Issue 3 – April 2017
An important date for your diary - Carers event – Saturday 3 June 2017.
10am-3pm
Dear Carer/Relative
We are inviting you to come along to our carer event at Northampton on Saturday 3rd
June this is a day for carers and families, so that you can speak with the staff caring for
your loved one and also see some of the things that we do here. There will be a chance to
relax and participate in workshops and tell us what you think about St Andrew’s.
Please note this event is for over 18s only. Food and refreshments will be provided on the
day and we will also reimburse your travel expenses (this involves completing an
expenses form). Relatives tell us that they really enjoy this day so please email
[email protected] or call 01604 616006 to book your place.
If you would like to join the Carers Group, please contact [email protected], phone 01604 616006,
or contact us at Patient Experience Team, Cliftonville House, Northampton NN1 5DG.
We meet every 2 months at St Andrew’s Northampton. Lunch is provided
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Catering Department
The catering team at St Andrew’s have gone from strength to strength over the last six years .
We took the decision to give our patients the best food we could and changed from a central
kitchen to fresh cooked food in local kitchens across the charity.
Now we have six kitchens in Northampton and one at each regional site cooking fresh high
quality meals every day.
Service users get to choose from four main meals, two sandwiches and two salads every meal
time plus desserts and fruit. All our recipes are managed centrally to ensure they are healthy
and high quality.
St Andrew’s has the Soil Association Silver Food for Life award which means we are inspected
annually to make sure we comply with the Soil Associations strict guidelines. All meat is red
tractor and British, we do not have any banned additives, MSG or genetically modified
ingredients and we use a minimum of 5% organic produce.
St Andrew’s catering team won the “Catey” for
Healthcare caterer of the year 2016, the most
prestigious award in the Catering industry.
The catering team also operate the cafes across the
charity. These give the patients, visitors and staff the
opportunity to buy snacks, fruit, gifts or just pop in
and have a coffee. Again in 2016 the Northampton
cafes won the Carlsberg Food and Drink Awards
“Healthy eating work place” award.
In 2016 we developed a special diet kitchen with dedicated chefs
making texture modified meals for Dysphagia patients. These
patients have difficulty swallowing and need their meals to be a
certain consistent texture. Our chefs now provide an a la carte
menu which patients can choose from daily. St Andrews have
If you would like to join the Carers Group, please contact [email protected], phone 01604 616006,
or contact us at Patient Experience Team, Cliftonville House, Northampton NN1 5DG.
We meet every 2 months at St Andrew’s Northampton. Lunch is provided
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become very advanced in this specialised area and many other hospitals are looking to learn
from the advances we have made.
Carers Cristmas event for our Men’s Pathway
A few years ago, a carer did a presentation sharing an emotional insight into what it was like to
have a family member in a secure hospital. Their story told us that they had not had a
Christmas together for a number of years. The staff were really affected by this story so
arranged a Christmas lunch that was shared with families and their loved one. On arrival
patients and family had their photograph taken, this was made into a Christmas card for them.
A drinks reception was follwed by a festive feast, enjoyed by all. Patients gave their family a
Christmas gift fromunder the tree and joined in the carol singing. This was a resounding
success and the Men’s pathway will be holding another similar lunch this April, followed by a
summer event.
“It is the greatest gift I
could ever have
knowing people like you
are caring for my son”
“For the first time in 17
years, I felt I shared some
of the season’s good will
and hope for the future
with my son – Thank you”
“It was very emotional for
me to look around knowing
all these families have gone
through similar things and
despite everything I could
see all the happy smiling
faces”
If you would like to join the Carers Group, please contact [email protected], phone 01604 616006,
or contact us at Patient Experience Team, Cliftonville House, Northampton NN1 5DG.
We meet every 2 months at St Andrew’s Northampton. Lunch is provided
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Please share your
experience with us on at
www.patientopinion.com
Patient Opinion – On-line feedback at St Andrew’s Healthcare
Patient Opinion is a web site where people using health or social care services can give
feedback and see the difference they, and others, make. Sharing your story on the
website means that you will be helping to make our public services better. You can share
your story whether it is good or bad – both are important.
How do I share my story on the website?
If you use the internet, you can go straight onto either of the websites to tell your story.
The website addresses are www.patientopinion.org.uk and www.careopinion.org.uk. You
can also write or draw your story on one of their self-seal leaflets and send it into patient
opinion.
Who will see my story?
Once your story is on the website, everyone can see it. Your story will be visible to the
public, but your details will not. It stays on the website forever unless you ask patient
opinion to remove it. You can do that at any time and for any reason if you no longer want
your story to be on the site. Just contact patient opinion on 0845113 0012 or e-mail
[email protected] .
How do I know the service will be safe?
Patient Opinion read all stories before they publish them. If they are worried for any
reason, they might get in contact with you before they publish your story. There are only
very few stories that they cannot publish for legal reasons.
We would like you to use a nickname instead of your real name. This will help keep your
identity safe. Patient Opinion might make small changes to your story if they think that
If you would like to join the Carers Group, please contact [email protected], phone 01604 616006,
or contact us at Patient Experience Team, Cliftonville House, Northampton NN1 5DG.
We meet every 2 months at St Andrew’s Northampton. Lunch is provided
Page 4 of 7
parts of it could give away who you are. They also can not publish the names of members
of staff that you may talk about.
Who can respond to my story?
The members of staff who provide the service you are talking about in your story can
respond, as well as other organisations who are involved in delivering,
commissioning or monitoring these services.
Patient Opinion will be changing their name to Care Opinion in
May 2017
Over the past 12 years, Patient Opinion has pioneered a new
approach for people to share their stories of care, and for staff to learn how their patients
feel. As health and social care services across the UK continue to evolve and integrate,
they are merging their two services – Patient Opinion and Care Opinion – into a single
integrated and simplified service. One online feedback platform will handle stories from
everyone, whether they are about health or social care services.
Their new name will reflect this unified approach: Care Opinion.
If you would like to join the Carers Group, please contact [email protected], phone 01604 616006,
or contact us at Patient Experience Team, Cliftonville House, Northampton NN1 5DG.
We meet every 2 months at St Andrew’s Northampton. Lunch is provided
Page 5 of 7
Carer Strategy Monitoring Group
We are the group through which St Andrew’s Healthcare
engages carers/relatives to draw upon our knowledge
and experience. We also:





Make recommendations to the Board and provide
a monitoring and scrutiny role in relation to
various on-going projects and services.
Provide a forum so carers can be represented in
discussions and contribute a carer/relatives
perspective in the development of services,
Collaborate in the development of the action plan which accompanies the strategy
and its subsequent monitoring and scrutiny.
Provide reports on work streams as appropriate to the Board
Undertake various projects and plan the annual carer event.
Meetings take place every 2 months, 11.30 a.m. to 1.00 p.m. in the main building, St
Andrew’s Healthcare, Billing Road, Northampton NN1 5DG. We arrange sub meetings as
necessary so that nominated members can meet to progress individual project activities.
Refreshments are provided and travel expenses for attendance of carers reimbursed.
If you would like to join the Carers Group, please contact [email protected], phone 01604 616006,
or contact us at Patient Experience Team, Cliftonville House, Northampton NN1 5DG.
We meet every 2 months at St Andrew’s Northampton. Lunch is provided
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Meeting Date
18 April 2017
20 June 2017
15 August 2017
17 October 2017
19 December 2017
Relatives support Group
for Brain Injury - Every 3rd
Thursday each month,
Northampton
Contact
[email protected]
Venue
Conference Room
Conference Room
Conference Room
Conference Room
Conference Room
Carers Groups
Everyone welcome
Carers Self- support Group nd
Every 2 months 2 Saturday contact:
[email protected]
Call us on 01604 616006
Carers support group
Birmingham & Nottinghamshire
Every 3 months St Andrew’s
Birmingham
Contact:
[email protected]
Carers group Caswell Clinic
Bridgend, CF31 4LN - Twice a
year –
contact:
[email protected]
If you would like to join the Carers Group, please contact [email protected], phone 01604 616006,
or contact us at Patient Experience Team, Cliftonville House, Northampton NN1 5DG.
We meet every 2 months at St Andrew’s Northampton. Lunch is provided
Page 7 of 7