Marie Curie People March 2014

People Marie Curie

Marie Curie Cancer Care’s newspaper for staff and volunteers

MARCH 2014

DOMINIC’S WIRED FOR SOUND

KEEPING OUR SKILLS UP-TO-DATE

TAKING THE MICKEY DURING CHALLENGE

PAGES 10-11

PAGE 12

PAGE 15

Actor Dominic West is the star of our radio and online ads

How our practice educators are delivering clinical training

Marathon runner meets Disney characters while fundraising in Florida

£1 MILLION PILOT SERVICE LAUNCHED Minister for Public Health Michael Matheson MSP launched a two-year pilot service to provide tailored care and support at home for terminally ill people and their families in Fife The £1 million Marie Curie Fife Service offers support including nursing care, personal care, emotional support and practical information.

The service will be delivered by a team of Registered Nurses, healthcare assistants, health and personal care assistants and trained volunteers.

Depending on the type of service and on what works best for the patient and their family, support can be provided in short visits during the day or evening, or overnight.

Diana Hekerem, Divisional Business and Service Development Manager for Scotland said: “We are working in partnership with NHS Fife to offer carers and patients with a terminal illness the right kind of care and support for them at home, at the time they need it.

“The Marie Curie Fife Service is different because of how it is delivered. We’re enabling patients in Fife to have access to a range of Marie Curie support including nursing Pictured at the launch (l-r) are: Marie Curie nursing staff Pippa McCartney and Michelle Carroll; Clinical Nurse Manager Cherie Raby; Michael Matheson MSP; Area Nurse Manager Val Maxwell; and Karen Graham and Julie Nicol from NHS Fife.

care, personal care, emotional support and practical information – with just one referral through a single point of contact. The type of support given will depend on what works best for the patient and their family.

“With this new service, we could potentially double the number of people we currently support each year in Fife.

This means caring for around 280 patients and their families to prevent crisis hospital admissions, and help those who are in hospital to be discharged home quickly.”

SINGLE POINT OF CONTACT All referrals are made through a single point of contact, and managed by a team of experienced Marie Curie Senior Nurses and a Marie Curie Helper volunteer manager.

The senior nurses work with community and hospital care teams to ensure terminally ill people, and the person caring for them, get the right level of care and support. They work with each patient and their family to understand their needs, before arranging the Marie Curie Fife Service for them.

Terminally ill people or their families can

PHIL HELPS KICK OFF APPEAL England international and Everton captain Phil Jagielka joined Colette Byrne (left) and Jessica Herrington (right) from the fundraising team at the Marie Curie Hospice, Liverpool to appeal to the public to support the Great Daffodil Appeal 2014. For more about the appeal, see pages 9-12. also make direct referrals for support from Marie Curie Helper volunteers.

An event to launch the Marie Curie Fife Service was held on 20 February in Kirkcaldy and attended by around 70 local health and social care professionals.

Minister for Public Health Michael Matheson MSP said: “I am delighted to officially launch the new Marie Curie Fife Service, as it is a great example of the partnership approach to delivering health and support services that we want to see right across Scotland.

“By working together with patients, I believe that Marie Curie and NHS Fife will be better placed to provide all the care and support that patients need at what can be

an extremely difficult time. Partnerships like this are central to our vision of ensuring that, by 2020, everyone is able to live longer healthier lives at home or in a homely setting.”

The service team is now recruiting volunteers who are interested in receiving training for the Marie Curie Helper role.

The service is funded by Oak Foundation and Marie Curie.

FOR MORE INFORMATION For more information, email fifeservice@mariecurie.org.uk or go to mariecurie.org.uk/fifeservice

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People March 2014

News YOU CAN DO THIS MONTH 5 THINGS 1. COLLECT FOR THE GREAT DAFFODIL APPEAL If you haven’t signed up yet, there’s still time to get involved in the Great Daffodil Appeal. Grab your hat, collecting tin and daffs, and get out to meet the public.

You’ll have a fantastic time – and you’ll raise enough to fund a couple of hours’ nursing. To take part in the biggest fundraising drive of the year, call 0845 601 3107 (and see page 9). To get some great advice on making your collection even more effective, watch our video at mariecurie.org.uk/toptips .

And if you’re watching ITV or Channel 4 over the next few weeks, you’ll very probably spot our Great Daffodil Appeal TV ads (see page 10-11).

2. FIND OUT ABOUT PAIN CONTROL Our new video looks at the challenges of controlling pain in community settings, and the importance of getting it right.

It’s not just for healthcare professionals. If you’re a fundraiser or work elsewhere in Marie Curie, you’ll get an insight into one of the biggest barriers to enabling more people to die at home – and the real difference that our nurses can make. You can listen to the people on the front line at tinyurl.com/paincontrolfilm 3. CHECK OUT OUR TRAINING WEBSITE Our training website has been revamped.

Visit learnanddevelop.mariecurie.org.uk .

Browse the courses available, and make sure your professional development is up to date.

It’s a fantastic resource for all Marie Curie staff – see page 13 for details of the new site.

You can also find out more about our practice educators, and our plans for developing clinical training and assessment, on page 12.

4. SAVE £2.99 ON YOUR YELLOW BOOK The National Gardens Scheme’s Yellow Book 2014 of gardens in England and Wales open for charity, is out now – and Marie Curie People readers can save £2.99 on the cover price.

The NGS is our biggest single annual donor, so if you’re a gardening enthusiast, you can help Marie Curie and other nursing and gardening charities by visiting some of the nation’s most beautiful gardens.

See page 13 for more details and our special discount code.

5. FIND OUT HOW WE'RE FIGHTING FLOODS Houses are abandoned, communities cut off, and residents evacuated. But how is our nursing service coping in flood-hit southern England?

Remarkably well, it turns out, thanks to the heroic efforts of our front-line nursing staff and their local managers. Read page 3 to find out how we’re pulling out all the stops to make sure our service gets through.

People Marie Curie

Marie Curie People is the charity’s official newspaper for staff and volunteers. It is published monthly.

FUNDING BOOST FOR CARDIFF RESEARCH Positive feedback for centre's work gives steer for future development

Marie Curie trustees have awarded funding to the Marie Curie Palliative Care Research Centre, Cardiff, for a further three years, following a positive peer review report.

The centre was reviewed by an international panel of experts, who reported on the quality and significance of its work.

They highly commended the unit, and advised that the researchers further focus on their three main areas: patient and carer experience; rehabilitation and symptom control; and venous thromboembolism (a blood clot within a blood vessel) in palliative care. They also recommended that the centre should aim to publish more and seek to develop its reputation as an academic centre of excellence.

Director Dr Antony Byrne, Deputy Director Dr Annmarie Nelson and senior staff presented to the peer review panel.

Annmarie said: “This was a rigorous review – they scored us as a clinical trials unit. We submitted two big reports on our past and present activities.

The review involved us in a full day of presenting to the panel and answering questions about our work. We also ran a lunchtime session with posters, involving the whole team.

“The reviewers were very encouraging and constructive. They commended us for the previous two years’ work, identified some areas of weakness – primarily that we need to publish more – and gave us a steer on how to proceed.

“We will be bringing in a new senior member of staff as a research fellow to support our team leads, and we will be developing our teaching of MD and PhD students. We already have a

In numbers: The Marie Curie Palliative Care Research Centre, Cardiff ● 2010 – year set up ● 4 – staff funded by Marie Curie ● 16 – staff with external funding ●£ 7 million – external grants to

fund work ●M ajor areas of research: patient

and carer experience; rehabilitation and symptom control; venous thromboembolism in palliative care

number of publications lined up from ongoing research projects.

“We are obviously pleased with the result, and to be able to continue our work.”

The Marie Curie Palliative Care Research Centre, Cardiff, is the only UK palliative care research centre that is based within a clinical trials unit. As well as developing its own research portfolio, the centre supports and advises researchers from around Wales and the rest of the UK in study development.

POSITIVE REVIEW: Dr Antony Byrne and Dr Annmarie Nelson

Scheme to train and advise carers is expanded in Glasgow The Marie Curie Hospice, Glasgow is expanding a pilot scheme that gives carers advice and training to help them look after loved ones in the last weeks of their lives.

The hospice obtained £40,000 from NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde Transformation Fund for its Confident Carers programme, enabling it to provide sessions in three locations, twice throughout the year. There will be places for 60 carers (compared with 12 last year).

Clinical Nurse Specialists Susan Swan and Kirsteen Shaw pioneered the programme in the East End of Glasgow last year. This year’s programme will involve the hospice's entire team of nine clinical nurse specialists.

Clinical Nurse Specialist Manager Mark Wotherspoon said: “Most people have no experience of this kind of caring work.

Our programme helps them set their

Editor: Nick Moulton Writers: Rebecca Evans, Cath Drake, May-Fern Lee Designers: Artful Dog Publishing and Marie Curie Creative Services Repro by: Selsey Press

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expectations so that they know more about what they are dealing with when they are caring for someone in the last period of their lives. We can’t make it easy, but we can make it less hard.

“We cover everything from symptom control and benefits to facing an uncertain future. We look at the services available to carers – including non-Marie Curie services – and we provide practical advice. The content is very much driven by the needs of carers. For example,

last year we covered the management of breathlessness and caring for someone at the end of life.

“Last year’s programme evaluated well – carers said that they found it very helpful – which helped us to obtain the funding for this year’s expansion.

“There’s a lot of potential for supporting carers with caring and we think there are future opportunities for research.”

Mark and the team plan to run the first sessions for carers in mid-March.

Our programme helps them set their expectations so that they know more about what they are dealing with when they are caring for someone in the last period of their lives. We can’t make it easy, but we can make it less hard.

MARK WOTHERSPOON

MARIE CURIE PEOPLE NEEDS YOUR NEWS. Send stories to Editor Nick Moulton, Creative Services, Marie Curie Cancer Care, 89 Albert Embankment, London, SE1 7TP. Email nick.moulton@mariecurie.org.uk or phone me on 020 7599 7706 and I’ll draft a story from your call.

March 2014 People

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Weather

NURSING SERVICE FACES FLOODING – BUT OUR CARE CARRIES ON The Marie Curie Nursing Service has carried on delivering care wherever possible – despite the serious flooding affecting large areas of southern England throughout the first few months of the year.

The charity has invoked its business continuity plans in severely flooded areas – meaning that, each day, the charity’s clinical nurse managers look at all the patients due to receive care and try to ensure that Marie Curie nursing staff can reach them safely. This involves liaising with local District Nurses, Marie Curie Nurses and patients and their families, and deploying nurses so that journeys are practical and they can avoid the worst flooding.

In one case, a local Marie Curie Healthcare Assistant required clinical input, and district nurses were unable to reach the patient, so a paramedic was sent through the floods in a tank to provide assistance.

One of the worst affected regions has been the south of England. Regional Manager South West Karen Burfitt reported: “We have invoked our business continuity plan three times since Christmas and currently have had it in place since 5 February. The nurses and our clinical nurse managers, in conjunction with District Nurses, have in most instances found alternative routes to avoid the worst-hit areas.

TREES “There have been a couple of shifts where we have not been able to get to patients, either due to flooding or trees blocking roads, but all families have been closely communicated with."

“We have had problems in Somerset," said Karen, “but there is a local end of life care coordination centre that we work with very closely to ensure the most vulnerable patients receive care or an alternative is identified.

CUT OFF “Delivering care on the island of Portland has also been a challenge - with access cut off a few times.

Thankfully we have staff who live on Portland, so when this has happened they have delivered the care required to patients there.

“Dorset police did offer to transport our staff through flooded roads if necessary, but we have not had to take them up on their offer.”

Marie Curie also invoked its business continuity plan in parts of its Eastern region, but, despite some local flooding, patient care was unaffected.

Assistant Director of Patient Services Dawn TameBattell said: “As a charity, we have business continuity plans in place so that if we face difficulties, our business can continue as usual and we can still deliver care to patients. In the Marie Curie Nursing Service, it is not unusual for us to have to invoke business continuity plans in winter – normally for snow – especially in Scotland and the north of England.

“This year, we’re dealing with floods and storms, mainly in the south. As usual, our nursing teams are doing a fantastic job in difficult conditions. And we’ll carry on doing so for as long as we have to.

“This involves very hard work by front-line nursing staff, who are making extra efforts to get to their patients, and by their managers, who have a really challenging role co-ordinating the service to deal with an ever-changing local situation. I want to pay tribute to everybody’s professionalism – thank you all.”

7th

View of Burrowbridge, Somerset, 2014

by Mike Smith

Position of the UK in a 2014 list of countries at greatest economic risk of flooding Source: Maplecroft's Natural Hazards Risk Atlas

Flood Advice

Marie Curie is advising nursing colleagues in flood-affected areas to liaise closely with their manager and the District Nurse to understand the local challenges, allow plenty of time for their journeys, make sure they have standard emergency kit in their car (blanket, drink, etc) and most importantly to be sensible.

A service that's worth its salt Sue Curry, Hospice Manager at the Marie Curie Hospice, Belfast, is pictured receiving a supply of salt from Robert Burns, Commercial Director of Saltworks, which has been providing free gritting services to the hospice throughout the winter months.

Robert said: “We are delighted to be assisting Marie Curie Cancer Care by providing this service on an annual basis. Saltworks is the only specialist company providing salt-spreading and snow-ploughing amenities in Northern Ireland and we want to ensure that the Marie Curie Hospice is kept open and safe for employees and members of the public during the winter months.

“Those attending the hospice have much greater concerns and we wanted to alleviate the risks of slips or falls to those who may be visiting to tend to a sick friend or relative.”

Northern Ireland has faced wet, windy and wild weather, but there has been no disruption of Marie Curie Services reported.

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People March 2014

News New quality review meetings will look at clinical incidents Marie Curie’s Clinical Governance Board is piloting the introduction of quality review meetings.

Each review group will include senior members of staff and peers, and will look at a single serious incident in detail. The first – held in December – was chaired by Medical Director Dr Bill Noble and looked at a patient fall at a Marie Curie Hospice.

Assistant Director of Quality Assurance Ruth Liley said: “When a serious incident has occurred, we need to be absolutely sure that we have learned as much as possible from the incident and how it was managed. By using each review to build upon the learning of others, we will be able to maximise the improvements to patient care.

“All learning from the quality reviews will be shared with clinical teams across Marie Curie so that, where necessary, improvements to patient care can be made.”

Dr Noble said: “We have set up these reviews to help us all reflect on what has happened, identify areas of good practice and areas for improvement, to help us understand how we could do things better in the future.

“They are about reflecting on common problems throughout the organisation, and how we might develop learning and avoid similar incidents in the future. We are particularly looking at patient falls, acquired pressure ulcers, serious medication errors and outbreaks of infections.

“Quality review groups already operate successfully in the NHS, and they have been a very useful way of helping improve practice.”

A review of the pilot is planned and the results are set be submitted to the Clinical Governance Board in July.

• Initially the meetings were called incident panels, but, following discussion at a recent clinical governance workshop, it was concluded that quality review meetings better reflected the purpose of the reviews.

Palliative care experts debate action on end of life strategy Palliative care professionals and MSPs have debated the challenges and achievements of the Scottish Government’s palliative and end of life care strategy, Living and Dying Well.

Five years on from the launch of the national action plan, the discussions, organised by the Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care and Marie Curie, focused on the successes of Living and Dying Well, as well as recognising the need for a new framework for action.

A good death for everyone was highlighted as an important focus. Panel members agreed that open and honest conversations at the end of life need to happen sooner in order to ensure that patients get their wishes and needs fulfilled.

Marie Curie’s Head of Policy and Public Affairs, Richard Meade, said: “Today was about the sector coming together to agree how Scotland can continue to lead in palliative and end of life care. However, it is clear that we need to do more to engage everyone in this debate. It’s time for a national conversation on death and dying.”

Kenny Steele, Chair of the Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care, said: “The panellists and audience agreed that all parts of society need to be engaged in

Today was about the sector coming together to agree how Scotland can continue to lead in palliative and end of life care.

OPEN CONVERSATION: The discussion among MSPs and palliative care professionals focused on a new framework for action

how we meet the challenges of end of life care. A clear framework for action is required to provide focus for this, to ensure that we deliver good end of life care for everyone in Scotland.”

More than 80 guests at the event heard from 10 panellists, who included Kenny Steele, Chair of Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care (chair of the event); Aileen McLeod MSP (host of the event); Rhoda Grant MSP; Jim Hume MSP; Nanette Milne MSP and Dr Juliet Spiller, Consultant in Palliative Medicine, Marie Curie.

FOR MORE INFORMATION For information on the Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care and the Living and Dying Well strategy, visit palliativecarescotland.org.uk

About The Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care The Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care is a representative organisation that supports and contributes to the development and strategic direction of palliative care in Scotland.

Its objectives are to promote equitable access throughout Scotland to high-quality palliative care for all patients and families on the basis of need.

CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S VIEW

HOPING MARCH BRINGS GOOD WEATHER AND A FUNDING BOOST March should start to bring us better weather.

Maybe spring is starting, as I have snowdrops in my garden and buds, at least, on my daffodils.

Before I come back to daffodils, I wanted to thank all of you, whether you work in caring services, fundraising or any other part of our charity, for coping so well with the terrible weather over the past months (see page 3).

Our patients have been seen, events have been held and we have kept on doing our work despite the weather and the travel disruption that has followed. I very much hope none of you have personally been affected by flooding at home.

Coming back to March and daffodils, this is the most important month for us all at Marie Curie because it is when we do most of our public fundraising through the Great Daffodil Appeal. Not only does the appeal raise money, without which we would not be able to provide care for patients and their

families in their homes or in our hospices, but it also allows us to explain what we do.

RAISING AWARENESS Our TV adverts are particularly good at raising awareness of our work. But our secret weapon is all of us who work for Marie Curie. By being out on the streets and in shopping centres, particularly if we wear ‘the hat’, we can explain what we do when people ask as well as raise general awareness.

People often think we are only here for people with cancer, so being able to explain face to face, if the chance arises, that we care for people with any

March is the most important month for us all. The Great Daffodil Appeal allows us to explain what we do.

terminal illness is an opportunity not to miss.

I am so pleased to hear that many more of you working in caring services are helping with collections this year. I know this can be hard because of shift patterns so it is very much appreciated. When I was in Wales last month, I met a really committed collector from our Pontypool centre, who rightly felt we should encourage all staff to help if they can.

Of course, this is the busiest time of year for our community fundraisers and fundraising groups. They are ready for the collections and all keeping their fingers crossed for some dry bright weather. Let’s hope we have wonderful spring weather in March.

Dr Jane Collins Chief Executive FOR MORE INFORMATION Get in touch with Jane at jane.collins@mariecurie.org.uk

March 2014 People

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News

HAVE A BALL WITH CHARITY’S NEW FOOTBALL TOURNAMENT

NEWSPAPER MEMORIES A book telling the story of the Mourne Observer newspaper in the years 1976-2011 will benefit Marie Curie and St John’s Church, Newcastle.

Former Editor Terence Bowman’s Read All About It! tells of his experiences of working his way up from junior reporter, and looks at changes in the local newspaper over the years.

FUNDRAISING GOAL: Marie Curie’s new five-aside football tournament is expected to raise £40,000

FUNDRAISING DOUBLE Marie Curie benefited from two events held at the Spencer Club, Coventry.

Supporters held a quiz night and a table top sale to raise funds.

Meeting emotional needs is important part of care, say patients

Aspects of palliative care practice, such as emotional experience, may be either taken for granted or not fully recognised.

DR CATHERINE SAMPSON

COFFEE MORNING The South Leicestershire Marie Curie Fundraising Group held a coffee morning to raise money for the charity. The event took place at St Pius X Church Hall, Narborough. It included a cake stall, raffle and games.

The group raised £9,500 in 2013.

RACE NIGHT Marie Curie benefitted from a race night, held at the Black Dog pub in Sankey, Warrington. The event was organised by the Marie Curie Warrington West Fundraising Group.

FOR MORE INFORMATION Visit mariecurie.org.uk/fiveasidefootball or email lucy.caslon@mariecurie.org.uk

Ensuring the emotional needs of people with a terminal illness and their families are met is fundamental to the care they receive. That’s the key finding of new research from the Marie Curie Palliative Care Research Centre in Cardiff.

Researchers reviewed 594 responses from patients and carers across Wales who documented their experiences as part of an ongoing evaluation of palliative care developments under the All Wales Palliative Care Implementation Group strategy.

The research, published in BMJ Supportive and Palliative Care, highlighted the importance of those affected by terminal illness being allowed to express their feelings as part of the palliative care process.

Palliative and hospice care was also repeatedly described as a place of safety, alleviating loneliness and providing a

VETERANS PLAY Marie Curie and Prostate Cancer UK benefitted from a charity football match organised by Penarth Wanderers Vets. The team took on Aston Villa Old Stars at Jenner Park, raising £2,500, which was shared between the two charities.

IMAGES: POWERLEAGUE

Marie Curie is hosting a brandnew nationwide five-a-side football tournament at six different locations.

Over the next few months, the charity plans to sign up over 100 teams and raise £40,000.

Each team plays at least three games at their chosen Powerleague five-a-side centre. The first one kicks off on 3 May in London, followed by Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester, Leeds and Birmingham – and the champion from each venue will be presented with an engraved team trophy.

Senior Corporate Account Manager Lucy Caslon said: “This is a wonderful opportunity for our corporate partners and other supporters to take part in a Marie Curie fundraiser. We’ll be promoting the tournament through email and social media, and are asking people to get a team or two together with their colleagues, friends and families.

“As it’s a fun, sociable and active way for people to support Marie Curie, we hope to get as many teams as possible signed up in each area.”

It costs £50 to register a team, and this includes the cost of the venue hire, balls, bibs and FA-qualified referees.

The charity is also asking each team to raise at least £200.

NEWS IN BRIEF

space to express fears that could not be expressed elsewhere.

RECOGNISING EMOTIONS Lead author Dr Catherine Sampson (pictured left) said: “This study found that the impact of palliative care may not be fully evident to health professionals or providers, and that aspects of palliative care practice, such as emotional experience, may be either taken for

granted or not fully recognised as significant for patients and their carers.

“For example, our analysis revealed that carers valued recognition in their role and being listened to, particularly in fulfilling the wishes of their loved ones. Likewise, patients prioritised being treated as a person rather than solely in terms of their illness.”

Dr Annmarie Nelson, Deputy Director of the Marie Curie Palliative Care Research Centre and co-author of the study, said: “The benefit patients and carers most talk about is the emotional experience of care. Objective measures do not take this into account – but it is important that commissioners realise that care is not just about clinical objectives. This aspect of care is not fully recognised, even by the staff providing it. But the tenor of care – how care is actually provided – is quite special, and that’s what we are pulling out of this study.

“Exploring exactly what patients think of treatments and services is vital to delivering patient-centred care and support across Wales and further afield.”

A second study is being carried out, which should provide more information on the emotional aspects of care.

£25,000 DIFFERENCE Marie Curie and six other charities shared £175,000 from Making A Difference Locally – a charity set up by retailer Nisa. MADL board member John Sharpe said: “The £175,000 will provide a significant boost to these charities and help them to continue their brilliant services.”

DOGGED SUPPORT Dingle dog Alfie from Emmerdale has been doing his bit for the Great Daffodil Appeal. Alfie got all daffed up to show his support for Marie Curie and photographer Victoria Kortekaas was on hand to record the moment.

More Emmerdale support on pages 14 and 16.

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People March 2014

News

BRADFORD BUILDING WORK UNDER WAY

Florence Nightingale Foundation now offering scholarships Marie Curie Cancer Care is working with the Florence Nightingale Foundation to offer its nurses the opportunity to benefit from either a travel scholarship or a bespoke leadership programme.

The foundation exists to support nurses and midwives with scholarships and mentoring, as a continuation of the work of nurse pioneer Florence Nightingale (pictured).

Florence Nightingale Travel Scholarships are open to Registered Nurses with two years’ experience. Marie Curie Staff will be eligible to apply for up to £3,000 to undertake a study on an aspect of practice and/or education in the UK or overseas. They are awarded for projects connected with the applicant’s field of work that will benefit patients and the professions more widely. Nurses taking part will be expected to produce reports and journal articles.

The Florence Nightingale Leadership Programme is for those nurses and allied health professionals in senior positions (Band 8A and above) who aspire to become a deputy director, lead allied health professional, nurse consultant or lead nurse. Marie Curie staff will be eligible to apply for funding up to £10,000. This bespoke programme runs over one year and is designed around the needs of the successful candidate.

VALUABLE YEAR Director of Nursing Dee Sissons is a former Leadership Florence Nightingale Scholar. She said: “The Florence Nightingale Foundation has a reputation for working with leading organisations to help nurses develop their knowledge and practice, and extend their skills and experience.

“I used my scholarship to look at how to enact changes in clinical practice. It involved taking a course at Harvard Business School in Paris, and at Cranfield University. It was a valuable year. I would recommend the programme and can also advise colleagues who are considering applying.”

FOR MORE INFORMATION Travel Scholarship applications are now open and will close at the end of July. Leadership Scholarships applications opened at the beginning of March.

For more details about travel scholarships, visit florence-nightingale-foundation.org.uk . To contact Dee, email dee.sissons@mariecurie.org.uk

A major building project to refurbish the Marie Curie Hospice, Bradford is well under way.

Builders are updating the hospice’s en suite bathrooms; opening out a family room to create an open plan area for families; redecorating; replacing carpets with carpet tiles and vinyl; and improving heating and ventilation, especially in the hospice conservatory.

The work is slightly behind schedule, as improving the hospice drains is a bigger job than anticipated, with large volumes of cement needing to be drilled out.

Builders are keeping disruption to a minimum, but the hospice needs to close four of its 16 beds throughout the refurbishment, which is set to be complete in late spring.

Hospice Manager Elaine Hill said: “This work is very much needed – it’s for the comfort of patients and families, and Bradford’s refurbishment it will improve the environment. Some costs, made up of an areas of the building are looking tired.

“Our conservatory is too hot in NHS England grant and summer and too cold in winter, and we Marie Curie funding use it a lot – for weddings and parties – so improving the heating will make a big difference. The changes to the bathrooms and the replacement of carpets will bring us up to date with best practice for infection control.”

The refurbishment has been made possible by a £300,000 capital grant from NHS England, with Marie Curie investing an additional £500,000. The grant was part of the Department for Health’s capital grants programme 2012, which set aside £60 million to fund physical improvements that directly help patients at hospices in England, and has been administered by REFURBISHMENT: Help the Hospices. The grant also funded building work A builder at work at the to improve the Marie Curie Hospices in Newcastle and hospice in Bradford Hampstead, which is continuing.

£800,000

New Windows installed on nearly 1,800 PCs Marie Curie’s IT team has almost completed a project to replace the Windows XP operating system across the charity.

Microsoft is set to withdraw its support of Windows XP from 8 April, meaning that it will no longer issue security patches to block malicious code and viruses written to infect PCs and networks and steal users’ data. This means that any PCs running XP will be vulnerable to hacking or virus infection from this date.

IT Project Manager Janette Hellyer said: “On the whole, it’s gone very well and we are 96% complete. There have been some challenges, and we are starting a project to deal with email management.

“We have installed Windows 7 on over 1,700 machines, and we expect to break the 1,800 mark before we finish.”

The installation team has visited 49 sites – some twice. At the time of writing, they have six sites to go, and are expected to finish the mammoth installation project at the Marie Curie Hospice, Belfast at the end of February.

The project has also seen the replacement

The upgrade in figures 42

Locations visited

148

Applications tested

752

Desktops purchased IT SUPPORT: Janette Hellyer and her team’s work is near complete

of 960 old PCs with 752 new desktops and 225 laptops.

Once the installations are complete, the team will reconcile software. Around 300 more licences need to be purchased. The team will also look at the usage of some of the more expensive software.

“Microsoft Project and Microsoft Visio are popular but expensive programs. We know that some people use them once every three months. There may be more efficient options,” Janette said.

225

Laptops purchased

1,800

PCs upgraded

FOR MORE INFORMATION If you haven’t completed the IT user survey, please give us your feedback at surveymonkey.com/s/FDM3ZFT

March 2014 People

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News

Corporate team’s growing success Marie Curie has been voted the official national charity partner by staff at the Garden Centre Group – the nation’s largest group of garden centres.

While targets are still being finalised, the partnership is set to be one of the charity’s larger corporate fundraising campaigns.

Marie Curie was invited to apply for the partnership, and then took part in a pitch, before going through to a staff vote.

Senior Corporate Account Manager Meaghan Annear said: “We are thrilled to be working with the Garden Centre Group – they are a big corporate with more than 5,000 staff working in 139 garden centres across England and Wales. And they are very enthusiastic about fundraising for our work.

“The group is an exceptionally good fit for our charity. Our supporter demographic and their customer demographic are quite similar – and we know from our research that many of our supporters are gardening enthusiasts.

“We have a number of different

The Garden Centre Group has 139 centres across England and Wales

The group is an exceptionally good fit for our charity.

We know from our research that many of our supporters are gardening enthusiasts.

MEAGHAN ANNEAR

fundraising products that are gardening focused or that will adapt well to a gardening businesses. Apart from the obvious Great Daffodil Appeal, we have the Blooming Great Tea Party and Mini Pots of Care promotions.

“We will also be developing a seasonal calendar of events for staff.

We anticipate that they will enjoy taking part in local fundraising events, and we hope to run some cause-related marketing promotions involving their products.

Pain control video is available to view A short video about pain control for patients at home has been released to Marie Curie staff and volunteers.

The video was made for trustees, to illustrate some of the issues around pain control in the community.

Improving pain control for patients at home is an important issue for Marie Curie. The VOICES national survey of bereaved people in England found that people whose loved ones died at home rated the pain control that they received as worse than those whose relatives died in hospital.

In the video, Senior Nurse Margaret Hitchcock speaks about a lady with motor neurone disease who valued staying up to eat with her teenagers when they came in at 2am.

“She knew the cost of that was pain.

But she also knew that we were there, she had medication provided, and we were confident to give it.”

Brian Andrews from the Expert Voices Group tells how his wife was in pain at a weekend, at night, when no nurses were available.

Finally, Dr Peter Nightingale, National Clinical Lead for End of Life Care with Marie Curie and the Royal College of

KEY MESSAGE: Senior Nurse Margaret Hitchcock in the new video

She knew the cost of [staying up late with her daughters] was pain. But she also knew that we were there and we were confident to give medication.

Margaret Hitchcock GPs, speaks of the need to ensure that the workforce that delivers end of life care has a compassionate and proactive attitude.

FOR MORE INFORMATIOn To view the film online, visit http://tinyurl.com/paincontrolfilm

“We want to make maximum use of our strong regional presence and our local fundraising groups.”

The partnership – which will run for two years – starts with the Great Daffodil Appeal 2014. Marie Curie collecting tins are already on till points at garden centres across England and Wales.

FOR MORE INFORMATIOn If you have any ideas for the partnership, please contact Meaghan Annear on 020 7091 4147.

About the Garden Centre Group The group has 139 centres across England and Wales, including Blooms Garden Centres, Country Gardens and Wyevale Garden Centres. Ninety per cent of the Garden Centre Group’s plant stock is British-grown, much of it in the group’s own nurseries. The Garden Centre Group employs more than 5,000 staff.

Trustees take a close look at Strategic Plan details Internal Communications Manager Melanie Bond writes…

As Marie Curie People goes to press, our trustees are conducting a final review of the charity’s new Strategic Plan.

At their meeting in March, they are looking to sign off all the key proposals and agree a timetable for considering the business cases for launching an information, advice and guidance service; and for additional investment in strengthening the Marie Curie brand.

Our ambition Our ambition is to be able to care for and /or support potentially, the 400,000 people a year (plus their families) who have a terminal illness.

This is a significant increase from the 39,000 people we currently help. Our objectives are to meet needs through the expansion of services and to drive improvement in care and support. In terms of direct care, this will mean increasing the number of people we care for from 39.000 to 50,000.

People programme Trustees have already endorsed the People Programme, which is working to develop the ways staff and volunteers can become more involved as we move through our Strategic Plan. The programme will provide support and opportunities to feed back as we go through this period of change.

Your input is helping shape our charity You’ve already helped a great deal by providing your ideas and feedback last summer in the Strategic Plan workshops and again from November 2013 to January 2014 through the survey and workshops about our organisational values.

Your ideas and feedback helped shaped both the Strategic Plan and our values. The final draft will now be reviewed by our trustees.

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People March 2014

News

FLEXI BANK IS UP AND RUNNING

Marie Curie Cancer Care is preparing to recruit Healthcare Assistants to its new UK-wide Flexi Bank, which will help maintain a reliable service A standard Flexi Bank contract is now available to Marie Curie Nursing Service managers nationwide, so that they can hire staff to help meet peaks and troughs in the service.

The Flexi Bank was trialled in Lincolnshire, but will now be rolled out wherever it is needed. The North West region has already commenced recruitment to the contract across the region.

Flexi Bank staff are not required to work a minimum number of hours. They work alongside Marie Curie’s current ‘As and When’ staff. They work across all Marie Curie services in their local areas – including Rapid Response, Planned and Multi-visit nursing services and at any Marie Curie Hospice in their locality.

Senior Project Manager (Programmes) Jane Graves said: “When a district nurse rings us up and asks for a Marie Curie Nurse, we have to be able to always say, ‘Yes, we can deliver’. Otherwise we will not be able to compete with the other providers out there. Flexi Bank nurses are helping to enable us to do that.

“Our rostering teams are continuing to ensure that our contracted staff and ‘As and When’ staff are allocated to patients ahead of Flexi Bank staff. But we need

staff on all types of contracts to provide a reliable service.

“We anticipate that the core of our nursing will be provided by nurses with contracted hours, backed up first by ‘As and When’ contracted staff and then by the Flexi Bank.”

MAINTAINING STAFFING LEVELS Most Marie Curie Hospices have existing bank staff who cover fluctuations in staffing levels. When existing bank staff are unavailable, Flexi Bank staff will be used to ensure the hospice maintains the required staffing levels.

Flexi Bank staff are trained and line managed in the same way as other Marie Curie Nursing Service staff.

Marie Curie is also working with a number of nursing agencies that will provide healthcare assistants for situations

It is important that our services are seen as reliable. We must consistently be able to provide a nurse when one is requested.

CAROLINE HAMBLETT

Resource Team welcomes Flexi Bank The team that focuses on rostering for the whole of the Marie Curie Nursing Service has welcomed the new Flexi Bank.

The 10-strong resource team works every day at the Marie Curie Referral Centre in Pontypool.

Resource Manager Emma Lovell (pictured) said: “We roster for all nine regions of the Marie Curie Nursing Service. We have a specific set of instructions from each regional team as to what the service needs to meet the commissioning requirements.

For example, they may need a certain number of nurses available overnight throughout the month, or we might have to consider a more complex multivisit service.

“We are responsible for making sure Marie Curie is able to meet service

needs locally. We have a finite number of nurses in an area to populate the rota. If someone’s sick, the team will do everything possible to cover them – but obviously, it is sometimes difficult to meet our obligations.”

The Resource Team also ensures that all nurse records are kept up to date so that the systems at Pontypool can match them to the most suitable patients.

“We placed our first flexi nurse onto one of our rapid response services,” said Emma.

“We definitely expect to be using them more, especially as recruitment progresses and the Flexi Bank rolls out into more areas. It means that we will have more nurses to call on to cover guaranteed services and urgent referrals.”

in the Marie Curie Nursing Service in which it is critical the charity is able to cover a shift and no Marie Curie Nurses are available. The use of agency staff across the Marie Curie Nursing Service, along with the existing agency agreements within hospices, will continue to be reserved only for emergencies – such as when a nurse has been booked for a patient and falls sick at the last moment, and no other nurse is available.

Director of Services Caroline Hamblett said: “This is part of our strategy for

ON CALL: When Marie Curie is asked to provide a nurse, the charity must always be able to deliver

building a really efficient and effective nursing workforce. Both our new strategy and the changes that are taking place in the NHS mean that we must respond more effectively to demand for our services. We have a reputation for providing outstanding care – but it is equally important that our services are seen as reliable.

“In particular, we must consistently be able to provide a nurse when one is requested. The new Flexi Bank, and the occasional use of agency staff, will help us to do this.”

Sustainability project gets under way Two interns are working on a sustainability project for Marie Curie Cancer Care.

Edward Heathcock and Chandni Mistry are seeking to create a culture of sustainability at the charity’s London offices at 89 Albert Embankment.

“Sustainability is a blend of social, economic and environmental elements,” Edward said. “It’s about reducing resource waste and creating a cleaner environment. We are looking at everything from energysaving to environmental and social impacts.”

Chandni said: “We are hoping to reduce energy consumption – saving money that the charity can use to provide nursing and other services.

“We are looking at IT protocols so that PCs not in use go into automatic

CHANGING CULTURE: Chandni Mistry and Edward Heathcock

FOR MORE INFORMATION If you are interested in being involved in the sustainability project or have a suggestion for how Marie Curie could improve its sustainability, email Edward.Heathcock@mariecurie.org.uk or Chandni.Mistry@mariecurie.org.uk . hibernation or shutdown; encouraging people to turn out the lights when they are last to leave a room; using lowergrade paper in photocopiers and printers; and making recycling easier.”

Chandni and Edward are working with Head of Estates Paul Cross. They aim to run workshops and seminars and produce a report so that a sustainability culture can be created.

March 2014 People

9

Fundraising

Thousands collect for our Great Daffodil Appeal… …and there’s still time to do your bit Street collections for the Great Daffodil Appeal are under way across the UK, having kicked off in Wales in the lead up to St David’s Day (1 March).

Collections will be running nationwide throughout the month of March, with thousands expected to hit the streets and hand out daffodils in exchange for donations.

Carina Stirling, Fundraising Product Manager (Great Daffodil Appeal), said: “We are all set to run a really great appeal.

There’s been a huge recruitment drive, with our fundraising groups bringing in lots of new supporters.

We’re getting great support from Marie Curie staff from all areas of the charity. And there is still time for you to sign up, if you haven’t done so yet.

CARINA STIRLING

We have fantastic advertising – with top celebrity names very publicly backing us.

“We’re getting great support from Marie Curie staff from all areas of the charity. And there is still time for you to sign up, if you haven’t done so yet.

“This is a really busy time for the whole fundraising team. They’re working really hard to make sure our huge volunteer team is supported throughout the campaign.

“We are crossing our fingers for better weather – while making sure we run the very best campaign possible.”

Fundraising Groups across the UK have been running local launches of the Great Daffodil Appeal, and signing up people to collect.

Marie Curie also has over 68,000 unmanned charity boxes at shops, businesses, schools, places of worship and other sites, including around 14,400 recruited through corporate partnerships.

Great Daffodil Appeal highlights • Northern Rail, the largest train operator in the UK, will be supporting the Great Daffodil Appeal this March. They are asking 4,900 employees to sign up for a collection, branding 20 trains with daffodils and displaying appeal posters at 150 stations.

• Superdrug’s in-store radio played Marie Curie’s recruitment adverts to shoppers in 900 stores nationwide.

•A total of 780 Co-op Pharmacies have agreed to take daffodil boxes.

• I mproved targeting of an email sent to past participants resulted in a tenfold increase in sign-up rates for the Great Daffodil Appeal compared with last year. The email was produced in multiple versions tailored to supporters’ previous involvement and geographical region. More than 1,400 people signed up as a result.

• T he Great Daffodil Appeal pages on the Marie Curie website have been updated to meet the needs of different groups of users. In 2014, the charity has pages to help brief new collectors with lots of hints and tips videos.

FOR MORE INFORMATION To volunteer to be a collector for the Great Daffodil Appeal, call 0845 601 3107.

VIEW OUR TOP COLLECTING TIPS ONLINE Marie Curie is seeking to boost the effectiveness of its collectors with a new online film offering collection tips to new recruits.

In How to be a collector, Great Daffodil Appeal veterans Arlene Main and Kenny Brown explain to new collectors how to have a successful collection and maximise their income.

Our top10 tips ARLENE SAYS: Stand outside shops with a high footfall. Or if you’re in a supermarket, stand next to the trollies where people have to use a pound coin.

Smile, make eye contact and always say ‘thank you’.

If you have friends who would like to help, contact your community fundraiser and they’ll be able to book you a slot at the same time.

Dress for the weather – wrap up warm and have fun.

If someone asks you a question you can’t answer about Marie Curie, refer them to the website. You’ll also receive a collection guide in the post.

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4 5

KENNY SAYS: If you’re designated a space, it’s best not to stand in a doorway but just off the doorway a little bit, so you’re prominent.

People will walk past you. But don’t be disheartened – keep smiling.

Encourage supporters to put their money in the tin or the bucket.

People who wear hats tend to collect more money.

Remember why you’re doing it.

Every £20 you raise is an hour of nursing care – so it’s very valuable.

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FOR MORE INFORMATION Watch the whole two-minute film at mariecurie.org.uk/toptips LANDMARK COLLECTION: Members of the Darlington Fundraising Group gathered at the Brick Train landmark for the launch of the Great Daffodil Appeal. The group is holding fundraising events throughout February and March.

10 People March 2014

Feature

GREAT DAFFODIL ADVERTISING BOOSTS APPEAL Patients’ stories are the focus of TV, radio and online advertising for this year’s Great Daffodil Appeal

Help our nurses care for people with terminal illnesses.

Donate and wear a daffodil this March.

Text DAFF to 70020 to donate £3 #daffodilappeal Texts cost £3 plus standard rate text message charge. A minimum of £2.97 depending on your service provider, will be received by Marie Curie Cancer Care Charity reg no. 207994 (England & Wales), SC038731 (Scotland).

Helpline: 0845 601 3107. Please ensure you have the bill payers permission.

Client Name: Account Name: Description: Size: Safe Area:

DLKW Lowe Marie Curie Cancer Cure GDA Lapel 1800x1200mm @ 25% 1700x1100mm

File Name: 76029DL1c1002_GDA appeal_6sheet Prev File: 73616DL2e1712_GDA Lapel_6$ Fonts: Europa Gro Nr 2 SH

SCREEN STAR: A new version of Marie Curie’s highly successful TV advert, starring Alison Steadman, has been produced

The daffodil is a visual expression of support, but what is critical is that we generate extra funds.

JACQ ELLIS-JONES

standard 6 sheet spec

This year’s Great Daffodil Appeal is being backed up by a major TV, radio, online and poster advertising campaign featuring household-name actors telling patients’ true stories.

Marie Curie’s 2011 TV ad featuring actress Alison Steadman talking about the care received by her mother will be returning to the nation’s screens, in a re-edited version, so that the story is told in the third person.

GDA Communications Manager Jacq Ellis-Jones said: “‘Real Life Stories’ is the campaign for this year’s Great Daffodil Appeal. Alison’s personal story and a number of our patients and carers’ stories read by Dominic West (Jimmy McNulty in The Wire) will be told across TV, radio and digital from 24 February till the end of March.”

The two digital ads show Dominic West reading the story in the style of an audiobook and will be shown through Marie Curie’s own channels and across other online channels. Consumers can

click to see the advert and go through to the Marie Curie site where they can see more stories and, ultimately, donate to the appeal.

“Our budget is similar to last year’s but we have a more multi-layered approach, using a wider range of channels. We are dialling up the fundraising message and giving supporters more ways to donate,” Jacq said.

“With more people using their mobile devices, we will be sending promotional text messages to people who are close to some of our key city collections. These messages will support our collectors who are on the street and they will be accompanied by a text-to-donate request and a link to the Dominic West stories. In addition to this, we will be promoting Twitter and Facebook messages to mobile devices specifically when the TV ad airs during high-profile spots. We know that consumers watch TV and

use their phones at the same time; we want to make the Great Daffodil Appeal unavoidable,” Jacq said.

Marie Curie is also introducing textto-donate campaign posters in London and Northern Ireland.

As street collections get under way, advertising messages switch from “donate an hour” to recruit collectors to “help our nurses care for people with terminal illnesses. Donate and wear a daffodil this March”.

“We have really emphasised donations this year. The daffodil is a visual expression of support, but what is critical is that the Great Daffodil Appeal generates extra funds,” Jacq said.

CELEBRITY SUPPORT: Actors Alison Steadman and Dominic West are part of the 2014 advertising campaign

March 2014 People 11

Feature

12 People March 2014

Training

GIVING OUR PEOPLE THE SKILLS THEY NEED TO DO THEIR JOBS Marie Curie’s practice educators ensure that clinical staff have the skills they need.

Marie Curie People visited one of their training sessions.

Director of Nursing Dee Sissons on training “Training is vitally important for providing good care – for all healthcare professionals, not just nurses. Every time we go on a training course, we should be taking learning from it, and seeing how it changes our practice.”

It’s an emergency. A man has collapsed – his heart and breathing have stopped.

He will certainly be dead in minutes without the help of a bystander.

A Marie Curie Healthcare Assistant is on the case. She checks the man’s breathing and pulse, and asks another passer-by to call 999. Then she prepares to start chest compressions.

At this point, the British Heart Foundation (BHF) Heartstart trainer steps in, reminding the first-aider to tip the man’s head back to clear his airway before starting resuscitation. The “man” is a resuscitation dummy – the incident part of a training session.

Eight Marie Curie Nursing staff from London and the south east are learning to tackle common life-threatening emergencies at the charity’s London offices. By the end of two hours, they’ll have learned the basics of keeping a victim alive while an ambulance is on its way.

COMPETENCE AND EFFECTIVENESS

We need to ensure that staff are up to date in the skills they need for their jobs... but we need to do this in the most effective way we can.

BASIC LIFE SUPPORT Marie Curie Practice Educator Clare Lawrance is helping deliver the Heartstart training session.

“Basic life support training is being replicated across all four countries of the UK,” she said. “Marie Curie decided last year that it wanted all Marie Curie nursing and hospice staff to be trained in basic life support, and the BHF Heartstart programme covers CPR, choking and serious bleeding. All training resources are provided by the BHF. “While our patients are approaching the end of life and often have ‘do not attempt resuscitation’ orders, our nurses are also working alongside carers and other family members at a very stressful time. It makes sense that they are trained to help in an emergency.”

Basic Life Support is just one course in a raft of mandatory training and education sessions attended by Marie Curie clinical staff right across the UK. “There’s a list of core skills that every Marie Curie Nurse or Healthcare Assistant needs. We are responsible for delivering that training, and also assessing their skills to make sure they have them,” Clare said.

care. We use these skills every day as a nurse or HCA.” Amanda is responsible for all training for Marie Curie clinical staff and allied health professionals in the Marie Curie Nursing Service and Marie Curie Hospices, right across the UK. Many of the skills needed by clinical staff are mandatory – for example, moving and handling; medicines management; safeguarding of adults and children. The charity has to report to the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and other regulatory bodies that its staff have been assessed to make sure they are up to scratch in these areas. Other skills, such as working with syringe drivers, are specific to Marie Curie’s role in palliative care, and the charity has its own training and assessments.

SKILLS FOR LIFE: Regular training and assessment are vital for clinical staff

AMANDA POPPLETON (ABOVE)

Clare is one of Marie Curie’s 18 practice educators. Based in the People in Organisational Development (POD) team, they are each responsible for a nursing region or hospice.

“We train in all kinds of different venues – from 89 Albert Embankment to church halls,” she said. “I’m a Registered Nurse, but in my practice educator role I don’t have clinical patient contact. I spend the majority of my time training and assessing skills.”

CLINICAL SKILLS Regular training and assessment are vitally important for all clinical staff, says Marie Curie’s Clinical Development Manager, Amanda Poppleton.

“Clinical skills are important because they’re the skills that impact on patient

BASIC LIFE SUPPORT: Staff learn to deal with an unconscious victim

“Our regulators want to see that staff are competent in the skills they need for their jobs,” said Amanda, “and we need to ensure that staff are up to date in those skills so they can provide quality care for patients – but we need to do this in the most effective way we can.

“Evidence of having attended a training session no longer satisfies our regulators. They need us to ensure that staff can carry out the skills they have learned when they are on the job.

Assessment of skill is the way forward.

If we can assess people on the things that they regularly do and do well, rather than retraining, we can free up time for training in areas where staff are less skilled and ultimately for more nursing shifts.

“The format we’re proposing over the next 12-24 months is that update training will move to an assessmentfirst approach. So if it’s a regular skill, you attend for an assessment. If someone doesn’t pass – and most will, as it is something they do regularly in their day-to-day work – they’ll get help and training and then repeat those parts they were unsure about.

For those skills where there has been a change in regulations, we will implement training before staff attend the update training.”

The plan is that some of the time saved will be used to increase the charity’s emphasis on training in so-called ‘soft’ skills, such as communications and behaviour skills.

“These are the universal skills that bring everything together,” said Amanda. “They are fundamental to how you behave as a nurse, your values and how you relate to other people.

“We want to create more time to devote to these things – to the very essence of nursing.”

March 2014 People 13

Partners Upgrade for learning website The upgrade to Marie Curie’s Learn and Develop online website is the first step in a major redevelopment and expansion project.

The previous version of the learning site had been in place since early 2010 and had reached the end of its shelf life; it now has more than 5,000 learners and hosts an ever-growing portfolio of learning solutions. The new site offers an updated look, and the software underneath will offer trainers, managers and learners many useful features.

Online Learning Manager Kevin Donaghy said: “This is the biggest move forward in the six-year life of the site.

“Most obviously, the site has undergone a facelift, but we now have a lot more tools and technology at our fingertips to create learning solutions and processes that meet the high expectations of our learners. In the coming months, the new platform will help us to make big changes in how we promote and administrate our training – most importantly by making training requirements very clear to all.

“The Online Learning team is currently making important behindthe-scenes changes that will prepare us to release more front-end additions that will make the overall learning experience better. The plan is to gradually build more into the site during 2014 and probably well into 2015 so that it caters for all mandatory or compliance training and continues to offer a wide variety of continuous professional development material for everyone.

“We expect that by the end of 2014 the site will be the place people go to if they need to book onto courses or see their training records. We want managers to be able to check their team’s training records. Also, the new site will send out automatic reminders to help people keep on top of their training responsibilities.

“A parallel project involving the Online Learning team, which is also taking place in 2014, aims to link in with the new HR database (ResourceLink) to reduce administration load and streamline our processes and services. We have a very exciting year ahead of us and are confident that this work will help support the charity’s key strategic goals.”

FOR MORE INFORMATION See learnanddevelop.mariecurie.org.uk

FACELIFT: The new Learn and Develop site

Discount on National Gardens Scheme book for our readers Marie Curie People readers can save £2.99 when they purchase their copy of the National Garden Scheme’s Yellow Book 2014 using a special discount code.

Published each year in February, the Yellow Book 2014 is the essential listing of gardens to visit and provides a countyby-county guide to the thousands of welcoming gardens in England and Wales, many of which are not normally open to the public. Each garden is described and includes directions, admission price and opening dates and times.

The 2014 edition of the book contains details of over 3,800 gardens – more than 600 of them are new this year.

Gardens that welcome visitors on behalf of the National Gardens Scheme help raise much-needed funds for Marie Curie Cancer Care, Macmillan Cancer Support, Help the Hospices and the Carers Trust. The National Gardens Scheme donated nearly £2.2million to its beneficiary charities in 2013 – and in the last 10 years, it has donated in excess of £22 million.

FOR MORE INFORMATION To purchase your copy of The Yellow Book 2014 at the offer price of just £7 (rrp £9.99) including both post and packing to UK postal addresses, please order via ngs.org.uk and use the following promotional code when prompted: MCYB14.

Offer valid until end July 2014.

Please allow 14 days for delivery.

Roadchef sets £250k target for a second year of fundraising Staff at Roadchef have voted Marie Curie Cancer Care as their chosen charity for the second year running.

Marie Curie won more than 50 per cent of a staff vote. After Roadchef staff smashed their £125,000 target, bringing in £175,000 for Marie Curie, a fundraising target of £250,000 has been set for 2014.

Senior Corporate Account Manager Meaghan Annear said: “This is a fantastic result after a fantastic year’s fundraising, and we are absolutely delighted to be working with Roadchef again. Now, we are Number of Roadchef making plans for an even customers signed up more ambitious year of to Direct Debit fundraising.” donations in Highlights of the 2013 partnership included £60,000 one week raised through Great Daffodil Appeal pin badges at till points, Roadchef also donated 5p from every a stationary bike challenge, an annual full-priced bottle of Harrogate Water charity golf day, and a Roadchef sold across Roadchef sites throughout team taking part in a national Three the autumn.

Peaks Challenge.

“For 2014, we are planning another golf Marie Curie Regular Giving teams spent day, manned collection opportunities for a week at Roadchef sites, signing up 328 our volunteers and lots of other exciting customers to give monthly Direct Debit fundraising events,” Meaghan said. “It’s donations to the charity. This will bring in a going to be another great year.” predicted £140,000 over the next five years.

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Back on the road again

Roadchef CEO Simon Turl (above left) rode his Harley over 400 miles from Bothwell, Scotland, to Taunton Deane, Somerset, stopping at nine Roadchef sites along the way. Each site supported Simon by cycling on stationary bikes and running games for customers.

The event raised over £5,000.

14 People March 2014

News

EMMERDALE STARS DROP IN The bad boy from the Dales is on his best behaviour during a recent hospice visit Emmerdale bad boy Cain Dingle – actor Jeff Hordley – and his wife Zoe Henry, who plays vet Rhona in the soap, have visited the Marie Curie Hospice, Bradford.

The actors chatted with patients and staff in the day therapy area, and visited nurses and patients on the wards.

Jeff’s mum was cared for by a Marie Curie Nurse at home, so he takes a particular interest in the charity’s work.

Fundraising Manager Sharon Link said: “It was lovely – Jeff and Zoe engaged so well with patients and staff.

They were really interested in what we do at the hospice. It was a real treat to see them, and we look forward to welcoming them back soon.”

• For more Emmerdale support see pages 5 and 16.

NEW FANS: Patients (left to right) Cynthia Taylor, Maureen Farrer and Mary Bower with actor Jeff

FROM THE DALES: Emmerdale’s Jeff Hordley and Zoe Henry with John Midgeley

Online media centre goes live

MY STORY

SUPPORTER: Natalie Parks Thompson with her mum

“It was the worst possible time – and she held our hands” Natalie Parks Thompson talks about why she is supporting the Great Daffodil Appeal this year The same year I got engaged, my mum was diagnosed with terminal lung and bone cancer. I ended up bringing my wedding forward so she could see me get married.

About a month before the wedding, Lisbeth, a Marie Curie Nurse, came to help Dad and I care for Mum at home.

I remember breaking down in the kitchen. I was still trying to work, look after my mum, plan a wedding and do the housework. I was working on overdrive.

Everything just collapsed around me.

Lisbeth made me a cup of tea and we talked things through. It just took the

pressure off. Lisbeth was excellent at listening to Mum and enabled her to feel involved in the wedding. She was too ill to come out with me and pick the dress, but, with Lisbeth’s help, she was able to flick through wedding magazines and look on the internet and help with choosing the flowers. I remember them cutting out pictures of bouquets together.

Lisbeth made a huge difference to my mum’s quality of life. She had time for Mum and made her feel important. She was much more than just a nurse – Mum really loved her. It was the worst possible time and she held our hands through it.”

A new online media centre is helping ensure journalists get the most from the Marie Curie website.

The centre replaces the site’s old media pages. It pulls together the charity’s press releases, blog and responses to breaking stories with social media material, background information about Marie Curie and details of the charity’s expert spokespeople. It also includes images and videos that journalists can use.

Senior Media and PR Officer Liz Ensor led the PR team’s involvement in the development of the centre. She said: “The original media pages were created some years ago and were limited by the page design templates that the website offered at the time. They were no longer really fit for purpose.

“Our media centre has now been completely rebuilt. It includes a lot more content, such as images, and video and audio clips. There’s a good search function.

It’s much more dynamic and integrated.”

FULLY RESPONSIVE The media centre is also fully responsive to the device being used to read it.

“Journalists need to get information quickly and conveniently when they’re on the move. The new media centre enables them to do that whether they’re using

Our media centre has now been completely rebuilt. It includes a lot more content. It’s much more dynamic and integrated.

LIZ ENSOR

ADDED CONTENT: The new media centre includes images, film and audio clips

a PC, a smartphone or a tablet – it’s designed around the needs of its users,” Liz said. “It’s also much easier for the Marie Curie press office to administer.”

Rebuilding the media centre was an opportunity to pilot aspects of Marie Curie Cancer Care’s Better Connected programme to transform the way the charity engages with its audiences.

Technical Lead Mark Everard said: “Our existing site doesn’t actually enable people to use mobiles and tablets – we have a separate mobile site, which means twice as much work. For the new media centre, we introduced a technology called responsive design where the page adapts to the size of the screen – meaning that we only need to do things once.

“We used the Agile project management methodology, which we will be using throughout Better Connected. We learned a lot and we are pleased with the results.”

FOR MORE INFORMATION Check out the media centre at mariecurie.org.uk/media

March 2014 People 15

Fundraising

Andrea goes on the run during Dopey Challenge Keen runner Andrea Pinnick, whose mum was a Marie Curie Nurse, has taken on the Dopey Challenge at Walt Disney World in Florida.

The challenge consists of four running events over four days – so Andrea had to run 5K, 10K, a half-marathon and a full marathon. In total, she covered 48.6 miles through the Walt Disney World parks, Epcot, Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom and Hollywood studios.

There were plenty of photo opportunities en route, with Disney characters cheering the runners on.

Andrea, from Andover, was awarded a medal for each run she completed and finally the Dopey Challenge Medal for completing all four events.

“I wanted to show people that there are a lot of amazing events out there to help raise money for a wonderful charity,” said Andrea.

“I have raised about £450 from this event. I hope it helps this charity do more great work.”

NEWS IN BRIEF EVENTS DONATION A garden centre which organised events for Marie Curie every Thursday in the run-up to Christmas has donated £1,355 to the charity. Sandhill Garden Centre, Preston, ran events including a memory tree, pumpkin carving, fancy dress, flower arranging and carol singing.

MUSIC NIGHT A night of live music at the Cornish Ivy, Liskeard, raised nearly £650 for Marie Curie. Jay Clatworthy organised the evening, which featured the Mighty Revz.

48.6 miles Total distance Andrea ran on the Dopey Challenge

SPECIALS ON TOUR Two special constables are set to tour England, Scotland and Wales, calling in at every police force en route, raising money for Marie Curie and the Police Dependants’ Trust.

Nikki Green and Kerry O’Sullivan will make the journey in Nikki’s 2001 Mini Sport, accompanied by mascot K9, a stuffed toy police dog, with his own warrant card, which will be stamped at every station they visit.

The pair, from Catford, London, will travel first to Land’s End, then to John O’Groats. They are sponsored by Yorkshire Tea.

MINNIE ADVENTURE: Andrea Pinnick met Disney characters during her challenge; (below) the medals she collected

VOICE STAR Singer Laverne Scott-Roberts, who appeared on BBC One’s The Voice, is set to appear at a daffodil ball in Hartford, Cheshire. The event, organised by Northwich Fundraising Group, takes place at Hartford Golf Club, Burrows Hill on 22 March.

Tickets are £20. For more details, email northwichmariecurie@gmail.com

Large cheque donation from building society

CALENDAR BOOST Marie Curie Cancer Care is benefitting from sales of a calendar that tells the story of Havering, produced by 12 local primary schools. The 2014 calendar features stories, drawings and paintings by children across the borough. Each page tells the story of a different area of the town.

Progressive Building Society, Northern Ireland’s largest locally owned financial institution, has given the Marie Curie Hospice, Belfast a generous gift after it was nominated for a donation by Progressive staff and members.

The building society gave the charity a £19,000 cheque, which Marie Curie will use towards funding the salary of a nurse for a year.

SAY ‘I DO’ WITH A PIN BADGE

NURSE FUNDING: Louise Loughran and Declan Moore from Progressive Building Society and Suzy McIlveen from Marie Curie at the Marie Curie Hospice, Belfast

Marie Curie Cancer Care has launched its first ever set of wedding favours.

The charity is selling boxes of 50 tent cards, each with a Marie Curie pin badge for guests to wear and keep. The badges are in silver enamel with yellow detailing.

All profits go towards the charity’s work.

Corporate Fundraiser Jenny Butler said: “We get quite a lot of requests for wedding favours, and we produced this product in response to the demand.

“They’re proving popular. We sold 60

in the first month, and it isn’t wedding season yet, so we’re hoping to do well with them over the summer.”

FOR MORE INFORMATION To make your special day even more special, you can purchase a box of Marie Curie’s new wedding favours for £50 online at mariecurie.org.uk/shop Alternatively, call 0844 415 7845 and have your credit or debit card ready.

Product code: AVS162.

SPECIAL DAY: Daffodil wedding favours are now available

BUFFALOES BACK US The Scunthorpe province of the Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes (RAOB) donated cheques for £3,000 to Marie Curie and Lindsey Lodge Hospice. The money was presented at the province’s annual Collars Night, when the group’s officers were presented with their sashes. It was raised through RAOB fundraising over the past year.

MARKS AND SPENCER The Marie Curie Hospice, Cardiff and the Vale, benefitted to the tune of £750 from the new Marks & Spencer store in Cardiff Capital Business Park.

Staff were asked to nominate a local charity to receive the donation.

16 People March 2014

Shops

SYDNEY SINGS FOR SHOP’S 20th Scottish entertainer Sydney Devine helped celebrate the 20th birthday of the Marie Curie Shop, Cardonald, Glasgow.

Sydney sang for staff, volunteers and customers, and presented awards to the long-serving team.

Manager Catherine Beaton said: “Our shop is 20 years old, and some of our volunteers have been with us since it opened. So we had a wee party to celebrate, and invited Sydney to liven it up. He sang for us, and performed [his signature tune] Tiny Bubbles outside the shop.

“We all had our photos taken with him, and he presented long service awards.”

Years of service The following volunteers at Cardonald received long service awards 20 YEARS • Annie Murdoch • Mary Jack • Betty Boyd • Annette Linton • Irene Munroe 10 YEARS • Catherine Beaton (manager) • Katherine (Kay) Davidson

A SONG TO CELEBRATE: (Left to right) Volunteers Kay Davidson, Elizabeth Stevens, David McLaughlin, Cathy Watson, Annemarie Gillen and Ellen McMurray; Assistant Shop Manager Kirsty Dale; entertainer Sydney Devine; volunteer Mary Jack and Shop Manager Catherine Beaton

Celtic’s Kris makes daffodil donation Celtic midfielder Kris Commons and partner Lisa Hague visited the Bearsden Marie Curie Shop to hand over 100 bunches of daffodils.

The couple’s first-born daughter, Lola, was stillborn six years ago, and every year Kris and Lisa make a gesture in her memory. This year, they visited their local Marie Curie Shop at 122 Drymen Road, Bearsden, where their floral donation was handed out to customers on Lola’s birthday (Saturday 1 February) to bring some early spring cheer.

Kris and Lisa’s donation helped support Marie Curie’s hunt for collectors for the Great Daffodil Appeal.

Shop Manager Margaret Earl said: “Kris and Lisa’s gesture is such a thoughtful gift.

Their visit caused a lot of excitement from the customers, volunteers and staff, and we were thrilled they chose to support us as their local hospice shop.

5 YEARS • Margaret Porteous

Soap star opens Shipley shop Emmerdale star Meg Johnson opened the new Marie Curie Shop in Shipley. Meg, who plays Pearl Ladderbanks, helped Head of Shops Alec Barclay cut the ribbon at the charity’s new store on Market Square. The shop is raising money to support the Marie Curie Hospice, Bradford.

Area Manager Bridgette Markley said: “The opening has gone really well. We had a fantastic response from the local community. Meg stayed for about an hour, opening the shop and having a good look round.”

• For more Emmerdale support see pages 5 and 14.

CUTTING IT: Actress Meg Johnson opens the Shipley shop

BUNCH OF DONATIONS: Lisa Hague, Shop Manager Margaret Earl and Kris Commons

“She was a very good worker who did everything, including running the till and sorting donations. But her speciality was bric-a-brac. If there was a gap in the bric-a-brac, or she thought it wasn’t done very well, Irene would sort it out. She’s really missed.”

Irene was a widow. She had a son, daughter and grandchildren, and was delighted to have recently become a great grandmother.

Irene Bradley, who has died aged 76, was a popular and long-serving volunteer at the Marie Curie Shop in Belle Vale, Liverpool.

Assistant Shop Manager Barbara Taylor worked with her for seven years.

She said: “Irene was a lovely lady who always looked after everyone. If anyone new came into the shop, she would take them under her wing.

“She used to bring in rolls for the team, and we enjoyed nights out together every now and then.

Below are the answers to the Sudoku puzzles on page 19.

Irene Bradley 1937-2013

Sudoku solutions

March 2014 People 17

Food for thought ANN’S INSIGHT

POINT OF VIEW

Why sharing records = saving lives Senior Research Information Officer Rhiannon Smith (pictured) explains why Marie Curie is backing a campaign to share data from patient records Every time you visit your GP or an NHS hospital, information about your health is recorded and stored in your patient record. The NHS uses this information to help provide the best clinical care for you.

All our patient records hold valuable information that could help improve treatment and care. That’s why the Association of Medical Research Charities (AMRC), which includes Marie Curie, is running a campaign to raise awareness of the importance of sharing data from patient records with researchers.

The campaign coincides with upcoming changes to the way the NHS collects patient data. NHS England is sending out leaflets to all 22 million households in England that explain changes in how data from people’s health records is collected from GP surgeries.

Under the changes, researchers will be able to access anonymous data collected from health records. However, patients will be given the right to object to their data being stored within a central repository and accessed by researchers.

THE VALUE OF PATIENT RECORDS Patient records are an extremely valuable resource, allowing researchers to gain knowledge and experience to treat illness and combat disease. Marie Curie has funded several research projects that make use of existing patient data – and this research is vital in improving end of life care for patients, carers and families.

For example, Dr Steven Oliver at the University of York is leading a project on the care of patients with bowel and blood cancers at the end of life.

This research depends on information from

the National Cancer Data Repository and will help us to understand patterns of end of life care and how they can impact on the place where a person is cared for, and where they die.

We have also funded research by Dr Elizabeth Sampson on the characteristics and health of people who are living with someone who has cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or dementia. This research relies on the UK health improvement network database, which includes over 9 million patients. Such research on the health and wellbeing of people who are caring for a dying person will allow us to better support and help carers.

The aim of the AMRC campaign is to make people aware of the choices they have and encourage them to allow researchers like Steven and Elizabeth access to their anonymous health data and improve treatment and care for everyone.”

FOR MORE INFORMATION Visit patientrecords.org.uk to find out more about the campaign

Our care and compassion shines through all our work Senior Insight Manager Ann Davison reflects on the charity’s supporters Our supporters see Marie Curie as very caring and people-centred, like our nurses. When we asked people who came to our Lights to Remember service about the charity, their thoughts were on the excellent care given by Marie Curie Nurses and staff.

Above all, they reflected a strong sense of warmth, consideration and care.

The general public uses nearly the same terms to describe Marie Curie the charity as it does Marie Curie Nurses. ‘Caring and compassionate’ are the first things they think of, and we are really glad they are.

We have even made being seen by the public as caring and compassionate a key performance indicator.

“The fact that there is an organisation there in the final days of a person’s life, that at least there is some respite for a family, that the patient is being nursed by very competent people... I just feel they give some solace and some comfort to any family.”

AN IN AID OF SUPPORTER

VOLUNTEER OF THE MONTH

Volunteer finds a powerful voice to help improve services Anastasia Douglas volunteers with Marie Curie Cancer Care as an Expert Voices Group Member. She volunteers from her home in Derby, mostly at weekends. She spends the rest of her week studying for her MA in Philosophy with the Open University and working in her full-time job I have been volunteering for over seven years in a variety of roles for different charities.

The Expert Voices Group is a group of people who have had first-hand experience of end of life care as a carer, family member or friend. We represent the voice of patients and carers and we play a key role in providing advice to help improve Marie Curie’s services and develop new ideas. We contribute to discussions in any way we can, over the phone, by email or at face-to-face meetings.

I felt drawn to the Expert Voices Group at Marie Curie because I wanted to find a way to express my thoughts and feelings as a young person who has lost a parent to cancer and has opinions, questions, frustrations and personal contributions to share.

My dad was and still is a massive part

of my life and identity, and being part of the Expert Voices Group helps me express that.

Being an Expert Voices Group member gives me the ability to have a voice and be part of an exceptionally caring, progressive charity. I have had the opportunity to help give opinions on the content and design of various publications, such as leaflets and surveys; hear new strategies for the charity and end of life care; attend conferences and discussion groups; and look at what matters to those with a terminal illness and their families.

Volunteering for Expert Voices is brilliant, because I feel a part of something very powerful on my own personal level.

Volunteering is a great way to meet new people and feel part of an extended community as well as gain experience doing something you are passionate about.”

WRITE TO US

SHARING OPINIONS: Anastasia Douglas, pictured with her dad, shares ideas through the Expert Voices Group

The Lights to Remember supporters show us that we all need to live up to this peoplecentred value of compassion, whatever our role. Their feelings about the nurses’ care carried through to their views of the organisation as a whole. These supporters have experienced our care. They had the general belief that all Marie Curie people have the same attitude to patients and those close to them as hospice staff do.

The organisation has strong values for them: humanity, empathy, generosity, commitment and integrity.

Besides caring, nfpSynergy surveys tell us that the public sees Marie Curie as sympathetic, friendly and welcoming. But it’s the mixture of professionalism and empathy that people like about Marie Curie.

Members of the public say they mostly feel ‘happy’ about the charity, despite the serious nature of our work. This is because we are seen as ‘caring’ and ‘compassionate’, ‘doing a very good job’ and helping people when they need it most, and it’s a good cause – ‘always highly thought of’. Both the charity and our nurses are seen as professional, supportive, trustworthy, determined, helpful and dedicated.

Do you have a suggestion for the Food for thought page – insight on something about the workplace or relevant to our care services?

Perhaps you know of someone who could be our Volunteer of the Month? Write to us at mariecuriepeople@mariecurie.org.uk

18 People March 2014

Inbox TOP TWEETS

Here is a selection of the top tweets from the past few weeks.

Follow us on @mariecurieuk or tweet using #mariecurieuk Aled Roberts @AledRobertsAM

Pleased to be at the launch of the #daffodil appeal by @mariecurieuk earlier @AssemblyWales. Remember support they gave to us as a family.

Vaughan Gething @vaughangething

Lots of @mariecurieuk daffodils in the chamber today following the Wales launch of the daffodil appeal today

UK Garrison @ukgarrison

We enjoyed the @mariecurieuk #Charity event in Paisley last weekend

Inbox

Inbox is Marie Curie People’s forum for your letters and emails. If you’ve a brilliant idea or a question about our work – or if something is bugging you – email mariecuriepeople@mariecurie.org.uk

FEEDBACK WANTED FOR RESEARCH SURVEY

TIME-SAVING PROCESS IS ONE YEAR OLD

I would like to remind all Marie Curie People readers of a unique opportunity to directly influence the palliative and end of life care research agenda. We are still asking healthcare professionals, volunteers, patients, families, carers and those with an interest in end of life care to highlight areas that they’d like to see addressed by our future research.

Our survey, run in conjunction with the James Lind Alliance, is open for your responses until 30 April 2014.

We want to take full advantage of the vast experience of our staff, volunteers, patients and carers. We are not expecting perfectly formatted research questions. We are asking you to think of questions that you have been unable to answer about the treatment, care and support for people at the end of their lives.

Questions can also relate to the care, treatment and support of current or bereaved carers.

The response so far has been fantastic.

More than 700 people – including many Marie Curie staff, volunteers and bereaved carers – have sent us suggestions for

I’d like all Marie Curie People readers to join me in wishing a very happy first birthday to a process that’s saving time and money across fundraising.

Centralised Batching and Thanking (CBAT) – the process by which donations received in the regions are processed centrally by the Supporter Relations team – is one year old. The first year saw Supporter Relations take on this activity from the regions and process 17,396 cash diaries, including 68,552 donations equating to £12,943,677.

The team took this work on with no additional headcount, delivering this through a more efficient process, greater use of volunteers and a good deal of hard work. It’s fair to say there has been plenty of living and learning in the first year, but we’re continuing to develop and adapt and this has liberated much-needed resource in the community Fundraising offices. So many happy returns, CBAT! Rohan Putter Head of Fundraising Business Strategy and Operations

research questions and areas where they felt evidence was lacking.

There is a wide spread of issues and questions, and researchers in our Cardiff and UCL centres are busy analysing the questionnaires.

The survey is available online at www.palliativecarepsp.org.uk , the PeolcPSP website. There are also hard copy and large print versions, and updates will be given via the research posts on Psst. You can request a copy by emailing peolcpsp@mariecurie.org.uk or calling 020 7091 4153.

Dr Sabine Best Head of Research

Staff, volunteers, patients and carers are invited to help set our research agenda

Stephen Logan @Stephen_Logan

My mum used to be an @mariecurieuk nurse (now retired). I know first hand the great work you do. Running for her & to support the charity.

Emma W @Wakeyee

@mariecurieuk had such a laugh doing my hour for #daffodilappeal AND I wore the big yellow hat! Looking forward to helping again xxx

Robbie Cooper @RobbieMCooper

@mariecurieuk Edinburgh hospice. I would not be functioning without your exemplary care & support. Life is once again exhilarating!

Dr. Jane Collins @DocJaneCollins

@Ian_A_Rhodes @mariecurieuk I was reluctant to wear hat on my first GDA collection last year but you are right Ian! It makes a difference

Deanna Cassidy @DappyDee19

Thankful for @mariecurieuk helping me and my family get through the hardest time of our lives. #WorldCancerDay

Laura Page @laura_a_page

@mariecurieuk The hospice in Solihull cared for my Dad for 3wks before he passed away on Sunday. The staff made him so comfortable so thank u

KaTe @xoWeLsHgIrLxo

Looking forward to collecting for @mariecurieuk today in Cardiff in memory of my lovely nan

CARING SERVICES

Clinical Reference Group seeks specialist expertise to expand knowledge and help set standards for our caring services If you’re a caring services colleague with a specific clinical interest or area of expertise, Ruth Liley, Assistant Director of Quality Assurance, is keen to hear from you I’m looking for people who are really passionate about high standards in areas such as pressure ulcers, falls prevention, infection control, nutrition and good policy development.

I can offer you some really focused conversations about your particular clinical interest, and an opportunity to make a real difference to patients and families.

Let me explain. Our new core clinical reference group includes colleagues from specialisms and professions in our caring services. We have members who are Registered Nurses, Healthcare Assistants, doctors, social workers, chaplains, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, and external experts, as well as family representatives from our Expert Voices group.

That’s the core group – between them they’ve got a really solid all-round professional knowledge of palliative care. But we know there’s lots of really valuable expertise that they can tap into.

Supporting them will be a virtual group of around 50 or more people who will act as topic experts. The core group will draw on them for discussion and consultation.

And that’s where you come in. We are

WRITE TO US

looking to make use of the expertise and special interests of colleagues throughout caring services.

The Clinical Reference Group will be setting standards, writing clinical policy and delivering the national clinical audit programme to ensure that we deliver on compliance. It will do so in a way that reflects our services, and the settings in which we deliver care.

We are looking for experts in areas such as infection control

That means removing barriers, and working across teams, drawing on the very high level of expertise and experience across Marie Curie.

We are keen to build different ways of working with our clinical colleagues – we really want you to help shape our thinking and focus so that we can achieve the best possible care for patients.

I know there is a high level of interest in the quality agenda, and a real pride in what we are already achieving. It was great to see the enthusiasm with which colleagues contributed to our recent workshop on clinical governance – held at the Marie Curie Hospice, West Midlands. We looked at how we review incidents, the use of our clinical reference group, and complaints management.

More sessions to look at other important topics in clinical governance – including risk and incident reporting are planned – please do keep an eye out for them.

FOR MORE INFORMATION If you are interested in sharing your expertise, email ruth.liley@mariecurie.org.uk

Do you have a comment about the charity or one of our articles, or a suggestion for a story?

Write to us at mariecuriepeople@mariecurie.org.uk . Comments and letters may be edited.

March 2014 People 19

Noticeboard 60 SECONDS WITH...

Jeremy Sothcott

TOP TEAM

Events support duo earn quarterly award

TOP TEAM: Anne McRoberts and Heather Miller from the Northern Ireland (North) Community Fundraising team

The Northern Ireland (North) Community Fundraising team has won the Regional Fundraising Team of the Quarter award.

The team, Anne McRoberts and Heather Miller, was recognised for its outstanding work with ‘in aid of’ supporters. So far this year they have supported four ‘in aid of’ events that raised over £20,000 each. The events ranged from a variety show in Magherafelt to a superstars sports challenge in Bellaghy. Three of these events were repeats from previous years, which highlights the great work Anne and Heather do in building strong relationships with their supporters.

WRITE TO US

Ralph William Hennessy was born on 29 January.

His parents are Ed Hennessy and Sarah. Ed is Marie Curie’s Corporate Account Manager.

Do you have a birth, wedding, civil partnership, retirement or long service award to celebrate? Send details and a photo to mariecuriepeople@mariecurie.org.uk

SUDOKU

Marie Curie People sudoku sponsored by: Create and solve your Sudoku puzzles for FREE.

To play: Complete the grid so that every row, column and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 to 9. There is no guessing or maths involved, just use logic to solve.

Find the solutions on page 16.

Play Sudoku and win prizes at:

prizesudoku.com

8 2 9 8 © Puzzles provided by sudokusolver.com

2 6 7 5 6 2 3 9 4 7 5 6 3 9 5 9 1 1 6 5 8 3 7 4 6 2 7 1 8 1 3 6

7 6 5

3 4

6 5 3

3 8

2

5 1 4

8 3 9 2

6 4 6

8 2

© Puzzles provided by sudokusolver.com

9

Fleet Manager Jeremy Sothcott joined Marie Curie six years ago. Previously, he was Building & Fleet Manager for McDonald’s Restaurants for 20 years.

Q: What are the three most important aspects of your job? Reducing cost for obvious reasons, streamlining processes to make my job easier and answering queries quickly.

Q. Describe your typical day. Read and answer urgent emails followed by any outstanding jobs; look at policy, keeping everyone notified and taking a step back; and looking at processes and how they can improve.

Q. What do you do when you’re not at work? I’m an athletics coach specialising in middle distance. I coach teenagers three times a week and attend races almost every weekend. I also love watching movies and going to the gym.

Q. When was the last time you laughed?

This morning when my colleague told me a good joke.

Q. If you were an animal, what would you be? A golden eagle.

Q. What makes you happy? I feel happy when all around me are positive and especially when I’m with my family.

Q. What makes you sad? People being constantly negative about life.

Q. What did you want to be when you grew up? I always wanted to work in Formula 1, and later I spent several years in Formula 3 and 4, but I never quite made it to the top.

Q. What’s your favourite pudding?

Blackberry crumble with custard.

Q. What was your favourite childhood TV programme? Crackerjack.

Q. Tell us a fascinating fact about yourself.

My father was a musician in West End shows and my mother was a dancer, so occasionally I was allowed to go on stage at the London Palladium.

Q. Which five people, alive or dead, would you like to invite to dinner? David Beckham, Bear Grylls, Darcey Bussell, Will Ferrell and Jennifer Aniston – some great stories about accomplishment with Will providing the comedy.

Occasionally, I was allowed to go on stage at the London Palladium.

Help our nurses care for people with terminal illnesses.

Donate and wear a daffodil this March.

Charity reg no. 207994 (England & Wales), SC038731 (Scotland) S637

mariecurie.org.uk/daffodil #daffodilappeal S938a_GDA 2014_MCP_MARCH.indd 1

24/02/2014 15:04