Cwm Taf Health Board
The Courier Issue 1 / 2013
Baking cakes and making babies how long does it take?
Why I’m up at 5am Mark Abraham tells us about mental health nursing
What’s your passion for care? Ysbyty Cwm Cynon staff bring vision to life
Cwm Taf photography contest back for 2013 By staff. About staff. For staff.
CONTENTS 03
Issue 1 / Spring 2013
CONTENTS Cover story: How long does it take to bake a cake? page 16
Features: 06
10 12
The new all Wales menu launched at Ysbyty Cwm Cynon page 6 A day in the life of a mental health nurse by Mark Abraham page 7&8
08 16
Five minutes with Esther Youd page 10 The Karen Dyer Memorial Award page 12 Keir Hardie Health Park - a dream come true page 14
14 A passion for care at Ysbyty Cwm Cynon page 20
Got a story to share? Want to see it in the next edition of The Courier?
News: 04 12
20
Contact sharon.draper@wales.nhs.uk
EDITOR’S LETTER 05
Issue 1 / Spring 2013
EDITOR’S
LETTER
Welcome to the first edition of… The Courier—a magazine for staff, about staff and by staff. We’ve had a long tradition in Cwm Taf of producing newsletters and I know that many departments and directorates continue to produce them regularly, although the organisation-wide newsletter has fallen by the wayside in recent times. The Courier isn’t a traditional newsletter—it’s a quarterly magazine for you and about you. It will bring you news of events in Cwm Taf, stories about individuals, their work and achievements. This is not about reporting the latest directives, strategies or service changes but about reflecting your lives, the work you do and the things that interest you. The editorial team has put together the stories and content for this first edition of The Courier, which will be available electronically on SharePoint, however in future editions we hope that you—The Courier’s readers—will contribute your ideas, events, photos and stories to share across Cwm Taf. If you’ve got a story or an idea for a future edition, please contact myself, Paul Edmonds or Sharon Draper. I hope you enjoy The Courier—we’re very excited about it and we’re looking forward to hearing what you think. Until next time,
Madeleine
Madeleine Brindley Head of Communications madeleine.brindley@wales.nhs.uk
THE EDITORIAL TEAM Paul Edmonds Assistant Editor and designer
Sharon Draper Assistant Editor
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NEW HOSPITAL MEALS 06
New hospital menu passes the ministerial taste test HEALTH Minister Lesley Griffiths has given her seal of approval to the new hospital meals being served to patients in Wales. She tasted the extensive menu – which includes starters, main meals, puddings and vegetarian options - as she launched the allWales hospital menu framework at Ysbyty Cwm Cynon. The launch, on January 31, comes a year after all health boards were challenged to improve services provided to patients
and develop an allWales hospital menu, wh i c h met new national nutrition and catering standards for food and fluid for inpatients. The result is a database of recipes - 18 soups, 38 main course items and 42 desserts, snacks and accompaniments- which meet strict nutritional standards. Mrs Griffiths said: “Hospital food is an essential part of patient care. Good food can encourage patients to eat well, giving them the nutrients they need to recover from surgery or illness. Food should
be viewed with the same importance as medication, with catering recognised as a clinical support service. “We are leading the way in Wales by improving hospital food with an all-Wales menu. “Standardising the food on offer so patients are assured of good food, wherever they are treated, will help them back to health and improve their experience of hospital greatly. “Having tasted some of the dishes on offer, I believe the old jokes about hospital food will soon become a thing
of the past.” Celebrity chef James Martin and Welsh Michelin star chef Stephen Terry helped to develop the new menu, contributing a number of their signature recipes.
Health Minister Lesley Griffiths tastes the soup
NEW HOSPITAL MEALS 07
Judith John, consultant dietitian at Public Health Wales and chair of the all-Wales menu framework task and finish group, said: “This has been a very positive process with a shared enthusiasm and commitment across all health boards to drive this agenda forward. “By developing an allWales approach this has enabled a sharing of good practice and pooling ideas. “Everyone has had a role in its development and now it’s to time start implementing it and engaging more with nursing, ward staff and patients to get feedback. “This is really only phase one of a continual process for developing a quality food service for the hospital population of Wales using a menu framework with standardised recipes and methods, which have all been analysed to meet the required nutritional standards.” You can see the new recipes and menus in full here
“Hospital food is an essential part of patient care. Good food can encourage patients to eat well giving them the nutrients they need to recover from surgery or illness.”
08 A DAY IN THE LIFE
A day in my life by
Mark Abraham MY CAREER as a mental health nurse began in March 1997. Nursing is not something I’d really considered as a future career but I was inspired following an episode when I had acted as a carer for an elderly grandparent. This, together with a close friend who had recently started his nurse training—he would share his experiences with me – triggered my interest in mental health nursing. Post-registration as a mental health nurse, I worked in both the older persons and adult mental health wards at St Tydfil’s Hospital, before spending two years as a crisis assessment and mental health liaison nurse in Prince Charles Hospital. I thoroughly enjoyed this experience but the degree of specialism
within the role left me seeking a new challenge. In 2005 I took up post as a community p s yc h ia t ric n u rs e (CPN) in the rehabilitation team and I felt I was able to flourish as a practitioner who was driven by improving the lives of people disadvantaged through their experience of serious mental illness. I would go to take a lead role in developing the assertive outreach services across Cwm Taf. Following the creation of the health board, my role developed to include responsibility for inpatient rehabilitation services. I am currently the senior nurse for rehabilitation and recovery services across Cwm Taf, which includes responsibility for inpatient and community rehabilitation services.
5.15am: “It’s up time.” This has been pretty much the pattern for the last 7 years following the arrival of my son Oliver “the Lark’ Abraham. Thankfully I share his early morning motivation. Mother and daughter sleep soundly while father and son make a start on homework and packed lunches. 6am: Back upstairs with coffee and milk for the ladies. Before I give my apologies for another early start. 6.15am: My journey to work has changed over the years, from rolling out of bed and down the hill to St Tydfil’s, to tackling the dreaded A470 and more recently to include the picturesque views over the Rhigos mountain. On route to Ysbyty George Thomas, I’m still amazed by how these mountains and dramatic waterfalls were at the heart of the industrial Valleys. How things change. 7am: My destination at Ysbyty George Thomas is the Supported Recovery Unit (SRU) - a high dependency rehabilitation ward for adults with complex mental health needs, which opened in September 2011. This development has been at the heart of mental health service redesign in Cwm Taf. It’s evidence of the
commitment of the health board for developing inpatient mental health services at the height of such financial pressures. Before the SRU opened, some of our most vulnerable service users were receiving their care and treatment outside the NHS, away from family and friends across Wales and, in some cases, in England. Such developments demonstrate the commitment of Cwm Taf Health Board to provide a wide range of good quality mental health services in the areas we live. 7.15am:After an early morning greeting and some strange looks from staff on the morning shift, I crack on with some precious quiet time to review my emails. I think I’m gradually embracing technology but how easy would it be to be consumed by this form of communication? It quickly becomes apparent that I’m not the only senior nurse in mental health who favours an early start. 8am: Another coffee is needed so I head back onto the ward. This provides a useful opportunity to have some informal discussions with the staff and patients about their progress, their strengths and their challenges. Rehabilitation services,
where you work with people over longer periods, creates close relationships where both friendships and frustrations can flourish. 8.30am: Time to crack on with short-listing for our occupational therapist post. This is the final part of the multidisciplinary team to be recruited for inpatient rehabilitation services - that’s if I can remember the many passwords for NHS Jobs. Short-listing completed with a promising seven worthy candidates to choose from.
operational procedures, staffing requirements, clinical demands and, of course, “Magic Sunday”. Working across Cwm Taf, I can’t say how pleased I am that we are finally taking a consistent view on things, however trivial they can seem. When writing up our notes later that night I realise I’ve been stitched up—the name Mark Abraham appears next to the majority of action points. Time to 11.30am: leave Ysbyty George Thomas Hospital for
Me and the team
9.30am: Like a lamb to the slaughter, it’s man verses woman as we begin the first of our joint ward manager meetings. Sarah and Claire are the respective ward mangers for SRU and Pinewood House and a grand job they’re making of it. Together we discuss anything from
the Royal Glamorgan Hospital to chair a clinical review meeting. As a senior nurse in mental health, one function is to take an active role in the risk management committee. Clinical reviews offer a reflective opportunity to look closely at a person’s journey through mental health services, identi-
A DAY IN THE LIFE 09 fying both areas of good practice and aspects of their care and treatment which can be improved. The benefit of hindsight is a wonderful thing, evidencing why we do what we do as clinicians is so important. Fulfilling this role allows me to make a personal reflection on how far I have come in my career without losing site of the challenges faced by frontline colleagues. It also provides an opportunity to consider the perspectives of all involved - the patient, family and service providers. Mental health nursing takes place in a range of purpose-built facilities, including Keir Hardie Health Park, Ysbyty Cwm Cynon, Ysbyty Cwm Rhondda, Ysbyty George Thomas and the Royal Glamorgan Hospital. These are health service I’m very proud to be part of. 3 .3 0 pm: Le a ving Royal Glamorgan presents a new challenge—where did I park my car? My journey from Llantrisant to Merthyr Tydfil brings with it a welcome opportunity to take on board some
calories—making sandwiches earlier this morning seems like a distant memory. Anyway, the radio’s on, the sun is shining and I’m heading back to my home town. 4.30pm: I arrive at the assertive outreach team in St Tydfil’s hospital. This is the community element of rehabilitation services for adults with serious mental illness. These dedicated outreach services aim to engage vulnerable groups of people, whose nature and degree of illness can lead them to become excluded from local communities, health and social care interventions. Using creative and flexible approaches to engage service users has seen people benefit by spending less time in hospital and experiencing improved quality of life in the community. One mistake though— it’s slipped my mind that we’re now based in Keir Hardie Health Park! My life as a mental health nurse began in Merthyr Tydfil and, for now, this is where my desk remains. It’s back to the emails to finish the day. How can so many people you’ve never met be interested in what you have to say? The beauty of email.
10 FIVE MINUTES WITH
Five minutes with
Esther Youd Name Esther Youd Age 33 What do you do? I’m the clinical director of pathology and I’m also a consultant histopathologist
What’s been your career to date? I was initially interested in forensic pathology (aren't we all fascinated by crime thrillers?) but was attracted by the diagnostic
What’s the best thing about your job? Seeing something new or unusual, finding the final piece of the puzzle that makes a difference to a patient. Inspiring someone and sparking an interest science, medicine or pathology.
What’s your ambition for your time as a clinical director? To look to the
What’s a typical working day like for you? My mornings usually involve specimen dissection or performing autopsies, mid-morning coffee then preparation for a multi-disciplinary team meeting and attendance. Afternoons are often spent at the microscope, reporting histology slides and preparin g report s based on my opinion. I provide advice on death certification and do a lot of teaching with registrars, medical students and scientists.
and pursue my interests in a friendly department.
future, never be complacent and always strive for the best for my patients.
What three words best describe you? Determined, inquisitive, enthusiastic
Where’s your favourite place in the world? Curled challenge of surgical histopathology. Autopsies remain a special interest of mine along with lymphomas and breast pathology. I am passionate about medical education and recently completed a masters degree in medical education.
Who or what inspired you to work for the NHS and Cwm Taf
Health Board, in particular? My mother was a nurse and I share my caring side with her. Having worked in Wales as a registrar, Cwm Taf Health Board was always a welcoming place with opportunities to do new things
up on the sofa with my husband and cat.
And f i n a l l y, describe your perfect weekend. It would have to be watching Jenson Button or Lewis Hamilton winning an F1 Grand Prix.
If you’d like to feature in the next
FIVE MINUTES WITH contact sharon.draper@wales.nhs.uk
FIVE MINUTES WITH 11
Congratulations to senior biomedical scientist Kelly Ward, based in microbiology. She has been invited by the International Conference ECMIID in Berlin to talk about how pathology is developing the Maldi instrument
12 THE KAREN DYER ANNUAL MEMORIAL AWARD hard. We wanted to do something to remember her.” The award will be given to people the practice managers believe have made an outstanding contribution to primary care in Cwm Taf in the last 12 months – June Williams was the unanimous winner in 2012. Mr Rogers said: “June works as the coordinator between primary care and the health board and she really does go over and above. “All the practice managers felt she had done an outstanding job in particularly difficult circumstances.” Mrs Williams said: “Being presented with the first Karen Dyer
An award to remember A NEW annual award for outstanding contributions to primary healthcare has been set up in memory of Karen Dyer. Karen, (pictured above) who worked for Cwm Taf Health Board as a link between the health board and GP practices in Merthyr Tydfil and Rhondda
Cynon Taf, died suddenly and unexpectedly in July 2012. The award was set up in her memory by the Cwm Taf Practice Managers Group. June Williams, the primary care support manager at Cwm Taf Health Board, was named the inaugural winner.
Kare
Kevin Rogers, chair of the Cwm Taf Practice Managers Group and practice manager at Pontcae Medical Practice, in Merthyr Tydfil, said: “As a group, we’d worked with Karen for many years and everyone got along with her. “She was very popular and her sudden death in July hit the practices
Memorial Award was a very moving experience, not least because it reminded me of all the work Karen, along with the rest of the primary care team, have done over the years in building strong relationships of appreciation and mutual respect with our practices.
THE KAREN DYER ANNUAL MEMORIAL AWARD 13 “To have been voted as the first award winner by the practices themselves was especially moving and I hope the relationship between the primary care team and practices will continue to flourish.” As well as setting up June Williams collects her award the Karen award to June to Dyer Memorial Award, recognise the support, GP practices across commitment and dediCwm Taf Health Board cation she has given to also raised money for the wider primary care an inscribed memorial team - it is well debench, which has been served. given to Karen’s hus-
en Dyer band Russell, and they made a £200 donation to the British Heart Foundation. Sarah Bradley, Cwm Taf Health Board’s Cynon and Merthyr Tydfil locality manager, said: “This award demonstrates just how well liked Karen was. “I am extremely proud the practice managers wanted to bestow the
“June and Karen were such close colleagues and it is fitting that she receives this award and I offer her my congratulations.”
Have you got a story for The Courier? Contact Sharon Draper 01443 744 927
DURING 2012, Cwm Taf Health Board has embraced and made good progress towards achieving our 1,000 Lives Plus goals and objectives. The health board has wo rk e d h a rd to encompass better standards of care, patient-focused communication and the delivery of improvements at every level. This has been evident in our reporting. Among the success has been the introduction of sepsis bags on wards at Royal Glamorgan Hospital to help patients who develop this lifethreatening condition. Cwm Taf took part in the world-wide day to raise awareness of sepsis among staff, patients and the public. Outreach sepsis services have also been introduced and are currently available seven days a week on both hospital sites. The team is working continually to educate frontline staff about sepsis and deliver the sepsis six to wards and specific departments. Cwm Taf has delivered and led the way for UK -wide change in practice RRAILS (Rapid Re-
sponse to Acute Illness) is working well on those wards which have been chosen to implement this 1,000 Lives Plus work area. The NHS Early Warning Score Wales (NEWS) has been used on all wards in Cwm Taf since April 2012. The principles of Rapid Response to Acute Illness (RRAILS) are implemented on both Prince Charles Hospital and Royal Glamorgan Hospital sites and the use of the SBAR format for reporting patients who are in need of intervention is increasing. SBAR reporting is now used across the medical directorate.
NHS Wales Shared Service Partnership Services (NWSSP) is an independent organisation owned and directed by NHS Wales. Created in April 2011, it brings together 10 district services, from e-business to prescribing services, which support the day-to-day work of health boards and NHS trusts in Wales.
14 KEIR HARDIE HEALTH PARK
Keir Hardie Health Park:
“A dream come true”
THE ground-breaking Keir Hardie Health Park has been described as a “dream come true” as Health Minister Lesley Griffiths officially opened the £35m building. The health park is unique in Wales, combining health and social care under one roof. Speaking at the opening on January 31, Dr Chris Jones, chairman of Cwm Taf Health Board and Huw Lewis, AM for Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney, said the health park will help to turn the inverse care law on its head. Mr Lewis said: “Lesley Griffiths has shown a determination to tackle the inverse care law; this shows that the
best facilities are available in the areas where people need them the most. “Together with the upgrade to Prince Charles Hospital, Keir Hardie Health Park puts the inverse care law to one side. “The people of Merthyr Tydfil and the surrounding valleys have the very best healthcare facility.
“It’s a dream come true.” Mrs Griffiths, who toured the health park after unveiling the official opening plaque, added: “This building fits in so well with the vision I and the Welsh Government have for the health service in Wales. “As a government, we were delighted to give £33m investment to
fund the building and it’s a real pleasure to be here opening it.” The opening of the health park, together with the ongoing refurbishment of wards at Prince Charles Hospital, means Merthyr Tydfil now has some of the most modern healthcare facilities in Wales. For example, two of the seven chairs in the
KEIR HARDIE HEALTH PARK 15
community dental unit have been specifically designed to be accessible to disabled patients and are the only facilities of their kind in the borough. Mrs Griffiths said: “I am delighted to be able to open this cutting-edge health park, which will bring so many benefits to people living in Merthyr Tydfil. “This new model of integrated health and social care will help address health inequalities and turn the inverse care law on its head. “Cwm Taf Health Board has used the opportunities this development offered to provide a new model of high quality care, meeting the needs of the local population.” Keir Hardie Health Park provides new modern facilities for GP practices previously based in the Hollies Health Centre, for
children’s health services, mental health care and it brings a range of therapies services out of hospital and closer to people’s homes. Plans are now being developed to build a medical school on the health park site to help train the next generation of doctors in Merthyr Tydfil. During construction, more than 90% of the workforce employed on site came from within a 40-mile radius of Merthyr Tydfil. Sir Mansel Aylward,
chair of Public Health Wales, who developed the vision for the health park, said: “My dream has arrived. Thank you.” Dr Jones, chair of Cwm Taf Health Board, added: “Keir Hardie Health Park is a platform to launch a 21st century attack on the inverse care law and uniquely brings together all the elements of health and social care to support people and help them develop healthier lives. “With these opportunities, the future of healthcare for citizens of Merthyr Tydfil borough can be improved and new challenges met. “This has been an aspiration and it’s now becoming an inspiration.” Want to know more about Keir Hardie Health Park, including what services have moved? Click here for more details
More than 60 staff in Cwm Taf Health Board have signed up as Champions for Health, since its launch in October 2012. Full details about the scheme are available on SharePoint. Look out for regular tips and advice about keeping fit and well in the chief executive’s blog and on Twitter (#C4H).
Well done
Girija Teli, a biomedical scientist in microbiology, has been awarded her Masters in Medical Mycology (study of medical fungi). She is the only scientist in Cwm Taf with this qualification.
COVER STORY 16
How long does it take to bake a cake? by Paul Edmonds
I have absolutely no idea! I think it’s something like 30 minutes at 180 degrees if it’s fan assisted – or something like that. I prefer to think of myself as a cook – baking is far too precise an art for me. Samia, on the other hand, is the cake baker at home – she makes a mean sponge and her chocolate brownies are
to die for. And she was about to do the most important bake yet. This one would be 40 weeks at about 37 degrees. Or so we thought.
the oven door or using a the result – two seconds cocktail stick to check if old on December 21 – this one was ready. our son Eli Monty Edmonds was born. Just as Two weeks early, at 38 well I had my iPhone in weeks, the timer pinged my back pocket. and it was time to come There was no opening out. And this picture was This may sound like a
COVER STORY 17 dream ticket so far but believe me, if I could have held my breath for 38 weeks, I would have. Things hadn’t gone well in a previous pregnancy so this was always going to be a journey of mixed emotions – one of excitement and hope tempered by nerves and anxiety. I knew I couldn’t hold my breath for the duration so I settled on making Samia cups of tea. Lots of cups of tea! We were classed as a ‘high risk’ pregnancy from the outset. It was a status that to me meant be afraid, be very afraid. It was a feeling that I think I hid fairly well – to a point. With both of us working at Cwm Taf we quickly decided that we wanted to be on our patch – it was a practical solution but more importantly to us, it just felt right. Samia was put under the care of Mr Pembridge at the Ro yal G lamo rgan Hospital and the frequency of our visits to the antenatal unit over the coming months meant Mr Pembridge soon became just Jonathan. But for the purposes of this story, I think I’ll stick to Mr Pembridge. As the weeks went by
my Facebook status was periodically scattered with baby updates from: “He’s now the size of an avocado” (yes – we knew fairly early on that it was a boy and the fruits got fairly large, in fact, they got very large - it really does give us men a reality check!) to ever evolving black and white scans which before we new it filled the screen beyond recognition. Each scan meant another visit to the antenatal unit. The routine would be something along the lines of: a once over with the midwives (I’d stay in the waiting area for this bit); some gel on the tummy (Samia’s, not mine) and then a scan – this was always the best bit! (I’m sure he was blowing bubbles in one of them). Then a chat with Mr Pembridge as he’d talk us through progress and putting our minds at ease while making reference to our ever heavier yellow folder which followed us everywhere.
This oven didn’t come with a glass door and a handy light inside so there was no easy way to check that the cake was rising as you’d expect. And high risk meant we needed to keep checking. Home telemetry meant wiring yourself up twice a day, finding the baby’s heartbeat and monitoring. If you think that sounds simple, try it yourself. And then try it twice a day for the next two months. This was yet another aweinspiring effort from Samia. I made more tea! Then came the bit where I didn’t hide my fear so well. The home telemetry picked up an irregularity with the baby’s heartbeat. Samia got called in to the hospital and there she stayed, ward 11 at the Royal Glamorgan for pretty much the next two weeks. If we ever wanted reassurance that deciding to be on our own patch was the right decision, this was it.
“Everything’s looking good”, “He’s growing nicely”, “Everything is as it should be” were music to our ears.
The staff were quite simply amazing. I won’t flower this up - it really is as simple as that.
At about 30 weeks it was time for home telemetry.
Thankfully I was able to base myself at the Royal Glamorgan to
18 COVER STORY work for most of the next couple of weeks, periodically checking in on ward 11 to make sure everything was ok – or just nod reassuringly. Tea duty was even taken off my hands at this point too – it now came on a trolley with a smile. Cwm Taf Health Board suddenly felt like a huge extended family. Word had spread and everywhere I went it was the same: “How’s Samia?” It was time to breathe again. Things settled down – the irregularities passed and it was time to come home. But let’s not kid ourselves here, the nerves would never be the same again – it was edge of the seat stuff from here on in. Days felt like weeks and weeks felt like months. Then it was December 21st 2013. It was 9:54am. We’d arrived at the Royal Glamorgan two hours earlier. We now found ourselves in theatre and I suddenly became acutely aware of the radio in the back ground. The song was We Are Young by Fun. I’d heard it before but had never really taken much notice of it. This time the chorus ech-
Paul, Samia, Sam and Eli
oed around in head: Tonight/We young/So let’s set world on fire/We burn brighter than sun.
my are the can the
This time is seemed to mean something. I held Samia’s hand and everything just felt right. The next thing I remember was someone asking me if I had a camera. “Yes,” I quickly replied. The next response was even quicker: “You’d better get it out then – he’s coming”. I fumbled around in my pocket and drew my trusty iPhone - with a few swipes of the screen – CLICK! 9:54am and two seconds later – it was the
best photo I ever took. But I would say that, wouldn’t I?
Thank you.
Not only that, she’d done it in time for Christmas too!
And my final thought is this – last week – one of the questions that kept being repeated after the Francis report was published was: “Would you recommend your hospital to your own family and friends?”
So, we’d like to say thank you.
You’re damn right I would.
She’d done it. Samia had baked the most amazing cake.
Thank you to Mr Pembridge and his team, to all the midwives at RGH and staff who work in the antenatal unit, everyone on ward 10 and 11, the lady (whose name I never found out) who supplied the tea and our ‘extended family’ of friends all over the health board who where there for us every step of the way.
WANT TO SHARE YOUR STORY OR SOMETHING AMAZING? Contact Sharon Draper 01443 744 927 or email
#TWITTER WALL 19
Did you get a #mention? Here’s a selection from the last month
@CwmTaf
20 PASSION FOR CARE
Passion for care on show at Ysbyty Cwm Cynon ART created by staff at Ysbyty Cwm Cynon and depicting their passion for care has gone on display at the Mountain Ash hospital. The unique pieces were created by teams of ward and office staff as part of a unique organisational development project and competition at the newlyopened community hospital. A collage made up of handprints of patients’ relatives, nursing, therapy, clerical and portering staff on ward three, called Hands on Care (top, right), was declared the winner of the Passion for Care art competition. Lynne James, the ward sister, said: “This was trying to capture the fact that we’re a team, not just a nursing team. We’re only as good as the porters, the dieticians, the physiotherapists and occupational therapists we work with. “This was a lighthearted look at a serious issue but we never thought we’d win.” A three-dimensional passion flower, made by the administration
and clerical staff at Ysbyty Cwm Cynon took second place in the competition (middle, right). The eight petals of the flower represent the different service areas covered by the team. Gaynor Davies, the admin manager, said: “As a team we underpin a lot of the clinical and dental work that’s provided here. We are an essential service for the hospital.” The third place was awarded to a tree painting (bottom, right) by the palliative care team, which represents the different aspects of the service and its ambition to provide new elements of care for patients. Teresa Williams, the ward sister, said: “This is a tree of life and each layer shows the care we provide. But it also shows how we want to branch out and look to build on the care we currently give to patients.” Bernardine Rees, Cwm Taf Health Board’s deputy chief executive, said: “This has been about looking through art at what Cwm Taf’s care values
are and the results are absolutely amazing. “What really matters is what happens at the heart of service delivery and the experience we give our patients.” As well as entering her own painting, Ceri Wil-
son, senior nurse at Ysbyty Cwm Cynon, also read a poem called At The Atrium YCC. A gallery of the art entered into the Passion for Care competition by Ysbyty Cwm Cynon staff can be viewed on SharePoint.
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To feature in the next edition of The Courier contact sharon.draper@nhs.wales.uk paul.edmonds@wales.nhs.uk
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