TALKING
POINT WINTER 2015
FEATURING
National People’s Parliament launched in Birmingham
INSIDE
Introducing the Inspired by Possibility awards
ALSO...
Meet our Mental Health Business Development team
OUR PRIORITIES AS WE LOOK FORWARD TO A GENERAL ELECTION YEAR
Welcome
Welcome to your new look Talking Point! I’m delighted to introduce our new look Talking Point for the New Year! I do hope you like this new edition and will support us to make it a great publication by continuing to contribute your articles, ideas, photos and stories. The quality of our magazine really does depend on as many people getting involved as possible.
In the centre pages you will see our External Affairs Team have been working hard to prepare our TP Manifesto as we enter this election year. You can get in on the act by taking the opportunity to let your
Getting involved is a big theme in this edition.
Contents 2 - Welcome Editorial and some facts and figures
3 - Inspiring Possibility Catch up on all the news from around TP
4 - In Focus How we influence health and social care policy - our ‘TP Manifesto’
local MP know the issues that matter to us and our service users. So do get involved and make your voice heard. On page six, you can read about how our Learning Disability Business Unit has made involvement a big feature of their work by introducing an involvement
6 - Getting to know you 8 - Introducing...
44
Better parents
£65K value
91 More
money
£350K value
The beginning of the year is often a time of making new resolutions, and one of ours is to make sure that we really do live and breathe our values in everything that we do. To demonstrate this, we are launching our Inspired by Possibility Awards which recognises people who have shown that our values drive them to achieve outstanding work - you can find out more about this on page eight. We know TP People are very passionate and dedicated about their work so we’re expecting lots of nominations! Winnie Coutinho, Employee Engagement Manager.
FACTS AND FIGURES
Meet some new faces! ‘Inspired by Possibility’ awards
charter. This includes five standards to aspire to regarding involving people we support in the ways they want us to be. It’s an exciting initiative and really captures the spirit of our organisation as being open to new ideas and ways of doing things. Jason Phillips from Hertfordhire attended the launch event and is pictured on our front cover.
Service users
178
173
162
£3M
£1.8M
Improved physical health
Less isolation
value
value
Improved mental health
£4.7M value
45
Avoid prison
£350K value
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Above: a recent study of our Wakefield service estimated that for every pound invested in TP services, between £7 and £9 times as much value is provided for service users and the wider community.
Inspiring Possibility
How Turning Point helped me... Jaine Hale, Team Leader at Downfield Way in Bedfordshire, tells us about tenant David Bennett’s culinary skills... Since 2003, David (pictured above) has lived at TP’s Downfield Way service, which provides accommodation for six people with learning disabilities. David loves gardening and he keeps the garden at Downfield Way looking great,
even growing his own vegetables. Recently, he’s even started helping with the gardening at another of TP’s residential services.
practical support in the kitchen, but one Sunday before Christmas, David told us he only wanted to have verbal support. He gave it his full concentration and made the Yorkshire puddings single handed - they were “It’s a delicious!”
A man of many talents, David has also really started to get into cooking. real breakthrough for Jaine said, “At David and it’s great to see him Downfield Way David said becoming more independent. ” all the tenants he had never Jaine Hale share a communal been so proud. kitchen and David We hope to hear cooks a couple of times a week. more of his cooking His favourite thing to cook is a successes in future! Sunday Roast. Usually he receives
It’s a win-win at Westcliffe For second year social work students in Manchester, a placement at TP’s Westcliffe House offers the opportunity to gain valuable experience. Senior Team Leader Vicky Wright explained, “This isn’t the kind of service where we ask students to do the filing. Here they’re developed to have a case load, help deliver group sessions and undertake risk assessments, everything that staff do.” Vicky organised the first placements, with the local health budget providing a subsidy for hosting the trainee social workers.
And of course the team also benefit from an extra pair of keen hands. During Alcohol Awareness Week in November, placement students Kerry Topping and Melody James delivered a presentation at the University of Salford (see photo), outlining some of the support services available at Westcliffe House. Kerry said, “I enjoyed giving this presentation and I hope that it inspired other students. It was great to be able to give something back to the organisation that has allowed us to do our placements with them. Without these
placements and the people within them, we couldn’t complete our degree. So this is my thank you to all at Westcliffe House.” Every student that has been through the placement scheme has later been employed at Westcliffe House, so it’s a real win-win for everyone involved!
How we make a difference externally ● Victor, our CEO, gave evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee on Mental Health & Policing about improvements needed to ensure people in crisis get the support they need.
●Fiona Ritchie, MD, LD, spoke at the British Institute of Learning Disabilities annual conference on the challenges facing people with a learning disability, sharing our experience as a provider.
●Selina Douglas, MD, SM & Dr Gordon Morse, Clinical Lead, hosted a meeting with Public Health England, the Royal College of Psychiatrists and others and will make recommendations to the Secretary of State for Health. 3
In Focus
TP Manifesto: Influencing the Agend The General Election has the potential to shape the health and social care agenda for the next five years. So with that in mind, across TP we will continue to be active in informing the thinking of politicians, opinion formers and influencers, taking the opportunity to speak to politicians and all the major political parties about their priorities for each of our business unit areas. We also continue our work with the Care and Support Alliance, Mental Health Providers Forum, Drugscope and Social Economy Alliance to influence key issues as part of a broader group. Turning Point’s approach to influencing is to try and inform policy making in a way that benefits the people we support and positively influences the commissioning environment which we work in. Across the page you can see the key issues we would like the next government to address in each of our sectors.
These are our TP Manifesto Pledges: ⚫⚫ We will promote the need for integrated services for people with multiple complex needs who
can fall between the gaps in provision ⚫⚫ We will promote the important contribution we can make as a social enterprise ⚫⚫ We will raise awareness of the impact funding cuts can have on the people we support.
VIP Visits in 2014 - Hear what MPs and other public fig services last year Throughout last year, a number of MPs and public figures visited our services. These visits are a great opportunity for us to showcase our work and make sure that politicians know what really matters to Turning Point and the people we support. Here are just some of the things they said about their visits .
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“Crisis Point is doing some fantastic work in Levenshulme to support people suffering from mental health crises….you are doing excellent work in such an important area and on behalf of the Government I’d like to express my gratitude.”
“It was a pleasure to visit the Corner House and see the work they do to support individuals with a range of complex needs in the area. It is vitally important that knowledge and skills about learning difficulties and mental health issues are shared between local services to ensure that all individuals are given the support they need.”
‘To sustain our NHS for the future, I believe we need a much stronger focus on joining up services around people’s lives, so that health and care services work more closely together, keeping people healthier and treating them closer to home. Places like the Earl’s Court Health and Wellbeing Centre, which provides a range of health and wellbeing and community support services in one place, will help us achieve this.”
Sarah Champion MP for Rotherham.
Jeremy Hunt, MP for South West Surrey.
Norman Lamb, MP for North Norfolk.
In Focus
da in Health and Social Care We would like the next government to address the key issues in each of our sectors.
Mental Health
Learning Disability
Substance Misuse
⚫⚫ Support to live as independently as possible for recovery
⚫⚫ Support to live as independently as possible, in appropriate accommodation
⚫⚫ Appropriate response to new psychoactive substances
⚫⚫ Valuing mental health equally with physical health ⚫⚫ Highlighting the challenges of stigma ⚫⚫ Combat the lack of available services.
⚫⚫ Progress towards ending health inequalities ⚫⚫ A fair and supportive employment and benefits system ⚫⚫ A more positive image
⚫⚫ Integrated support with all public health services ⚫⚫ Promoting Education Training and Employment model for sustained recovery and our peer mentors
⚫⚫ Provide adequate funding to realise the Care Act.
gures had to say during their visits to Turning Point “Turning Point provides a lifeline for people in crisis, offering help and support when it’s most needed”. Manchester Police and Crime Commissioner, Tony Lloyd.
“Visiting Turning Point was a wonderful opportunity to see the difference that caring staff and the right support can make. People with substance misuse or mental health issues face serious challenges but the centre’s focus on tailored care and longterm rehabilitation was very encouraging. I want to pay tribute to the Turning Point workers who make such a difference in Wakefield.”
If you get a turn prospective candidate are up on your door step, or d chatting with friends an ters in family about what mat want this election, you might eir ear to consider bending th atter about the issues that m to us and our service users.
Mary Creagh MP for Wakefield.
INFO POINT
You can keep up to date with all our external news and influencing work on our website. Go to www.turning-point.co.uk/news/news.aspx to find out more. 5
Getting to know you
FACE TO FACE Will Burchell started as a Support Worker 14 years ago. Since then he’s worked in substance misuse, mental health and learning disability services. In May 2014, he joined TP as Regional Manager for Stoke and Staffordshire.
Can you tell us a little about the role and what attracted you to the post? Our services in Stoke and Staffordshire have all transitioned from traditional residential settings to supported living services. This means that while the people we support were once seen as patients
and may have been isolated from the wider community, they now have their own tenancy in their own home and enjoy the rights of any other citizen. When I speak to the people we support, their relatives or our staff and hear how life for that person has changed, that’s what really motivates me.
support, and in turn we have to think of creative ways to develop and benefit them in their careers. Any New Year’s resolutions?
We’ve just had the last of our residential services moving over to supported living so I’d like to find a way to suitably celebrate the end of a long and sometimes challenging journey What are some of for the people the challenges in we support, their your work? families and TP staff. As with the whole Over the remainder A ’tin-type’ photo that Will sent us. of social care, of the year, we will This is a 150 year old way of taking the pressure focus on delivering pictures! (Will is not 150.) on finances is real unique and ever increasing, as is the level of meaningful outcomes for the people expectation on our front line staff. we support. On a personal note my This means we have to try and find New Year’s resolution is to exercise different ways to attract people to more. Although saying that I think work with us. Obviously, we want that this has been my resolution for people to work with us because at least the last six years - surely they are passionate about learning the law of averages means that I will disability issues and the people we achieve it eventually?
Learning from you...the launch of our National People’s Last October, behalf of the Nonpeople we support Executive Board Meeting nationally and colleagues Members. was something we have made their way to wanted to do for a while Our regional Birmingham for a now and it was fantastic People’s very special event. to hear about what Parliaments were For the first time, set up more than everyone has been up representatives two years ago to to- there’s so much great from our maximise service work going on! regional People’s user involvement Parliaments across our came together to launch our very Learning Disability services. own National People’s Parliament. Through attending Also at the event were members the regional forums, of TP’s Chief Executive’s Team: people we support Victor Adebowale, David Hoare and are empowered and Julie Bass. Paul Picknett came on supported to influence what Turning Point 6
does as an organisation, both locally and nationally. In preparation for the meeting, representatives from each of the regional forums were nominated to take forward their ideas and raise them at the first national session. Claire Moszoro, Engagement Lead for Learning Disability services, described the importance of the forum “We hope to
Getting to know you
Meet Mel Shad from the Mental Health Business Unit Development Team Having worked in Business Development for some 20 years, Mel Shad has loads of experience in the area. But she’s a relative newcomer to TP’s Mental Health Business Unit Development, starting as head of the team in December 2014. Can you tell us about your team’s work? Our work can be broadly divided into three categories. The first is probably the best known, but it’s only part of what we do – working to identify opportunities to bid for contracts, putting together a bid programme and using the individual expertise of our team to prepare the best bid we can to win new business. The second part of our work is making sure we have really strong
partnerships with people from around the organisation. These relationships are absolutely key to what we do, so that our work is informed, we are able to benefit from expertise and we can produce inspiring bids that reflect the best of the business. Thirdly, we work to build the profile of the Business Unit, talking to commissioners, building partnerships with other organisations and engaging with local and national government and MH policy makers. As the name suggests, MH Business Development is also about developing our existing services, with our operations colleagues, and retaining contracts – not just growth.
What are you hoping to achieve in your new role? Win more business! That would be a good start. But like I said, that’s only part of it. Having just started in the post, I hope to get out and about a lot this year, meeting people and building partnerships. Our other major focus is to develop the profile of the Mental Health Business Unit. Over the last 5 years, the Business Unit has shrunk as we need to consolidate our services, and it’s important that we ensure that Turning Point is still seen as a major player in Mental Health, that we are viewed as a credible, reliable and leading provider in order to expand. Our reputation and our profile is a key factor in the bidding process. We’ve got lots to shout about!
s Parliament and Involvement Charter empower people and encourage them to share their views in a way that is meaningful to them – this enables people to have choice and helps us as an organisation to better support people to live their lives to the fullest. Meeting nationally was something we have wanted to do for a while now and it was fantastic to hear about what everyone has been up to- there’s so much great work going on!” In Kent’s People’s Parliament, they’ve been focusing on the issue of public
transport. Working with Stagecoach, they’ve put together a leaflet called “Keeping Safe on Public Transport”. This is being used to help promote ‘safety zones’ in bus stations for anyone in difficulty. Stagecoach have since been using the leaflet in their staff training. The Learning Disability Services Involvement Charter was also launched at the Birmingham event. This has been co-produced with lots of people we support and their staff teams from all over the country.
It includes five standards for us all to aspire to and to ensure we are working towards involving people we support in the ways they have shown us they want to be. All those in attendance in Birmingham signed up over the next few months the Involvement Charter will be launched at LD services around the country. Look out for more information on this on our intranet, IRIS, soon.
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Introducing Welcome our new awards scheme...
INSPIRED BY POSSIBILITY AWARDS Having introduced our new values we want to recognise those who live and breathe in their work and who are really inspired to go that extra mile or do exceptional work. Tell us about colleagues who have inspired you with the things they have done, projects undertaken or new initiatives implemented. The Chief Exectutive’s Team (CET) will review all nominations and decide who should receive the awards. Winners will receive a certificate, a £100 voucher and an invitation to the award event with the CET.
Do you know a colleague who has been exceptional in demonstrating our values or truly been inspired by possibility? Yes? Then it’s time to get nominating!
Nomination guidance and forms are available on IRIS Deadline 31 March
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You can download this poster from our intranet, IRIS. Go to http://iris.turning-point.co.uk/AboutTP/Pages/CETAwards.aspx for more information and to download a nomination form.
Noticeboard
Bye Helen!
Announcements
Helen Grant retired in December, after 10 years as Personal Assistant to our CEO Victor. Victor and many others will miss Helen and the great job she has done. We wish Helen all the best.
A big welcome... ...to colleagues at London’s Three Borough Health Trainers and Health Check service. The new initiative launched on January 2nd and is managed by Amy Stephenson. And another warm welcome to... ...our new colleagues in Chester and Cheshire West. The services, which opened their doors on February 2nd, will provide substance misuse and recovery focused support to people in the area.
5 ★ service Congratulations to the catering team at Pendlebury House who joined our Birchwood and Edwards House services in achieving a five star rating for hygiene in their recent kitchen inspection. Catering Manager Dave Sale said, “Could I thank all the catering staff who continue to work so hard in ensuring that the kitchens that we operate from maintain such high standards on a daily basis. Well done to all concerned!”
Fond farewell to... ...colleagues in Gateshead’s Drugs Intervention Programme and Community Integration Team who have now transferred over to a new provider. Sorry to see you go, all the best for the future and a big thank you for all you have done while you have been with Turning Point! Sorry to hear... ...about the closure of the Birmingham Community Navigator Service at the end of last year. Despite a successful service evaluation, Birmingham City Council weren’t able to secure long term funding for Turning Point to continue with this service. We wish all of our colleagues in Birmingham the very best for the future and a big thanks for all your hard work.
Just a thought
Goodbye for now... Dave Sale also retired in December, just shy of his 22nd anniversary with TP. Dave worked as the Catering Manager for TP’s North West Mental Health services and at our Smithfield service. You might not have seen the last of Dave yet though, he will continue to help out the catering team when he can. Enjoy your retirement Dave - we really appreciate all that you have done.
“A team is not a group of people who work together. A team is a group of people who trust each other.”
Simon Sinek
Newcomer of the year
Useful Numbers ● Employee Care 0800 716 017 ● General Enquiries 020 74817600 (London)
0161 238 5100 (Manchester) ● Whistleblowing 0845 888 1110 Turning Point is a registered charity No 234887 www.turning-point.co.uk
Well done to Support Worker Hollie Whittaker from our Ambleside service, who won newcomer of the year in the Hertfordshire County Council awards. Hollie was nominated by Sophia Hawkins, Team Leader at Ambleside: “Hollie is extremely enthusiastic about her work in the care sector, she always wants to take on new challenges and learn new things. Since starting here Hollie has taken on the role of SPOT (Support Planning and Outcomes Tool) champion, she’s also Ambleside’s People’s Parliament lead and has embraced these things with great results.”
Talking Point is published online to save paper and money. Find out more about our environmental policies on The Green Heart of TP page on our intranet, IRIS.