Better Together e-news Winter 2019

Welcome from Paul Devlin, Chair

Welcome to the winter issue of an electronic version of Better Together – our magazine for members. I hope you’ll find a few moments to read updates from the Trust and learn about exciting projects that will come to fruition next year.

Lincolnshire has been chosen as one of 12 areas across the country to be awarded national funding to help us redesign community mental health services. You can read more about the planned improvements below. We are also playing our part in using technology to provide care with our talking therapies service steps2change being part of the VitruCare portal which will be launched next year.

As usual, we’re bringing you stories about recent fundraising for our Charitable Funds. I would like to thank service users and staff who generously support the Trust by raising money through numerous activities, raffles, and challenges. Your donations help us make improvements that would otherwise not be funded by the NHS.

I also wanted to share some personal news with you. From the beginning of January, as well as continuing as Chair of LPFT, I will take up an appointment as Chair of Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, which provides mental health, intellectual disability and community health services across Nottinghamshire.

I truly value and enjoy my role at LPFT and am proud of all that we have achieved over recent years. I am confident my learning from my time with LPFT will be a valuable part of what I can bring to Nottinghamshire while I remain fully committed to LPFT and helping achieve our ambitions for even better services for the people of Lincolnshire.

December is often filled with enormous joy of upcoming Christmas but for many of us it can also be a very emotionally challenging time. I hope that amid hectic Christmas preparations you’ll find a moment to look after your own wellbeing and reach out to those who may be quietly struggling.

With best wishes

Paul Devlin, Chair

New investment to transform community care

Lincolnshire’s approach to supporting people with serious mental illness will be bolstered over the next two years, thanks to it being one of 12 areas across the country to benefit from significant national funding.

The county is expected to receive around £6million over the next two years and will be a testing site for new models of care for people who have moderate to severe, long term mental health problems.

As well as radically redesigning how community mental health services operate, the transformation will look to include dedicated mental health workers within local GP surgeries and neighbourhood teams in some pilot areas. The money will also help the Trust test out new services for people with a personality disorder. Initially, this service will be available in Lincoln and Gainsborough but if successful we will offer it countywide. The Trust is also looking to set up a community rehabilitation service for those moving from inpatient mental health rehabilitation services back into the community.

The Trust has also received monies to invest in a dedicated team to support rough sleepers in Lincoln, extended crisis and home treatment support including community crisis cafes, perinatal mental health and launching a new mental health helpline.

There will be lots of opportunities over the coming months for service users and carers to be involved in shaping how these new services will work and any engagement events will be advertised on our Trust events calendar and our social media sites @LPFTNHS.

Connect your healthcare with VitruCare

Next year a new online service will be launched in Lincolnshire for you and your care team. VitruCare puts you in control of your health in a new and exciting way. VitruCare offers a wide range of helpful digital services and with your clinician you will be able to set up an account and select the digital services that apply to you.

The funding for the platform has been secured by the Sustainability and Transformation Partnership with mental health services being one of the first to launch. The steps2change talking therapies service will roll out first in VitruCare, followed by support for people with early onset of psychosis.

The platform allows clinicians and users to choose from modules/tiles that apply to you. For example steps2change service users will able to access support and information services such as Connect to Support, One You and steps2change website. Following your assessment, you will also see tiles about the particular therapy you have been referred for and the mental health condition you are experiencing. You can even have your treatment delivered digitally by your therapist through the secure video conferencing.

In the future your letters and appointments will be also visible via the portal. All aspects of your treatment will be available in one place accessible through your computer, smart phone or tablet.

Watch this space for more information about VitruCare when it goes live early next year.

Supporting our services by fundraising for our charity

Rehab service users make ribbons for charity

Our female rehabilitation ward in Lincoln, the Vales, recently got crafty to fundraise for Charitable Funds and Breast Cancer Awareness. Zoe Keeton, Occupational Therapy Assistant, worked with service users to make green and pink ribbons to represent both mental health and breast cancer.  

Zoe said: “The ladies from the ward loved making the ribbons. We decided to sell the ribbons, alongside a cake sale and fun games, to raise awareness and fundraise for charities close to our hearts. The £100 raised for the Trust will go towards future therapeutic activities on the ward.”

Staff shaves hair to raise money for sensory garden

A staff member from the Peter Hodgkinson Centre (PHC) in Lincoln has raised an amazing £1000 by shaving her hair.

Monica Pollard, admin assistant, had her head shaved on 1 September. The money raised will be split between Charitable Funds and Macmillan. The £500 that is going to our charity will be used to fund a sensory garden for patients. Monica also has connections with the local Trefoil Guild group, who offered to donate plants for the garden. Trefoil Guild is a group for women and men aged 18+ who serve their communities and support Girlguiding across the UK.

Monica said: “I have wanted to do this for a few years, after losing relatives and friends to cancer. I normally would only have the minimum taken off when having my hair cut so this was a real challenge. I was happy to support the sensory garden for the patients to have an area of peace and relaxation.”

Raffle fundraiser for children’s mental health services

Our mental health services for children and young people raised a fantastic £435 to revamp their clinic space and make it more welcoming for service users. Thanks to a generous donation from comedian Jack Whitehall and his family, people were able to enter a raffle to win a pair of tickets to his Stood Up Tour while supporting a good local cause.

In addition to the raffle, the child and adolescent mental health service ran a competition for young people to design ‘goodbye’ postcards, which will be given to young patients after they finish their treatment.

31 community groups supported with new funding

Local community groups have been awarded a share of £300,000 to support people with mental health problems and dementia to stay well in their communities.

The projects will become part of the Managed Care Network- a collection of community groups that offer support through various activities to help people recovering from mental ill health, or living with dementia.

Funding comes direct from the Mental Health Promotion Fund, which was established by Lincolnshire County Council and is managed by the Trust.

31 projects have benefited this year and will be offering a wide range of activities and groups that people with mental health problems or dementia can get involved in. Activities range from local social and friendship groups, sporting and other outdoor physical activities, through to creative therapy and support for carers.

Details about all of the activities and groups are available on our website www.lpft.nhs.uk/MCN or by following the hashtag #LincsMHnetwork on Twitter and Facebook.

Support clinical research and help shape the future of health care

Clinical research helps us shape the future of health and care. Our research team is working on a number of projects including the COPe and GLAD studies.

COPe stands for Carers fOr People with Psychosis e-support. It is an online support resource for families and friends of individuals affected by psychosis. It aims to develop and evaluate an online resource providing peer support, information, and coping strategies. More information on the study is available on the COPe website. If you are aware of carers who might benefit from some extra support, please contact Rachael (details at the bottom of the article).

The Genetic Links to Anxiety and Depression (GLAD) Study is a project set up to support studies exploring risk factors for depression and/or anxiety.

Depression and anxiety are the most common mental health problems worldwide. In the UK, 1 in 3 people will experience symptoms during their lifetime. The GLAD Study aims to better understand depression and anxiety in order to find effective treatments and improve the lives of people experiencing these disorders. For more information please visit the GLAD website.  

If you would like further information regarding either of the studies, or help signing up, please contact Rachael Fothergill, LPFT Clinical Research Practitioner, on rachael.fothergill@nhs.net or 07583095142.

Celebrating our Heroes

Jackie Sendall
Physical Healthcare Team

Jackie has been invaluable in supporting the Charlesworth Ward team and one of their patients through a challenging set of circumstances. Jackie is compassionate, empathetic, kind, caring and deserving of recognition for her work.  

Legal Services and Mental Health Act Admin Team

In the last year the team have developed extensive new in-house skills and services, resulting in a more personalised and cost effective service for our clinical staff, service users and carers. This is just a snapshot of the work they have done to develop the service and support the Trust to save money and maintain performance against legal duties of the Mental Health Act.

Richard Toone
Payroll and Pensions

Richard had an excellent project management approach to moving the payroll team to Jarvis House earlier this year. He demonstrated accountability, information sharing, and an all-round helpful and positive attitude.

The Wolds

The Wolds will go above and beyond in their duties and with supporting new staff on the ward. They aspire for excellence in all they do and have great ideas to improve patient experience. They often receive positive feedback from bank staff and students, saying how welcoming the staff have been; supportive and always take time to show them things.