Prof Clair Chilvers is the Chair of our Trust. She is a co-founding Trustee of a mental health charity, was previously Chair at Nottingham Healthcare NHS Trust and spent many years working in research and development. Prof Chilvers was brought up in Gloucestershire and went to school in Cheltenham.
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October 1, 2013
I came back from holiday a couple of weeks ago (which was very nice) and seem to have been very, very busy ever since. But in a nice way! I think I have almost mastered twitter and even sent three tweets in a day. I don’t know whether anyone reads them but it feels fun to do and also makes me feel part of the younger generation (I suppose at my age any little helps!). But back to more serious things: our Council of Governors meeting was the first for the newly elected Governors so we tried a technique similar to 'speed dating' to get to know each other – and everybody loved it. Though one Governor did bewail the fact that she hadn’t found anyone tall, dark and handsome! Afterwards the Council meeting went well so I think that small opportunity to get to know each other paid off.
I had a lovely morning with the OTs and went to the breakfast club for stroke patients (the scrambled egg was very tempting..) and met and heard about the various activities with different departments. And was then entertained to coffee and cake. That was when I heard about their regular ‘bake-offs’ where senior members of the department make the cakes.
Baking has been a bit of a theme as the ‘Engendering Sense of Community’ working group heard about ideas for bake-offs from other departments and at the Board last week we had a presentation from the ‘Changing the Culture’ group which included this (one of our executive directors immediately offered himself to be a cake judge). The physiotherapist representative came armed with her rounders bat and told us about their very successful tournament. It is good to hear about these activities which bring staff together socially.
I spent a morning taking the Mayor of Cheltenham round Oncology. She really enjoyed her visit and was very impressed with what she saw. I was also interested to hear about plans for changes to outpatients there.
I was at the Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee at Shire Hall the next day, where the main discussion was about the Ambulance Service rather than our ED which has dominated the last few meetings.
We had a good Board meeting last Friday and I was very pleased to hear how well our ED is doing though there is the winter ahead of us. This was followed by our Innovation Panel which discusses the very exciting inventions that our Trust is involved in and how they can best be taken forward. For a couple of District General Hospitals we certainly punch well above our weight with innovation.
And that brings me to this week and the Board Seminar yesterday. These seminars are so that Board members and other senior members of staff can have an in-depth discussion of key issues. We spent the morning looking at the new Care Quality Commission inspection regime and how we shall handle it – very different from the old regime with, in the future, a whole hospital approach and possibly as many as 40 inspectors visiting us. Well, must stop now and sign about 100 long service certificates for our wonderful volunteers for presentation at their annual lunch.
August 30, 2013
Rather a busy day yesterday. A team from our regulator Monitor came to meet our board members and did a visit to the Emergency Department at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital. After that I visited wards 3a and 3b and talked to staff and patients. I heard about the Enhanced Recovery Programme and spoke to a couple of patients on the programme who were very pleased with the progress they were making. As ever I was made very welcome and I learned a lot.
Later on I met our Staff Governors and we had a thoughtful discussion about the challenges facing them in their dual role as employees of our Trust and Governors. We discussed the issues facing the NHS as a whole and how we might help to engender a spirit of optimism in our staff at this very economically difficult time.
Today we had our Board meeting with a very good discussion of our financial and operational performance. The demand for our emergency services for the month of July was the highest ever and we seem to be faced with an ever upward trajectory of demand.
August 16, 2013
Yesterday I had a very good visit to Hazleton Ward. I spoke to a number of patients and was introduced to all the staff by Anne Elyan who runs the ward as a job share.
I was very impressed by the leadership and also by the attitude of all the staff, including a Health Care Assistant who has been with the Trust for 32 years. Anne is looking forward to September and the new arrangements where ward managers have supervisory time and I am going back to see the difference after that.
I also met a new F1 (junior) doctor just starting out who was very positive about her induction. Quite a range of patients and one telling me about the new mattress he was encountering for the first time and finding very satisfactory. In the afternoon we had a presentation about benchmarking which looks very promising as a means to compare ourselves with other Trusts and to drill down in some detail. This was the last day before I go on holiday and it is good to go on such a positive note.
August 7, 2013
I have spent the last two days in London. My first meeting was with Monitor, the Foundation Trust regulator, to meet the new team there that we shall be liaising with. We had a good discussion about issues around our Emergency Department (ED) performance and also wider issues for the Trust. They are coming to visit us later this month and will visit the ED at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital.
Then I visited Chris Hopson, the CEO of the Foundation Trust Network (FTN), the organisation that represents foundation trusts nationally. We had a wide-ranging discussion and focused on issues relating to the role of the Council of Governors in the NHS: how the Governor role can be clarified, and the Council fitting into the overall governance structure of the Foundation Trust. The FTN is starting some useful work on this which will be reflected in the development programme for new and existing governors.
July 20, 2013
Early on last week I met the new Commercial Director of Gloucestershire Media to tell him about our Trust and to see how we might best work together. And then I called on the new Leader of the County Council and the Chair of the Health and Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee.
Two events at the end if the week made me very proud of our Trust. The first was the AGM on Thursday. Let's face it, AGMs are by their nature not the most riveting of events and I well remember that before I came we used to have two of them, one at each hospital. The first one that I went to might best be described as 'basic'! What a contrast on Thursday. It was held at Gloucester Rugby Club and the Communications Team had made it look and feel really good. We had a couple of displays for people to look at over tea, the film of the Science Festival, and as part of his review of the year Dr Frank Harsent showed the film of our Trust that we commissioned from the Comms Team earlier in the year. Dr Sean Elyan, our Medical Director, and Lesley Morrison, Consultant Psychologist, did a Schwartz Round and got some excellent audience participation. It is always good to meet some of our Members and hear about their views of our hospitals. And it was air conditioned, so was cool!
On Friday, HR Director Dave Smith and his team had organised the best ever '100 Leaders' event. We had another Schwartz Round on a different topic and we want to encourage more of our staff to attend. The rounds are so valuable as a way for staff to explore the personal impact of some of the difficult areas of our work. Nick Baker from Carers Gloucestershire told us two carers stories which were very thought provoking and we had a group session looking at how we demonstrated that we made the patient the centre of our care. Two of the workshops were creative and produced - well I won't call them works of art- but visual descriptions of what we want to do. And the other you will hear about at a later date if it works out! Whatever else, the three sessions got groups of our senior managers problem solving in a very different way.
July 16, 2013
Last week my ambition was to make an impact on my desk and all the not-quite-finished bits and pieces. I am a ‘finisher’ so much happier now! It was good to hear about the Organ Donation event at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital last Monday and to see all the national publicity – such an important issue and very pleased that Ian Mean, Content Director for Gloucestershire Media, is chairing our Organ Donation Committee so actively and enthusiastically. He is a great supporter of our staff and their work.
I have just seen an email to all staff about the heat wave and making sure all our patients are comfortable. It is so easy to just glory in the lovely weather and not to think about making sure our patients and staff can enjoy it too.
We had a good meeting of the Quality Committee on Friday, with three Governor members who make a big impact in the Committee. This was followed by the first meeting of a new group – the Engendering a Sense of Community workstream – where we are going to see how we can better communicate with each other within our Trust, celebrate success, harness people’s talents and, using the Choir as an example, see whether people want to join together in pursuing hobbies and interests.
So after a pleasantly baking weekend, this week brings the Council of Governors meeting and our Trust AGM on Thursday – so a busy week to come.
July 3, 2013
Really good day today at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital. It started with the celebration of the National Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Screening Programme which originated in Gloucestershire and from April 1 this year, went national. So we were pioneers. I felt very proud of the team and met some of the men who had benefitted from the programme. We had balloons and a cake too to celebrate the 65th anniversary of the NHS which is on Friday. I resisted the cake because my next stop was 'The Great Anaesthesia Bake' raising money for 'Lifebox', a charity that raises funds for pulse oximeters so that patients across the world can have access to safer surgery. One thing I can tell you, our anaesthetists' baking is fantastic! They raised in excess of £600 on the day.
Then I went on to visit wards 6a and 8a and talked to lots of patients there. Really good teams and patients very happy with their care. The main problem is boredom for patients who are in more than just a very few days and we should think about that because it can't help people to get better.
Last night at the choir there was some really good singing - we really are coming on. The nice thing also is that a few friendship groups are emerging. The basses are planning to have a practice session during the summer break and go to the pub together, and our organiser Lucy is planning a picnic in the park for all the choir.
June 27, 2013
Very busy couple of weeks – hence the delay in writing my blog. I enjoyed a very good visit to Snowshill and Kemerton Wards last week. The patients were very appreciative of their care and this was particularly impressive as Kemerton had decanted there just three days earlier – so real congratulations to all the ward staff. Today I spent the morning shadowing some of our wonderful volunteers at GRH. This involved helping with bed-making on Ward 9b with Lynne, helping to direct patients from the help desk in the Atrium, and presenting Pat with her Lifetime Service Award in the outpatients department which was a real pleasure to do. And what a fantastic lady she is, still volunteering at the age of 90. The volunteers really are unsung heroes.
Last week I also made a video about the staff survey and about how important the staff survey results are to me and to the Board. We value the feedback that we have had from the various engagement groups and the Board is really looking forward to welcoming divisional representatives who will be sharing their experiences. Making a video is quite daunting and I hope that it makes the serious point about wanting to improve communication which I really do feel passionate about. Staff can watch the video by clicking the link from the home page of the intranet.
The Anaesthetics Department is organising a ‘bake sale’ on 3 July in the Atrium at GRH to raise money for the charity ‘Lifebox’ which distributes oximeters to operating theatres across the world and hence saves many, many lives. It is being organised by Kathleen Shelley one of our doctors. I have sampled Kathleen’s cakes in the past and I strongly advise you not to miss it.
June 12, 2013
Have just had a brilliant weekend at the Cheltenham Science Festival at our Extraordinary Everyday event.
I was completely blown over by it from the walk through the inflatable colon outside to the workshops and the market place. My heart was in my mouth waiting for the premature baby to breathe and the trauma victim to be resuscitated in the workshops run by our staff. I had at go at removing dried peas from a knee - not successfully I am afraid - and finding out what it was like to manage with really poor eyesight at the Occupational Therapy stand.
I am really proud of everyone involved in the planning and those who helped out on the day and it was great to have both our own volunteers and young people from local schools.
To everyone who gave up their time to help, I would like to say a really big thank you. It has certainly raised the profile of the amazing cutting-edge technology, services and skills that we have to offer. We should be justly proud of what we do.
June 6, 2013
Another busy few days but at least the sun is shining and that helps! Last Thursday I went on a night visit to Gloucestershire Royal Hospital with Eric Gatling our Director of Service Delivery. We started at the Emergency Department (A&E) at 10pm and then went round every ward – and ended up talking to the night switchboard staff.
Although the corridors are almost eerie without their usual buzz, many of the wards were very busy settling patients for the night, or receiving patients from the Emergency Department into acute care and from there onto the wards. We talked to lots of staff on duty – some who like to work at night on a permanent basis and some who do occasional night shifts.
Then on Friday I was invited to visit the orthopaedic surgeons – and that was very good. In outpatients I talked to a patient being plastered up by a nurse and a Health Care Assistant who had done very specialised training in plastering and I then visited the theatres and saw some amazing hand and foot surgery – really minute attention to detail and enormous care – very impressive. It was also good to have the opportunity to talk to the consultants and hear about their view of the Trust.
Yesterday we had a seminar for the whole Board and Chiefs of Service and Frank Harsent did a good session on Quality of Care. We also used an interesting new Care Quality Commission tool - a board game - to explore equality and diversity. It is often challenging to engage staff in equality and diversity issues, yet it is vital for us as a healthcare provider to understand them so we can improve the quality of care we provide to all. There was no doubt that the game made the issues both interesting and accessible and generated some good discussion. I think we all learned a lot and enjoyed it. Dave Smith is going to use it now elsewhere in the Trust for training.
June 4, 2013
The past week has been rather busy! I have been doing quite a few ward visits recently and last week I did a couple more. In the morning I went round the cardiac wards at Gloucestershire Royal Hosptal.
I am really amazed at how coronary care has been revolutionised over the last few years. While I was on the ward a patient’s life was in the process of being saved by modern pacemaker technology after he collapsed on the ward. It was pretty impressive. Talking to the patients they were very positive about the care that they received but very bored – what can we do about that I wonder?
Later on I was on Ward 8a and saw examples of excellent team working. Again lots of positive comments from the patients and especially about the food. Between the two visits I had tea and cakes with our three British Army reservists who are now back from Afghanistan, and also a naval reservist back from active duty. Hearing about their experiences I learnt a lot. Caring for US contractors is part of the job – and they have very different problems from the army personnel - and also Afghan children. They told me about the skills learned there, and about the high expectations and ‘can do’ culture, all very much transferrable to our NHS environment. And also about the satisfaction that the deployment had given them. I must say I am hugely impressed by their commitment.
May 23, 2013
We have just had the last meeting of the Cheltenham Science Festival Steering Group before the great day(s) – 8-9 June. I am feeling really excited about it. Our two days - called Extraordinary Everyday - at Sandford Education Centre, Keynsham Road, are going to be fantastic and a wonderful way of showcasing our cutting-edge care, as well as being great fun. I am particularly looking forward to the ‘inflatable colon’! What has impressed me is the tremendous enthusiasm of the team putting it together and the number of offers from our staff, consultants, AHPs and lots more, to contribute.
Another really good experience this week was when our Nursing Director, Maggie Arnold, asked me to go to a ‘Improving Communication’ event attended by our ward leaders and other members of the multidisciplinary team.
The aim of the project is to improve communication between staff and patients and between staff and staff. The project was about implementing simple ideas on the wards and having audits to look at the changes that had resulted. Some of the ideas were very simple but very effective: a postcard for relatives with key information such as visiting times and suggesting a single point of contact with the family/carers; a poster explaining how to arrange to see the consultant; and admission packs customised to the patient depending on their medical condition and treatment.
Already there is evidence that ward leaders are taking on the supervisory role that we are rolling out now with further investment to backfill with additional staff, and seeing the benefit. The ‘Improving Communication’ project has meant that the Trust has achieved its CQUIN target and the funding of over £170k associated with it.
What was best about the event was the sharing of good practice around the room, and the real buzz. We wound up with a presentation of participating wards which really had a wow factor and pointed out that, as with so many things that we do to make small day to day changes, it isn’t rocket science!
May 15, 2013
Back after a week’s holiday to lots of emails and cold, wet weather. But on a cheerier note, I stopped by the volunteer desk at Cheltenham General Hospital yesterday and a delightful volunteer called AJ insisted on accompanying me all the way to Woodmancote Ward in case I got lost on the way! That is really good customer service. The ward visit was good – I was made very welcome and had the opportunity to talk to patients and very enthusiastic staff. And the physical surroundings there are very good too.
On Monday we had our Council of Governors meeting and an excellent presentation on nurse and healthcare assistant (HCA) training and development. We heard about the apprenticeship scheme for HCAs as well as how young, and not so young, people are selected to enter the nursing degree courses. We also discussed the major issues affecting the Trust at the moment and Governors had the opportunity to discuss how we are going to increase our Trust membership among working-age people.
Two of our non-executive directors have been reappointed for a second term – Clive Lewis and Helen Munro – and the council also reappointed me for a further term as chair. I am really delighted and looking forward to all sorts of interesting challenges ahead both for us and the NHS as a whole.
April 30, 2013
I joined the Sustainability Committee meeting last week which was fascinating. I had no idea how much recycling goes on around our Trust and how this makes a financial contribution to our savings plans. We can all do our bit to help - such simple things like turning down radiators before we open windows, and turning off our lights and PCs before we go home. I was also told that a photocopier left on for four hours wastes enough energy to have done 2,500 copies! I have now resolved to make sure it’s turned off when I am the last person to leave the building at night!
I am also pleased to report that preparations have already begun for this year’s annual Staff Awards ceremony. This is our opportunity to formally recognise those members of staff who have gone above and beyond the call of duty to provide an excellent service. There are many categories of award, so that we can thank staff working in all areas of our organisation, not just those caring for patients. Our Staff Awards are an important opportunity for us. The fast-paced nature of our work means that it is often difficult for us to recognise the many acts of kindness, compassion and a commitment to providing high quality care that take place on a daily basis. This is our chance to say thank you to as many of those members of staff as possible. This year we are again asking for your nominations for members of staff who have made a difference to your lives. This could be anyone you have come into contact with at our hospitals who you feel deserves special praise for the exceptional care they have provided.
If you have been impressed by anyone who might fit this bill, whether that’s a nurse or a doctor, or a therapist, midwife, receptionist or porter, please do complete a nomination form today. Likewise, if you’re a member of staff and you think a colleague deserves recognition for their work, then please do visit the Staff Awards pages of the intranet and nominate them in the relevant category.
I have been doing a number of ward visits over the past two weeks and I have seen for myself the care and compassion that our staff display. I have also experienced the excellent leadership that there is on our wards. Visiting the acute care wards at Gloucester and Cheltenham was particularly interesting – they were very busy and the challenge of caring for patients with such a range of conditions and people some young and some very elderly must be very demanding. What was particular nice for me to hear was staff telling me ‘we are a good team’.
On one ward that I visited earlier this week the only complaint was that there was no apple sauce with the roast pork!
I continue to be awestruck by the hard work that you all do. It makes me proud to be here.
April 23, 2013
Yesterday was the launch of the choir – The Caring Chorus- at Gloucester Cathedral. We were welcomed to the Cathedral by the Dean and then the Director of Music put us through our first halting paces and before we knew where we were we were singing a Spiritual. Then Fran our Director took over and we learned a Russian song which we sang with much passion – and in four voice parts (from biscuit basses to meringues with sprinkles – I was one of the latter). Some of us had sung before but many hadn’t, and we sounded amazing! So much so that Fran was muttering ‘community choir competitions’ under her breath. A great time was had by all and our choir organiser, Lucy Mathieson, was grinning from ear to ear - we all applauded her for getting us so well off the ground. Oh yes, we are a bit short of ‘biscuit basses’ so if any of you men are holding back, do join us next week – you will be welcomed with open arms!
April 11, 2013
Yesterday I went to another splendid Schwartz Round about the extreme aggression and violence that our staff occasionally have to contend with and how the multi-disciplinary team of nursing staff, security staff and our Education, Learning and Development teams work together. The session focussed on the impact on our staff and how best deal to with it. It was a shame that the room was not full as it is something that can happen to any of us unexpectedly. I cannot recommend these sessions highly enough – so well worth the effort of getting to them if you possibly can.
The session brought to mind my own experience of being chair of a mental health NHS Trust before I came to Cheltenham. I had to do a week-long training session which included dealing with being taken hostage as one of our hospitals was a high secure unit. I had my own keys and undertook ward visits there just as I do here.
Otherwise this week, my ward visit was again thwarted by Norovirus – these are certainly challenging times and I feel for our patients affected by the unprecedented demand on our services, and also for our hard-pressed staff.
March 28, 2013
In our hospitals we often take the opportunity presented by a national awareness week to highlight key issues which are important to us and to our patients. Last week was national Hydration and Nutrition Week, aimed at highlighting the necessity of providing essential fluids and nutrition for our patients. I was lucky enough to join the tea and coffee round on Ryeworth Ward. It was a good opportunity to talk to lots of patients and also to reflect on how vital food and drink is to our patients and how important it is to get it right. On Ryeworth Ward this is a core part of the care provided, and I was pleased to see the care with which staff made sure patients could reach the cup or beaker and to see whether they needed a straw to help them drink.
I am lucky enough to be able to visit our wards and departments on a regular basis to see what life is like in the challenging, but often inspiring, roles that our staff perform every day. It is so important for us to hear from staff directly - what they think about our services and most importantly, how we can improve. This has of course become more important than ever in the wake of the Francis Report and we are currently running a series of staff drop-in sessions so they can share ideas to help us learn from the appalling events at Mid-Staffordshire Hospital. Improving the way we communicate with staff is also a priority for us and something that was raised in our recent staff survey. We know that staff are our greatest asset and I’m often humbled by the commitment and dedication to providing a high standard and quality of care that I witness on our wards.
At our Board meeting last week we received a presentation from a wonderful couple, one of whom has dementia. Their story made us all think about the unique problems faced by a carer of someone diagnosed with this increasingly common condition and how we can respond to those needs.
On a completely different note, at a meeting at Gloucester Cathedral yesterday we decided on a launch date for the choir and name put together from suggestions from our staff – the Caring Chorus. Staff at the cathedral are pleased with the name too and very enthusiastic about the whole venture to the extent that their Director of Music is going to lead our singing at the launch. We already have dates for two concerts in the cathedral and we have been ‘booked’ for the Staff Awards and Volunteers annual ‘thank you’ lunch. Our choir organiser, Lucy Mathieson, has been very busy getting emails out to everyone who has signed up to it so I hope we shall have a good turnout on the day.
Earlier this week I had a refresher course on using a couple of our patient systems, PAS and Infoflex, so that I can be called up to help in a major emergency – which we all hope will never happen. The systems seem to be getting a bit more user friendly or is it me getting to know them better?
March 12, 2013
I thought that driving to the Forest of Dean yesterday might be snowy – a few flurries but nothing more. The purpose of the visit was the consultation on the reconfiguration of our services planned for later in the year. We had an excellent team there from the Trust led by our Medical Director, Dr Sean Elyan – but only three people turned up! Some good questions though.
Rushed back afterwards to our Council of Governors meeting. The Governors had asked for a presentation on the Liverpool Care Pathway that has had some criticism in the press. Consultants Emma Husbands and Sam Guglani joined Sean Elyan to present and made clear exactly what the Pathway was for and how it should be used at the end of life to help patients and their families through the last few hours of life. Talking about death is so difficult in our culture and I think we all understood and appreciated the compassion shown when this approach is properly used.
The Governors always challenge us and we had some good discussions of the Trust’s performance and particularly the difficulties experienced in the Emergency Department with quite extraordinary demand compounded with bed closures due to norovirus. One of the key issues for the Governors was how much of the emergency care pathway is outside our control and depends on primary care, community care and social care all taking responsibility for their own elements of the pathway. We have Governor elections coming up in June with vacancies in the Nursing/Midwifery and Other/nonclinical staff constituencies as well as for public governors. Several of our longstanding Governors have reached the end of their terms of office – and have given a huge amount to our Trust in so many ways.
This morning I chaired the Science Festival Committee – very exciting. We are at an advanced stage in planning an amazing two days on June 8-9 as part of Cheltenham Science Festival with the theme ‘Extraordinary Everyday’. We have workshops and a marketplace at Sandford Education Centre including an inflatable colon – mixed views on that particular experience but bound to be a ‘wow’ with the kids! We shall be showcasing some amazing kit and letting people have a go at all sorts of things including surgery with simulators. There is tremendous enthusiasm from clinical teams wanting to be involved and showing the cutting edge science that we have right here in our Trust.
March 1, 2013
All of us on the Trust Board have spent a great deal of time thinking about the long awaited report by Robert Francis QC of the public inquiry into Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust.
It is a long time since we read of the shocking care that some patients at that hospital received. This week the Board met to think about how we are going to use the recommendations of the inquiry to improve our patient care. The report has nearly 300 recommendations, and gives us an opportunity to think about the culture of our organisation, ensuring we consistently put the patient at the centre of everything that we do. We need to be transparent about the outcomes of our patient care and we need to check that we learn from our mistakes when we get things wrong.
Our meeting was a preliminary discussion and our Chief Executive, Dr Frank Harsent, is going to set a process going so that we can consult with our staff throughout the organisation over the next few weeks and then come up with an action plan.
A high spot of my day yesterday was chairing an appointments panel for a new ENT consultant. Each of these appointments is a really important decision for our Trust as our consultants will be with us for many years to come. At the interview we trialled some new questions, focussing particularly on care and compassion. And at the end we made a really good appointment against stiff competition.
February 21, 2013
This is the first blog that I have written so I shall be learning as I go along.
Went to the AGM of the League of Friends of Gloucestershire Royal Hospital this week with Dr Frank Harsent. It is always heartening to meet them and to hear what they have done for the hospital – 10 TVs on one ward, a carpet for the chapel, and several of these amazingly sophisticated simulators that we are using more and more to train our staff.
What was really striking was that there are only 149 Friends currently, which is such a tiny number. I wondered how they can publicise what they do more widely. Frank and I were asked to say a few words, and I just said a very big thank you to them and Frank did a review of the year and talked about the future.
Some good questions about NHS changes and the likely impact on us, and lots of interest in our choir! Well if you haven’t already heard about the choir, we are setting up a Trust choir for our staff and we are doing it as a joint venture with Gloucester Cathedral. They also want to have a community choir so joining forces seemed a really good idea.
The choir, which is yet to be named, is already signed up for entertainment after the volunteers’ lunch in October and to sing at this year's Staff Awards ceremony – and the launch doesn’t happen until April!