Jan and Kate's monthly message

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Neges fisol Jan a Kate

Ym mhob cyfarfod bwrdd, rydym yn cael diweddariadau rheolaidd ar effaith fyd-eang COVID-19 a'i effaith yn y DU ac yng Nghymru; mae hyn bob amser yn rhan sobreiddiol o'r cyfarfod ac felly rydym yn gwerthfawrogi'n fawr y cyfle i glywed hefyd am y gwaith ysbrydoledig a gwerthfawr sy'n digwydd ar draws y sefydliad - boed hynny'n ymwneud â'r ymateb anhygoel parhaus i COVID, parhau i weithredu'r tair rhaglen sgrinio cynenedigol/newydd-anedig, ailddechrau gwasanaethau, sganio'r maes iechyd rhyngwladol, neu weithio mewn partneriaeth ehangach.

Fel aelodau o'r Bwrdd hoffem gofnodi ein balchder ym mhob un ohonoch, a diolch o galon i chi am eich ymrwymiad a'ch ymroddiad cyson. Mae hyn bob amser yn amlwg ond yn fwy nawr nag erioed o'r blaen ac mae hynny'n deyrnged i bob un ohonoch. Rydym yn defnyddio'r neges hon i dynnu sylw at rai o'ch cyflawniadau niferus.

Mae ein Huned Genomeg Pathogenau (PenGU) wedi bod yn gweithio gyda phartneriaid allweddol i ddilyniannu a dadansoddi pob sampl SARS-CoV-2 sydd ar gael gan gleifion yng Nghymru. Rydym wedi dod yn arweinydd byd-eang ym maes genomeg COVID-19, ar ôl dilyniannu a rhannu mwy o genomau SARS-CoV-2 nag unrhyw wlad arall yn y byd ac eithrio'r Unol Daleithiau a Lloegr. Mae hwn yn waith arloesol ac roeddem yn falch iawn o weld y sylw cadarnhaol iawn yn y cyfryngau.

Wrth i nifer gyffredinol yr achosion a'r marwolaethau oherwydd COVID-19 leihau yng Nghymru ac wrth i'r cyfyngiadau gael eu llacio, rydym wedi dechrau gweld brigiadau ac achosion niferus lleol. Dyma ble mae ein cyngor a'n harweiniad arbenigol yn talu ar ei ganfed ac mae ein timau wedi gweithio'n ddiflino gyda sefydliadau partner a chymunedau i drin y sefyllfaoedd sensitif hyn gyda phroffesiynoldeb, ffocws a hyfedredd llwyr.

Yn ogystal â thrafod yr heriau presennol yn gysylltiedig â'r pandemig COVID, rydym wedi bod yn ymwneud â'r gwaith o edrych ymlaen at gael brechlyn drwy sefydlu cofrestrfa brechlynnau newydd yn y GIG ar gyfer COVID-19 i helpu i recriwtio pobl ar gyfer y treialon. Mae Iechyd Cyhoeddus Cymru yn chwarae rhan allweddol yn y maes hwn, gan weithio gyda'n cymheiriaid yn Lloegr, yr Alban a Gogledd Iwerddon fel rhan o brosiect Tasglu Brechlyn Llywodraeth y DU.

Clywodd y Bwrdd hefyd sut mae arbenigwyr data Iechyd Cyhoeddus Cymru yn ymuno â rhwydwaith genedlaethol o arbenigwyr i weithio i fynd i’r afael â rhai o’r heriau mwyaf sy’n wynebu gwasanaethau iechyd a gofal heddiw, yn genedlaethol ac yn lleol. Bydd y rhwydwaith yn gweithio ar y cyd i ddatblygu dealltwriaeth ddofn o ffactorau sy'n effeithio ar iechyd pobl yn y DU - gan edrych ar faterion pwysig iawn fel effaith COVID ar bobl sy'n agored i niwed ac sy'n gwarchod eu hunain.

Roedd modd i ni ailddechrau ffrydio ein cyfarfodydd Bwrdd yn fyw ym mis Gorffennaf. Os hoffech weld unrhyw ran o'r cyfarfod mae ar gael yma; mae papurau hefyd ar gael ar yr un dudalen.

Mae ein gwaith partneriaeth ehangach yn parhau i fynd yn dda gyda'r ganolfan ACE yn cyhoeddi gwerthusiad o weithdai Ymwybyddiaeth o ACEs yn ddiweddar gyda Gemau Stryd Cymru a Chwaraeon Cymru, a lywiodd y gwaith o ddatblygu pecyn hyfforddiant chwaraeon gyda phartneriaid yng Nghymru. Mae'r ganolfan hefyd wedi lansio pecyn cymorth ar Drawma ac ACEs (trACE), offeryn hunanasesu i helpu sefydliadau i adlewyrchu a deall y cynnydd y maent yn ei wneud o ran ymgorffori ymarfer trACE-wybodus. Mae Rhwydwaith Iechyd Cyhoeddus Cymru wedi cynnal dau seminar ar COVID-19 - COVID-19 yn Gryno ac Asesiad o Effaith ar Iechyd y 'Polisi Aros Gartref a Chadw Pellter Cymdeithasol' yng Nghymru mewn ymateb i bandemig COVID-19. Cafodd y ddau groeso mawr ac edrychwn ymlaen at weddill y gyfres.

Yng nghyfarfod y Bwrdd ym mis Medi, byddwn yn cael sesiwn graffu fanwl ar waith y Tîm Cyfathrebu yn ystod COVID; ond am y tro, gadewch i ni rannu rhai ffeithiau a wnaeth i ni feddwl. Yn ystod chwe mis cyntaf y flwyddyn, ymatebodd y tîm i bron i 1,000 o ymholiadau gan y cyfryngau, y mwyafrif helaeth ohonynt yn gysylltiedig â COVID-19. Mae hynny'n cymharu â 155 ar gyfer yr un cyfnod y llynedd. O ran ein cynnwys, dros y pedwar mis diwethaf fe gyrhaeddon ni 109 miliwn o bobl ar Facebook ac 86,000 o bobl ar Instagram a chawsom 60,000 o ymgysylltiadau ar Twitter. Ac er eu bod wedi bod yn gweithio'n galed i ledaenu ein negeseuon allweddol, mae'r tîm hefyd wedi gweithio gyda'r Uned Newid Ymddygiad i greu ymgyrch bellgyrhaeddol; sy'n edrych ar lesiant corfforol a meddyliol y cyhoedd yng Nghymru wrth iddynt ymdopi â chyfyngiadau symud COVID.

Gwyddom fod hwn yn gyfnod heriol a llawn straen ac mae'r Bwrdd yn cadw llygad barcud ar wytnwch a llesiant y staff. Mae'n bwysig cymryd amser i orffwys ac ymlacio a gobeithiwn y byddwch yn gwneud hynny cyn yr hydref. Gobeithio hefyd y byddwch chi, fel ninnau, yn myfyrio ar y cyflawniadau uchod ac yn ymfalchïo ym mhopeth rydych chi'n ei wneud i ddiogelu iechyd a llesiant pobl Cymru. Mae eich cyfraniad yn hollbwysig.

Cofion.

Jan a Kate.

Jan and Kate’s monthly message

At each board meeting, we have our regular updates on the global, UK and Wales impact of COVID-19; this is always a sobering part of the meeting and so we really appreciate the opportunity to also hear about the inspirational and valuable work going on across the organisation – whether that involves the continuing phenomenal response to COVID mobilisation, keeping the three antenatal/newborn screening programmes going, starting service reactivation, international health scanning, or wider partnership working.

As Board members we place on record our pride in, and our heartfelt thanks to, all of you for your consistent commitment and dedication. This is always evident and never more so than now and it is a tribute to you all. We’re using this message to highlight a few of your many achievements.

Our Pathogen Genomics Unit (PenGU) has been working with key partners to sequence and analyse every available SARS-CoV-2 sample from patients in Wales. We’ve become a global leader in COVID-19 genomics, having sequenced and shared more SARS-CoV-2 genomes than any other country in the world except the United States and England. This is ground breaking work and we were so pleased to see the very positive media coverage.

As the overall number of cases and deaths in Wales due to COVID-19 decreases and lockdown eases, we have begun to see localised outbreaks and incidents. This is where our Public Health Wales expert advice and guidance comes into its own and our teams have worked tirelessly with partner organisations and communities to handle these sensitive situations with their consummate professionalism, focus and proficiency.

As well as handling the current challenges of the COVID pandemic, we have been involved in looking forward to a vaccine with a new NHS COVID-19 vaccine registry being set up to help recruit people to the trials. Public Health Wales is playing a key role in this area, working with our English, Scottish and Northern Irish counterparts as part of the UK Government’s Vaccine Taskforce project.

The Board also heard about how Public Health Wales data specialists are joining a national network of experts to work to address some of the biggest challenges facing health and care services today, both national and locally. The network will be working collaboratively to develop a deep understanding of factors that affect people’s health in the UK – looking at really important issues such as the impact of COVID on vulnerable people who are shielding.

We were able to return to livestreaming our Board meeting in July, if you would like to see any part of the meeting it can be viewed here; papers are also available on the same page.

Our wider partnership work continues to go well with the ACE hub recently publishing an evaluation of ACE Awareness workshops with Street Games Wales and Sport Wales, which informed development of a sports training package with partners in Wales. The hub has also launched a Trauma and ACE (trACE) informed toolkit, a self-assessment tool to help organisations reflect and understand the progress they are making in embedding trACE informed practice. The Public Health Cymru Network has held two COVID-19 seminars – COVID-19 in a Nutshell and COVID-19 Health Impact Assessment 'Staying at Home and Social Distancing Policy' in Wales. Both were very well received and we look forward to the remainder of the series.

At the September Board meeting, we will be deep diving into the work of the Communications Team during COVID; but for now, let us share some facts that really made us think. For the first six months of the year, the team responded to nearly 1,000 media enquiries, the vast majority of which were COVID-19 related. That compares with 155 for the same period last year. With our content, over the past four months we reached 109 million people and 86,000 people on Facebook and Instagram respectively and had 60,000 engagements on Twitter. And while they’ve been working hard to get our key messages out, the team have also worked with the Behaviour Change Unit to create a far reaching campaign; which looks at the physical and mental wellbeing of the Welsh public while they cope with COVID lockdown measures.

We know that these are challenging and stressful times and the Board keeps a close eye on staff resilience and wellbeing. It is important to take time out to rest and recharge the batteries and we hope that you will do that before the autumn. We also hope that, like us, you will reflect on the above achievements and take pride in everything that you are doing to protect the health and wellbeing of the people of Wales. Your contribution is vital.

Cofion.

Jan and Kate.