issue 9 winter 2015 pulse - microsites.harveynash.com€¦ · the nscp quarterly magazine issue 9...

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE: COMMUNITY SERVICE CONTRACT AWARD - P6, SUCCESS FOR DISCHARGE TO ASSESS - P8, ACHIEVEMENTS OF OUR HEALTH VISITING TEAM - P9, LEND A HAND IN NORTH SOMERSET THIS WINTER - P11, STAFF FRIENDS AND FAMILY TEST - P16

PULSETHE NSCP QUARTERLY MAGAZINE

ISSUE 9 WINTER 2015

OUR ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING AND STAFF AWARDS CELEBRATION P12

Pulse Issue 9 single page AW.indd 1 11/12/2015 11:59

PULSE SUMMER 201502

OUR SOCIAL VALUE PLEDGE

Together we can do more…Promoting economic, social and environmental wellbeing, using the power of local people, community groups and businesses. Our social value goals:• To provide quality clinical services and promote healthy living• To join forces with local partners to maximise the impact of our work

OUR VALUES

Quality: We deliver a high standard of careWe provide patients and those who care for others with safe and effectivehealthcare, at the right time and in the right place. We strive to use the latest practices and continuously improve our approach.

Respect: We are compassionate and considerateWe really care about people. We put the needs of patients and carers first, understanding their best interests and listening closely to the views of colleagues before we make decisions.

Partnership: We work as a teamWe can only provide a great service if we join forces with partners across the health, education, social services sectors and community groups, and we use the ideas of patients, carers and our employees to shape the future.

Effectiveness: We run a lean businessBy providing quality care efficiently and effectively, we can secure our future success and do more good in the community by investing surplus income and sharing our expertise and resources.

Integrity: Doing the right thing mattersEvery action we take is in the interest of improving the health of our community. If we see something we think is wrong, we have the courage to speak up and act.


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WELCOME FROM PENNY BROWN

Hello and welcome to your December issue of Pulse. The last 12 months have flown by and as we approach the end of another year and reach the festive season, I wanted to look back at what we have achieved (you can read more on many of these things in this edition of Pulse) and talk about the work which is progressing to further develop NSCP and our services.

Clearly the main highlight this year has been securing our contract to deliver Community Services in North Somerset for the next five years. It is fantastic to see that we are already mobilising our new model of care with the roll out of iPad’s and consulting on our locality model. This process is currently underway and all your feedback is being taken on board. We will be making Locality leaders appointments shortly and I will update you on these as soon as I can.

I am also pleased to tell you that we have also appointed a new member to the Board. Mary Lewis will be joining us as Director of Nursing in the New Year; the date is to be confirmed. Mary is currently Deputy Director of Nursing at the Royal United Hospital Bath, and prior to that worked in the community so a great appointment. This key post will really add to our focus on to the provision of high quality services.

I’m sure you will agree that 2016 will bring lots of new challenges, so we will be aiming to recruit to remaining posts as soon as possible. This will allow us to continue to deliver seamless services across North Somerset.

We have a bright future ahead but at this time of year it is always important to reflect on what we have achieved in 2015. Our latest new service is Discharge to Assess which really supports the ethos of our new model of enabling people to quickly return to normal living. We are working closely with Weston Hospital to ensure people are discharged as soon as possible and the assessment of their future needs is undertaken in their own home.You can read more about this on page eight.

You will remember we launched our first community led living well club in Nailsea earlier this year, providing holistic treatment for people with leg ulcers. This has been a great success and as a result we are now scoping a similar facility in the Gordano Valley area. Work on this is being undertaken by Angela Perrett from our Transformation team supported by Caroline Pike, our new Volunteer Co-ordinator, who is employed on a partnership basis by

Voluntary Action North Somerset. This first shared post hopefully will be the start of many more!

Moving on, it has been good to see the development of Partner2care, the separate arm of our company which supports people with Personal Health Budgets. The team have worked hard to streamline their service offer and as a result are enabling more people to manage their own budgets in Bristol as well as North Somerset. This is great news.

I was pleased to see the launch of the Little Teapot at Clevedon Community Hospital, an idea from staff supported by the League of Friends which provides refreshment for people visiting outpatients or MIU. It is good to see how many more people are visiting the hospital which really supports the urgent care pathways. We have seen a significant rise in the number of people using our Minor Injuries Unit and know that educating our communities to help them better understand where to go in the event of an injury means we can take pressure of busy A&E units thereby allowing them to deal with more complex emergencies. Remember over Christmas the opening hours for MIU will be from 10am until 6pm, so do promote its use over the festive period.

There are so many highlights this year that I don’t have room to mention but I do want to congratulate all of our staff award winners. The highlight of my year is seeing how your work makes a really difference to patients’ lives and our company. Well done to all those who were nominated for an award and those who won. You can read more about this on pages 12 and 13.

Finally, before I sign off I wanted to remind NSCP staff of the importance of our annual staff survey. This will roll out in mid-January and will be open for four weeks. It’s a perfect opportunity for you to be frank and tell us about your role, team and the organisation so please take the time to complete it.

Once again thank you to each and every one of you for your hard work, passion and the dedication you have shown over the last 12 months. I am so proud to see what we’ve achieved as a result of your work and how far we’ve come.

Season’s greetings to you all. Enjoy the break and see you in 2016!

WELCOME

“There are so many highlights this year that I don’t have room to mention but I do want to congratulate all of our staff award winners. The highlight of my year is seeing how your work makes a real difference to patients’ lives and our company. “


CONTACT THE COMMUNICATIONS TEAM

NEWS ROUND-UP

PULSE SUMMER 201504

IN THIS ISSUE...

06 Community Service Contract Award It’s official - We’re the provider for the next five years

08 Working in Partnership Success for Discharge to Assess

09 Achievements of our Health Visiting team Helen Matchett tells us about the service

11 Lend a Hand in North Somerset this Winter With winter upon us, making sure our elderly and vulnerable neighbours are prepared for the cold snap is essential

12 AGM and Staff Awards Celebration Last month we held our fourth AGM & Staff Awards Celebration at The Royal Hotel in Weston-super-Mare

16 Staff Friends and Family Test Your voice at NSCP

This magazine has been brought to you by the NSCP Communications Team. If you have a story, feedback or anything you think would fit in Pulse then you can contact the team:

Claire Stanley Rebecca Porch

Call us 01275 885333

Email us communications@nsomersetcp-cic. nhs.uk

North Somerset Community PartnershipCastlewood, PO Box 237, Tickenham Road,Clevedon, North Somerset, BS21 9AXwww.nscphealth.co.uk

RECOMMEND A FRIEND TO NSCP

Recruiting the best possible people to join our workforce is essential to providing excellent services across North Somerset.

As a member of staff at NSCP you are our best ambassadors, so we are looking for you to support our recruitment drive by recommending your friends to come and work for us.

We’ve developed an initiative to attract applications for ‘hard to fill’ substantive posts, which can be defined as any position that has been advertised and not filled on at least two occasions. The Workforce Development Group will decide which roles will be included and this will be regularly reviewed.

The current recognised posts are:• Band 5 Nurses (Community Rapid Response, Staff Nurse, Community Nurse & School Nurse)• Band 5 Occupational Therapists• Band 5 Physiotherapists• Band 5 Podiatrists• End of Life Care Support Worker• Band 6 Senior Clinical Triage Nurse (SPA)

What are the benefits of the scheme? NSCP staff will be rewarded with £250 for each successfully appointed permanent employee, therefore the more you recommend NSCP as an employer the more opportunity you will have to earn £250.

How do I refer someone?If you would like to recommend a friend please complete the ‘Referral form’ and submit the completed document to the People Team via e-mail at [email protected]

Where can I find the form?The referral and claim form can both be located on the staff website under People Team > staff forms along with the guidance document which outlines the full terms and conditions of the scheme.

THE NSCP EMPLOYEE CHARTERAs a staff owned social enterprise our greatest asset at NSCP is our people. We share common purpose values which guide everything we do.

We pride ourselves on recruiting the best staff and then leading, supporting and developing them so they deliver, or support others in delivering, the best possible health services to our local communities.

Our charter acts as a framework to help focus and interpret mutual expectations. We seek to promote positive relationships and good employment practice as a necessary part of achieving our organisation’s mission and goals.

Phillip Pyle, People Team Manager said: “The Employee Charter will bring to life NSCP values and ensure these our foremost in our minds, regardless of an individual’s particular role in the organisation. It is also an important step in our development as a staff owned social enterprise, with the charter enabling us to differentiate ourselves as an aspirational health provider and acting as a tool to attract and retain talent that identifies with the things we stand for.”

Employee CharterAs a staff owned social enterprise, NSCP’s greatest asset is its people. We share common purpose values which guide everything we do. We pride ourselves on recruiting the best staff and then leading, supporting and developing them so they deliver, or support others in delivering, the best possible health services to our local communities. This charter acts as a framework to help focus and interpret mutual expectations. We seek to promote positive relationships and good employment practice as a necessary part of achieving our

organisation’s mission and goals. The Charter will be used as an aid to induction, appraisal and complements our Clinical Charter.

Quality We deliver a high standard of care

We provide patients and those who care for others with safe and effective healthcare, at the right time and in the right place. We

strive to use the latest practices and continuously improve our approach.

Respect We are compassionate and

considerateWe really care about people. We

put the needs of patients and carers first, understanding their

best interests and listening closely to the views of colleagues before

we make decisions.

Partnership We work as a team

We can only provide a great service if we join forces with partners

across the health, education, social services sectors and community groups, and we use the ideas of

patients, carers and our employees to shape the future.

Effectiveness We run a lean businessBy providing quality care efficiently and effectively,

we can secure our future success and do more good in the

community by investing surplus income and sharing our expertise

and resources.

Integrity Doing the right thing matters

Every action we take is in the interest of improving the health

of our community. If we see something we think is wrong, we have the courage to speak

up and act.

OUR VALUES

What is expected of you What you can expect

• Your role carried out with thought, using appropriate tools & achieving stated aims• Delivery of care that is professional, evidence based & focussed on service users• Remain professionally updated and deliver care based on best practice• Compliance with all relevant NSCP policy & procedures

• Ongoing assessment against organisational values & employment charter• Clinical leadership, support, constructive feedback and development• Encouragement to realise your potential and opportunities to enhance your professional development• A comprehensive suite of clinical and non-clinical policy and procedures that help you do your job effectively

• Treat others as you would like to be treated, with care and compassion• Display appropriate tone and language when communicating• Listen to and show you understand the viewpoint of others• Value difference and the opportunity to share knowledge and skills in a diverse community

• Recruitment and on-going management in line with NSCP values• A zero tolerance approach to discrimination, violence, bullying, harassment or prejudice• Praise and recognition when you do something well• Demonstration of exemplary behaviour that embraces workplace diversity

• Demonstrate willingness to support those you work in collaboration with, to the benefit of service users• Share ideas and use your skills and experience to help others• Act as an advocate for our organisation when working in a multi-agency capacity• Recognise the expertise of colleagues and work in partnership

• Two-way communication and cascade of information with the opportunity to share your view• Encouragement to share your ideas for improvement and innovation• Close collaboration with union or staff representatives and the opportunity to inform organisational decision making• A board and leadership team that are available and receptive to feedback

• Reflect, highlight and escalate issues in order to contribute to continuous improvement• Seek guidance and support as required• Endeavour to maintain your wellbeing, enabling you to deliver your role to the best of your ability• Embrace innovation and aids designed to release efficiency and improvement

• Performance continually monitored and reviewed against key indicators• Induction, training and development opportunities relevant to your role• Care for your health and wellbeing and provision of various wellbeing initiatives• Continuous review of NSCP systems and processes in order to support staff with efficient and effective ways of working

• Act ethically in a moral, genuine way• Speak up when something concerns you• Be answerable for all of your actions• Maintain professionalism even in difficult situations

• A culture of openness, trust and learning from incidents, complaints and feedback• An environment that listens and responds to concerns• Accountability bred through a continuous feedback culture with a focus on delivery, quality and safety• Organisational conscience guided by NSCP values

EXPECTATIONS

OUR VISION

We are NSCP. We are a social enterprise, focussed on providing social value for the community through quality health services. Working with our partners, our priority is to help the people we care for stay well, and help those who need treatment recover in the best place for their needs.

If you want to know more then please contact the People Team on

01275 546 808

FIND OUT MORE

You can find out more about the charter soon, copies are being sent to all our bases for display. If you have any questions please contact Phil Pyle at [email protected]

FIND OUT MORE


Providing the best possible care to patients across North Somerset is something we at NSCP pride ourselves on, however there are times we can’t do this alone.

Last month (November) we celebrated the achievements of one of the local Freemasons society, who over the last two years has been working hard to raise funds for a negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) pump for the sole use of the NSCP and local residents.

It’s a valuable piece of kit which is designed to manage high levels of wound exudate and increase the wound healing rate. This ultimately improves patient quality of life but also reduces length of treatment time.

The donation came following awareness raised by a patient involved with the Freemasons. Roger Jenkins wanted to raise awareness of the therapy following a positive experience. Following numerous drives to raise funds and negotiations with medical suppliers, two pumps were ordered for our use. They were handed over at an awards ceremony on November 3rd.

Sarah Williams from the Tissue Viability team at NSCP said: “We have been overwhelmed with the relentless support of the Freemasons and are over the moon to have received

these two pumps. These are currently in use at NSCP but are supplied on a rented basis, so owning our own will make a massive difference to patients.

“We cannot thank the Freemasons enough for their hard work and generous donation. This has highlighted how collaborative community projects can have a huge impact and benefit many. Thank you.”

Roger led the project and the fundraising; he is the Charity Steward of the Somerset Provincial Grand Stewards Lodge, he said: “As Freemason’s one of our principles is to practice charity, and show kindness to help others maintain a healthier and more stable life.

“We got involved in this project after I put forward a proposal to help North Somerset Community Partnership to purchase two Negative Pressure Wound Therapy pumps. As a patient I knew this would be a benefit to the whole community.”

“Both I and all members of the Somerset Provincial Grand Stewards Lodge feel very proud of this achievement and are deeply grateful that we have been able to get involved with the Partnership to make a difference to others.”

Kate Hurring, a clinical account specialist, from Molnlycke, the company who provided the pumps, said: “Avance is a unique negative pressure wound therapy system that offers convenient flexibility and performance, whilst also minimising pain and trauma for patients with reduced dressing changes.”

Working with the people who access our services to ensure they evolve and fit the needs of users is essential to our development at NSCP.

That’s why we like to team up with local businesses and partners to make sure we’re hitting the right note. As we move into 2016 we’ll be doing just that, by working closely with Weston College to rebrand our ‘No Worries’, Confidential Teenage Health Service.

Students from the degree level graphic design and photography course have been tasked with creating a new logo that resonates with them and their peers. It’s hoped they’ll devise image strategies to reflect the service and what young people need. This in turn raises awareness and drives more users to the service.

If you don’t know the service is targeted at those people under the age of 21 who need confidential health advice. They are based in schools, at youth clubs and other clinic locations and encompass specialist health professionals in this area.

All the services provided are free, confidential, friendly and supportive and the team can help with:• Abortion counselling and referral• Alcohol• Bullying• Contraception (including free condoms)• Drugs / alcohol• Eating disorders• Emergency contraception…..and much more

Sally Marks, one of the tutors at Weston College said: “We are delighted to have the opportunity to work with NSCP to redesign the ‘No Worries’ brand. Live briefs are an important and integral part of the Foundation Degree in Graphic Design and our students have become renowned for creating and presenting high quality, conceptual solutions for clients, locally and nationally.”

We hope the new brand will launch by spring 2016 – we’ll keep you updated on the developments.

NEWS ROUND-UP


NO WORRIES RE-BRANDWORKING IN PARTNERSHIP WITH WESTON COLLEGE

FREEMASONS RAISE FUND TO HELP NSCP PATIENTS ACROSS NORTH SOMERSET


NEWS ROUND-UP

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SEASONAL FLU UPDATEOur staff flu vaccination clinics kicked off in October, although planning for the annual jab began back in the summer when the NSCP Flu Fighters reunited to prepare for another campaign.

Our clinics have been busy and we’ve vaccinated a total of 196 staff. As healthcare professionals we all know the importance of having the annual flu vaccination in order to ensure we’re able to continue providing services to patients at our busiest time of year and to reduce the likelihood of passing on the virus to colleagues, patients and our friends and family. We would like to thank everyone who took the time to enter the Flu Facts vs Fiction competition. The winner was announced this week, we hope they enjoy spending their John Lewis voucher over the festive period!

It’s official - we’re the provider for the next five years. It’s been a whirlwind few months at NSCP following the award of the new Community Services contract in North Somerset, which was officially awarded to us by North Somerset Clinical Commissioning Group in October.

The contract was formally agreed and signed on Wednesday 14 October 2015 and will begin on 1 April 2016 for a period of five years.It was back in August that we were announced as preferred bidder, following a robust and comprehensive re-procurement process. We then worked together with the CCG to explore and test the model of care and our ability to deliver it, refine their implementation plan and clarify assumptions.

The new model of care for community healthcare services in North Somerset includes

the provision of almost 30 community health services; these are being commissioned in partnership between North Somerset CCG, NHS England and North Somerset Council. The scope of the services includes, but is not limited to:• All community-based adult health services• Some community children’s services, such as Health Visitors and School Nurses• Specialist community services, for example, Parkinson’s disease services• Any service which can demonstrate and deliver the CCG’s system-wide savings Commenting on the contract award at the time, North Somerset Chief Clinical Officer, Dr Mary Backhouse said: “This announcement follows a comprehensive consultation and tendering process involving patients and public throughout the process to ensure their feedback is at the heart of the new services that we commission.”

Penny Brown, Chief Executive at North Somerset Community Partnership, said: “We are delighted to have been formally awarded the contract and are very excited to be in a position to implement a new model of care that responds to the needs of people in North Somerset. This is a great opportunity for us to build on our success and work in partnership with our stakeholders and third sector organisations to make a real difference in our community. We are in strong position to contribute to the future vision of health and care and I am confident that this will enable us to make things even better for the population of North Somerset. We look forward to the future.”

At the moment a comprehensive consultation is taking place within NSCP to ensure our staff structure fits our new model of care.

COMMUNITY SERVICE CONTRACT AWARD MADE OFFICIAL


NEWS ROUND-UP


For many parents, when a child is sick or injured ensuring they get the best possible care to put them on the road to recovery is essential.

That’s why at Clevedon Minor Injury Unit (MIU) we work hard to make the experience as easy as possible. We know hospitals are daunting places for children so we hand out teddy bears to injured children who arrive for treatment.

Last year at NSCP we ran a competition to name our mascot and Bump came out on top. For nine years we’ve provided children with something to comfort them during their trip and this has only been possible thanks to thekind donations of the Freemasons.

In November the Freemasons donated the 2500th bear to the MIU to make sure children have a positive experience when they’ve been hurt or injured. Matt Croughan, Clinical and Operational Lead for the Minor Injury Unit said: “Since the ‘Bears’ began in 2006 thousands of children have left our Minor Injury Unit clutching a new cuddly teddy!

“When a child is injured, in pain and upset, that cuddly teddy really helps to instil a positive feeling in the child so that they do not develop a fear of hospitals and treatment. We often bandage Teddy or pop on a plaster in line with the child’s injury which makes them feel less like the odd one out. It is really important that hospitals and departments such as ours are seen a places of positivity and a place that a child can trust.

“It makes our job as clinicians much easier when a child trusts us and allows us to examine and treat them and these fabulous Teddies have

helped us out on many, many occasions. We are so grateful that these teddies have been donated and long may it continue. To not be able to continue providing them and not seeing the magical effect it has on the children doesn’t ‘bear’ thinking about.” Ian Strickland, Clevedon area co-ordinator of the Freemasons’ Teddies for Loving Care (TLC) appeal, said: “We are pleased to be able to offer such valued assistance to our local community. The monies raised for these bears has come from Freemasons in Clevedon, Nailsea and Yatton who contribute regularly to enable this scheme to continue.

“Whilst we have given 2,500 bears to Clevedon, Freemasons in Somerset have provided the counties’ hospitals with approx. 38,000 bears and throughout the country over one million have now been supplied to MIUs & A&E Deptartments. It is a very worthy cause and will receive our ongoing assistance at a local and national level.”

CLEVEDON MINOR INJURY UNIT CELEBRATES TEDDY BEAR MILESTONE DONATION

To find out more about Clevedon Minor Injury Unit visit: www.nscphealth.co.uk/services/minor-injuries-unit

To find out more about the TLC charity visit: www.tlcappeal.org

FIND OUT MORE

A BETTER MEWith a New Year just around the corner many of our minds have started turning to New Year’s resolutions and what we can do to improve our health in 2016.

January at NSCP will mark the launch of our new ‘A Better Me!’ campaign which is all about how making small changes now, that will add up to a big difference for a healthy future.

The purpose is to raise awareness in a bid to decrease the future demand on community healthcare services by increasing knowledge of healthy lifestyle choices and the risks of not making changes sooner rather than later. The name of the game is moving more and eating well which doesn’t have to mean hard work; it’s about making small changes a habit. For example, enjoying an indulgent hot chocolate and a cookie could add up to over 700 calories, while a cup of tea and digestive comes in at less than 100.

The long-term aim of our campaign is to reduce the incidence of long-term conditions associated with unhealthy lifestyles in people aged over 30 in North Somerset. By building and sustaining awareness of prevention and leading a healthy lifestyle, we aim to relieve the pressure on community healthcare services as the older population across North Somerset continues to increase.

In line with our partnership approach, we’ll be signposting people to local support services such as North Somerset Council’s smoking cessation service and Go4Life scheme in order to involve our partners and stakeholders in this initiative.

You’ll be seeing a lot more about ‘A Better Me!’ in the New Year. We’re aiming to make this a highly visual campaign so keep a look out for promotional material around North Somerset. We’ll keep you updated on developments in March’s edition of Pulse.


MAKING A DIFFERENCEMAKING A DIFFERENCE

Working in partnership with other service providers to ease pressure on the system is engrained in our ethos at NSCP. We are always looking for new ways to help patients get well and discharged back to their homes as soon as possible.

Over the last few months we’ve been working with North Somerset CCG, North Somerset Council and Weston Hospital to pilot Discharge to Assess. It’s an exciting new service that:• Reduces patients’ hospital stay (decreases risk of hospital acquired infections, and reduces deconditioning of patients)• Improves patient flow and allows acutely unwell patients access to hospital care • Allows for therapy assessments in a more realistic (home) environment• Improves patient experience of services• Brings best practice in discharge and rehabilitation to North Somerset

What is Discharge to Assess?It’s a service that enables medically fit and stable patients who no longer require hospital care, to have their ongoing care and therapy needs assessed at home. To achieve this, community teams consisting of occupational therapists, physiotherapists, rehabilitation support workers and social workers work

together to assess patients who do not need to remain in hospital to complete their therapy and social services assessments. These assessments are now carried out in more familiar surroundings. Interim arrangements can be put in place until longer term care needs can be accurately identified. This method challenges the current model of occupational therapy and physiotherapy assessment within an acute hospital.

Who is Discharge to Assess for?Currently we are able to take North Somerset patients home for therapy and care assessments if they are medically fit and medically stable. The community multidisciplinary team will decide if the patients are appropriate to be discharged home via this pathway as we must ensure they are safe to be at home alone between carer visits.

Success!Already, patient flow across the health and social care system has improved as a result of this new service. It’s great to see that:• In the last month 27 patients have been discharged home via Discharge to Assess • All patients who are medically fit and stable have gone home rather than waiting in hospital for therapy and social work assessments, and care packages

• Seven of these patients have been discharged from Discharge to Assess and have gone on to receive their care and ongoing therapy in the community• Patients have been seen within two hours of arriving home by the community therapy team• Patients have received their ongoing care whilst on the Discharge to Assess pathway by staff trained in therapy competencies to help them practice daily tasks within the home• The patient feedback has been positive: ”Such a speedy service”, “You came to see my Mum so quickly at home”

We are now planning to present a case to extend and enhance the service so that patients can be discharged to care homes and our community hospital, in addition to home settings, to receive ongoing therapy and health assessments.

“It’s all about the ‘Right care in the right place at the right time’. Well done to all involved.”

WORKING IN PARTNERSHIP:

SUCCESS FOR DISCHARGE TO ASSESS

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About the teamThe Health Visiting team is a specialist workforce consisting of Specialist Community Public Health Nurses and Community Nursery Nurses. We provide expert, evidence based advice to families with children in the early years of life.

As Health Visitors we are registered Nurses and Midwives who undertake further specialist training at University to enable us to perform our roles. We also work closely with our trained Community Nursery Nurses to support and meet the needs of children and their families within our care.

As part of the wider Health Visiting Service, we as a health visiting team look after and support over 4000 clients. At Drove Road our team is made up of 14 health visitors including the Young parents Health Visiting team, all with a wide variety of backgrounds from district nurses to midwives, children’s nurses, mental health nurses, general nurses and more. We also have five community nursery nurses and a wonderful administrator who keeps everything running smoothly.

Our role:The role of the Health Visitor has changed considerably recently; with exciting new government initiatives such as the Call to Action and a drive to increase health visiting numbers to promote early intervention and support which is evidenced as being a critical time in a child’s development.

The Health Visiting service is based on a proactive foundation principle which reaches out to all families including the vulnerable, taking into account the different dynamics and need in order to support and reduce inequalities, with new-born to pre-school children being our key focus.

As a team we provide and deliver the Department of Health’s Healthy Child Programme (an early intervention and prevention public health programme) for all children aged 0–5. We also provide services such as developmental reviews, drop ins for advice on topics like behaviour, toilet training and sleeping issues,

clinics, immunisation information, advice on weaning and health and the promotion of healthy diet and exercise.

We also provide guidance and information on parenting and support parents and families in making healthy choices to provide the building blocks on which children can develop and flourish.

This universal service is offered to all families and comprises of five core contact visits. Antenatal from 28 weeks of pregnancy, primary within the first 14 days of life, a six to eight week developmental review and the further developmental checks at age one and again between aged two years and three months with a focus on supporting school readiness. On top of these mandatory visits we then offer an enhanced service to families and people with identified needs or specific issues for additional support. As well as the above core contacts for all families we also focus and positively impact on six key areas identified through the government:• Transition to parenthood• Maternal mental health• Breastfeeding• Healthy weight• Managing minor illness and accident prevention• Healthy seven year olds and school readiness.

Our role also extends further beyond these keys points. We have a multi-agency approach and support families by working alongside children’s centres and nurseries, to safeguard and protect vulnerable children we have positive links with children’s social care, family support workers and also other agencies including The Midwifery team, GP’s, The Seashore Centre at Weston General Hospital and also Children’s mental health and extended community services to ensure all children have equal opportunities to a valuable and positive childhood experience.

A great future aheadWe cover so many areas as you can see but the team at Drove Road have risen to the challenges of working in a dynamic and changing sector whilst meeting the needs of the families and keeping children the focus. When working in such a busy and diverse role, peer and colleague support is essential, which has been recognised by the team’s achievement of winning the NSCP Team award at the annual staff ceremony. By working closely with families and supporting them during the identified crucial early years of a child’s life, evidence shows that health visitors have a positive and profound impact on the lifelong outcomes for health and well-being of young children and their families. It is becoming increasingly recognised and evidenced that the more investment put in during the early years the better the outcomes which our team acknowledges and embraces positively whilst moving Health Visiting forward.

THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF: OUR HEALTH VISITING SERVICEIT’S ALWAYS GREAT TO HEAR ABOUT THE WONDERFUL WORK OUR TEAMS ACHIEVE ACROSS NORTH SOMERSET. THIS EDITION IS NO DIFFERENT. WE WANTED TO TELL YOU ABOUT THE WORK OF OUR HEALTH VISITORS WHO ARE BASED AT DROVE ROAD IN WESTON. THEY’VE BEEN MAKING A GREAT DIFFERENCE TO THE LIVES OF SO MANY FAMILIES. WE SPOKE TO HELEN MATCHETT, ONE OF THE HEALTH VISITORS RECRUITED, HERE SHE TELLS US MORE ABOUT THE SERVICE.

FIND OUT MORE If you’ve got any queries email Helen Matchett at: [email protected]





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WE ALL KNOW THAT DEATH AND DYING ARE INEVITABLE; SUPPORTING PEOPLE AND THEIR LOVED ONES TO MAKE THE MOST OF THEIR FINAL DAYS AND WEEKS IS AN IMPORTANT PART OF PROVIDING A WHOLE LIFE SERVICE. THAT’S WHY WE HAVE A DEDICATED TEAM TO SUPPORT PATIENTS AT NSCP. JUST A FEW WEEKS AGO THEY RELOCATED TO WESTON HOSPICE SO THAT WE CAN WORK MORE CLOSELY WITH OUR PARTNERS.

FIND OUT MORETo read more about the changes and to read about national aims and ambitions visit: www.endoflifecareambitions.org.uk

PALLIATIVE CARE CHANGES AND YOU

Our palliative support workers deliver a high quality personal care service seven days a week in people’s homes and on occasion in residential homes to enable people to die in the place they wish.

For those of you who don’t know, the team aim to: • Care and help those with advanced, progressive and terminal conditions to live as well as possible in the last weeks of life• Enable supportive and palliative care needs of both the individual and family to be met.

Additionally our nurse assessors provide expertise to identify care requirements and coordinate care and funding. We also out-source care packages to nursing homes and outside agencies.

Where possible this service enables patients or their family members to die in their preferred place of care. Working with the District Nurse Team, GP’s, therapists and specialist teams such as learning disabilities, we support advanced care planning wishes and meet, where possible, people’s holistic choices.

The team are ever evolving. In September this year The Ambitions for Palliative Care and End of Life medicines was launched. It sets out what we all want to aim towards when it comes to palliative care and providing the best service for our patients, families and carers.

We know that the quality and accessibility of services must be consistently better for all of us and the needs of people of all ages who are living with dying, death and bereavement, their families, carers and communities, taking into account their priorities, preferences and wishes.

Working with many partners who attend the South West Strategic Clinical Network for End of Life care we share the same ambitions. These are to:• See each person as an individual • Ensure each person gets fair access to care• Maximise comfort and wellbeing• Ensure care is coordinated• Ensure we are all prepared to care• Ensure communities are prepared to help.

At NSCP and we are moving forward to achieve these aspirations. There are many building blocks to meet these and three we’ve identified as imperative to our ongoing success.

Honest Conversations:Everybody should have the opportunity for honest and well-informed conversations about dying, death and bereavement. You can find out more about this by visiting: Weston Hospice Cares website and Dying Matters. There’s lots of helpful content here including a short film called I didn’t want that.

Clear expectations: People should know what they are entitled to expect as they reach the end of their lives.

Integrated care: End of life care is part of new models of integrated health and social care being promoted across the health and social care system.

Good end of life care includes bereavement: Caring for the individual includes understanding the need to support their unique set of relationships with family, friends, carers; other loved ones and their community, including preparing for loss, grief and bereavement.

Jo Linnitt, our Lead Nurse for End of Life Care Co-ordination said: “Since joining NSCP I have been wholeheartedly committed to improving our existing services, compassion is a necessity not a luxury and this ethos sits at the centre of our team”.


MAKING A DIFFERENCE


In this edition of Pulse we’ve given you lots of information about NHS England’s Stay Well for Winter campaign. At NSCP we wanted to do more to help the elderly and vulnerable people in North Somerset as part of our commitment to adding social value.

That’s why we’ve launched our ‘Lend a Hand campaign’. With winter and the festive season upon us, making sure our elderly and vulnerable neighbours are prepared for the cold snap is essential.

To drive the message home we’ve called on members of the public to pledge to ‘Lend a Hand’. It’s easy and doesn’t require too much effort.

We want as many people as possible to check in on their elderly neighbours to make sure they’re warm, have supplies of food, drink and medication, both over the counter and prescription and to check they know where to turn in the event of illness.

It’s hoped many will sign up to helping their communities. So far Bristol City FC, Bristol Rugby and Sam FM and many of our staff and partners have pledged to help and have been pictured with our pledge board – you can see the images on Facebook and Twitter.

The campaign runs alongside NHS Stay Well for winter which offers in depth advice on seeking help early and preventing emergency hospital admissions.

Penny Brown NSCP’s Chief Executive said: “Making sure people across North Somerset stay well this winter is imperative and all have a role to play to help. Many people in our communities are isolated and have health conditions, so knocking on their door to check they’re OK and have everything they need goes a long way.

“Not only do they feel less isolated but it has a massive effective on the health system as a whole. You may not know that many people feel they are burden so they don’t seek help when they have a cough a cold. Over the counter medication, a warm home and

plenty of fluid often cures it and prevents the illness becoming worse. “Lending a hand will take two minutes of your time, so please support us and help make a difference.”

Dr Mary Backhouse, Chief Clinical Officer at North Somerset CCG, said:“Winter is a difficult time of year for many people, particularly for those aged 65 and over and people with long-term health conditions. The cold weather can aggravate existing health problems making people more vulnerable to illnesses that are common in winter, it’s really important that we all work together to help those that need it most. “Icy pavements and roads can stop people getting out and about, so keep in touch with friends and family and ask if they need any practical help to help them stay well.

This might include making sure they have enough food and warm clothes to wear if they do need to go out and making sure they have enough prescription medicines to last the holiday period.”

If you’d like to get involved take a selfie and pledge your support with our hashtag #LendahandNS. We’ll update you on its success in the next edition.

‘LEND A HAND’ IN NORTH SOMERSET THIS WINTER

You can find out more about it at: www.nhs.uk/staywell #winter-illnesses

FIND OUT MORE

I “We’re proud to support the ‘Lend a Hand’ initiative at Bristol Rugby. Winter can be a challenging time for the elderly and it’s important to look after elderly neighbours and relatives to ensure they are well during the festive period.”Tom Varndell, Bristol Rugby winger and former England international


PULSE SUMMER 201512

IN THE KNOW

OUR ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING AND STAFF AWARDS CELEBRATION

AGM

The first part of the day, the Annual General Meeting, was an opportunity for shareholders to join together to reflect on performance, undertake yearly formalities and ask the Board and Executive Team any questions.

For the evening we were joined by our stakeholders and volunteers to look to the future and celebrate successes. T he winners and runners-up of our annual staff awards were announced, you can find details of these over the next two pages.

Partnership and Patient & Public Involvement Award

Thelma Howell, Director of Operations was delighted to congratulate the winners of the Partnership and Patient & Public Involvement Award, Rebekah Jeavons and Kelly Smith, Community Outreach Nurse Practitioners.

Rebekah and Kelly were nominated for working with key stakeholder groups across North Somerset and participating in joint initiatives to support vulnerable people.

The Children’s Services Management Team received recognition as runners up for working closely with the public and introducing several measures to support parents across North Somerset.



IN THE KNOW

Each year we take the opportunity to reflect on what we’ve achieved and what’s on the horizon as we head into the future of our organisation. Last month we held our fourth Annual General Meeting and Staff Awards Celebration at The Royal Hotel in Weston-super-Mare and many of you attended to mark another successful year for NSCP. This year’s event was even more of a celebration than usual as we were recently awarded the contract to continue providing healthcare services in North Somerset until 2021.

Clinical Excellence Award

The Clinical Excellence Award is a little different to our other awards as the winner is chosen by our patients.

David Baldwin, our Non-Executive Director with responsibility for governance was pleased to present this award to Helen Flavell, Lead IV Nurse who was named as the winner as she received most nominations from patients.

Patients told us that Helen is kind, professional and goes above and beyond to ensure they receive compassionate care.

Individual Award

Our Chair, Delyth Lloyd-Evans was proud to present the award to the winner of the Individual Award, Claire Powell, Head of Business Intelligence. There were lots of entries in this category so choosing a winner proved challenging for the panel!

Claire was nominated for delivering the mobilisation of EMIS Web at NSCP within tight timescales and helping achieve two IT milestones.Runner up in the Individual category was Hannah Braine, Team Coordinator with Community Rapid Response, chosen for her continued support to Community Rapid Response, the IV service and Community In Reach Team and key role in the development of the Clinical Hub and Admission Prevent Team.


PULSE SUMMER 201514

IN THE KNOW

Team award

The final award was presented by our NED with responsibility for Audit, James White.

James was pleased to announce the Weston South Health Visiting Team as winner for providing professional, evidence based support and care to some of the most vulnerable families in North Somerset.

The runner up in the Team category was Worle Integrated Team who were nominated for successfully integrating with North Somerset Council and reducing the incidence of pressure ulcers and complaints.

Congratulations to all winners and runners up and well done to everyone who received a nomination.

Patient Safety Award

Carol Naughton was delighted to congratulate the winner and runner-up of the Patient Safety award.

The Deteriorating Patients Group were named as the winners for their role in implementing an Early Warning Score tool across NSCP to support staff in early assessment and rescuing of patients at risk of clinical deterioration and for developing a sepsis tool aligned to the national standard for use in the community.

Runner up in this category was Jenny Chartres, nominated for her instrumental role in changing practice and improving knowledge and skills within podiatry with regard to pressure ulcer prevention and management.

Social Purpose (Adding value to the community) Award

Phil Saunders, NED with responsibility for remuneration, announced the winner and runner up of the Social Purpose Award.

The team behind the Little Teapot were declared the winner and were successful for their work in launching ‘The Little Teapot’ tea room at Clevedon Community Hospital. The team includes Sandra Gane and Clevedon Community Hospital (CCH) volunteers, Sue Muncaster from the CCH Outpatients Dept. and Di Brown from the CCH League of Friends.

Phil was pleased to congratulate the Tyntesfield Community Team as runners-up for their role in setting up and launching the Nailsea District Leg Club this year.

Innovation Award

Nick Danks, Director of Finance and Business Development, took to the stage to present the Innovation Award.

The Community Intervention Team were announced as the winners and the award was gratefully received by members of the team present at the celebration. They were nominated for their work with South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust to run a jointly manned ambulance car.

The Lymphoedema Service were named as runners up for being one of the first teams in the country to support the introduction of Low Level Light Therapy for patients who are not responding to conventional lymphatic draining by massage or compression and for introducing a self-managed Intermittent Pneumatic Compression (IPC) pump clinic, which has enabled patients to benefit from a therapy which is otherwise too time intensive to be offered within a regular clinic.



A DAY IN THE LIFE

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF OUR NAMED NURSE FOR SAFEGUARDING CHILDRENIN THIS ISSUE WE TALK TO SHARON DORAN, NAMED NURSE FOR SAFEGUARDING CHILDREN.

A t NSCP we have many disciplines and different groups of professionals who deliver exceptional services to our patients and service users. Often we’re unsure of what each team gets up to day to day so to help we caught up with Sharon Doran in this edition of Pulse to tell you more about the role of safeguarding, something which is key in all our jobs.

Sharon, tell us about your team.The Safeguarding Children’s Team is managed by Jos Grimwood, the Lead Nurse for Safeguarding and Named Nurse for Safeguarding Children. Currently there are three child protection supervisors working within the team; myself, Fiona Gilbert and Pamela Young. Our two administrators, Sharon Sloman and Mary Giles are also an integral part of our team.

Our role involves providing advice and support to all staff where there are safeguarding concerns for children. We provide ad-hoc telephone advice as well as face to face supervision sessions for any service where staff work with or may come into contact with children. This includes the health visitors, school nurses, No Worries! service, Children Looked After nurses, paediatric diabetes specialist nurses, the bladder and bowel service and the minor injury unit. We also run in-house training on safeguarding children, so as you can see our role is wide ranging.

Tell us a little more about your background.I originally trained as an adult nurse and worked in cardiac services in London and Bristol for many years. I decided to retrain as a health visitor in 2006. I worked as a health visitor in Weston-super-Mare, where I had lots of experience working with families where there were complex issues. I began working in the Safeguarding Children’s team in 2013.

What does a typical day look like?To be honest there is never a typical day. The work is very diverse and what you expect to do each day can change depending on information received. The majority of our

time is spent providing staff with one to one supervision sessions when they have opportunities to discuss complex families where there are safeguarding concerns. This gives the practitioner an opportunity to reflect on their practice following which an action plan is developed to support the family. It is really important that we are able to focus on the child and really hear the “voice of the child” during this process.

We also provide training sessions for adult staff on a monthly basis and support staff to write legal statements for court when there are child care proceedings. There has been a large increase in requests for statements this year which has a big impact on workload. In between this, I am taking calls from staff members, answering emails and liaising with other agencies.

An example of this is through the MARAC (Multi Agency Risk Assessment Conference). I am the representative for children in our company and attend monthly meetings aimed at ensuring we all do what we can to kept children safe. I also take the lead for domestic abuse work within the service and will often carry out training on raising awareness of this topic with all staff within the company.

What’s the best thing about your role?Every day is different! I work with a brilliant team of very supportive people and I enjoy the fact that I get to work with a diverse group of staff from different organisations.

Which partners do you work with and why is this important?It is important that we have good working relationship and communication with all partner agencies. This is an extremely important

component of being able to keep children safe. We work with all agencies including the local authority, police and other health providers. We link with GP’s, community paediatricians and staff at Weston General Hospital and Bristol Children’s Hospital. All members of the safeguarding team are involved in multi-agency meetings.

What are your aims?As a team, our aims are to support all staff to fulfil our statutory responsibility to safeguard children. We try to ensure that the focus remains on the child and that their voices are heard.

What has the team achieved in the last 12 months?The health visiting workforce has doubled in the last few years and therefore, as a team we are providing face to face supervision to twice as many staff as previously. To do this we have recruited a new member of staff to support with this.

We have been working with partner agencies to ensure there is a coordinated response to Child Sexual Exploitation and with all staff to increase awareness of domestic abuse, increasing confidence to respond if there is a disclosure.

We are currently working on developing a new training package which incorporates the Think Family approach.

“It is really important that we are able to focus on the child and really hear the ‘voice of the child’. ”

If you’d like to find out more aboutsafeguarding contact:

[email protected] [email protected]

FIND OUT MORE


“I think that the care provided by NSCP is a high level”

“Staff show lots of care and compassion. Dedicated staff”

“Fellow healthcare professionals I work with are extremely dedicated and knowledgeable about their profession which they deliver with empathy and compassion”

“Everyone wants to do their best for their patients, they really care”

“The staff have the best interest in each patient, unfortunately they are not always supported by equipment and work load”

“Although I have not worked for NSCP long, I am impressed by the attitude and believe the organisation is striving to deliver a quality service”

“I have not had direct experience at receiving health care from NSCP as I live in Bristol, but from my experience of the compassion and dedication of my colleagues to our service users I feel that patients are likely to receive a good service

T

Likely to recommend NSCP

PULSE SUMMER 201516

IN THE KNOW

YOUR VOICE AT NSCP:

Staff friends & family testFOR THE LAST 18 MONTHS AT NSCP WE HAVE BEEN PARTICIPATING IN THE NATIONAL NHS ENGLAND STAFF FRIENDS AND FAMILY TEST (FFT). NHS ENGLAND’S VISION FOR THIS WAS THAT ALL STAFF SHOULD HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO FEEDBACK THEIR VIEWS ON THEIR ORGANISATION AT LEAST ONCE A YEAR. IT WAS ANTICIPATED THAT STAFF FFT WOULD HELP TO PROMOTE A BIG CULTURAL SHIFT, WHERE STAFF HAVE FURTHER OPPORTUNITY AND CONFIDENCE TO SPEAK UP, AND WHERE THEIR VIEWS ARE INCREASINGLY HEARD AND ACTED UPON.

Extremely Likely to recommend NSCP

“I know how dedicated the staff are to patient care and wellbeing - I know they’d be well looked after.”

“I know that the teams who work directly with patients and general public are caring and amazing at their job. All the back office staff and departments support the teams very well.”

“I feel they look after me as an employee, and so I have faith and trust that they would look after my family and friends also. I have a lot of trust and faith in NSCP.”

“I still believe that the standards and ethics of the NHS still apply to NSCP and they deliver good standard of care, compared to private agencies.”

“They provide good services and as my employer I am confident in the organisation.”

“I have had good experiences both as a patient and employee.”

“I have confidence that treatment provided would be of a high standard and that I myself understand processes.”


esearch has shown a relationship between staff engagement and individual and organisational outcome measures, such as staff absenteeism and turnover, patient satisfaction and mortality, and safety measures, including infection rates.

The more engaged staff members are, the better the outcomes for patients and the organisation generally. It is therefore important that we strengthen the staff voice, as well as the patient voice. In 2015 we have implemented staff FFT three times, once as part of the staff survey In January, independently in June and again in November.

Thank you to all of you who took part in this valuable survey and well done to our four lucky winners who received John Lewis vouchers for taking the time to feedback and help us improve. These were randomly selected by Picker our survey provider.

Your next opportunity to feedback to us will be in the annual staff survey which will launch across NSCP in the early part of 2016. For your chance to win, look out for the link and ensure you tell us what you think of all aspects of our organisation.

R

IN THE KNOW

FFT

RESU

LTS

This November we teamed up with North Somerset CCG and the South West Commissioning Support Unit to promote NHS England’s Stay Well for winter campaign. Following system wide escalation across the country last year it’s as important as ever to make sure our residents know which service to access in the event of illness. Shockingly, on average there are around 25,000 unnecessary winter deaths each year in England and there is strong evidence that some of these winter deaths are indeed ‘extra’ and are related to cold temperatures as well as infectious diseases such as flu.

So how can we help? There are lots of little things we can all do to pass on the right advice when we come into contact with patients, service users and the wider community:

Keep homes warm: Cold homes have a significant impact on people’s health. One of the best ways of staying well is keeping warm during winter. It can help prevent colds, flu or more serious health conditions such as heart attacks, strokes, pneumonia and depression.

Fight flu: Flu is a highly infectious illness that can spread rapidly. Check someone’s eligibility for a free flu jab.

Eat well in winter: Food is a vital source of energy, which helps keep the body warm. Advise people to have hot meals and drinks regularly throughout the day and keep active in the home if you can.

Wear warm clothes: It really is simple, tell patients to wrap up warm, inside and out. Wear lots of thin layers - clothes made from cotton, wool or fleecy fibres are particularly good and help to maintain body heat. Wear shoes with a good grip to prevent slips and falls when walking outside. If possible, stay inside during a cold period if you have heart or respiratory problems.

Help your neighbours in winter and ‘Lend a Hand’: Check on older neighbours or relatives to make sure they’re safe and well. Make sure they’re warm enough, especially at night, and have stocks of food and medicines so they don’t need to go out during very cold weather. We can all do this.

STAY WELL THIS WINTER IN NORTH SOMERSETMaking sure our communities access the right services

Each year at NSCP we work with our partners and stakeholders to ensure our local communities know which choice to make when they become ill or injured during the winter period.


You can read more about our Lend a Hand Campaign which launched in December

on page 11

FIND OUT MORE

FFT

Q2

RESU

LTS

Question Base Picker Average%

Score TargetTarget

met

Change vs last quarter

Lowest (to Date)

Highest (to date)

How likely are you to recommend this organisation to friends and family if they needed care or treatment? 195 89% 89% 68% N/A 86% 89% Edit

How likely are you to recommend this organisation to friends and family as a place of work? 195 73% 77% 53% N/A 70% 77% Edit

Question Base % Score Target Target met


Lowest (to Date)

Highest (to date)

Last 4 weeks - Seen any errors/near miss/incident = hurt staff/patients/service users/customers, reported? 182 91% N/A N/A N/A 82% 91% Edit

Last time saw an error/near misses/incidents = hurt staff/patients/service users/customers? 104 100% N/A N/A N/A 96% 100% Edit

My team discusses complaints, incidents and concerns in an open and honest way 195 90% N/A N/A N/A 87% 90% Edit

Leaders in NSCP give a high priority to patient care and providing quality services 194 83% N/A N/A N/A 80% 83% Edit

My team always involves patients, their families and carers in decisions about their care 194 83% N/A N/A N/A 83% 85% Edit

Question Base Picker Average%

Score TargetTarget

met


Lowest (to Date)

Highest (to date)

How likely are you to recommend this organisation to friends and family if they needed care or treatment? 236 90% 88% 68% 0% 86% 89% Edit

How likely are you to recommend this organisation to friends and family as a place of work? 235 72% 73% 53% 0% 70% 77% Edit

Question Base % Score Target Target met


Lowest (to Date)

Highest (to date)

Last 4 weeks - Seen any errors/near miss/incident = hurt staff/patients/service users/customers, reported? 211 82% N/A N/A -9% 82% 91% Edit

Last time saw an error/near misses/incidents = hurt staff/patients/service users/customers? 137 96% N/A N/A -4% 96% 100% Edit

My team discusses complaints, incidents and concerns in an open and honest way 232 87% N/A N/A -3% 87% 90% Edit

Leaders in NSCP give a high priority to patient care and providing quality services 228 80% N/A N/A -3% 80% 83% Edit

My team always involves patients, their families and carers in decisions about their care 232 86% N/A N/A 3% 83% 86% Edit


SAYING GOODBYE TO VALUED COLLEAGUES

THELMA HOWELLIN THIS EDITION OF PULSE WE WANTED TO SAY GOODBYE TO ONE OF OUR DIRECTORS. AT THE END OF NOVEMBER, THELMA HOWELL, OUR DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS, RETIRED AFTER SEVEN YEARS OF SERVICE AT NSCP. AS WE SAY GOODBYE WE CAUGHT UP WITH THELMA TO TAKE A LOOK BACK ON HER TIME IN NORTH SOMERSET.

PROFILE

PULSE SUMMER 201518

Thelma how long have you been at NSCP? I came to North Somerset in August 2008 as Associate Director of Nursing and Quality on a four month secondment from Bristol PCT. The four months turned into seven years and I have now spent almost half of my management career working in North Somerset, with the last three years as Director of Operations. What have you achieved in this time? When I reflect back on the past seven years, NSCP bears little resemblance to the Community Services organisation that I joined. We have transformed the majority of our adult services, rolling out an integrated health and social care SPA in 2009, virtual wards in 2010 and a whole host of newly commissioned services such as Admission Prevent, Urgent Care Clinical Hub, Community Care Advisors (too many to mention here) since 2011.

Nowadays, our 17 beds at Clevedon Community Hospital rarely remain empty for more than a few hours and our Minor Injury Unit has become an important urgent care service preventing many hundreds of unnecessary attendances at local Emergency Departments.

Over the past three years Children’s services have successfully achieved the Department of Health target to double the number of Health Visitors and our School Nurses undertook school entry reviews on 2,500 children last year, a significant achievement for a team of only a dozen or so staff.

Specialist Services now see over 30,000 patients a year in community clinics, helping to prevent unnecessary Hospital Outpatient appointments

and we have integrated more and more of our services with our social care and mental health colleagues. The new Intensive Support service run by our integrated Learning Disabilities service in partnership with AWP, is working hard to bring people, previously placed in care homes outside of the county, back to North Somerset to live near their families and friends.

How proud are you of the organisation and how far it’s come/achieved? My career here started with me working in the provider arm of North Somerset PCT and I was immensely proud to have been a part of our first transformation into a Community Interest Company in 2011. The speed with which we needed to mobilise the transition was mind blowing but we managed it and NSCP was born on October 1st 2011. The time has since flown by, culminating in a successful 18 months re-procurement process and the award of another five year contract! I think therefore, that I am most proud of the reputation that we have earned and the flexibility and skill with which we face each new challenge head on. We have grown in size and strength and attracted some excellent people to come and join us. We may be small but we are definitely beautiful and a force to be reckoned with!

Do you have any stand out memories? There have certainly been some hairy moments in the past seven years but that’s what you sign up to when you choose operations as a career path. I think my stand out moments are two fold, the most significant was this August when we heard we had been successful for the second time in winning our contract. It confirmed that we were still considered to be the provider of choice by a wide range of stakeholders. However, perhaps the other stand out memory is seeing our CEO, Penny Brown wearing a rather short nurses uniform on stage at the Winter Gardens when we joined Chris Born (CEO of the PCT) to perform our rendition of MRSA (to the tune of YMCA) at the Annual Christmas party. For anyone who would like to see it, there is a DVD version still in existence as I found it when clearing out my locker!

What will you miss? This is an easy one... all my wonderful senior managers who have supported me and helped

NSCP develop our amazing services over the past seven years. They are a very special group of individuals who always go the extra mile to ensure our patients receive first class care. Of course, none of us could achieve all this without our fantastic clinical teams and corporate services colleagues and so without hesitation, I will miss everyone at NSCP!

What will you do with all your spare time? Well, at the risk of boring more people, I am so excited that I am going to be a Grannie next March, and have every intention of playing a huge part in my little grand-daughters’ life (don’t worry, my daughter and son-in-law are pretty keen to share the child care or so they say!).

I am also not hanging up my uniform just yet and will be working three days a week for Partner2Care, as a Nurse Assessor. I have already worked a little on the bank in this role and getting back to a more patient facing role feels just as good as I imagined it would. They are a great team and I can’t wait to make the transition back to a clinical role.

Do you have a message to staff? I do, I would like to say THANK YOU! I would not have stayed working with NSCP so long if it wasn’t for all the wonderful people in NSCP, from the nurses, therapists and support staff at the frontline to the Executive team and colleagues in corporate services. The North Somerset population is so lucky to have NSCP as their community services provider for the next five plus years.

We wish Thelma all the best in the future.


Val, can you tell us a little bit about the background to your career?I have been in the NHS for longer than I care to admit! I qualified as a physiotherapist and loved my clinical work which included spinal injuries working both in the UK and abroad. I spent a year at Southampton completing an MSc then moved to working in a community neuro rehab team in London. I enjoy leading and developing people so I developed my career along that path. I have now been a Director of Operations in a PCT, Foundation Trust and now NSCP. I am passionate about the NHS and believe very much in delivering the best possible patient care. If you could change your career path what would your dream job be? I love working in the health sector but own-ing and running a restaurant with a relaxed café culture, but serving really good food would be my dream job.

So far in your life have you achieved the things you thought you would? Yes, I have to say I have been very lucky to have a successful and fulfilling career. I’ve also managed to keep a work life balance with the support of my family friends and partner which is often difficult to do.

What is your favourite film of all time and why? It has to be Thelma and Louise, mainly be-cause it’s a good story and shows two gutsy women doing what they believe in……..shame about the ending (I won’t spoil it for those who haven’t seen it!).

If you were stranded on a desert island what three things would you take with you?It would have to be a very sharp filleting knife, piano with instruction books and a supply of cake if that’s allowed.

What music are you listening to at the moment? Bob Dylan is usually my default.

What films have you watched recently?There’s lot’s on at the cinema at the moment but most recently I saw Suffragettes. It’s a film about the foot soldiers of the early feminist movement, women who were forced under-ground to pursue a dangerous game of cat and mouse with an increasingly brutal State.

When it comes to TV do you prefer X-Factor, Strictly, soaps or sport? It has to be Strictly Come Dancing, definitely.

What’s your guilty pleasure? Food probably …fish simply cooked with a cold glass of Sauvignon Blanc and cream cakes. Not together!

What does your future look like? At the moment busy, but having stopped working full time for the NHS my plan is to have the summers off travelling and work during the winter.

Have you managed to see much of the world? Yes, I’ve been lucky to travel on a lot trekking in the Himalayas, Cambodia and Machu Picchu in Peru. More recently this summer, I hiked down and around the Grand Canyon which was just stunning. I’ve also set myself a target of walking the South West Path (630 miles) with a variety of friends to celebrate a certain significant birthday!

PROFILE

VAL GRAVESIN EACH OF EDITION OF PULSE WE CATCH UP WITH PEOPLE FROM ACROSS NSCP TO GIVE YOU AND INSIGHT INTO THEIR CAREERS, FAMILY LIFE AND MORE. IN THIS EDITION WE WANT TO INTRODUCE YOU TO VAL GRAVES OUR NEW INTERIM DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS. SHE JOINS US REPLACE THELMA HOWELL WHO RETIRED IN NOVEMBER.

PROFILE

Val is planning to walk the south west path of the Grand Canyon to celebrate a certain significant birthday



North Somerset Community PartnershipCastlewood, PO Box 237, Tickenham Road,Clevedon, North Somerset, BS21 9AX

www.nscphealth.co.uk


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