Do you have 'stuff' piling up in your ward, department or office? Then it's probably time to have an 'almost spring clean' - by taking advantage of Declutter Fridays which started last week.

We know that many areas are kept nice and tidy (see attached pics from Ward 17) - and we'd like every ward to be a beacon of tidiness.

Whether you work in a ward, department or office - it's fair to say we often just get used to the status quo of having clutter around. The impact of not decluttering may be greater than you realise on our colleagues, patients and visitors. 

The Estates Team aim to dispose of unwanted items in an appropriate manner and keep the environment clean and safe for both patients and colleagues.

So each Friday our Portering/Janitor teams will visit all areas and take away any items for disposal.

Just a reminder that clinical equipment MUST be cleaned and decontaminated in accordance with Trust policy, prior to pick up. 

And all paperwork should be shredded or put in confidential waste bins/sacks if they have reached their maximum retention and are no longer needed. We mustn't dispose of anything that could potentially have person identifiable information or Trust sensitive information on them.

And....a heads-up

We know that well-presented notice boards help us communicate effectively and demonstrate that clinical areas are professional, compassionate and well-led.

We've already installed new public facing boards which give information about the ward environment, but there are a few other essentials that need to go up, as well as some non-essentials that can come down.

So we'll soon be issuing a notice board standard to make it clear what we should be displaying for the public and also our colleagues.