MENTALHEALTHMATTERS
www.wlmht.nhs.uk March 2010
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MENTALHEALTHMATTERS 1
CUBBON’S
trust news
CORNER
in terms of days of work lost and
cost of care.This is the strategic
context in which we are now
operating – which is very different to
even just a few years ago.
One thing that jumps out at me
in the document is the plea from
‘service users’ to be involved in
how their care is provided. This
ranges from simply being listened
to, through to structured service
user involvement in all levels of
decision-making.
If you’ve not already done it I
would like you to have a read of
the Government’s ‘New Horizons:
A Shared Vision for Mental Health’.
This document was completed
last year and an updated version
was published last month. It’s on
the Department of Health website
(www.newhorizons.dh.gov.uk)
The big change is that the
Government now recognises mental
health and wellbeing, not just as a
health concern, but as a major social
issue. We are told that no other
health condition matches mental ill
health in the combined extent of
prevalence, persistence and breadth
of impact. It’s also recognised as an
issue for our productivity as a nation,
You’ll read in MHM about our drive
to ensure we effectively involve
people using our services.This
covers everything from involving
people meaningfully in their CPA
to having a service user or carer on
interview panels. It can also mean
taking action when a service user
complains about something to
ensure it doesn’t happen again, or
making sure that feedback from the
Patient Experience Trackers informs
the decisions we make in our
inpatient areas.
For all the right reasons patient
involvement needs to be a priority
for us all. What’s also key is that the
way NHS organisations are funded,
and will be funded to a greater
extent in the future, is now linked to
how satisfied our patients are with
the care they receive.This means we
really must get it right and to do this,
we need to be clear about what our
patients want their experiences of
care with us to be like.
We’ve set up a trust wide Patient
Experience Forum which will
co-ordinate all user and carer
involvement at the Trust to make sure
it is meaningful and consistent and to
make sure feedback received informs
our direction of travel at WLMHT.
This group will co-ordinate all of our
audit material, complaints data and
feedback from service users so we
can use it at board level. There will
of course be service user and carer
representation on this forum.
At the end of last year, we launched
our first service user Christmas
card competition, which was a great
success. It generated lots of interest
and service users told us how much
they enjoyed taking part. In the spirit
of creating meaningful activities for
our service users, I’ve asked the
communications team to launch
an art competition. The artworks
will be judged, by a group including
a service user, and the best pieces
of art will be used to decorate
walls around the Trust. Look out for
more information on the Exchange
and in flyers being sent out – and
encourage the service users with
whom you work to take part.
Peter Cubbon, Chief Executive
Broadmoor redevelopment
The re-development planning process for
Broadmoor is still moving forward, under
the direction of Vickie Holcroft (pictured.)
We were asked by the Department
of Health to revisit our Outline
Business Case in light of the High
Secure Commissioners’ review of high
secure hospital services for the whole of the UK. This
review stipulated a smaller number of beds than we had
previously planned for, and this meant that we needed
to adjust the scale of our plans and costs accordingly.
These are now with the Department of Health and NHS
London for approval. If we’re successful at this stage, the
Treasury is the next stop which we hope will be before
the election. There is however a chance that we will not
get full approval until the summer.
In the meantime, we will begin the early design process.
In addition Bracknell Forest Council are proceeding with
a consultation process for their Local Development
Framework (LDF) and have already announced this to
the local press.The Broadmoor re-development is part
of this as it would provide some of the land they need to
improve local housing and amenities. This means they are
very supportive of our plans.
We remain cautiously optimistic, bearing in mind
the CQC report and its recommendations for new
infrastructure to improve patient safety and recovery.
More news when we have it.
Trust commended for
developing student nurses
The training we offer to student nurses on placement with
us has been commended by the Nursing and Midwifery
Council (NMC). They recently undertook an assessment
of our ability to provide high quality nursing placements for
students.
Says Steve Trenchard, Director of Nursing and Patient
Experience: “This is really good news for our student
nurses and I’d like specifically to thank the very many
unsung mentors around the Trust who consistently work
hard to achieve a quality learning environment for our
students.There has been a phenomenal amount of energy
put into the development of students by our nurses and
for this I am grateful. Well done!”
At any one time we have around 300 student nurses
on three year placements at the Trust from Bucks New
University and Thames Valley University.
Editorial team
Mental Health Matters is written for staff, at
West London Mental Health NHS Trust, by
the Communications team. We’d love you to
contact us if you have any news or views for
inclusion in the magazine.
Email us at [email protected]
2 MENTALHEALTHMATTERS
Editor
Tara Ferguson Jones
[email protected]
Telephone: 020 8483 2283
Editorial assistant
Alison Nunan
[email protected]
Telephone: 020 8354 8737
Medicines information
The NMC visited Hounslow and Hammersmith & Fulham
SDUs. Sandra Bailey, Head of Nursing in Hammersmith
& Fulham said: “We had the privilege of a visit from the
NMC last week.The reviewer who visited H&F met with
staff and students and was very pleased with the work
being undertaken and the level of commitment to preregistration learning in partnership with the universities.
We are very pleased with the outcome of the review and
would like to thank all those who were involved for their
contribution in making the visit a success.”
Did you know, information leaflets on 32 medicines
prescribed for adults with mental illness are filed
on the Exchange for you to print off and give out
when you need them? Go to homepage / clinical
toolkit / managing medicines / information for
patients.These leaflets are available in a number of
different languages, from Albanian to Urdu in the
same folder, and if you work with children you will
see there are leaflets specifically for them too.
If you have access to the internet you might want
to have a look at www.choiceandmedication.org.
uk, which is a high quality source of information
about mental illnesses and their treatment, for
people who use services, carers and professionals.
As always the pharmacy team is available to
provide medicines information and for advice on
clozapine, contact the clozapine clinic nurse in the
SDU, who also has access to a DVD on clozapine,
which has been put together for patients, carers
and professionals.
MENTALHEALTHMATTERS 3
BOARD TALK
Ruth Lewis is our new Director of Organisational Development (OD) and Workforce
Ruth joined the NHS from Jewish Care (JC), the
largest health and social care provider to the Jewish
community in South East England. The only nonJewish director, Ruth applied her business acumen to
addressing rising operational deficits in the charity.
Numerous services were provided by the charity
including day centres, residential care and housing
for people suffering from mental health, learning
difficulties or disability.
Prior to that, Ruth was the Recruitment Director
at VSO (Voluntary Service Overseas). There she
streamlined processes and initiated a major
culture change programme. The aim of this was to
improve relationships with the charity’s volunteers,
enabling cheaper recruitment and better volunteer
engagement after their placements in developing
countries.
Why have you chosen to come and work here?
I’ve been in the NHS since 2005, but have not
worked directly in a mental health trust, so was
attracted by the prospect of working in a different
area of the health service. JC sparked my interest in
mental health and my mother had dementia until
her death earlier this year. Also, I live within striking
distance of my new base, only 8.5 miles away! I was
aware of the Trust’s CQC report and felt that the role
would present a worthwhile challenge as well as a
great opportunity to make a difference.
4 MENTALHEALTHMATTERS
”
Following a degree in social administration and
social policy, Ruth joined British Airways’ graduate
training programme. Twenty one years in the airline
followed, largely in human resources, training and
organisation development roles. While at BA, Ruth
gained a masters in organisation development whilst
sponsored to study in the United States.
This is the first time we’ve had an OD lead on the
Board. What exactly is OD?
Organisational development is a holistic and
systematic approach to driving improvement in
the outputs an organisation wants. Based on the
behavioural sciences, it starts with research involving
people within the organisation. The research
results in a diagnostic that is fed back to the earlier
participants. This then leads to generating ideas for
improvement, prioritisation and documented action
plans. Very often these processes are facilitated by
OD consultants - either internal or external. The
diagnostic looks at every aspect of ‘how we do things
around here’ – strategies, communication, policies,
processes, procedures, systems, attitudes, values and
behaviours. There are always areas for improvement,
but building on strengths is just as important as
addressing deficits.
Organisational development
is a holistic and systematic approach
to driving improvement in the
outputs an organisation wants.
Based on the behavioural sciences,
it starts with research involving
people within the organisation.
”
What are your priorities?
I’ve been getting out to meet colleagues and there
are many more to meet and listen to as part of my
induction and data gathering exercise. I’m already
hearing what we need to build on and where help
might be needed to improve things. I’ve already
been directed to the hot spots such as recruitment,
PDRs (appraisals) and mandatory training, which
are fundamental to delivering high quality care and
satisfying our regulators - not to mention keeping
our insurance premiums down so that we can spend
more on front line provision.
I’ll be working with Peter Cubbon and the senior
team to ensure we have clarity amongst the
leadership about where we are going and the key
workstreams needed to get there. We need to
communicate our aspirations and discuss them
with colleagues so that everyone in the Trust feels
enthusiastic about their part and understands how
everything fits together. Another priority will be
ensuring alignment in workstreams so that we
maximise the outputs from our limited resources,
especially as there will be increasing pressure on the
public purse.
To ensure that we all contribute effectively to
the Trust’s objectives we need to strengthen
the individual performance management and
development processes. My team has already been
reviewing the PDR process to simplify it. Having
quality dialogue during the PDR process, to jointly
identify how to do things better and determine
what development would support improvement or
progression, is key to retaining talented people and
increasing overall capability and capacity.
So, I’ll be looking closely at all our processes to see
what might be done to improve things. Revisions
to policies or processes will be made with line
management and staffside involvement, as this will
be a collaborative effort to shape all our futures and
to better support our patients. I invite any member
of staff to give me their thoughts on what helps and
hinders us in our endeavour to give personalised
high quality care.
Describe yourself in four words?
Energetic, supportive, challenging, straight-talking.
What are your hopes for the Trust?
I hope that the overwhelming majority of WLMHT
staff, patients and carers will speak positively about
the Trust so that we readily attract talented colleagues
and increase our share of the commissioners’
business – thus creating a virtuous circle. Through
appropriate development activities that help us
to deliver our objectives, I hope we retain good
people and increase the overall capability of the
organisation. Part of building a supportive culture
that encourages development involves working to
ensure that poor performance is identified early
”
Ruth joined the Trust last month, from Kingston
Hospital where she has been Director of Workforce
& OD for two years. Her previous NHS roles
include Director of Productivity through People
for South West London SHA and the Director of
HR & OD for Mayday Hospital in Croydon.
This approach makes for a
high performing organisation which
every one of us would be proud to
recommend to our loved ones, family,
friends and neighbours – either for
future employment or care.
”
and addressed – relevant support will be provided
to ensure we all continuously improve. However,
none of us should have to carry poor performers and
finding alternative roles that better fit the skills of
the individual, or helping them to move outside the
organisation will be necessary. This approach makes
for a high performing organisation which every one
of us would be proud to recommend to our loved
ones, family, friends and neighbours – either for
future employment or care.
What three things would you put in your Room 101?
• Tripe – boiled it for nearly 24 hours and it still
wasn’t edible
• Hot pants – don’t suit most women, me included
• The video-recorder – still don’t know how to
programme it and never have time to watch TV let
alone recorded items!
What do you like doing when you’re not at work?
Aerobics, walking, spending time with my husband
Steve, our families and friends.
What’s the best piece of advice you have been given?
Don’t stick in your comfort zone – you can do more
than you realise.
MENTALHEALTHMATTERS 5
From the left is: Adrian March, Joe Kelly, Lorraine Bacon, John Viner, Michelle Monrose and Jackie Lesser.
Patients are the experts
Report by Sue Cumming, PPI lead and Steve Trenchard, Director of Nursing and Patient Experience
Ensuring the effective involvement
of people using services (whether
a patient or their carers/families/
friend) isn’t about ticking a box or
doing something because it ‘looks
good’ or because it is a target. It
is soon to be a core requirement
of all service delivery and all NHS
and independent providers will be
assessed on this area as part of the
new ‘Essential Standards of Quality
and Safety,’ from the Care Quality
Commission (CQC).
This new legislation says that we
must involve service users and their
carers and that this must be realtime, focusing on their experiences
and satisfaction as well as providing
demonstrable outcomes arising
from care with the service. Here
at WLMHT we believe that
involvement is about harnessing
the expert experience of people
using services and their family and
friends so that we can learn from this
contact and improve services.
Think of a time that you went to
your GP or a hospital department
- as the person experiencing the
service first hand you will have
been in the best position to give
feedback on how that service was
experienced and importantly offer
ideas on how it could be improved.
It may have been about the
environment, the information you
received before you were seen, or
other improvements such as seating
arrangements, attitudes of staff or
directions on how to get there on
time.This is just the type of expert
experience feedback we are seeking
from those that use our services.
The Trust has a strategy for both
service user and carer involvement.
We are now developing more
robust arrangements to make sure
information is being shared from our
wards to the Board.This includes
reporting the information from
Patient Experience Trackers (PET’s)
to the Board, and working to make
sure the patient experience is at the
heart of all we do. Feedback from
PET’s will be going back to wards
and local actions should be agreed
within ward communities to address
concerns, as well as celebrate local
successes. We are also continuing to
provide training on service user and
carer involvement across the Trust
sites and this is publicised through
Training Matters.
Service user monitoring
A group of service users from the
Ealing User Involvement project,
‘Loud and Clear’, have set up a
group, which meets once a week,
to monitor the experiences of
inpatients in the John Conolly
Wing.They go onto the wards,
in pairs and ask service users, to
fill in questionnaires about their
experiences on the ward. So far, the
team has produced three reports
which provide general conclusions
and ward by ward analysis on
staff attitude, care and ward
6 MENTALHEALTHMATTERS
Leeanne McGee
Executive Director of High Secure
Services at Broadmoor Hospital
Why Broadmoor?
Opportunities like this do not come along very
often, so when I heard about the vacancy, I leapt
at the chance to apply to come here and lead the
team to bring Broadmoor back to the fore of forensic
psychiatry. It’s a service I understand as I’ve worked
in both high and medium secure services before.
Where else have you worked?
My last role was Borough Director of Adult Mental
health Services in Tower Hamlets at East London
Foundation Trust, where I had worked for just over
three years. I’ve worked in adult psychiatry and
forensic services for over 20 years. I’ve also managed
medium secure services in Hackney and managed
PD, DSPD and mental health services at Rampton
hospital where I worked for six years. By background
I am a registered mental health and general nurse
and still miss the patient contact from my days
working on the wards.
First impressions?
I’ve been very impressed by the committed staff
I have met so far and I’ve been made to feel very
welcome. I get the impression that many staff
environment. During the course
of the year they will produce three
more reports and final conclusions.
Mike Loosley, who manages the
project says: “The group has been
totally professional as if carrying
out an audit. As a result of this
project, we are already seeing
a difference. There has been a
marked improvement in raising
the standards, as suggestions that
have come out of the survey
have been put into an action plan
and implemented. For example,
Introducing
all patients now have ‘protected
time’ slots with their nurse.
Another change is that water is
now more readily available for
anyone who needs it. This activity
empowers both service users
who are asking the questions and
those who are responding.”
in the hospital welcome the change process
already underway at the Trust. Both patients and
staff have told me how very keen they are for the
Broadmoor site to be redeveloped so that the
environment is better for patients and care teams.
It’s really important that the confidence of external
agencies like commissioners, carers and NHS
London is maintained so that we can progress the
redevelopment of the site so everyone benefits.
Immediate priorities?
Seeing through the reconfiguration of services at
Broadmoor Hospital and managing it safely for
patients and staff. Improving confidence in the
hospital and its services.
Your management style?
I’m a great believer in being open and honest with
people in all communications. I have an open door
policy, as I understand the importance of two-way
dialogue. I want staff to come and see me if they
have ideas or issues to discuss and I’ll be out and
about regularly, day and night, meeting the staff and
trying to put as many names to faces as possible.
You told us - we’ve listened
Staff at Broadmoor told us in
surveys that they wanted easier
access to refreshment facilities
in their working environment.
So the Trust Board has approved
a new staff restaurant at
Broadmoor. Currently, staff have
to go ‘outside the walls’ of the
hospital to eat or drink, which
can be inconvenient. The new
restaurant will be within the
secure perimeter so staff can
make better use of their time off
the wards. Within the new facility
you will be able to access hot and
cold food when the restaurant
is closed. The existing restaurant
will be used for meeting rooms
and enhanced L&D facilities.
MENTALHEALTHMATTERS 7
Improving service
user experiences
Annual nursing conference
Nurses from all areas of the Trust,
and for the first time a number of
our service users, attended this year’s
nursing conference. Director of
Nursing and Patient Experience, Steve
Trenchard co-chaired the conference
with Jules Tennick, a user of our
services in Ealing.
Jules says: “I think it was a positive
move forward for the Trust to
have a service user co-chairing the
conference. It gave a positive image
of the abilities of service users, it was
good for my own confidence and it
was a pleasure to be asked to do this.”
focused on improving the service
user experience. It gave us a great
opportunity to hear from and learn
from experts in the field (both staff
and patients).
Steve Trenchard adds: “The service
user experience is now recognised
as one of the three critical elements
of quality.This is one of the reasons
I was pleased that our conference
“Key messages of the day were
the importance of feeling valued
and to celebrate what works well,
and then celebrate it again! Also
to remove wherever possible any
Time to care at the conference
The nursing conference
highlighted how Time
to Care is improving
patients’ experience.
Carol Scott, Deputy
Director of Nursing,
introduced the Time to
Care concept by explaining its overall aim: to improve
patients’ experience and therapeutic relationships by
increasing the amount of time nurses have to dedicate
to direct patient care.This is achieved through a range of
activities that fall under the umbrella of Time to Care.
Diane Wiles, Head
of Nursing for Ealing
SDU, illustrated the
entire Time to Care
programme in action,
highlighting the fantastic
achievements made in
8 MENTALHEALTHMATTERS
Ealing inpatient services. Joe Ayres from Broadmoor
hospital demonstrated ways in which wards have
delivered meaningful therapeutic activities through the
Star Wards programme.
An Ealing service user gave a heart-warming speech
and poetry recital, and emphasised the importance this
therapeutic activity played in his recovery.
Sandra Bailey, Head of Nursing for H&F and Bernie
Collins from the Diversity Unit each discussed Activity
Follows and Respect and Responsibility workshops
respectively, updating the audience on forthcoming
plans and highlighting their importance in improving
patient experience.
The Time to Care project team is now
working to develop a project implementation
plan. If you want any information please
contact the project team on x 8464 or 2003.
sense of ‘us and them’ in all of our
communication and interactions –
with each other, with people using
our services and with their friends
and families. A powerful message for
me from a number of workshops
and presentations was the need for
all staff to have positive attitudes that
support optimism and create hope
inspiring relationships.”
Tracey McErlain – Burns, Chief Nurse
and Director of Patient Experience
from The Mid Yorkshire Hospitals
NHS Trust spoke about identifying,
measuring and improving patient
care.The Trust she works for has
been through similar challenges to
those we are facing here. She spoke
about her experiences of fulfilling
‘ward to board’ responsibilities
for capturing and understanding
patient experience. She shared
her reflections on working in a
Trust where change happened and
standards of care improved as a
result of a real focus on the patient
experience.
Kath Lovell and Andy Brooker who
work for Emergence, an organisation
which works to improve experiences
for people with personality disorder,
spoke about the evolving nature of
nursing patients with PD.They spoke
about the importance of consulting
patients and involving them to inform
service delivery and improve it.
There was also a presentation on
Time to Care at West London
Mental Health Trust and how
this is improving the service
user experience. A number of
workshops were held during the
day. For example, there was one
in which some of our forensic
service users shared their thoughts
on recovery. In others staff shared
the work they had done to use
feedback from service users to
improve care. There was also a
session on working with service
users to recruit staff at the Trust.
In summing up the day Steve said:
“Nurses at the Trust gave a very
clear message on the day that the
patient experience is at the very
heart of everything we do.The
conversations throughout the day
were characterised by a sense of
humility, compassion and honesty.
The day gave us the opportunity
to reflect on and explore the
complexities of delivering and
receiving mental health care.”
Comments from the day include:
“It was good to have service
users with us today. It would
be good to include some carers
too, the next time we have a
conference.”
“It was a fulfilling and
informative event.”
“I think we should encourage
more front-line staff to attend
the next time.”
“Thank-you to all the service users
who participated – well done!”
“It was good day. I learnt a lot
and will go away and share it
with others.”
MENTALHEALTHMATTERS 9
New primary health
care service for
West London Forensic
Broadmoor facilities team includes: Eileen Slater, Jill Sharman, Clay Ryan, Jacqui Trueman, Dawn Howcroft, Alan Lane, Belinda Huse, Katrina Elder and Claire Webb.
The Changing Face of
Estates and Facilities
Report from Barbara Wood, Director of Estates and Facilities
Over the past year we have been
making significant changes in our
department to enable us to offer
the highest levels of service possible
to patients and staff across the
Trust.We still have lots more work
to do, but this is a summary of the
highlights so far.
Last year, at Broadmoor Hospital,
we set up our Estates and Facilities
Modernisation Group. This group
was established to bring together, staff
side representatives, management
and clinical staff to jointly take
forward the modernisation of the
E & F Department. As a result of
this group we have made significant
changes to the maintenance and
domestic departments so that
we are now providing high quality,
responsive services to the whole
hospital. The domestic department
structure is now based on teams
at ward level managed locally by
Facilities Coordinators to ensure
we respond to the needs of the
patients and provide leadership to the
teams to ensure there is a consistent
focus on performance. We will be
developing performance indicators
to demonstrate our intention to
continually improve standards.
All of our Broadmoor domestic
staff will be undertaking a nationally
recognised cleanliness qualification
over the next few months so that
standards of cleanliness and infection
control are brought in line with
10 MENTALHEALTHMATTERS
the NPSA National Standards of
Cleanliness.
A great deal of change has also been
happening at the London end of
the Trust too. For example, in Ealing
we’ve introduced E & F Building
Co-ordinators who are responsible
for managing maintenance and
minor new works.There are four
co-ordinators who each have
responsibility for a particular area
and they are the first port of call
if anything goes wrong.They work
closely with clinical staff to assess their
maintenance needs and organise
for the appropriate works to be
carried out. The value of this role
was recently demonstrated by the
co-ordination of over 1,000 pieces
of work in six weeks within John
Connoly Wing to improve the patient
environment.
In addition to the Building
Coordinators, the Estates & Facilities
Team can now be identified by
their distinctive blue jackets which
differentiate them from the other
contractors operating on the Ealing
site (modelled on the “Green Men”
of Broadmoor).
John Scully, Trade Supervisor, Terry Sandford and
Bertie Nota, Maintenance Coordinators.
If you have suggestions for
further improvements you
would like to see please contact
[email protected]
The Housekeeper role was piloted in
Ealing last year and through audit we
know their role is making a difference.
They are a first port of call for ward
managers when something goes
wrong on a ward and are responsible
for making sure all estates and facilities
issues are dealt with in their area
quickly.The Environmental Health
Officers from the London Borough
of Ealing recently welcomed the
positive impact these postholders
have had on the wards.
Domestic staff in all of the London
SDUs have been trained to the new
National Standards of Cleanliness,
they have better equipment than
before and we have enhanced the
cleaning products they are using.
We have also been working with
an external agency to deep clean
all of our inpatient areas, and were
commended recently by the CQC
for the difference this is making to the
experiences of patients on our wards.
We will also soon be introducing a
new hand held auditing tool which
will help audit levels of cleanliness on
the wards, to help us identify areas
which are not being cleaned properly
so we can take action to put it right.
These hand held audit tools will also
gather patient feedback on their ward
environment helping us to deliver a
patient focused service. Staff are also
taking a real pride in their improved
environments and E & F services have
never been busier!
In collaboration with Harmoni for Health,
the West London Forensic Service has
established a new and comprehensive
primary health care service which came
into operation at the start of February. It
is based in the Tony Hillis wing at Ealing in
what used to be Baron 2 ward.
Every inpatient in the SDU now has quick and easy
access to a full range of primary care services as they
would if they were living in the community.
A patient in Tony Hillis wing said:“The clinic will make it
much quicker for us to see a GP and it will save lots of
time on the wards, as we’re all escorted to appointments.
Before we had to go to Ealing Hospital, so this new
arrangement will make a real difference.The waiting area
is also much better in the new clinic.”
The clinic will be run by a GP and nurse team, with visits
from other health professionals including a chiropodist,
optician, physiotherapist, dietitian and pharmacist. Clinics
will be held in three primary care suites situated in
each secure building on the Ealing site.The suites are
the Primary Healthcare Centre in the Tony Hillis Wing,
Orchard Primary Healthcare Centre and the Rainbow
Primary Health Centre (RSU).The service will also
extend to the wards in the event of patients being too ill
to attend a clinic.
Members of the primary care team, from the left: Gina Hillis, Senior
Nurse Manager and GPs, Dr Naz Asghar and Dr James Whitticase.
Gina Hillis, Senior Nurse Manager says:“I am really
excited to be working in this new service which is
long overdue. Our patients need to have easy access
to primary care, as their physical health is often
compromised due to the effects of the medicines they
are on, the repetitive nature of their diets and a lack of
exercise.We are providing this new service to patients,
to help aid their recovery and improve the quality of
their lives.”
For more information
call x2220 (020 8483 2220)
Physical healthcare training
Staff from Ealing and Hammersmith
& Fulham SDUs recently attended
‘The Psychological Aspects of
Physical Illness’, a health psychology
in- service training programme to
help them become more aware and
knowledgeable about physical health
problems amongst our service users.
Dr Pooja Sharma, Chartered Clinical
Psychologist who organised this
training programme says:“It has been
a very useful learning experience
for the staff who have been able to
attend these sessions and helps us as
professionals use this knowledge in
our clinical practise.”
From the left (front row) Dr Sarwat Nauroze, Dr Urmila Pillay, Prof John Weinman, Dr Pooja Sharma,
Nuria Bara-Carril and Dr Yvonne McCulloch. (Middle) Dr Abel Koshy, Richard McLeod, Angela Manning, Dr
Manisha Desai, Dr Kushangi Patel and Anupama Sekhar. ( Back) Tara-Jane Clark and Mishael Soremekun.
MENTALHEALTHMATTERS 11
local NEWS
Makeover
Car valeting services, run by service users as part of work
rehabilitation on the St Bernard’s site, have had their facilities
upgraded. Christiana Joseph, Head of Work Rehabilitation says:
“By increasing the capacity of the unit for our customers we are now
able to offer morning and afternoon sessions. The improvements
provide a better working environment for team workers and staff
and customers are impressed by the professionalism of the service.”
Why not book your car in for a clean today! A full wash, wax and
dry costs £5 and to have your car cleaned inside and out is £10.
To book, call 020 8354 8530.
Godfrey Quiambao, Work Supervisor
Godfrey Quiambao, Harpal Dhaliwal, Jogginder
Mattu and Trevor Arueyingho
Contact centre goes live!
Placing service user
experience at the heart of
everything we do at West
London Forensic Services
A service user experience forum has
been established at West London
Forensic Services. Anne Aiyegbusi, Head
of Nursing who chairs the discussion
says: “The purpose of our forum is to coordinate all of the feedback we receive
from services users and carers, including
complaints, community meetings,
advocacy, user and carer forums.
“We have also been using the forum
to prepare for the introduction of the
PETs and a forensic user survey which
will provide further feedback about
users’ experience of our services. We
have ten services users who attend and
we’re trying to recruit some carers too.
Our intention is to ensure experience
is captured and employed to improve
services effectively and in a timely way.”
Hammersmith & Fulham
A staff consultation is underway in Hammersmith
& Fulham about proposed changes to community
services which would create a single assessment and
short-term treatment function for the SDU, based in
the Claybrook Centre. Correspondingly, two recovery
teams would be created – north and south.
This development is part of a transformation
programme which aims to move from generic teams
based on geography to functional services that provide
a more consistent approach for people across the
borough. It follows the successful merger of areas 3
and 4 community mental health teams into one unit,
providing assessment and recovery functions for the
south of the borough.
Potential benefits of the proposed configuration include:
• Greater efficiency by reducing the number of
duplications of assessment.
12 MENTALHEALTHMATTERS
• The opportunity to provide higher levels of
expertise consistently for all service users.
• A clearer pathway for GPs and other referrers into
the service.
• Targeted, faster and more responsive care.
Work is also ongoing in the inpatient unit, where a
refurbished child visiting suite was officially opened on 8
March. Wards in the unit are reconfiguring to create a
new admission ward and two recovery wards on 12 April.
Targeted resources of a housing and social worker will be
attached to the admission ward with the aim of working
on practical discharge planning at the point of admission.
Patients who need a stay of more than two weeks
will move to a recovery ward where the focus of the
environment will be much calmer than a generic acute
ward and will support enhanced discharge planning for
those who need recovery based support.
020 8354 8354
After months of planning,
our new Contact Centre will
open for business on 1 April.
The Contact Centre Team
Until now, calls into the trust’s main telephone number
have been answered by Ealing Hospital’s switchboard
team. All calls will now go through to one central number
within the new contact centre to be answered by one
of our operators.The reason for bringing the service ‘inhouse’ is that calls will now be answered by people with
strong local knowledge of our services, calls will be dealt
with more quickly and effectively and in the longer term
it will save the Trust money. A huge benefit is that the
centre will operate 24/7 so there will always be someone
there to pick up on the phone and offer assistance.
Our new Contact Centre team is managed by Carol
Dinham-Tracy. She says: “My team has been through
extensive training to help them get to grips with the
Trust. We’ve spoken to the current operators at length
to understand the types of calls to expect and how we
should deal with them. Our training programme even
included bus visits to all trust sites and ward locations, to
help us understand the geography of the place, to meet
staff and to find out how services are run.”
Telephone calls currently answered by other sites of the
Trust will be moved into the Contact Centre, through
time, if in the best interests of patients, carers and other
callers.The Contact Centre project team is now meeting
with SDU representatives from across the Trust to take
this, the next stage of the project forward.
(Cover) Lovena Ceniza, Contact Centre Operator
Helpdesks
The call centre will take over responsibility for our
Estates and Facilities Helpdesk and ICT Servicedesk.
As with other calls, these will be dealt with
consistently and more effectively than in the past.
X8787 Estates and facilities helpdesk
(Note: from 1 April, all Trust staff should phone x8787
to contact Estates and Facilities.The x4444 number in
use at Broadmoor, will no longer be used.)
X4600 IM&T helpdesk
Emergencies
Systems are also in place for the Contact Centre
team to deal with fire alerts. This means they will be
responsible for getting the emergency services out
to sites promptly when there is an alert. The team
also has a list of duty rotas for the Crisis Resolution
Teams. Options for the future will include central
numbers for specific campaigns, DNA chasing and
lone working monitoring.
The Contact Centre staff will use
the Exchange for seeking telephone
numbers. Please remember it is your
responsibility to keep this information
up to date. Select ‘update your details’
on the homepage of the Exchange.
MENTALHEALTHMATTERS 13
The good and bad
of mental health
A service user from West London forensic services,
told his story at our recent nursing conference.
“I came here from prison, and had
no idea at all what to expect. I had
no insight into the fact that I was
mentally ill and in my depressed
state I decided to take my life by
going on hunger strike.
My ward round was on a Tuesday. I
was always full of hope on a Monday
night. But instead of some sort of
plan for the future, all I got was
questions about my illness and my
past. Later, I started to realise that
it wasn’t that bad. I could phone my
family when I wanted to.
The worst experience for me
was hearing voices. I had had bad
experiences up until then, but that
was something else. I was angry
because even though I tried, I don’t
think the nurses understood what
I was going through. My other bad
experience was that I wanted to
sleep all day.
After the first year, life started to
improve and it would carry on
improving until this day. I started
work rehab (picture framing). I
began doing art, which gave me lots
of satisfaction, and I even made a
good friend on the ward. One day I
was told I was moving to Rollo May
ward - yes!!
From my experience I had learned
that it takes time to settle and
get used to a new place. On the
previous ward my attendance at
activities had been poor; sometimes
14 MENTALHEALTHMATTERS
I would sleep all day. So coming
to Rollo May ward I knew that I’d
better try doing my absolute best.
I re-discovered my artistic touch
and did lots of drawings.That and
reading kept me sane. I’d realised
the importance of having hobbies.
Art is something I want to make a
career of.
..............................................
“Over the years I’ve tried
a number of medicines,
but the one which has
worked is Clozapine, as
I no longer hear voices.
And it’s been like that
now for three years... It’s
supposed to make you
put on weight, but that’s
not been a problem for
me as I exercise and use
the gym regularly. ”
..............................................
The most important thing on Rollo
May ward was plan of the day
meeting at 9.30am each day. I really
must thank the staff, in particular
Mary, the Activities Co-ordinator,
who got me off to a good start on
the ward. My time on the ward
has been like a steady climb up
a mountain and I feel like I am
almost at the top. I’ve been given
responsibilities like being the ward
rep in various meetings, such as the
user forum.
Over the years I’ve tried a number
of medicines, but the one which
has worked is Clozapine, as I no
longer hear voices.And it’s been
like that now for three years.The
doctors have said that I’ll be taking
it for life. It’s supposed to make you
put on weight, but that’s not been
a problem for me as I exercise and
use the gym regularly.
My experience on Rollo May has
got better and better.You get out,
what you put in. If you work hard,
comply with the treatment you reap
the rewards. Rollo May is a settled
ward, most of the service users
are settled. But I have met some
very, very ill people along the way.
But I empathise with them, and feel
fortunate myself, as some of those
guys do not have any family.They
have no-one. Family support has
helped me to get through this.
Eventually I was granted town leave,
which gave me the incentive to work
harder. I was happier than I’ve ever
been. It’s a good feeling to know that
you are settled and that the nurses
trust you.
As a final word, it’s hard for me to
give any advice.We all have our own
circumstances, history, strengths
and weaknesses. It’s been good for
me to talk about my experiences in
the system and I’ll be hoping that
it helps just one person who has
heard my story.”
From the left is: Gillian Sichau, Occupational Therapist, Scott Russell from First Step Trust and Christian Robertson, Occupational Therapist.
Work Matters
at Broadmoor
Staff from Broadmoor
Hospital’s, high dependency
OT service rolled up their
sleeves and with First Step
Trust (FST), redecorated
Oxford ward.
What was different was that staff
and patients worked together
on this project.This was the start
of a new initiative called ‘Work
Matters’ designed to give access
to employment and training
opportunities to high dependency
patients in Broadmoor. Due to risk
and fluctuating mental health, this
group has traditionally found it difficult
to access vocational services within
the hospital.
“Work Matters provides an
opportunity to break the cycle of
social exclusion and gives service users
a chance to access ‘a bubble of reality’
within the hospital,” says Christian
Robertson, an OT involved in the
project. “It gives people a chance to
refresh their skills and take ownership
of getting the job done. In the long
term work can support them to
find an identity outside of their illness
with the hope that eventually they
may be able to gain some form of
employment on discharge.”
The initiative is the result of close
work between FST and the high
dependency OT team run by Gillian
Sichau. FST is a national charity
bringing work opportunities to
people with mental health conditions
who have been excluded from the
workplace. “We’re not clinicians
- our aim is to complement their
intervention by providing access to
real work with real expectations.The
principles that underline the recovery
model are based on hope and the
difficulty in a secure hospital is that
people lose hope and this is where
we can be of use,” says Ronnie Wilson,
MBE, Chief Executive of FST.
FST Berkshire was set up in
Broadmoor Hospital in 1999 following
a feasibility study funded by the
Sainsbury’s Centre for Mental Health.
“All our projects are run as small
businesses. Service users become
part of the workforce working
alongside salaried staff as colleagues
delivering a service,” says Ronnie.
As with everything FST does, even
the feasibility report was produced
with patient involvement. “We
support people to learn to deal with
the pressures, responsibilities and
obligations of working life.”
“Gillian and her team have been
fantastic.They understand the
philosophy of FST and like the fact that
we provide ‘real’ work for people.They
are constantly referring potential new
workforce members to us,” says Scott
Russell, of FST Berkshire.
About First Step Trust
FST has 13 projects in London,
Midlands and North West in
both community and secure
settings. It has gained national
recognition for its contribution
to policy around work and
mental health. FST contributed to
‘Mental Health and Work’ Dame
Carol Black’s Report in 2008 and
recently the Perkins’ Review.
FST Berkshire’s business services
include painting and decorating,
grounds maintenance and
contract cleaning.They also
offer a print and design service
including promotional and
marketing goods.The project
produces posters, leaflets
and brochures for individual
customers and organisations.
Call 01344 754370, email Scott.
[email protected] or visit
www.firststeptrust.org.uk
MENTALHEALTHMATTERS 15
Clare mema
Connexions Adviser
As a Connexions Adviser based at Hounslow
CAMHS, Clare occupies a unique role within the
CAMHS team. Clare has worked alongside colleagues
from the Adolescent Team at CAMHS, now based in
the Heart of Hounslow polyclinic, since 2006.
She works with 15 - 20 young people who have
expressed a desire to continue with their education,
start a training course, find employment or look
into volunteering opportunities to develop their
skills and build self confidence. Clare supports
young people access suitable opportunities and gives
information and advice on options, goal setting and
action planning.
“I experienced depression as a teenager and went
onto complete my degree in psychology before
entering the workforce, so I feel I can relate to many
of the young people I meet. It is extremely rewarding
to help a young person move forward and take such
positive steps in their lives.
“I have worked with some inspirational young people
who have had a difficult time overcoming their mental
health problems. As you can imagine, our young
service users often have a disrupted education and
it takes commitment and courage to pick it up again.
Back row, from the left: Andy Jacques, Service Manager, Dr Ian Nnatu, Consultant Psychiatrist, Dr Kevin Morgan, SPR, Amaya Zubimendi, Staff Nurse and Patricia John,
ECT Nurse. Front row: Dr Rachel Kirya, Dr Maggie Stanford, Anaesthetist, Raj Sookhy, ECT Lead, Maureen Sullivan, Assistant Anaesthetist and Estevao Garcia, Domestic
One young man I am currently working with, went
back to college after being virtually housebound for
almost two years. He gained his GCSE’s and A levels
and is now applying to universities.
“For another of our service users, I helped to make
the whole process of going to college less intimidating
by breaking it down into manageable stages. Before
her course started, we travelled to the college
together and had a look around, so she was familiar
with both the journey and the college environment.
I liaised with support staff at the college, to make
sure she had appropriate support. I continued to be a
point of contact for her until she felt comfortable and
settled on her course.”
Making recovery work
– vocational services in Hammersmith & Fulham
Research suggests that less than
half of employers would consider
employing someone with a
known mental health issue. As a
result, people with mental health
problems have the highest levels of
unemployment among any disabled
group, and yet often have the greatest
desire to work.
In Hammersmith & Fulham, a small
team of specialist occupational
therapists and voluntary sector
employment advisors has been
16 MENTALHEALTHMATTERS
brought together to help people
maintain or find employment as part
of their overall recovery.
referrals from across the mental
heath service, both community and
in-patients.
Manager Martin Morgan says:
“It’s pretty unique to have a team
of NHS and voluntary sector
vocational workers that is centrally
commissioned by the PCT. It’s a very
real partnership that we hope will
benefit service users.”
“Work can play an important part in
someone’s overall recovery. As well
as building confidence and instilling
a feeling of achievement, a lot of our
social networks are built up at work.
Ruth Seargeant is the lead clinical
vocational specialist for the team. She
and colleague Lorna Wynter receive
“If people are already in employment,
it’s vital that we keep that connection
and help them to stay in work.
This might mean speaking to their
employer about ways they can
Excellence award for Ealing ECT clinic
The ECT Clinic in John Conolly wing, has been rated
excellent by the ECT Accreditation Service (ECTAS),
following a rigorous approval exercise. The first phase
was a period of self review during which several
audits were carried out, and questionnaires were sent
to patients and staff. All data were then submitted
to ECTAS. This self review period was followed by
the external peer review visit by a team comprising
a consultant psychiatrist, consultant anaesthetist and
ECT lead nurse, all from other NHS trusts. The final
peer review report noted the following comments:
‘enthusiastic team……… excellent environment……..
provide support or make reasonable
adjustments to make the return to
work easier if an employee has to
take time off.”
The service also helps people
who are looking for work by
signposting them to relevant
agencies, such as Job Centre Plus,
and helping to build up their self
esteem. Most of the support is
one to one, but there is also a ten
week employment support group
to help people with goal setting,
stress management, team work
and dealing with anxiety. They
can then go on to receive more
individualised help if needed.
staff training up to date.’ Dr Ian Nnatu, the ECT lead
consultant said: “Everybody had to work really hard
to prepare for the peer review visit and so it was
very rewarding for the clinic to be given an excellent
accreditation. We hope that this rating will assure our
patients and referrers, that the clinic not only meets
excellent standards, but continues to strive for further
improvement.”
Mary McCaffrey, Sector Manager adds: “Well done
to Raj Sookhy and all those involved in making this a
huge success.”
A large part of the team’s role is
educating employers about creating
a supportive work environment that
will ultimately help them to retain
valuable staff. Despite a slow shift
in people’s attitudes, it can still be a
challenge to find employers who are
willing to take people on for work
experience.
Employment Advisor, Mohamed
Sylla, explains: “Many people need
to be eased into employment and it
would be great if more employers
were open to supporting people
in this way. If people don’t have any
real work experience, we can also
look into their background and
life experience. Being able to help
someone to turn their life around in
this way is priceless.”
Martin agrees, “The focus is always on
the individual, how we can help them
to get better, to get to where they
want to be. It’s about recovery in
the most real sense – aspiration and
hope for a better future.”
To find out more about
the vocational services
available in Hammersmith
& Fulham SDU, contact
Martin Morgan or
Ruth Seargeant.
MENTALHEALTHMATTERS 17
A life in the day: Stephen Urry
Acting Ward Manager, Beverley Ward
Winner of the Unsung Hero – Clinical award – Quality Awards
Though I spent 13 years in the
Royal Air Force, I have always
wanted to be in a caring profession
and was especially intrigued by
mental health nursing since it is an
area people often shy away from.
While my former RAF career is
behind me, it still helps me deal
with my early starts. My alarm
promptly goes off at 5.30am but
more often than not it’s my two
year old son who wakes me up.
I stumble out of bed bleary eyed
and wander downstairs to put the
kettle on for a cup of coffee.
In the car, I switch on Chris Moyles
and start the 20 mile drive into
work from High Wycombe. I try
to arrive for 8am but inevitably it
is closer to 8.30am by the time I
get in. Life on the ward is so varied;
no one day is the same. But this is
what I enjoy most about my job.
Once I get in, I check with the
team on duty for updates from the
previous night. After touching base
with everyone, I get my papers
ready for the daily operational
meeting, which kicks off at 9.15am
sharp. This meeting is for all wards
within the John Conolly Unit.
All ward managers plus senior
nurses attend and for the next half
hour or so will discuss day to day
matters, such as bed occupation
and availability, and staffing levels.
It is great to have this level of
communication between our wards;
it means we can redistribute staff
and beds if need be.
18 MENTALHEALTHMATTERS
Psychosis studies:
searching for the cause
After this meeting wraps up, I head
back to the ward, grab a cup of
coffee and catch up with my emails.
Afterwards, I head out onto the
ward to help my team go through
the ward round. I try to help with
the various tasks that have come up
in patients’ CPAs or the ward round
and offer support where I can.
Dr James Stone is working collaboratively with Imperial
College and colleagues from the Ealing Early Intervention
Team to develop several interesting research studies
relating to the biological indicators within patients who
have a psychotic illness as well as establishing the very
first signs of a psychotic illness, before a person has their
first episode.
At 11.30am I head over to the
unit’s bed management meeting.
This is a useful way to get feedback
from other wards and community
teams on how to help patients
who are well enough to leave
the ward, but have been delayed
since appropriate community
accommodation can’t be found.
After this, I’m back on the ward
and help staff during the patients’
medication round and lunchtime.
At 1.30pm it is time for the ward
staff shift handover. I give an update
from the daily operational meeting
and the bed management meeting
and hear about issues arising from
the ward round. For instance, our
ward recently underwent a deep
clean, which was disruptive to both
service users and staff. Though it
was difficult at the time, we can all
now see and appreciate the huge
difference it has made to the quality
of life on the ward. Now – it’s all
about sustaining it!
At about 2.30pm I am craving
another caffeine hit and duck
out to Costa for a quick pick
me up. During the afternoon, I
Research
There is a body of research which suggests people with
psychosis have overactive dopamine production in the
brain, and the rate at which they produce dopamine may
be associated with the severity of their symptoms.All
currently licensed medications work to block dopamine
receptors. However, only one third of service users with
psychotic symptoms will show a complete response to
medication, and the reason for this is not clear.
try to snatch some time with
Mary McCaffrey, Inpatient Sector
Manager at John Conolly Unit.You’ll
find me back at my computer from
about 3.30pm as I try to stay on
top of my emails.
I try to finish my day at about 4pm
but inevitably I’m still on the ward
until about 6pm. During the drive
home, I try to reflect on the day.
There have been many changes
on our ward since the CQC gave
their recommendations to the Trust.
Though it can be overwhelming at
times, we are starting to see the
positive changes for both staff and
service users, which is what I am
currently finding the most satisfying.
Interview by Charlene Stephenson,
Communications Manager
There is growing evidence that the glutamate system
may also be abnormal in the brain during psychosis, and
may be associated with different symptoms of the illness.
Dr Stone is investigating the possibility that people who
respond well to currently available drugs may have a
primary abnormality of dopamine levels in the brain,
whereas people who fail to respond might have more
marked abnormalities in glutamate levels.This has the
potential to open the doors to new treatments that
are effective in a wider population of service users with
psychotic symptoms.
Dr Stone will use two different types of scan to measure
dopamine and glutamate in the brain.A Positron
Emission Tomography (PET) scan will use a compound
called fluoroDOPA (a precursor for dopamine) to give a
readout of dopamine activity, and a Magnetic Resonance
Spectroscopy (MRS) scan will use a standard MRI
scanner to measure glutamate levels in the brain.These
will both take place at the Hammersmith Hospital. Dr
Stone hopes that in the future, similar scans will enable
clinicians to predict which treatments would be most
beneficial for a given service user.
Dr Stone is also working with the Ealing Early
Intervention Team and service users who are in an At
Risk Mental State (ARMS).This second study aims to
establish a set of behaviours and thoughts that could in
fact be the symptomatic precursors for a first episode of
psychosis, know as prodromal research.
Those who qualify may display symptoms such as
having odd beliefs or experiences and may have
quasi-hallucinations.Though many people within the
community may experience these indicators without
going on to have a psychotic episode, people who are
greatest at risk find the experiences unpleasant and will
often seek help. Of these people, 20 to 40% will develop
a psychotic illness within one year. By ascertaining the
pre-symptomatic signs, clinicians will have a greater
chance of treating and preventing the onset of psychosis.
Dr Stone’s studies are open to patients
throughout the Trust. If you have a patient
who is interested in participating, or if
you would like to become involved from a
research perspective, email him directly:
[email protected]
MENTALHEALTHMATTERS 19
”
Releasing Your Potential
I will be a
Chief Executive
one day…”
From the left is Reginaldo (Reggie) Ytable, Healthcare Assistant and
Christopher Duval, Acting Clinical Lead from Mary Seacole ward, Ealing.
Time to Care
Activity follows
Improving the amount of time dedicated to
direct patient care, and in turn improving our
patients’ experience, is a high priority for the
Trust. The recently completed Activity Follows
have created a baseline picture of how we
are doing, in order for us to demonstrate
improvement over time.
Bea Kayodeoke is a senior nurse on Campion
Ward and was monitored for the Activity
Follows. She says: “It was very useful to get an
overview of the processes involved in day to day
nursing and highlighted tasks and activities which
some people do not realise form a regular part
of the nurse’s day.”
Nikki Cheshire, Health Care Assistant on
Beverley Ward, was a ‘follower’ during her ward’s
assessment. She says: “The main thing I noticed
was how much direct care is compromised due
to administrative duties and how intended tasks
are interrupted on many occasions.”
Now that all wards have completed the
assessment, the Time to Care team, together
with heads of nursing and ward managers, will
review the results and agree specific action plans,
to help teams improve the amount of time staff
engage with patients. The tailored plans will focus
on improving activities such as administration,
handovers and reflective practice.
Ward staff will also be asked how they feel the
patient experience can improve. Once the action
plans have been finalised, each ward manager will
share it with their team.
20 MENTALHEALTHMATTERS
”
…..confident words indeed! And spoken by someone
who, by his own admission, previously doubted
whether he’d ever have the opportunity to fulfil his
professional potential. So what happened?
Hopeful Sandati, Clinical Team Leader on Blenheim
Ward, was at something of a crossroads in his career.
Then he heard about ‘Releasing Your Potential.’ This is
based on the NHS Breaking Through initiative, which
was set up to address the relatively low number
of staff from Black Minority Ethnic backgrounds in
senior positions in the NHS by providing coaching and
leadership skills to these staff.
The programme takes the form of a two-day
development centre where attendees take part in a
variety of activities, encouraging them to reflect on
their leadership style and management potential.These
are both group and individual. Hopeful explains:
“The programme isn’t an easy option, as the feedback
from the facilitators is frank and uncompromising –
although very balanced. But it really helped me focus
on how I can take responsibility for my own career
progression. Before I went on the programme, it
was all too easy for one to blame others or unfair
processes for obstacles BME may encounter in career
progression after a certain stage within the NHS. I’m
now able to be more objective about the sometimes
harsh realities one may face as someone from a
minority background.”
Hopeful now intends to “release his potential”
as reflected in the principles of the programme.
“There aren’t many black Chief Executives – but I’m
determined to become one!”
The next Releasing Your Potential programme
will take place on 28 and 29 June at Broadmoor
Learning & Development Centre. Contact
[email protected] for an
application form or for more information.
The trust aims to eliminate discrimination on the
grounds of gender, race, age, religion, disability or
sexuality. We are particularly interested on this
occasion, to hear from those staff with a disability
and those from a BME background. However, the
programme is open to all minority groups.
outsidein
Director of Communications, Lucy McGee
The enemy within
In a previous life, I worked
for a HR consulting
firm. We had phrases to
describe the attributes
managers operating in a complex environment needed
to possess to be successful. One of my favourites was,
‘Tolerance of Ambiguity’. It’s something that comes in
handy when things aren’t black and white, or all good
or all bad - but, rather, a bit of each, in unexpected
ways. It’s especially useful when people are neither
completely friend, nor totally foe.
We’re certainly going to need our tolerance of
ambiguity as we try to move into a more pro-active
approach to press coverage about mental health.
Recently we’ve seen media interest in Broadmoor
intensify to what has sometimes felt like obsession.
And yet, we’re developing good relations with some
of the same papers’ senior staff who are supportive
of helping us promote the anti-stigma agenda and
an understanding of the suffering often involved in
mental illness.
There’s such a world
of difference between
how the press could be
reflecting mental health
care and how some
papers do it now. Sadly,
this is perpetuated
because a very few staff
are lining their pockets by selling stories about patients
to the tabloids. So whilst we’re trying to get informative
letters and case studies and success stories published
on the one hand, we’re busy trying to protect patient
privacy and parry criticism of their being allowed basic
human rights on the other. What puzzles me is why
such people ever come to work in a hospital.
..........................................................................................
Clinical nuggets
An impressive new website, developed by The Institute
of Psychiatry, SLaM and Rethink is doing great things to
promote awareness and understanding of a range of mental
illnesses. Among the nuggets of information you can find on
www.mentalhealthcare.org.uk is the fact that black people
living in England stand a far greater chance of developing
schizophrenia or bipolar disorder than white people. Nothing
that our clinical staff didn’t know already, maybe. But the
scale of it is frightening. Research shows that people of black
African descent are six times more likely to develop both
illnesses, and African-Caribbean people are nine times more
likely to develop schizophrenia and eight times more likely to
develop bipolar disorder than their white contemporaries.
But - and here’s the punch line - studies in Jamaica,Trinidad
and Barbados have shown black people living there are no
more likely to develop psychosis than white people living
in England. If you wanted evidence that social exclusion and
stress play a part in the development of psychosis, here it is.
National stats show that black people are more likely to be
poor, unemployed, and living alone. It’s reassuring to hear Phil
Hope talk about new social care policies if only the money is
there to deliver them.
..........................................................................................
One small step at a time
In recent days we’re finding that there is a constructive
way to work with even the historically ‘unfriendly’
elements of the press. It’s all about keeping our eyes
on the big prize – educating the public about mental
health, its treatment and its consequences. If we have
a few core messages that we keep drumming home
in any opportunity that presents itself, we can make
an impact through attrition, as so many mental health
charities and other bodies are doing.
Our long term agenda is anti stigma in all aspects of
our service while recognising that Broadmoor will be
the biggest challenge because of the extreme nature of
some of the index offences. Recent coverage of some
of Broadmoor’s young patients using DJ equipment
was particularly distressing to our patients and their
families. The mother and grandmother of one of them
were moved to write to me, asking us to please take
issue with the piece. Though the PCC could not find
enough evidence to support a challenge the paper itself
agreed to print a letter which presented a different view
from the one they often seem to promote. This talked
about the need for the public to understand that mental
illness is like any other illness - deserving of care and
compassion. One small step at a time …
Meantime, if you have any other ideas as to where we
should be targeting our approach and indeed, possible
content – please do let us have them! Email your ideas
to [email protected].
MENTALHEALTHMATTERS 21
moving
on up
joiner
mover
leaver
If you would like us to feature a colleague in moving on
up send an email to [email protected]
Dr Christopher Muller-Pollard has joined H&F SDU as a Consultant Psychiatrist on the
admissions ward. His previous experience at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust
includes setting up and running an adult ADHD service, working on an inpatients personality disorder
unit and an outpatients psychotherapy department. Chris says: “H&F is an area with an extremely
diverse population. I am looking forward to the rewarding but challenging task of creating a safe and
therapeutic environment for all patients of all backgrounds.”
Alex Barrie has moved within the IM&T directorate, from ICT Service Desk Engineer, to Intranet
Project Assistant. He says: “It will be an interesting challenge, combining my previous knowledge and
experience of technology, design and support.” Alex is assisting in the technical development and overall
support of the Exchange, including building and preparing pages for content publishers plus arranging
and delivering user training.
think family strategy
Eric Pwamang has had a successful career in forensic services after initially joining the Trust in 1993
as a student nurse. His most rewarding role has been Senior Nurse Manager of The Orchard since it’s
opening in 2007. He has helped in the development of staff, assisted in the provision of extra facilities for
Pearl Ward as well as maintaining safety and security. John Doherty says: “Eric has shown commitment
and helped the Orchard grow and mature into the service we have today. I would like thank Eric on
behalf of the service users and all staff and wish him every success in his new post.” Eric will miss the
Ealing site, as it holds many memories of his career and many patients he has nursed. He is moving onto
a new challenge as Service Manager of acute services.
West London Forensic - Senior Nursing Team
Gillian Tuck
has successfully
been appointed
as Consultant
Nurse for the
women’s service.
An important
component of the role, which
forms part of the senior nursing
team in WLFS, is assuring ongoing
improvement of service users’
experience by ensuring systems of
feedback are in place and used to
inform nursing developments. This is
a clinical post and half of Gillian’s time
will be spent in direct clinical practice.
In her role, Gillian will support nurses
through working alongside as well as
providing expert nursing consultation
and supervision. She will cascade clinical
developments within the nursing team
and offer a wide variety of training and
development. In the future she hopes
to undertake research in the field of
22 MENTALHEALTHMATTERS
women’s secure services and use this
to enhance clinical practice.
Congratulations
from the left:: Appiah Oyinke , Doreen Whande, Mcgini
Nkomo, Maureen Cushley and Sachendra Beeraje.
to Maureen Cushley who has
been appointed as Senior Nurse
Manager for the men’s directorate
at West London Forensic Service.
Maureen is the lead nurse for
operational management across 15
clinical areas and will have the task of
ensuring service user experience is
at the heart of everything nurses do,
while also achieving some complex
managerial outcomes. Maureen
will be supported by three senior
nurses, two of whom are also newly
appointed. Sach Beeraje has been
appointed to the medium secure
services and Mgcini Nkomo has
been appointed to the low secure and
specialist rehabilitation services. Their
main role is to lead and manage the
ward managers within their areas and
also to promote good nursing practice
within the clinical areas, especially
that which involves empowering and
including service users. Doreen
Whande has also been appointed
as Senior Nurse within the women’s
directorate.
Anne Aiyegbusi Head of Nursing
for West London Forensic Services
says: ‘‘We are striving for excellence
with regard to safety, service user
experience and effectiveness of nursing.
As such I could not be happier with the
senior nursing team we now have in
place. I am very much looking forward
to what we will achieve together.”
The defining three strands of the
Think Family strategy are:
•Safeguarding Children policy
•SCIE 30 “Think Child,Think Parent,
Think Family”
•Hounslow SDU Women’s Strategy.
Nicole Douglas and Samantha Marshall
Following last year’s Think Family
conference, the Hounslow SDU
held a workshop for senior
managers and clinicians in January.
Chaired by Dr Alice Parshall, Clinical
Director, staff considered ways by
which the three critical strands
of the family strategy could be
embedded into everyday activities in
the SDU.
While safeguarding children and
vulnerable adults principles are
central to the Think Family Strategy,
the strategy goes further to provide
support for the whole family. It
addresses the needs of family
members, provides support for
children and young adults, while
looking after the needs of service
users, to help achieve a positive
outcome for all.
The day commenced with staff
considering the National Patient Safety
Agency, “Rapid Response Report:
Preventing Harm to Children from
Parents with Mental Health Needs”.
This is the highest level of alert and
informs clinicians of six vital points
to consider when managing patients
with severe mental illness who
have children that may be at risk of
harm.Teams demonstrated their
understanding of the document and
its importance, and identified ways
they could work together, to ensure
all six points were implemented within
day-to-day risk assessment processes.
Staff then looked at the “Think Child,
Think Parent,Think Family” document,
which describes the long term impact
of a parent’s mental health on their
children, who are frequently young
carers, isolated and have attachment
problems.The workshop discussed
adjustments services need to make
to ensure they prioritise the needs of
the family. Nicole Douglas, Psychology
Graduate, and Samantha Marshall, Staff
Nurse, shared learning gained from
their visit to Camden and Islington
Child and Adolescent Team.They
presented strategies the SDU could
develop, to ensure family orientated
services, such as parental and family
skills groups that could complement
the women’s and men’s health groups,
currently held within the Star Wards
programme.They are also exploring
ways to develop child friendly leaflets
relating to mental health.
Finally, Suzanne McMillan, Service
Manager, presented the Hounslow
SDU Women’s Strategy, which was
developed using guidance from,
“Into the Mainstream” (DoH, 2002),
learning accumulated through incident
investigation pathways and the SDU’s
women service users.The team has
focused on the particular vulnerability
of women when emotional loss
impacts on their lives.
The workshop was considered
a success, as it increased the
understanding of the three strands
that define the Think Family
strategy, boosted enthusiasm for its
implementing within Hounslow SDU,
and helped realign the SDU’s vision
to consider inter-agency working with
CAMHS teams.
MENTALHEALTHMATTERS 23
every picture
tells a story
Failte
Thanks to a recent recruitment drive, a group of newly qualified Irish nurses have travelled around 300 miles
to London to be part of the Trust. A number of them are now working in Hammersmith & Fulham SDU, where
Head of Nursing Sandra Bailey said: “Our new colleagues have travelled a long way to be part of the team. I very
much look forward to working with them and I’m sure we’ll all make them feel very welcome.”
Hospital watch
Seamus O’Hara and Jim Tighe from the Risk
Department have recently been approved as
Special Constables for Ealing. This means they
will spend some time each week patrolling the St
Bernard’s site and the surrounding area. During
February, they, together with representatives
from the Hounslow Metropolitan Police
Service held two recruitment presentations, to
encourage more Trust staff to join the force, as
a volunteer. Pictured from the left is: Seamus
O’Hara and Jim Tighe, Sergeant Bev Green,
Sergeant Bruce Wilson and Chief Inspector Steve
Kyle (Hounslow Met Police)
24 MENTALHEALTHMATTERS
Walk to work
The Trust is taking part in the national ‘Walk to Work
Week 2010’ run by the charity Living Streets. It’s a great
way to help promote the Trust’s green agenda, get fit, and
add a bit of variety to your commute! The week will run
from 26 - 30 April and staff are encouraged to take part.
Information on how you can get involved will be available
on the Exchange in the next few weeks. For more
information contact [email protected] or
visit www.walkingworks.org.uk
Mental Health Matters is printed on recycled paper