The Pulse September / October 2009 - NHS Lanarkshire

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thePulse SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009 COMPETITIONS/PUZZLES 17 Here comes Spinawina! Marilyn, who works in the South Lanarkshire psychotherapy department, has helped invent a new game – and you can win it! A FANTASTIC new board game “Spinawina”, has been invented by NHS Lanarkshire’s Marilyn Neil with husband Douglas. Marilyn, from Carluke, works in the South Lanarkshire psychotherapy department at Torrance House, Motherwell. The ingenious duo have created a revolutionary general knowledge board game which is sure to be a big hit this Christmas. And The Pulse has teamed up with Douglas and Marilyn to offer readers the chance to win two of these fantastic quiz games. Secretary Marilyn said: “It has been a long hard road developing the game, however, we’ve had a lot of fun on the way and hope people will love playing it. “Now that we’ve managed to produce it, we’re hoping the bigger manufacturers can take it to the next level under licence. “In this economic climate, board games are continuing to be popular with people looking for group entertainment at home, and at low cost.” Based on a travel theme, Spinawina’s patented idea, the spinner, replaces the use of dice and provides a novel and exciting way of playing the game. The idea is to use your transport peg on the spinner to reach your destination – the centre of the board – first. To do this, you need to answer questions correctly and collect your four tokens on route. There are 14 question categories including music, films, science and nature, history, true or false, sport and TV. A kids’ section is also included so they can join in as well. Two special categories, “guys” and “dolls”, have also been included to add some fun and banter between the sexes. This means all the family have a chance to answer questions from their favourite category. Patents have been granted in Great Britain and the USA. It is available to buy online at www.Spinawina.com for £29.99, excluding postage and packaging. For a chance to win one of the two Spinawina games, answer this simple question: What replaces dice in the game Spinawina? Send your answers to Martin Stirling at Communications Department, Strathclyde Hospital, Airbles Road, Motherwell ML1 3BW by Friday 2 October. Alternatively email your answer to martin.stirling@ lanarkshire.scot.nhs.uk with “Spinawina” as the subject. Remember to include your job title, place of work and a contact number. Big grin with a win! THREE lucky staff members got their hands on £100 of Boots vouchers after winning an oral health quiz. Morag Torrance, Orchard Medical Centre, won £50, while Pamela Warrington, Modyrvale Medical Centre, and Pamela TWO lucky Pulse readers enjoyed a day at the races after winning competitions in the last edition. q Amanda Shewan, charge nurse on ward 17 at Wishaw General Hospital, was able to take along nine of her SMILE: Pamela Warrington, Morag Torrance and Pamela Caldwell receive their prizes from Clare Malone Caldwell, Strathclyde Hospital, won £25 each. The quiz had been organised by Motherwell locality’s Health Working Lives Group to raise awareness of National Smile Month – which ran from 17 May- 17 June. friends to Ayr race course for their famous Ladies’ Night on Saturday 8 August. She correctly answered that William Hill sponsors the Ayr Gold Cup. Clare Malone, health promotion officer, said: “The group would like to thank all staff who took part and for our colleagues in oral health for supplying the quiz. “Look out for our next quiz coming soon with some more great prizes.” Ladies were winners at the races q Lesley Allison, a specialist paediatric dietician, based at Strathclyde Hospital, was the winner of our Hamilton Park Racecourse competition. She won two tickets to Ladies’ Night on 1 August. Pulse Sudoku Enter digits from 1 to 9 into the blank spaces. Every row must contain one of each digit. So must every column, and every 3x3 square. Get the solution on FirstPort. 8 2 4 6 8 5 8 1 5 9 5 7 6 7 4 9 6 5 6 8 7 3 1 6 3 6 9 2 7 4 8
18 thePulse GENERAL NEWS SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009 Spotlight on care for older people ALMOST 200 people attended an event aimed at improving care for older people in Lanarkshire. Rising to the Challenge: Developing 21st Century Care for Older People was held in the Excelsior Stadium in Airdrie. Professionals from a variety of backgrounds, including health, social care and private care home services, attended the conference. The event was jointly supported by the older people’s directorate, the managed care network for older people and the practice development practitioner for older people. The main aims of the conference were to: q Improve the profile of older people’s services across Lanarkshire q Showcase innovative practice in older peoples’ care q Highlight shared challenges and opportunities q Improve practice of staff providing care to older people q Develop networks of care across older people’s services q Improve staff knowledge. The day included some key presentations from expert speakers as well as workshops, market stalls and poster presentations. Key speakers on the day included Dr Marie Cerinus, NHS Lanarkshire’s director of nurses, midwives and allied health professionals, Professor Alasdair MacLullich, Royal College of Surgeons and Geriatricians, and Dr Sarah Mitchell, project manager, Scottish Government. Trudi Marshall, practice development practitioner for older adults, said: “The purpose of this POSITIVE FEEDBACK: delegates listened to speakers and attended workshops event was to provide a learning and networking opportunity for people with an interest in older people’s care across Lanarkshire. “There was a fantastic turnout and the feedback we received was extremely positive. “I would like to thank the Ronald Miller Endowment Fund and its trustees for the support provided.” Boost for wellbeing TWO NHS Lanarkshire projects which aim to improve the health, safety and wellbeing of staff have been awarded funding of almost £180,000. An initiative to develop an online training package for the prevention and management of violence and aggression (PaMoVA) received £25,000 from the Scottish Government’s Working Well Challenge Fund. In addition, a project to help improve staff health and encourage personal development and lifelong learning received £152,800. In total, £1.5 million of funding for projects aimed at improving the health, safety and wellbeing of staff working in the NHS in Scotland were announced by Minister for Public Health Shona Robison during a speech at the NHSScotland Event in June. Hugh Sweeney, NHS Lanarkshire’s employee director, believes the funding will benefit the health board, staff and patients. He said: “NHS Lanarkshire puts a great emphasis on encouraging staff to continue their lifelong learning. “This brings benefits not just to the individuals themselves, but to the organisation as a whole and our patients who reap the benefits of a highly skilled, motivated and dedicated team of professional staff.” Jan Shand, PaMoVA manager, added: “Receiving this money will be a tremendous boost. “An online training system will provide another option for staff. It will help us provide refresher training and has the potential to provide basic training to some staff in the low-risk category. “The new system will help maximise the safety of staff and service users by offering flexible training options in the prevention and management of violence and aggression. “We’re hoping to implement the new system as soon as possible.” At the NHSScotland Event, Ms Robison also paid tribute to the efforts of NHS staff throughout the recent H1N1 outbreak. She said: “The importance of public health has been brought into sharp focus by the recent outbreak of the H1N1 strain of flu and I would like to thank NHS staff in Scotland for their effective and swift response. “I am hugely encouraged by the work that is taking place to improve the health of Scotland’s people. “A healthier Scotland is a better Scotland and NHS staff are working on the front line in order to deliver this. “I am also delighted to be announcing the successful projects set to receive funding from the Working Well Challenge Fund. “Alongside existing initiatives, these will help to ensure that staff can continue to work towards our shared goal of improving the nation’s health in a safe working environment.” For a full list of the successful bids in the Working Well Challenge, visit: www.scotland.gov.uk Learning for life MORE than 160 staff attended NHS Lanarkshire’s fifth annual Learning at Work Day in June. The event, held in the Ronald Miller Education Centre, highlights the advice, support and training opportunities available to the health board’s employees. Training manager Agnes Robb was pleased with the success of the day. She said: “The aim of the Learning at Work Day is to promote life-long learning, whether through academic courses or summer courses in various leisure pursuits, and to show NHS Lanarkshire staff the opportunities and support available to them. “In addition to the information stalls, we had taster sessions – including one in sign language – and the feedback was very positive. “The day has grown over the previous five years and we’re already looking forward to an even bigger and better event next year.” Stalls for the Practice Development Centre, the library service, IT, SALUS and the Dalziel Centre were joined by external organisations, including the University of the West of Scotland, the Open University and Motherwell Football Club. Congratulations to the Learning at Work Day winners – Sheona Everett, who won the word search competition and £50 of Matalan vouchers, and raffle prize winners Catrina McQueen and Sam Hannah, who both won a basket of fruit courtesy of Serco. IN THE SLING OF IT: June Lee, moving and handling advisor, demonstrates the patient hoist to Jan Shand, Prevention and Management of Violence and Aggression (PaMoVA) manager, during the Learning at Work Day In brief… Discounts, offers and prizes at NHS247.com NHS Lanarkshire staff can benefit from big discounts and great offers on NHS247.com Launched in July 2008, the site is the first online healthcare community for all NHS staff. NHS247 hosts the popular NHS Staff Discount scheme from hundreds of local and national businesses. You can let the NHS247 team know if you want your favourite local businesses to be included by logging on to nhs247.com There is also an NHS employee of the month competition, where any member of staff can nominate a colleague. The winner receives a prize – typically a break for two in a four or five-star hotel. New competition prizes include a brand new car. NHS247 also carries a latest NHS news board which includes blogs, petitions and forums. To take advantage of these exclusive offers, NHS employees need to register on www.nhs247.com which is completely free of charge.
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The Pulse September / October 2009 - NHS Lanarkshire

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