Better Together e-news Winter 2019 - news in brief
Use the navigation to jump between news in brief items
60 seconds with…
Tell us about yourself
I have worked on LPFT wards for over five years, as a senior healthcare support worker. This mainly involved working with young people on the mental health inpatient unit called Ash Villa. I have a keen interest in participation and patient voice, developed whilst studying youth work at university. Recently I have started social work apprenticeship based at the Peter Hodgkinson Centre in Lincoln, within the inpatient social care team.
What do you do within your role?
I will be working alongside social workers and other professionals to support people with social care needs. This includes assessments, supporting discharge planning, providing advocacy and advice as well as empowering people, promoting their independence and human rights to access and live in their communities.
Why did you want to take on this new role?
This role was a natural next step to develop and build on my professional practice, experience and skills. I look forward to the journey ahead and hope that this professional training will enable my practice to be more informed, and allow me to confidently and competently support service users.
What’s the best thing about LPFT and the NHS?
Working for LPFT I have felt valued and supported in my professional development. I have worked with an amazing team of professionals making a difference to the lives of the people who we support through compassion and commitment.
Don’t struggle in silence – call the mental health support line
If you’re feeling low, anxious or stressed and you think that talking to another person may help you cope you can call 0800 0014331 - the new mental health helpline in Lincolnshire.
The helpline operates 24/7. A team of highly trained and experienced support workers will provide you with emotional support, guidance and information.
You may be in extreme emotional distress and feel that there is nowhere else to turn or you may be caring for another person and finding it difficult to cope. Contacting the helpline can give you a feeling of relief, wellbeing and peace of mind. You won’t be judged, and the service is confidential.
The new helpline is an invaluable resource available to every member of our community so please pass the number to your family and friends.
Connect to support Lincolnshire
The portal includes information and advice to help you manage your wellbeing and plan for your care and support. It also offers a provider directory, facility to find home care agencies and nursing homes, information on equipment and house adaptations, supporting independent living and a wide range of activities, groups and events that support people’s wellbeing. The extensive health and wellbeing section includes information and a directory of services connected to mental and physical health, substance misuse, palliative care and quitting smoking to name just a few.
The portal can be found at https://lincolnshire.connecttosupport.org Email: Lincs2Advice@ageuklsl.org.uk Tel: 0300 3038789 (Mon-Fri 2pm-7pm)
Every Mind Matters – create your own plan
We all experience times when we're struggling, or not coping as we might like, or where our circumstances and life events make things extremely difficult and challenging. It’s part of life, and sometimes it's OK to not be OK.
Every Mind Matters is where everyone can make a start. There are simple actions and steps we can all take that can help us manage feelings of stress, anxiety, low mood or when we are struggling to get to sleep.
From tips on how to get more physical activity, to mindful breathing exercises and advice on how to reframe unhelpful thoughts, all the information and advice in Every Mind Matters has been developed with experts and approved by the NHS.
Go to www.nhs.uk/oneyou/every-mind-matters to create your Mind Plan and find your path to better mental health.
Welcome to your new representatives
This summer we held elections for our Council of Governors and our members were given the opportunity to vote for, or stand as your representatives.
We said farewell to some of the long-standing governors David Bray, Ingrid Gill, Evelyn Nicholls and Michael Regan. We want to thank them for the time they have given to the Trust, helping us to improve our services.
We also welcomed new faces on the council. One of the new carer governors, Daniel Fleshbourne, wants to highlight daily struggles that carers go through. He said: “I have experienced both the positive and negative aspects of being a carer over my many years in the role. Caring for a family member can be a tough job, one that has often been overlooked. I will use my experience to help change it.”
Full results of these elections are now available under the Governor elections section of our website.
Anyone can join dementia research
People with dementia or memory problems, their carers and anyone who is interested can sign up to a free database called Join Dementia Research. The programme matches interested people with dementia research taking place across the UK, depending on how much you want to be involved. It could be an in-depth study, or as simple as completing a survey.
Registering your interest on Join Dementia Research is the first step in becoming involved and supporting vital research studies across the nation.
Go to www.joindementiaresearch.nihr.ac.uk. You will initially be asked a few basic questions which only takes a few minutes to complete. You can also sign up on behalf of someone else if you are a carer or relative of someone with dementia, providing you have their consent.
LPFT in the spotlight
Laura Forster, Senior Data Warehouse Developer for our informatics team was a finalist in the Women in IT Excellence Awards 2019 in the ‘Rising Star of the Year’ category, and is shortlisted in the Unsung Hero Awards 2020 in the ‘IT and Digital’ category. The Unsung Hero Awards winners will be announced on 28 February 2020.
Healthy Minds Lincolnshire were finalists in the Children and Young People Now Awards 2019 in the ‘Mental Health and Wellbeing Award’ category.
The Lincolnshire Health Awards took place on Tuesday 19 November 2019. The event, organised by Lincolnshire Media, celebrated the health service heroes from across Lincolnshire. Unfortunately we did not win on the night, but we had six successful finalists listed below:
- Clinical Team - Older Adult Home Treatment Team
- Nurse - Lyndsay Khan
- Healthcare Assistant - Sarah Eyett
- Support Staff– Learning Disabilities Experts by Experience team
- Research, Innovation and Education - Older Adult Home Treatment Team
- Rising Star - Kerry Swift
Your feedback about community services
Every year the Care Quality Commission asks a sample of our patients to tell them what they think about the care they’ve received.
The results of 2019 Community Mental Health Survey showed that LPFT has improved in two areas and these are around involving service users in agreeing care they will receive and reviewing medication. We are very pleased that experiences of our service users are improving but we know that there’s more we can do.
The results of this survey will feed into the quality improvement projects for both older adult and adult community mental health services.
There are exciting transformation projects coming into fruition over the next year (which you can read more about in this issue). We will continue developing new ways of working to improve patient experience and ensure that we keep delivering the very best care.
New senior leaders join Trust board
There are two new leaders working in mental health and learning disability services in Lincolnshire.
Anita Lewin has been appointed the new Director of Nursing, Allied Health Professionals and Quality at LPFT. She has worked in the NHS for over 30 years, having started her career as a ‘dinner lady’ at the psychiatric facility Rauceby Hospital. She has had several roles across Lincolnshire’s mental health services and her dedication was honoured in the 2018 Lincolnshire Health Awards when she won the lifetime achievement award.
Chris Higgins has been appointed Director of Operations. Chris began his career as a mental health nurse trainee in Pilgrim Hospital in Boston over 20 years ago. He has experience of working in various services including older adult, acute inpatient and substance misuse.
With both new directors now in post, our Board now includes all substantive roles. We’d like to take this opportunity to congratulate both Anita and Chris on this new chapter of their journey with LPFT.
