A: Thanks for this. I'll ask the Royal team to come over and resolve. James.
A: With reference to the question on access to Linda Mc, the Trust improved access to the frontage within the last 12 months investing in staff bus drop off, accessible level access and delivering 16 new spaces for disabled and patient parking. The note on the stairs is well noted and we will investigate immediately this issue and feedback.
Q: I echo the comments re: axess and LMC. The lifts in the LMC building are also very poorly maintained, old/worn and frequently break down. axess had to redirect patients with accessibility needs a few weeks back because both lifts were out of order.
A: Hello, thanks for your feedback. This has been noted and will be looked into.
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Q: Regarding the Linda McCartney Centre comments above, the lifts are also very dirty and don't seem to get cleaned, and the area directly outside the entrance doors does not seem to be cleaned - cigarette ends on the floor then being walked into the entrance
A: Hello, thank you for your feedback. This has been noted by the team and will be looked into.
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Q: Regarding the staff car park. Can the Left Turn only sign be made bigger. It can take ages to get out because of people turning right, this causes a queue and can then get gridlocked. if people can’t see the Left turn arrow they should not be driving.
A: Hello, please email travel
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Q: I hate to be the person to mention parking, but when are delivery vans/vehicles going to be stopped from parking in disabled spaces?
A: Hello, please flag this to the travel team on travel
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Q: Why does the car parking ticket machine outside the Linda Mc get a nice cosy shelter from the inclement weather but staff waiting for the cross-site buses do not?
A: We have looked into this and we hope to incorporate when we improve the Education and Training building entrance and cycle storage in the coming months. in the meantime there is a significant canopy outside Linda Mc so there is at least some cover from the elements.
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Q: I have an ask of staff. In the last two weeks I have seen two near misses on the pedestrian crossing at the Royal site by the staff carpark where members of the public have been crossing the road at the crossing and staff have not stopped and nearly knocked the individual down. I know they were staff driving as both went into the staff carpark. I couldn't get number plates. The ask is that people are just aware of people crossing and be considerate!
A: Agree – thank you for raising. James.
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Q: There are a lack of appointments across the system for people to donate blood and where there are appointments available, they're within standard working hours, meaning it is tricky for those who want to donate to do so. Is it possible for blood donation day(s) to be delivered on each of the three hospital sites by NHS BT?
A: Thanks for raising such an important issue. We will look into the possibility and provide any updates through the normal communication routes. In the meantime, you can find the venues already in place in the local area by using the following NHS Blood website.
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Q: Whilst understanding the need for vacancy controls – the pressure that vacant posts puts on staff covering the work (as well as doing their own) could be costly from a staff wellbeing perspective. Can the process be sped up at all?
A: We are monitoring staff wellbeing through the quality impact assessment process which assesses the risk of holding vacancies. We should be reviewing workloads and prioritising work where possible to prevent additional pressures on those staff in post.
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Q: On vacancy and recruitment controls process - a lot of the holdup is above Divisional level, these delays for critical posts i.e. doctors are creating increased locum spend as gaps have to be filled. This issue has been flagged for escalation at Divisional level across a number of specialties.
A: Thank you – We will share your feedback and examples with Exec MD's and HLTs, we would encourage you to speak with your HLT members also. We are continuously reviewing the process as this matures to reduce any delays.
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Q: Financial sustainability: are we doing enough to move appropriate activities from theatres to outpatients where costs are lower and patient experience better?
A: Great question, we are about to do a review of this as it looks like there is significant opportunity and is better for patients.
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Q: Site based decisions by HLTs are not consistent, decisions at one site are beneficial when another site is left fighting for vital requirements. Decisions around doctor recruitment at Royal has seen an increase in their rota cover whilst Aintree has been left with gaps and increased locum spend, this is a huge implication for the Trust but no clear overarching decision is being made to benefit all patients at every site.
A: Have you raised this at the site with the HLT or division and if so, could you let me know the response? Thanks, James.
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Q: There is a lot of focus throughout this presentation on 'site-based approach'. Is there acknowledgement that the site-based approach isn't working very well for cross site support services that sit under a single site HLT
A: Yes – we are looking at this. We often use 'site' to describe the management arrangement rather than a physical location too. We started with the current configuration with just LUHFT but as things get larger there is an opportunity to look at 'networked' services being different.
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Q: The stopping/restrictions of overtime/bank hours is putting a demand on staff that are already working more hours for no extra pay.
A: We don't want people working additional hours for no extra pay. We need to review the demands on staff and move / stop work if it is unmanageable within existing hours. Unfortunately our pay position prevents us continuing this type of payment.
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Q: Will the Trust be doing Flu and COVID jabs?
A: There is a seven-day intensive plan that is due to commence for both COVID and Flu, for all staff group on 7th October – Please look out for trust comms for details.
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Q: Just to review one of the replies above – ‘We should be reviewing workloads and prioritising work where possible to prevent additional pressures on those staff in post.' These conversations are taking place but you can only prioritise for so long without missing something, patient experience will be effected by these constraints.
A: Many thanks for this – you make a really important point and it is one of the aspects that we look at in the QIA (Quality Impact Assessment) process to see what the longer-term impact has been when we make changes to our services.
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Q: It’s great to hear about the 'valuing patient time' initiative on inpatients. Will this initiative be launched in outpatient pathways? I worry we don't always value patients time across certain complex outpatient pathways with patients being asked to attend multiple appointments across three sites.
A: Great suggestion - suspect this will be a big cross organisation issue too. Will speak to Beth about this. Thanks, James.
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Q: Can we have an update on uniforms. We have ordered CNS uniforms in February that we still haven't received - these have been chased, new staff are buying their own uniforms or are wearing the wrong uniforms. Any information will be appreciated.
A: Thanks for this. There has been a problem with the supplier and the timeliness of fulfilling orders. It isn't satisfactory. I am sorry that this has happened and know that it causes challenges to staff. We have been in negotiation with the supplier and believe that there is now a way forward that will see a more efficient and timely service. It's still not totally 'fixed' but we should start to see improvements.
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Q: Why do we have to offer incentives and prizes to complete your staff survey? It should be mandatory, why not flip it on its head don't complete survey, don't get paid.
A: Many thanks for this – participation of the survey isn't mandatory and is anonymous so it would be difficult to monitor who does fill in the survey and those that don't.
A: The survey is intended to provide us with a snap shot of how people are feeling and having people respond voluntarily is important to this. Stopping pay I'm sure would not be supported by the majority of staff and most definitely not supported by our Trade Union partners.
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Q: Free tea and coffee? not seen any of this in Wavertree?
A: We have distributed Tea and coffee to all offsite locations, community teams – Please email me with your specific location within Wavertree and we can check where it was delivered and when the next drop will be so you don't get missed as a team – Pip Gaskell.
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Q: Could the offers/discounts be publicised on the intranet or via email as well as the LUHFT app?
A: Thanks for your feedback – We will look at options for this.
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Q: That’s great to hear that there are kitchens at the trust, I thought there was none. Going by the amount of staff that use the patient waiting area on the lower ground floor at St Pauls through the night for eating and sleeping. Is it possible that the Chief Nurse can send a communication email explaining that is not to be used.
A: Many thanks – we will look at how we can reinforce the support and environments that staff can use for their breaks so that they are in appropriate areas and are also safe.
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Q: Launching the staff survey at the same time as putting a hold on vacancies/overtime?? Leaving the staff left behind to pick up the extra work? Not the best timing to be asking staff "How are we doing?" is it??
A: The staff survey is nationally driven and the timing is fixed I'm afraid. It is just as important for us to understand how people are feeling during difficult times as in better times, so please complete it if you can and tell us how you are feeling.
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Q: Are there plans for any green space for staff at the Royal site? I think sufficient outdoor green space would help to boost staff morale, especially in the summer time.
A: Our long-term plans for the Royal site is to increase the size of green space given the benefits this provides to wellbeing. We are working with partners on future arrangements and as soon as we have proposals ready, we will share with colleagues. We have a great Clinical Sustainability Group within the Trust which provides a forum to help us with these issues and if you want more details, contact me directly.
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Q: Are there any plans for directors to "walk around" corporate departments and listen to staff? Morale is pretty low at the moment and we never see Trust leaders visiting. Messages to day suggest more challenges coming.
A: I think that is great idea and would welcome an invite to any corporate team to listen to how people are feeling. I will raise at Execs as to how we plan this in.
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Q: Do you foresee a review required within the next few years once org charts have stabilised to make efficiencies in people numbers across all parts both clinical and corporate services.
A: Inevitably there will be natural adjustments as teams come together in corporate teams and we will look to align functions over time, which may result in a change in people numbers. In terms of clinical teams, again, natural efficiencies may occur, and we will need to reconfigure some services as we develop the group model.
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Q: Are there are plans to physically relocate the Women’s to the Royal site? I believe this was mooted before the delays to the construction of the Royal. I’ve heard very preliminary suggestions to use the Women’s building as an outpatients
A: There are no plans as we need to do a clinical design and public consultation but we do know from previous consultations and the clinical evidence that higher risk Women’s services need to be located next to crit care and other acute services. This doesn’t mean it could only be the royal though. There are no plans about the Women’s building but we have committed to not close it and make sure it is still a hub for Women’s and NHS services whatever the outcome of the design and consultation. (James White (Staffside Secretary)
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Q: Is the long-term plan to physically centralise all services on one site? It makes sense to me safety wise that LWH/LHCH/Walton are centralised physically onto one site with everything under the one roof, ran by one Trust.
A: There aren't any plans yet but you can see the benefits of something like that, however, the financial ask of something like that in a city that’s had three new hospitals in the last decade or so may be a challenge. James.
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Q: Is there a timeline of the merge for corporate services deliverables?
A: Not yet, although this is being considered. Some corporate teams are starting to introduce joint posts where this is sensible to do so, including some digital posts, but we need to develop a planned approach to bringing corporate teams together which will be developed with those corporate teams.
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Q: The "My Documents" on your desktop still doesn't have all the Trust policies on it. It is extremely difficult to locate policies.
A: Hello, please email Helen.
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Q: Should the Trust be using Twitter/X as a communication channel? There's a lot of negativity on there. Does it match our values? Can we look at alternatives?
A: Hello, please email your concerns to the Communications Inbox (communications
Q: Hi, can something be done about the cleanliness of the Linda Mc Centre offices. There are routinely over flowing bins and/or piles of bin bags full of waste sitting in the corridor for days before being cleared. Appreciate there has been industrial action in E&F services but it's not acceptable to expect colleagues to work in this kind of environment.
A: During the industrial action we have moved cleaning resource from low-risk areas to supplement the high-risk areas, this will revert to business-as-usual next week. In the meantime, I will ask Judith to pop over. Thanks, Alison.
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Q: Please could Estates look at adding a bus shelter outside Linda Mc?
A: We have looked into this and we hope to incorporate when we improve the Education and Training building entrance and cycle storage in the coming months. in the meantime there is a significant canopy outside Linda Mc so there is at least some cover from the elements.
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Q: Hi Greg, re the Wi-Fi black spots, will all parts of the Royal site be looked at as well as Aintree and BGH? I seem to have issues with Wi-Fi in Linda Mc too. Thanks
A: Hi, yes, all areas are being looked at. Wi-Fi review started in August, so results aren't available yet.
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Q: Is the Linda McCartney Centre going to be retained on the estate? I'm hearing there are plans to eventually demolish it, apparently? I always thought it was going to be kept alongside the new building.
A: It will not be demolished in the current phase of demolition however as the site is redeveloped there is the potential for the relocation of some of the services elsewhere such as the Proposed Uni of Liv Academic Health Sciences Campus and also the possibility of the need to redevelop the plot as part of the main Hospital building.
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Q: The lifts in the Linda Mc building are very old and break down quite often. There's also graffiti in them. It doesn't give a great image for patients who attend and use these for the axess clinic on 3rd floor. Is there any chance that these could at least be refurbished or replaced so that they're up to speed with the main building?
A: Thanks, they are on a list of ongoing upgrades dependent on reliability and this year we are replacing the two in Dental hospital so these will get further attention at an appropriate point but we will look into removing any graffiti and tidy them up.
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Q: Any chance of a shelter at Aintree for the staff bus when it rains?
A: We are looking into this as well as there isn't much shelter in the area outside Aintree Lodge.
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Q: IT review - we have areas that were missed out and not scoped as part of levelling up review. We've raised this and been advised it should be picked up by normal procurement process and be funded locally in care group. Who do we raise this with?
A: Can you send me an email with details? I'll pick it up for you.
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Q: When can we get premium MS Teams licences to enable AI note taking. This will absolutely increase productivity. There is too much time spent typing minutes and actions when this can be done digitally.
A: Existing Teams setup does have transcription enabled, for the AI driven note taking there are other considerations on data security.
A: Existing Teams setup does have transcription enabled, for the AI driven note taking there are other considerations on data security. If you could send me your details, I'll arrange for someone to get in touch for more details.
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Q: Are we likely to see redundancies as we move into the group model with LWH?
A: Where there are opportunities to bring corporate teams together, we will look at sharing posts and combining teams where there is opportunity to do so. There is no intention to make redundancies at this point in time.
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Q: When does the next phase of workforce change due to start?
A: The workforce change phase 2 is currently being scoped and Hospital Leadership teams are expected to confirm the areas in scope during September. Consultation with Trade Unions will then take place as per the Trust Change policy.
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Q: Will we be adopting the national NHS uniform as a trust? I feel my maroon-coloured uniform doesn't reflect me as a nurse.
A: Hi – we will, at some point adopt the national uniform. However, we want to see how it works in other organisations and if there are any changes once it is more widely used. it won't be introduced here for at least the next year.
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Q: Just to clarify, does "October salaries" mean our end of September pay or end of October pay please? Thank you
A: It will be end of October salary.
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Q: If you are on 8a grade or above and should have moved onto an incremental pay scale, will this be backdated also to the 2-year mark?
A: No, there is no backdated pay as the pay change is only effective from the notice of the new pay scales.
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Q: Will we receive the new wage before October, not the back pay but the new salary?
A: New wage and back pay both due in October.
Q: If you are 8a and have 3 years’ service already, will the back pay include the 2-year increment uplift from April 2024?
A: Yes, any uplifts will apply from 1st April 2024 – not before this date.
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Q: Long service awards - the current process does not promote positive recognition…staff have to know it is due and then fill in a form, then voucher is sent to home address. No Trust or local celebration/acknowledgement. Please can this be reviewed – staff feel it is made difficult in the hope is money will be saved.
A: Following engagement with staff on what people want from the Trust in terms of reward and recognition, it was suggested that we need to review long service awards to recognise service more regularly and more locally. This is a piece of work that the OD team are currently reviewing so we should expect to see some change to how we currently do this now.
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Q: Will we be taxed on the back pay?
A: Yes, you will be taxed as normal.
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Q: Has there been any more progress on some of the suggestions that came through from staff on the wider reward and recognition survey? It seems to have gone quiet since the free tea and coffee and gym discounts were announced but there was a lot more put forward.
A: There will be further updates soon yes, I will ask the OD team to ensure the next phase of the reward and recognition work is shared very soon with everyone.
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Q: When will we be able to order uniforms for new staff ?
A: You should order uniforms for new staff as you would normally do. I know that there's been a long delay in supply but we've tried to work with the supplier for a quicker response. Please order as you normally would.
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Q: I have just done 40yrs service, applied for the award and received the vouchers but I did not receive any Trust letter of recognition.
A: I'm sorry you didn't get your Trust letter. We will gladly rectify that as recognition of your 40 years’ service – well done as well, a great achievement :-) Please let us know who you are and we will organise that.
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Q: Please can we get the topics/agenda for Staff brief in advance? it would be useful to know if we need to attend or not
A: Hi – thanks for your message. We take on board your feedback and will certainly be aiming to do this for future sessions as appreciate it will be useful for staff. Thanks
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Q: Wills comms be circulated regarding new increment points so we can discuss with our line managers?
A: If you access the NHS Employers website, the information is clearly set out there. If you can't find that, then please reach out to my HR colleagues or Alison Terry or Tommy Hesketh to help you.
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Q: Would it be possible to have some up to date org charts for the various sites, at a divisional level such as ADN level and below?
A: Hi – we are working on updating org charts and will hopefully have these shared very soon.
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Q: Can the staff intranet be updated and customised for all sites? Most the links are dead and it's difficult to find policies.
A: Hi - we are currently working on developing a new extranet for the Trust. More details about this will be shared with staff as the project develops. For policies, colleagues should be able to find these on the new Document Management System: https://
Q: I have noticed ambulances coming out of the accident and emergency area (lights on with sirens) and then approximately 5 minutes later they drive down the opposite side of the road. Can we ask the council to cut the central reservation opposite, so that our ambulances can drive straight over towards edge lane?
A: In relation to the bluelight question Liverpool city council highways allowed a U turn to be put in at Low Hill / Kensington junction for ambulances and also allowed the installation of hatched crossing to assist ambulances in getting to the south of the city.
Q: In the Edwards building we noticed on Monday a fence been erected very close to the building with what is a narrow walkway, we do have members of staff who have disabilities with wheelchairs and a walker frame who work here and this “may” be a big problem for them accessing the ramp easily.
Why was no-one in Edwards Building communicated with before this fence went up.
A: Hello, thank you for your message. If you would like to email communications
Q: Further to the comment on the fence at the front of the Edwards Building and the walkway now being narrow, we always have an issue with EV scooters and bikes using the path between Clatterbridge and the Edwards as a rat-run, now with the walkway being narrow, accidents are likely to happen! Was a risk assessment done on this fence being so close to the building (as Edwards staff where not consulted beforehand) and if so, please supply in a comms bulletin and if not why?
A: Hello, thank you for your message. If you would like to email communications
Q: The Local Solutions site looks like a wasted building and car parking space, can it be explored about it being used, especially as there are plans to review the use of clinical and admin space on the Royal site?
A: if a property is available, when we are looking, the local agents will advise. Thanks Alison
Q: There is a building called Hafen House at Aintree use to be a stroke office couldn't that be put back into use for any departments
A: Any empty derelict buildings (on any of our sites) are monitored for potential investment opportunities - not all buildings are worthy of the investment - despite the exterior vision. Should a building be suitable for investment, this will be incorporated into the site development plans. Thanks Alison
Q: Please can the door to the canteen at AUH be rehung so it opens outwards against the wall?
A: I will log a job for it. Maintenance will look at the viability. Thanks Alison
Q: Please can we revisit where the charity collectors are placed in Aintree Lodge? Some days it's like running a gauntlet being asked to donate when getting lunch.
A: I will pick this one up! my team take the bookings and we are experiencing a high number of requests. We are working with Abi at LUHFT Charity to develop guidance too. thanks Alison
Q: Can we make it easier to contact main receptions at the sites to book rooms for events? Whenever I get put through to switchboard, they never know who has control of room / space bookings. On all sites – but mainly the Royal!
A: I know the Education Centre at the Royal can support with room bookings in there: educationcentreenquiries
Q: when I say room bookings, I mean booking like the foyer of the main reception rather than like room bookings for meetings. Whenever I contact education centre, I get passed on to someone else
A: Ah apologies - is it a space for stands? If so, it's Anita Nasser at Broadgreen, General Office at Aintree and communications
Q: Do you know when the Broadgreen parking is aligned with other sites please? So we can park there free? the number plate recognition has been in a while now.
Currently I pay £46.50 to park 2 days a week. Then when I need to go to Broadgreen, I pay £5 - £10, the bus is not always convenient. Thanks.
A: If you need cross site working, please contact the travel team and we can arrange this for you. There is still install work in progress, but we should be able to accommodate you. Thanks Alison.
Q: Disabled parking at Aintree, non-blue badge holders parked in bays by Blue bell house and old Fresenius centre leaving disabled staff who find it difficult to walk distances having to struggle, not enough security checks happening and staff refusing to pay fines so what's the solution?
A: I will escalate this to our security team to increase patrols and there is a review of car parking signage in place, which should also help. Thanks Alison.
Q: Dangerous parking at the back of Public Health Building with building works and giant crane machinery also there, why isn't parking closed to this area? It is a staff entrance and the only lift access to the three-storey building so should parking be disabled and Trust vehicles only? This would limit traffic going through, getting a bit worried that cars on double yellows etc are going to cause an accident
A: I will raise this with the project team and security again for a review. Thanks Alison.
Q: Disabled parking spaces by Linda Mc apparently have a 5-hr limit with people getting fined. Given A&E waiting times and this not being the "norm". Council don't have a time limit for parking in a disabled bay. Can this be clearly signed up for visitors. Unfair to fine people when this is not signed up
A: Yes, the signage is under development and we will make this clear for all of the changes in that area. Pay & display for all other parking will soon be implemented too. Thanks Alison.
Q: Car park RLH, Can we stop cars turning right , its delaying getting out the carpark
A: This has been raised at every staff brief. We have put controls in place, signage etc. Unfortunately, we now need to rely on staff and visitors to comply with the signage. Thanks Alison.
Q: Broadgreen parking on double yellow and pavements still a big issue, also parking at silly angles on a bend forcing traffic to wrong side of road and restricting their view. this is near queens drive road exit.
A: I will add this to the car parking and security team again. Thanks Alison.
Q: Carpark 1 at Aintree the rear of the ambulance station cars getting ticketed for parking on double yellow lines most are staff struggling to find parking either first thing in the morning or on the late shift can't the yellow lines be removed
A: As you are aware, similar to the public highway, double yellow lines are there for safety. In the absence of double yellow lines staff and visitors will park on pavements and block pathways meaning that staff and more importantly wheelchair users and drivers, will not be able to get past. ticketing will continue to prevent this. We would ask staff and visitors to comply with the parking markings as you would in public highway and be considerate of colleagues, patients and visitors. Thanks Alison.
Q: I see there is now a smoking shelter outside LMC building. Is this not a backwards step? I thought smokers had to go all the way out to Prescot Street, but now they are encouraged to smoke on site instead?
A: Hi, this is not a smoking shelter, this is a housing unit for the new parking pay & display machine, thanks Alison
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Q: Any update on us at the Royal site having an online form reporting route to report issues to estates (like Aintree have) as this is a better way like reporting IT issues, we have a record, can upload images of the issue and note progress. Was mentioned 1st in a team brief last year and there has been mention of one coming recently as well as a CEO update this week of a desktop icon for this, however checking it out there is no option for Royal, Edwards Building etc, still just a phone number. So, when will an online form reporting option come for Royal/Edwards etc?
A: This is what Paul is currently presenting on. The online tool for Royal and Broadgreen will follow, we are just working with Avrenim to add the online function, we will communicate this and the link on the desk top and life at LUHFT app will be automatically updated, thanks Alison.
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Q: When using the catering app yesterday it was noticed that not all the pizza options are on the app?
A: Thanks for the feedback. As mentioned by Paul, we can use feedback to make improvements and will look into this particular issue. P.S the pizzas are great! – Daniel Scheffer.
A: Most of our orders were for pizza so I will check if there were particular lines not available and for what reason.
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Q: The main doors at the Edwards Building, then to in heavy rain stop working, don’t know if it’s the sensors getting wet, which is why a cover over the doors would likely help. This has been reported to estates each time it rains. Earlier this month with the rains, I swiped to access the doors started to open then stopped resulting in me walking into them.
It is a safety risk now as the doors can be too heavy to push or pull open manually against the motor. Estates do come out but a wipe of the sensors then saying all ok, is not a permanent fix and likely we get charged by Avrenim for each call out, so not cost effective.
A: It isn't a cost to Avrenim so not charged; however, we are reviewing if we need to invest in a complete change to resolve and this will be considered along with other priority issues.
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Q: Is it possible to have a way to mention dietary requirements on the catering app?
A: We will note this, obviously it is all new and so far, our options are reduced, this will grow and so will our ability to add/change. I am sure dietary comments would be a beneficial addition. Please bear with us as we develop it further and thanks for the suggestion. Thanks, Alison.
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Q: Can you please ensure that the cafe at the Linda Mc is advertised along with all the other food outlets at the Royal - a lot of staff I've spoken to think that the cafe is no longer open. We need staff, patients and visitors to use it, or we lose it!
A: Noted – will do. Thanks, Alison(Can you please ensure that the cafe at the Linda Mc is advertised along with all the other food outlets at the Royal - a lot of staff I've spoken to think that the cafe is no longer open. We need staff, patients and visitors to use it, or we lose it!)
A: The Linda Mc Cafe is most frequently used by people in Linda Mc, Training and Education and CSSB we will promote in those areas.
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Q: In the Edwards building we have been told on numerous occasions since the start of demolition of Old Royal and Duncan Buildings, that there is no asbestos in the old Royal as its been removed. Now after an Edwards building staff member emailed estates and DSM, about blue tents/portable showers we can see, that there is asbestos and that is a remediation team. Again, its lack of communication and reliable information given to staff. We just need to be told up front what is happening to allay worry, should not be too hard to give us an upcoming monthly timeline of what’s happening at the site.
A: The asbestos is removed from the structure legally and officially under HSE guidance prior to the hard demolition of any floor. What you have seen with a tent outside Edwards Building is asbestos being removed from the basement tunnels which run across the site which we have not demolished yet and are a in fully enclosed concrete box 300mm thick concrete tunnel way below ground.
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Q: Can you advise when the air quality monitors will be installed in the Linda Mc, please?
A: Monitoring has been installed in several areas if you feel that you would like any other areas covered, please contact the Health and Safety team and the team will investigate
A: RE: air quality monitors in Linda Mc – Locations were agreed this week with H&S Team and Staff Reps in Linda Mc. These will now be ordered and in place prior to the next Phase of Demolition continuing with concrete / dust risk ( Main Ward Block )
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Q: Sorry, Heather we've not been informed where the air quality monitors are located at the Linda Mc.
A: Not installed yet, Locations were agreed this week with H&S Team and Staff Reps in Linda Mc . These will now be ordered and in place prior to the next Phase of Demolition continuing with concrete / dust risk ( Main Ward Block )
A: These will be installed in the next two weeks
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Q: Is it possible to get the fruit and veg stall back? That was an excellent resource for good quality fruit and veg.
A: I am afraid that there has been no change since the most recent update at Team Brief (10/05/2024) specifically relating to the fruit and veg stall. The earlier slides from Paul referenced the work being taken to develop healthy catering options across all sites – Daniel Scheffer.
A: We are considering asking the van operators to return and be located outside Linda Mc now we have upgraded the area.
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Q: Can Paul give us any updates on the Cancer Wellbeing Centre at the Royal please and when they will be given new location after being moved out of LMC for City Walk-in Centre?
A: Unfortunately, not much progress but we will find a solution and continue to explore options.
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Q: Is there a catering app on the Broadgreen site?
A: https://
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Q: Are there any updates on the parking situation at Aintree? Staff are circling from 9:30 onwards most mornings to find a space in the main car park by Aintree House area
A: The demolition of Eskdale that Paul presented before will help with this as it will be replaced by around 70 additional car parking spaces on the North Site (which is that end of the site) – thanks, Alison.
A: Works completed at the end of the summer.
Q: There's nowhere to upload supporting documents on ESR for flexible working
A: Thank you for the feedback. I will link in with the team leading this work to explore this and look at what options are available within ESR or to be held locally. Please email me at pip.
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Q: There are a lot of rumours surrounding a potential POD workforce change, is this true and when can we expect to see some information?
A: Details for the session in July have been sent to POD colleagues – if you don't have this in your diary, please speak to your manager and they can forward to you, alternatively if you have any questions ahead of this session, please contact me or your manager pip.
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Q: Smoking never ending quest to address this issue but this is the NHS so it would be good to see if this can be addressed. despite it being mentioned a number of times nothing is happening. Is it possible to educate both staff about the impact on patients from side stream smoke still present 15-20 minutes later, visitors and patients, start enforcement to move the smokers away from entry exit points. What is the impact on productivity how many smoking breaks can staff have out of their 30-minute lunch, are other staff allowed breaks for 10-15 minutes every hour or so? Complex but can be addressed...
A: Agree it’s a complex and difficult problem especially with patients and visitors. There certainly can be more responsibility taken by staff to comply with Trust and NHS rules with regard to no smoking. Security do try to request staff, in particular, to comply with no smoking however it is a difficult task.
Q: When will the shortlist for the staff awards be announced?
A: Judging is taking place over the next few weeks, looking over all the amazing nominations, so hopefully we'll have a shortlist by the end of July!
Q: Is there any chance that we could bring back the fruit and veg stall to the Royal. It was so useful and it difficult to get healthy fruit and veg during the working day.
A: We continue to review the options available for staff across all our sites, taking feedback into account and increase our healthy food options were we can.
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Q: Could the Trust review the uniform supplier please. I have staff in post without uniforms as there is three-month delay from order to delivery.
A: Hi – I am equally frustrated with the apparent lack of pace with the supply of uniforms. I think the supplier has been distracted with the launch of the national uniform and have not been as attentive as maybe they should have been. we are setting up a meeting with them to better understand what we can all do to improve this issue. There was a post on Staff Facebook about 'pooling' unused uniforms so that we can get people into appropriate clothing. This is a drop in the ocean, I know, but we will continue to look at different ways of working with the supplier.
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Q: The recent communications I have found to not be representative of the community we serve as a Trust in terms of pictures and posters. Could this be reviewed by the communication team to ensure we are being inclusive?
A: Hi, thank you for your message, this is being picked up already via our communications inbox and is being looked into.
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Q: Please could we have comms about the wellbeing days in advance so we can attend?
A: Yes, it is important all colleagues are aware these events are available to them. Any info we receive will be featured across our channels so do keep an eye out for future events! - Comms
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Q: Are there any freebies to celebrate nurses day and ODPs day as with previous years?
A: Hi - we took the feedback from last year really. We spent a lot of money on gifts for Nurses Day but mostly, they were not utilised very well. It's always a balance of spending the charitable money but not wasting it. There was the tombola's on each of the sites this tear but we're not providing 'gifts'. We have encouraged each team to celebrate locally and in a way in which they wish to. I know that's not the answer that people will want to hear but I think we need to spend our limited funds wisely.
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Q: when is Ferndale Lodge in Aintree planned to have some upgrade, please?
A: The condition of the older estate at AUH, including Ferndale Lodge is being considered as part of a wider site strategy.
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Q: Two weeks ago, the fire alarm went off in the main reception it was chaotic, patients were told to leave the building yet some were told to stay. Costa closed whilst other shops stayed open. The confusion was very concerning and unprofessional. Is the fire team going to work with areas to go over what we do in such circumstances
A: Yes, fire safety advisors conduct risk assessment fire safety audits, working with estates teams and local staff to ensure systems and process in place work efficiently. I will raise the comment with the team.
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Q: What is being done about the dust clouds from the demolition process at the old site? It is concerning that we are coming in every day inhaling it. Moreover, patients with significant health problems are also breathing it in as well as the general public.
A: The demolition contractor uses water to supress dust in accordance with industry best practice. Thanks for the feedback this is being kept under constant review.
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Q: I was disappointed that the trust put out a message that the building collapse was a controlled collapse when clearly with wasn't. It doesn't instil confidence in how the old Royal will be taken down. Can we have a future session so you can explain how this will happen to try to build confidence moving forward?
A: A review of this incident was undertaken Health and Safety Executive who were satisfied that the planned activity had been undertaken safely. Lessons learnt regarding communication of activity have been discussed with the contractor to provide advanced notice of future related activity.
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Q: Is it possible to have aircon put into the shared offices in the Linda Mc? Some people have one in singular offices while others have up to 10 with just a window.
A: Please escalate requests such as this through Divisional line management teams.
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Q: The heating at Linda mc has been raised repeatably at these briefings over the last few sessions - we have been advised this is being looked into however today we have been advised to raise this through divisional line management teams does this mean that previous requests have been ignored.
A: No, the request has not been ignored but does need engagement with Divisional teams.
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Q: Parking at the back of the Aintree site is very difficult if arriving after 8.30am. I changed my parking so that I was no longer paying the premium to park in the multi-storey, and I've had to park in there twice this month alone because I can't park anywhere else. I pay £15 a month for parking from my salary and have paid £11 extra on top of that. Is there any plan to increase the number of spaces across the site?
A: Yes, work at the front of the site and has seen a temporary loss of space. The demolition of Eskdale will create additional capacity in this area of the site.
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Q: Are there plans in place to try and discourage inappropriate parking? For two days in a row several cars have elected to park across two bays in the Aintree multi-storey. Not only is this limiting parking for staff, patients and visitors - it is also not in line with the Trust values. Can those users of the car park be given a warning notice on their vehicle and be banned for a short period via the ANPR? There does not need to be a financial penalty, only a short period of inconvenience that will hopefully stop people being selfish!
A: Security teams conduct regular patrols of the car parks to discourage inappropriate parking. When possible, they will try to resolve without applying Breach of Contract notices but do face some challenge.
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Q: Why are cars regularly parking on pavements with double yellow lines at Broadgreen, especially road going under link bridge were road is tighter than necessary for two-way traffic and is probably difficult for the staff bus, this is not the only road with bad parking coming in from the Queens Drive road in, they are everywhere on pavements reducing space for pedestrians.
A: The Trust has recently taken over management of car parking at the BGH site. This will allow us to implement positive management of the issues related to parking.
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Q: How do security colleagues discourage inappropriate parking on their patrols? Do they wait for the person to return to their vehicle or leave some correspondence on their vehicle?
A: The Trust encourages all staff and service users to park responsibly. Security teams patrol the site with high visibility to discourage those who park indiscriminately. There is clear signage in place regards parking on site and those who breech Trust policy may be subject to a Breach of Contract Notice.
Q: Many of my team are asking whether the Trust could provide some menopause friendly uniforms please. The current uniforms are made of thick cotton, have plastic lining on the pockets and are a poor fit for many being tight around the hips and abdominal area whilst being oversized on the shoulders. A single increase in size does not solve the issue with the oversize chest and arm problem.
I know of one Trust in the East Midlands that provide light weight breathable cotton uniforms for the menopause as well as those living with other conditions that are triggered by heat such as eczema.
Unison are also about to back a campaign regarding this.
With the summer fast approaching and wards where we have poor ventilation and no fans it is an additionally stressful time for those suffering.
A: We have a menopause support group which meet alternate months with a mix of education and teaching sessions and meno'pause' sessions. We are currently in discussions around uniforms and other environmental concerns for staff struggling with menopause as this often raised through the network and OH. We have developed a menopause toolkit menopause risk assessment which are currently being reviewed by the menopause network and will be released within the next couple of weeks. If anyone would like to talk more about the menopause or join the support group, please email the menopause ambassadors: Sam Holder (Health and wellbeing Lead) and Tracey Lowry (Equality and Diversity Lead)
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Q: Re menopause support, have the Trust considered offering medical appointments for staff to discuss menopause-related issues and HRT etc?
A: This sounds like a great idea, and we will ensure it is picked up as part of our H&WB plans
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Q: When are the LUHFT award categories going to be announced?
A: We will be giving more of an update later in the session but will be hopefully opening for nominations in the next week or so pending a few final details being confirmed. – Comms
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Q: In line with Pulse etc, could I ask if there are any specific plans for agreeing the flexible working policy across the Trust?
A: We approved the new policy at our Partnership forum last week, so this will be communicated out to managers and staff imminently.
Q: What are the trust plans for reducing DNA and multiple reschedules by patients, by reducing this we can reduce the wait times. Also, we have doctor but a quick review of some of the entries for my dept, some reschedules by patients are not acted on, patient then listed as a DNA, we could have filled that cancelled slot.
A: Thank you for raising this. This work will be progressing with digital colleagues through the Improvement Programmes.
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Q: can we have an update on the Admin Academy work at a future Staff Brief/
A: Of course, I will speak to comms and make sure this is scheduled at a future team brief
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Q: Is the title 'Admin Academy' misleading? It seems to be focused solely on patient facing admin / outpatients - there are hundreds of staff that don't fit in that box, yet there doesn't seem to be any additional training or an 'academy' for them that includes things like succession planning and development pathways.
A: It would be helpful to understand this in more detail. Could you please e-mail me beth.weston@liverpoolft.nhs.uk so we can explore and respond?
A: In terms of learning pathways for staff within the organisation, this link might be helpful: https://
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Q: Are there any plans for staff wellbeing sessions for mole / skin cancer checks?
A: We have arranged health and wellbeing days for this quarter for all sites and we are just waiting for confirmation from the dermatology team with regards to skins checks. Promotion of the dates will be within the next week. Thanks Sam (HWB Lead)
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Q: Has there been any increases an absence management since NMW has been increased and NHS wages haven't?
A: I haven't seen this directly, but we look at our data at site / divisional / department level so we could look at lower paid staff and see whether absence has increased over the last month
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Q: RE sickness policy: if a person has triggered stage 2 on the 1st of January 2023, if they have had no periods of sickness come 1st of January 2024 would the person then go onto stage 1?
A: If you let me know the detail behind this, I can point you in the right direction for detailed advice of your particular case.
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Q: I understand that some policies must be followed closely/completely. Where can I go to as a manager for advice where management discretion is permissible/to what extent? This would help me not only with regard to how I manage my team and how I am managed. Thank you.
A: I would seek the support of your HR Business partner in the first instance and discuss the implications of management discretion where this would be the right course of action. My aim is to create more flexible policies over time where management and TUs come together to manage in the best interests of the individual rather than apply blanket policy decision making.
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Q: The learning pathways are not focused on specific sections of staff, for instance, corporate teams and administrators, they are generic and not that useful to those looking at what could be next for them when they don't necessarily want to become a people manager.
A: Happy to have a conversation and find out what would help. If you want to either email me direct or go through learninganddevelopmentdepartment
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Q: You can have as many policies regarding staff wellbeing/sickness/flexible working etc , you mentioned a compassionate approach, what plans does LUHFT have to address managers who show no compassion towards their staff in this decision-making process?
A: We would hope that those managers that don't act with compassion can start to learn about being a compassionate manager through the programmes I shared. However, where there continues to be poor management practices and low levels of compassion, then we need to know where this is as we will want to explore this further.
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Q: Lots of people managers are also clinical, and subject to the same pressures as the colleagues they manage. Have the Trust considered reviewing job plans to ensure that people managers have space to manage effectively?
A: I think this is an excellent comment although realise the tension that being both clinical and managerial brings. Good people management takes time and should be given time do carry out. This needs raising at team meetings locally to ensure sufficient time for both,
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Q: not all managers follow the sickness/special leave etc policies. How can HR ensure that there is fairness across the Trust?
A: We will be sharing the new policy approach through the site leadership structures. It will be for the site leadership teams, working with their HR colleagues to ensure their managers are applying policies consistently and appropriately.
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Q: Could we have more guest speakers attend Staff Brief to discuss work across the Trust? The Culture Network & groups like that. It would be nice to hear from others, rather than the same Exec members every few months.
A: I agree, it would be nice to bring others into Staff Brief. As an Exec who regularly attends, I think it’s important too that we spend time listening to you directly which as Execs, we all value. thank you.
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Q: Does the Trust have an understanding of its administrative structure outside of clinical admin? Do we know how many PAs, administrators, corporate people etc across corporate departments there are across the Trust, the skill set available and what sort of skills and experience staff have or training that they may require outside of the generic learning pathways to look at their future in the Trust? What is the Trust planning to understand this set of staff and how best to maximise their skills and abilities so that they stay and progress within the Trust? What training and pathways are in place for these staff to progress without having to become a manager?
A: We are developing a new way of looking at our people demographics, using data in an intelligent way to cut our data. This will allow us to look at populations within our workforce, including administrative staff. This will start to enable us to plan for this staff group.
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Q: Does the LUHFT Heart Awards include an award for Admin staff? Last year there wasn't an award to recognise the amazing work being done behind the scene.
A: All staff are able to nominate/be nominated in the awards. Unfortunately, we can only have a certain number of categories so we can't cover awards for individual roles as there are so many areas of the Trust, however we have reviewed the categories this year and are making improvements to the criteria to ensure all staff have the opportunity to take part including admin, non-clinical and bank staff. If you have any other suggestions for how we can improve the awards, please email staffawards@liverpoolft.nhs.uk – Comms.
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Q: Is MARS being extended to accommodate the CIP 24/25?
A: We have applied to extend our MARs Scheme into Q1 of this year and at this point in time, I'm waiting to hear whether it has been accepted or not. We will communicate this out as soon as we know more.
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Q: Should the Trust be aspiring to pay at least the national living wage?
A: Pay rates are determined nationally by recommendations of the NHS Pay Review Body or negotiations between trade unions and the governments of the UK
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Q: As the trust has a growing number of contracts delivering community services the mandatory training programmes are very acute focused and not always fit for purpose for community staff in community environments. Is there someone to liaise with regarding this?
A: Yes please, if you could link in with Alison Stewart in the first instance, please in Education and Learning: Alison.
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Q: How do we contact Business HR, there doesn't appear to be a central email or pages on the Staff Hub noting who your Hr person is.
A: If you contact James.
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Q: When will the new Staff Intranet be reviewed for individual teams?
A: We hope to be ready to launch the intranet later in 2024. If you would like to get involved or provide any feedback/ideas, please email communications
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Q: There's lots of leadership training available that only offers softer skills. Is there any ambition to offer professional skills required by our managers and leaders?
A: Professional skills are offered to our clinical teams on a regular basis through CPD funding routes. We are also developing a suite of capabilities that must all people need to have through our improvement programme. Our culture and leadership programme is key to great leadership so that we can develop staff professionally and clinically. So, although perceived as a soft skill, it is very much at the centre of where we want to get to re people development.
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Q: Is there any update on a pay award for 2024/25?
A: Not yes, no sorry, we are awaiting the Pay Review body to present evidence to the government
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Q: Hi LUFHT, I'm newish to the trust and have been working across the 3 sites on the wards on nights can I ask why is it only the Aintree site that wake patients up as early as 04.30am to get them washed. Most of the time the staff are not asking the patients would they like to be washed. On a certain ward I was asked to give 8am medication when it come on weekly (6-7am) to help the day staff I refused wasn't going to risk my pin just to help the day staff?
A: Could you contact me directly please - david.
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Q: The Trust has been in the media a lot recently for cases of poor patient care/ experience. Is there any PR plan to support reputation as it feels they have been quite damaging and it’s disheartening when staff give it all but factors outside their control are affecting care.
A: We do a lot of work to share good news stories with the media (local, regional and national), celebrating the great work of our staff and positive patient experiences. Any teams with suggestions for good news stories can contact communications
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Q: Linda Mc car park looks like it will give us around 15-20 more spaces so great! Also, I hear that we now own Broadgreen multi storey so that must give us more control to help staff and visitors.
A: Thanks, we hope to improve the way we manage car parking at Broadgreen now it’s been brought in house. At the Royal there will be more Blue Badge spaces and additional short stay (NON staff) spaces for visitors to use
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Q: Is anyone going to address the horrendous parking in Broadgreen? No line markings are meaning cars are getting trapped in by other drivers.
A: Now we have brought SABA at Broadgreen in house we will be changing several elements, and this will include further investment in addition to the £200k spent last year
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Q: in regard to the new parking spaces by Linda Mc for blue badge holders, who will manage this area? I often hear comments from patient to say that there is no-one outside to ask where they can park, patients become quite distressed when they're running late for appointments because all the spaces are taken, and they don't know where to go.
A: Management of the car parking spaces at RLH site (and BGH site as we bring this on) will be managed by the car parking team as in Aintree. Once it is all complete, this will be easier to manage.
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Q: When is the Aintree Christmas Tree going to be taken down?
A: Unfortunately, due to high work load and a couple of cancellations due to high winds this hasn't happened however it is due to be taken down in the next couple of days weather allowing.
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Q: Saving money but while I'm on my break on nights I walk around the site Aintree and the amount of lights and computers that are left on overnight it's only a small thing but over time can amount to a big figure
A: We will be replacing more lights with low energy and adding more sensors to turn lights off automatically, unfortunately these aren't suitable in all areas or for areas where good lighting and security is a priority.
Q: I have sent 3 emails to the travel team regarding different parking issues since Jan but have yet to receive a reply to any of them. I understand they are experiencing a huge volume of emails but how long should we expect to wait?
A: The team have done really well in responding to the emails - there are only 6 in the inbox at the moment. Please email Michael.morgan@liverpoolft.nhs.uk and he will investigate this for you. Thanks, Alison.
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Q: Is it true that the Royal Liverpool Hospital Management team have the authority to grant car parking permits to senior members of staff in the NCP car park even when the car parking office are telling staff it is full.
A: Hi – no, when the changes were initially made there was a process where the management team reviewed individual appeals where staff did not have access to the car park and if this posed a significant clinical risk or there was an exceptional circumstance to be considered for the individual - i.e., on call access to site. This was a temporary measure while the formal car parking management group was established which estates lead with representation from HR and sites.
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Q: Why are bank staff that work regularly on Broadgreen not being allocated parking permits
A: To align car parking, the Trust is taking over Broadgreen car parking from 1 April. This will link the systems and improve access. We will communicate the changes as we make them, and bank access will be one of them. Thanks, Alison.
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Q: The car park at Innovation Park is awful, full of pot holes, cars are being damaged just by driving in. Can the landlord of the carpark be approached to sort this out?
A: Yes, we will do this for you. Thanks for raising, Alison.
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Q: A question which we come up against all the time in cancer services is around the inequity around patient parking across sites. Our cancer patients don’t pay for appointments at Aintree but do have to pay if they have to come to the Royal, is this something that can be looked at now we are one trust? It is a really for us and outpatients.
A: Hi, I assume you mean free parking for patients receiving treatment for cancer? If ok, will email you separately to explain. Thanks, Alison.
A: In the long term (2026) we will create additional parking on the Royal site that will also be available for patients, in the meantime we will be designating some limited parking on Mount Vernon Street as NON staff parking and pay on foot stations will have a facility to enable certain patient groups to park for free.
Q: Although I pay at the Royal. I still need to pay if I park at Broadgreen, which is nearly £10 for a day. When will we be able to park at Broadgreen/or if?
A: Hopefully very soon, we will be addressing the cross-site parking issues as we take on management of the Broadgreen site car parks from next week! We will communicate this. Thanks, Alison.
A: There will be a new system that will apply to cross site workers on all sites, and we will be contacting cross site workers in the next few weeks, if you haven't already told us please email the Travel Team at travel
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Q: Why is the big area behind Windsor clinic now cut off? There's tons of space to park when we really need it.
A: The rear of Windsor is still classed as a construction area, it is not adequately covered, lit, security etc to open for general car parking. The site is due for long term development as part of the North site plans. In the same area, the old Nursing Home is being demolished. this will lead to around 70 additional spaces, which is good. Thanks, Alison.
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Q: Glad to hear that parking will be brought in-house. Will this result in a further price reduction?
A: The current prices are costed to maintain the current income which is still significantly subsidised by the Trust. Bringing SABA in house benefit due to avoiding duplicate permits, etc which will help this will help in a number of administrative ways and improve services. However, we will have spent circa £6 million pounds to end the SABA contract which will be met by the Trust.
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Q: Still no feedback on split-site parking, two to three full days each site. Can staff have confirmation that they have joint site access at the Royal and Aintree. Shuttle bus will take 1+ hr out of each working day so not viable.
A: Cross-site working is available between Aintree and RLH if you have registered
Q: Is there a move to allow work from home two days per week to alleviate site pressures (e.g., accommodation, parking)?
A: The agile working policy is currently being reviewed and will enable teams to think innovatively about how and where work is done. If this helps with other site pressures, then I would encourage discussion at sites / departments to enable this to happen.
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Q: Why are we seeing so many senior appointments when Deloitte are reviewing positions, vacancies are on hold, workforce changes pending.... It's poor for morale.
A: All senior appointments that are made have been through a risk assessment process and are prioritised where they are required to support our improvement programmes. This can seem unfair when others are going through a workforce change process, but all posts are risk assessed before they are released. We are currently reviewing the vacancy control mechanisms as we go into 2024/25 to ensure that vacancies are scrutinised at a site level and that those posts that we need to recruit to are recruited to.
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Q: Is it likely that we will merge with LWH in the future?
A: It’s one possibility but mergers don't resolve problems in of themselves so we want to focus on how we can connect the right parts of both organisations to improve safety before we consider that. – James.
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Q: Would merging with the women's cause further financial difficulties for the Trust?
A: Yes probably, as the women’s has large financial issues due to poor tariff income and insurance premiums. We wouldn't do anything that worsens the LUHFT position.
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Q: For future staff briefs, could we have the agenda shared in advance? It would be useful to know whether or not the items being presented are relevant to us and whether to attend or not.
A: The invites are circulated for the year ahead, but it's something we can look in to.
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Q: It’s been incredibly poor for morale that there are recruitment freezes and workforce changes with down banding across the Trust; yet some departments are recruiting highly banded roles that are new to establishment. It is not only unfair but demonstrates the lack of value held to certain roles and teams over others.
A: If you can send me some examples of this that would be helpful. Recruitment freezes will not continue, they have been a one-off solution james.
Q: Is there an opportunity to improve IT services? Feel like every day there is an issue IT-wise, especially PACs going down constantly!
A: We received a report to execs on PACS yesterday and I know our new CIO has plans to improve the reliability of some of these supplier issues.
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Q: Hi James, we run monthly training sessions for new volunteers and refreshers for existing volunteers in both the Aintree & Royal lecture theatres. Over recent months we have had repeated problems with the IT equipment which we are told will be fixed but then we face the same problem again. This leads to delayed sessions and having to move rooms. This can be the first experience volunteers have of our organisation which can be frustrating and embarrassing. Can this be looked at?
A: Yes of course – will raise this for you.
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Q: Why are we hiring Directors consistently but holding back vacancies in the shop floor? It really sends the wrong message to the staff when we prioritise those jobs over the jobs that are front line for improving safety and care.
A: Can you send me some examples please james.
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Q: How are we supporting Super MaDE today
A: Hi – we have teams across all sites, operational and clinical supporting the MADE events and meeting with system partners throughout each day this week to expedite patients discharge plans wherever possible.
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Q: There was mention of considering patients' psychological needs - access to psychology in the Trust is patchy, are there plans to improve that?
A: Absolutely – we're using a strengths-based approach with the wider determinants of health (including mental health needs) to inform the changes we're proposing.
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Q: Is there any Easter treats this year? I love my Chocolate lol.
A: We're not planning anything corporately, but we have joined forces with Work perks which will provide free treats for staff across the year, and we should be receiving our first batch of free goodies very soon, so please watch out for that on the Facebook site and Staff App.
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Q: What is the projected savings for the trust for 24/25 and is this going to impact the pay line for things such as redundancies/workforce changes (down banding of grades).
A: We are still working through this as NHS England don't believe our current proposals are going far enough (although we do). It will be a big number. I don't see redundancies being something we would do. The focus is much more on efficiency and resolving urgent care pressures. – James
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Q: Is Microsoft Co-pilot going to be released into the Trust? Obvious efficiency gains if we do.
A: We will be exploring this technology and work with the sites to identify suitable use causes, where Artificial Intelligence and Automation technologies support efficiencies. We have established digital governance to review and approve opportunities.
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Q: I want to enquire about why the clean utility's in some wards have all been 'revamped'. By this I mean re painted and refitted with new storage units . We are only in this hospital less than two years and this was all new then , the hospital is meant to be reducing cost but some wards have been fitted with new storage cupboards etc . Can anyone justify the reason behind it ? I've asked various management and pharmacy but nobody can provide me with the rational for this.
A: The hospital was designed to have centralised pharmacy storage on each floor however this has been revisited and as a result additional drugs and medicines storage is required on each ward to improve medicines management and security.
Q: What are the lessons learnt on the car parking implementation? I think considering there has been a ‘well led’ focus recently, this is an example of really poor leadership and refusal of accountability.
A: We are still embedding the system and continue to review, taking staff feedback and experience into account. This will be reviewed by the Trust car parking group. This has not yet commenced. Thanks, Alison.
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Q: Why were salary deductions requested before many parking permit applications had been processed? This led to staff paying the daily rate (nearly £10 a day in Broadgreen) or paying for public transport, to just then also have their salaries deducted before being able to access the car park. (This is not a cross-site working issue).Why was there no Trust Comms acknowledging – and apologising for - staff had money taken off them when they shouldn’t have?
A: If you have had deductions taken and not been able to access our parking facilities, please email the Travel Team. We are not aware of many people that this has happened to. Thanks, Alison.
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Q: It was said in Trust Comms that Senior Management were speaking to people affected by car parking issues to discuss their concerns, but when I raised my concerns, I was ignored – please advise how many people were approached for feedback to take on their concerns? Is it only staff at RLH that matter or staff that work cross-site? Is it acceptable that staff should have money taken from staff and then ignored? Why are staff being largely ignored when pleading for a resolution and a refund for salary deductions that should never have been processed?
A: We are still embedding the system and continue to review, taking staff feedback and experience into account and making changes as we go. Ongoing car parking will be reviewed by the Trust car parking group. – Alison.
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Q: Can anything be done to improve the flow of traffic out of Paddington car park? Yesterday it took over 30 minutes to get out from from 6th floor when I got to my car about 5.15pm. The sequencing of the traffic lights around the area seem to cause queuing and gridlock at peak times - surely this is something the Council can look at. Can LUHFT influence them in any way?
A: Unfortunately, we cannot influence the council, however, we do raise general traffic concerns around our sites to Liverpool City Council and will include this.
Q: Why has there been no forthcoming acknowledgement and apology from our Trust leadership for the impact on staff of the issues with the parking changes, not just financially. How do I make an official, formal complaint against the Trust in relation to the above?
A: Please email Travel in the first instance and we will pick it up from there. Thanks, Alison
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Q: I have to work on two sites, RLH and AUH, and have applied for cross site parking access but haven't heard anything since I applied for cross site access. I work 2 days each week on each site 9-5. When will this be resolved please?
A: We will communicate this again, the only site we have challenges is Broadgreen. We will refresh the guidance on the intranet pages with further advice. Thanks, Alison.
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Q: We as a team are having lots of issues with cross site parking and out of hours parking. We had a member of staff have to attend site at 3am and couldn't access the car park. The member of staff also could not access the CSSB on their own securely as they couldn't use the car park entrance and had to use the entrance on the street. This has been escalated and escalated to managers but no reply. How do we get this resolved? All as we are told is you can't park on other sites but to do our job both in hours and out of hours, we have to access other sites and we put it on our forms.
A: We think we have since addressed this one. If not, please contact Craig Jones. Thanks, Alison.
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Q: Any timescale for resolving cross site working permits please ?
A: We will communicate this again, the only site we have challenges is Broadgreen. We will refresh the guidance on the intranet pages with further advice. Thanks, Alison.
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Q: May I suggest an update on Car Parking before opening questions to hopefully reduce so many questions on this topic?
A: We also have FAQs and will look to make sure this is easily accessible. I would encourage staff to read this first too. We will update re cross site working as the theme today. Thanks, Alison.
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Q: We absolutely need a separate staff brief on car parking issues, it's obviously causing a lot of stress and anxiety throughout the workforce.
A: We also have FAQs and will look to make sure this is easily accessible. I would encourage staff to read this first too. We will update re cross site working as the theme today. Thanks, Alison.
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Q: How do I cancel my parking place at Paddington? It is too far for me to walk to my place of work due to mobility issues, I have only used it once since it started, so someone more needy can have it. I am paying privately which cost considerably more, but better for my health.
A: Please email travel
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Q: A number of responses advise to access information from the intranet however the search feature does not appear to return results and unless you are aware of the actual page link it is very difficult to find information - is there a way of searching the intranet that I am not aware of?
A: We are aware of issues with the existing sites, unfortunately we cannot change this, but a new intranet is on the way and will be launched in late 2024. We are currently inviting staff to share their feedback and ideas with us of what you would like to see. If you'd like to take part, please email communications
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Q: Please can you put the link for the Staff Brief feedback form in the chat?
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Q: Please could we look at education and development for our fantastic admin and clerical staff such as MS 365 training and support- other trusts offer ECDL and advanced EDCL.
A: If whoever posted this would like to contact me, I'm happy to discuss what is required and how we might be able to facilitate this. Email at: mandee.
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Q: Sadly, there have been a number of security issues on sites recently. What steps are being taken to ensure the safety of both patients and staff. which as a Trust must be our primary concern.
A: We have invested in additional CCTV, maintain a high-profile presence and good relationships with local police. Thanks, Alison.
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Q: Most of the information on this brief is already out there - when are we going to hear about the future plans and developments. What's happening with ICB's? I realise the general election will hold us back a bit, but we must have plans for the next 6 months at least.
A: We are currently working on our integrated delivery plan for 24/25, national guidance has not been published as of yet however we need to press on and develop what we know we need to deliver. We work with the ICB to understand what is required of us but recognise this year it is more challenging due to it being an election year.
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Q: Can you get MARS if you are on redeployment register
A: Yes, you can - you will need to speak to your line manager so a MARS application can be considered for your individual circumstance.
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Q: Great that the Trust has undertaken the reward and recognition survey lately, a really good way of making staff feel involved and valued - do you know when the results and proposed plans will be announced?
A: We will check and come back to you but expect to have some initial outputs very soon. 😊
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Q: Morale and wellbeing feels like the worst it’s ever been, ever during covid. Is there recognition of this and a plan for improvements?
A: I'm sorry you feel like this - staff morale and wellbeing are really important to us, and the recent reward and recognition survey was aimed at understanding what our staff feel is important to them and what would be appreciated by teams to improve morale/wellbeing. We will be looking at the results of this to inform future plans to support our staff.
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Q: Don't forget it's international women's day on Friday 8th March - Does the Trust have plans to celebrate their largely female workforce?
A: Yes, please keep an eye in the Trust comms, and if you have any ideas for what you'd like to see please contact Tracey Lowry and Sophie Favager.
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Q: I don't know anything about the workforce changes that a few people have mentioned, will this be circulated to all staff? Thanks.
A: Although I am not HR, i understand the workforce change referred to is for a specific cohort of staff. I would assume if you haven't heard or involved in a consultation process, it does not affect you. For all WfC, those staff affected are involved and consulted. Thanks, Alison.
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Q: What is the process for approving carry forward annual leave into 2024/25 now that this needs to be approved by Hospital Boards?
A: Again, sorry HR not on the Q&A today. All staff asked to use their leave in advance of year end. Any requests to carry over should be directed to your manager in the first instance. who will escalate accordingly, depending on Division. Thanks, Alison.
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Q: Recent changes to substantive staff working on the bank, not getting their substantive pay grade is impacting on maintaining safe staffing levels on the wards, leaving staff refusing to work additional hours and seeking to work on agencies instead.
A: This was not a change in policy, there was an error with a small no. of staffs assignments that results in them being paid at their substantive band instead of top of the band for the shift as per policy. All staff who had the shifts cancelled should have been contacted to invite rebooking at the correct grade. If you have any concerns on this, please escalate via your line manager or the other steps outlined in our raising concerns policy.
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Q: Will there be an investment in rehab? One of the ICB's 3 priorities. This would address keeping people well and at home and avoiding frailty/readmission.
A: Thank you for raising this point it is absolutely vital in supporting people to stay independent and at home. We are working closely with Mersey Care to consider where we need to work better together and frailty is one of the areas we have prioritised.
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Q: When will the amazon lockers at the royal be fixed? This has been raised a few times now and not resolved.
A: We will find out whether this is a network issue or Amazon issue! Thanks, Alison
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Q: Can anything be done about the cleanliness of the Linda Mc? Our regular cleaner is amazing but any time she is off we get forgotten for days at a time. This week we had rubbish piling up for 3 days, no paper towels anywhere, toilet paper running out and toilets left in a disgusting mess. It’s unhygienic that we expect staff to work in these conditions, and makes non-clinical teams feel completely unappreciated and destroys morale. This would never be allowed to happen on a ward or in the exec offices.
A: Hi - thanks for raising this, we will pick this issue up with estates and facilities teams
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Q: Currently, there are numerous clinical teams including- Corporate Nursing Team (Quality Team, Falls Team and Safeguarding Teams) all based within The Edwards Building and have to walk between The Edwards Building and The Main Building numerous times per day in all weather conditions and on occasions this is unsafe. However, we then have non-clinical teams/admin, who do not necessarily need to be in the main building and do not need to attend ward areas and are static at their desk space for the duration of their working day who are based on the 9th floor.
Would it not be more sensible for these members of staff to be relocated to The Edwards Building and The Clinical Teams move to the 9th floor?
A: There is an ongoing review of Trust accommodation in progress - this is part of the accommodation group. We will share this feedback. Thanks, Alison
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Q: The St Pauls reception area on Lower Ground Floor - is there any chance this can be closed off? People are using this as a general area for sleeping/eating/drinking. This has been mentioned plenty of times from our sisters/Matron that the area is not to be used as a café area. We arrive in the morning and have to ask people to move, most of the time people are asleep, and then when they have moved, we end up cleaning up after them before patients start arriving, we have also had staff from other departments sitting eating their lunch while the area is full of patients that are being seen in the clinic, not very professional at all. Some mornings the waiting area is a disgrace due to the mess that it’s left in and after all the complaints we have made I cannot understand why the hospital cannot close the waiting area off every evening, if for nothing else, for the safety of the staff that are working in this area of St Pauls.
A: Hi, I had a recent update on this and believed this situation was improving and a morning clean was also now in place to ensure the area is fit for use before patients arrive - please could you drop me an email about this and I will pick this up with the team again at natalie.
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Q: Is there any mechanism in the Trust for re-housing equipment or furniture that is no longer required by one department but could be used by another?
A: Yes, this can be organised through WARP IT, please refer to the intranet or contact Lucy Raven. Thanks, Alison.
WARP IT homepage for furniture reuse: https://
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Q: When is the new door access system going to be up and running? access applications are currently on hold.
A: Not sure what this is in relation to, please email me – Alison Peckham.
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Q: Can we have an update on the Cancer Wellbeing Centre please? They were moved out of Linda McCartney Centre in September 2023 for the 'City Walk in Centre' and they are yet to be given a permanent base, they are still using Royal OPD clinic rooms to offer cancer patients complementary therapies.
A: Hi - we are currently working on a solution with the cancer team - I will get an update this week on whether the plan has now been agreed and can then communicate the solution to the current OPD working.
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Q: Can the heating in the upper floors of Linda McCartney Centre (not walk in centre) please be looked at? The heat can be really uncomfortable already - and we're only in February - and as we move towards Spring and Summer this will worsen.
A: Hi - I've added this to a list to raise with estates team today with the cleaning issues.
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Q: Hi, any updates on the NCP crossing point starting to get a little lighter in the morning and evenings but still issues with crossing points not being visible to those going too fast.
A: This project has been finalised and due to progress imminently – thanks, Alison.
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Q: Can we get an update on the estates works being undertaken at Aintree? There's a number of buildings with work being undertaken, with the big space behind blue fences as well at the back of the site - can you share what the work is being done for?
A: Yes, we can! the big blue space behind the blue fencing is the demolition of the old nursing home - which will become around 70 car parking spaces. Site development is constant, but we will share an Aintree site update. Thanks, Alison.
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Q: MARS scheme still open and available?
A: The Mutually Agreed Resignation Scheme has been extended for applications from across the Trust to 31st March 2024. The scheme is available here Mutually Agreed Resignation Scheme (liverpoolft.nhs.uk)
You can request a ‘no obligation’ quote which checks your length of service, takes account of your banding and pro-rata’s any value if you are part-time.
Instructions for both quotes and applications are available in the scheme. It is important you read the scheme carefully.
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Q: Please justify how you have treated staff that have been affected negatively, and can you acknowledge that the ‘complexity’ of the parking implementation should have been identified during the planning stage of the programme? The implementation of this shows that it has certainly not been ‘well-led’, in fact the lack of effective planning and poor implementation has been a shambles, with staff who have cooperated and were patiently waiting for their applications to be processed being penalised financially.
A: Unfortunately, it was significantly more complicated than anticipated and this was not helped by a significant number of issues with hundreds of staff applications that had to be resolved.
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Q: Will there be any sort of forum/another staff brief focus on car parking again? It feels as though the changes have been implemented but any concerns or issues being raised now are being ignored or played down. At least one night a week we are queuing to come out of Paddington, and seemingly from reading the messages here, lots of us are facing other issues too.
A: The Trust has established a car Parking Group to consider future needs for the Trust and feedback from users. The Group includes staff side colleagues and representatives from all site HLTS.
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Q: Is anything being done about the delays exiting the multi storey car park at Aintree. regularly wait over an hour before moving.
A: Unfortunately, events off site that the Trust cannot influence such as road works can have a negative effect when large volumes of staff are trying to leave the car park. In most cases this is temporary, and the Trust would encourage users were possible to be patient and where possible, flexible at these peak times.
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Q: When will the car parking issues be resolved for those staff who require cross site working? I appreciate the team have lots of queries to get through, however I have been chasing this up since mid-January. Can you confirm if car parking space is still available at Paddington for those staff who need to work across site? I have only been allocated parking at AUH.
A: Staff who require parking across site and have applied to do so can. Cross site parking at RLUH is within the NCP until further notice, not Paddington although we do still have capacity within the Paddington facility and hope to have this available in the future. The Trust would encourage users were possible to be patient and where possible, flexible at peak times.
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Q: Can the parking at the back of the PHLS building on the Aintree site be looked at, its double yellow lined but people are parking all along the road and on pavements causing a danger hazard to staff using their entrance to the building, flagged previously but not consistent monitoring or signage to prevent people parking there. It’s a bin collection and delivery area not parking.
A: Thanks for raising this as a concern, the team will review activity and signage in the area. In addition, the security team will, if need be, enforce parking restrictions through Breach of Contract Notices.
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Q: Could we have another focus session on parking? Appreciate it isn't an issue for everyone, but it's affecting a lot of people.
A: The team is committed to taking all feedback into account and reviewing via the newly established Car Parking Group who will recommend changes to the car parking strategy where possible, having considered relevant feedback.
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Q: Not only is there lessons to be learnt regarding the roll-out of the new car parking scheme, but what about the ongoing issues some people are still facing? There needs to be lessons learnt regarding how the aftermath is being dealt with.
A: The Travel Team are able to address issues as they arise. Should you be dissatisfied with the outcome then the Trust has a Grievance Policy which provides guidance for staff who wish to pursue concerns, problems or complaints which can be addressed at an appropriate level of management. The policy can be found on the staff hub.
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Q: Does the Trust car parking group have normal staff reps? if so, who are they? Trust Car Parking Group has membership from each site and staff side colleagues.
A: Should you wish to raise an issue, please escalate via your line management of staff side representative.
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Q: The car parking is worse than ever! we are paying more for premium parking and can't get parked even before 8am, the current reduction of parking spaces in the tower block is having a huge impact.
A: I am not certain of the specific details of the question however, capacity across the AUH site has not been reached. Premium (MSCP) parking is currently at 84% and standard (surface parking) is currently at 76%. The team will continue to monitor demand and, where required respond accordingly. Additional parking is being created on the north side of the site. The restriction on car park 1 near the Tower block is to enable critical safety site works.
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Q: What roles are represented on the car parking group?
A: Membership is made up from the site teams, staff side colleagues and car parking management.
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Q: Is it possible to have the temperature in the Linda Mc regulated, it has been ridiculously warm for weeks now, a lot of people are leaving with headaches every day.
Q: Please can we address the heat in the Linda McCartney offices? Especially first floor? I have contacted estates but not had a response.
A: Response for both – this was due to failure of the actuator which is to be replaced on Tuesday 19 March. In the meantime, engineers balanced the heating which was successful.
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Q: Following on from the active travel comment - can we get some better showering and locker facilities at Aintree to support this?
A: Active travel audits of each of the sites are planned for the summer. This will include reviewing cycling and walking access routes, bike storage and shower and change facilities. The outcome of these will inform improvement plans for each of the sites and will be used for future funding applications.
Those wanting to get involved and provide specific feedback that can be included in the audit report please contact Stewart Walsh on Stewart.
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Q: Please can you advise whether you are considering any further amendments to the car parking policy as there are still inequalities that penalise lower earners who are being charged at a higher rate? I ask this because I have been unfairly penalised by the system which by design has built in inequity in order to support those that are paid the least. The design has been to use pay band and a cut off of 22.5 hours to be considered part time.
I work 25 hours with a pro rata salary of approx. £38,000 gross. I am paying £40 a month at BGH and park 3 days a week, 25 hours is above the threshold for part time use. Band 8a is considered in the high paid category. A band 6 full time earns between £32,000 up to £42,618 gross. A band 7 earns up to £50,056. I earn less than both of these pay bands, yet I am being charged at a higher rate. This is unfair. I work part time as I am a carer for 2 children and frail parents. How does this meet the Trust value of being fair?
A: It would not be appropriate to comment on individual cases in this forum, should you wish to pursue this, please raise the concern with the travel office who can escalate accordingly or refer to the Trust Grievance policy. However, the charging policy is based on rates of pay not take-home pay and has financially benefitted around 30% of users.
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Q: Can anything be done about the cleanliness of the Linda Mc? Our regular cleaner is amazing but any time she is off we get forgotten for days at a time. This week we had rubbish piling up for 3 days, no paper towels anywhere, toilet paper running out and toilets left in a disgusting mess. It’s unhygienic that we expect staff to work in these conditions, and makes non-clinical teams feel completely unappreciated and destroys morale. This would never be allowed to happen on a ward or in the exec offices.
A: Where possible we cover short term sickness by moving resources around, but this is not always possible. We now have a process whereby the Domestic Services Team will be aware of cover issues as we have just employed a further band 4 whose remit covers Linda Mc specifically. Should there be a continuation of the lack of service please contact Kerry McArdle, Domestic Services Manager on 2011 for immediate action / response.
Q: When is disabled parking going to be improved for patients for the Royal Site?
A: Blue badge parking has recently been improved at BGH and some additional spaces are being created at RLH outside LMc in next few weeks.
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Q: For months, the footpath leading from the newly tarmacked car park near Woodlands and Aintree House has been closed off due to the dangerous state of the stones. For anyone parking on the new tarmac car park wanting to walk towards Aintree House this gives no safe place to walk without the risk of being hit by cars. When will this issue be resolved?
A: This matter will be resolved shortly it is fenced off as a result of an accident.
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Q: Can I ask when Phase 2 of car parking (cross site) will be finalised please? I currently work cross site and have been told I have to pay at the pay points on the days I work on AUH site!
A: We are working through a series of complex inter-dependencies however anyone who has selected cross site working should be able to park in standard parking at AUH or RLH. BGH is more complicated and currently still requires a SABA pass as before.
A: If you are having problems, please contact the AUH general office where we can deal with your problem.
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Q: I know it is not likely an issue the trust can resolve but we do likely have a duty of care to patients and staff. Is the number of cars parked or driving up the pavements on the West Derby side to park, this can be quite dangerous to many patients, with limited mobility or sight issues, (I have nearly been hit a few times) in just walking down the street or crossing the road. Likely the management team need to address with the council/police.
A: We have raised these concerns with LCC and requested more robust policing.
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Q: Cars parked in Aintree overflow block the path down the centre of the carpark. This has been incredibly dangerous of a night when visibility is low and it’s not obvious where the path out the carpark even is due this haphazard parking.
A: We will ask traffic enforcement officers to focus on this area.
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Q: Can we extend the patient transport to Q park on the royal site - it finishes at 4:30 and our appointments are generally 5pm at the least. notwithstanding late clinics
A: Yes, we understand the issues faced with the timing. The last service is currently 4.45, this is under review following feedback. Changes will be communicated - thanks – Alison.
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Q: the car parking, specifically across site with BGH and the Royal/ Aintree. the communication about the process of change lacked information. we have people being charged double, we have people who have lost access to BGH, and they have no confidence it will be a short term mishap and be sorted easily? do you have a timeline for communications, a member of staff name who is implementing this change (not just the travel email address) as people don’t feel as if their voices are being heard, or it will be corrected
A: Cross site to BGH is complex but in principle those people with a SABA permit previously should still have one and can access. we will be in touch and discuss better ways of working for some including more visitor permits from SABA which is a better option for staff who are less frequent visitors to BGH. – Dr Peter Delve.
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Q: The new parking situation seems fair however the wait for car parking approval is actively affecting my ability to do my job.
A: We have worked through applications until 9th Jan and other than NCP and we are working through the applicants for other car parks this week.
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Q: Car parking for the tower block is no better and is possibly worse since the changes were made. I and other colleagues are now paying more than 50% more to park here and still can't get a space at 7:45 am. Some night staff are also saving spaces for their colleagues arriving for the day shift.
A: The Car Park 1 at the rear of the tower block is being reviewed as part of the construction works that will be in that area over the next year.
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Q: I have lost my access to Aintree because I am not paying premium. I moved to Paddington - I can afford to pay for NCP but was being considerate to colleagues.
A: All Royal cross site workers should have access to standard car park at AUH please contact the AUH general office.
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Q: I have tried to speak to travel team to resolve the issue with parking I have but no response. I am now paying a permit for Aintree but have no parking at the Royal and am paying £10-12 twice a week to work at the Royal. Can someone help please?
A: All Aintree cross site workers should have access to standard car park at RLH please contact the AUH general office. – Carly McGrath.
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Q: The old / back car park at the side of Aintree House exit continues to be flooded due to the rain and dangerous last week as there was a sheet of ice due to the snow / weather. Can this be looked into? Think it needs to be re-tarmacked.
A: We will raise this with Estates to review the area to understand the problem.
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Q: Is there data on how many staff are now paying more for parking? I appreciate financial challenges, but to ask staff for how they feel valued and not address financial implications of the changes seems off.
A: We are working through the detail however about 50% are paying more or less but did have the option to pay less.
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Q: The car park near to the new estates building on the Aintree site has lost spaces to the COVID hub. There are often trust vehicles blocking between 4-8 spaces in this same area when the area reserved for them outside Aintree Hall is empty. The team use the trust vehicles to reserve parking places for their colleagues - this is observed on a regular basis. When these staff have been challenged, we have been met with hostility, veiled threats to vehicles, or the drivers say that they have been told they must save the space by their managers. This means we can't escalate to them as they're encouraging this behaviour. Can this be addressed please. It's a bigger concern now that the nights are getting darker, and the team leave this building to walk past the woods area to get to their car as all the spaces near to this building have been reserved by the trust vehicles.
A: We will discuss this within our team. I would encourage you to always report any incidents where a veiled threat, or otherwise, is made via the Trust datix system so that we can investigate. Thanks – Alison.
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Q: Will staff be able to purchase annual leave in 2024/25?
A: Yes, this is still the case for 2024/5 dependent on service need and requirements. – Heather.
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Q: We talk about learning opportunities for staff, but this isn't supported in reality because of the financial challenges the organisation is facing.
A: Undoubtedly the financial challenges mean we have to make choices about what we can invest in terms of learning opportunities. However, this year we have prioritised our leadership offer and have offered and continue to offer a considerable amount of development opportunities. If it is clinical learning, then I would ask that you let us know what areas of clinical education you are struggling to access. thank you. – Heather.
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Q: Completely understand that we can't carry over A/L this year, but could the amount to carry over not have been reduced from 5 days to 2/3 days? Rather than nothing at all except for exceptional circumstances
A: The current policy stipulates no carry over of leave less in exceptional circumstances, where up to 5 days can be carried over. This hasn't changed. We are trying to ensure that people take their leave for reasons of health and wellbeing hence being more aware of who is not being able to take their leave. – Heather.
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Q: Can we be involved in the pilot for the peoples managers induction? I am an NHS GMTS Trainee and believe that an involvement in this could be of huge benefit. Is there a key contact I could have? Thank you.
A: Yes, I'm sure you can. Please contact Rachel Holden in OD who will be able to point you in the right direction to get involved :-) – Heather.
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Q: What about training for people managers who aren't new but would benefit from training?
A: Thanks for raising - there are a range of training opportunities for new and existing managers and details are contained in the Trust's Learning Prospectus. This can be found via the Life at LUHFT staff app or via the Staff Web Learning Hub – Daniel Scheffer.
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Q: Do you know if the unions have been in talks about a pay rise for 2024/2025?
A: Pay increases are discussed nationally and are informed through the Pay Review Body. Trade Unions at a national level will be involved in discussions once the pay review body has given it's advice on any pay award. – Heather.
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Q: Staff health and wellbeing- has the idea of staff being supported to have dental appointments from the Dental Hospital been explored further this would help staff and reduce absence given the current crisis in community provision?
A: We are exploring a number of options/feedback to understand what would be appreciated by staff - we will take this idea to add to the potential options to explore.
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Q: On staff pulse checks outpatient staff on the Royal and Broadgreen site cannot select the hospital site they work from. Is this right? They have to select Aintree.
A: I will check this and amend if I can, thank you for letting us know. – Heather.
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Q: Why is Rheumatology at the Broadgreen site not an option on the drop-down selection on the quarterly staff pulse survey?
A: As above, we will check this and amend if we can, thank you – Heather.
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Q: Was there a comms on not carrying over annual leave? This will really disadvantage people who rely on annual leave juggling for childcare and caring responsibilities.
A: Yes, we put out a comms last week to encourage people to take their leave for health and wellbeing reasons. We don't want to disadvantage people with childcare or caring responsibilities and there are additional policies and approaches we can take to support you with this. – Heather.
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Q: Are we definitely not allowed to carry over leave to next year (except in exceptional situations)? The flexibility that carrying over up to 5 days gives has been very helpful over recent years.
A: The annual leave policy remains as 5 days maximum in exceptional circumstances i.e., can't take leave for reasons of service demand or long-term absence or some other personal reason that you have been prevented from taking it. We are trying to help people take their leave as it's important we all have rest throughout the year. – Heather.
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Q: Can you tell us what is happening to the Wellbeing service that was originally in the Linda Mac? This is a really good service for both cancer patients and staff. It was being relocated but not sure where to?
A: Hi - we are currently reviewing the space allocation for a number of teams at the Royal and this service is one of them. For the therapy/wellbeing service for cancer patients we are having some discussions to see if we can offer some enhanced facilities in conjunction with Clatterbridge and their therapy facilities - will be able to update on this asap.
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Q: Is there a page on the intranet or Staff App explaining how to purchase annual leave? Or is there a form that needs to be submitted to line managers? And if so, can it be found?
A: I will find out and if not, we can add this, thank you – Heather.
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Q: How do you look into purchasing annual leave? It seems bizarre that there has been new rule implemented regarding not being able to carry leave over. This has been communicated to me so late notice that I would now be wasting my additional leave just to take it for the sake of needing to. Is this surely not a waste of my annual leave and the opposite of what you are trying to achieve? i.e., enabling staff to have time out when they feel they NEED it across the year.
A: The carry over of leave policy remains the same . however, we want people to spread their leave out over the year as you suggest is the best for our wellbeing. If you want to purchase annual leave, please speak to your manager who will direct you to the necessary forms.
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Q: Sorry I know you have answered annual leave questions but is there a maximum number of hours that can be carried over to next year?
A: It would be the equivalent of a week's work for you in hours, so if working 20 hours per week, it would be 20 hours in exceptional circumstances. – Heather.
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Q: I tried to implement TED, booked rooms on the 9th floor and they were cancelled. I have no space to break out with my staff.
A: Great that you are taking time out to implement TED. Room booking is something that we continue to address, with our digital colleagues currently working through better options for room booking. – Heather.
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Q: When is a room booking tool coming?
A: Our aim is to bring an update back to the February Team brief. – Heather.
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Q: Are there plans to improve the document management system? There seem to be a number of key documents missing and policies are difficult to access, which puts additional pressure on managers.
A: Thanks for raising this as an issue and it would be good to get a little more information. Could you send me an e-mail with a little more information such as the names of the missing documents. Important that we resolve – Daniel Scheffer.
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Q: In the Edwards building we are still having ongoing issues with hot water; I know the hot tap in the 1st Floor kitchen has been reported so many times since we have moved in over a year ago. Starts to become a heath issue if we cannot wash dirty cups and plates.
Not to mention last week of not being informed of a water pipe change in the dental hospital that caused brown water to come out of the taps and the on wall hot water for drinks tap, likely some of us would have drunk this dirty water for part of a day. We just need to be informed of work that’s to be done on likes of utilities, so we can plan.
A: We will ask the estates team to inform colleges when these problems will be resolved.
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Q: Any update on us at the Royal site having an online route to report issues to estates (like Aintree have) as this is a better way like reporting IT issues, we have a record, can upload images of the issue and note progress. Was mentioned in a previous team brief last year.
A: Yes, this is in progress and will be phased in for all E&F services from April onwards. Due to variances in contracts and services, this will be a phased approach. Thanks – Alison.
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Q: Can you tell us when the lift in Linda Mc will be fixed, please, it's been out of action for months and the other one is now having issues?
A: We will investigate and get a notice on the lift to advise how long it will be out of order/repair. Thanks – Alison.
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Q: Just a comment following on from the colleague who thanked Estates for clearing the snow at the Royal. Here outside the Edwards Building nothing was cleared at all, and it was really dangerous. Could you please include us in future plans for extreme weather? Thanks.
A: Noted, thanks – Alison.
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Q: External signage for the Royal site is still really poor - when are we going to get some clarity on the names of each entrance - it’s really confusing for patients, staff and taxis
A: We are reviewing the external way finding around the main hospital entrances.
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Q: Are there any updates on the BGH door badge access system?
A: Yes, good news, we are currently upgrading this to align with AUH and RLH sites. which will improve access for all our staff and speed up the system to get a card. Thanks – Alison.
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Q: What are the next steps for the demolition of the old Royal site?
A: The demolition updates for the old royal are available on the Trust Intranet and updated regular by Trust Comms.
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Q: Any news on when the zebra crossing will be moved to be outside the new Royal entrance. It is very dangerous trying to cross the road currently.
A: There will be a second raised crossing on MVSt, the crossing on WDSt isn't our crossing but LCC highways department are responsible.
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Q: NCP Royal crossing point any updates please, still issues months after being raised on staff brief, short term fix cones to highlight crossing point given the number of cars now parking along Mount Vernon?
A: Second crossing will allow connection of existing beacons.
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Q: Could you group questions or give us option to put a questions together somehow? this may help you answer multiply questions at once
A: unfortunately, we are really limited in what teams will let us do but this would be a brilliant idea!
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Q: What are the ongoing plans regarding training across the trust?
A: Currently the education teams are refreshing their 5-year strategy for LUHFT this will be shared in bite size terms once it has been agreed.
With regards to educational estate, this is under review with estates and facilities with the aim of pulling together a medium and long term plan.
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Q: I recently visited the clinical education building at Aintree to be told I could not use the lift due to the upper landing being deemed unsafe because of cracks in the ceiling beams. This means staff who cannot walk upstairs will not be able to get their required training, affecting our ESR. Is it safe to go to training if entire corridors and fire exit routes are being blocked off because of ceiling cracks? Or should we book on for training at the royal instead?
A: The clinical education at AUH has been assessed by health & safety and a structural engineer, who have said that the building is safe to remain open but access is limited and the lift can not be accessed. We are currently waiting for the structural engineers report for next steps. So the building is currently open. However, if you need disabled access then would recommend booking on training on the Royal site.
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Q: What are the ongoing plans regarding training across the trust?
A: Currently the education teams are refreshing their five-year strategy for LUHFT this will be shared in bite size terms once it has been agreed. With regards to educational estate, this is under review with Estates and Facilities with the aim of pulling together a medium- and long-term plan.
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Q: I recently visited the clinical education building at Aintree to be told I could not use the lift due to the upper landing being deemed unsafe because of cracks in the ceiling beams. This means staff who cannot walk upstairs will not be able to get their required training, affecting our ESR. Is it safe to go to training if entire corridors and fire exit routes are being blocked off because of ceiling cracks? Or should we book on for training at the royal instead?
A: The clinical education at AUH has been assessed by health & safety and a structural engineer, who have said that the building is safe to remain open, but access is limited, and the lift cannot be accessed. We are currently waiting for the structural engineers report for next steps. So, the building is currently open. However, if you need disabled access then would recommend booking on training on the Royal site.
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Q: With the increase in three session and four session theatre lists, there is a risk of staff with disability or other flexible working needs feeling undervalued for their contribution and excluded by the organization if they cannot deliver this type of session.
A: This is on a case-by-case basis that a manager cited on a reasonable adjustment request would determine if working additional hours is conducive to the enduring health needs of the employee. This should be explored in the regular wellbeing check ins between the employee and their line manager.
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Q: When allowing staff to carry leave over, what does "exceptional circumstances" mean? That feels like it is open to interpretation.
A: Managers are expected to review the circumstances around any requests. There must have been attempts to use the leave by the individual and it is expected that due to service need the requests have been declined and this can be evidenced. There may be other considerations such as if the individual has had any other types of leave that have prevented them from utilising their annual leave. Any decision must be recorded so that it is auditable.
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Q: Is there any chance that the fruit and veg stall can be reinstated at the Royal. This is sorely missed.
A: The providers did not want to use the area we offered; however, we will hope to make an alternative available in the new year.
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Q: Is the waiting list for car park at the Royal including Paddington and car parks off-site?
A: Demand for spaces across the Trust is being managed to ensure facilities are not overwhelmed. Applications are still being received and processed for all sites. However, some car parks have now reached capacity such as the NCP where there are circa 120 people awaiting a space.
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Q: Is it right that if you park in Paddington, you wouldn't get access to BGH or AUH if you need to work across sites?
A: Provided the Travel Team have been notified that cross-site working is required (Question 60 on application form), the relevant arrangements can be made, although space at Broadgreen is limited
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Q: How will community staff be accommodated when often out visiting patients in the morning and not arriving onsite until the afternoon and there is no parking available? or who need to return to site to collect equipment etc and cannot timely park?
A: There is capacity available across all sites for those who have applied although at peak times it will, understandably be reduced.
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Q: I have a team member who has been on long term sick and will resume in Feb, so they will not have had any information on parking, do they just contact the car team?
A: Yes, please ask the member of staff to reapply as soon as possible.
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Q: Sending everyone to Paddington is not ideal - at 8.20am it was nearly full, and this has been all week. What happens if the car park is full, can we park on the Clatterbridge Floors??
A: The Trust has secured sufficient capacity at the Paddington site to accommodate demand from staff and staff should park within Trust designated areas. You should only park in authorised spaces.
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Q: When it snowed last week, the car park at Wavertree was not cleared and was treacherous. Is there a plan for this car park to be maintained if we are now being charged to park there?
A: The Trust Property Services team are reviewing the matter with the service provider.
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Q: What happens if Paddington is full one day? It is a public car park and also shared with Clatterbridge?
A: Unfortunately, the Trust cannot control demand generated by external agencies within Paddington although we do enjoy a positive relationship with the facilities operators. The Trust has secured sufficient capacity to meet staff demand, and this is being monitored.
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Q: I park on Royal Site and had a meeting at Aintree last week. One bus left containing 10 passengers there were 12 people in front of me which meant I would have had to wait for the 10.15 bus which would have resulted in missing my 9.30 meeting. Can we increase the size of the bus to Aintree at peak times ? I had to drive to Aintree and was charged £3.50 parking, I thought this was meant to be free across sites.
A: Applicants who have applied for cross site parking using the application form are able to park at the site indicated. Please notify the travel office, they will be able to review and amend accordingly. Utilisation and frequency of the minibus services is being reviewed.
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Q: Can we increase the size of the bus, or the number of buses put on at a minimum the first few morning runs or the last few of an evening. They are consistently full of people left waiting.
A: A review of the shuttle bus service is in progress which will take into account the increased ability for staff to park across sites. Large buses require drivers with additional training.
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Q: Are there any plans to encourage staff to use public transport to travel to and from work with help with travel costs? As this helps with sustainability compared with travelling in cars!
A: Yes, the Trust has an active sustainability team who developed a green travel plan including season ticket for public transport. Please contact the team at sustainability
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Q: Have we done enough to inform colleagues about trains/buses that run close to sites and walking/cycling etc to reduce car use (and negative impacts)?
A: Yes, the Trust has an active sustainability team who developed a green travel plan. Please contact the team at sustainability
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Q: Whilst BGH multi storey car park is still under talks for cross site working, can we park in the other parking spaces in the meantime i.e., charging bays? I rely on BGH to charge my car when I do work over there as I can never get a space for the Royal chargers.
A: Staff should only park in charging bays whilst charging their vehicles. Once charged, they should move the vehicle to enable others to benefit from the facilities. The Trust has increased, and we believe now has sufficient car park capacity at the BGH site.
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Q: Could the car parking fees be reviewed further by the car parking group? Off-site parking charges are still drastically higher than other Trusts.
A: The Trust car parking tariff is set in response to the cost of running the facilities. This varies in response to the location of the car park. The decision to set the current tariff took other Trust fees into account.
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Q: Can you ask Clatterbridge staff to stop parking on our floors in Paddington? we have no designated floors and Clatterbridge have access in Paddington also.
A: Unfortunately, the Trust cannot control demand generated by external agencies within Paddington although we do enjoy a positive relationship with the facilities operators. The Trust has secured sufficient capacity to meet staff demand in non-specifically identified spaces. The ANPR controls all access and will limit the number of users.
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Q: Would it be worth conducting a poll or survey who would be able to give up their parking permit if buses were more frequent?
A: A review of the shuttle bus service is in progress which will take into account the increased ability for staff to park across sites. Also, the Trust has an active sustainability team who developed a green travel plan. Please contact the team at sustainability
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Q: I have had an email saying I have been charged double for car parking due to multiple applications. However, the amount charged does not equate to two charges, I had a swift email to say this will be resolved but I don't know how much I should have been charged?
A: Please contact the travel team who will be able to advise.
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Q: Is cross site working currently in place? The travel team say this phase 2 and not yet active until we receive an email confirmation.
A: Many staff who indicated the need to park across sites on their application form are now able to do so. This is increasing as applications are processed.
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Q: Cycling to work is great and has so many benefits for staff, can we do more this year to support staff get on their bikes if you live within 5 miles of your workplace chances are it will be much quicker, benefit your health, save you loads of money!!! Not everyone can do it, but it is great to see a wide range of staff already doing it.
A: Yes, the Trust has an active sustainability team who have developed a green travel plan, this includes green and active travel initiatives . Please contact the team at sustainability
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Q: At the Royal's NCP there are parked cars parked on the ramps and behind cars in a bay. All the extra cars that are parked on exit from car park are extremely dangerous, your view is really limited and can cause a major incident. If a car accidentally gets hit when driving down the ramp who is at fault?
A: The Trust encourages all facility users to park and drive responsibly and is exploring options with NCP to reduce this behaviour.
2023
Q. Can the free festive meal vouchers be used at Fresh and Torino?
A: Please review the Trust-wide comms/intranet as it details where they can be used on each site: https://
Q. Can we please sort something out for festive thank you meals off site?
A: Please review the information here, and contact the catering team with any queries you have.
Q. The Christmas markets and stalls have been a great idea. Especially to see the kids choirs. The patients and staff seem to really enjoy it. We should do more of this throughout the year
A: That was thanks to Trust Charity and Arts team. who will be planning events throughout the year.
Q. Can you confirm where the Christmas stalls at Aintree were this week? We tried a few different places and never found them.
A: Unfortunately, the Charity had to cancel due to the weather, this was out of their control as no alternative location available.
Q. Where is the money coming from for the Christmas meals?
A: Trust Charity funded the meals, this was not Trust funded.
Q. Why are staff no longer allowed to take breaks/lunch in the education centre? LCL staff have been told we can't go in the building anymore. The other facilities aren't fit for purpose and staff aren't taking breaks because they literally don't have anywhere to go meaning they are stressed and anxious coming to work everyday!
A: We are looking for an alternative facility away from the entrance area.
Q. How do we escalate maintenance issues that are having a big effect on staff health and wellbeing? We've logged jobs for over a year about broken heating and air con in our office as well as missing ceiling tiles that are causing a draft. Nothing is getting done and we're sitting with hot water bottles, in multiple layers, coats, scarfs and gloves most of the time and sitting in our cars at lunch time to warm up.
A: If this an issue that has already been logged through the normal process, then please contact Chris Flowers (Aintree) and Alan Furey (RLH/BGH). We will also be launching a new work management system in April that will provide a single portal and help desk for all Estates and Facilities services, in the meantime please report to the two systems available.
Q. I have applied for a car park place in the Kensington car park but I will also need access to the main car park at night as I am part of the virology on-call team. How will this work as there was no option to fill this information in on the application?
A: We are working on this aspect and there will be FAQ information. This will still be possible "out of hours" so night workers can use the most convenient car parks.
Q. Is there any weight to the rumour that staff are going to start being charged for using the staff bus to travel between sites when their job role calls for it?
A: This is not true. The staff busses remain free for staff to use when travelling between our sites.
Q. Is there any chance that the fruit and veg stall could be reinstated at the New Royal. Really really miss this. It was so convenient for staff to be able to access healthy food for work and home!
A: The providers did not want to use the area we offered, however we will hope to make an alternative available in the new year.
Q. Can we do something about the seats on the staff buses, lots of staff suffer from travel sickness and some seats being backwards doesn't help.
A: This was raised last week, unfortunately we cannot turn the seats around.
Q. Could you ask the team to look at possibly having a breakout area/wellbeing space in the Edwards building? We don't have anywhere to have our lunch and take a 5-minute break away from our desks. This would be great for staff wellbeing. Thank you :-)
A: We are reviewing all administration areas at RLH including Edwards, if space can be released we will consider a break out space.
Q. Could we have a small shelter where the staff buses leave from?
A: We will look into this idea.
Q. Given the out of hours challenges are worsening (and the burden on staff and managers is increasing), can we consider replacing the use of on call with a structured approach to managing the organisation out of hours ?
A: Thank you for the question. The data doesn't necessarily support the assertion that we're busier than previously, but it certainly feels that way in certain areas. From a medical perspective we're looking at our establishment and mindful of our obligations to deliver services every day of the week/year. I'd be pleased to hear examples/suggestions directly if you'd like to contact me: jim.gardner@liverpoolft.nhs.uk and/or meet to discuss.
Q. Can there be clarification if staff commuting to different sites on different days and spending the whole day there require business car insurance? Not an "interpretation" but a clear yes staff will require it if they do half the week at AUH and half at RLH or no they do not need it as commuting is commuting. The car park FAQs do not cover this.
A: This has been added to the FAQ however it isn't a car parking issue, so we are opening a new FAQ on this topic. However, if you go to work from home and return home Business Insurance isn't required, even if it’s a different site each trip. If you travel from home to work and then onward to another site, then Business Insurance is required.
Q. Could we possibly put in a letter to Mersey Rail about all the cancellations and delays on the Kirkby line. This is a continuous issue where staff are late for work and this may be an issue for patients and visitors to site as well as Aintree.
A: We have shared concerns through our green travel network, however essential works or breakdowns cannot always be avoided.
Q. Why can't we park in Mount Pleasant car park anymore? We have been moved to Paddington Village, which is a considerable walk from our base in Liverpool Science park. I suffer with mobility problems and will find this trek very difficult five days a week. Are any provisions being put in place to assist us with this change.
A: Mount Pleasant Car park is no longer available as the site is of poor quality and security concerns raised to LCC, and there are plans to redevelop the site for JMU. Please select the most convenient car park available or if you are a blue badge holder inquire at the facility regarding access arrangements.
Q. Is there a reason we can no longer access the staff intranet when working from home? I've struggled to access documents and policies when needed as access seems to have disappeared. I can't even access DMS.
A: You should be able to access the staff intranet when working from home on a Trust device. Please email communications@liverpoolft.nhs.uk with more information about which pages you're unable to access and we'll look into this.
Q. Can better signs / wayfinding directions be included at Aintree entrance? Patients often ask how to navigate to the pharmacy, radiology/imaging and other areas located at the front of the hospital.
A: Yes we can look at this, we want to ensure our patients and colleagues can easily find their way around our hospitals.
Q. Is is true you will be charging for parking at Wavertree?
A: All Trust principle site car parks will be charged for including Wavertree / Innovations which the Trust pays for as part of the lease.
Q. How can you charge for Wavertree / Innovations when its public parking
A: The parking at these sites is part of the lease costs to the Trust. We pay the landlord for the parking as we pay SABA and NCP at other sites. thanks Alison(How can you charge for Wavertree / Innovations when its public parking)
Q. practically speaking though - how can you physically manage the process of charging for parking on public parking spaces off site. I understand you saying that you will be - but how can this be managed when it’s a shopping area.
A: You are referring to Innovations. We provide the landlord with the registrations. If the vehicle is not registered it will be issued with a parking ticket direct from them. This is well known and communicated to the staff based at Innovations. Similarly, process in place to do this for our visitors to Innovations.
Q. Parking on both Aintree sites and RLH multi-storey has been absolutely dreadful in the past few weeks. Staff parking in inappropriate areas in RLH multi-storey down ramps etc now frequently. Something has gone wrong with match of number of permits and available space recently on both sites.
A: The RLH car parking was a result of the closure of the roof by NCP. Unfortunately staff then parked inappropriately. We are also experiencing roadworks around our sites, which impacts on our traffic leaving site. We hope that this will reduce in the New Year.
Q. What happened to the car parking helpline we were told would be set up last time?
A: The helpline is available between 9am and 3pm on 0151 706 4017.
Q. What is the speed limit around the Trust / it is becoming increasingly dangerous for pedestrians and many drivers are ignoring the zebra crossing.
A: It is difficult to prevent irresponsible drivers, however in the new year we will be adding additional traffic calming at the RLH Mount Vernon St, if there are other concerning areas please let us know.
Q. Will that out of hours parking time include weekend days for those of us who have to work weekends in a rota? IE not our normal working pattern.
A: If it’s part of normal working it will be available, the access for out of hours is specifically night time however we will consider the weekend scenario alongside this.
Q. How much does the Trust need to save before April 2024 if we are to move from SOF4 to SOF3?
A: We were moved from SOF4 at the end of November into NOF3 (previously SOF3) - a great testament to everyone’s hard work! All Trust's have been asked to undertake a financial review and we will keep colleagues updated as this progresses.
Q. Is it true, we are losing Derwent House?
A: Derwent House is still in use, however we would like to cease using it as soon as possible and this is an aim of a review currently underway.
Q. I can't afford the new parking charges, should I find a new job?
A: There are several options/concessions available for colleagues who want to reduce their parking costs such as choosing an alternative location and/or reduce the fee to your pay packet by using salary sacrifice. For more information or support with your options please check the FAQ or contact the helpline.
Q. Can you please confirm the plan for staff rooms? This has been raised at many meetings however there has been no plans put in motion
A: Thank you for your comment. We recognise the need to provide more Staff Rooms on the Royal site and we are working through a number of options with Estates and the Divisional Nurse Directors. As soon as an update is available we will share with Ward Managers.
Q. Is a similar review of admin spaces at Aintree being undertaken? We often have nowhere to sit away from our desks for breaks either and, with an aging estate, it feels like there's no easy solution
A: We will be doing this next year and the Aintree HLT are keen to standardise allocation of admin space across all sites.
Q. There has been no direct answer established in relation to just Bank Staff only using RLH carpark once per month on a Saturday, do they have to pay, and if so, they are only using it for one day each month
A: All staff - including bank staff will need to pay to park. The cost will be the concession rate for weekend workers.
Q. Where can we find a list of specialties and wards? This is available for RLH but not for AUH on the intranet - it's hard to track what wards are open under what specialty.
A: The Trust website has a list of wards and specialties here which may help: https://www.uhliverpool.nhs.uk/services/wards
Q. Thank you to the car parking and Estates Teams for the improvement work at Broadgreen.
A: Thanks we are working hard to improve car parking at Broadgreen, and there will be 100 more spaces in the new year as well as improved blue badge spaces nearer to entrances.
Q. Will the Trust consider another carpark for staff, when the old Royal building has been demolished?
A: The Trust would like to improve parking on the Royal site post demolition there will be consideration of an additional staff and visitor car park that would replace the use of Paddington.
Q. What is the policy for carry over of leave into next year? Staffing issues have meant we are covering colleagues reducing our ability to take leave.
A: Current policy is five days, in exceptional circumstances providing requests have been made to take leave and prevention of taking leave is due to service pressures. We should be encouraging everyone to take their leave where possible to help with health and wellbeing.
Q. Will the Trust choir be coming around the wards as they did pre-covid? This helped lift patients spirits
A: Paula at the Arts team organises all sorts of singing and entertainment on the wards. Not sure of a programme in place at present as it is obviously dependent on who is available. I will ask her to promote anything she has got coming up.
Q. Can we get better parking signs for visitors at RLH, also signage for drop off areas?
A: We will be introducing pay on foot machines at RLH for visitors and signage will be added at this time to clarify these are not staff parking areas.
Q. Does pay on foot for visitors at the RLH mean staff parking spaces are going to be reduced to allow patients and visitors to park there?
A: If all staff don't renew and we have space we will consider making them available to visitors.
Q. Can anything be done about staff turning right out of Royal when they should be turning left? This is causing queues up to 4th/5th floor in MSCP and it's taking a very long time to get out. There are clear signs indicating that you must turn left but these are being ignored. can the road layout be changed to allow two lanes, one for right one for left?
A: Due to emergency vehicles being permitted to turn right this is not possible until the future alternative routes are created next year.
Q. Re people speeding, there is a real issue with cars speeding through the Aintree site and ignoring zebra crossings.
A: We will review the existing traffic calming at AUH, however we have to design them in accordance with highways guidance and some times this means irresponsible drivers can avoid them.
Q. You helpfully sent a link through to a divisional structure on a previous brief however, dated May 23 - is there an updated divisional structure to share? It's sometimes hard to track head of ops. The document was "Empowerment through site leadership".
A: We're glad you found it helpful. The updated version is available here: https://www.uhliverpool.nhs.uk/luhft-staff/our-improvement-journey/shaping-leadership-teams-and-structures-support-improvement
Q. Has any consideration be given to a proper, connected room booking system? I've worked places before where all meeting rooms had a screen outside the door to highlight who had it booked, and for how long. If you didn't 'check in' on the screen within 10 minutes of your meeting starting, the room was released. To continue using outlook is not fit for purpose and doesn't seem fitting for what should be a digitally enabled Trust.
A: We have a small T&F group looking at this, with Estates, HR and Digital membership to address this ongoing issue. We hope to report back earlier in the new year as to plans to address the current frustrations with room booking.
Q. Can the T&F group on the meeting rooms please include administrative representation because we are the people using it day in and day pout. We weren't involved in the last T&F group and we ended up with outlook. Can we have a name to contact please?
A: Yes, it involves admin people as well. Alison Stewart is the lead for the T&F group if you want to direct questions direct to her and to get involved in this group if you would like to.
Q. Is there a plan to standardise food prices across the sites and offer same catering facilities?
A: The prices should be standardised where the outlets are Trust operated.
Q. Patients and staff often ask about the mobile cart that used to come around the ward with drinks, newspapers, shower gel etc. Is this something that can be re-established as it would be beneficial for patients and due to staffing, the staff are finding it difficult to go to the shops multiple times for patients?
A: Trust volunteers ran this service we will raise with them to check if it isn't still in use or there are gaps that can be filled.
Q. Off-site teams get forgotten in many ways; please can you encourage catering to do something special for those in off-site buildings?
A: We sent out seasonal grab backs for all our off-site located colleagues. We will look at other alternatives for next year as we have issues regards transporting hot food to the off-sites due to food legislation.
Q. There is currently a workforce change happening in Ops across LUHFT where the band 8B line is being removed, they have been offered an 8B opportunity in outpatients - can you clarify if a further workforce change will be happening in outpatients as I’m sure people would be loathed to move after just going through this already?
A: Organisational change for OPD will occur this month.
Q. There still doesn’t appear to be an official structure for outpatients. We have been told this would be sorted nearly a year ago, is this ever going to be published?
A: There is an Outpatient structure that has been in place since early last year – it has just never been published by the Trust.
Q. I have been told that pay machines are going to be put in the Royal NCP. Does this mean I can park for a day without a permit?
A: Currently we are not installing pay machines in the NCP for staff. We control access via ANPR and our system, but we are considering pay on foot machines in the NCP as a method of any “visitor” paying should we have sufficient capacity to allow “visitors”. The cost of this for a day would exceed the new concessionary rate for staff.
Q. Can stock ordering be done by Procurement instead of staff? As they would be more familiar with it when staff have to struggle when it is not their daily role.
A: Procurement team don’t have the authority to order goods as we don’t hold the budget, budget holders hold their own budget and need to control. The only area that are covered by Procurement is the material management and theatre store teams, they are employed to provide a service foe clinical consumables and replenishment of stocks.
Training to use Oracle and NHS Supply Chain is available please email procurementServices
Q. I've been having lots of problems with not receiving deliveries from Stores. Logging a job with Procurement means they have to re-order thereby costing the Trust a lot of money. Is there anyone I can escalate this to please? Thank you.
A: There are two methods of ordering stocks: Oracle system - goods coming into the Trust via the receipts and distribution centres on both sites. If the goods are from a supplier a proof of delivery (POD) will be signed on arrival into the receipts and distribution and to the user. If the goods have not arrived, we would request a POD from the company and work back from there. If the discrepancy is noticed at the invoice stage AP request the POD.
NHS Supply Chain products get delivered on cages to the appropriate areas signatures on not requested due to the volume of goods arriving. If goods are missing a discrepancy form is completed by the users and send to the Procurement for reporting and following up for a credit.
Q: This was mentioned in a previous Team Brief, in that our new colleagues who transferred over from ISS in May don’t in the main have trust email addresses/logon, to access to communications updates, ability to logon to a trust PC to complete training. A few of the domestics in our building have not been told how to do this yet.
A: Thanks, all staff can have a Trust email account (note that they do time out when not used and this causes further issues), but to get one in the first instance please ask staff member to go to their line manager in catering/domestics/portering at RLH - if unsure who this is, go to Judith - thanks Alison
Q: The rationale for the charges is 'to create a fair and consistent approach...with those earning less, paying less'. 8A and above go into the 'High' payment bracket. For B5-7 (non banded staff £27,000-£48,000 WTE) they go into the 'medium' bracket. As an above 8A, part time, I earn £42,000 yet have to pay the high bracket. Does this seem fair? This isn't staff earning less/paying less?
A: The Bands are based on the Agenda for change bands if staff are part time then this is dealt with through concession at a certain point.
Q: In the communication regarding car parking charges, it was stated that car parks run at a loss - is this at all three sites or is the increase to subsidise certain sites?
A: It is the position across all sites but the cost increase effects all sites
Q: Re car parking. Will we automatically be able to park on other sites? Or do we need to apply? Do we tick 'cross working'? the form wasn't very clear
A: yes please tick 'cross site working' and we will pick it up from there. You will receive confirmation of your parking as we start to review the applications - hence why we are working to a specific date. thanks Alison
Q: When will we hear back regarding our car parking application? Is everyone guaranteed a space in their preferred car park?
A: We are encouraging all staff to apply by the deadline - that way we can review and respond before Christmas. We do not anticipate any issues in accessing a car park of choice- again, this will be influenced by the responses. Staff are choosing to change car parks too. Thanks Alison
Q: is there any way we can police the cars turning right on Prescot Street when leaving the car park? it is causing a backlog when trying to leave the car park
A: This is an ongoing issue that is difficult to enforce but we will keep trying
Q: For staff who are based across all sites but do not travel between sites during the work day also expected to have business insurance? Commuting to AUH one day and then RLH the next is still commuting to work just a different site.
A: This has just been raised, we will review this with Health & Safety and HR as this is about legislation and compliance and interpretation of this, this is not a Trust directive. We will post update on the FAQs if anything changes. thanks Alison
Q: Congratulations to all the Advanced Practitioners and Teams nominated for the C&M Advanced Practice awards held last week. LUHFT had more nominations than any other organisation. Axess Sexual Health and Julie Brake AP lead for LUHFT received commendations for their work. Well Done!
Q: It doesnt make sense that those who do not have the ability to agile work still have to pay more for parking and those who get to agile work can pay less? Its not our decision to come into the office 5 days a week
A: The concession is designed to recognize not using the car parking therefore not increasing the need and cost of providing
Q: Will there be taxi's for staff who use public transport on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and News day?
A: The Trust is not approving the use of Taxis per-se over the Christmas period. If you normally use public transport and will face difficulties over the period, which means you cannot get to work, please raise this with your line manager, who will escalate to senior team for a decision.
Q: Some insurance companies allow you to commute to different places of work on different days without business insurance (you will need to ask your insurance company about this) how will this work if the trust are now asking for business insurance?
A: We'll take away the issue thanks for raising. What you have described sounds like commuting to usual place of work to me so shouldnt require business insurance. We'll put the answer on the FAQs. thanks
Q: Can we look into and do a review of the Smartcard timescale and slots to pick up please. Long queues are frequently experienced and staff should be using their time effectively rather than stand in queues. Maybe look into software for a self booking system / self check in system for updates on cards etc
A: I will take this back to the team and confirm as part of the Q&A from this session
Q: cars are also parking in non marked spaces at the end of rows by the ramps to other floors. can this also be addressed?
A: This has been raised with in house and outsourced car parking enforcement teams
Q: Can somebody please advise on availability of disabled parking spaces for staff. I've been trying to get this information since early this year and have not been able to get this information from several teams.
A: Not sure of the exact question. All sites have blue badge bays for staff and public. We manage a list of all LUHFT blue badge staff. For Aintree and BGH blue badge car parking is spread out across the sites, for RLH we have provided staff with designated areas. Not aware of any blue badge holders who are struggling - please message me and I will review for you. Thanks Alison
Q: The demolition of the Duncan building looks impressive and safe ! Cant wait to see it all down and bring forward the future
A: agree - a complex operation but going well - thanks
Q: Royal site NCP carpark crossing by Education centre still no updates to improve visibility or traffic calming measures to protect those crossing still too many close calls!!! Can this be addressed asap given how dark and busy this area is.
A: A: The NCP raised zebra crossing is being designed currently and the intention is to get it designed and costed to get board approval to implement. The previous calming zebra zone near the NCP car park entrance has significantly improved speeding offences.
Q: If cars parking in Paddington Village is due to increase due to the closure of Mount Pleasant, will something be done about the exit of Paddington Village and the traffic lights? On 3 recent occasions it has taken me 40 minutes to get down the car park levels and to the barrier. There is then the issue of the traffic on the road.
A: We cannot manage the traffic on the road, which like all our sites often impacts on the traffic leaving our sites, but will liaise with the City Council regarding how Paddington operates wth the aim of improving it. The Trust has implemented legislation highways yellow lining along West Derby St and we have been in contact with LCC Highways Ticketing team to manage the issue of illegal parking .
Q: I deliberately chose the lower cost parking at AUH. Due to the increase, my cost has increased by more than 50% from £25 to £40. I don't think this is fair or reasonable increase. I used to work at RLH and walked and got transferred to to AUH so have to now drive. You can't get a seat on the bus from RLH. we're told that it can't be used to commute. Night staff are finishing shifts at RLH and using bus to go to AUH. Medical students are taking most of the spaces on the first buses, leaving paid staff members unable to get a seat. It is not a reasonable or fair increase. I understand higher paid should pay more. but there is more difference in salary for 8a-9 that 5&6 to 8a. yet 8a pays the same as band 9. I'm considering leaving the Trust due to this increase. Not very "fair" or "caring"
A: I'm sorry to hear that. Its very difficult to level things out and deal with the historic issues as well. The differential between sites creates this too as some have had cheaper rates than others for years. We will continue to do everything we can to mitigate charges going forwards. James.
Q: Will/can the comms team set up a time lapse video when the old Royal starts being demolished?
A: Unfortunately we don't have funding for this as the demolition is going to take a really long time, but we will keep colleagues updated as the work progresses.
The demolition contractor has a timelapse camera currently being positioned on Dental / Edwards Building . We are also looking for a partner on Prescott Street to view from that side
Q: Can the Christmas dinner vouches be a QR code to show at the restaurants instead of printing vouchers. If everyone is printing vouchers this will cost moneyI have mentioned this before, in having an online reporting service (like IT and I gather in AUH) an Estates reporting Icon system, as we can add images and see updates on our calls.
A: we need printed vouchers to complete audit of use vs staff names. We work closely with the till company and aim to improve this moving forward as we appreciate this can be an issue. Thanks Alison
Q: Will the price increase in car parking pay to improve the barriers at AUH site from the wasteland car parks so that they raise in a timely manner?
A: this is work in progress! we have procured the system and just working through implementation of one system for logging jobs on all 3 sites - which will include portering, waste, maintenance and much more. We hope that this will be fully live by April 2024.
Q: I’m quite interested in how the recycling goes at the Trust, and this was to be presented in a team brief? Even a powerpoint or video sent out in comms emails would be great.
A: We have been using a range of meetings/forums to explain the work which is taking place across the Trust. You can find further information on recycling and what happens when it leaves the Trust via the website. More information on our intranet pages here Waste :: Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (liverpoolft.nhs.uk) - Hope this is useful.
Some further info is also available here: https://www.uhliverpool.nhs.uk/application/files/8116/9823/2206/Waste_stream_processes.pdf
Q: What consultation took place with staff before parking decisions were made?
A: There were discussions with the Staff Partnership Forum. Its not an issue that requires consultation as its not contractual but we took it through there as good practice. James
Q: Is there anything that can be done to improve traffic flow in and out of Aintree - the traffic getting onsite and off has been dreadful (I am aware there are some roadworks externally)
A: yes the roadworks on Long Lane, Longmoor Lane etc are impacting on our site. We do liaise with the City Council, but this is often out of our control. Apologies and let's hope that the road works finish soon! Thanks
Q: Is it a Trust policy or BGH car park policy to close the car park for staff at certain times of the day. I have been turned away several times, its frustrating, especially when you see there are spaces available
The agreement entered into in 2018 allows SABA to close the car park to staff when it reaches a certain number. This is why it is closed to staff. It is just open to the public. SABA have been very helpful in supporting the Trust with changes and this is one that is on our list for discussion. However, we are also investing in the site and over 100 new spaces will soon be evident and clearer lining etc. This should all help. Thanks Alison
Q: Several staff in my team are struggling to get responses from the parking/travel team re parking issues despite repeated messages. This pushes staff to use this chat!
A: We would encourage staff to read the FAQs in the first instance, this will help us manage the inbox. Paul has just committed to putting on a helpline from Monday, this will be promoted. Also, we will update the FAQs from the queries raised on here. Thanks Alison
Q:During peak times, there is congestion around the main lifts in the Royal as people try to go to the 10th floor canteen, but waiting for a lift takes up a significant chunk of time. Could the trust consider allocating one or two lifts to functioning as express lifts that run directly from the Lower Ground floor to the 10th floor and back again? "
A: we will investigate this idea thanks
Q: will EV charging costs be increasing
A: We do not have any plans to increase this. Note that this is always influenced by the energy market, so can fluctuate. The EV tariff has just been reduced in line with Trust tariffs
Q: So just to confirm, can we park on all sites (AUH, RLH, LIP, BGH, Dental etc.) just paying the one fee?
A: That is the intention we will work towards, so long as you register to do so as there are 4 systems to be updated
Q: To change my insurance to factor spending half the week at AUH and half the week at RLH will cost me £70 - are the trust going to pay for that?
Q: Has the car parking been benchmarked against other organisations?
A: Yes it has - you can see comparisons with local organisations in the FAQs under the question - 'How do the new fees compare with other local organisations?' which you can find via this link - https://www.uhliverpool.nhs.uk/luhft-staff/staff-car-parking-management-plan
Q: is there a reduced fee for students who are on placement in the organisation
A: Yes there is a concession of £12.50 for undergraduate students - this is answered on this link - https://www.uhliverpool.nhs.uk/luhft-staff/staff-car-parking-management-plan - thank you
Q: The application form doesn't allow you to select all 3 hospitals, so if you are a colleague who is in a trust wide role, how do you document that?
A: There is a box on the application form to tick that you work across sites - hope this helps
Q: Is there anything that can be done to encourage staff to turn engines off when queuing to leave site in rush hour? The fumes from all the cars is awful and bad for our hospitals air quality
Q: Why would you not have to pay for parking just because you work nights? Night staff are on an advanced rate of pay so makes no sense.
A: Those working night shifts are provided with free car parking in line with NHSE guidance, which states; ‘Staff working night shifts are members of staff with a shift starting after 7.30pm and ending before 8.00am. They receive free parking for the duration of their shift.
Q: Given the issues with car parking are bound to be worse over coming months, plus the cross-site working issues staff experience with department relocations, what provision is being considered for increasing the frequency of the shuttle bus to/from the sites? Will the shuttle bus to/from Aintree & Broadgreen continue with a start of 9am as this is very difficult for staff with earlier shifts to travel via this route as public transport is not a feasible option for many.
A: we are retaining the shuttles and hope to increase availability, we are also looking at public transport links
Q: What will happen when I ordinarily work 3 days in and 2 from home but occasionally am required to do a 4th day. This is not common but can happen. What would happen in this case.
A: We will complete audits, if any anomolies show, we will contact the driver to discuss. Thanks Alison
Q: Why can't the staff only be charged for the days they actually use the car parking service and not days when you are off?
A: The charge has been calculated and the level and number of concession has been increased if we widen this then we will have to decrease the level or increase the tariff, we hope the proposed system will work however are reflecting on how this is calculated
Q: How do we get specific/personal questions answered re. parking? The travel team don't respond
A: We would encourage staff to read the FAQs in the first instance, this will help us manage the inbox. Paul has just committed to putting on a helpline from Monday, this will be promoted. Also, we will update the FAQs from the queries raised on here. Thanks Alison
Q: Does the Trust have a standardised working from home policy? For example, some areas can work from home as many days a weeks as they choose, while other areas can only work one day. For non-clinical staff this seems to be a little unfair at the moment. Thanks.
A: The Trust has an Agile working policy. Individual requests to work from home should be based on the needs of the service and impact on ability to do your role working from home. There is no 'rule' that you can only work from home one day a week, but we encourage people to find the right balance for their areas / team.
Q: at what point will managers have to approve all the parking requests for people they manage, if the form only closes on 16th December?
A: Workforce will complete the first level audit for us - ie hours/pt etc and then we will contact managers to verify other queries. We regularly audit and will pick up flags as we go along. We will not delay access to car park if we haven't asked the manager to verify. Please dont let that element worry you. Thanks Alison
Q: What is happening to charges for staff that work regularly on the bank
Q: If you don't submit an updated application for car parking then will the fees be automatically updated or will your car parking be cancelled?
A: car parking will be cancelled from 1st Jan
Q: When will the staff entrance to the Linda Mc be sorted? It's not great for staff having to walk through the walk-in centre to get into the office
A: a separate entrance to the lift and stairs is being designed at present for building in new year
Q: If the team are working hard to review applications, why has nobody heard back yet? If there is a space for everyone, why can't those that have already applied have their space confirmed?
A: an auto reply is received on submission and notification will come after the 16th Dec
Q: Why isn’t Mount Pleasant an option?
A: we have removed the option due to distance from site, also this car park will be closed for redevelopment in the near future.
Q: Why do the trust feel it is fair to have an ATM that charges to use at Aintree, however Royal is free to use?
A: It was discussed at the partnership forum with us taking away an action to discuss further with the independent provider of the ATM
Sorry I missed this. At the point of installing the cash machines on our sites, they were being used a lot, which meant that the cash machine company could offer the service free of charge. Since then, the use of the machines has reduced considerably. Unfortunately, it is within their contract to be able to impose a fee - which they have. We are tied into the contract. We are considering an alternative provider at the end of the current contract.
Q: please could the Trust look into the onboarding process, id badges, uniforms, car park and IT training/access etc. Staff start work but can't actually function. Managers spend hours running around sorting this out but should be able to be completed as part of this process, almost like a onboading induction week.
A: I will take this back to the team. We have tried to streamline the onboarding process as part of our improvement work . Can you please email me so that I can link the team directly to your experience please? thank you heather.barnett@liverpoolft.nhs.uk
Q: It has been great for staff to have traders back on site at the Royal. Great for Morale is there any chance that this can become a regular feature in the New Year even if only one per day?
A: Hi - I will review this with the teams and see what our options are
Q: Can there be a flashing light for the zebra crossing at the staff entrance into the car park at the royal please? I am so surprised that no one has been hit. I nearly got knocked down. It's quite a discreet crossing when cars are racing in from main road
A: we will be adding a platform crossing with beacons in the new year
Q: I think now would have been a great opportunity to allow Paul to answer some more questions about parking. The travel team haven't got back to us before now which is why we all have so many questions. This could have been a good way to get those questions answered as I don't have much faith that individual questions will be answered otherwise
A: Apologies we've received too many individual questions to answer in this forum as we want to look into them properly but we will share the helpline number next week.
Q: Can we look at the safety for staff using the offices on the ground floor as we appear to have homeless people sleeping in them at night
A: please could you drop me an email with the details of this and we will pick this up asap - natalie.hudson@liverpoolft.nhs.uk
Q: Are redundancies a risk if the financial situation does not change.
A: Redundancies are not part of our change process as we want to retain our talent and work with people to redeploy to appropriate posts
Q: if James has finished 15 mins early, can Paul not rejoin to answer parking related questions?
A: Apologies we've received too many individual questions to answer in this forum as we want to look into them properly but we will share the helpline number next week
Q: Can we still get our flu vaccines?
Yes until 15 December – times and locations are here: https://www.uhliverpool.nhs.uk/luhft-staff/staff-vaccinations
Q: I understand the trust provide the bus but sometimes the persons main place of work is actually further away than one of the trusts other sites therefore they then spend 30/45 mins travelling to their main place of work then they have to get a 30 min bus to the site they have to be at whereas they could of just travelled 10 mins from their home to the site.
A: The new car parking management system will help enable staff who are registered on one of our sites to go direct to site from home if this is an option.
Q: know it’s not likely an issue the trust can resolve but we do likely have a duty of care to patients. Is the number of cars parked in the pavements on the West Derby side, this can be quite dangerous to many patients, (I’ve nearly been hit a few times) with limited mobility or sight issues, in just walking down the street or crossing the road. Likely the management team need to address with the council/police.
A: We use traffic enforcement to stop people illegally parking on Trust premises as it is a breech of contract”, much of the illegal parking on WDSt is associated with CCCL however it is the responsibility of LCC to enforce traffic management on the public highway, LUHFT have raised concern regarding this matter with LCC highways department.
Q: Is there any option for on-call parking to allow those who do not have a permit, or those who have non premium parking to access these for clinical on call purposes? The Royal used to have this option available to save staff walking long distances at night and in often emergency situations.
A: We are revieing this matter, and we hope to be able to offer this facility for those registered on the car parking scheme.
Q: For many of us at Aintree the costs are due to double. I appreciate it seems reasonable for higher bands to pay more, but we don't get paid overtime, frequently work over our hours, and often can't park. Many of us have responsibilities that mean we can't use public transport and salary sacrifice may be helpful, but also incurs a tax cost.
A: We appreciate that the system isn’t perfect, and some groups will pay more and others less and people just above the boundaries may feel they aren’t quite right. We based the salary bands on agenda for change full time rates rather than earnings as it’s a more consistent scale. To apply based on over time on call reduced hours (below the concession threshold) etc creates a formula that is unmanageable to maintain a consistent approach.
Q: For staff who work full time hours monday-friday but work 1 or 2 days on each site, can there be a parking option that would cover this? As they would be using the car parks "part time" on each site?
A: the tariff and concession is common across all sites so the calculation is cumulative regardless of site and only one concession applies regardless of how many criteria are relevant.
Q: What about those staff working compressed hours, so I do 4 days a week out of 5. Do I qualify for a concession?
A: We have allowed for compressed hours in so far as someone who works their 37.5 hours in three days would have to only use our car parks two days per week on average over a month to be eligible for the concession. If the staff member achieves their hours over four days, then they would have to only use the car park three days per week to be eligible.
Q: The new car park management application does not offer reduced charges for community teams - is this something that is under consideration? The team may be on site for over 22 hours in 1 week but can be less on other weeks - they can be in & out 2-3 times in 1 day depending on community & unit demands. Off-site parking is not an option as they need to carry supplies / equipment to patients & it is unproductive time commuting to & from car parks. They do not have an option for public transport & should be offered some concession within the new parking structure.
A: If usage of car parking is on average over a month less than 22 hours per week on any of our sites then it may be possible to satisfy the part time use concession. There are some spaces for peripatetic staff on some sites that is close to departments for this purpose it is possible to apply for access to these areas, it may be possible to look into this further on some sites, but options are limited at RLH. If the role requires car use as essential then it would be expected for staff to have means of travel between sites if expenses are available as part of the role, then parking could be part of that.
Q: The part time car park use concession doesn’t align with the trusts work from home policy. Is this what is being reviewed?
A: The car park concession is separate to the WFH policy please refer to the WFH policy or any updated versions however if the WFH policy says that only 20% of your working week can be WFH, so if you're 5 days a week you can only WFH 1 day this alone would not make staff eligible with the car parking concession however if it was allied with a further 1 day of say reduced hours or green or active travel options it may then apply.
Q: January is one of the toughest months financially as we all recover from Christmas, why are the changes being implemented now? I appreciate there is 'no good time'.
A: No there isn’t a good time, and the decision has been deferred for over 9 months for various reasons but also the understanding of the recent economic pressures in several factors, unfortunately the Trust must reduce the financial burden in this regard at some point.
Q: Is there plans to have a cover over the doors to the entrance of the Edwards Building, the swipe card reader and sensors on the doors do not work properly when it rains? This issue has been raised multiple times and we have been told there is no money for this however sometimes the doors do not close once you have left due to not functioning properly as they sensors are wet meaning anyone can just walk in the building as the doors jam open. Surely this is a security risk for both the building and the staff that are based here.
A: The system has worked effectively for several years so should work, all the components are for external use and designed to work in the rain, this has been raised and will be followed up again
Q: Are there any changes we can make to our staff buses seats? Having some buses with backward seats causes issues for employees who suffer from travel sickness. Seems unnecessary if we can have them the other way.
A: It is not possible to switch the seats around, perhaps ask other users to swap seats to use forward facing seats.
Q: Where does the land lie with students taking up spaces on the buses between sites? Paid staff can't get seats? Can't really turf students off either.
A: Students who are in roles within the Trust are valid users of the shuttle busses paid or otherwise. We are investigating increasing size and frequency of busses at peak times.
Q: Can anything be done to enforce the left turn only onto the main road? Cars turning right are causing a backlog of traffic sometimes backed up to the 3rd floor in the car park, which could be greatly reduced with effective lane management.
A: We have increased signage and consistently raised this with staff and will again, it is difficult to do more. In the future we will open an additional route off site for all users including emergency vehicles and at that time will consider carefully two exit lanes as this may make matters worse.
Workforce/Estates – Travel
Q: Why do we have to pay for business insurance to only commute??
A: Trust policy is in response to legal requirement and corporate duty of care please refer to the Trust policy. However, travel to place of work and back home does not require business insurance even if the site is different on different days, traveling between sites during the day constitutes business activity and business insurance would be required by your insurer as if a claim was made it may be invalid without it.
Q: For staff who are based across all sites but do not travel between sites during the workday also expected to have business insurance? Commuting to AUH one day and then RLH the next is still commuting to work just a different site.
A: Trust policy is in response to legal requirement and corporate duty of care please refer to the Trust policy. However, travel to place of work and back home does not require business insurance even if the site is different on different days, traveling between sites during the day constitutes business activity and business insurance would be required by your insurer as if a claim was made it may be invalid without it.
Q: As part of our role, we may have to travel between sites to work. We also cover on call in hours and out of hours. If staff do not have business insurance (which the form now asks staff to have) but need to attend a trust site, are the trust going to provide travel from the staff members main place of work to the other sites they may need to visit both in hours and out of hours?
A: Trust policy is in response to legal requirement and corporate duty of care please refer to the Trust policy. However, if the role requires car use as essential then it would be expected for staff to have means of travel between sites and business insurance would be required by your insurer as if a claim was made it may be invalid without it.
Q: Onboarding is difficult for managers to chase round all the bits that they need to sort out for new starters (uniforms / ID badges / smart cards etc) – is there a way we can further streamline this please (PG) this is a classic area for matrix working using our improvement methodologies
A: The trust remains committed to Improving everyone’s life at LUHFT and making LUHFT the best place to learn, train and work. We have made some significant improvement in the area of colleague onboarding and induction during 2023, we have plans in Q4 to create a task and finish group, where managers and colleagues will be invites to support us to identify areas that need further focus and support to improve. If you are interested in being a change agent and involved in this work please email Organisational.Development@liverpoolft.nhs.uk.
Q: Working from home policy, why can some people work from home more than one day a week when our WFH policy states up to 20% WFH within the week, so one day if full time?
A: The Agile Working policy was introduced as part of the readiness to compliment accommodation plans and workforce plans for the move into the New Royal and to support integrated services to enable best use of our buildings, space and facilities. The Policy was introduced prior to the pandemic and focused predominately on supporting colleagues to work remotely in satellite offices. During the pandemic, the Homeworking Standard Operating Procedure was launched as an immediate response to support managers in delivering the Business Model for their area while ensuring they could support colleagues appropriately. The Homeworking Procedure enabled managers to consider homeworking in its entirety or consider a combination of homeworking and on site work when assessing the service needs. It was recognised that homeworking may not be applicable to all roles. While the Homeworking Procedure was in place to support the pandemic, the principles of homeworking have remained in place with some departments supporting a range of homeworking practices.
The Trust also recognises the benefits of working flexibly and as part of this, The NHS People Plan has promised to give colleagues greater choice over their working patterns to help have a better working life balance and help the NHS remain as an employer of choice. In response to this and to support flexible working within LUHFT, the Flexible Working Policy and Agile Working Policy are currently under review to support the trust in encouraging a culture that supports flexibility to help colleagues to balance their home and work life, whilst balancing the needs of the service and patients. The Flexible Working Policy and Agile Working Policy will be managed in line with the Trust’s Governance Process for policy review and will be agreed in conjunction with our Trade Union colleagues with the aim of launching both in February 2024.
In the meantime, if your department needs support with agreeing homeworking options that are above what has been detailed within the Agile Working Policy, please contact Business HR for advice.
Q: I have been waiting for a decision about MARS since the closing date on 30th September, it is now with Jason pending his decision...would you have any idea how much longer is deemed acceptable to wait to know one way or the other please?
A: Any application under the Mutually Agreed Resignation scheme needs to be considered by the service as to whether it is mutually acceptable. This can take some time for services to assess sometimes, but it is always best to liaise with your line manager and your HR Business Partner if you have a specific concern and they will be able to raise with the senior leader for the area.
Q: Can you confirm MARS is open till January running alongside a workforce change?
A: The MARS scheme is currently open until 31st January 2024 and details can be found on the HR Staff Hub here
Q: The royal site - are bank hca allowed to block book on wards? I know with a shortage of shifts available to bank staff , some wards are allowing bank staff to book months in advance with several shifts a week. Surely it should be fair for all staff to have this privilege.
A: Heather: I will pick this up in our workforce controls group to ensure consistency of approach. We are encouraging the early release of rosters so that people are able to book bank shifts in advance as possible to avoid agency use.
Q: When is the money being taken off for the consultant strikes? 2-3 days loss per month I could cope with, but am I going to lose 9 days pay all at once eventually?
A: Heather: Deductions are being made as we are notified. Where there may be a cumulative impact due to late notifications, we will endeavour to deal with each case to minimise impact . If your deductions are outstanding please notify the generic mailbox expenses@liverpoolft.nhs.uk.
Q: When is the money being taken off for the consultant strikes? 2-3 days loss per month I could cope with, but am I going to lose 9 days pay all at once eventually?
A: Heather: Deductions are being made as we are notified. Where there may be a cumulative impact due to late notifications, we will endeavour to deal with each case to minimise impact . If your deductions are outstanding please notify the generic mailbox expenses@liverpoolft.nhs.uk
Q: is anything moving forward for the staff support groups, specifically the LGBTQ + group
A: Heather: David Melia, Chief Nurse, has agreed to sponsor the LGBTQ+ network which is being relaunched in November. This month it is black History month, so we are working with the network to reset their network and work with them on a framework to support them
Q: Following on from another question - are there any plans to improve meeting room provision at the Aintree site? Space is limited and finding small rooms is always a challenge but actual conferencing facilities are needed as well.
A: all rooms should be added to the meeting room management system to improve access
Q: Meeting rooms across all sites urgently need to be looked at. I know we cannot magic space from nowhere but with the trust's push towards "presenteeism" and going back to face to face, we need the space to facilitate the face to face meetings - or the policy needs to be updated to allow for more WFH to fully utilise Teams. Trying to do a Teams meeting in an office with other people on either the same Teams meeting or other Teams meeting is overwhelming and not conducive to productivity.
A: Heather: I have set up a task and finish group lead by a member of my team who has been tasked with reviewing the current booking system to address recurrent issues with double booking. We will pick up this issue as well as part of this group.
Q: Can we please have some genuine timescales for the impending Operational and Nursing workforce changes etc?
A: Heather: It is intended that the consultation documents will be shared with TU colleagues by the end of this week. We intend to formally go out to consultation early November, with a closure by w/c 11th December. Results of the consultation will be reviewed over the following weeks, with the intention that we will implement the changes from w/c 8th January.
Q: When will there be Administration Awards
A: Heather: Our awards are intended for all our people to put forward the great work you do. We all contribute to great care and innovation. They are open to all teams and colleagues. All colleagues, including admin staff are encouraged to nominate themselves in our Trust awards. The additional awards such as nursing, hca etc. are being organised by other teams to celebrate colleagues locally.
Q: does the HCA awards cover other clinical support workers roles or is it specifically HCA's
A: Please contact PDNTeam@liverpoolft.nhs.uk for any queries on the HCA awards and they will be able to clarify :)
Q: Will MARS be offered again?
A: Heather: Whilst the current scheme has closed, and we haven't yet had approval to open a further scheme, we are currently pursuing this with NHSE colleagues.
Q: Does the flexible working policy apply to all staff members, admin and clerical, and how is it consistently and fairly applied? Thanks
A: Heather: Yes, it applies to all staff and the policy has recently been reviewed. With any flexible working request, the needs of the service must be considered, which sometimes results in difference in flexible working patterns. However, if you believe here is an inequity in applying the policy, please email me and I will ensure your request is reviewed within my team.
Q: Will Education facilities also be looked at on the Aintree and Broadgreen sites?
A: Heather: We are continuing to review education space at Aintree and working with the Estates team to explore options to improve our facilities at the site.
Q: When will the screen on floor 10 skyline restaurant be installed? If it already has been, will the doors open for staff to go outside?
A: Unfortunately for safety reasons, we cannot open the doors on the 10th Floor. This space is under review. Thanks Alison.
Q: Will we have access to the new health sciences campus - for instance, if they have meeting rooms/conferencing centre?
A: Obviously there is a lot to discuss as this is progressed but in making the land available our key ask will be access to conference/education/training facilities - this is really important for us.
Q: Will there be access to electric chargers at BGH for staff ?
A: We have just changed over the 2 units to PODPOINT and currently waiting for them to be commissioned. We are also working with LHCH to try and access their EV charging points for LUHFT staff. Funding has been identified for some of the new spaces to have EV charging points.
Q: Disabled patients at the Royal are still continually upset that there are empty disabled parking spaces in the lower ground floor. Can something be done so that these empty disabled parking spaces can be used by patients in wheelchairs?
A: Unfortunately, as the access route is linked to the demolition, members of the public cannot access the lower podium. We are constantly reviewing car parking on the RLH to improve it and this should lead to more Blue Badge and drop off bays. There is a regular shuttle between QPark and RLH and Dental buildings, please encourage visitors to also use this. Thanks Alison.
Q: What are the plans for the old Aintree site where the wards have been knocked down?
A: Site development plans are underway to include a new GP practice as well as other facilities such as dialysis units are being considered alongside improved car parking provision.
Q: I don't believe we have had a vending machine in the Edwards building?
A: The one offered wasn't what was wanted so a second one has been ordered.
Q: bigger electric car parking spaces at AUH site - current spaces in multi storey are limited and very tight for the cars
A: We hope to install alternative points in MSCP going forward
Q: could you give us more details on the new layout at Broadgreen?
A: we are redesigning the current catering facility and that will be shared with staff
Q: Are there plans to review the cost of the electric chargers as they remain considerably more expensive than public fast chargers yet provide a limited charging rate?
A: Yes, our energy team is just reviewing our KwH vs charging cost. Any changes will automatically take place. thanks Alison
Q: Could we have a pelican crossing lights on the pedestrian crossings at RLH please? There are lights on the crossing outside the mortuary but not on the one outside the multi-storey car park or the ramp that goes down to the parking area at the front of the hospital. Taxi drivers race down that route and maybe they are not aware there are pedestrian crossings.
A: Thanks yes we are planning to do this and install a "platform" asap
Q: Is it possible to improve the visibility of the crossing from the NCP witnessed too many near misses with pedestrians and vehicles
A: traffic calming has been added and will be supplemented, eventually there will be less traffic in and out but this is dependent on the progress of demolition.
Q: I am on the NCP waiting list, and not had the chance to apply for parking
A: We now only have a waiting list for NCP, RLH staff have the opportunity to move to Paddington - which we would encourage. If you wish to apply for Paddington, please contact the General office at AUH site. Similarly, if anyone reading would like to move to Paddington, please contact General Office at AUH too. We will continue to contact staff on the waiting list for NCP as spaces become available. thanks Alison
Q: Can we increase security in carparks. As darker nights draw in I don't feel safe going to my car and seeing lots of incidents on staff FB page already - crashes, cars being tampered with etc with no CCTV to speak of.
A: We do operate safe sites and have invested in CCTV in our car parks and open areas, however, if staff are experiencing incidents in our car parks, please report via Datix so we can monitor and action. Our security teams will always escort staff to the car parks, please contact the staff on the site. Thanks Alison
Q: Staff are being charged £0.45 per kwh at the EV points around the Trust. Thanks to the Trust for having so many installed. This increase was introduced in October 2022 following the global energy surges. We’ve had several nationwide decreases since. Charging at home is considerably cheaper. Is it time to amend the EV price point to reflect a fair payment for staff? It’s the Trust that decide the tariff.
A: tariff will be reviewed and reduced this month
Q: Can costs be reviewed in the cafes? I paid nearly £3 for a small plate of chips at AUH
A: All prices are streamlined across our sites and competitive. I cannot comment on an individual item, but will pass on to the catering manager to review. Thanks Alison
Q: Appreciate there may be some exceptions, but should Royal NCP parking be prioritised for clinical/operational/shift workers? Thanks.
A: that is our aim as we will get better use/ratio/turnover on spaces, but there are so many variances that we need to consider as part of moving staff. We would like staff to come forward and move to Paddington to release capacity in NCP. This will help considerably. Thanks Alison
Q: How can I access the new DMS?
A: You can still access Our Documents through the usual process - via our intranet. A new desktop icon will also be introduced for quick access. This ensures greater version control of clinical and non-clinical documentation, improved accessibility through a single link for all colleagues, no matter where they work in the organisation and the ability to search for documents by name, service or document type. – Comms
Q: If I need to, how do I update information about my service on the new website?
A: The Communications team will be working with colleagues identified in each service to ensure information is maintained and kept up to date. We will be reminding you throughout the year to check your information is up to date. In future, we will be identifying web editors within each service to manage and maintain this information, alongside support offered from the Communications team.
Q: When will there be a new intranet?
A: We will soon be developing the new staff extranet and will be engaging with colleagues to help us shape the platform.
Q: Wondering when our new colleagues who transferred over from ISS in May are going to get trust email addresses/logon, to access to communications updates, ability to logon to a trust PC to complete training. I was shocked they have not yet, it would make me feel not part of the team.
A: This is available to all former ISS staff email is allocated but has to be activated by the user or it automatically lapses.
Q: With the new website a lot of staff info has gone and it directs to the intranets but these are very out of date. I know there is the staff app but I don't have a work phone and don't want to install it on my personal mobile. Please can we have staff info accessible on your Trust PC?
A: Please can you email us with more detail of the information missing/out of date to: communications@liverpoolft.nhs.uk and we will look at this for you. Thanks, Comms Team
Q: I've had DMS tell me when clicking a doc link that I'm blocked.
A: You may be trying to access a document link that sits on the old SharePoint DMS. You can search for this same document here: https://www.uhliverpool.nhs.uk/luhft-staff/our-documents. However, if this block appears when trying to access the new DMS
Q: There was a mention at previous staff brief about providing reassurance that general departmental waste is recycled and therefore no further recycling initiatives are required, could we have more information on this?
A: our teams have prepared a diagrammatic explanation here.
Q: Thank you for taking time to conduct staff brief, it it very informative, and helps to feel apart of a team.
A: Thank you! We're glad you find it helpful. Please do let your colleagues know so we can make sure everyone is aware :)
Q: There was a mention at previous staff brief about providing reassurance that general departmental waste is recycled and therefore no further recycling initiatives are required, could we have more information on this?
A: Please find here information on our different waste streams. You can also click here to find out more about our waste stream process.
Q: Why does the WHSmith shop have altered hours to that listed outside the door. Often it is closed earlier than stated and not open at the times stated this has been various times I’ve noticed this occurring.
A: WHSmith work within core hours. Details are required to query with the company.
Q: Why do both staff members working in the café on the lower ground floor go on their breaks at the same time of a night shift. This means the cafe is closed for one hour and then again it is closed between 5am-6am when the floors are being mopped. It’s a huge loss to staff, patients and visitorswho are using the service. The time is usually 1-2am and 5-6am a common peak time for staff on their break.
A: A review of schedules is underway.
Q: In fear of becoming a trailer for groundhog day .... Can we please have an update on the vending machines, nominated Fire Wardens and Fire Safety Training for staff at the Edwards Building. thank you
A: Edwards building vending machine identified and agreed on. As the dimensions are large we are currently trying to find a different route in for delivery, as the main entrance cannot be used due to there being steps in the front.
The Edwards building has numerous departments on each floor, and its the responsibility of the managers within their own department to place their staff on a fire warden course.
The building has a number of fire wardens, and they look after their own departments not the entire building, in some cases there are multiple fire wardens on the same floor yet on other floors there are none and is solely down to the manager for them departments placing their staff on the fire warden course.
We run fire warden courses on the royal estate from the education centre, and they can book themselves on using the following link: http://hse.aintree.nhs.uk/
The fire team have visited the Edwards building numerous occasions this year to carry out fire talks with different departments, just to give them more information and to try to increase the fire wardens within the building, and that's how we have drummed up support within the building and gained the fire wardens that we now have.
To add to that we carried out a full fire evacuation drill on the 21/09/23, we emptied the building of around 100 people, and we had a loud chat with them all outside regarding fire safety, I am happy to supply the names of the people who where in attendance of the fire drill, as we recorded all the people and the floors and departments that they are situated in.
Q: Will there be more signs put up in the new royal? Particularly for lifts and St Pauls?
Costings for signage enhancements received.
Q: Currently, many of the financial control policies result in delays that are likely to cost more than they save. Are there plans to review these to make them more efficient? Particularly when they are clinically focused decisions or recruitment.
A: It is difficult to answer the question without a specific example, I would add that given the size of the financial challenge the Trust faces we have implemented financial governance arrangements to support the Trust to return to a sustainable financial position moving forward. These controls are reviewed by the teams on a regular basis to ensure they remain valid and appropriate. An example of this is the workforce recruitment exemption list for clinical facing roles which is updated at our weekly meeting to ensure the process is timely and fair.
Q: Can we have the link to the CQC toolkit here please?
A: https://
Q: Is there any information on progress to reduce the financial deficit?
A: We’re six months into our Cost Improvement Plan (CIP) journey and there has been some fantastic progress, with over £22 million in total recurrent savings achieved to the end of August. At the start of April, we were tasked with saving a challenging £58.8 million in permanent costs this financial year. Now in October as we pass the halfway point, thanks to your hard work across the organisation, we have successfully progressed £39 million to the approved stage – which is 66% of our target. We’re keen for everyone to get involved, and want you to share your ideas on how you think we can continue to improve our financial sustainability through our Saving Together initiative.
Q: Currently, many of the financial control policies result in delays that are likely to cost more than they save. Are there plans to review these to make them more efficient? Particularly when they are clinically focused decisions or recruitment.
A: It is difficult to answer the question without a specific example, I would add that given the size of the financial challenge the Trust faces we have implemented financial governance arrangements to support the Trust to return to a sustainable financial position moving forward. These controls are reviewed by the teams on a regular basis to ensure they remain valid and appropriate. An example of this is the workforce recruitment exemption list for clinical facing roles which is updated at our weekly meeting to ensure the process is timely and fair.
Q: Have you taken the time to speak with families of neurodiverse children who rely on being able to request their shifts to fit around childcare? Alot of our children dont do well with change, and only a hand full of family members are able childmind.
A: I'd like to understand this more, so would ask you to email Heather Barnett and I can direct you to the right person to have that conversation with to ensure we understand the demands on families with neurodiverse children.
Q: Aintree Hospital features on the list of hospitals affected by RAAC. What action is the Trust taking to mitigate the risks?
A: There is lots being done here including assessments of the RAAC condition and risks associated. I am assured there is a strong plan and risk assessment and the Board are reviewing this tomorrow. We can share more on this meeting if helpful but may be best to be an Aintree briefing as that's where it is.
Q: Is a merger with the Women's likely or possible in the future?
A: The women's have made it clear that they see their future being part of a larger organisation as they have real challenges due to their small scale. Whether a merger is the right answer isn't clear yet. I've been very clear priority no1 is resolving the high risk services that exist and need LUHFT support and until we've done that we shouldn't be worrying about structures.
Q: Can I ask how the income generated from the outlets on our sites are reinvested into the organisation.
A: They purely go straight back to the bottom line, the organisation isn't making a profit anywhere hence the very large deficit.
Q: Has there been any more news on the data breach? I don't remember seeing an ICO report.
A: Off DPO It is with Trust lawyers and responses have been sent to any claims received. In terms of lessons learnt these are not to be released given any live ongoing legal case
Q: There are more and more organisations in the UK trialling a 4 day working week; are there any discussions within the Trust taking place around this?
A: We are not specifically trialling a four day week but we do promote flexible working to enable people to balance work and life.. There is a process to submit a flexible working request through your line manager should you wish to do so.
Q: Do we have any news on when the walk in in the Linda Mc will open?
A: Mid-October, we will keep colleagues updated as work progresses
Q: Can you add the link here for the strategy survey please?
A: https://
Q: re the Strategy, does the Trust have an estates strategy, at Aintree we hear a lot about the North of the site, has anything been agreed?
A: We are working on this now but it needs to be driven by the new organisational strategy rather than the other way around so it will be April next year
Q: It would be great to know how many people are on the brief.
A: 262 colleagues joined September’s Staff Brief session
Q: What are the Trust plans for Black History Month in October to help the diverse/under represented workforce feel valued?
A: We will be announcing our engagement with Black History month within our comms channels and I will ensure that this is highlighted through the staff networks. We are relaunching our networks very soon so please look out for that. We have also started to develop our approach to anti-racism with the first session held with the Trust Board last month. We will do more of this in Black History Month.
Q: Are the vaccines mandatory? Previous vaccines did not prevent me from getting COVID and I was very sick and would want to get more vaccines to add to Trust/national statistics.
A: No, the vaccines aren't mandatory. If you would like to discuss further why that might have been, I'm sure our Occ health team would very much welcome a conversation with you.
Q: Is it possible to have flu and covid vaccines on separate dates?
A: Yes, that's fine.
Q: Is it possible to just get the flu jab and not the COVID one as well?
A: Yes it is, you just need to say what vaccination you want to have when you book in.
Q: Are there plans for better health and wellbeing on sites? Corridors/offices with no staff rooms, restaurants not open or with limited offers, limited green space or opportunity to take advantage of them (particularly at the Royal) and other things like gyms on site or childcare on site?
A: Yes, this will be in our wellbeing strategic plan as a result of feedback from our big conversation
Q: Why does this Trust not have a gym on site?
A: We are unable to offer gyms on site but NHS discounts are available at several Liverpool gyms.
Q: Would be good to know where showers are that staff can use on the staff app so people running or cycling in can use?
A: Great Idea, if we can work with Estates, we can look into this. Please feedback via the feedback section on the new app.
Q: We need an option to be able to reply to questions e.g. I know the answer to ICO question.
A: Unfortunately, there isn't a way to do this in teams but if you can share in the chat we will publish it and add as a response.
Q: Can I ask about vacancy approval panels as we have 3 nurse vacancies (nearly half our team) and are struggling. Despite 2-3 months notice none have gone out yet. Its so stressful when patient facing explaining how we can't deliver the service. can the process be sped up at all?
A: Ward-based nurses at bands 5 – 7 should not require approval. Nursing roles within the Corporate division and some clinics are not exempt and do require approval at the relevant panel. To avoid delays, please ensure all queries are responded to promptly and all additional info is to hand.
Q: Looking forward to Staff awards, do we have a copy of the menu?
A: We will be emailing all attendees with a full update nearer the time, if you have any dietary requirements or any other awards queries please let us know by emailing staffawards
Q: What about information on the new app, for bank staff?
A: All staff can access the App so please feedback any ideas you have specific to our bank staff in the feedback section of the app.
Q: Clinical posts are on hold in Therapies so unfortunately your statement that clinical posts do not require approval is not true.
A: I am aware that Therapies specifically are currently required to seek approval at vacancy control panel, so apologies if my earlier answer was misleading. This is because the service have asked for controls to remain pending a wider review of workforce plans.
Q: Thank you for your response to the culture of LUHFT of "presenteeism" but not sure responding to the strategy is the answer , it is quite simple really offering the hybrid model of some meetings being face to face alternatively would be a far better solution and utilising technology - think the Org needs to move into the 21st centaury like other Trusts
A: Please email Heather Barnett to discuss with a HR business partner.
Q: Trainees and students on placement in the Trust come with a budget from HEE. Supervision often 'costs' a service in terms of qualified staff time, but the budget for specific groups of trainees does not come to the departments offering placements. Is there an awareness of this or a plan to ensure those funds are allocated fairly?
A: The HEE funding is challenging to find and L&D and ACP lead have been trying to identify this but Finance need to engage and help but this has been difficult.
Q: I know this has been mentioned before, but where are we up to with having recycle bins for glass, plastics and cans in the trust? This would add to the trust’s green credentials.If we do have these, then can we have them for the Edwards Building.
A: We do get a lot of questions around recycling in the Trust and are trying to improve communications around it.
Currently all our general waste goes into a single black bag, including recyclable materials. This goes off to a Material Recovery Facility where recyclable materials are pulled out and sent off for recycling. Everything that remains is then sent to an Energy from Waste site, where it is burnt to create electricity. Nothing goes to landfill.
The waste manager also is looking into options for a separate mixed recycling waste stream, to see if this is something that could be introduced. We do have a separate green bag waste stream for paper and cardboard. If you don’t already have this in your department, you can get in touch with the waste team to request this. If you can let us know which site you are based on, we can give you the email address for the site waste manager.
Please find here information on our different waste streams. You can also click here to find out more about our waste stream process.
Q: Is there an update on when the new flexible working policy is due out?
A: The new flexible working policy is due to be approved in November and will be available in due course.
Q: Appraisals for consultants are still not meaningful and do not really help or support progression. It is still seems like a data gathering exercise. and a tick box exercise. It really needs improvement
The trust has adopted the national guidance for appraisal MAG 2022 with its emphasis on a supportive developmental appraisal however there is still a requirement for a doctor to demonstrate that they are keeping up to date, and are complying with the requirements of Good Medical Practice for their revalidation. Sometimes this can be a difficult balance to achieve.
The update to GMP which is in process of implementation will result in a further update to the electronic appraisal system next year. The changes to the system will be communicated once we are aware what these are.
In the meantime we are constantly reviewing the appraisal process, and welcome any suggestions for improvement; all doctors are invited to provide anonymous individual feedback after each appraisal which will be reviewed by the appraisal team for any recurring themes or issues.
Q: Can the options for hot food in the canteen be improved? This is still not great, but quite expensive.
We are currently reviewing the menu offer across LUHFT and will be introducing some new food concepts in the near future .
To support 24/7 and weekend food access a new convenience vending facility will be installed in early November on the entrance to the Skyline Restaurant on the 10th floor .
Options will include
Hot Snack Food To Go:
A range of hot toasted sandwiches, Tuna Melt, Bacon Muffin, Falafel Paninis etc
Hot Meals To Go:
Ranging from -Chilli Black Bean, Jerk Chicken, Piri- Piri, Katsu Chicken Curry, Beef Bolognaise Pasta, Chicken Stroganoff, All day Breakfast, Satay Chicken, Fajita Chicken, Buffalo Chicken and Rice, Chicken and Bacon Carbonara, Chicken Korma, Thia Green Curry etc
Healthy eating
Vegan ice cream , healthy snacks, confectionery and a zero-sugar soft drink's range will also be available .
Q: The canteen on the 10th Floor at the New Royal was closed again on Saturday morning. A sign says "Due to Staff shortage". Torino and Fresh aren't open either ... is this acceptable ... this service has recently gone in house from previous supplier, ISS .... surely access to hot food is something the Trust should provide.
We apologise for the inconvenience, on the day we had a large number of sickness absences and vacant posts, and closure was unavoidable.
We have been working with HR and the Recruitment to rectify these issues and action taken will improve service operating times.
Q: The main doors at the Edwards Building, tend in rain stop working, don’t know if it’s the sensors getting wet, which is why a cover over the doors would likely help. This has been reported a few times. Especially as it would be a safety risk as the doors can be too heavy to push open manually against the motor.
This appears to be the case and an issue occurs with the doors when the safety sensor gets wet in the rain. We have already installed the recommended rain cover to this sensor but it seems that in certain circumstance during driving rain we have had the issue re-occur.
The projects team are reviewing options to further protect this sensor from the elements.
Q: Can the fruit stall return? There are very very limited options available on both sites.
The fruit and veg stall was temporarily relocated to the reception area, Linda McCartney Centre in
December 2022. However as business was not viable the stall holder left and declined a further location which was proposed outside the Linda McCartney Centre. We are reviewing alternative provision.
Q: The grounds outside A&E are absolutely filthy and need a good wash.
Cleaning outside of A and E is currently provided by a contractor. We are in the process of negotiating its return into the in-house to Domestic Services as it is at Aintree. In the interim we have spoken to the contractor about the need to improve the current service delivery and this will be monitored by the Domestic Services team to ensure the standard improves.
Q: There is extensive unusable estate across LUHFT (e.g. Broadgreen Old Surgical Corridor), is this appropriate for renovation through the New Hospital Programme?
Broadgreen old surgical corridor has been identified as poor quality accommodation and plans are being drawn to demolish this and relocate staff and services located within it.
Q: can there be bins put outside hospital entrances please?
Yes, subject to approval of the Fire Team, new bins will be installed shortly.
Q: Can some signage be added to the external lift by the New Royal. identifying what is on Floor 1, 0 and -1 Patients don't know what floor is what and end up getting lost
Signage requirements are currently under review with new signage planned.
Q: Poor office, cramped no windows, based on ground floor, in new build is office space going to be reviewed
Please raise concerns via your management routes.
Q: Room booking is yet to be resolved, many areas who "own" rooms are not using the Outlook system relayed in comms creating double bookings. Ideally someone central in the Trust needs to own this. Such a minor thing causes massive stress.
A: We have set up a task and finish group, lead by Learning and Development to review the Trust booking system with the aim of resolving the frustrations that people are experiencing with double bookings. We will report back progress at next Team Brief in November.
Q: Vaccine Hub @ AUH Canteen - Please could another board be provided to make this more private, one of my colleagues had to stand in front of the gap whilst I took my shirt off, putting people off their canteen breakfast!
A: We actioned this and checked all others had sufficient privacy.
Q: Can thought please be given to those staff who are off-site in places like the Innovation Park when arranging Flu and Covid jabs? In fact for everything not just 'jabs'.
A: The vaccination team made contact with the Innovation park and arranged for a visit to happen.
Q: Can i ask why the wellbeing days are not happening at the innovations site?
A: We have had a few dates booked which unfortunately were cancelled due to strikes/ queens funeral. We are in the process of sorting dates for next year and LIP are included as a separate site.
Q: I have looked on the Trusts site and the Sharepoint (Building Our Future Together) as I’ve asked this question numerous times, what are the plans for the old hospital site, do we have any site plans of new buildings (what will they be) and what will the grounds be like, as in disabled parking, mini bus terminal (stop points) etc.
A: This is still in discussion so there are no final plans as a business case will be required.
Q: Could we have an online reporting service for both Domestic Services and Estates, similar to the IT issues reporting service, which I feel works really well to report issues, when you’ve not got time to hang on the phone. This way reporting an issue could be easier and give more info on the problem, e.g. adding photos, detailed location, and know what has been done so far to resolve.
A: Everyone should have the "Estates and Facilities Reporting Tool" icon on their desktops which is where you can raise all estates issues.
Q: I know that a new trust website is being developed, when will this be ready, as well as give a sneak peek to staff, so they can give feedback? I do think it’s the way forward in a new website, to not only be in keeping with the “NEW” LUFT but also to more showcase what great work we do in the different depts.
A: We're expecting to launch late autumn, there will be opportunities to take a look so please keep an eye out in Liverpool News for details
Q: What does SOF stand for? - Can we get a copy of the SOF 4?
A: Strategic Oversight Framework - please see here for more info - https://
Q: Can you provide an update on the recruitment freeze?, Some departments are being detrimentally impacted by an inability to recruit staff because of several levels of bureaucracy. I appreciate this is to try and save money, but it seems unfair considering the trust's financial woes are not a result of individual staff and teams, but poor management from the top down.
A: Senior Posts that are being held as part of our recruitment restrictions are being held to enable us to protect existing staff members who are going through organisational change. Any other recruitment restrictions are intended to ensure that we have considered alternative ways of delivering services. Patient facing front line services should not be impacted by recruitment restrictions.
Q: Toilets on the 3rd Floor corridor have now been locked. Since the move these toilets have been available but now the key is held by the Trust Board Offices staff who also work on the 3rd Floor have been refused access. There are only 1 set of toilets now available for the whole organisation on this floor, a floor that is heavily used and even used by members of the public. If these toilets need to be locked surely either more keys need to be made available to people who work on this floor, or a keycode lock fitted. Can something be done about this?
A: Yes - i can sort this. They have been temporarily locked until the door access next to them has been fixed. We have had instances of people getting into the building and locking themselves in which was creating a risk to our cleaners out of hours. I can ensure they are open in the day and locked at the end of the day until then.
Q: Old Royal Demolition – where is this upto?
A: We’ve had a lot of questions about the progress of the demolition and what patients and colleagues can expect during this process so have now published a Q&A to hopefully answer some queries. The Q&A can be found here.
Q: Is there any scope to having disability open days/meetings? For example, having lesser well known disabilities discussed by the people who have them thus alerting staff to things they could look out for that they may not know about already. And how they can support their colleagues if they have said disabilities.
A: Yes, this is a great idea. Please link with Heather Barnett, Chief People Officer - Heather.
Q: What does HMB stand for?
A: Hospital Management Board
Q: Are there any updates regarding CIP? How are we performing against the targets?
A: Very well so far - we have achieved the CIP target for the first four months of the year, however, we still need more ideas and suggestions as the last 6 months of the year is going to be challenging. Will make sure we include next month.
Q: Can the entrance on Mount Vernon Street be looked at please? Not sure what it is called but there is a rubber lining at the main doors that is proving difficult for prams and wheelchairs to get over. I watched recently a nurse transporting a table and it completely tipped over, sending her stuff everywhere because the wheels got stuck on this rubber lining. Can it be assessed?
A: The door on the podium mount Vernon St side has a rubber movement joint strip across it. It was re- assessed three months after opening as being acceptable and we are reassessing it on the 12 months from opening next month . If it requires a hard cover we will look into this now ASAP.
Q: Does the recruitment freeze apply to new/increasing roles only or across the board. We have leavers on the team and are carrying many vacancies. There is too much work to absorb and performance is starting to drop, stress is on the increase. Soon we’ll have the supporting team off sick. I know we need to make savings but basic staffing should be a standard given.
A: Recruitment restrictions apply to those roles that we feel should be protected to allow displaced staff to be redeployed. They also apply to posts where we think we could deliver services differently, so this doesn't need to be a new or additional role. Where we have funded vacancies approved through vacancy panels, we will recruit to them. It is not our intention to restrict appointments to fundamental patient facing roles.
Q: What is being done about the distinct lack of training/meeting room space especially on RLH and BGH sites. For staff working on these sites, they sometimes have to travel all the way to Aintree to access training. This wastes valuable time.
A: The Education team and Estates team are in the process of reviewing education and training space across all sites, which we know can be challenging at times. Due to estate restrictions, sometimes staff will need to travel to other sites for their training, which is unfortunate but something we have to manage.
Q: Will the Values in Action workshop be similar to the Leading with values workshop? Should staff who attended the Leading with values workshop still attend the Values in Action workshop?
A: The leading with values workshop will help us shape the behaviours that sit behind our values. This session is a follow on from the Values in Action workshop and we'd love you to attend if you can. The Leading with Values workshops were specifically aimed to LUHFT colleagues in manager roles - The Values into Action workshops are available for all colleagues - as a manager if you attended the Leading with Values you do not need to attend Values into Action.
Q: Following on from other anon re key contacts could we also have a list of Heads of Operations accessible on the intranet?
A: Our divisional structure charts can be found on the intranet here which may help.
Q: Aintree needs to have more than one day allocated for Smartcards - there are several staff members (managers) who cannot access ESR via their smartcard to carry out tasks as their card has an issue on it and needs an RA agent but have to go to the Royal on certain days to get it resolved - this is inconvenient for staff who need the cards to do their job etc. Each site needs to have designated smartcard sponsors etc. re-instated.
A: 90% of smartcards can be updated remotely, such as changing role access. The only reason you may require physical appointment is when certificates lapse and in those instances a notification is given for 3 months leading up to the expiry. The only other reason for a physical appointment is for printing cards. We have 3 printers here in Wavertree and wouldn’t send anyone to the Royal unless they are based there.We are doing a lot to improve the process and this year we have implemented new sessions, both on the Royal site on Tue/Fri (half days) and some at BGH. The Aintree site is a full day on Wednesday. We unfortunately don’t have the resource to put on more sessions at AUH.
Q: Could we have an online reporting service for both Domestic Services and Estates, similar to the IT issues reporting service, which I feel works really well to report issues, when you’ve not got time to hang on the phone. This way reporting an issue could be easier and give more info on the problem, e.g., adding photos, detailed location, and know what has been done so far to resolve.
A: We are in the process of introducing a Help desk function within E and F which will give the staff a portal to use to request any additional activity or raise any concerns with activity that not to standard. I am unsure if this has the functionality available to insert photo but will find out and report back.
Staff already have the ability to contact all service managers via email/landline/mobile.
Q: Estates and Facilities Reporting Tool is not available on my desktop - I am at Royal? Where can I get this link from please?
A: Currently, the estates tool covers Aintree, and Liverpool Women’s. There isn’t a desktop app at RLUH / BGH for Maintenance.
We are in the process of implementing a new system. This will allow all maintenance, domestic, waste, transport, linen, portering requests (and maybe more!) to be logged on-line for all 3 sites. It will be phased into each area and we will publicise it widely as we roll it out. It will be fully live by 1 April 2024.
In the meantime, for maintenance Aintree, please use the web reporting icon on the desktopFor Royal please phone 0151 706 2156 (24/7) or RLUH Helpdesk: rluhhelpdesk
Q: Could we perhaps have an electronic system for car parking, i.e. add yourself to the waiting list, see where you are on the list and how many spaces are available? It's really frustrating having to rely on people who either don't reply to your emails or reply simply telling you to wait.
A: We appreciate feedback, we are looking to align application process to simplify and streamline the service to alleviate staff concerns
Q: Could we have an update on when the staff in the Edwards building will be having fire safety teaching? The building has one main flight of stairs and there is no other obvious way of safely leaving the building if there is a fire in the stair well.
A: In addition to the fire safety mandatory and local Departmental induction training the fire safety team deliver a continual programme of fire safety training across LUHFT. The annual fire safety evacuation drill and subsequently fire safety training is planned for September 2023.
The Edwards building has two means of escapes by way of two protected stairwells that lead to a place of safety.
Please contact the fire safety team on firesafety
Q: Is there a plan to get any shelter for the area where staff wait for the staff buses between hospitals? Staff are currently having to stand out in the wind/rain as there is no shelter, and if staff wait inside then other staff jump ahead and take the space and staff end up having to wait for the next bus.
A: There are currently no plans to install a staff bus shelter, but we will explore the opportunity if capital funding become available.
Q: How do we apply for a parking permit at the new Paddington Village car park? I have emailed General Office and Travel but no department seems to be clear on the way to apply for this.
A: All applications should be made through the Trust Internet (Staff Hub). When completing the application form select Royal as the site and you be diverted to another drop down box where you can select Paddington Village Car Park.
Q: Can we please have an update re allocations on the 9th floor at RLH and ensuring that patient facing staff are actually accommodated within the new build ahead of the winter months. We ask every month and never get resolution.
(WAITING FOR RESPONSE FROM PROPERTY TEAM)
Q: Can something be done about the army of smokers that stand outside the main doors at The New Royal. This is both patients and staff. I know there are signs there but it might as well read 'come and smoke here' since it's never enforced. It feels like walking through Victorian Britain every time you enter the building.
A: Work continues to educate our patients and visitors that all our sites are smoke free. Information over bollards near the entrances at the Royal site (and eventually all other sites) have been put up.A task and finish group has been established with key stakeholders to develop a Trust position on various issues including effective communications, enforcement and vaping.The Trust is engaging actively with other national Trusts to understand how they are dealing with this issue.An options appraisal paper is currently in development and will soon be presented to the senior management teams.
Q: could there be a way of switching the buses between the routes at all? The smaller of the buses is often used to go to Aintree. it seats 7 and often is filled to capacity, leaving people behind waiting half an hour for the next one. Meanwhile Broadgreen might only have one person travelling in the larger of the buses.
A: Shuttle Bus review of service and users to take place
Q: A previous staff brief said that the staff in the Edwards building would be getting a vending machine when the ISS staff had moved across to the NHS. Is there any news on this happening at all? If staff want food they need to leave the building and go to LIDL or to the dental hospital cafe.
A: A site visit is arranged on Thursday 5 October to discuss options and suitable locations for vending machines as the foyer area is not suitable.
Q: Where are the disabled parking spaces on all sites - the parking teams aren't responding to emails and not sure where to escalate to
A: Royal: NCP Level 3, Level – 0 PodiumBGH: Alexandra Wing Front entrance, DTC Main entrance, Rear of DTC Building and Saba Multi storey Carpark.
AUH: Multi Storey Carpark, Car parking zones 1, 2 and 3 all have to Disabled parking
For staff to use any of the onsite parking an application form should be completed for the respective site you commute to or if you work across sites.
Q: Will there be a bus running from Aintree to Wavertree? As the Broadgreen route from Royal stops there.
A: There are no plans currently, however a shuttle bus review of service and users to take place may inform this.
Q: The bins outside the pedestrian entrance to ARDU opposite The Bereavement Suite are disgusting and overflowing, burst bags etc. all over the floor - it is a obstruction for any wheelchair users accessing that entrance to the Prosthetics Dept. also and looks bad for the Trust.
A: The bins are on a schedule of daily checks/replacement. The Domestic Management team will increase the surveillance of this area to check frequencies. We will also review bin size to see if there is a more suitable sized bin and if it can be relocated slightly to resolve to access issues.
Q: The estates tool on the desktop - doesn't that just cover Aintree? is there a similar link for Avrenim for estates work at the Royal and Broadgreen.
A: Currently, the estates tool covers Aintree, and Liverpool Women’s. There isn’t a desktop app at RLUH / BGH for Maintenance.
We are in the process of implementing a new system. This will allow all maintenance, domestic, waste, transport, linen, portering requests (and maybe more!) to be logged on-line for all 3 sites. It will be phased into each area and we will publicise it widely as we roll it out. It will be fully live by 1 April 2024.
In the meantime, for maintenance Aintree, please use the web reporting icon on the desktopFor Royal please phone 0151 706 2156 (24/7) or RLUH Helpdesk rluhhelpdesk
Q: Can we link Innovations into the bus timetables please to reduce the need for staff to pay multiple parking charges at different sites?
A: Shuttle Bus review of service and users to take place.
Q: Will there be a new staff entrance in Linda Mc when the walk in is in, do staff who work there need to walk through the walk in?
A: All staff will use the existing entrance.
Linda McCartney Centre staff will use the shared spaces but apart from Triage 1 there will be access control to the rest of the walk-in centre. The only time staff might need to travel through the walk-in centre is if there is a fire and they have to use the stairs to the right of the walk-in centre.
Q. This was mentioned at the last team brief by a few staff members, that the Olympia Staff Carpark is closing in August, can you confirm? plus let anyone who parks there know what’s going to happen next?
A. We will be contacting any colleagues that use Olympia next week with full details once we have them.
Q. Please could anything be done to address the air ambulance collections at Aintree, they keep asking people and they seem to target students on placement.
A. I will speak to them direct, thanks. Alison Peckham
Q. Is there somewhere onsite where we can give blood?
A. Good question! We’ll look into this.
Q. Every time it rains, the sensors outside the Edwards Building stop working and the front doors stick so we struggle to get in and out. Last night the door alarm went off and we couldn’t get out at all. We have reported it to Estates several times but they say nothing can be done. Can someone take a look at this please and perhaps look into erecting a canopy over the entrance to stop the sensors getting wet?
A. Thanks for raising, I will get this discussed with our team at Royal site, thanks Alison Peckham
Q. I do see that in a few clinics I do that DNA and cancellation rates from patients are high, do we have any measure to try and reduce this as reducing will help the wait lists?
A. I know this is a key part of our outpatient improvement programme. Perhaps we can cover at a future meeting. You are absolutely right that it will help and it is an easy win for all of us.
Q. I’ve been waiting for 8 months for a car park space close to the Royal. I was in the Olympia for 3 months but the 40 minute walk to and from the Edwards building was too much for me (I’m not as young as I used to be!) and it affected my health. I email the Travel office on a monthly basis but they have stopped responding to me; I do have extenuating circumstances that the Travel office are aware of. I’m currently paying privately for parking but I don’t know how long this can continue. Is there anyone I can escalate this to please? Thanks.
A. We are about to announce new parking options which will be much closer (Paddington) and much better quality. We also hope this will significantly reduce the waiting list. You will hear more in the next couple of weeks and I expect this to resolve the problem so please bear with us.
Q. Can we get signage at the newest zebra crossing close to the MSCP entrance at RLUH? Cars seem to speed towards it because they don't see it until the last minute.
A. Extra 10mph signs have been put up on Mount Vernon and extra white line ‘SLOW’ signage has been applied.
The entrance to Mount Vernon St is the border of the public highway, so our signage can only start inside our grounds, however, there was a signage plan in place (approved by Highways) as part of the site changes.
Q. Will there be air purifiers being supplied to the offices in the Edwards Building as it won’t be long until we cannot open windows for fresh air, due to the dust, even if mitigating water vapours are used by the demolition team.
A. The demolition will not create dust which will mean that windows in Edwards Building cannot be open. Legislatively the demo contractor and the trust have an obligation to put in place plans and monitoring so that this doesn’t happen. Currently we have air monitoring stations positioned all around the project advising us what the current air quality is and the quality of what it will be during demolition.
Q. Do staff have a say in Axess clinic moving to town? I feel this may affect staff getting needed health checks and routine smears.
A. I believe the city centre location was part of the specification for the commissioning of the service which we need to comply with, although I know there are challenges with finding an appropriate location. Therefore it may not be our choice but we can ask the question of our axess team about how we could mitigate this issue.
Has the room booking process been resolved?
Q. When will more detail be available on the women in leadership programme and which levels of staff will this be open to?
A. We will be launching the women in leadership network in September so please contact Tracey Lowrey for the date for this. All women at every level are welcome.
Q. When will the new staff networks be launched and when will staff be able to join?
A. September this year. Tracey Lowrey will be communicating out the relaunch date asap. Tracey - please add to here if you have the confirmed date.
Q. When is the veterans network going to be available?
A. Heather Barnett: I would really appreciate a conversation about this as to how we support this being established. Do you have a network already?
Q. The LGBTQI+ network meeting has still been cancelled, I think that's six months+ consecutively, doesn't give much faith in the relevance of this network.
A. Heather Barnett: I understand that this is frustrating. This is one of the reasons for relaunching and finding people who are able to support the running of these networks. If you are able to help us then please let me know. You're very welcome to be part of the relaunch.
Q. What is going on with staff awards?
A. All the nominations are currently being judged by our panels and we'll be announcing the shortlist at the end of July so keep an eye out!
Q. Can we expand staff awards please to cover heroes in certain staff groups e.g. in E & F teams? Akin to positive action?
A. We encourage staff from all areas to nominate colleagues for the awards. As you'll understand because of the size of the organisation it can be hard to offer categories for every department separately and still be able to fit everyone in for the ceremony. Most of our categories are values based so that all colleagues have a chance for recognition. If you have any suggestions or queries around the categories, please email: staffawards
Q. When will the intranets match for all three sites?
A. The new websites and intranets are in development, as you can imagine it's a large project that we need to make sure we get right but we'll share updates and timescales as soon as we can and let colleagues know of any further opportunities to get involved.
Q. How is R Charity linking in with National NHS Charity
A. LUHFT Charity recently hosted a charity golf day. It was excellently supported by partners and it was organised brilliantly by our Charity Fundraising Teams.
Q. After the recent lump sum and slight increase in monthly pay from the government, we have now been told that the government needs to find that money from elsewhere, so instead of being paid Overtime rate for extra shifts, we will be paid bank rate which in some cases of bands is less than the basic hourly pay. How is this fair and by talking to staff from other trusts they are still getting overtime and waiting list pay apparently? Does the trust have to follow these guidelines?
A. Heather Barnett: The issue of government funding is something that will need to be resolved nationally. However, internally as LUHFT, we have recently been reviewing our temporary / additional staffing spend and in response to the significant financial challenges we face, we have been reviewing how we address this challenge. This has meant that we have reviewed the way we engage temporary and additional pay.
Q. Can LCL have some drinks and snacks machines?
A. A site survey has been completed for this, the proposal drawn up and is awaiting approval and action.
Q. There has been some really positive initiatives in relation to improving leadership, line management. How will it be ensured that all line managers engage?
A. Heather: we are rolling out a programme of leadership development for all our leaders which will make sure all managers and leaders are able to engage. We have also established a leadership enhancement framework which sets out what we expect from all our leaders which we will use throughout appraisal etc.
Q. Could we have an internal webpage on say Sharepoint with the topics that are ongoing with the trust and where they are up to as this will give staff an idea of which projects we have and where they are upto? Never know on some of them if we know about them we as staff may have ideas as well.
A. Progress against our major projects and our improvement plan will be added here.
If there are other areas you'd like updates on and aren't able to find the info please let us know and we can look into this.
Q. Staff who park off site have been waiting for access at the weekends to onsite parking, travel have now been emailed 6 time with no response so weekend staff are paying extra for car parking and claiming it then back. When will departmental passes be resolved.
A. Weekend car parking is easy to sort, as we have capacity, please send me a list of staff who require just weekend access and I will sort with my team. Thanks Alison Peckham
Q. We have been told future nursing and odp apprenticeships have been stopped because of a funding issue. Is this temporary or will there be further cuts to training and career development?
A. Future apprenticeships haven't been stopped, although we will need to identify how we fund these going forward at a site level. It is very important to me and the Exec team that training and career development is continued and expanded, not reduced, but we need to find innovative ways to do this in our current financially challenged position.
Q. As someone who has benefited from the apprenticeship scheme at LJMU, one of the benefits was networking with other leaders in different departments. Would the Trust consider a programme of managers having experience of other leadership teams and how they work, perhaps shadowing opportunities?
A. Heather Barnett: Absolutely yes, please contact us to share your ideas.
Q. Are the locations of staff groups within the New Royal being considered? There are patient facing staff groups located in the Edwards walking back and forth, and some team located in the new royal who don't face patients and could be located offsite.
A. We're picking this up with the teams now that we have been in the new Royal for a few months we need to review where our services are placed and what we can do to support those who still need spaces on site. Your divisional management teams will be working through this with departments over the coming weeks.
Q. Would it be possible to get a restaurant menu on the new staff intranet? I often turn up to find that there re no options for my dietary requirement.
A. This is a great idea and thanks for raising. We will take this forward and get back to you. Keep these ideas flowing.
Q. Can the allocate job planning system for consultants be on the intranet?
A. Like the idea. Our compliance with Allocate is not as good as it should be and maybe this would help. I'll follow up.