The Age UK Notts Worry Catcher Service, the Covid pandemic, and adventures into a ‘virtual’ world! The Covid pandemic has presented all of us with many challenges and affected many aspects of our lives. We have lived through lockdowns, got used to wearing face masks, experienced food shortages and had difficulties accessing a variety of services. And that doesn’t even touch on the impact that the virus has had on our personal lives. In response to the pandemic, AGE UK NOTTS (AUNN) has had to make changes to all our services, which has impacted on all our service users, and at the same time meant staff have had to adapt very quickly to working from home.
The main aims of the service are to provide the best possible patient experience on the ward and to support the patient’s discharge from hospital, working with both the patient and their relatives/carers. These are undertaken through Worry Catcher sessions, community/patients’ meetings and non-statutory advocacy support. We offer: • An independent, confidential service tailored to a person’s needs
Whilst these changes have been happening, some people have still needed to be admitted to a mental health ward and this can be stressful at the best of times. Being admitted during a pandemic has brought even greater challenges, as patients were not able to receive visitors for many months - and even now visiting is still subject to restrictions, causing additional worries for both patients and their families. That’s why it’s so important they have an independent person to talk to about their worries and concerns.
• Someone to provide a listening ear and discuss any concerns with
AUNN’s Worry Catcher Service has been working in partnership with Mental Health Services for Older People (MHSOP) at Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, for nearly 5 years. The service delivers free, independent and confidential support to patients, along with their relatives and carers, during their stay in hospital on the MHSOP wards across Nottingham and Nottinghamshire. These being:
• Information and supported signposting/referrals to other agencies and services offering assistance e.g. befriending and social groups, day care services, community transport, shopping and gardening services
• Cherry and Silver Birch Wards (Highbury Hospital) • Kingsley and Amber Wards (Millbrook Unit) 8
• Ward B1: Clumber and Blyth Units (Bassetlaw Hospital)
• Support and representation – someone independent to speak on the person’s behalf to ensure their wishes are respected and their rights upheld • Information to enable people to make informed choices and decisions around things that affect them e.g. health and social care matters, discharge, financial and legal matters
The weekly Worry Catcher sessions on each ward give patients the opportunity to share their views about the ward – what they like, what they are not so keen on, and to make suggestions for improvement. Lindsey Shepherd, AUNN’s Worry Catcher Coordinator, says “this vital feedback has seen many improvements
