Founder, National Healthcare
Search every verified Carl Adams interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Carl Adams, a transformation manager for adult services and head of people participation at Solent NHS Trust, documented his work during the COVID-19 pandemic in a September 2020 video diary. He described his role as supporting clinical leads for services including COPD, diabetes, tissue viability, stoma care, cardiac, and bladder and bowel, while also coordinating the trust's PPE supply and ensuring infection control guidance was followed. Adams noted that staff were anxious about uncertainty and that guidance was changing rapidly, making it difficult for people to keep up. He called for clear, plain English guidance that is visually accessible, stating that long documents are too much for processing when people are anxious. Adams observed that variation across services required individualized approaches, but that bringing teams together on calls helped them work more collaboratively. He emphasized the importance of listening to frontline staff and being present for them, even when answers were not immediately available. By the end of the day, he reported that nurses felt more at ease after receiving consistent PPE and clear communication about its correct use.
“A key role for today has been around PPE and ensuring that all adult homes and services have got enough PPE and understand the guidance and process around people.”
“People are not quite following the guidance correctly mainly because it's kept changing so rapidly and people can't keep up with the guidance.”
“We really need clear, plain English guidance that is applicable to everyone; long documents are just too much for processing when people are anxious.”
“The variation across all services just makes it so you have to individualize it so much, but talking on the same call really helps and that's probably the model mover for how you get services working together more.”
“It's key to bring all engagement skills in; it's listening and being there for people when they need it and trying to have some of the answers, but sometimes we just don't have the answers or need to wait for clarification.”
“Staff are anxious about what's coming, when it's happening, and there's still quite a lot of uncertainty.”
“It's good to keep in touch with frontline staff to see what actually is going on and how they're feeling; experienced staff still don't know what's happening but seem to be managing well at the moment.”
“The teams and nurses are feeling a bit at ease because they've got the PPE they need every day, and the communication and reiteration of the correct PPE is really helping.”
In response to COVID-19 a number of Solent NHS Trust staff have taken on new roles. In his vlog Carl Adams, Patient and ...
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