We employ people in a range of roles, both clinical and non-clinical, and some of our staff have agreed to speak about their experience of working for us.
I am a Polish citizen, living in the UK since 2005. I started my career in healthcare in the private sector in 2007, and trained as a nursing associate at the University of Lincoln.
Working for LPFT means I am part of a talented, compassionate team, delivering first-class individualised care and treatment. The learning and development opportunities offered to me, as well as the opportunities for advancement, training and promotion appeal to me, along with the opportunities for flexible working, improved pay rates, and annual leave entitlement.
There is a good supportive structure in place within LPFT- all staff are enabled to undertake on-going personal and professional development, allowing them to apply for internal promotion. There are excellent links between the Trust and the University of Lincoln, and during the time I was studying as a nursing associate I found the Trust’s flexible working policy invaluable in managing my study demands. There is a good mix of experienced and skilled staff who provide on-going peer group support, in addition to clinical and managerial supervision and appraisal.
Lincolnshire is a pleasant area to live and work, where I have met so many friendly and supportive people, some of them even became my family. As work plays an important role in my life, I feel that my work-life balance and physical and mental health are maintained in a rural environment which I personally prefer to the ‘bright lights’ of a town or city. I feel settled here in Lincolnshire, and enjoy my role within LPFT.
I am a Registered Mental Health Nurse and the Ward Manager in LPFT’s male acute inpatient mental health unit. I joined LPFT in September 2014 following my nursing qualification which I undertook at the University of Nottingham. I lived in Germany for 11 years before relocating to the UK in 2008, and now live in Lincoln.
What appealed to me to join the Trust was the unlimited rewards and benefits made available to staff, including its staff recognition scheme, the opportunities for career breaks, training and support to help staff to develop, and attractive NHS pension scheme. I have found there is a diverse workforce within LPFT, one which allows people to be themselves in a non-discriminatory culture, with equal opportunities given to the workforce.
Providing leadership and stability to the team is central to my role as Ward Manager. This involves ensuring the safety of staff, visitors and patients, and ensuring everyone within the team is contributing to the team objectives and Trust values. I hold regular meetings and supervisions with my staff to talk over any proposed changes, and the benefits these changes will have to our patients. I also regularly partake in reflective discussions with my staff around cases and processes in an attempt to improve ways of working.
Within my time at LPFT, I have been given the opportunity to work across a range of different teams. This has allowed me to develop closer working relationships, achieving better outcomes for patients and staff. I receive a yearly appraisal to review and discuss performance, where I’m given the opportunity to discuss and address development areas, longer term aspirations and career goals, and supported to achieve these.
I would strongly encourage anyone to join LPFT; I feel it’s a great place to work, in a county full of friendly and welcoming people which offers beautiful landscape and scenery.
Sue Brace is a Ward Manager at Brant Ward in the Older People and Frailty Team.
I originally moved to Lincolnshire to be near my family. I hadn’t even heard of Lincolnshire before, and had always lived in the southern part of the country – Surrey, Sussex, Kent, London. I had lived in a variety of locations, big cities, rural areas and seaside towns so a really varied mix.
Living in Lincolnshire means that I have the very best of several worlds. Lincoln is a beautiful city with a cathedral and a castle, the Lincolnshire countryside is gorgeous with lots of green fields and blue skies…and I am only an hour from the seaside.
Working for Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust enables me to be an autonomous practitioner, with the freedom to do my job and innovate, while being supported in my role and inspired to make changes to improve services for patients, carers and staff.
I live in Lincoln city, but am only a ten minute walk (usually with my dog along the river side), to where I keep my horse which means that I am able to combine my love of the country and the outdoors, with a desire to live in a city and work for a fabulous mental health organisation.
Today I hung up my swipe and alarm to leave the ward. I was the first paramedic to be employed by LPFT as a mental health practitioner and have to say the experience has been amazing. From the warmth of the welcome I was given to the emotional farewell I received, it has been fantastic.
I would like to thank everyone who has been there to support and guide me. They even have to re-write policies to accommodate me! My biggest thank you goes to the team on the ward. I took up the post knowing female acute is a very challenging area to work but I have never come across a more dedicated, hard-working and supportive team in my 25 years of working in the NHS. They should all be very proud of what they do.
I have been extremely impressed with LPFT as an organisation which values and supports their staff. I'm leaving to move on my career path, but do so a little heavy-hearted.
“Older people’s mental health services have often been seen as a Cinderella service, but with many people living longer and the demographics of our population changing, it is becoming increasingly important. Older people deserve respect and as high quality care as anyone.”
“The majority of our patients are cognitively impaired to some degree, but this often means that people rely on their emotions a lot more – feeling a lot, but perhaps being unable to communicate as they once could. It is very important to the team that we see people as individuals, putting their needs first and not labelling them with simply their diagnosis. That is why it matters so much to take a person centred approach, to find out what they like, what they used to do and who they were, in order to help them maintain their identity.”
“I love working with older people, they have so much life experience and knowledge. When they are poorly it is so challenging to care for them as their mental health needs often come hand in hand with increased physical care needs.”
