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The UK Covid-19 Inquiry is the independent public inquiry set up to examine the UK’s response to and impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, and learn lessons for the future. In order to fully understand the impact of the pandemic on the UK population, the Inquiry is inviting the public to share their experiences of the pandemic by launching Every Story Matters. It will inform the Inquiry’s work by gathering pandemic experiences which can be brought together and represent the whole of the UK, including those seldom heard. The output of Every Story Matters will be a unique, comprehensive account of the UK population’s experiences of the pandemic, to be submitted to the Inquiry’s legal process as evidence. Share your story here. Every Story Matters provide a toolkit that contains information and creative assets that can be used to encourage participation in Every Story Matters. Every Story Matters aims to provide inclusive methods for people to talk about their experience of the pandemic, so anyone that wants to share their story feels heard, valued, and can contribute to the Inquiry. tips on engaging people to take part in Every Story Matters print campaign assets to download online campaign assets to download information on how to use campaign assets information on accessible engagement options.

NHS and social care continues to have significant challenges. This blog cannot change that but it offers food for thought on how to stay afloat.  It’s been a while since I have posted a blog. I continue to coach NHS colleagues – their calmness, focus, resilience, professionalism and ‘can do’ shining through in spades. Inspirational, appreciative leaders of teams, small and large. Our current systems and challenges are too complex to have one person at the helm taking all the decisions. We need leadership at all levels. Great leaders inspire people to have confidence in themselves. Whether you are part of a team, a team leader or leader of many, here’s four things to contemplate: 1. Reality check The Covid aftermath, understandable unrest and general distress and frustration have impacted, of course they have, but we have a dedicated, professional, caring workforce. 2. The power of appreciation Take a moment to identify and reflect on your contributions and those of your colleagues. Appreciate those contributions. Make time to share them with each other. Individually and collectively feel proud. 3. Strengthen your resilience I can’t remember where I read this, but a simple way to focus the mind and build your resilience is to start each day with this simple reminder: I am … add in the words that best describe your talent and experience. I have … add in things that support and energise you at work and home. I will ………..your intentions for that day, this week. 4. Look out for each other Tune in. Sometimes we just want someone who will listen, a space to talk to a colleague, friend, coach, mentor. If you don’t already have this, think about who could help. In my experience, how we care for each other and appreciate our respective contributions helps to sustain us on the brightest days and the not so bright. Thanks for reading this. I have used this quote before but it seems apposite just now: "She stood in the storm and when the wind did not blow her away, she adjusted her sails." Elizabeth Edwards. Further blogs from Sally: Keep your light shining bright – three tips Swimming with the tide Standing tall in the storm

Perioperative practitioners have worked tirelessly to rise to the challenges presented in recent years, and now continue to face the challenge of managing record-breaking waiting lists. Theatre work is challenging. You’re on your feet all day, mentally engaged and, at times, emotionally charged. This study day gives you an opportunity to focus on your own health and wellbeing as well as the welfare of your patients. "If we look after ourselves, we can look after others!" Topics will include: Review of mental health wellbeing and how to optimise it Health diet and fluid intake The benefits of exercise Optional Tai Chi taster session The importance of sleep and rest Debriefing and feedback to prevent burnout and PTSD Menopause awareness Open debate: Achieving a work-life balance in a demanding perioperative role Book

The uncertainty and anxiety that come with the experience of complexity can be overwhelming. It can be hard to think clearly and act wisely, and our wellbeing can easily suffer. The COVID-19 pandemic has made these experiences an everyday occurrence for many people, and the need for us to work clearly, wisely and healthily has never been more pressing. These Organisational Development workshops from the King's Fund will lift the lid on complexity. Together, you’ll explore how encouraging ourselves and others to understand and acknowledge the loss of control when faced with complexity can help us, our teams and our wider organisational systems survive and even thrive in conditions of uncertainty. The workshops will help you: make sense of the messy reality of complexity, accurately categorise different aspects of that reality and be able to choose appropriate, measured, responses understand your own preferences and strengths in relation to the complexity around you and develop strategies to stretch beyond them help yourself and others be their best during uncertain times. Join one or two sessions, or the whole series. Buy tickets

The uncertainty and anxiety that come with the experience of complexity can be overwhelming. It can be hard to think clearly and act wisely, and our wellbeing can easily suffer. The COVID-19 pandemic has made these experiences an everyday occurrence for many people, and the need for us to work clearly, wisely and healthily has never been more pressing. These Organisational Development workshops from the King's Fund will lift the lid on complexity. Together, you’ll explore how encouraging ourselves and others to understand and acknowledge the loss of control when faced with complexity can help us, our teams and our wider organisational systems survive and even thrive in conditions of uncertainty. The workshops will help you: make sense of the messy reality of complexity, accurately categorise different aspects of that reality and be able to choose appropriate, measured, responses understand your own preferences and strengths in relation to the complexity around you and develop strategies to stretch beyond them help yourself and others be their best during uncertain times. Join one or two sessions, or the whole series. Buy tickets

The uncertainty and anxiety that come with the experience of complexity can be overwhelming. It can be hard to think clearly and act wisely, and our wellbeing can easily suffer. The COVID-19 pandemic has made these experiences an everyday occurrence for many people, and the need for us to work clearly, wisely and healthily has never been more pressing. These Organisational Development workshops from the King's Fund will lift the lid on complexity. Together, you’ll explore how encouraging ourselves and others to understand and acknowledge the loss of control when faced with complexity can help us, our teams and our wider organisational systems survive and even thrive in conditions of uncertainty. The workshops will help you: make sense of the messy reality of complexity, accurately categorise different aspects of that reality and be able to choose appropriate, measured, responses understand your own preferences and strengths in relation to the complexity around you and develop strategies to stretch beyond them help yourself and others be their best during uncertain times. Join one or two sessions, or the whole series. Buy tickets

We have probably all suffered from imposter syndrome at some point during our career. Doubted our self and our abilities. However, if we aren't confident in ourselves and how we do our jobs it could impact on the patients we look after. Here are my tips on how to get to grips with your imposter syndrome. Imposter syndrome – that feeling of being not enough and the more you notice it the bigger it becomes. It lands in the pit of your stomach, it’s that voice that says "you, really?". And rather than going away, it shouts a little louder and risks being a real interference to you being at your absolute best. It's common in high achievers, perfectionists. A friend recently asked me if we are born with it. I don’t think so but I do think it has its roots in early labelling – he’s the bright one, she’s the kind one. And we learn to hide it. I did a quick straw poll last week. Everyone I spoke to shared their experiences of imposter syndrome with a range of triggers: moving from being ‘in training’ to someone who is expected to know all the answers, being invited to give a big presentation, leading a new team, starting a new job, chairing an expert committee (expert – now there’s a scary word). In my experience it crops up all the time in coaching sessions. Often at work, people are concerned they may appear weak or not quite up to the job. It may be easier to simply keep quiet. Coaching is a safer space, you won’t be judged, you will be encouraged to find a solution for your imposter syndrome. You can choose to ignore it, but please don’t. At worst case it could mean that your most important lifesaving contribution, that key piece of information that changes the approach the team is taking for the better may not surface. "Its ok, they know better than me" is not the answer. So here’s my three tips drawn from my experience of working this through with others. 1. Get to know your imposter syndrome better It’s really hard to work on something you don’t really understand. Some of us like to talk things through with a trusted friend or colleague, others favour quiet reflection. Whatever your preference, take time to get to know your version of imposter syndrome a little better: when it lands how often what triggers it how it makes you feel. Start to build that picture. This information is essential. It is worth investing the time. 2. Name it This may strike you as weird, but the simple act of naming something helps us to have a shorthand to use when it joins us (and it will be back) and gives a pass through to dealing with it. I have worked with people who use a christian name, a cartoon character, the weather. For me it is a jackdaw (heavy landing – solid - stays a little while). Use whatever works for you. 3. Work on it Armed with this new level of understanding: Remind yourself why you were appointed/asked/whatever your situation. Talking it through may be enough. Sometimes it is worth writing down the skills: knowledge and ingenuity that you bring to the table so you can bring it to mind at a moment’s notice. Re-connect to the great feedback you have received, solicited and unsolicited. Appraisals, 360s, that lovely email or phone call thanking you, the one that turned a rotten day into one with a better ending. Once these are centre stage, they will help to quieten that doubting thomas of a voice. And if you know there are particular triggers for you – that meeting, that person – work out your own private handling strategy. A little re-framing works wonders, especially when served with a bit of humour. Then the next time your imposter syndrome pays you a visit: remember the expertise you bring to the table, that great feedback prepare as you always would and show your best self stay calm, stand tall, make your voice count. Oh and if you really are out of your depth, an honest answer, "that’s a new one on me", and a commitment to come back with an answer as soon as possible will always help you out. No one can be expected to know everything, not even an expert!

Ehi Iden, hub topic lead for Occupational Health and Safety: OSHAfrica, reflects on a patient safety incident early on in his career. In the early days of my career, I worked with clinical teams while managing a hospital and later a network of hospitals. I must say, the experience I gathered in these different roles shaped me into what I am today. I can fit into healthcare conversations easily because of these early relationships and interactions with clinical experts. When I look back to my experience as a hospital administrator, a particular incident keeps coming back to mind; I sometimes link this to my later involvement in patient safety but most times I feel it is my conscience speaking to me. There was a patient we were trying to give a surgical intervention to; although he was already in a bad condition, he stood a chance to survive yet he died. We had an antenatal case we had managed from conception and the lady had opted for an elective caesarean section (CS). When she was term, we brought her in and prepared her for the theatre. At the time set of the surgery, our anaesthetist was not available; he was assisting another surgery in another facility, but he gave us a name of his anaesthetist colleague we could use for this patient. We brought this new anaesthetist in to assist in the patient’s CS. While we stretchered in the lady for her elective CS, a severe emergency case was rushed in needing an urgent surgical intervention. This case obviously had to override the elective CS in order of triage. We returned the lady to her ward while we rushed to the emergency case. The medical team that was going to operate on the CS patient was now needed for this new case. About 20 minutes into the surgery, our lead surgeon came out of the theatre with an upset look on his face. I sensed something was wrong and I immediately led him into my office which was near to the theatre and locked the door. I asked him what happened? He told me that there had been an anaesthesia accident. The new anaesthetist we brought in to assist with the surgery had not understood our anaesthetic machine as he had never used it before. He had used the machine incorrectly and had given the patient an overdose of gas and the patient’s heart packed up. The lead surgeon was very upset. I was thinking, this could have been my Dad, my Mum or any of my family members; it was a totally life-changing experience for me. The relatives of the patient were notified that the patient had died; there was wailing and shouting in the hospital. I locked myself inside my office and cried because I knew this patient should not have died from an error of one man. I imagined the pain we had caused the family; the grief and the vacuum we created by our error. It was all too much horror for my fragile heart to deal with at that time. But the greatest mistake we made was that the error was never discussed among the team for us all to learn from and we were also not honest enough to own up to the patient’s relatives. This incident led me into researching and reading materials on medical safety and this was how I got into patient safety advocacy. But when I look back at the incident today, was it the anaesthetist’s fault? No not at all; it was the fault of the system. The anaesthetist should not have been allowed access to that machine in the first place as he had not been trained to use that machine. This was where we should have trapped the risk before it got to the patient. In safety, when you change or replace a machine or a piece of equipment your policy must be reviewed to capture the new equipment and users must be trained on the new machine in its specifications and peculiarities. This is what happens in aviation. A pilot cannot fly an aircraft which he has not been simulated to fly and this is one of the reasons why aviation is still one of the safest sectors in the world today.[1] Having established that it was a system error, we should have also been professional and honest enough to let the relatives of the patient know what had actually happened. When we are honest it shows clear transparency, but when we try to sweep things under the carpet it is mostly misunderstood that our actions could have been deliberate. As I am writing this article, I am sure the relatives of the patient, many years down the line, still don’t know what actually happened. Following the Communication and Optimal Resolution (CANDOR) processes,[2] we should have made an early and honest disclosure of the adverse event known to the patient’s relatives, offered them an apology, refunded their payment and let them know how much this mattered to us and what we were going to do to improve our system. Our actions totally contravened all required amicable and fair resolution for the patient’s family. Owing to the fact that every man is fallible – this is why we are mere mortals in the first place – there may be errors but losing the opportunity to learn from those errors is deliberately creating new levels of errors. We never discussed what happened to our patient. I was the only one who got to know about this incident outside the clinical team who were in the theatre when this happened. The Medical Director may not have even known, so the case was never discussed and we could never all learn from it. When I think of this, I feel we need more openness and information sharing in healthcare, allow teams to discuss and share experiences, give room for reporting without blame, design a system that encourages patient safety conversation and liberalise communication processes. Each time this incident crosses my mind, I think of the lady who we had originally booked for elective CS. This clinical team was put together for her CS before the sudden emergency that came to take her place. She never knew what happened. The evening of that same day her CS was done and she had her baby boy who should be a grown man now. This brings to mind the bible verse Isaiah 43.4 “…I will give people in exchange for you, nations in exchange for your life”. Could this have been what happened? No, the system is what killed the patient and I think we should all own up to this. References Kai-Jorg S. Pilot training: What can surgeons learn from it? Arab Journal of Urology 2014;1: 32-35. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). Communication and Optimal Resolution (CANDOR).