Trust Headquarters
B1
50 Summerhill Road
Birmingham
B1 3RB
Tel: 0121 301 1111
Fax: 0121 301 1110
www.bsmhft.nhs.uk
TRUST PROFILE
ABOUT US
1.
Who we are
Our Trust provides a comprehensive mental health care service for residents of
Birmingham and Solihull and to communities in the West Midlands and beyond. We
serve a culturally and socially-diverse population of 1.2 million spread over 172
square miles.
We work hard to support and improve the mental health of people across our patch
through a range of locally based inpatient and community services. We have
developed close links with partners from education, local authorities and voluntary
organisations and work in partnership to provide integrated health and social care – a
very real benefit for our service users.
Many of our services are based within the local community, so that people can
receive treatment in an environment they're used to, including in their own home.
This means that people can continue to lead active lives in the community while
receiving the support they need for their mental health problems. We work closely
with patients, their carers and families to put together a plan of care that suits each
individual person and we offer different types of support including community,
inpatient, outpatient and day services.
We are proud of our strong links with the community we serve, listening and
engaging with them through a variety of different channels.
2.
Our vision
Our mission is straightforward – to help people get better and to create a service that
we are all happy to recommend to others.
We aim to make sure that people with mental health problems receive swift and
appropriate treatment in the best possible setting to suit their needs and wishes. This
means providing high quality, safe services that knit together with each other so that
the right level of support is available to people with mental health difficulties – at
whatever stage of their illness.
Everyone's general well-being is influenced by their circumstances, surroundings and
the way people behave towards them, so we also do our best to improve our service
users' lives through our work with other organisations. This means working with
people's carers, their families and the wider community to help them lead purposeful
lives among people who accept them, breaking down the barriers of stigma that often
accompany mental health problems and lead to social isolation.
Our vision therefore requires that:
1. People with common mental health problems are managed effectively within
the primary care system.
2. People with complex mental health problems are swiftly referred to and
managed as appropriate by specialist mental health services in our Trust.
3. Strategic partnerships (sometimes through sub-contracting if appropriate) are
established with non-statutory sector organisations, community and user-led
groups to create a continuum of:
a. Appropriate employment, educational, social and leisure opportunities
b. Appropriate housing (independent and supported)
4. Focused and co-ordinated activities are developed to help improve tolerance
and understanding within neighbourhoods and communities and to enhance
access to excluded groups.
3.
Finances
Our Trust has an income of over £200 million and a 4,000-strong workforce, making
us one of the largest and most complex mental health trusts in the country. Our major
funders are our four co-terminus primary care trusts and the local specialised
services consortium, who together account for 80% of our total income.
In 2007/08, our trust ended the financial year with a planned surplus of circa £3.9m,
which will be used to further enhance our services, enabling us to continue to deliver
world-class care for our service users and their carers. For the 2007/08 financial year
we received a rating of ‘good’ for our use of resources in the Healthcare
Commission’s annual health check.
4.
Trust Ratings
Our overall rating by the Healthcare Commission’s National annual health check for
the quality of services it provides was “Excellent”. This news further demonstrated
our commitment to improving services which make a real difference to the care and
experience our service users, carers and their relatives receive. The results are a
reflection of the continued dedication and professionalism of our staff and their
determination to provide high quality care-our staff have a lot to be proud of.
The score, which is part of a ratings system for all NHS organisations, covered a
range of areas including safety of patients, cleanliness and waiting times. We also
achieved a score of ‘Excellent’ for meeting all national targets.
For use of resources, we were rated as ‘Good’. This measures how well we manage
our finances.
The Trust’s 2007/08 Quality of Services rating of ‘Excellent’ confirmed that the Trust
was compliant with the Healthcare Commission’s assessment framework which
covers core healthcare standards assessment in the following seven areas:
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5.
Safety
Clinical and cost effectiveness
Governance
Patient focus
Accessible and responsive care
Care environment and amenities
Public health
Foundation Trust status
In July 2008 we became a Foundation Trust. This status gives us more control over
the services we provide, allowing us to provide even better services and to involve
our local communities in the bigger health care decisions that we make. It will help us
to actively engage our staff in shaping how the Trust is run, make sure the views of
service users and their carers and families are central to everything we do and better
understand the different needs of our diverse communities to create services more in
tune with local needs. To achieve Foundation Trust status we had to demonstrate
that we are legally constituted, well governed and financially viable.
Our Foundation Trust status allows us to work in partnership with our 11,000 plus
members and governors, empowering them to influence and inform what we do
through local ownership and involvement. We believe that this will enable us to
achieve better outcomes for our service users and carers and will provide greater
satisfaction for our staff.
Community involvement extends to managing our Foundation Trust via members.
Members have the ability to elect representatives to act as Governors who, with the
Trust Directors will agree the organisation’s plans.
We encourage staff, users,
carers and those within the local community to become Foundation members in order
that we can ensure that our services reflect the needs of our community.
Recent developments
We have continued to develop and invest in new buildings and services and
implemented a number of other longer term initiatives which have now come to
fruition, bringing our standards up to the level of those in other top performing mental
health organisations.
In May 2008, after more than 10 years of planning and construction, our patients
moved into the new National Centre for Mental Health: Birmingham, five weeks
ahead of schedule. This incredible £70m facility is regarded as one of the largest
mental health building projects in Europe and one that provides facilities that inspire
sensitive patient care and provide a greater sense of sanctuary.
More recently, after an investment of £1m, we opened our new women’s psychiatric
intensive care unit, which is the only one of its kind in the West Midlands.
In conjunction with our developing plans for older persons and medium secure
facilities, the combined current total investment in the patient environment is well
above £5m. Although this figure is impressive, our new ways of working and
therapies development in all of our services are key to the improvements we are now
able to provide.
WORKING FOR US
Staff Benefits
OUR STAFF ARE OUR MOST IMPORTANT ASSET AND WE WANT TO HELP YOU
MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR EMPLOYMENT, DO YOU KNOW WHAT EXTRA
BENEFITS YOU CAN ENJOY AS AN EMPLOYEE OF BSMHFT?
As a valued employee of the Trust you can access a wide range of employment
benefits-:
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Flexible Working Options
Physical Health Services (treatments include Physiotherapy, Acupuncture
and Massage)
Diet and health checks including flu vaccination programme
Child Care Vouchers
Subsidised sports facilities
Birmingham Hospital Saturday Fund membership
50 - 50 Lottery Draw
Staff Support (Counselling) Service
Reimbursement of NHS eye tests for regular users of Display Screen
Equipment
Library and information services
Tax Free Pedal Cycle Scheme.
NHS Discounts (at major High Street stores)
Spiritual Care advisory service.
Blood Donation Service during working hours.
Extensive range of Learning and Development Opportunities
Benefits as a result of the Trust's membership of the Birmingham Chamber of
Commerce
Go on take advantage of the benefits of being an employee of BSMHFT!
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Education and Development Department
This department provides education, training and development to support employee
and Trust development. The department helps staff and managers find appropriate
accredited education and training programmes that will lead to professional
qualifications and NVQs. Some of these are provided in house, others in partnership
with colleges and universities.
The Human Resources Team
We believe it is essential that our staff are kept well informed on key issues, and
have opportunities to contribute their ideas on how we can best improve services.
The Trust has a recognition agreement with Trade Unions and staff organisations,
and we are committed to ensuring that, as far as practicable, staff are consulted on
major decisions affecting their work.
By promoting high standards and a positive, flexible working environment and
culture, where staff are encouraged to balance work and home commitments, the
directorate is helping to enable a quality, caring service for users.
A major role of the team is advising on terms and conditions of service such as pay
and leave, and issues of staff management and performance. Another part of our role
is that of education - Of providing information and training, to ensure that staff are
aware of policies, procedures, good practice and compliance with current legislation.
The directorate is very much involved in many of the initiatives that the Trust has
highlighted as priorities, including the Department of Health’s Ban Bullying at Work.
Other current priorities are the distribution of the staff survey in order to establish how
staff feel about working in the Trust, and also improving the recruitment and retention
of staff.
Mental Health Act
We detain people under the Mental Health Act 1983 when necessary. Training is
provided to clinical staff who use the Act, and they are further supported by a number
of experienced Mental Health Act administrators and the Trust’s legal department.
Detained patients are able to appeal against their detentions to the Trust (nonexecutive directors and other appointed Mental Health Act managers) and the mental
health review tribunals. The Mental Health Act Commission visits the Trust regularly
to review our implementation of the Act.
Diversity
Our Trust aims to take a lead role in diversity in mental health. To achieve this aim
we intend to:
 Provide the highest standards of care to all service users by making our
services fully accessible and relevant to diverse needs.
 Incorporate the views and expertise of the community through direct
involvement, and attract people from diverse backgrounds.
 Provide opportunities for all people employed in our Trust without any age,
disability, gender, sexual orientation, religion or race barriers.
 Put in place a vigorous system to monitor all our work around equality and
develop corrective measures where needed.
 Have systems of accountability at all levels, ensuring that diversity is
everyone’s responsibility.
FIND OUT MORE
For more information about the Trust visit our website at www.bsmhft.nhs.uk or write
to us at Trust Headquarters, B1, 50 Summerhill Road, Birmingham B1 3RB
For more information about working for us contact 0121 301 1235/1257/1258
To view our current vacancies go to www.bsmhft.nhs.uk and click on working for us.