The Pulse September / October 2009 - NHS Lanarkshire

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6 thePulse GENERAL NEWS SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009 FLYING Start NHS is for all newly qualified nurses, midwives and allied health professionals (NMAHPs) in NHSScotland. It helps their transition from student to qualified health professionals by supporting their learning through a range of learning activities assisted by workbased mentors. The Flying Start awards are given to those newly qualified staff who have excelled in various projects they have been working on. There are four award categories: q Using an audit to improve service delivery q Improving information for patients/carers q Improving the patient experience q Improving inter-professional team working and/ or communication TAKE From the initial 350 projects, these were reduced to a final 19 – with NHS Lanarkshire having four finalists. Only NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde had more with five finalists. NHS Lanarkshire chairman Ken Corsar was joined by Paul Wilson, executive director of NMAHPs, Rosemary Lyness, director of acute services, and Peter McCrossan, associate director for AHPs and lead AHP, in congratulating award winners Lee Samuel and Hannah Weir at a celebration tea in Udston Hospital. Ken said: “The Board places a great emphasis on the personal development of all staff as the real beneficiaries are the patients who receive improved care. “For NHS Lanarkshire to have had four finalists is a fantastic achievement.” Better procedures HANNAH Weir’s project will help improve the care and safety of patients who need nasogastric tubes. These are inserted through the nose and into the stomach to help patients who cannot eat orally. Hannah carried out the audit in surgical, medical and care of the elderly wards in Wishaw General to discover if inconsistencies were being practised. In addition to a questionnaire for nursing staff, her audit included a checklist to establish which nursing staff were documenting the care and positioning of the feeding tubes. Hannah’s audit will allow any training needs to be identified and help ensure patients receive the best possible care. The Wishaw General dietitian said: “The audit established there were some inconsistencies. I also discovered some of the documentation being used was outdated. “We can now arrange awareness sessions to ensure everyone knows the correct procedures and paperwork to use so that patients are receiving the best care possible.” ABOW LADIES TWO NHS Lanarkshire colleagues received prestigious national awards from Cabinet Secretary for Health and well being Nicola Sturgeon for their work in improving patient care. Innovative projects by Lee Samuel and Hannah Weir won two out of the five categories of awards within the Flying Start NHS national development programme. NHS Lanarkshire chairman Ken Corsar praised the pair: “On behalf of the board I would like to congratulate Lee and Hannah for their tremendous achievement in coming out on top in the whole of Scotland for their projects. “I’m also very pleased Lee and Hannah received their awards from Nicola Sturgeon, as this again emphasises the ongoing success of NHS Lanarkshire in staff development and improving patient care.” Lee, an occupational therapist with the community mental health team, won in the Improving the Patient Experience category. Her project helps men and women improve their daily living skills, confidence and motivation through the creation of a soup group, ‘Simply Soup’, within Pather Occupational Therapy Clinic (see article, right). Lee, from Motherwell, said: “It was great to have the success of the project recognised in this way. “Simply Soup has helped these individuals improve their communication skills and motivation and increase their confidence to try new foods. “I’d like to thank my specialist occupational therapist Maureen Black and my technical instructor Gill Hunter for all their support.” Meanwhile, Hannah, a dietician at Wishaw General Hospital, won in the Using an Audit to Improve Service Delivery category. Her audit in the surgical, medical and care of the elderly wards at Wishaw will improve the feeding of patients through naso-gastric tubes (see article, above right). Hannah, who returned from her honeymoon in Crete on the day of the award ceremony, said: “I didn’t even know there were awards. “I only found out when I was shortlisted. So it was a complete surprise to then learn I’d won. “There was a lot of extra work involved on top of my duties, but I really enjoyed it and I’m glad it will help improve patient care. “It’s nice to get the recognition for doing the work and it also helps show that dietitians are an important part of the medical team who want to contribute to improving the care of patients.” Simple ideas are often the best LEE Samuel’s ‘Simply Soup’ project helps people with a mental health problem to develop skills necessary for everyday living. Before the project started, the individuals lacked confidence and motivation and struggled to perform routine daily tasks. However, from coming up with the idea for Simply Soup, the group progressed to setting up the business, promoting it and eventually running it at the Pather Occupational Therapy Clinic. HIGH ACHIEVERS: Lee Samuel, left, and Hannah Weir (née Easton) with their certificates Lee, an occupational therapist based at the Airbles Road Centre in Motherwell, said: “I thought setting up a business would encompass every part of an individual’s life. “It required organisation, taking on new responsibilities, good communication, and built on transferable cooking skills. “Setting up this group has provided these individuals with structure and routine to their week, and they feel ownership in the development of Simply Soup.” She went on: “During the project, they delegated specific tasks to each other, chose and modified recipes, planned what ingredients were needed and where to get them, promoted and advertised the shop, cooked the soups and served them to fellow patients at the Occupational Therapy Clinic. “The skills they have used and developed have led to increased confidence and motivation and improved communication skills. “They can also now cook healthy meals for themselves and their families. “They have learned a wide range of skills which they can use in their daily lives and the progress of these men and women has been amazing.” Simply Soup operates on a Thursday morning from 10.30am to 12.30pm, serving soups to other clients of the community mental health team in Pather. Lee is hoping the project will be a stepping stone to voluntary work and paid employment.
thePulse SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009 GENERAL NEWS 7 In brief… e PLASMA screens displaying health-related messages are to be piloted in NHS Lanarkshire as part of a Scottish Governmentfunded initiative. Five state-of-the-art screens will show key information, such as health promotion videos, waiting times, local news and transport information. Two screens will be located at Wishaw General, one in the accident and emergency department and the other in the coffee shop. At Monklands Hospital, one screen will be located in A&E and another in the outpatients. There will also be a screen in the waiting area at Douglas Street Community Health Clinic. All screens will be operational by early September. For further information on the initiative, call Alison McCutcheon on 01698 245299 or email alison.mccutcheon@ lanarkshire.scot.nhs.uk e REVISED NHS pension arrangements were introduced on 1 April this year. If you were a member before April 2008, over the coming months, you will be given the opportunity to transfer all of your membership to the new 2008 scheme – known as the Choice Exercise. This will not start before 1 October. Information packs will be sent out to home addresses. Staff must ensure their addresses are up to date. The pack will allow you to make an informed decision and include comparison pension benefit statements for both schemes, information on both options and lump figures available in both. You will have four months to reply. If you do not reply the Scottish Public Pensions Agency (SPPA) will assume that you wish to remain in the 1995 section. A factsheet is available on the SPPA website. You can check the SPPA website for regular updates at www.sppa.gov.uk/nhs choice.htm or email nhschoice exercise@scotland.gsi.gov.uk or call 01896 893002. In addition, a telephone helpline will be introduced. e PEOPLE with dementia benefited from an arts therapy project piloted by NHS Lanarkshire in Coatbridge. The Community Mental Health Team for Older People (CMHTOP), based at Coathill Hospital, launched the 12-week initiative. Two groups were set up, one in the community for people with mild to moderate dementia, and one at the East Stewart Gardens Day Centre for people with moderate to severe dementia. In addition to members of the CMHTOP team, art therapist Claire Coleman-Smith was recruited. Claire said: “Not only did people enjoy the sessions, their confidence and motivation also increased and they developed closer relationships.” Helping people get on with their lives REHABILITATION is not something which only begins after surgery. This is just one of the messages Claire Ritchie is keen to emphasise after joining NHS Lanarkshire as Scotland’s only consultant allied health professional in rehabilitation. She took up the innovative new post with NHS Lanarkshire in June. And Claire is determined to change attitudes towards rehabilitation services to help improve patient care in the local area. She said: “My role will look to change people’s thoughts about rehabilitation, enhance communitybased services and promote the services available. “Rehabilitation isn’t just something that starts farther down the line after you’ve had surgery and ends when you go home. “Planning a person’s recovery, and putting these plans into action, should begin before a person comes in for surgery or treatment – which can even prevent their admission – and continues in the community. “It’s vital we promote independence rather than dependence, and enable people to take control in their lives.” Claire’s two-year post is in partnership with the two local authorities, North Lanarkshire Council and South Lanarkshire Council. Her key goal will be to integrate the objectives of NHSScotland’s national framework for rehabilitation, Co-ordinated, integrated and fit for purpose – delivery framework for adult rehabilitation, within Lanarkshire. Claire qualified as an occupational therapist from Glasgow University and worked in various clinical roles within NHS Greater Glasgow and FLOURISHING: Back row: Kevin O’Neill, NHS Lanarkshire, Bobby Miller, Social Work Services, North Lanarkshire Council, Colin Sloey, NHS Lanarkshire, and Dr Lynne Friedli, Mental Health Improvement Services. Front Row: Wendy Halliday, NHS Health Scotland, and Mairi Brackenridge, Social Work Resources, South Lanarkshire Council Clyde before being a lead of service for occupational therapists. She also took up the post of a clinical services manager for stroke services. Claire’s final post at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, before moving to Lanarkshire, was as allied health professional consultant for stroke. Claire went on: “Rehabilitation is a team approach that includes medical, nursing, allied health professionals and social work staff and it’s important these professions work closely together. “Establishing close working relationships will be key to ensuring we provide the best possible quality of rehabilitation services in our community.” Claire told how rehabilitation can help improve patient care, saying: “Rehabilitation is about helping and supporting people who have experienced a challenge to their physical or mental wellbeing which has affected their quality of life. “People can be helped, through rehabilitation, to get back to coping with everyday life and to reach their full potential. “Proactive and accessible vocational rehabilitation and employment services can help people return to work.” Claire added: “I’ll be working with a Lanarkshire team to improve the care provided to patients with longterm conditions and trying to prevent unnecessary admissions to hospitals. “We’ll also be aiming to improve rehabilitation services in the community to enable people to live independently at home, and to establish a single point of access for these services.” Rehabilitation priorities THE priority for NHS boards and local authorities under the national framework will be to: q Transform rehabilitation services to put rehabilitation at the heart of service delivery q Adopt a whole-systems approach to rehabilitation services NHS Lanarkshire, North Lanarkshire Council and South Lanarkshire Council are working together to help Lanarkshire “mentally flourish”. Together, they held an event at Larkhall Leisure Centre to mark the launch of Towards a Mentally Flourishing Scotland: Policy and Action Plan 2009- 2011 and to discuss promoting and supporting mental health and wellbeing in Lanarkshire. The event was attended by 100 service users, carers and other stakeholders. Towards a Mentally Flourishing Scotland focuses on promoting wellbeing, preventing mental q Give a single point of access to rehabilitation services q Promote accessible vocational rehabilitation services q Support older people and people with long-term conditions to live in their local communities. Action plan to mentally flourish illness and supporting improvements in the quality of life, social inclusion, and recovery of people who experience mental health problems or mental illness. Towards a Mentally Flourishing Scotland: Policy and Action Plan 2009- 2011 is available at www.scotland.gov.uk For mental health information visit www.lanarkshirementalhealth.org.uk Help and support can be found by contacting Breathing Space on 0800 838587 or visiting www.breathing spacescotland.co.uk or by contacting the Samaritans on 08457 909090 or visiting www.samaritans.org.uk
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The Pulse September / October 2009 - NHS Lanarkshire

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