Newsletter for the staff of Barnsley Primary Care Trust No 43 November 2008

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Ten mental health football teams came to Barnsley recently to celebrate World Mental Health Day.

The NHS service user teams joined the Barnsley Challenge team for the matches at Barnsley Oakwell Football Club. They included Sheffield, Rotherham, Eastwood, Pontefract, Wakefield and Leicester.

Hannah Geal and colleagues organised the day. “We’re pleased to report that Barnsley Challenge 1 were the winners on the day although everyone who took part in playing or supporting the teams that played deserve a pat on the back for their support of such a worthwhile event.”

Sean Rayner, Chief Operating Officer for Care Services Direct (part of NHS Barnsley) commented on the tournament:

“It is important to support activities such as the football tournament organised by Barnsley Challenge in celebration of Mental Health Day. This event will help raise awareness of

First Mental Health Football Tournament

mental health issues and promote physical activity. There is evidence from around the country that participants in activities like this report significant improvements in their health.“

Barnsley Challenge has recently received a grant from the Football Foundation for nearly £6000, and together with money from NHS Barnsley, has £9000 available to assist in promoting the benefits of football and physical activity as a tool for helping patients who have a mental Illness.

Patients playing for Barnsley Challenge train once a week at Barnsley FC’s Oakwell Academy. Approximately 20 service users take part in the sessions which are run by physiotherapy staff. Staff along with 4 service users will shortly be registering onto the Level 1 coaching award.

Following on from the event it is hoped that through discussions with the Local FA, a mental health Football League for Yorkshire and the Humber can be initiated.

News in Brief page 2New People page 4/5Risky Matters page 6/7Healthy course celebration page 11

Inside this issue:

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Message from the Chief ExecutiveAnnual health check results At the time of writing this column we have just heard the results of the Annual Health Check from the Healthcare Commission. I am delighted to tell you that we have scored Excellent for ‘Quality of Services’ and Good for ‘Use of Resources’. These results are something we can all be really proud of and have built upon last year’s result (see the table below). Please read my Connect Column for more information. Well done everyone!

2007/08 2006/07 Quality of services Excellent Good Use of resources Good Good

New brandingI have published a letter to all staff on Connect regarding the new brand ‘NHS Barnsley’. As local leader of the NHS in Barnsley this branding follows the national NHS direction. I would also like to highlight the fact that although we will be moving across to the new name over the coming months it is important that we avoid unnecessary expenditure. As things are replaced and updated it will be given the NHS Barnsley branding. Please take time to read the letter as it explains our current position and acknowledges the position of care service direct.

Message of thanks from NHS ChiefWell done to all staff who played a part in the visit from David Nicholson, the Chief Executive of the NHS to open the Oakwell Centre at Kendray. He has written a letter of thanks to our Chairman expressing his high opinion of the Oakwell Centre.

In his letter, David said: “I want to pass on my thanks to you and the staff at the Oakwell Centre for organising a welcoming and informative visit. “The time I get to spend in the NHS with patients and staff is valuable. I enjoyed not only returning to Barnsley but also the opportunity to open such a fantastic facility as the Oakwell Centre… I am sure the Oakwell Centre will bring benefits to both staff and patients.”

Care Services ColumnAs part of my new role as Chief Operating Officer I welcome this opportunity to communicate with staff via my first column in PCT News. I plan to cover a number of key topics over the coming months but feel free to suggest any areas you would welcome more information on.

Working in partnershipCare Services Direct is an organisation that is fundamentally grounded on successful partnership working. This is a culture I want us to build upon further for the benefit of service users and carers. The NHS environment nationally can often feel quite competitive between organisational providers. However, I believe that Care Services Direct can continue to be a strong organisation in the NHS ‘market’ by foreseeing our strengths as a proactive ‘partner’ working with other providers and our commissioners. This is the approach I intend to promote and develop.

World mental health dayI enjoyed a day at the football recently, no, not Elland Road, as some of you will know I am a passionate Leeds Utd supporter. This particular event at the Oakwell Football ground training facilities was in celebration of World Mental Health Day. Well done to Physiotherapist Hannah Geal and her colleagues for organising such a successful event and coordinating a number of mental health service user teams from around the region to take part in this innovative day. It also encompassed a number of wellbeing and healthy initiatives. We watched some quality football being played by some skilful and committed teams, and it was a bonus result when the Barnsley Challenge team won on the day!

End of life/Palliative Care fundingI am pleased to be able to confirm that we are to receive nearly an extra half a million pounds of funding towards extending our existing end of life/palliative care services. This is an important and much-needed area of health care provision that can make a significant difference in Barnsley.

Get in touchAs I have worked in Barnsley since 2000, I have had the chance to meet a lot of staff already. However, it is my priority to attend more events and departments to meet and listen to more staff. This is in addition to the communication process already in place. If you have any suggestions of visits, events or departments you feel I should attend, just let me know. Likewise, I am a firm believer in the importance of two-way communication. I would like to ensure that our strategic direction is informed by listening to what staffs have to say, and am happy to be contacted on sean.rayner@barnsleypct.nhs.uk

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Community is key to NHS futureThe Department of Health (DH) have launched a programme titled ‘Transforming Community Services’.

It begins with a vision for Primary and Community Care which outlines the opportunity to transform services and lead on local change. This is part of the outcome of the NHS Next Stage Review (sometimes referred to as the Darzi Report).

The programme acknowledges the importance of community care but highlights the need for change to develop ‘out of hospital’ care.

Sean Rayner, Chief Operating Officer for Care Services said: “The vision looks to develop clinical and leadership skills, and encourages us to strengthen our business through reform. Most importantly for me, it emphasises that clinical staff are central to driving change to improve quality, access and health outcomes.”

The DH recognise that to transform, we, will require support and advice and pledge a number of guidance documents to help move forward and implement such change.

Six key areas have been identified for a focused and nationally benchmarked approach:o Health improvement and health inequalitieso Children and Familieso Long Term Conditionso Acute care and specific treatments to be delivered close to homeo Rehabilitationo End of life

The transformation incorporates the expectations World Class Commissioning (WCC) sets for community health services, and pledges to improve knowledge and expertise and inform high quality decision making with a resource toolkit due for release at the end of November.

For some time, the words National Contract and Currency have been around, directly linking to performance and activity rates. In Barnsley we have been preparing for this for some time recording and analysing our service activity to ensure we are performing consistently to a high standard. The DH is looking to develop a standard contract for community services and mental health services that will be introduced April 2009. There is more work we need to do to develop Care Services as a ‘Fit for Purpose’ provider. For example, we need to go beyond just understanding our recorded patient activity, and improve our understanding of service demand and capacity as a basis to plan and deliver services better. This work is already underway in several service areas.

Barnsley is also taking part in a pilot that centres on the development of an information model that will support commissioners and providers of community services. It is anticipated this model will help drive the quality of services and improve understanding of community services.

National guidance is being published at the end of November 2008 to assist PCTs in considering the options for future arrangements of in-house community provider services. “We have been consistent in Barnsley for some time in ensuring our strategic focus is on being a ‘Fit for Purpose’ provider, and developing separate governance functions for care services as part of NHS Barnsley. That is what we will continue to do for the foreseeable future.”

NEWS IN BRIEF

Latest on Commissioner Accommodation

Progress is continuing on this project with sites at Hoyland, Dodworth and the Town Centre under consideration. A project team has been brought together to help choose the most suitable proposal and ensure the transition to new premises can be achieved as smoothly as possible. At present no decisions as to which site is most suitable have been made, but look out for further updates soon.

New name for Health Intelligence Team

Following local discussion, it has been agreed that the new name for the HI Team will be Information Management Team. This is a local decision which better represents the work of the team.

New Data Quality Policy

Information Services have also recently published their policy and supporting documents on Data Quality (DQ). Supporting documents include the Electronic Data Recording Guidance and the DQ implementation Plan. Look in the policies section of connect for the documents

We are featured in ‘the month’ from the Department of Health

The online update ‘the month’, (Issue 13) from the NHS Leadership Team featured a look at where Chief Executive of the NHS, David Nicholson has been out and about recently. It includes his visit to Barnsley to officially open the Oakwell Centre at Kendray. All issues of the Month are uploaded to Connect on the partnership section.

New Training Telephone cancellation line – ext 5764

A telephone line has now been installed which is a dedicated line solely for staff who would like to cancel their place on any internal training events. When staff call they will be greeted by an answer machine message which will ask them to leave a message containing their name, contact telephone number, the date and title of the training event that they would like to cancel, and the reason they need to cancel the training teams. The number is 43 ext 5764. Please note, the telephone line is for cancellations only, to re-book onto mandatory training please call a member of the admin team on ext 5775 / 5771, to re-book onto any other training events please re-submit an authorised study leave form.

Look out for 2009 Health and Social Care Awards

The 8th annual awards from Yorkshire and Humber have now been launched. Nominations can be made from November onwards for the awards via the website www.yorksandhumber.nhs.uk Look out for more information in the next Team Brief.

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Adrienne Pickering is our new Director of Information Technology (IT). She has worked in the NHS for the previous 20 years starting her career in Huddersfield as a programmer in the 80s. Adrienne progressed from programmer to IT manager and then Head of Information before joining us in Barnsley.

After 13 years working in a variety of IT and Information roles at Huddersfield, in 2001, Adrienne moved to Doncaster and Bassetlaw Hospitals (DBH) to manage the IT, information, clinical coding and medical records teams. “Whilst at DBH I was involved in merging the IT systems and Information Services teams following the Trust merger and more recently my team in conjunction with the Trust’s Radiology department successfully implemented a Picture Archiving Communication System (PACS) which enables Medical staff to access X-Rays via their desktops.

Kay Bennett started in her new role at the end of June. She’s no stranger to Barnsley, having spent most of her career as a midwife in Barnsley Hospital and in the community.

“I started my training in 1973 at Sheffield University, and then worked at Barnsley Hospital and in Athersley and Royston for 24 years. I moved to Sheffield in 2000 working on the first wave of the Surestart Trailblazer initiative.”

During her time in Sheffield, Kay worked with in partnership with the National Children’s Home (NCH) and found working in the charity sector an excellent experience. “We were the first place to pay our volunteers in the community. It was incredibly rewarding to see the figures in breast feeding rise from 22% in 2000 to 56% in 2007.”

Kay’s role included a lot of public health work, from stop smoking, teenage pregnancy, peer support, to baby massage. “When I saw the coordinator job going in Barnsley I knew I had to go for it. I knew a lot of people from the team and it was returning to my roots!”

Today, Kay’s Coordinator role includes developing a five-year ‘baby friendly initiative’ that aims for a certificate of commitment to be signed up and posted across the town.

“It is all about supporting women to initiate and sustain breastfeeding. In Barnsley we are looking to set standards for hospital and community environments and gain support from the whole borough, including local businesses and children’s centres.” Kay added: “The only other one in existence to my knowledge is in Greenwich.” This project will launch early next year.

“I am also working closely with BHNFT, the link workers at Voluntary Action Barnsley (VAB) on the Baby Friendly Awards, the new community wellbeing teams, health visitors, midwives, the Barnsley Breastfeeding in Barnsley Support (BIBS) group and local children’s centres.

Kay’s the new Community Breastfeeding Coordinator

“Although I’ve been away from Barnsley for a few years, it’s been wonderful to come back. I have been welcomed and made to feel a part of everything that’s going on so it really is nice to be back.”

Kay has spent her first few weeks visiting key teams, groups and individuals. “I’ve got a few more people to see yet but I’m getting there!”

Following the NICE guidance that was released in March this year, Kay has also been working with Link Workers based in Grimethorpe on a six month project that aims to get in touch with new mums within 48 hours to offer support. “It’s a multi-agency initiative that is successful due to excellent partnership working.”

“My main aim is to normalise the breastfeeding culture and make it as accessible an option to mums as possible. We want people to be able to make that choice even around challenging issues such as returning to work. We feel that with support, mums can continue to breastfeed for longer and our support workers are aiming to get this message out in the community via the networks we have built.”

The link workers focus on getting in touch with hard to reach groups and families, vulnerable people and befriend and provide access to groups and support.

Kay added: “Along with other PCTs in South Yorkshire, we are taking part in the ‘Be a star’ campaign which focuses on young people and breastfeeding support.” Following focus groups across the region, the campaign has run social marketing campaigns on the radio and online to provide information to young people that encourages and enables breastfeeding.

Outside work, Kay lives in Hemingfield and likes spending time with her Children and Grandchildren. She enjoys socialising, runs a coach business and volunteers for the Hospice.

New Director Adrienne sets IT agenda

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We recently welcomed David Keddie, the new Assistant Director of Public Participation and Engagement to NHS Barnsley. His challenging new role will involve promoting choice, gathering opinion and encouraging involvement in service redesign.

David previously worked in local government for Dorset County Council where he held the role of consultation and engagement manager. “I am from Leeds originally so it’s good to get back to the North,” said David.

The post is new to NHS Barnsley and focuses on empowering the local population to influence and change the way their health services are commissioned and delivered. David’s role will be instrumental to opening these key channels and helping information to flow between the NHS and its public and stakeholders.

“We’re moving away from the traditional lines of consultation where we recommended service changes and asked for feedback and endorsement of them. What’s happening now is that we make people aware of the huge choices that are available to them and listening to their views and opinions more. “The new process moves towards a more genuine engagement and participation regime. We want to get people really involved in the service redesign process and aim to raise expectations in service delivery. We want people to make healthy lifestyle choices and be responsible for the decisions they make.”

One of David’s early priorities was to establish the current relationship of NHS Barnsley with its respective population. “It’s clear nationally that it is time to move on from paternalistic relationships to a culture of self-help where the patients and service users take positive action

for themselves, accessing our services at their choice and convenience.

National change has been a great driver in the participation and engagement stakes: “Our reputation is paramount; in line with World Class Commissioning guidelines we want to be recognised as the local leaders of health.”

David’s approach to his new role is refreshing: “It’s wonderful to be here in Barnsley working alongside people who really support this new philosophy in health care. We have an absolute duty to involve people in our work and make sure that we are inclusive to all during that process.

“There is so much potential out there. We have so much strength in our communities that peer-led programmes actually do work. These grass-roots initiatives are so important to changing behaviours and enabling access for our patients.”

Coming from a job in the South West has given David plenty of food for thought. “One of the most striking differences between Dorset and Barnsley is the lower life expectancy figures here. But the thing that excites me is the potential for change and the true difference we can make here. The knock-on effect on people’s lifestyles and levels of health and wellbeing are tremendous if we all work together and use our skills to influence positive changes.”

Outside work David’s a keen chess player and enjoys following Leeds United.

Want more information? David is based at Hillder House within the Performance and Governance Directorate. Look out for more information and projects emerging from the participation and engagement team in future issues of PCT News.

Introducing David

“During my career in the NHS I have seen lots of changes to the IT agenda and it continues to change as new technology emerges but I’m always looking to see how they benefit the actual user, and how they are useful to other staff and patients.” said Adrienne

“This is particularly important in Barnsley where we are looking to celebrate the principles of Every Adult Matters and enable people to manage their own accounts and access treatment. The systems and IT structures need to be simply designed so they are capable of meeting that demand and so that people can easily use them to access information when they need it!”

Adrienne is enthused by the IT agenda in Barnsley: “IT can be the enabler and help users to drive forward new ways of

working. We will work to the new challenge and find solutions that suit the user. I want Barnsley to be recognised as a centre of excellence for IT.”

Adrienne lives locally in Mapplewell and enjoys reading crime novels, skiing, and spends most weekends motor homing in different locations in England with her husband in support of his skydiving hobby; so far Adrienne has done two tandum jumps, one in Canada and one in the UK and eventually when she plucks up the courage she intends to undertake the training to enable her to go skydiving with her husband. P

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COSHH - Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002

What is a ‘substance’ classified as hazardous to health?

‘Substance’ means a natural or artificial substance, whether in solid or liquid form, or in the form of a gas or a vapour (including micro-organisms). They can be chemicals, biological agents, gases, vapours or mists and dusts. Certain chemicals and substances can be hazardous to health and can affect people through the various routes of entry into the body or system via: absorption through the skin, ingestion, inhalation or injection. The majority of chemicals you might use at work are not dangerous if you use them properly and know what to do if something goes wrong (such as spillage).

The PCT recognises the importance of managing the risks associated with hazardous substances and whilst COSHH risk assessments are in place, all staff are reminded of the importance of notifying the Health & Safety Services Department when introducing new substances into the organisation. For any substance not previously assessed and approved for use by the PCT, a COSHH Assessment Request Questionnaire (CARQ) must be competed in line with the current COSHH Policy. Copies of the COSHH Policy and CARQs are available on the Connect site, on the Health & Safety Services home page.

Focus on COSHH - Storage

All staff are reminded of the importance of storage of:

n Storage must be in accordance with the manufacturer’s safety data sheet and risk assessmentn Any store rooms used for COSHH chemicals/substances should have a COSHH sign to warn of the hazards contained within. Also ‘Fire Door Keep Locked’ and ‘Store Room Keep Locked’ signsn Rooms should be kept locked when not in use and foodstuffs should be stored separately in a different store roomn Access to the COSHH Store Room should be restrictedn Stores should be dry, cool, well lit, well ventilated and out of direct sunlightn Store Rooms should be kept tidy and cleann Stocks should be segregated according to the risk assessmentn Spillages should be cleared away promptlyn Chemicals should be stored in original containers and used before the expiry daten Minimum quantity of chemicals/purchased/storedn Lids must be secured on containers and care taken when being carried or transported

For further information, advice or guidance around COSHH, please contact the Health & Safety Services Department at the Keresforth Centre on 01226 435603 or internally on extension 5603.

Appointment of Assistant Director of Corporate GovernanceThe PCT’s Corporate Governance Team are pleased to welcome the appointment of an Assistance Director. Julie Finch, Assistant Director of Corporate Governance commenced in post on 4 August 2008. Her Role will be to lead and manage on all aspects of corporate governance this will include risk management, complaints and the PCT’s corporate governance processes.

Julie originally trained as a nurse. Throughout her career she has worked in Acute Hospitals, Obstetric Units, PCT’s and Mental Health Services in a variety of patient safety and governance roles. Julie was recently seconded for a 12 month period to the National Patient Safety Agency. Her last post was Head of Clinical Governance at Rotherham PCT. Julie brings a wealth of experience to the Corporate Governance Team and the PCT.

On a personal note Julie is currently completing her MBA and enjoys playing field hockey.

Remember the badger!November is Security Awareness Month, and the Health and Safety Team will be out on the road raising the profile of security within NHS Barnsley.

Martin Brandon, Assistant Director of HR (Health, Safety and Security) said: “We’re organising three dining room events and have been working along side the PCT’s Local Counter Fraud Specialist Robert Purseglove and the Police to provide staff with up to date advice and information to help combat security issues.“

Remember the Badger? Well he’s out on the road again checking security at all our sites so make sure you remember to challenge people not wearing ID Badges, don’t tailgate or allow others to follow you through locked doors and remain vigilant. “If staff are aware of the potential security pitfalls we can reduce the number of incidents that occur in the workplace.” Ended Martin.

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Get Recycling!Staff based at The Keresforth Centre can recycle their empty ink and empty toner cartridges at one collective point. At a recent meeting of the PCT’s COSHH & Waste Group it was agreed that the collection point for all waste ink cartridges and waste toner cartridges at the Keresforth Centre will be the Health and Safety department based at House 20/21, Keresforth. The Department is open from 8.00 am to 5.00 pm Monday to Friday

Ris

ky

Mat

tersLooking for Lone Workers

The Health and safety team are allocating brand new lone worker devices known as identicom across NHS Barnsley. 350 units have been purchased for staff to use to help keep lone workers safe.

“The device works alongside management arrangements for lone working,” explains Martin Brandon, Assistant Director of HR (Health, Safety and Security). “We are not asking people to cancel any local arrangements they may have but would like to introduce identicom to their working day to enhance their security whilst working for us.”

“Once we have established the interest and areas of work which require the identicom we will run a risk assessment and provide demonstration and training sessions.” Said John Sanderson, Health and Safety Advisor (Security).

The kit is police approved and information is processed via a Cat 2 monitoring centre so the worker will receive a faster response when an incident occurs.

“We have spent a lot of time researching and selecting the right system for our staff. I really believe that the backing from NHS Barnsley in purchasing the identicom proves how paramount staff safety is to the organisation,” added Martin.

“What we want is for staff to embrace this technology, which works really simply and is quick to activate. We just want to ensure that staff have the confidence to use it and that managers are encouraging their staff to keep their location status up to date.” The action for Business Unit Managers is for them to identify lone workers and work with health and safety to help roll out the kit. A number of old devices which are currently in circulation will be recalled and replaced. Staff which may find the identicom of interest may range from community nurses through to porters and domestic staff. “We encourage all staff to approach their managers and ask them for identicom, this way we can actively sign up those staff who feel they need support whilst working along.” Said John.

If you would like to find out more about identicom please contact John Sanderson in Health and Safety.

Latest Developments in Risk Management GOOD NEWS: The PCT’s incident reporting process is to be reviewed with an intention to make incident reporting and investigation much easier for staff.

The Corporate Governance Team are looking at ways of capturing and sharing learning across the organisation.

Risk Management StrategyThe PCT’s Risk Management Strategy is due to be reviewed. All staff will be given the chance to give their views about the Strategy. An announcement about the review of the Strategy will be posted on Connect.

Support to staffThe Corporate Governance Team are always more than happy to support staff with the reporting & investigation of incidents and handling of complaints. For your further information the Team also process freedom of information requests, maintain the PCT’s register of interests and gifts and provide central HQ admin services. Please feel free to contact:

• The Risk Management (Hillder House) extension 3724• Complaints Team (Kendray Hospital) extension 4175• HQ Admin Services Team (Kendray Hospital) extension 4243

How can I get identicom?

Express interest

Risk assessment

Demonstration

Training

Use device

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School Nurses Nicky Kennedy and Jackie Boylan who work in Athersley, New Lodge and Smithies have been running Year 10 student placements for the last three years. Each of their placement lasts two weeks and includes lots of opportunities to learn about community nursing.

“It’s not just school nursing,” explained Nicky, “We send them to work with other nurses including midwives, maternity at BHNFT, Health Visitors (HV), District Nurses, Surestart HV, Specialist epilepsy nurse and school nurses who work in schools for young people with special needs.”

“When we first meet the student, we try to establish their areas of interest to ensure they get the most out of their placement.”

Jackie said: “Hosting a young person for work experience can be intensive and time consuming but it is also very rewarding. We’re encouraging and cultivating an interest in working in health care and if we can help the next generation of workers to choose to work for the NHS, we are building up the future workforce.”

It’s already helped many young people to make decisions about their careers. One of their students went on to start her cadetship at BHNFT and is due to start her midwifery training soon.

“We make sure that the students spend lots of time out of the office and that their placements are eventful and interesting.”

New guidelines for Community Equipment Service The Community Equipment Loans Service that is based at Kendray Hospital has now put guidelines for the provision of community loan equipment on the PCT intranet.

The multi professional Community Equipment Service Operational Group which meets on a regular basis and advises on equipment and operational issues has been involved in producing this document.

This is not intended to be a catalogue of all equipment items but provides guidance according to the category of equipment. Kath Hobson, Manager of the Equipment and Adaptations Services said: “We have developed these guidelines for all clinical staff to use when they need to request items for someone to use in their own home.”

The link to the new guidance is: http://nww.barnsleypct.nhs.uk/careservices/communityequipmentservice/

Said Nicky “We always communicate before the placement with a letter and itinerary to explain what they will be doing so that they come prepared and informed.”

Nicky and Jackie are looking for other health professionals to sign up for hosting a placement. “We have had so many enquiries, it’s not realistic that we can give everyone a placement but if more staff offered similar opportunities it would help to draw more young people in.” Said Nicky. “Some of them do their two weeks and decide that it’s not for them but it’s a good chance for them to have a taster of the different community nursing roles.”

Most of their placements are drawn from local schools in their area. “The children usually know us from their schools where we work anyway, so it’s nice to find out a little more about them and show them the full scope of our jobs.”

More recently, Nicky and Jackie reported their experiences to the CPD assessors who were extremely encouraged about offering these opportunities to young people. “We have had so much good feedback from the young people themselves and even their parents, who have felt compelled to write to us to give their thanks for our involvement.”

If you feel you could offer an interesting placement to a student interested in working for the NHS, please contact the Employability Office to register your interest.

Pictured: L-R School Nurses Jackie Boylan and Nicky Kennedy

Experience counts

Top tips for hosting students:

1. Make sure they are always busy2. Explain confidentiality rules3. Give a mini induction and explain roles4. Make it varied and interesting5. Make it personal and tailor to each individual

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World Mental Health DayIn celebration of World Mental Health Day, an ‘Arts and Minds’ event was held at Priory Campus, Barnsley on Friday 10th October 10am-3pm. Partners included NHS Barnsley, BMBC, Barnsley Arena and BLINK who came together to organise this free event that was open to everyone from service users, carers and people who feel this has an impact on their work. The aim of the celebration was to learn people new things, build confidence and increase self-esteem.

Headed by Lynda Pickersgill, Mental Health Promotion Co-ordinator, the day included stands and workshops such as creative arts, creative writing, dance and poetry for everyone to take part in. There was a positive feel to the day, and everyone was enthusiastic about the day’s events. People were encouraged to participate in workshops and share their experience of the day on the ‘tree of emotions’ which were located on entering and leaving the event.

Pictured at the event is John Holt, an artist and cultural activist, who gave a presentation on arts as part of the day’s programme. His work aims to promote and explore creativity in those in emotional and spiritual crisis. Also pictured is Lynda Pickersgill, NHS Barnsley Mental Health Promotion Co-ordinator, and Tom Sheard, Chairman of NHS Barnsley.

This celebration of World Mental Health Day through Art proved to be a success. Lynda offers her “thanks and congratulations to everyone involved for making this year’s World Mental Health Day 2008 such a fantastic experience and enjoyable event,” and adds that it is events such as this that shows people “are so willing to help break down the stigma that still surrounds mental health.”

A programme Summary was held recently for everyone who took part in the Health Reform Demonstration Systems (HRDS). NHS Barnsley submitted its pilot under the Every Adult Matters (EAM) initiative and shared the outcome with colleagues across the country.

Eamonn Mulligan the Programme Lead said: “Our objective was to achieve a proactive community/locality based, responsive, adaptable, flexible model which maximised the control and choice of people to enable self determination.”

The White Paper “Our health, our care, our say” (2006), created the opportunity to align the planning, commissioning and delivery of health and social care support for adults, to improve outcomes for peoples health, independence and well being. It also confirmed the vision for adult social care as set out in “independence, well being and choice” (2005) and put in place practical steps to turn it into a reality. The vision outlined in the white Paper echoes the vision for Barnsley, to have:

‘People maximize their aspirations for control and independence over their health and well being supported by flexible, responsive, preventative services’

Eamonn added: “Between February 2007 and July 2008 we went on a journey with EAM that helped scope, plan and develop the project. EAM has achieved so much over this time and continues to progress with work streams focusing on specific areas of the project.”

Future plans for EAM include: • the development of training courses for staff to support changing the care professional culture to one of care ‘directors’ to care advisors,• dis-aggregation of the elements within dementia service tariffs to support new commissioning models• Extending the Care Navigation from two GP Practices to eight over the next six months

A full report on the HRDS is available on the EAM Connect site.

Reform Programme hears from Barnsley’s EAM

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Barnsley Central Library joined in with the National Bookstart Day celebrations with their Eighth annual Baby Day event held on Friday 10th October, 10am-3pm.

Through local authorities and Primary Care Trusts, Bookstart provides children with free books and parents and carers with guidance material through information packs handed out by Health Visitors. These are given to children around 8 months, 18 months and 3 years. This year’s celebration was done in the theme of ‘Pirate Parties.’ Lead by Deborah Blewitt, Barnsley’s event was one of hundreds of ‘Pirate Parties’ held across the country, including information stands, stalls and taster sessions from local service providers. Some of the activities on offer included

baby massage, baby yoga, stories and rhymes, inviting parents with babies and young children to participate and make reading fun.

Ruby (3) from Wombwell (pictured) was presented by the Mayor Elect John Parkinson, with her tenth Bookstart Crawl certificate, alongside Deborah Blewitt, Bookstart Coordinator. Children are awarded for every fourth library visit, which means Ruby has totted up a total of forty library visits so far.

This is just one example of the events celebrating the 2008 National year of reading, which aims to build a national passion for reading in everyone. Visit www.bookstart.org.uk to find out more about other local events and activities.

National Bookstart Day 2008

Ward staff embrace new technology

You may have heard about SystmOne the new electronic record that has been rolled out extensively in GP practices. For the first time, SystmOne is being used in wards 4, 5 and 6 at Mount Vernon Hospital. Carol Bishop and Katie Procter, both based at MVH, were chosen to be link workers. The purpose of the ‘link workers’ was to oversee the implementation of the new system and work with IT to ensure the system was fit for purpose.

Katie added “Therapy staff had only ever used paper records, but felt that is was a perfect opportunity for further integrate with nursing staff. The change from paper records to the electronic system has been an extreme change of culture, but staff have been very positive on the whole.”

Carol continued: “it was only due to the co-operation and support of the ward staff that the project has worked.

“The staff have been great – they really have worked hard, and we would like to say a big ‘thank you’ to the Mount Vernon ward teams.”

Indeed the staff have been integral to the implementation of SystmOne. They have had to be issued with Smartcards, which allow access to the National Spine, as well as undergoing 6 hours of training each. “To date approximately 21 therapists and 63 nurses have been trained.” says Carol.

Both Katie and Carol praised the NPFIT team “The NPFIT team have been absolutely brilliant to work with,” said Carol, “they have helped bridge the void between clinical work and IT. When we have made requests, suggested change and recommended amendments they have helped build the system to that specification and requested national change where necessary.”

“They were really patient when configuring templates with us,” added Katie, “especially when it came to problem solving. We have been able to analyse what date we need to collect and dispose of outdated or irrelevant paperwork.” explains Katie. “We’re hoping that the new system will help streamline office space and reduce photocopying and filing needs and that we can scan in documents and photographs (with permission) and save them to the electronic record, making it easier to share information and results.”

It is still early days for the ward but the first patients are now on the system. More infrastructure is planned to enable wireless working on the wards. Other work areas will be moving on to the system shortly Carol said “as the system rolls out throughout the PCT the ability to refer on to follow-up services, share information and view patients data should enhance communication between services reducing the need for paper referrals. It is hoped that this will lead to increased integration between inpatient and community PCT services resulting in a seamless patient journey.”

Pictured: Andrew Hurd, Charge Nurse (seated) with Carol Bishop (left) and Katie Procter (right).

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A celebration event was held at the Town Hall recently for learners from The Open College Network’s Improving your Inner Health and Well Being course.

Learners gave a short talk about their experiences of the course, showcased their projects and were presented with certificates from Tom Sheard, the Chair of NHS Barnsley and Fit for the Future, who funded the programme in conjunction with The Academy of Community Leadership.

Linda Johnson, Voluntary Action Barnsley said:

“The programme has been so successful because of partnership working at its best to improve the health and well being for the people of Barnsley.”

Staff wash their hands on infectionThe first ever community ‘clean your hands’ campaign came to Barnsley recently.The infection prevention and control ran a roadshow for staff who were given the chance to use a special hand lotion that shows up where germs are prevalent on hands when held under a UV light. “This gave us the chance to demonstrate effective hand washing techniques that help to eliminate germs.” Added Alison.

Alison Thomas, Senior Nurse for Infection Prevention and Control said: “This was a really good opportunity to spread the word about the clean your hands campaign. Staff were keen to get involved and joined in fully with our activities on the day.”

Pictured L-R Alison Thomas, Glenis White, Non Executive Director and Sean Rayner, Chief Operating Officer test out the equipment used by the infection prevention and control team.

The course provides learners with an opportunity to discuss and reflect on their own life experience along with that of others. The course equips learners with the knowledge, skills, confidence and enthusiasm to enable them to become more involved with their own community.

In Barnsley, the training course has been delivered in communities to community development and health workers and residents since September 2005.

Since the programme started in Barnsley, 122 learners have been recruited. 71 of them were unemployed and 51 employed at the time. 77 learners achieved a qualification, 33 continued into further training, 11 people gained employment and 11 began volunteering.

Healthy course celebration

We want to hear your team’s news so please get in touch! Contact Katy Jarvis, Internal Communications Manager on ext 4298 or send your contributions on email to: katy.jarvis@barnsleypct.nhs.uk

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Celebrating NHS60 through FootballWell done to all staff and partners who took part in the NHS60 Footie Fest earlier in the year. Congratulations to the winning team (pictured), the Council Crusaders who won three of their matches.

Great run Ann!Ann Lightowler, (pictured) Information facilitator, completed the Great Yorkshire Run on 7 September in aid of Marie Curie Cancer. Ann said: ”I’ve done Race for Life for the past 6 years (5km), but this year decided on a bigger challenge a 10km! I bumped into some colleagues from Commissioning at the start Pat Foster, Heather Simpson, Tina Driver who were also running for Marie Curie.” Ann completed her run in 1 hour 12 mins and 5 secs, even managing a sprint finish. “I thoroughly enjoyed it and will definitely try another, even though I’m not really a runner!”

So far, Ann has raised £225, her fundraising page is www.justgiving.com/annies10k

Mount Vernon staff are Jean-iusSome of our Mount Vernon staff donned their jeans recently and collected £75 towards Jeans for Genes Day. Apparently, they were all a bit too shy for a photo but well done to all who took part.

A retirement party was held at Darton Health Centre on 23rd September to celebrate over 40 years of commitment to the NHS by Sue Doran. Starting out as a Nurse during the mid-sixties, Sue worked at the Old Beckett and St Helen’s Hospitals and also the Coronary Care Unit. Moving her career into

Steve Barton, Kay Bennett, Carol Bishop, Martin Brandon, Jodie Dvelys, Paul Foster, Angie Glover, Olivia Hawkins, Kath Hobson, John Hodson, David Keddie, Ann Lightowler,Kay Morgan, Adrienne Pickering, Nick Phillips, Lynda Pickersgill, Katie Proctor, Emma Smith, Olive Walker, Jody White

Thank you to this month’s contributors

the seventies, Sue then became involved in assisting Health Visitors, which she continued to do so for more than 30 years. Her assistance in routine hearing and sight tests, medicals and immunisations proved her to be a friendly and familiar face to our Baby Clinics and School Health Services.

For 10 years Sue helped run the ‘Look After Yourself’ programme, showing her dedication to delivering the Public Health Agenda locally. This involved engaging people in physical activity, relaxation and raising their awareness of a range of health topics. A large part of Sue’s time and effort was also spent working with the elderly, chronic sick and other vulnerable adults. As a result, the lives of many individuals living in the Mapplewell and Darton area have been greatly improved. Although Sue will be greatly missed, her work will remain greatly recognised and appreciated.

Sue’s a Star