Issue 17July 2008

www.kirklees-pct.nhs.uk

News and views from Kirklees Primary Care Trust

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A New Dawn - 2... Mission: Active Kirklees - 3... Long term conditions summit - 3... In the spotlight - 5... In the News - 5... Diversity award for Janice - 9... Provider Services update - 10 & 11...

Celebrating a

diamond service

A big thank you to everyone who took part in our first activity to celebrate the diamond jubilee of the NHS by joining together to spell out NHS 60 on the grass outside our headquarters - St Luke’s House, Huddersfield.

Around 200 people – staff, patients, contractors and carers – were marshalled into position by photographer John Furlong who was atop a cherry picker (a piece of kit more usually seen lifting streetlight maintenance workers into position).

Claire Butler of our Graphics team was acting as photographer’s assistant at ground level making sure we all followed his instructions. She and John had marked

out the shape that morning and all we had to do was stand inside the lines…

We got there in the end and the result, as you can see, is pretty impressive! And what’s more, after a morning of intermittent drizzle, the sun came out and the deluge only began after we were back inside.

It was a great start to NHS 60 and there was plenty more to come. See centre pages…

22

A New Dawn

A vision about the importance of improving mental health services and the benefits this will bring to people has been drawn up by the PCT and Kirklees Council.

‘Kirklees Joint Mental Health Commissioning Strategy’ was launched in June at the Textile Centre, Huddersfield. PCT staff could drop in to see and hear about the wide range of mental health services available in Kirklees and how people can get these services. There was also information available about promoting the choice of services available to local people.

Dr David Anderson, Chair of the Professional Executive Committee here at the PCT said “This Strategy demonstrates how we can work in partnership

with Kirklees Council to involve service users and their carers to shape mental health care. Integrating mental health services in Kirklees will improve social inclusion, employment opportunities and educational achievement.”

Cllr Margaret Bates, Cabinet Member for Kirklees Council Adult Services said “It is important that people with a mental health concern get the help and support they need to maintain their independence and improve their quality of life. It is essential that organisations and people using services know what help and support is available to them in Kirklees and this event will provide them with the opportunity to do this.”

Cllr Margaret Bates and Dr David Anderson opened the event which showcased a display of artwork by Artists in Mind alongside a market place of the various mental health services in Kirklees.

Left to right:: Kevin Bottrell, of Mental Health Matters; Sandra Haigh, Dr David Anderson, Cllr Margaret Bates; Ian Smith, of Kirklees Council Adult Services and

Kim Gregory, of the Out of the Blue organisation.

Success for Kirklees dental practicesNearly 50 Dental practices from the Yorkshire Deanery took part in the recent vocational training table clinic day held in Bradford. First and second prizes went to practices from NHS Kirklees.

The team from D.E.Wood & Associates, Huddersfield Road, Mirfield, won first prize for their project on dental public health. The team of Zoe Connoly (Vocational Trainee), Gareth Spiers (Trainer), and Debbie Wood (Oral Health Educator), made a series of visits taking oral health messages to a variety of community groups. Material was developed for each visit. The project was praised for its ongoing nature.

Second prize went to the team from The Dental Surgery, East Street, Lindley. Their project also connected to dental public health. Melanie Head (Vocational Trainee)

and Barbara Jones (Trainer) developed patient literature with a particular emphasis on drug induced dry mouth. These were trialled and then used in their practice in Lindley. This produced a lot of interest from patients as the effects of drug induced dry mouth on oral health is not widely known.

Dental Practice Advisor to the PCT David Wood said “Dental practices in Kirklees have a long tradition of Vocational Training. These awards show we have real strength in depth. Congratulations to all involved for your hard work”.

IT paving the way Implementing SystemOne, the IT system being introduced into our Community and Child Health services, is featured in the latest issue of Newslink, the newsletter for the National Programme for IT (NPfiT) into Yorkshire and the Humber.

The rest of the region has been able to read how this PCT with the support of The Health Informatics Service, began introducing the new solution in May 2006. Podiatry was the first community department to “go live” and is now more or less paper-free.

Initially the NPfiT programme involved 28 GP practices within the former North Kirklees PCT. After the creation of Kirklees PCT the number of practices grew to 74. The project includes District Nursing, Health Visiting, all the Therapy teams, GPs with a Special Interest and specialist services such as Podiatric Surgery, the Musculoskeletal service and Contraceptive and Sexual Health services.

The first phase of implementation is due for completion in December this year and now involves 50 sites and more than 800 clinicians.

SysytemOne is seen as a way to provide a more complete patient record generally. The Musculoskeletal service is making further innovative use of the technology. With a simple digital device they can upload freehand images and sketches and attach them to patient records. This is paving the way for a completely paperless system.

And in the near future SystemOne will enable greater sharing between GPs and services such as District Nursing or Podiatry. Community and Child Health will also be able to share records with the local hospitals.

33

Mission: Active Kirklees This year's 'Mission: Active Kirklees', a schools programme which encourages youngsters to become more active and healthy, was launched in June, signalling the start of.four weeks of activities for all Year 4 primary school children in Kirklees.

It also introduced 'Mission: Active Kirklees' Ambassadors, who signed up for the mission to help inspire, motivate and encourage children to get involved in physical activity and follow a healthy diet.

The Ambassadors include Judith Hooper, Joint Director of Public Health for the PCT and Kirklees Council and Councillor Jim Dodds, Deputy Leader of Kirklees Council and Cabinet Member for Children's Services.

'Mission: Active Kirklees' activity days were held at various venues with around 200 eight and nine year olds taking part in 10 active challenges.

The programme is run by a partnership between NHS Kirklees, Kirklees Council and Kirklees Active Leisure. The schools activities programme has been co-ordinated through the four School Sport Partnerships in the district.

Judith commented: “Mission: Active Kirklees” shows young

people that, as well as being good for them, physical activity can be fun. We hope these events will encourage more children to follow a healthy lifestyle and, in turn, act as agents to get their families and friends doing the same.”

Also, from September, around 12,000 Year 5 and 6 pupils will be working with step-o-meters to record the number of steps they take and will be carrying out related activities and tasks.

Fund-raising for Nepal Marilyn Horton, Expert Patient Programme Lead, is one of 32 West Yorkshire Scout leaders who are fundraising to pay for a trip to Nepal in October, which will see them building a children’s hostel and installing a water supply to village houses.

The three week Community Action Nepal project involves building a four room hostel at the existing village school so the pupils can stay there instead of being taken out of school whilst their parents are away working in India.

Even when their parents are at home some of the children trek long distances to school and sometimes sleep in the classrooms rather than doing the journey each day.

The village Marilyn will be working in is called Melamchigaon in the Langtang National Park which is reached after a half-day Jeep ride and one a half days trek north east of the capital Kathmandu.

Marilyn and her fellow Scouters have been fundraising since September last year to meet the £11,000 cost of building equipment for the hostel and to install water at each village house.

Many fund-raising activities have already taken place including the sale of Christmas Puddings. One of the latest events was a “Donkey Day” at Lower Denby Farm, organised by Marilyn. Despite atrocious weather the event raised £1,000 with the proceeds being split equally between Community Action Nepal and the Donkey Centre in Leeds.

Marilyn commented: ”Despite the bad weather the response was fantastic. I want to thank everyone who came to support us.”

conditions summit L o n g t e r m

The Long Term Conditions team is holding an event for service providers and service users to showcase ongoing work and services that improve the lives of individuals with long term conditions, their carers and their families.

Interactive workshops will give those attending the opportunity to hear about the latest developments such as: Diabetes service redesign, Community Matrons, breathlessness management, home care and community nursing, telehealth and telecare.

The event takes place

12.30-5pm on September 2 at the Textile Centre, Red Doles Lane, Huddersfield. Lunch will be provided from 12 noon.

For further information and to book a place contact Sue Stansfield on 01484 466152 or email sue.stansfield@kirkleespct.nhs.uk

4

You too could be passionate about PDRsEarly in her career - in local government - Karen Gallagher had to develop a team leaders’ group. She didn’t know where to start and thought she would never manage to do it. But with support from her line manager, she completed her task!

Left to her own devices she wouldn’t have even thought to tackle the project but this was something that came up during her Performance Development Review (PDR). Her manager recognised her potential and wanted to work with her to help achieve it. From then on Karen realised the value of PDRs or appraisals as they are sometimes called.

In fact Karen, now Assistant Director of Organisational Development for the PCT, is passionate about PDRs and wants you to be too!

People still talk about appraisals and think they are the same as PDRs but they are not quite the same thing. Appraisals have tended to mean just performance management and although that is still part of PDRs there is also a greater emphasis on development.

Karen said: “Generally speaking PDRs look back at what’s happened but have a very strong focus on what’s to come. People can sometimes get worried about these meetings, even dread them. Others think they’re a drag, don’t prepare properly and so don’t get the best out of them.

“The key point about a PDR is that it’s a joint process between a member of staff and their line manager. It’s about exploring progress and achievements so far and looking at the future. It’s a time for discussing any training needs, setting objectives, recognising potential and the valuable role an individual has within the organisation.

“When I think back to starting out and actually developing that team leader group, well; it was a turning point for me and my career. An opportunity came out of the session and I took it. I needed some help along the way but what a sense of achievement when I completed the task. It inspired me to go on and do more.

“Most people have no idea what they are capable of until they try. I would like everyone to experience that sense of achievement, the pride and the inspiration because it’s amazing.”

Practical bits Kirklees PCT is committed to every employee having a quality PDR. The PCT’s Business Plan sets the direction for the organisation and its employees. Keying into this each member of staff should have clear objectives, a development plan, support and feedback.

As part of Improving Working Lives the PCT is taking the opportunity presented by PDRs

to ask staff how they feel about working for the organisation. Questions ask if working relationships, work life balance and facilities could be improved - this is an opening for discussing other issues impacting on the individual.

The person having the PDR and their reviewer do need to prepare in advance and allow enough time to get the most out of the meeting. They both need to be realistic about their expectations and agree the resulting actions. (see the information in the boxes on this page).

There should be no surprises in a PDR. It’s part of the on-going management process, not a replacement for other meetings throughout the year. If anyone is concerned about anything relating to their working life they shouldn’t wait for a PDR to raise it.

e-KSF PDRs are part of Agenda for Change terms and conditions and also offer an opportunity to discuss progress against the Knowledge and Skills Framework (KSF) for each post. Staff have access to their own KSF information online via e-KSF (a button on the intranet home page) and have to complete their own forms there. Managers must complete online forms relating to their staff’s objectives, progress and training plans.

As part of KSF staff have to gather evidence to support their progress and this can either be done electronically or as part of a paper file. This can also be discussed at the PDR.

No optionPDRs apply to absolutely everyone – they are not an option. All the Directors have a PDR, including Mike Potts, who has his one-to-one with Chairman, Rob Napier. Even the Chairman has a PDR with the Regional Chairman!

Everyone should, by now, have their PDR date in their diary and it should be completed by the end of September. Stage 1

Joint review of work against the demands of the post and any agreed

objectives and targets.

Stage 2Jointly produce Personal Development

Plan - identifying learning and development needs, goals and how

these will be met.

Stage 3Learning and development by

individual supported by their line manager.

Stage 4Joint evaluation of learning and development and its application.

DO…• Attendappropriatetraining(KSF/

PDR)

• Prepare

• Allowenoughtime(atleast1.5hours)

• Agreeappropriateenvironment

• Participateequally

• Agreeoutcomes

• ApproachaPDRseriously

• Trytorelax-it’snottheSpanishInquisition

• Demonstrateyouvaluetheprocess

Reviewer• Recordoutcomesonline

• Deliveragreedsupport&development

• Agreereview

Post holder• CollectevidenceofKSFdevelopment

• Deliveragreedoutcomes

• Attendessentialandagreedtraining

DON’T….• Failtoprepare

• Chooseaninappropriatevenue,e.g.a busy, open office

• Cancelandre-arrangerepeatedly

• Failtoallowadequatetime

• Beunrealistic

• Springsurprises

• Beflippant

• EndaPDRwithoutagreement

5

In the spotlightThis month we talk to Pat Patrice.My Name is Pat Patrice, also known as Patsy or Pats. I have worked in the NHS since 1985 and I am now Head of Corporate Governance and Services, which means I get to do all sorts of weird and wonderful things and I meet quite a lot of different, and sometimes unusual, characters. I line manage a number of staff in Huddersfield and at Beckside Court, and I feel I have to say, the team admin staff, the PA’s, the reception staff, the co-ordinators and administrators are a wonderful team to work with, thank you to you all, especially when I am having a dizzy moment. I especially enjoy working in the Corporate Services Directorate, that is where, I think, all the fun is had, sorry I mean that is where all the hard work is done.

My role is varied and covers lots of different areas. Even I sometimes wonder how I got involved in some things. I just put it down to my helpful nature!!! Some of the areas my role covers are: Accommodation requirements for Beckside and St Lukes, planning the new HQ move, recruiting and selection, managing budgets, dealing with commercial contractors, procurement and supplies, overseeing records management, and more…

What are the best things about your job? The people and having the ability and opportunity to be involved in some of the things we do within our Trust.

… And the worst? St Luke's House’s pets!

How would you describe yourself in three words? Happy, helpful and fussy.

What do you like doing in your spare time? Spending girlie time with my daughter, Teona-Leigh, she is 10 going on 20, a brilliant friend as well as a brilliant daughter.

What is your pet hate? Mess! Even though I can create a lot of mess, I like to know I can clear it up at the end of the day.

Where was your best holiday? Corfu, Sidari, that was a lovely, relaxing holiday and I would definitely go again.

If money was no object, what would you buy? More boots, bags and belts, and I guess a larger house to put them all in.

And finally, if you could change one thing about the world, what would it be? The weather, I would like it to be a bit warmer or not rain as much, at least for this weekend as it is the carnival and my costume is only really small!

Check your carbon footprint It’s great to see that one of our partner organisations - Kirklees Council - is working hard on a variety of projects to reduce its carbon footprint. Now it is urging local residents to do the same by including a carbon calculator on its website. This shows how lifestyle impacts on the planet.

By answering a series of questions about their everyday lives families can see where they are on the eco-scale thanks to the carbon calculator. They can then go on to check out 10 simple things which will have a positive effect on the environment – and save money at the same time.

Have a look at www.kirklees.gov.uk/carbonfootprint and www.kirklees.gov.uk/climatechange

GUM on target Well done to the Genito-urinary medicine (GUM) service in Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust. The team won the best poster in the “Improving Patient Experience Section of the Trust’s Celebrating Success Event

Their poster, “48 Hours or Bust”, presented by Dr Lindsay Short, Consultant in GUM described how the department has developed staff roles and improved access to achieve the 48 hour access target.

The team won the best oral presentation in 2007 in the same category entitled “Improving the UK’s Worsening Sexual Health”

Your local NHS working for a greene

r fut

ure

CARBON ACTION

This is the first of a regular update on the media releases issued by the Communications Team.

In July so far we have issued:

• Smoke-freeayearon;

• SnapshotoftheNHSinKirklees60years on.

In June we issued:

• ImprovingtheOralHealthofpeopleof Kirklees;

• KirkleesPCTlaunchescleanyourhands campaign in the community;

• NeedextrahelptostopsmokinginSklemanthorpe?

• Eventtolaunch“ANewDawn”ofMental Health Commissioning in Kirklees;

• KirkleesPrimaryCareTrustgetsserious about diabetes.

In the news

New policies New policies on the website:

• ManagingStressatWork

• StressManagementGuidanceforManagers

Staff enjoyed NHS 60 lunchtime parties at four venues across Kirklees on Friday July 4, the nearest working day to the actual anniversary of the founding of the National Health Service on July 5 1948.

They were partying in Cleckheaton Health Centre; in Princess Royal Community Health Centre, Huddersfield; in Beckside Court, Batley; in Holme Valley Memorial Hospital, Holmfirth and in St Luke’s House, Huddersfield.

There was food, soft drinks, bunting and even music from the last 60 years and people had a great time. It was a way for the organisation to thank current staff for their work and an opportunity to reflect on the progress made by the NHS since that very first day 60 years ago.

What a swell

NHS 60 party we had!

Beckside Court

Cleckheaton HC

Princess Royal

St Luke's House

Holme Valley

Turn over to find out what's still to come...

8

Ann is committed to learning

Ann Wood, administrator with the Long Term Conditions teams at Eddercliffe and Fartown Helath Centres, is one of the first winners of the new West Yorkshire Adult Work-Based Learner Awards.

She received the Business Services Award for her commitment to her role and to her own learning and development. She gained NVQ Business and Administration Level 3 in 2007 and following a change of role and increased responsibilities she is now working towards Level 4.

The Awards have been introduced by the West Yorkshire Life Long Learning Network to recognise achievement and inspire employees to take up further training.

The PCT, a Network member, works with Dewsbury College to deliver nationally recognised vocational qualifications in the workplace, as part of the NHS Traineeship programme, for NHS Kirklees staff.

Liz Butterfield, PCT Head of Knowledge and Learning, nominated Ann. She said: “she has embraced the opportunity to undertake training, coped admirably under pressure and, having enjoyed the learning experience, has embarked on further study. The benefits to Ann and her employer are clearly visible to all.”

Ann and the six other category winners received their Awards and £100 gift vouchers at a presentation evening at Leeds City Hall.

Chlamydia screening in the ParkParty-goers at Huddersfield’s, Greenhead Park for the open-air pop concert earlier this month had the opportunity to be checked out for Chlamydia.

Around 150 people attending the Party in the Park took the test offered by the PCT’s Chlamydia Screening team.

Screening Co-ordinator Julia Bramble, who made an appeal to the packed audience from the stage said: “It was great that the Party organisers allowed us the chance to make our appeal. Lots of people don’t realise they have Chlamydia because for most there are no symptoms in the early stages. For those who have the disease, it’s a simple treatment of four tablets.

“I explained that and I’m pleased to say we had a good take up of the tests.”

Chlamydia Screening Programme

And yet to come So we've seen what has been happening and there are still lots of events to come.

A Service of CelebrationThere was a tribute to 60 years of the NHS at Westminster Abbey on July 2. Guests included the huge range of people who have made a contribution to the NHS over theyears.MarilynHorton,UserInvolvementManager/ExpertPatientsProgrammeLead (Public Health), John Regan, Estates Portfolio Manager (recently retired) and Gillian Longbottom, Public Health Project Co-ordinator (Diabetes) will be represented the PCT.

First off is the Dewsbury NHS 60 Health Check roadshow, organised with The Pulse radio station. This takes place on Wednesday August 6 - Market Day. The Pulse roadshow vehicle will be in the Market Place along with the Stop Smoking Bus.

There will be lots of activities including blood pressure checks, advice and demonstrations on fitness and diet, information about Kirklees PCT and a look back at 60 years of the NHS….. to name but a few.

The event is also an opportunity to ask local people what the NHS means to them. It all kicks off at 11am and will finish at 2pm.

It’s Huddersfield’s turn for our NHS 60 Health Check roadshow on Saturday September 13. It will take place in The Piazza, starting at 12 noon and finishing at 3pm.

Our drawing competition for local school children has already taken place and the winner will be announced at the beginning of next term. They had to show

what the NHS means to them. Standards were very high. The winner will receive a bike and protective wear.

This year's Celebrating the Talent event takes place on September 30 at the Galpharm Stadium and will be followed by the Annual General Meeting and this event will also have an NHS 60 theme.

Our Long Service Awards celebration has been booked for October 9 at Berties in Elland and this event will also… you’ve guessed it…. have an NHS 60 theme.

In addition staff are able to shadow an Executive Director for a day and we will also be issuing the NHS 60 Challenge

Look out for more details in future issues or Weekly Talk nearer the time of the events.

To shadow a Director or any queries contact communications@kirkleespct.nhs.uk

9

Book

review

Diversity award for Janice

A DEWSBURY nurse who works with people with learning disabilities has been recognised for her pioneering work with a national award.

Janice Muhanna is based at the Learning Disability Resource Centre at Dewsbury and District Hospital and has been highly commended in the diversity category of the Nursing Standards awards 2008.

Janice set up and leads a group that works to improve services for people with learning disabilities and their carers from the South Asian community in north Kirklees.

Janice said: "People with learning disabilities from South Asian communities are one of the most disadvantaged groups in our society. Differences in the way disability is described and a lack of mutual understanding between services and the South Asian communities means they and their families sometimes miss out on the support they need.

The North Kirklees Learning Disability Ethnicity Group was launched in December 2004 and brings together a variety of NHS staff as well as carers of people who have learning disabilities. The Group has also organised a workshop with some of Batley's Imams.

The project's work has been praised by the Department of Health and members of the local Asian community.

Head of nursing at South West Yorkshire Mental Health NHS Trust George Smith nominated Janice. He said: "Janice is a perfect example of everything that is good about nursing. She works tirelessly to ensure service users and carers get better services, but never seeks the recognition she undoubtedly deserves."

Janice Muhanna Mid Yorkshire Hospitals Trust held their very own Oscar-style awards ceremony to

celebrate and recognise some of the fantastic achievements of their staff. More than 200 members of staff attended the first Celebrating Success event. BBC Look North weatherman Paul Hudson hosted the ceremony.

Celebrating Success winners

MY Oscars

Clashing with VikingsA current complaint by teachers and parents is the volume of testing in schools: children are over-examined. One of the chief characters in Bernard Cornwell’s international bestseller The Last Kingdom (Harper Collins, 2004) is also frequently tested, but not by any school curriculum.

The year is 866 AD. England suffers unwanted attention of visitors from across the cold North Sea. Urhurt, just nine years old, the son of a Northern earl, loses both his elder brother and his father to cunning Viking tactics. It is this youngster’s fortitude which quite literally gets tested to the hilt when Ragnar the Fearless adopts him into the Norsemen’s culture.

Urhurt learns to assist with the humble chores of fetching wood and water; he paints shields and helps in the essential maintenance of ships. He grows to understand the significance of Viking armbands, harsh punishments, and the night time slaughter of animals in a tribute to Odin – a few paragraphs of Cornwell’s novel which some readers might rather leave unread. By his fifteenth birthday Urhurt has worked alongside the smith to make his own sword, and eagerly transferred loyalty to Ragnar’s community.

East Anglia and Mercia fall quickly to the invaders; the inhabitants of Wessex, however, led by the indefatigable Arthur, England’s saviour, prove a tougher challenge. Urhurt is pressed back into the Saxon side, oaths are sworn and skirmishes fought. By the age of eighteen he acts as commander of Arthur’s small fleet, harassing the raiders along the south coast before going on to clash against a larger and blood-crazy Viking force.

Those readers keen on testing might like to translate some of the names appearing on a map at the start of the book before referring to the accompanying glossary. Later in the text Urhurt describes Lundene as ‘a city like nowhere else, every wickedness under the sun was practised there’; fortunately, our island has apparently become more civilized since the Middle Ages.

There are certainly sufficient characters among the book’s three hundred pages to test this reader’s memory, occasionally burdened with middle age moments more than a millennium later. Brief notes in a jotter might be beneficial.

Neil Richardson

A good read?The Last Kingdom, Bernard Cornwell, Harper Collins 2004

10

As part of the NHS 60 celebrations Julia Calcraft, Clinical Manager Primary and Intermediate Care Services at Holme Valley Memorial Hospital was invited to attend a Royal Garden Party at Buckingham Palace.

Julia admits she’d not often lost for words but she struggled to convey the huge mix of feelings and emotions that came together at this amazing occasion.

Booked into a hotel a 10-minute walk away from the Palace, Julia and her husband Grahame were able to stroll through Green Park in their finery to the event. Joining others in posh frocks, hats, smart suits and uniforms – and thankful for the sunshine – they joined the queues at the Palace and were soon walking up the red carpeted steps into the ground floor.

She takes up the story: “It’s huge! All red and gold, with massive portraits hanging on the walls and display cabinets in all corners full of dinner services and china. There were the longest pink settees scattered around which people were sitting on.

“We continued to walk through and out onto the terrace with the gardens and the lake spread out and stretching endlessly in front of us. To the left there was a tent which must have been at least 200 feet long, with about 10 open sections where people were queuing to take tea, with wooden tables and canvass chairs outside. To the right was the Royal tea tent with a coat of arms on the top and beautiful red and gilt chairs, next to that was another tent where special guests of the Queen were to take tea, also with table and chairs outside.

“Tea was a rectangular plate full of egg and cress, ham salad, smoked salmon and dill sandwiches, tiny shortcake biscuits piled high with fresh cream and three raspberries dusted with icing sugar and small cubes of chocolate cake (each with the Royal crest stamped into them!) tea or apple juice.

“After we had eaten…and yes you could go back for seconds…we set off to explore the gardens. What surprised us? No notices telling us to keep to the paths. You could go wherever you wanted so the lawns were just full of people in all their colourful dress many of the ladies heels, including mine, digging into the grass!”

Then the guests were asked to return to the main area to wait for the Queen. Julia and Graham were lucky enough to be close to the entrance to the Royal tent and next to the Mayor and Mayoress of Barnsley their chauffer and his wife and a priest from Barnsley!

It took the Queen an hour and a half to make her way through the crowds to the Royal tea tent stopping to talk to selected guests with the Beefeaters parading all around the crowd.

Jullia continues: ”We had a brilliant view of her - we were about 10 feet away, she looked lovely but small and quite frail dressed in a lilac silk coat with a lilac hat which had a pink brim Once inside her tent she met her guests and then had a welcome sit down before being served her tea.”

“Tubs of ice cream were then served on the lawn so we walked around eating ours before going up onto the terrace to take in the scene and into the palace to have a

Julia at Buckingham Palace

Provider Services updateA royal appointment

Masterclass for SusanA continence adviser is urging local men with ‘waterwork’ problems to seek help early rather than suffer in silence. Urinary problems could be a sign of prostate disease – which affects half of all men.

Susan Oates, continence adviser with the PCT Continence Service based at The Eddercliffe Centre in Liversedge, recently attended a Prostate UK Masterclass seminar in Leeds – organised by leading charity Prostate UK.

Highlighting the need for more awareness and knowledge – both among the public and health professionals – Prostate UK has launched a series of free, nationwide seminars, bringing the latest knowledge and expertise in the field to GPs, practice nurses and other health professionals.

Susan says: “One of the most interesting aspects was listening to a patient talking about his treatment and recovery of prostate cancer. He didn’t have any symptoms – it was detected purely by a chance test.

“But the over-riding message I learned is the need to raise awareness and stop men suffering in silence,” she explains. “In our service we do tend to see more ladies than men. There is still a real stigma attached to continence but most problems can be easily treated and are not necessarily serious.

“People don’t even need a GP referral to see us. They just pick up the phone and talk to us.’”

For information on the PCT nurse-led Continence Service call 01484 347764 for the Huddersfield area or 01924 351568 in north Kirklees.

better look around. We walked out again through the court yard to the front, which was a surreal moment as there were lots of tourists taking photographs, noses pressed up against the gates. I couldn’t believe we had been lucky enough to have actually been through the gates and inside the palace and the gardens!”

And she added: “What a truly wonderful afternoon! I would just like to say a huge thank you to the PCT for nominating me to attend and for giving Grahame and me a truly memorable, unforgettable experience!”

11

Louis Pittiglio first smoked at 11 year old, along with his mates, but he only really took it up seriously at 15 when he left school and had more money to buy cigarettes.

Now, after what seemed like never-ending battles over the years to stop, he hasn’t smoked a cigarette for two years, thanks to the Kirklees PCT Stop Smoking service.

It’s been a hard slog to beat the addiction and, just as importantly, the habit, but now Louis, of Mirfield, feels so much better. His breathing problems have eased and, he’s buying a car with the money he is saving!

He said: ”This is the fourth time I’ve stopped. The shortest time was three days and the longest was five months. I couldn’t have lasted this long without coming here. I’ve been tempted over that time but meeting up with the others here is great. You realise that you aren’t the only one struggling to cope.”

Heather Koolaji one of the Stop Smoking Advisors, runs the drop-in session at Cleckheaton Health Centre, where Louis is a regular. She said:”We are so proud of Louis. He is our star two-year quitter and is a great inspiration to others.

“He and the other people who quit do it themselves by supporting one another. We provide a place to meet, information about the physiological changes they can expect, refreshments and support such as nicotine replacement patches etc. but they are the ones doing the hard work.”

Another quitter attending the welcoming early evening drop-in session who is making good progress, paid for herself and her son to go to Australia with the money she saved by stopping smoking.

Smoking Advisor Rebecca Elliott tells those attending the session that everyone is different and what helps one person might not work for another. Some people have set preconceived ideas about how they “should” try and quit. Others think that sessions are for standing up saying who you are and “confessing” to smoking.

One thing both Heather and Rebecca stress is that the fear of quitting is worse than quitting and that a person has to feel ready to quit. “If it’s not the right time, it won’t work,” adds Heather.

Louis, who once smoked as many as 60 cigarettes a day, supports this completely and adds:”There are still times when I think I could do with cigarette, but I don’t. You can get too confident. You say I could have a few cigarettes and I know I could stop again so you do it. Then you find you can’t stop and you’re back to square one.

“Now I know it’s just not worth it. I’m proud of what I’ve achieved and want to say a big thank you to the team and to everyone who’s been coming here over the two years – I couldn’t have done it without you!”

Further information from 01924 351498 (Batley, Dewsbury and Spen) and 01484 344285 (Huddersfield).

Couldn’t have done it without you!

Heather Koolaji, Louis Pittiglio and

Rebecca Elliott

Keeping an eye on Performance InformationProvider Services now has three Performance Information Analysts, Richard Herbert, Stephen Graham and Kulvinder Randhawa all based at Batley Health Centre.

We are here to support clinical and non clinical teams. We aim to develop a detailed understanding of the PCT’s performance as a provider of local health services, helping to continue the delivery of world class health care by giving a robust evidence base for service development strategies.

We are currently developing an online performance framework tool. This will help us demonstrate how the PCT is performing and identify current successes and learning opportunities.

Provider Board has agreed a set of 12 general metrics which all services must report against as a minimum standard. We are working with teams to understand what performance information is being collected and how we are delivering against indicators described in the service specifications developed last summer.

Initially we each have the following portfolios:

Children and Families - Richard.Herbert@kirkleespct.nhs.uk 07946 179139

Adult Services - Stephen.Graham@kirkleeespct.nhs.uk 07984 358597

Therapies - Kulvinder.Randhawa@kirkleespct.nhs.uk 07946 179113

The PCT will also appoint an Information Manager, to set up systems to capture service led data, allowing us to indentify trends in performance and take appropriate action to both celebrate our successes and deal quickly with upcoming challenges.

For further information contact the team on 01924 351664.

ends

Left to right: Kulvinder Randhawa, Stephen Graham, Richard Herbert

Deadline for articles for next issue is 8 August 2008

Get involvedRemember, this is your newsletter and we’d like everyone to be involved.

So, if you have anything you’d like to share please send it to:Communications team,

St Luke’s House, Blackmoorfoot Road, Crosland Moor, Huddersfield HD4 5RH01484466044/466223oremailcommunications@kirkleespct.nhs.uk

On the runSeveral members of our staff have been running for charity recently which is great as they’re combining fitness with good causes!

Race for LifeSheila Dawson decided she wanted to raise money for Cancer Research following the death of her husband, Howard (51) from stomach cancer in March this year.

Sheila, a nurse practitioner from Newsome Surgery, also encouraged her sister, Susan Hall and Ruth Ingleby, both district nurses and friend, Karen Armitage, the PCT’s Care Home lead, to take part in the race.

It took just 45 minutes for the four to run round the 5km track, raising a total of £1,300 pounds for Cancer Research.

Jane Tomlinson 10KAndrea Dixon who works in Human Resources and Jayne Crorken, Practice Based Commissioning Facilitator, both at Beckside Court, took part in the Jane Tomlinson Leeds 10k run in June. With an early start but dry though windy conditions more than 12,000 people took part.

Both Andrea and Jayne completed the course and achieved a personal best: Andrea’s time was 54.55 and Jayne’s was 59:52. Jayne raised £100 for Bluebell Hospice, a children’s hospice in South Yorkshire.

The pair are now training for their next run, the Abbey Dash in November, and are also contemplating the half marathon in Bridlington in October!

1206 – Karen Armitage, 922 – Susan Hall , 923 – Sheila Dawson and 582 – Ruth Ingleby

Before the race

Congratulations to…… Sandra Milnes, PA to John Ryan, Head of Business Development & Service Improvement & Gwen Ruddlesdin, Head of Specific Services. Provider Services Directorate, Batley Health Centre, who has left the PCT for a job in Sheffield.

… Jean Selbie (Named Nurse Child Protection) has just completed her three-year MA in Child Welfare and Protection. The final part was her dissertation and she has just got her results - she's passed!

… Peta Wolstencroft, Communications Manager, who has gained a HND in Management on a University of Leeds course at Bradford College. Her results include four distinctions and two merits.

Movers and shakers StartersPamela Lee, Bank Health Trainer;Eleanor Warwick, Staff Nurse, Elmwood;Deborah Bottomley, Healthy Schools Programme Administrator; Julie Harvey, Infection Control Matron; Dr Lucy Chadwick, Whitehouse Centre;Kathryn Barraclough, Maple Ward Sister, HVMH; Dasa Farmer, Head of PPI (jobshare), SLH; Craig Green, Bank Admin Assistant, Fartown Health Centre;Kathryn Johnson, Admin Assistant;Nollaig Byrne, Admin Assistant, Netherton Surgery; Angela Harris, Community Matron, Eddercliffe Health Centre; Jennifer Slack, Community Staff Nurse, Meltham Surgery; Sarah Bentley, Auxiliary Nurse, Maple Ward, HVMH;Elaine Jebson, Housekeeper, Maple Ward, HVMH; Caroline Bennett,Staff Nurse, Day Surgery Unit, HVMH; Lynda Bruce, Assistant Pracitioner-Vulnerable Adults & Families team, The Whitehouse Centre;David Mann, Temporary Public Health Project Worker, Beckside Court;Valerie Knowles, Health Care Assistant, MHCHC; Pauline Coldwell, Health Visitor, Lindley; Carly Tordoff, Health Care Assistant, CASH, PRCHC; Kelly Evans, Team Admin Assistant, Commissioning & Strategic Development SLH; Marian Foster, Bank health Visitor, PRCHC;Emma Tattersall, Bank Auxiliary Nurse, Maple Ward, HVMH; Catherine Ball, Bank Staff Nurse, Maple Ward, HVMH.

Leavers Naheeda Hussain

CASH – Contraceptive and Sexual Health Service, HVMH – Holme Valley Memorial Hospital, Holmfirth, MHCHC- Mill Hill Community Health Centre, HuddersfieldPRCHC – Princess Royal Community Health Centre, HuddersfieldSLH – St Luke’s House, Huddersfield.