On the latest episode of Our People Podcast we met up with Louise Howe and Lisa Hobbs from our Critical Care Outreach Team.Louise and Lisa talk about Call4Concern which is a service for adult patients, families and friends to call for help and advice if they are concerned about a patient's condition.The service is led by the Critical Care Outreach Team and Louise and Lisa discuss how this benefits patients, relatives and staff.

On this week's episode of Our People Podcast we visited Durham Road's Children Centre to talk to Tracy Dawson, Kerry Pate and Janice Blakey from our Safeguarding team.The team discuss the importance of safeguarding here at STSFT and how they advise and support our staff and patients.They also talk about how someone can look after their own wellbeing and provide an example of what a case may look like.

On this week's edition of Our People Podcast, our Internal Engagement Officer Jade, speaks to Wellbeing Practitioner, Claire Skaife, about our upcoming Workforce Health and Wellbeing Week.Listen to find out how the events will look, how our staff can get involved, and why making sure our staff feel supported, is important to our Trust.

On this week's episode of Our People Podcast we met up with Matron for NMAHP Workforce Retention Jayne Billings alongside Legacy Mentors Jimmy Sarmiento, Bency Raseena and Siobhan Lynch.Earlier this year the Nursing and Quality Workforce Team launched our Legacy Mentor Service.The team is made up of experienced registered nurses who offer support to newly registered Nurses, Midwives, and Allied Health Professionals.Jayne, Jimmy, Bency and Siobhan tell us how they help our new starters including our international recruits settle in.

On this week's episode of Our People Podcast we met up with Oral Health Promoters Pauline Wright and Emma Bruce.Pauline and Emma talk about the importance of promoting oral health and the best ways to practice good oral hygiene at home.They also discuss how bad oral health can have an impact on your overall health and what the most common issues are.

On this week's episode of Our People Podcast we met up with Director of Operations and Deputy Chief Executive Dr Sean Fenwick.Sean discusses how he is involved with helping the Trust manage winter pressures and provides an insight of what pressures the NHS may be dealing with this year.He also talks about what patients and the community can do to help ease these pressures and what plans have been put in place throughout the region.

In the final episode of our three-part series about the Staff Network Groups here at the Trust, we talk to Junior Sister Vasily George from the Renal Satellite Unit at Durham Treatment Centre.Vasily is involved with the Workforce Race Equality Staff Network (WREN). She talks about how the group is a confidential, safe space for staff to share experiences, provide advice and support, raise concerns and identify solutions.Vasily also discusses what the Mary Seacole Leadership Programme is and how this has helped her develop. At the beginning of the episode, we're joined by Senior Inclusion Advisor Jake Higgin as he explains why the network changed its name.

On this week's episode of Our People Podcast we continue to talk to our Staff Network Groups. We met up with Organisational & Leadership Practitioner Jill Duncan who chairs the Positive Health Group. This is for staff at the Trust living with long-term physical or mental health conditions.Jill talks about her own long-term physical condition as she suffers from rheumatoid arthritis. She discusses how the Positive Health Group helped her and how it has benefitted several staff working at the Trust.

Yesterday was World Mental Health Day.To help raise awareness of this we are highlighting our Staff Network Groups in a three-part series on Our People Podcast.To kick start this on this week's episode we met up with Thrive Clinical Team Lead Dr Sarah Markham and Assistant Psychologist Rachel Baines.Rachel is part of the LGBT+ Staff Network and discusses how the group is a safe space for staff to share their experiences and receive support.Sarah and Rachel are also part of the Thrive team which is a service that offers emotional and mental health support for all STSFT staff.

On this week's episode of Our People Podcast we joined Sunderland Eye Infirmary Clinical Lead and Consultant Ophthalmologist Ajay Kotagiri.Our Eye Infirmary is one of the leading providers of eye health care services in the UK and is a centre of excellence.Ajay discusses the types of services we provide our patients and how we aim to provide a first-class service to people who have eye emergencies.He also talks about how staff have been involved with the planning of the new Eye Hospital and how that will benefit our patients.