The Pulse September / October 2009 - NHS Lanarkshire
The Pulse September / October 2009 - NHS Lanarkshire
The Pulse September / October 2009 - NHS Lanarkshire
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6<br />
the<strong>Pulse</strong> GENERAL NEWS SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER <strong>2009</strong><br />
FLYING Start <strong>NHS</strong> is for all newly qualified nurses,<br />
midwives and allied health professionals<br />
(NMAHPs) in <strong>NHS</strong>Scotland. It helps their<br />
transition from student to qualified health<br />
professionals by supporting their learning through<br />
a range of learning activities assisted by workbased<br />
mentors.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Flying Start awards are given to those newly<br />
qualified staff who have excelled in various projects<br />
they have been working on.<br />
<strong>The</strong>re are four award categories:<br />
q Using an audit to improve service delivery<br />
q Improving information for patients/carers<br />
q Improving the patient experience<br />
q Improving inter-professional team working and/<br />
or communication<br />
TAKE<br />
From the initial 350 projects, these were reduced<br />
to a final 19 – with <strong>NHS</strong> <strong>Lanarkshire</strong> having four<br />
finalists. Only <strong>NHS</strong> Greater Glasgow and Clyde had<br />
more with five finalists.<br />
<strong>NHS</strong> <strong>Lanarkshire</strong> chairman Ken Corsar was joined<br />
by Paul Wilson, executive director of NMAHPs,<br />
Rosemary Lyness, director of acute services, and Peter<br />
McCrossan, associate director for AHPs and lead AHP,<br />
in congratulating award winners Lee Samuel and<br />
Hannah Weir at a celebration tea in Udston Hospital.<br />
Ken said: “<strong>The</strong> Board places a great emphasis on<br />
the personal development of all staff as the real<br />
beneficiaries are the patients who receive<br />
improved care.<br />
“For <strong>NHS</strong> <strong>Lanarkshire</strong> to have had four finalists<br />
is a fantastic achievement.”<br />
Better procedures<br />
HANNAH Weir’s project will<br />
help improve the care and safety<br />
of patients who need nasogastric<br />
tubes.<br />
<strong>The</strong>se are inserted through the<br />
nose and into the stomach to help<br />
patients who cannot eat orally.<br />
Hannah carried out the audit in<br />
surgical, medical and care of the<br />
elderly wards in Wishaw General<br />
to discover if inconsistencies were<br />
being practised.<br />
In addition to a questionnaire for<br />
nursing staff, her audit included a<br />
checklist to establish which nursing<br />
staff were documenting the care and<br />
positioning of the feeding tubes.<br />
Hannah’s audit will allow any<br />
training needs to be identified and<br />
help ensure patients receive the best<br />
possible care.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Wishaw General dietitian<br />
said: “<strong>The</strong> audit established there<br />
were some inconsistencies.<br />
I also discovered some of the<br />
documentation being used<br />
was outdated.<br />
“We can now arrange awareness<br />
sessions to ensure everyone knows<br />
the correct procedures and<br />
paperwork to use so that patients<br />
are receiving the best care possible.”<br />
ABOW<br />
LADIES<br />
TWO <strong>NHS</strong> <strong>Lanarkshire</strong><br />
colleagues received prestigious<br />
national awards from Cabinet<br />
Secretary for Health and well<br />
being Nicola Sturgeon for their<br />
work in improving patient care.<br />
Innovative projects by Lee<br />
Samuel and Hannah Weir won two<br />
out of the five categories of awards<br />
within the Flying Start <strong>NHS</strong><br />
national development programme.<br />
<strong>NHS</strong> <strong>Lanarkshire</strong> chairman Ken<br />
Corsar praised the pair: “On behalf<br />
of the board I would like to<br />
congratulate Lee and Hannah for<br />
their tremendous achievement in<br />
coming out on top in the whole of<br />
Scotland for their projects.<br />
“I’m also very pleased Lee and<br />
Hannah received their awards from<br />
Nicola Sturgeon, as this again<br />
emphasises the ongoing success of<br />
<strong>NHS</strong> <strong>Lanarkshire</strong> in staff<br />
development and improving<br />
patient care.”<br />
Lee, an occupational therapist<br />
with the community mental health<br />
team, won in the Improving the<br />
Patient Experience category.<br />
Her project helps men and<br />
women improve their daily living<br />
skills, confidence and motivation<br />
through the creation of a soup<br />
group, ‘Simply Soup’, within<br />
Pather Occupational <strong>The</strong>rapy<br />
Clinic (see article, right).<br />
Lee, from Motherwell, said:<br />
“It was great to have the success<br />
of the project recognised in<br />
this way.<br />
“Simply Soup has helped these<br />
individuals improve their communication<br />
skills and motivation and<br />
increase their confidence to try<br />
new foods.<br />
“I’d like to thank my specialist<br />
occupational therapist Maureen<br />
Black and my technical<br />
instructor Gill Hunter for all<br />
their support.”<br />
Meanwhile, Hannah, a dietician<br />
at Wishaw General Hospital, won<br />
in the Using an Audit to Improve<br />
Service Delivery category.<br />
Her audit in the surgical,<br />
medical and care of the elderly<br />
wards at Wishaw will improve the<br />
feeding of patients through<br />
naso-gastric tubes (see article,<br />
above right).<br />
Hannah, who returned from<br />
her honeymoon in Crete on the<br />
day of the award ceremony, said:<br />
“I didn’t even know there were<br />
awards.<br />
“I only found out when I was<br />
shortlisted. So it was a complete<br />
surprise to then learn I’d won.<br />
“<strong>The</strong>re was a lot of extra work<br />
involved on top of my duties, but<br />
I really enjoyed it and I’m glad it<br />
will help improve patient care.<br />
“It’s nice to get the recognition<br />
for doing the work and it also<br />
helps show that dietitians are an<br />
important part of the medical team<br />
who want to contribute to<br />
improving the care of patients.”<br />
Simple ideas are often the best<br />
LEE Samuel’s ‘Simply Soup’ project<br />
helps people with a mental health<br />
problem to develop skills necessary<br />
for everyday living.<br />
Before the project started, the<br />
individuals lacked confidence and<br />
motivation and struggled to<br />
perform routine daily tasks.<br />
However, from coming up with<br />
the idea for Simply Soup, the group<br />
progressed to setting up the<br />
business, promoting it and<br />
eventually running it at the Pather<br />
Occupational <strong>The</strong>rapy Clinic.<br />
HIGH ACHIEVERS: Lee Samuel,<br />
left, and Hannah Weir (née<br />
Easton) with their certificates<br />
Lee, an occupational therapist<br />
based at the Airbles Road Centre in<br />
Motherwell, said: “I thought setting<br />
up a business would encompass<br />
every part of an individual’s life.<br />
“It required organisation, taking<br />
on new responsibilities, good<br />
communication, and built on<br />
transferable cooking skills.<br />
“Setting up this group has<br />
provided these individuals with<br />
structure and routine to their week,<br />
and they feel ownership in the<br />
development of Simply Soup.”<br />
She went on: “During the project,<br />
they delegated specific tasks to<br />
each other, chose and modified<br />
recipes, planned what ingredients<br />
were needed and where to get<br />
them, promoted and advertised the<br />
shop, cooked the soups and served<br />
them to fellow patients at the<br />
Occupational <strong>The</strong>rapy Clinic.<br />
“<strong>The</strong> skills they have used and<br />
developed have led to increased<br />
confidence and motivation and<br />
improved communication skills.<br />
“<strong>The</strong>y can also now cook<br />
healthy meals for themselves and<br />
their families.<br />
“<strong>The</strong>y have learned a wide range<br />
of skills which they can use in their<br />
daily lives and the progress of these<br />
men and women has been amazing.”<br />
Simply Soup operates on a<br />
Thursday morning from 10.30am to<br />
12.30pm, serving soups to other<br />
clients of the community mental<br />
health team in Pather.<br />
Lee is hoping the project will be<br />
a stepping stone to voluntary work<br />
and paid employment.