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Inside:
Issue 57
. September 2011
. Contact us at: membership@smhp.nhs.uk . online: www.smhp.nhs.uk/trustmatters A big
thank you goes out to staff who are getting involved in Suffolk Health and Wellbeing Month in October. There are over 30 events registered overall ranging from free Zumba, yoga and singing sessions, to stress busting workshops, reminiscence road shows, an Open Secrets film viewing and a ‘Random Acts of Kindness’ day. Find out more on the webpages at www.themindsanctuary.com Continues on page 3...
Service users positive about IAPT 4 in 5 people who accessed psychological therapies provided by Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) were satisfied or very satisfied with their therapist, a survey has found. When asked how satisfied they were overall with the therapist, 52.5% were very satisfied and a further 28% were satisfied. IAPT caters for people with common mental health problems such as depression, anxiety and phobias in partnership with Suffolk MIND. An impressive 51% respondents said they were very satisfied with their working relationship with their therapist and a further 30%t were satisfied. The survey was carried out for the period January to March 2011. Where the results are less favourable than last year this is thought to be because the surveys were carried out anonymously rather than completed in front of the therapist. Client comments included: “My CBT therapist was excellent and consequently my life is totally back to normal.” “My therapist was absolutely fantastic and he has really helped me to overcome my fears.” “I was treated quickly and extremely well in comfortable conditions.” There is a common perception that waiting times are too long which the Trust is keen to dispel. 70% of those questioned were satisfied or very satisfied with the waiting time. Typically patients are assessed within 10 days of making contact with the service and have their first treatment within 15 days.
Merger update IAPT survey results Felixstowe Allotment Group Community survey Memory clinic at conference Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Suffolk Health and Wellbeing Month Wedgwood building work CAMHS research consortium Whistleblowing Agency worker regulations Commemoration website Personality disorder strategy Foxhall House award shortlisting Locality management Terrace Restaurant closes its doors Clinical supervision training Farewell to Professor Robbins Getting to know you Top dementia care Consultant research ePEX record transfer success Letters and compliments
Monitor’s decision: what happens next? The decision on whether the merger goes ahead will be made at the end of September. Monitor which is one of the final organisation required to review the merger plans, will meet with the Norfolk and Waveney Trust in September. A special meeting was held on 14 September to go through the proposal in detail with the Board, and to discuss any possible issues arising from the plans. Monitor will then have its own board meeting at which it will agree its recommendation – in the form of a risk rating between 1-5 (a rating of three and above is considered acceptable). Monitor will also provide a view on governance (this is usually a traffic light – currently green, but range from green – ambergreen – amber-red – red) on 28 September. However, the final decision about whether the merger goes ahead is not made until 30 September when the Norfolk and Waveney Board of Directors formally meet to consider the risk rating. If the risk is considered acceptable, the Board will approve the merger. What happens then? If the Board of Directors decide to go ahead, documentation will be sent to the Transaction Board and Secretary of State to formalise the merger. The proposed merger date is 1 November, at the earliest. Have you say on the organisational structure All corporate and support services staff involved in the formal consultation process are encouraged to provide
feedback on the proposed new organisational structure for the merged Trust. The 90-day process with corporate and support services and Suffolk Support Services began on 1 September with allstaff briefings in Norfolk and Suffolk. A feedback system has been set up for staff in Norfolk and Suffolk for staff to make suggestions or comments about the organisational structure and proposed changes: staffconsultation@smhp.nhs.uk What happens to the feedback? Comments and queries are being collated by the Human Resources Merger Team and passed on to the relevant Executive Workstream Lead for consideration. What if I have a question? The email address is intended for feedback on the structures and change management processes. Personal queries and concerns should be raised and dealt with during individual one-to-one consultation meetings or directed to your line manager in the first instance. If you have an urgent query that your line manager is unable to answer which needs to be resolved before your one to one meeting, please call the HR Merger Team on 01603 421434. Keep checking the staff consultation page A new intranet page has been developed for the staff consultation process. It can be found under Projects > Merger Project > Merger Employee Consulation. The page contains the latest information during the staff consultation process.
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Felixstowe allotment group: blooming marvellous! This summer saw the completion of a greenhouse extension at Felixstowe allotments. The allotment group was started by Coastal CMHT ten years ago at Railway Hill allotments off Coronation Drive in Felixstowe. It runs every Wednesday from 10.30 to 4.30 and includes lunch. Some people come for an hour, others all day. There are currently 13 attendees. Senior occupational therapist, Jean Fowler, said: “Gardening at home can be lonely. The group is an ideal environment for service users who need to adjust to being with people and manage their anxiety. “The group has been very good for people wanting to move on in their lives, to gain confidence and a feeling of mastery and pleasure. It ties in with goals in their care plans and is part of their treatment. One of our clients has now moved on to volunteering in the garden
at Minsmere House in Ipswich.” The garden comprises a quarter of an acre with a pond, polytunnel, greenhouse and tea shed. It is planted with vegetables, flowers, fruit bushes and fruit trees. Service users harvest and take the produce home. Surplus, including seeds and fertiliser, is given away in the CMHT office in return for donations which help sustain the project. Jean added: “Expanding the greenhouse is brilliant because it means more than two people will be able to work in there, which will be good in the winter. ”We’re just putting the finishing touches to it including a plastic covering. It has taken about two months to do.” Group member Colin, who has fibromyalgia said: “Socially it a nice group. I worked at Barnardo’s and did a computer course at LearnDirect but I have enjoyed this the most.”
Below: The sun shines into the allotment group’s new greenhouse extension
Memory Clinic attends conference A Long Term Conditions Conference was held at Trinity Park (Suffolk Showground) on the 7th July 2011. Among the delegates were GPs, hospital doctors, nurses and commissioners. Dr Anna King, Associate Specialist in the Ipswich Memory Clinic, gave a dynamic presentation entitled “Dementia – debunking the myths”. In summarising her presentation, Dr King said, “There are common misconceptions, or myths about dementia. I particularly wanted to explain that dementia is not a normal part of ageing, that it is important to receive a diagnosis and that there is a lot that can be done to help the patient and their family.” Delegates were also able to visit the Memory Clinic stand (picture above) manned by Dr Gill Collighan and Jackie Carman, Team Manager. Jackie said: “We are delighted with the level of interest, links developed and positive feedback received.”
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Community survey shows patient satisfaction A new community health survey by Picker Institute Europe for the Care Quality Commission shows that the Trust is achieving good patient satisfaction ratings in line with the national average. In the community survey the Trust scores 8 or above out of a possible 10 in 11 out of 38 questions. Lisa Llewellyn, Associate Director of Governance and Patient Safety, said: “The survey shows we are doing as well or better than the national average and there were no areas where we underperformed compared with other Trusts. In terms of overall categories, the areas where we came out best were questions about health and social care workers (8.5 out of 10) and questions about the care coordinator (8.4 out of 10). The one weak area was in questions about day to day living where we scored overall 5.8 out of 10, but this was still in line with the national average. We will continue to work hard to improve our performance so that hopefully next year we can identify more areas where we are
above the average.” Areas where the Trust scored particularly well were: asked whether health and social care workers treat them with respect and dignity the satisfaction rating was an impressive 9.3 out of 10. For the important area of professionals listening carefully to the patient the score was 8.6. For knowing who their care coordinator was, the score was 8.6, which was above the national average. In an area where Trusts have traditionally performed badly, having the purpose of medication explained, the score was a healthy 8.5. For being given enough time to discuss their condition and treatment, the score was 8.4. For being given enough time to express their views at a meeting, the score was 8.3. For the competency with which the care coordinator organises care and services, the score was 8.3. For having the professional take their views into account, the score was 8.2. For being able to contact their care coordinator if they have a problem, the score was 8.2. For having trust and confidence in the
professional, the score was 8.1. For being asked how they are getting on with medication, the score was 8.0. Although the Trust has lower scores in some other areas, these are all still in line with the national average. Areas that scored under 7 will be noted for improvements. This includes receiving help with care responsibilities, getting help with physical health needs, for being asked about use of non-prescription drugs, for having an out of hours office number, for help in finding and keeping accommodation, for support finding or keeping work, for getting help last time they called in a crisis, for having a care plan which sets out their goals, for being told about medication side effects, for finding talking therapy helpful, for being given a chance to talk about what would happen at a review meeting beforehand, for involving a member of family or someone close to the patient as much as they would like, being given help to achieve their goals and for being offered a written copy of their care plan.
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Get ready for Suffolk Health and Wellbeing Month this October! What is Suffolk Health and Wellbeing Month? Suffolk Health and Wellbeing Month is a series of over 30 events taking place during the month of October. It includes events related to World Mental Health Day, which occurs on 10 October each year. The month is focused on improving the mental wellbeing of the people of Suffolk, while also recognising the importance of good general health in achieving this. Suffolk Health and Wellbeing Month therefore includes activities that promote an overall healthy lifestyle. The Month has been coordinated in partnership between The Mind Sanctuary, Suffolk County Council and the Trust. Events have been organised by organisations and therapists from the public, voluntary and private sectors. A full list of events can be found at www.themindsanctuary.com What are the aims of Suffolk Health and Wellbeing Month? The month aims to: reduce the stigma surrounding mental health, promote local services and organisations, and to encourage people to take part in activities that help them get involved in their own wellbeing.
Why is Suffolk Health and Wellbeing Month so important? - 1 in 4 people experience a mental health problem at some point in their life. If we haven’t experienced it ourselves, there’s a good chance that someone we care about has. - There is a strong link between our physical health and our mental health. Poor physical health can have a negative impact on our mental health and vice versa. We need to work towards an overall state of good wellbeing. - There are many local resources to support individuals, organisations and carers. There is no shame in asking for help. Suffolk Health and Wellbeing Month brings everyone together across the public, voluntary and private sectors to raise awareness of wellbeing services, together. Is it too late to get involved? If you would like an event added to the Suffolk Health and Wellbeing Month event listings then get in touch with Helen Abbott, Communications Officer, on 01473 329700 as soon as possible.
Building work begins to transform Wedgwood House Building work has started at Westgate Ward, based at Wedgwood House in Bury St Edmunds, to transform it into an ultramodern facility, perfect for patient-centred care. Staff spent the summer preparing for the major refurbishment by decanting inpatients into like-for-like areas where they can continue caring for patients to high standards. The changes that are being made are vital to creating a needs-led environment. New features such as en-suite bathrooms for all 17 bedrooms will allow staff to provide dignity and improved quality of care for patients during their stay. The decant will allow changes to be made with minimal disruption to inpatients, allowing them to be moved out just once, continue treatment as before, and then move back in only when the refurbishment is completed.
The building work will bring the ward, which is part of the Trust’s older people’s mental health services, in line with the most modern mental health inpatients environments in the country. Julie Todd, Modernisation Project Lead, said: “The work will be completed in two phases, firstly transforming the 10-bed side of the ward, followed by the 7-bed dementia assessment unit. “The project is part of a wider programme of work to improve and modernise services at the Trust. “When the work is completed in July 2012, Westgate Ward will be brought up to the standards of Foxhall House and the new inpatient facilities at Heath Road, both in Ipswich.” The outside space will also be improved with landscaped gardens providing calming areas appropriate for the older people being treated at Westgate Ward.
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In November 2009, the Trust identified three quarters of a million pounds worth of desktop devices - phones, laptops and PCs - which were not being used. The Trust actually had more devices than staff and over the previous 12 months the number of desktop computers had doubled. This led to the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle project which was launched in March 2010. Figures for the first year of the project are now available and show that the Trust is now on course to reduce unnecessary costs of around £0.3m annually. The project quickly identified £150,000 of ‘tombstoned’ laptops – which had not been used for a minimum of 30 days, and some as long as a year. All unused equipment was collected by IT and if usable, rebuilt and redeployed. Some staff were using old devices whilst new ones in other areas were not being used. Often quotes for new equipment led instead to the redeployment of existing equipment saving individual directorates about £10,000 each. The reasons for the surplus of equipment were various. Devices were purchased each time a new staff member was recruited or at year end. Hardware was retained even when there was no staff member in post to use it. Sometimes equipment was retained even when it had been replaced. There was perception that users could have more than one device for their sole use and sometimes extra devices were retained because of reliability concerns. Staff working at multiple sites sometimes accessed numerous PCs instead of one laptop, and many laptop users didn’t have use of a docking station. As part of the project, old and outdated equipment which was underperforming was replaced. Equipment was reclaimed in areas where there was more than one device per user and was then recycled. The project aimed to ensure that remaining devices were fit for purpose, benefited from the correct peripherals and were suitably located. Laptops and desktops which were above minimum specification were recycled and those below specification were removed. Laptop users were provided with docking stations and flat screen monitors and outdated PCs were removed. The memory of some PCs was upgraded. In the first year, the number of PCs and laptops were reduced by around 300. Over a four year period - the average replacement time frame - it is projected that the unnecessary costs will have been reduced by £1m. All staff who have been involved in the RRR project are to be congratulated and thanked including all those that volunteered info about location of old and unused equipment.
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CAMHS sees positive ratings from research consortium Feedback from a research consortium has showed positive results for the Trust’s Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services. As a member of CORC - the CAMHS Outcome Research Consortium - data and results from the Trust’s CAMHS service is analysed and compared to other services in the country. The Trust’s CAMHS service submitted a total of 1141 cases to be reviewed and benchmarked against CORC’s total of 115388 cases. CAMHS scored positively regarding the interventions offered to service users. Just over 30% of cases were offered cognitive behavioural therapy against an overall CORC average of 5.4%. This is in line with NICE guidelines. Evril Silver, Consultant Clinical Psychologist, said: “Our young service users were rated by clinicians at the start of treatment as less well adjusted than the young people seen in the rest of CORC. The most important CORC measure is the ‘Added Value Score’. This indicates to what extent our young people improved when compared to a community sample. Our Added Value Score was similar to other CAMHS services in CORC.” CAMHS results were extremely high compared to the CORC average in regards to input from other professionals involved: medical staff were involved in 32.4% of cases compared to the CORC
average of 22.6%; nursing staff were involved in 48.3% of cases compared to 14.6%; and clinical psychologists were involved in 41.5% cases compared to just 16%. Evril added: “On the scores measured by clinicians it appears that the young people we see have lower average functioning i.e. more serious difficulties, than those seen in most other services. This means that our CAMHS service is doing as well as other CAMHS services nationally even though we are seeing young people with more serious difficulties.” Feedback for the Trust’s CAMHS Eating Disorders team was particularly encouraging. Parents of young people being seen by the service were very positive, with all marking ‘certainly true’ for being treated well and the team working together. This is in marked contrast to the rest of CORC, who did not score so highly in these areas. In addition, the young people themselves were also positive with all indicating that they are being treated well by staff, and that their views and worries being heard and the team working together. 72% of parents working with the eating disorders team said ‘a bit better’ or ‘much better’ when asked about improvements made as a result of the service. This was also positive in other CAMHS areas with 68% for CAMHS West, 59% for CAMHS East and 58% for ADHD services.
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Whistle-blowing and safeguarding survey results You may remember that back in April and May we asked staff to take part in a survey about their awareness of whistleblowing and safeguarding procedures. Thank you to everyone who took part. We received fantastic feedback with 687 responses! The findings of the survey showed that: - 1 in 5 respondents say that they have a good understanding of what the whistleblowing policy is about. - 3 in 5 are aware of the ‘what to do if you think something is wrong’ Intranet page. - 2 in 5 feel the Trust would be supportive if they raised a concern. - The majority of people said they would contact their line manager, or a combination of their line manager and someone else such as the safeguarding team, if they had concerns about a child’s safety. - The majority of people also said they
would contact their line manager if they thought an adult was at risk of harm or exploitation. - When asked how the Trust could be more supportive, staff suggested a number of changes including improving communications, reviewing training and development and promoting information sharing. We want to know if you think something is wrong. You can make a difference. Our service users trust us to do the right thing but we can’t make a change if you don’t share the problem. Please take just a few moments to familiarise yourself with the following: - The Safeguarding Adults Policy and Safeguarding Children Policy - The Whistle-Blowing Policy/Procedure - The Safeguarding and the ‘What to do if you think something is wrong’ Intranet page.
Agency worker regulations The Agency Worker Regulations come into force on 1 October 2011. From their first day’s assignment with the Trust, an agency worker is entitled to have access to collective facilities and amenities and access to information on job vacancies (this includes staff rooms, parking facilities and any other provision for directly recruited staff within the Trust, but does not include discretionary benefits such as gym membership or those benefits that are only accrued through length of service). From the 12 week anniversary of the agency worker’s assignment with the Trust, they are entitled to the same basic terms and conditions of employment as if they had been employed directly by the Trust: - Key elements of pay (such as pay based on an annual salary, overtime payments and shift allowances.) - Duration of working time. - Night work. - Rest periods and rest breaks. - Annual leave (which could be in the form of a payment if over the statutory minimum amount.) - Paid time off for antenatal appointments. The Trust and employment agencies must be prepared for how this will affect day to day operations and ensure that the appropriate governance measures are in place prior to this date. The HR Resourcing Team have therefore produced pages on their Intranet pages dedicated to the Regulations and their application within the workplace. The pages include presentation slides with further details for managers, a position statement from NHS Professionals and a useful Frequently Asked Questions section. For further detail relating to specific cases, please contact your HR Advisor in the first instance. Contributed by Human Resources Resourcing Team.
A website has been launched to act as a growing archive of stories, photos and facts about St Clement’s Hospital ahead of its closure later this year. Please visit http://www.smhp.nhs.uk/stclements
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Patient safety review: developing a personality disorders strategy Following criticism in the Rae Report, work is underway to develop a new personality disorder strategy for patients who also have mental health problems. The service will be the same across all localities using existing experts and training new ones. There will be a shift from hospitalisation to wellbeing services. The focus will be on long term rather than short term risk. A key difference from other services is that the clinical leads will be psychological experts, not necessarily consultant psychiatrists, although in some cases this could mean medical staff with psychological expertise. The aims are to: - Have better identification of who we are taking about - Understand the difference between meeting a client’s need to reduce distress and the service’s need to reduce risk - Develop strategy within current directives (there will not be a new specialist service) - Roll out supervision - Develop new policies - Clarify leadership Awareness training will be set up to help staff become aware of issues, identify needs and be able to refer to appropriate
services. Clear policies will be developed on awareness, assessment, risk management, distress management, clinical interventions and leadership. The new supervision framework will be used as a resource. Supervision will give staff the space to reflect on the emotional impact of their work, an opportunity to discuss difficulties and to discuss techniques and training needs. Relationships with partner organisations are seen as key as employment, education and leisure are essential to wellbeing. Consultation events have been arranged for staff to give feedback on the proposals for a new personality disorder strategy: - 21 September 2011, 9am - 11am Meeting Room, Wedgwood House, Bury St Edmunds - 26 September 2011, 2pm - 4pm Terrace Room, St Clement’s Hospital, Ipswich - 28 September 2011, 9am - 11am Meeting room, Wedgwood House, Bury St Edmunds - 3 October 2011, 2pm-4pm Terrace Room, St Clement’s Hospital, Ipswich
Foxhall House design award shortlisting Foxhall House at St Clement’s Hospital has been shortlisted for a design award. The Building Better Healthcare Awards (BBH) are run by publisher, Healthcare, Equipment and Supplies. The shortlist covers 15 awards across five categories. Foxhall House has been shortlisted in the building design category: award for best mental health design. The architects were Devereux and the building contractor, Kier Eastern. Overall there were 202 entries. Julie Todd, Project Manager, said; “Everything in the new build has been either purchased or designed to a high specification to ensure a safe and relaxing environment needed to promote effective recovery.” Jo Makosinski, editor of BBH, said “At a time when the health service is having to make cuts, seeing such innovation is welcome evidence that the marketplace is still thriving and that individuals and companies have not stopped looking for ways to bring about improvements for patients and healthcare staff alike.” The award ceremony will be held in November.
This summer marked the end of an era as The Terrace Restaurant closed its doors for the final time. Catering staff and colleagues from around St Clement’s Hospital gathered together for a special presentation ceremony and barbecue to mark the restaurant’s final day. The restaurant had been running since 1996 in its current location and always received positive feedback from patients, staff and visitors. Meals will now be provided directly to the patients remaining on the St Clement’s site at ward level. Staff will be able to access an independent sandwich van service. Photos from The Terrace Restaurant’s final day on 29 July 2011.
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Clinical supervision training begins The roll-out of clinical supervision training begins this month, with around ten Level 2 supervisors receiving a four-day trainthe-trainer programme. Altogether, we have around forty Level 2 supervisors, who are also in the process of identifying interested and experienced staff to train as Level 1 supervisors. The new model of clinical supervision is set out in Issue 10 of Trust Update. In short, the new model will provide the Trust and staff with a much clearer process and a better system for alerting the Trust to any areas which it needs to improve its support to clinical teams. In total, we will be training around 200 staff to deliver Level 1 supervision, with four-day training programmes starting in October. I’d like to thank Sara Hyde in Education and Workforce Development for the stirling work she has been doing to organise all the training sessions and bookings. There will be several cohorts of staff going through the training for each
locality, with the aim that the Level 1 training will be complete by March. There are also several two-hour Introduction to Clinical Supervision sessions being delivered in September and October. These are for staff who do not know much about the new system and may have questions they would like answered in order to determine whether they become supervisors or not. Dates of training and introduction sessions will shortly be available on the training diary on the intranet (under ‘Education and Workforce Development’) Staff should also shortly be able to obtain Trust material regarding clinical supervision on the intranet, and posters explaining the model and system should be starting to appear across your walls in the near future. Questions or comments? Contact Anna Vizor, Consultant Clinical Psychologist by emailing anna.vizor@smhp.nhs.uk
Locality management begins This month sees the start of the Trust’s new locality management structure. Whereas before, the Trust’s clinical services were run on a service line basis, the new structure is based on geography. It is designed to improve the experience of service users as they come into the Trust and ensure they receive a joined-up service. Daren Clark and Sandra Cowie are the service directors of the West and East localities respectively. They each oversee a Wellbeing service in each part of the county, a community and acute service for the same areas, and specialist services.
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The Wellbeing service: The Wellbeing service is a primary care service, including the Linkworker service, Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT), the child and adolescent mental health service, Primary Care Health Workers and the future single point of assessment. Community and acute services: This includes the adult and Later Life inpatient wards, home treatment and crisis resolution, community mental health teams for both adult and Later Life, assertive outreach, early intervention and out of hours services. The broad remit is about assessment, treatment and recovery. In the West: Consultant Clinical Psychologist Anna Vizor is the interim Lead Clinician for the West Suffolk locality until substantive appointments can be made. Nettie Burns, former service line manager
for Later Life services, is the new manager for the Wellbeing service in West locality. Paula Clarke, former associate director for Learning Disability services and, more recently, the lead for the cost improvement plan, is the new manager for community and acute services in West locality. Kate Dunne is specialist services manager in the West. She will be overseeing Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services and CAMHS Learning Disability services across the county as well as Learning Disability services in the West and the West eating disorders service. In the East: Dr Vivien Peeler, Consultant Psychiatrist, and Heather Balleny, Consultant Clinical Psychologist, have been appointed as the substantive Lead Clinicians for East Suffolk locality. Nina Parkinson, former associate director for clinical governance, is the new manager of the Wellbeing service in the East locality. Margaret Little, who was managing our adult acute inpatient services, is now the manager for community and acute services in East locality. Karen Clements, who has been managing criminal justice services, is the manager for specialist services in the East locality. Karen’s remit will include criminal justice services across Suffolk, Foxhall House, Chilton Houses, Learning Disability services at Walker Close, the East community and the East eating disorders service.
The next couple of years will be a challenging time for the Trust but it will emerge better and stronger than ever. That’s the view of Professor Ian Robbins, who has now left the Trust after four years as Associate Director of Psychological Services. Under his leadership, an understanding of the role of psychology staff and of allied health professionals has been greatly enhanced. Prof Robbins said this was in contrast to when he arrived in 1997, when psychology staff were perceived as being ‘peripheral’, as he explained: “They were very positive about my arrival because they had not had anybody in a lead role for some time, so they didn’t feel they had voice and representation with the Trust management,” he said. “They realised things needed to change – they just needed somebody to help them change in a way which was good for them and good for the organisation. I think since then psychologists have been embedded throughout, at the heart of clinical work and providing good clinical leadership.” The establishment of the Trust’s Improving Access to Psychological Therapies – IAPT – service in 2008 owes much to Professor Robbins who, with colleagues, was instrumental in the design of the service and its subsequent success. The IAPT service was ahead of similar services, joining the first wave of the IAPT roll-out across the country. More than 60 low intensity and high intensity workers were recruited and trained, at a time when the volume of GP referrals was almost overwhelming for the service. Fast forward three years and the IAPT service has been named as the best in the east of England in terms of recovery rate and cost effectiveness. Although he looks back on his time with the Trust with fondness, Professor Robbins says he will miss the friends and colleagues with whom he has spent the last three years so closely. “We have some dedicated and loyal people in the Trust and it’s been a pleasure working here,” he said. “When I came, psychology staff were not really being used to the range of their abilities. I hope the Trust retains the professional structure which they are now used to working in.” As a worldwide expert in post-traumatic stress disorder, Professor Robbins is embarking on several projects with veterans and combat groups in order to provide support for soldiers feeling the psychological effects of conflict. He leaves the Trust with fond memories, some firm friends and everyone’s best wishes for the future.
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John Mawdsley, Trust Liaison Coordinator (NHS Professionals)
Where do you see yourself in 10 years? Living somewhere nice in the countryside! Professionally I’d love to progress in my current role.
What is your favourite book? My favourite book is American Gods by Neil Gaiman. If you could have one super-power what would it be? Definitely the power of flight. Superman was always my favourite!
If you could introduce one rule into the working day what would it be? Every Friday someone in the office brings in cakes for everyone - a popular idea I bet!
If you won the lottery tomorrow what would you do with the money? Buy my parents and sister new houses, treat my friends to a holiday then go away on holiday for a few months around the world.
What did you want to be when you were little? I wanted to follow my dad and be in the RAF. As it turns out I have eventually followed my mum into the NHS! Marmite or peanut butter? I prefer Vegemite.
Top care for dementia patients A report from the Prescribing Observatory for Mental Health Services, part of Royal College of Psychiatrists, has found a lower instance of antipsychotics being given to dementia patients at the Trust than the national average. The National Dementia Strategy has a set a target of reducing the prescribing of antipsychotics by two thirds in two years. Around two thirds of current prescriptions are thought to be unnecessary and carry unwelcome side effects such as increased risk of strokes and premature death. The report found that 11 per cent of Suffolk patients were given antipsychotics, compared with 19 per cent nationally. Of the 11 per cent, two per cent also had a psychotic illness. Cutting antipsychotics could save 1,800 lives nationally and cut strokes by 1,620 and could also save money. It is estimated that only 20 per cent of those
given the drugs show improvement. Dr Rob Butler, Consultant Psychiatrist in older people’s mental health, said: “Suffolk’s low figures could suggest that staff are providing better alternative care, with better interactions between staff and patients and more personalised care. Many people receiving antipsychotics are not deriving any benefit from them. The low rates in Suffolk are good news because they mean that fewer people are at risk of the harms these drugs can cause.” In the national sample there was a marked variation in the proportion of patients prescribed antipsychotic medication according to clinical setting. Around 50 per cent of dementia patients in hospital were given the drugs but only 10 per cent of those being treated in their homes. Suffolk was top of the table for the proportion of patients being treated at home.
ePEX patient record transfer Many, many thanks are due to our IT teams for ensuring the safe transfer of patient records to the updated version of our electronic patient system ePEX. I know that the process was not without its challenges, as our IT staff had to research the process, identify and plan for risks and develop a number of workarounds which ensured that some 4.500 live records were transferred with the least amount of risk and disruption. It wasn’t a simple task. In fact some of the team agreed to stay until 9pm on a Friday night and actually ended up going home at 3am on Saturday morning to ensure that ePEX was back on line for the weekend. Kate Walker, Chief Information Officer, expressed her particular thanks at the determination and commitment of staff on this project The changes to the electronic system were requested by our clinical teams as part of the improvements to FACE, and our electronic assessment tool within ePEX. The updates have saved around 3000 hours of clinician time. I am particularly pleased with the collaborative way in which our IT teams and clinical staff worked together on this. If the IT staff had not been able to automate the data transfer, we would have been looking at weeks of disruption, during which there would have been a considerable risk to patient safety. Apart from the disruption caused if we had to do this manually, each file would have needed to be checked by a clinician at the point of transfer – there were too many points at which a manual transfer could have gone wrong. But, thanks to careful planning, the transfer went really well. Thanks to everyone involved in this important piece of work. Contributed by Barbara McLean, Director of Nursing and Quality
Trust consultant honoured for research into Huntington’s Disease symptoms such as speech problems and involuntary movements, as well as mental health problems including problems with memory and depression. Ben said: “Huntington’s disease is a crucial disease to study. The fact that it is inherited provides advantages in terms of understanding the mechanism of disease and potentially designing treatments. This is important not only for sufferers of this particular condition, but it is hoped that the knowledge we gain may have application to other, more common, brain diseases.” Ben has also recently been awarded the Eastern Division of the Royal College of
Psychiatrists Prize for Research, and gained second place in the Royal Society of Medicine Mental Health Foundation annual prizes. During the summer, Ben had the honour of presenting his research at the International Congress in Brighton after winning a bursary from the Royal College of Psychiatrists. He added: “I was delighted to receive these awards, and I am very grateful to the patients, Professor Rubinsztein and Action Medical Research, who funded the work. My next step is to secure more funding so I can continue to try to bridge the gap between the laboratory and patients.”
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Ben Underwood, Consultant Psychiatrist at the Trust, has been honoured with a PhD and prizes from leading national organisations for his continued research into Huntington’s Disease. He has conducted research into the degenerative disease for the past 7 years. In July Ben received his doctorate from Cambridge University following a period of study under Professor David Rubinsztein. His research into Huntington’s Disease, a hereditary disorder that causes brain cells to die, focused on drugs and genes which modify laboratory models of the disease. Huntington’s Disease produces physical
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Letters and compliments To all staff on Southgate Ward Many thanks for all of your support and help over the last few weeks, you have been a great help in assisting my recovery. To all staff at Sudbury CMHT I couldn’t have done it without you and will miss you! To all staff on Southgate Ward Just to say a massive thank you for all your help and support you gave me during my stay. I’d like to especially thank Carol, Dean, Becks and Abby for their compassion and listening ears and for helping me ground my thinking. To all staff at West IAPT This is to thank you. Last week I had a 20 minute conversation on the phone. This was in preparation for the meeting with a counsellor, when they’re available. It gave me great encouragement and I look forward to the interview when it can be arranged. Once again, thank you. A thank you drawing by a young service user to Lesley Drew, Community Nurse, Lothingland
To Nick Gould, CBT Therapist, East IAPT I wanted to write to say thank you very much for all your support over the last few months. You have really turned my thoughts and made me challenge them. Even when I have come to a session feeling very negative and thinking you would not be able to help, you have managed to make me feel like I can carry on and I can beat this anxiety. I feel in a much better place now and hope this will continue. I have always felt very comfortable talking to you and am always surprised at how much I learn about myself through the questions you ask me! You are definitely the right man for your job! To all staff on Southgate Ward I have nothing but praise for the hospital medical staff and facilities and food. Not only was I correctly diagnosed after 56 years by the exceptional Dr Michael, who has probably saved me from an early grave, but the quality of the nursing staff who provide 24 hour care was unparalleled. This includes many of the agency staff also. I was astonished by the quality of the bedrooms and bathroom and the dining room, TV room, activity room, music room and the occupational therapy creative art rooms, and the gymnasium. None of this was expected as well as a courtyard garden. All of it added to my recovery as did the fellowship with patients and staff alike.
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To all staff at Newmarket CMHT Words never say it all. Thank God for Newmarket Mental Health Team.
To Lisa Myers, Community Support Worker, East Ipswich CMHT We must thank you for your help and courtesy. We are looking forward to planning some treats for ourselves! Quite a morale boost during difficult times for us. We have now had our meeting which was productive and reassuring. M continues to have good days and not so good days but we appreciate all the help and understanding he receives from your colleagues. To Michelle Noakes, Case Manager, East IAPT I am just writing to thank you so very much for all the help you have given to me. I didn’t realise how low I had sunk but you could obviously see this and gave me the confidence to believe in myself again. You taught me how to build myself up without the pressure to succeed. I could go on and tell you how happy I am in so many different aspects of my life at the moment, my positive plans for the future and how you’ve helped me be prepared for the less attractive things that may lie ahead but I probably would not finish writing. To all at West CRHTT Thank you so much for all your support and kindness over the last ten weeks. Take care and love and best wishes to you all and thank you again. To all at East CRHTT Thank you so very much for your help, support and kindess over the past few weeks.
To Dr Akmal, Consultant Psychiatrist, Walker Close My wife and I would like to thank you most sincerely for the time and consideration given to our son. Your very clear explanations have enabled us to understand some of the erractic behaviour he sometimes shows.
To Julie Piotrowski, CBT Therapist, Walker Close The discovery of CBT has been lifechanging and I find that I’m viewing my whole world in a very different way now. My thanks to you for helping me to break down that ‘hard rock’ within my mind and for enabling me to see that there is another way to deal with my thoughts! Many thanks!!!
To Debbie Pepperhill, Staff Nurse, Wedgwood House To you especially thank you very much for the beautiful person that you are, and a special thank you to all on Southgate! My special thanks to the rest of the team – and big big kiss to you my dear..
To Nicola Brown, Head of Communications Thank you for being a lovely person to work with. It’s not been that much but it’s always been positive and productive and I’ve looked forward to seeing you. Keep up your good work
If you have a letter you would like to share through Trust Matters, send it to Nicola Brown, Suffolk House, St Clement’s Hospital, Ipswich or email nicola.brown@smhp.nhs.uk Letters may be edited and will be anonymised to protect service users’ identities. EDITORIAL: If you would like to contribute an article (and accompanying photo) for inclusion in the next Trust Matters please email it to helen.abbott@smhp.nhs.uk. If you want to discuss ideas about potential features or make a suggestion about improving the newsletter you can also email the above address or call Helen Abbott on 01473 329700. The deadline for the November 2011 issue is October 21st.