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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the<strong>Pulse</strong><br />
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER <strong>2009</strong> GENERAL NEWS<br />
7<br />
In brief…<br />
e<br />
PLASMA screens displaying<br />
health-related messages are<br />
to be piloted in <strong>NHS</strong> <strong>Lanarkshire</strong><br />
as part of a Scottish Governmentfunded<br />
initiative.<br />
Five state-of-the-art screens<br />
will show key information, such<br />
as health promotion videos,<br />
waiting times, local news and<br />
transport information.<br />
Two screens will be located at<br />
Wishaw General, one in the<br />
accident and emergency<br />
department and the other in the<br />
coffee shop.<br />
At Monklands Hospital, one<br />
screen will be located in A&E and<br />
another in the outpatients.<br />
<strong>The</strong>re will also be a screen in<br />
the waiting area at Douglas Street<br />
Community Health Clinic.<br />
All screens will be operational<br />
by early <strong>September</strong>.<br />
For further information on<br />
the initiative, call Alison<br />
McCutcheon on 01698 245299 or<br />
email alison.mccutcheon@<br />
lanarkshire.scot.nhs.uk<br />
e<br />
REVISED <strong>NHS</strong> pension<br />
arrangements were<br />
introduced on 1 April this year. If<br />
you were a member before April<br />
2008, over the coming months,<br />
you will be given the opportunity<br />
to transfer all of your membership<br />
to the new 2008 scheme – known<br />
as the Choice Exercise.<br />
This will not start before<br />
1 <strong>October</strong>. Information packs will<br />
be sent out to home addresses.<br />
Staff must ensure their addresses<br />
are up to date.<br />
<strong>The</strong> pack will allow you to make<br />
an informed decision and include<br />
comparison pension benefit<br />
statements for both schemes,<br />
information on both options and<br />
lump figures available in both.<br />
You will have four months to<br />
reply. If you do not reply the<br />
Scottish Public Pensions Agency<br />
(SPPA) will assume that you wish<br />
to remain in the 1995 section.<br />
A factsheet is available on the<br />
SPPA website. You can check<br />
the SPPA website for regular<br />
updates at www.sppa.gov.uk/nhs<br />
choice.htm or email nhschoice<br />
exercise@scotland.gsi.gov.uk<br />
or call 01896 893002. In addition, a<br />
telephone helpline will be<br />
introduced.<br />
e<br />
PEOPLE with dementia<br />
benefited from an arts<br />
therapy project piloted by <strong>NHS</strong><br />
<strong>Lanarkshire</strong> in Coatbridge.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Community Mental Health<br />
Team for Older People (CMHTOP),<br />
based at Coathill Hospital,<br />
launched the 12-week initiative.<br />
Two groups were set up, one in<br />
the community for people with<br />
mild to moderate dementia, and<br />
one at the East Stewart Gardens<br />
Day Centre for people with<br />
moderate to severe dementia.<br />
In addition to members of the<br />
CMHTOP team, art therapist Claire<br />
Coleman-Smith was recruited.<br />
Claire said: “Not only did<br />
people enjoy the sessions, their<br />
confidence and motivation also<br />
increased and they developed<br />
closer relationships.”<br />
Helping people get<br />
on with their lives<br />
REHABILITATION is not something<br />
which only begins after surgery.<br />
This is just one of the messages<br />
Claire Ritchie is keen to<br />
emphasise after joining <strong>NHS</strong><br />
<strong>Lanarkshire</strong> as Scotland’s only<br />
consultant allied health professional<br />
in rehabilitation.<br />
She took up the innovative new<br />
post with <strong>NHS</strong> <strong>Lanarkshire</strong> in June.<br />
And Claire is determined to<br />
change attitudes towards rehabilitation<br />
services to help improve<br />
patient care in the local area.<br />
She said: “My role will look to<br />
change people’s thoughts about<br />
rehabilitation, enhance communitybased<br />
services and promote the<br />
services available.<br />
“Rehabilitation isn’t just<br />
something that starts farther down<br />
the line after you’ve had surgery and<br />
ends when you go home.<br />
“Planning a person’s recovery, and<br />
putting these plans into action,<br />
should begin before a person comes<br />
in for surgery or treatment – which<br />
can even prevent their admission –<br />
and continues in the community.<br />
“It’s vital we promote independence<br />
rather than dependence, and<br />
enable people to take control in<br />
their lives.”<br />
Claire’s two-year post is in partnership<br />
with the two local authorities,<br />
North <strong>Lanarkshire</strong> Council<br />
and South <strong>Lanarkshire</strong> Council.<br />
Her key goal will be to integrate<br />
the objectives of <strong>NHS</strong>Scotland’s<br />
national framework for rehabilitation,<br />
Co-ordinated, integrated<br />
and fit for purpose – delivery<br />
framework for adult rehabilitation,<br />
within <strong>Lanarkshire</strong>.<br />
Claire qualified as an occupational<br />
therapist from Glasgow University<br />
and worked in various clinical roles<br />
within <strong>NHS</strong> Greater Glasgow and<br />
FLOURISHING: Back row: Kevin O’Neill, <strong>NHS</strong><br />
<strong>Lanarkshire</strong>, Bobby Miller, Social Work Services,<br />
North <strong>Lanarkshire</strong> Council, Colin Sloey, <strong>NHS</strong><br />
<strong>Lanarkshire</strong>, and Dr Lynne Friedli, Mental Health<br />
Improvement Services. Front Row: Wendy Halliday,<br />
<strong>NHS</strong> Health Scotland, and Mairi Brackenridge,<br />
Social Work Resources, South <strong>Lanarkshire</strong> Council<br />
Clyde before being a lead of service<br />
for occupational therapists.<br />
She also took up the post of a<br />
clinical services manager for<br />
stroke services.<br />
Claire’s final post at <strong>NHS</strong> Greater<br />
Glasgow and Clyde, before moving<br />
to <strong>Lanarkshire</strong>, was as allied health<br />
professional consultant for stroke.<br />
Claire went on: “Rehabilitation is<br />
a team approach that includes<br />
medical, nursing, allied health<br />
professionals and social work staff<br />
and it’s important these professions<br />
work closely together.<br />
“Establishing close working<br />
relationships will be key to ensuring<br />
we provide the best possible quality<br />
of rehabilitation services in our<br />
community.”<br />
Claire told how rehabilitation<br />
can help improve patient care,<br />
saying: “Rehabilitation is about<br />
helping and supporting people<br />
who have experienced a challenge<br />
to their physical or mental<br />
wellbeing which has affected their<br />
quality of life.<br />
“People can be helped, through<br />
rehabilitation, to get back to coping<br />
with everyday life and to reach their<br />
full potential.<br />
“Proactive and accessible<br />
vocational rehabilitation and<br />
employment services can help<br />
people return to work.”<br />
Claire added: “I’ll be working with<br />
a <strong>Lanarkshire</strong> team to improve the<br />
care provided to patients with longterm<br />
conditions and trying to<br />
prevent unnecessary admissions<br />
to hospitals.<br />
“We’ll also be aiming to improve<br />
rehabilitation services in the<br />
community to enable people to live<br />
independently at home, and to<br />
establish a single point of access for<br />
these services.”<br />
Rehabilitation priorities<br />
THE priority for <strong>NHS</strong> boards and<br />
local authorities under the national<br />
framework will be to:<br />
q Transform rehabilitation services<br />
to put rehabilitation at the heart of<br />
service delivery<br />
q Adopt a whole-systems approach<br />
to rehabilitation services<br />
<strong>NHS</strong> <strong>Lanarkshire</strong>, North<br />
<strong>Lanarkshire</strong> Council and South<br />
<strong>Lanarkshire</strong> Council are working<br />
together to help <strong>Lanarkshire</strong><br />
“mentally flourish”.<br />
Together, they held an event<br />
at Larkhall Leisure Centre to<br />
mark the launch of Towards a<br />
Mentally Flourishing Scotland:<br />
Policy and Action Plan <strong>2009</strong>-<br />
2011 and to discuss promoting<br />
and supporting mental health<br />
and wellbeing in <strong>Lanarkshire</strong>.<br />
<strong>The</strong> event was attended by 100<br />
service users, carers and other<br />
stakeholders.<br />
Towards a Mentally Flourishing<br />
Scotland focuses on promoting<br />
wellbeing, preventing mental<br />
q Give a single point of access to<br />
rehabilitation services<br />
q Promote accessible vocational<br />
rehabilitation services<br />
q Support older people and<br />
people with long-term<br />
conditions to live in their<br />
local communities.<br />
Action plan to<br />
mentally flourish<br />
illness and supporting improvements<br />
in the quality of life,<br />
social inclusion, and recovery<br />
of people who experience<br />
mental health problems or<br />
mental illness.<br />
Towards a Mentally Flourishing<br />
Scotland: Policy and Action Plan <strong>2009</strong>-<br />
2011 is available at www.scotland.gov.uk<br />
For mental health information visit<br />
www.lanarkshirementalhealth.org.uk<br />
Help and support can be found by<br />
contacting Breathing Space on 0800<br />
838587 or visiting www.breathing<br />
spacescotland.co.uk or by contacting the<br />
Samaritans on 08457 909090 or visiting<br />
www.samaritans.org.uk