Welcome to the latest edition of our carers newsletter, providing carers and relatives with information on the support available within the Trust and the county.
Carer updates
Carer Passports
We have developed a carer passport to help support and inform carers of those accessing LPFT services.
For more information email lpft.
Carers Lanyard and ID cards
To accompany our carers passport we now also have lanyards and carer ID cards that you can use when visiting your loved ones and liaising with staff.
If you would like one of these please email our carers inbox above.
Carer Champions in acute services
We are delighted to share with you that we now have four carer champions in acute services at LPFT. These carer champions are dedicated to supporting carers of patients across our acute wards of Connolly Ward, Charlesworth Ward, Ash Villa and Ward 12.
Support and advice
Advice for carers
We have a dedicated carers email address which you can email any questions, queries or concerns to. Please email us at lpft.
Lincolnshire County Council - general support for carers
Lincolnshire County Council (LCC) has a general advice page for carers which has information on a range of topics, including benefits and entitlements, emergency care planning and carers assessments.
More information can be found online at www.
North East Lincolnshire
There is now a single point of access (SPA) in North East Lincolnshire, which includes Young Minds Matter.
You can call NAViGO on 01472 256256, option 3 for 24/7 mental health support in North East Lincolnshire. For young people’s mental health support, call Young Minds Matter 01472 626100 (for out of hours support you can also call 01472 256256 option 3).
North East Lincolnshire - Young Carers Assessment
The link below gives outline information for young carers and adult carers in the north east Lincolnshire area. It also contains a telephone number to enable people to contact the Carers Team and request an assessment.
Information for The Young Carers Team can found on the web page below.
Older people and frailty
Older People & Frailty Divisional Support
If you would like information, support or advice about your caring role, please contact our Senior Clinical Carer lead for Older People and Frailty at lpft.
Visiting on the wards changes regularly as COVID safety guidelines are amended by the Trust. Please speak to the ward staff before planning a visit. If you are caring for someone in our Older Adults Inpatient Services and would like to send messages, letters or photographs, these can also be sent to lpft.oacarers@nhs.net and we will ensure they are printed and given to your loved one.
LPFT Dementia Support Service
If you or someone you know has been diagnosed with dementia or mild cognitive impairment, our Dementia Support Service can offer you information and guidance on how to live as well as possible with the diagnosis. We can provide information and guidance relating to the diagnosis, as well as supporting carers/ loved ones with how they can support the person living with the diagnosis as well as maintain their own wellbeing.
If you would like more information about the service, email lpft.dementiasupportservice@nhs.net or call our Single Point of Access Contact Centre on 0303 123 4000 where you will be put through to the relevant team.
Below are a list of other contacts which you may find useful in supporting you with your caring role.
Age UK
Providing support for older people and their carers, inc. regular telephone friendship service.
Advice Line Tel: 0800 678 1602
Web: www.
Alzheimer’s Society
Providing support for people with dementia and their carers.
Tel: 01522 692681 or the Dementia Connect Support Line 0333 150 3456
Email: lincoln
Dementia UK
Providing support for people with dementia and their carers.
Admiral Nurse Dementia Helpline Tel: 0800 888 6678
Web: www.
Voiceability
Providing Advocacy for Carers
Telephone: 0300 303 1660
Email: helpline
The Silver Line
A free 24/7 confidential telephone support for Older People.
Telephone: 0800 470 80 90
Email: info
Young carers and adult carers
Often, young carers supporting someone with poor mental health are not recognised as such, yet trying to help someone who may be really distressed can be one of the hardest things to do. Young carers may be offering compassion, empathy and encouragement to parents struggling with their mental health by talking to them, listening and trying to understand their problems. Often, young carers worry about the person they care for while they are at school, making it hard to concentrate. They may be unable to spend time with friends and feel lonely and isolated. Young carers supporting someone with poor mental health are not as readily identified as those young people who carry out more practical care.
Contact youngcarers
Here4You advice line for children, young people, parents and carers
Lincolnshire children, young people, parents and carers can contact the Here4You advice line for mental health and emotional wellbeing problems on 0800 234 6342 (24/7). More information can also be found at www.
Carers Support
If you are aged 18+ and support a relative or friend with tasks such as washing and dressing, paying bills, transport, emotional support, health appointments, medication and domestic tasks, you can get help with your caring responsibilities. This can be accessed by arranging an initial conversation with the Lincolnshire Carers Service.
The team will discuss your caring role and any problems you are experiencing and then work with you to find solutions. There is a huge range of support that is available to unpaid carers within the county including information and advice, benefits support, regular newsletter and updates about events happening in the community, a Carers Emergency Response Plan (CERS). If the team are unable to resolve a problem during our initial conversation then a statutory Carers Assessment may be considered if your needs are complex and require more specialist and on-going support.
If you have not already accessed support in your caring role and would like to, you can contact lpft.carers@nhs.net for more information.
If you would like to complete the referral yourself you can contact Lincolnshire County Council Carers Team 01522 782224.
Find more information at
Spotlight on...
Rebecca Morris - Experience of Care Administrator at LPFT
Hello everyone,
I’m Rebecca Morris (Bex) and I’m the Experience of Care Administrator here at LPFT. My time started at the Trust in June 2022 after a successful interview with my now manager Donna Bradford, Head of Carer and Relative Experience and Volunteers, Kay Gamble, Head of Patient Experience, and a carer. I was completely new to the Trust so, as you can imagine there was lots to learn but one thing I learnt very quickly was that everyone loved an acronym!
So, my role was brand new, supporting both Donna and Kay on a day-to-day basis. I found it quite exciting that I was going into a new role as there’s always opportunity and scope to make it your own and watch it develop too. I provide administrative support i.e., meeting organisation, meeting attendance, minutes, data logging, reporting, development of materials and various work with our Communications Team, including website updates, collating feedback for social media and marketing materials. I enjoy the variation of work which comes my way, each day/week is different and as the months pass, I’m becoming more involved and hopefully more knowledgeable about the tasks in hand.
My background isn’t clinical, I actually studied business management and marketing at Harper Adams University, an agricultural college in Shropshire (I know, how does that work?!), before taking up a career in events and exhibitions.
I live in Norton Disney with my husband Nick and our beautiful 7-year-old daughter Pippa and, not forgetting our fury friends, Penny our cocker spaniel and Lilly and Misty our cats. As a family we love the outdoors, holidaying and spending time with our other family members and friends.
Thank you for taking the time to read my story and maybe our paths will cross sometime in the near future.
Bex
Carer support services
WhatsApp groups
We have various carer support WhatsApp groups which enable carers to share information and advice with one another in a safe space. As the group grew so large, it has been split into smaller groups to maintain relevance and connection by becoming diagnosis specific.
Our live groups are as follows:
- Carers Information Page
- Psychosis
- Neurodivergence
- Cognitive Impairment
- Depression and Anxiety
- Personality Disorder
If you would like to be added to any of these groups please email lpft.
Volunteers please…
We are looking for carers to volunteer to be moderators for the substance misuse and eating disorders groups. LPFT staff will support each group’s administration but it is a group run by carers for carers. Once we have some volunteers, we’ll be able to offer more specialised groups.
Please get in touch if you are interested in helping. We would LOVE to hear from you!
Please email Donna Bradford or Rebecca Morris at lpft.
Recovery College courses
Lincolnshire Recovery College offers free educational courses on mental health and wellbeing, and is open to everyone (including carers) aged sixteen and above. The courses are designed and delivered by people with lived experience of mental ill health, qualified trainers and health professionals. The College offers carer specific courses such as one on compassion fatigue and more are being developed with carers needs in mind.
Visit www.
Veterans support in Lincolnshire
Have you or your loved one served in the British Armed Forces? If so, you might benefit from a chat with the Specialist Veterans Service to improve your knowledge of the support available. It might be that the support you receive for your mental health can be enhanced via referral to Operation Courage.
East Midlands Operation Courage Tel: 0300 323 0137
Crisis Line 24/7 Tel: 0300 323 0139
Help for carers and relatives
Single Point of Access (SPA): 0303 123 4000
Mental Health Helpline: 0800 001 4331 (24/7)
Samaritans: 0330 094 5717
Lincolnshire Carers Service: 01522 782224 Email: carersservice
Healthwatch: 01205 820892 / Email: info
Patient Advice & Liaison Service (PALS) ULHT: Lincoln County Hospital 01522 707071 ;
Grantham 01476 464861 ; Boston Pilgrim 01205 446243 / Email: pals
Patient Advice & Liaison Service (PALS) LCHS: 0300 123 9553 / Email: LHNT.
Lincolnshire Recovery College
Why a Recovery College?
Are you finding life challenging or do you support someone who does? Join us at the Recovery College and learn alongside people with real lived experience, educators and health care professionals.
We offer a wide range free educational courses covering topics including mental health, recovery, wellbeing and course specifically for carers.
Our courses are available to everyone aged 16 or over who lives, works or studies in Lincolnshire.
Lincolnshire Recovery College adds new face-to-face venues
The Recovery College is excited to announce that we are partnering with Lincoln College and ‘The Drill’, and the New Life Centre Wellbeing Hub in Spilsby, both venues will be hosting Recovery College courses for the first time this term. These community sessions enable students to learn along side their peers in accessible and welcoming settings in small groups. Other in person sessions are available in Gainsborough at the Roses sports ground and Everyone Active leisure centre. If you know of a venue where you would like us to come along and deliver our courses then please do get in touch. We continue to provide our established and well attended online sessions.
New Term dates and sessions announced!
The College has released the dates and session timetable for January-March 2023, email us to receive a copy.
“Enabling communities to come together to learn more about mental health and wellbeing helps to reduce stigma and increase understanding , empathy and knowledge. It provides people with the opportunity to discover ways to live well with and manage their mental health and wellbeing alongside advice and guidance from other services where needed”
Amy Day, Recovery College Manager
Co-production
Did you know that the Recovery college also offers other ways to get involved? We strive to be responsive to feedback and need when we create new courses. You can help to develop and shape them. Using “Co-production” an approach that acknowledges and encourages the equal and reciprocal relationship between college staff, professionals and people with lived experience to come together to co-design and co-deliver new courses based on lived learnt and professional learnt experience to the benefit of everyone.
The college also provides volunteer opportunities to support our students and in our promotional activities. If you are interested in learning more about volunteer opportunities with the Trust then please contact volunteer services at: lpft.volunteerservice@nhs.net
Carers Education Group
Do you care for a family member?
Do you need support and education?
Join our established group, online every other Thursday evening!
For further information on how to join, please email donna.
