The Pulse September / October 2009 - NHS Lanarkshire

thePulse
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009 LOCAL/DISTRICT/PARTNERSHIP
13
In brief…
Huge thanks for
TV donation
PATIENTS at Coathill Hospital
are enjoying their favourite films
and sporting events on state-ofthe-art
screens thanks to the
Airdrie and District Round Table.
The group donated £1000 to
the hospital’s Glenmore Unit.
This money was used for three
top-of-the-range televisions,
which have delighted patients.
Ward manager Lesley
McCreaddie, from Wishaw,
said: “This was an absolutely
brilliant gesture.”
Colin Williams, chairman of
the Airdrie and District Round
Table (ADRT), said: “We’ve a long
history of working with the NHS
and were delighted we could
help Coathill Hospital.”
Brief ways to get
the point across
EVERY healthcare contact is a
health improvement opportunity.
You can make the most of
this chance through brief
intervention training.
Brief interventions are short,
structured conversations which
seek to empower people to
improve their own health.
Trainer Sarah Welsh will
provide generic brief
intervention training for
community planning partners,
including voluntary sector and
NHS Lanarkshire staff.
She said: “Brief intervention is
a process that can be learned
and used by practitioners to
identify readiness for change
in individuals and to help
motivate and support health
behaviour change.
“It can also help address
health behaviour problems at an
early stage and facilitate referral
of more serious cases.”
Generic brief intervention
training is now available for
NHS staff and community
planning partners.
To find out more, visit the
brief intervention training
page on FirstPort (quick links) or
call 01698 377651.
HAPPY TO HELP: Volunteers Derek Howie
and Phyllis Robertson provide an essential
service helping people travel to and from
the Kilbryde Hospice in East Kilbride
Rewarding work
Volunteers set to help patients and staff in a range of new ways
VOLUNTEERING in Lanarkshire
is getting bigger and better, and
staff are being asked to suggest
new areas where volunteers
could participate.
Volunteers have been helping
patients and staff in the NHS for
years, but in Lanarkshire their roles
have been limited to community care.
Part of Lanarkshire’s new action
plan for volunteering includes identifying
suitable opportunities for
volunteers in the acute hospitals.
This could mean ensuring visitors
wash their hands before entering a
ward area or simply sitting with
patients and chatting to them while
they are in hospital.
Katrina Murray, volunteer services
manager, said: “This is a new development
for volunteering in
Lanarkshire and we hope it will
generate a lot of interest.
“We would be really keen to hear
from staff in the acute hospitals
about where volunteers would be
useful. It is really important to get
the roles right so volunteers find the
work rewarding and they are able to
support both staff and patients.”
For example, Lanarkshire is
looking for volunteers to become flu
buddies, which are an important part
of the pandemic flu plan. Volunteers
would help isolated people by
making sure that they have medicine
and food while they are ill.
As part of the development of
volunteering, Lanarkshire is also
working towards Investing In
Volunteers.
NHS Lanarkshire has already met
most of the 10 standards, but we are
still working on:
q Developing a handbook for
volunteers
q Developing a range of policies for
volunteers
q Developing risk assessments for
volunteer roles.
The assessment process has been
ongoing throughout August with
staff and volunteers being
interviewed by assessors. The results
of the final assessment will be
known later in the year.
If you have any suggestions for
areas where volunteers could help
patients, particularly within the acute
hospitals, contact Katrina Murray on
01236 707796/707797 or email
katrina.murray@lanarkshire.scot.nhs.uk
TOP TOILETRIES: Charge nurse Jan Miller (far right) with (from left) colleague
Allison McKenna, and Christine Harris and Lisa McShane of Women’s Aid
Designer donations delight Women’s Aid
A WOMEN’S Aid group issued a big
thank you to the accident and emergency
(A&E) staff at Wishaw
General Hospital.
The Motherwell and District
group paid tribute to the staff after
they filled a basket with items
such as toiletries, perfume and
handbags to give to the women who
the group helps.
The basket was left out by
Wishaw General A&E charge nurse
Jan Miller after she learned of the
desperate plight faced by many of
the women who seek refuge from
violent and aggressive partners.
Jan said: “We have a domestic
violence group within the A&E
department, which aims to raise
awareness of the issue among staff
to help us identify and support
women who may be in A&E as the
result of abuse.
“At a recent meeting a Women’s
Aid worker told us how many of the
women who turn to them for help
often have absolutely nothing when
they arrive as they’ve been forced
to flee at short notice. I put an old
basket I had in the staff room and
asked staff to make a donation.
“The response was absolutely
fantastic and in only two weeks, the
basket was overflowing with
donations. As well as toilet bags and
toiletries, there were also items
such as designer perfume, hair dye
and hair clasps.”
Christine Harris from Motherwell
and District Women’s Aid said: “I
really want to thank the staff for this.
“It’s good to be able to give the
women some basic toiletries and
cosmetics to help them get back on
their feet. It also helps them rebuild
their self-esteem, which for some
can be very low after they’ve
suffered years of abuse.”
One in four women will be
victims of physical, verbal or mental
abuse at some stage in their lives.
Motherwell and District Women’s
Aid is on 01698 321000.