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www.kirklees.nhs.uk
Issue 20 December 2008
News and views from NHS Kirklees
Celebrating our staff achievements Support staff from across the Trust who have achieved NVQ qualifications in the past year celebrated their hard work at an event at the Dewsbury Rams earlier this month. Staff have been able to take part in the training as part of the Trust’s commitment to encourage and support employees to gain skills and qualifications that will support their future employability as well as meeting the needs of the local NHS. Liz Butterfield, Head of Knowledge and Learning for NHS Kirklees, said “We recognise the biggest, most important asset in our organisation is our staff and we are delighted that during 2007/08 so many have achieved an NVQ qualification.” Several organisations have teamed up with NHS Kirklees so administrative and clerical staff could take part in the training, including The Learning and Skills Council, other local NHS trusts and neighbouring further education colleges, such as Kirklees College’s Dewsbury and Huddersfield centres.
Fun start for Health Action Plans People with a learning disability, their family and carers attended a fun event - ‘It’s my health day’ and had the chance to pick up their new Health Action Plan. The Health Action Plan is designed to help people with learning difficulties look after their own health and to advise them where to go if they need further help and advice. In it they can share information with health professionals, so that all their health needs can be met and delivered in the best way possible. It also serves as a diary for health appointments and contains useful contact information. The Kirklees Learning Disability Partnership Board also used the event to show the wide range of learning disability services in Kirklees and there were a number of workshops and demonstrations The event – at the Hudawi Cultural Centre, Huddersfield - was opened by NHS Kirklees Chairman, Rob Napier, and Cllr Margaret Bates, Cabinet Member for Kirklees Council Adult Services. Nicola Cromack, Co-Chair of the Learning Disability Partnership Board: “The event has been really good and the Health Action Plan is useful as it will help people with learning disabilities keep up to date with their health needs".
Michael Holgate, Lifelong Learning Manager for NHS Yorkshire and Humber, said: “Good quality healthcare can only be achieved if staff are provided with the very best skills and knowledge to enable them to do their job. I am delighted to present these awards and acknowledge the hard work that has been involved in achieving them.”
inside
Continued on page 2.
Rob Napier, Nicola Cromack and Cllr Margaret Bates
Health library goes to the people - 3... Kirklees pledges to become baby friendly - 3... Mike's column - 4... Leading the Way - 7... Up for it - 8... Joined up thinking for NHS websites - 9... Kirklees Community Healthcare Services update - 10 and more!
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Celebrating our staff achievements continued Anne Wood, Long Term Conditions Programme Co-ordinator, who was presented with an NVQ Business and Administration Level 3 said: “The PCT encourages all staff to develop both personally and professionally and by being able to study in an area relevant to my role will ultimately allow me to carry out my role more effectively.” Funding has been made available through the Trust’s training and education budgets, the West Yorkshire Traineeship Scheme, the Support Staff Learning and Development Fund and the Train to Gain scheme.
Congratulations to the following people: Ann Marie Kelly - Business & Administration Level 4, Bev Batley - Business & Administration Level 3, Janet Garfitt - Business & Administration Level 3, Carole Holroyd - Business & Administration Level 3, Lyn Milnes - Business & Administration Level 3, Nicola Nuttall - Business & Administration Level 3, Brenda Powell - Business & Administration Level 3, Julie Surtees - Business & Administration Level 3, Ann Wood - Business & Administration Level 3, Joanne Barstow - Business & Administration Level 2, Cheryl Birmingham - Business & Administration Level 2, Antonia Bolland - Business & Administration Level 2, Natasha Brown - Business & Administration Level 2, Hollie Collins - Business & Administration Level 2, Rizwana Ibraham - Business & Administration Level 2, Suzanne Haythorne - Business & Administration Level 2, Tracy Heppenstall - Business & Administration Level 2, Lisa Kirby - Business & Administration Level 2, Sharma Mehmood - Business & Administration Level 2, Jacqueline Morris - Business & Administration Level 2, Laura Murphy - Business & Administration Level 2, Carly-Marie Smith - Business & Administration Level 2, Julie Suffield - Business & Administration Level 2, Charlie Wells - Customer Service Level 2, Ruth Knowles - Health & Social Care Level 3, Ann Manners - Health & Social Care Level 3, Carol Boyle - Health & Social Care Level 2, Yvonne Gledhill - Health & Social Care Level 2, Sharon Green - Health & Social Care Level 2, Jeannie Knight - Health & Social Care Level 2, Lyn North - Health & Social Care Level 2, Sharon Orwin - Health & Social Care Level 2, Melanie Rhodes - Health & Social Care Level 2, Shayne Hall - Occupational Therapy / Physiotherapy Level 3, Gillian Henry - Occupational Therapy / Physiotherapy Level 3.
Do you really need ‘em? We used European Antibiotic Awareness Day in November to encourage both the public and health professionals to use antibiotics responsibly. Antibiotics are sometimes used inappropriately, for the wrong reasons or taken incorrectly. Taking antibiotics for the wrong reasons allows bacteria to develop resistance to the drug which can then reduce or even eliminate the effectiveness of antibiotics in curing and preventing infections in the future. Health experts are also warning that the appropriate use of antibiotics plays a crucial part in the district’s bid to significantly reduce healthcare-associated infections (HCAI). Neill McDonald, Assistant Director of Medicines Management and Prescribing, said: “Antibiotics are not effective against viruses such as colds, ‘flu and many sore throats. These viral infections usually get better themselves and won’t be helped by taking antibiotics. The best way to treat cold and ‘flu symptoms is by using medicines like Paracetamol, resting and drinking plenty of fluids. “If antibiotics are taken when they shouldn’t be, we will see bacterial infections becoming more difficult to treat and we might find that when we really do need them to treat serious bacterial infections, they might not work.”
Driving and parking safely Help avoid accidents in and around NHS sites by: • Sticking to speed limits - they are there for a reason • Giving priority to pedestrians • Not parking on the pavement • Not parking outside fire exits • Not blocking access for emergency vehicles • Not parking in spaces reserved for disabled people • Being courteous to a receptionist asking you to move your vehicle
3 Eve Malam of the self care team with Vilma Oreniss
Healthy library goes to the people A few months ago Talk About carried a story about NHS Kirklees teaming up with the local Library Service to provide a huge range of health related books and CDs – 15,000 to be precise – for local people to borrow. Library Service staff have been out and about promoting their service and we caught up with them at the Grange Group Practice in Fartown, Huddersfield. Staff at the Practice kindly allowed Library staff to take over their health education room for the day to display information about some of the many services in Kirklees whose aim is to support people to self care. There was a very good turn out with more than 50 people visiting, and 45 visiting the mobile library which was parked outside. The library recruited some new members and many children left with big smiles on their faces from the free books they
were given. Older visitors left with freebies such as stress balls, mugs and frisbees, and a whole lot of information about what’s available to them. Also dropping by were some health professionals: GP’s, practice nurses, physiotherapists, district nurses, pharmacists, and reception staff to find out about what was going on. Vilma Oreniss from a local pharmacy called on the day and said “It was a very good event, and will be useful to tell people who come into the shop wanting advice where a self care book might help them”. At the end of the day, Su Perkins, the Practice Manager at the Grange, said that many patients had told their nurses during their appointments that they had thoroughly enjoyed their time at the event and found out some useful information.
Do you know about the Kirklees LINk? The LINk is the Local Involvement Network - a strong community voice that aims to influence the planning, purchasing and provision of local health and social care services. It offers an opportunity for people and voluntary sector groups from all the towns, communities and districts that make up Kirklees to have a stronger voice. The LINk builds on local networks without trying to replace them and enables people to get involved in ways that suit them. It’s also powerful because it has the legal authority to influence how services are planned, request information, enter and view service settings and make recommendations. Cloverleaf Advocacy facilitates The LINk and has been supporting local people as individuals get the best out of health and social care services since 1995. More information from: Kirklees Local Involvement Network, c/o Cloverleaf Advocacy, 26 Bond Street, Dewsbury, WF13 1AU. Tel: 01924 438 438 or email kirklees-link@cloverleaf-advocacy.co.uk or join their social network at kirkleeslink.cloverleaf-advocacy.org.uk
Kirklees pledges to become Baby Friendly NHS Kirklees is one of the first primary care trusts in the country to register its intention to work for the UNICEF Baby Friendly Initiative (BFI). This is a global initiative, set up by UNICEF when it was realised that 1.5 million babies were dying each year as a result of not being breastfed. This work has been in the UK since 1994 when hospitals were invited to take part, Now it is the turn of PCTs to meet the BFI standards in community health services. They will also work with partners such as local authorities and retailers, to promote and increase breastfeeding and improve facilities for babies across their areas. NHS Kirklees has already registered the intention to work towards BFI
accreditation and appointed Jayne Heley as BFI Co-ordinator. Jayne has been our Breastfeeding Co-ordinator since January this year and is a Health Visitor by background. Said Jayne: “There are lots of reasons why we need to increase and support breastfeeding including helping to reduce the number of baby deaths and cases of gastroenteritis in babies. Breastfeeding also helps reduce obesity. “We’re already working with Kirklees Council to promote breastfeeding in the Baby Cafés in Batley and Huddersfield and the Children’s Centres. We need to extend this partnership to include all health care providers, retailers and leisure
providers to develop a supportive breastfeeding culture across Kirklees – making it socially and culturally acceptable.” Once existing services and facilities have been assessed by a UNICEF representative NHS Kirklees works towards a Certificate of Commitment and then through three stages of work until reaching full BFI accreditation. The process is expected to take around two years. There are plans to promote Breastfeeding Champions within Health Visiting teams across Kirklees and to develop volunteer breastfeeding support groups in each of the seven localities. Jayne has many more plans – watch this space.
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Mike’s Column NHS Kirklees has just published a fiveyear strategic plan as part of the World Class Commissioning Framework. This clearly explains the actions we will take to improve local health outcomes and reduce the health inequalities as identified in the local Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) jointly published with Kirklees Council. It sets out our early priorities for investment and service development and describes how we will make planned changes. We have also published supporting plans covering finance, workforce, organisational development, communications and engagement and our annual operating plan. These plans should be regarded as an initial statement of how we expect services to develop over the next few years. They demonstrate our recognition of the need to evolve and respond to our communities, technological changes, clinical advances and external factors. Therefore, the five year strategic plan and its partner plans will be subject to ongoing review and updated as needed to reflect changes both within Kirklees and externally. I would like to thank everyone who has contributed to the plans. This has been a huge piece of work and the effort and commitment which has gone into the development and distribution of these plans is much appreciated. Presentations to communicate the work around World Class Commissioning are planned for staff and will be advertised shortly. The Chairman and I also intend to continue with our communication sessions with staff in the form of the monthly informal buffet lunches and the visits to GP practices across the patch. It was wonderful to see so many staff at the Kirklees “Diamond Awards” event at Berties Banqueting Rooms in Elland last month. This was certainly an entertaining and thoroughly enjoyable evening for all present. It is expected that next year’s event may have to be held at a larger venue to accommodate everyone who would like to attend. It was good to recognise the long service of so many members of staff and present some special awards to mark the significant contribution to the work of the PCT. Thanks to everyone who took part in this evening and many congratulations to all the award winners.
We have recently received the scores from the second Health Care Commission annual health check. NHS Kirklees have scored “fair” for the quality of services provided and “fair” on how well the organisation’s resources are managed. This is the same rating as last year. The HCC found that NHS Kirklees fully met all 24 core standards which cover areas such as public health, care environment and amenities, accessibility and responsiveness and safety. The review also identified areas where NHS Kirklees is taking a lead and performing well against national targets. These include:• Maintaining the four hour maximum wait in A&E from arrival to admission, transfer or discharge. • Maintaining a two week maximum wait from urgent GP referral to first outpatient appointment for all urgent suspected cancer referrals. • Maintaining delayed transfers of care at a minimal level. • Maintaining a maximum wait of 26 weeks for an inpatient appointment. • Maintaining a maximum wait of 13 weeks for an outpatient appointment. The overall scores indicate that we have made significant progress around a range of areas including health inequalities, efficiency and financial balance and it is pleasing to see that we are performing well against the national standards, fully achieving many of the targets. As always, thank you for your ongoing support.
Mike Potts, Chief Executive
New text service for family support If you’re worried about finding and paying for childcare, the Children & Families Information Service can offer free information, advice and guidance about finding childcare, funding that you could be entitled to and financial support to help you in paying for your childcare costs. They can signpost you to information about positive parenting and coping with the challenges of being a parent as well as details of other organisations that may be able to support you. The Children & Families Information Service can also help with ideas for family activities. They can tell you about days out in your area, clubs, organisations and positive activities for your child. Text childcare, parenting, activities, organisations or money and your name to 07800 002431 and an information officer will call you back within six working days to talk about how they can help you. Standard network charges will apply.
Feeling generous? If you feel you could spare a little blood for someone else there are a couple of donor sessions at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary on Thursday December 11. They are 10.00-12.00 and 13.15-16.00. The venue is the Large Discussion Room in the Learning Centre (bottom of drive).
Dare to wear pink Plenty of people based at St Luke’s House, took up the dare on October 31 and wore pink in support of Breast Cancer Campaign. They paid £2 for the privilege and also bought cakes and biscuits to boost the funds. The fundraising activities were arranged by Kath Hildreth, PA to Peter Flynn, Director Performance and Information, aided and abetted by Helen Haythorne of Communications. A big thank you to everyone who took part and helped to raised pennies short of a very healthy £130. At Beckside Court Sam Royle was co-ordinating the sale of pink buns/cakes and tickets for a pink raffle with pink prizes e.g. rosé wine, pink slippers, perfume, chocolates, toiletries, etc. They raised around £250. Well done everyone!
The Audit Trail Introduction and welcome Welcome to this our first Clinical Audit Newsletter for all healthcare professionals in Kirklees. The purpose is to communicate with as many colleagues as possible, to let you know what’s happening but also provide you with a means of letting us know what you are doing, what you would like to see happen and to share any useful information, ideas and examples of good practice. Clinical audit provides a very important means of ensuring what we do is effective. It also helps all those involved in healthcare, in both clinical and non clinical roles to be able to develop and improve services. Although this has always been the case, it is set to take an ever greater role in the quality agenda. We are very keen for the news letter to be interactive, supporting real twoway communication. Supporting an opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate the good work that often goes un-noticed, and where there is innovation and valuable lessons learned, that we do everything we can to share this. We will endeavour to do our best to let you know what’s happening, including examples of recently completed audits, hints and suggestions, as well as information about other resources to help strengthen people’s knowledge and understanding about clinical audit. The Newsletter will include a section about access to future training programmes to meet most peoples needs. Importantly we’ll try and make it light hearted and interesting, BUT we also want to hear from YOU. Please give us feedback and let us know what you think.
Issue 1 • November 08
The Clinical Audit Team The Audit team for NHS Kirklees is part of the Quality and Clinical Governance team. Clinical Audit is set to develop and grow, illustrating our strong commitment to the role clinical audit has to play to improve services for patients. Here’s a short introduction to let you know who we are:
Name: Victor Thompson Job Title: Quality and Clinical Governance Team Manager
Name: Janet Wheeler Job Title: Clinical Audit Co-ordinator
Responsibilities within the team: I support the Assistant Director of Quality and Clinical Governance in ensuring the PCT meets its requirements and lead on clinical Audit.
Responsibilities within the team: I work with the Clinical Governance Team Manager to develop and support Trust wide audits.
Tel: 01924 351 531 Email: victor.thompson@kirklees.nhs.uk
Tel: 01924 351675 Email: janet.wheeler@kirklees.nhs.uk
Name: Gemma Turtle Job Title: Clinical Governance Audit Facilitator Responsibilities within the team: I am within the Quality and Clinical Governance Team to support audit activity and training agendas Tel: 01924 351628
Email: gemma.turtle@kirklees.nhs.uk
Fun Puzzle We have included a Sudoku puzzle for you to complete at your leisure. This puzzle is classed as ‘easy’ and will therefore increase in difficulty each time ‘The Audit Trail’ is released. The aim of Sudoku is to complete the entire grid using the numbers 1-9. Each number can only be used once in each row, once in each column, and once in each of the 3x3 boxes. The solution to this puzzle will be included in the next ‘Audit Trail’. However, this can be obtained from myself (Gemma Turtle) anytime previously if needed.
Clinical Audit in Practice We have been told that it is useful to know what projects colleagues have already done should you be considering doing something similar, as their experience may be of assistance. So we thought that you would like to hear about the audit projects to share knowledge and experience:
Here are examples of completed audit projects recently submitted: Minor Surgery Audit The Surgery has carried out minor surgery for a number of years, this is the 3rd re-audit undertaken. Surgery comprised the following procedures: shave and cautery, excision/cutting surgery, incision, removal of toe nail, removal of foreign body requiring incision, cryotherapy, ligation, joint injection, soft tissue injection.
Audit of Blood Pressure (B.P.) Monitoring and Annual Discussion of Risks in Patients taking Hormone Replacement Therapy (H.R.T.)
The standard identified was that the Surgery will run a safe and efficient minor surgery service, aiming for 100% patient satisfaction.
Hormone Replacement Therapy is primarily used to treat menopausal symptoms.
The audit comprised of a patient satisfaction survey and review of post operative infection.The period covered was from 01/04/07 to 31/03/08. We invited 167 Patients (50 % of the total number of people receiving minor surgery) to participate and 90 (53% of the number invited to participate) responded.
Benefits include relief of vasomotor menopausal symptoms and some protection from osteoporosis in the long term.
In conclusion the audit demonstrated 96% of patients were completely satisfied with their care and treatment. The audit confirms that minor surgery is safe and effective. Only three patients indicated that they were not satisfied with the service and there were no reports of post operative wound infection.
Disadvantages include increase risk of venous thromboembolism, stroke, breast and endometrial cancer.
Beverley Tattersall, Undercliffe Surgery
Investigations were carried out to identify the percentage of H.R.T. patients receiving B.P. checks every 6 months and information regarding the risks involved with taking H.R.T. on an annual basis.
Methotrexate and Patient Safety
The Audit included a total of 93 patients taking H.R.T.
It was following a Methotrexate incident and an article in a community pharmacy newsletter (August 08) which highlighted problems with patients not attending for regular blood monitoring whilst taking Methotrexate, that initiated a review of the Practices patient register to determine if we had any safety/monitoring issues.
The outcome revealed = 92% had their B.P. recorded in the last 6 months, with 46% having been informed of the risks during the last 12 months. There is a possibility that they were informed of the risks but no read code was added.
The Surgery intends to continue to provide minor surgery and re-audit annually.
Identified that we had a total of 18 patients taking Methotrexate. 15 (83%) of those patients had attended either the surgery or the hospital for the relevant blood monitoring within the last 3 months. It was while performing this audit that other issues were highlighted e.g. not all of the patients were taking folic acid, which is commonly used to help protect the bone marrow in patients taking Methotrexate, and not everyone had the recommended Methotrexate Treatment booklet produced by the NHS National Patient Safety Agency. Action Plan: 1) Patients who were overdue their blood tests were sent a letter and blood request form recommending to them to attend as soon as possible. 2) All patients not taking folic acid were contacted by telephone to ascertain if any were buying this over the counter
or not, prescriptions lists to be amended accordingly. All patients taking Methotrexate had a reminder put on their computer records regarding the need for 3 monthly blood monitoring. 3) Methotrexate Treatment booklets are to be provided for all patients taking this medication and advised to use these as recommended for their own safety and reduction of significant risk to their health. 4) To develop a practice protocol detailing the standard of care patients require when taking Methotrexate. 5) To make all Primary Health Care Team aware of audit outcomes, action plan and the results of actions taken. In conclusion, in audits like this one, we may deal with small numbers of patients but the impact on our patients’ standard of care and safety can be quite dramatic and well worth the effort. On a personal level I have learned a great deal about Methotrexate and patient safety and illustrated that the primary/ secondary / shared care we are providing may not be what we think and auditing one topic can so easily highlight other issues that need to be addressed. Bev Howard, Practice Nurse, Grove House Surgery & Chickenley Medical Centre
In conclusion, it was suggested that H.R.T. was not to be put on as a repeat template. When patients make an appointment for repeat medication, to ensure B.P. is recorded and also risks are discussed. A record must then be entered on to the computer. If the patient does not attend the appointment, they should not receive a prescription. Lisa McManus, Practice Nurse, Blackburn Road Medical Centre.
Have you got an audit you’d like to share? We’d like to know, please send a copy to Gemma Turtle. Contact details on previous page.
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Leading the Way This PCT has always believed in working collaboratively with other organisations. Working within World Class Commissioning this is becoming even more important for the development of excellent healthcare for Kirklees. Senior directors, managers, members of the Professional Executive Committee (PEC), Practice Based Commissioning representatives, Health Improvement Team members and Clinical Leads recently worked through a two-day conference examining where the organisation is now and the next steps needed for this new phase. The conference was opened by Chief Executive, Mike Potts, who stated the commitment of the organisation to closer working. The facilitator was Deborah Davidson of the School of Social Policy, of Birmingham University,
Local nominees will be put forward for a regional award and one overall winner will then be chosen by panel of national judges.
Having already completed a training needs analysis of the organisation, those taking part were presented with the initial feedback. Working with this information they looked at infrastructures, integrated commissioning, the person-centred approach and building commitment and involvement. They looked at the new NHS Kirklees Strategic Plan and the Workforce Plan (now on the intranet) and what needed to done now to make sure this work would be delivered in the future. Closing the conference, Dr David Anderson, Chair of the PEC, committed to moving the agenda forward. Karen Gallagher, Assistant Director of Organisational Development, who organised the conference, said: “Everyone worked hard and is committed to continuous improvement. There was recognition of what has been achieved so far but that there is still a great deal to be done. There will be another conference in around six months’ time to assess progress.”
There are now more than 3000 Dignity Champions across the country. They include frontline NHS and social care staff, MPs, councilors, carers, relatives and famously, Michael Parkinson. They are mostly volunteers who commit to make a difference to the way older people are cared for. In Kirklees, Shahed Mayet, was pleased to join the campaign at an early stage
Dignity Ambassador Sir Michael Parkinson and Care Services Minister Phil Hope have unveiled the first ever award which recognises people who treat elderly patients with dignity and respect and who provide outstanding care. The People’s Award for Dignity in Care is open to everyone. Anyone can nominate individuals or teams who have gone above and beyond the call of duty to improve patient dignity in care.
The Leading the Way conference, held at Gomersal Park Hotel, Bradford, proved challenging and inspiring. The focus was on acknowledging established partnerships and how to strengthen these and build new ones as the local leader of the NHS.
Dignity Champion for Batley
People’s Award for Dignity in Care
because he was proud of the good practice he has been able to reinforce in his work with the Milen Day Centre in Batley. As Manager of the Centre he was keen to highlight the issues in the wider community. He said: “Dignity in care is at the heart of everything we do – which is exactly as it should be. It’s not rocket science – everyone has a basic right to be treated with respect. “The Asian community values its older generation and this fundamental principle does shine through in our day to day work. It sounds like a cliché but ‘treat others as you would want to be treated’ was our starting point and we have worked hard to raise awareness with staff by training and sharing good practice,
Sir Michael Parkinson said: "I’m delighted that there will now be a People’s Award for Dignity in Care. It is important that we celebrate the people who are dedicated to raising standards of care all across the country. “The People's Award for Dignity in Care is a great way to recognise the dedication of health and care staff to treating people with the dignity and respect they deserve.” Nominations for the Dignity Awards close 6 March 2009. To register interest, go to www.healthandsocialcareawards.org. uk and click on ‘Register your Interest’. You will be sent details of how to make a nomination.
encouraging them to look to the many little ways in which we can show respect for people’s dignity, self-esteem and right to privacy. “I firmly believe that no service users should feel embarrassed or humiliated when receiving the care and support they require which is why I was inspired to sign up to becoming a Dignity Champion.” What Dignity Champions do varies widely but they all share is a commitment to making a difference, however small, to the way older people experience care. For further details or to sign up to become a dignity champion see www.dignityincare.org.uk
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Nudging away obesity NHS Kirklees and Kirklees Council have teamed up to create a local strategic partnership for Kirklees. This partnership brings together public sector agencies, voluntary and community groups and local businesses to discuss important issues to help improve the quality of life for people in Kirklees. The first campaign, “Up for it”, is targeting higher and further education students in Kirklees. It’s using social media, such as YouTube, and word of mouth to connect with students during the academic year. The overall aim is to halt the year-on-year rise in obesity levels of students between the ages of 16 and 24. Leeds-based public relations and social media specialist Wolfstar is helping to deliver a social marketing campaign. Chris Norton of Wolfstar said: “We know that for this to be successful we can’t tell students what to do. That’s why we’ve adopted a nudge strategy to make it easy for students to do the right thing without thinking. We believe we must incite students to have fun and act of their own accord.”
encourage students to want to adopt healthy lifestyles and exercise more frequently, but without lecturing or bombarding them with too much educational information and statistics. Bringing Wolfstar on board is bringing our practical interventions to life by engaging with students via social networks and community-based, direct word of mouth communications to create a fun, sociable program that students want to get involved with.” Students can, on average put on as much as 15lb in weight due to their hedonistic lifestyles at university and college. The campaign will be particularly targeting those students who already have a BMI (Body Mass Index) of 25+.
Lynne Cliffe said: “Videos could include mock TV advertisements, a journalist news report on something silly, weird or wacky or a movie spoof – the crazier the better!" Each entrant will need a YouTube account and then they will have to upload their video to the group. The ‘Up for It’ team will check the videos abide by all the rules and then release them for public viewing. The closing date is March 31 2009. The winner will be announced after the April 27 2009.
‘Up for It’ is grabbing attention by offering students the opportunity to create a short (maximum two minutes) amusing viral video for their studies and win a cool £500 cash for their efforts. The film should encourage students to enjoy cooking quick, easy to make meals or just get moving and become a bit more active. The winning entry will be the video which becomes the most viral with the most views and votes combined on YouTube.
For full details on how to enter or for more information about this and other Up for It campaigns, visit www.up-for-it.com.
New look for out of hours service
hours a day, seven days a week.
make sure this happens.”
These changes to how urgent care services are delivered were prompted following a major review across West Yorkshire. More than 644 patients in Kirklees gave their views about the current service during an engagement exercise in summer 2007.
Following a robust tendering process, NHS Kirklees has awarded a contract to Local Care Direct to provide face-to-face out of hours care from a range of healthcare professionals such as evening or weekend GP home visits, evening or weekend GP appointments and emergency dental appointments.
Meetings were also held with 10 voluntary organisations about urgent care and these were attended by 146 people. Involving Young Citizens Equally (IYCE) also took part as did many clinical staff. This feedback was used to shape how the new service might look and deliver improved care to patients.
Alongside this ‘treatment’ element, the five West Yorkshire primary care trusts have been working collectively to bring on board a provider to offer an ‘access and assessment’ service. NHS Direct was successful in its bid to run this service on a regional basis.
Chief Executive, Mike Potts, said: “We are delighted to be making this announcement. The new services will greatly improve how patients access advice and treatment for urgent health problems that cannot wait until the next day to be treated. We are committed to making the transition a smooth one and will work closely with our providers between now and April 1st 2009 to
• Local Care Direct is a local community benefit organisation founded by local GPs. They have a dedicated team of more than 1000 clinical and non clinical staff. This includes 350 regular GPs, recruited from local practices in the areas served. • NHS Direct is a nurse-led service which offers advice on health worries and signposting to appropriate services. NHS Direct also offer commissioned services to other parts of the NHS to help them meet their patients’ needs. These services include: a. out of hours support for GPs and dental services, b. telephone support for patients with long-term conditions, c. pre and post operative support for patients, d. 24 hour response to health scares, and e. remote clinics via telephone.
Lynne Cliffe, project manager at NHS Kirklees, commented: “We want to
Patients will be able to use a single West Yorkshire telephone number which will offer an advice and signposting service 24
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Joined up thinking for NHS websites Patients looking for information about the choices available for their healthcare will now be able to find it all on one NHS website. NHS Choices and NHS Direct, two of the country’s leading health websites, are joining forces at www.nhs.uk to provide the public with all the health information they need in one place. Health is one of the most searched for subjects on the internet and it is crucial the NHS offers the public access to accurate: self-help guides, comparative information on hospitals, guides to long-term conditions, practice profiles to help find GPs and much more.
Information is available on the following: Hospital comparisons data on how local hospitals are performing on a series of clinical and non-clinical indicators including MRSA rates, survival rates, car parking. NHS Guides to longterm conditions
step by step guide from prevention to living with a condition.
Health A-Z
more than 700 conditions and treatments explained in words and videos.
Self help guide
online tools to help establish the extent of an ailment and whether further medical support is needed.
Health Encyclopaedia giving reliable information on more than 800 conditions and treatments. Common Health Questions
allows users to obtain answers to topical and frequently asked health questions
Online Enquiry Service
users can submit and receive answers to non-emergency health questions
NHS blogs
online communities discussing what it involves to live every day with a long-term condition. Find out from the arthritis blog the best way to buy a car if you have arthritis.
Live Well
Magazine-style advice on how to stay fit and healthy from patients and experts, including hundreds of videos and tools on how to maintain your best health.
Pregnancy Care Planner
the first NHS one stop shop for expectant parents.
Patient ratings
Leave comments on a hospitals and read what others are saying.
Find a service –
All the NHS services in one place, from GPs to dentists.
Behind the headlines
exclusive NHS news service provides expert analysis on the days top medical stories.
Carol Service This year’s NHS Carol Service at York Minster is taking place on
Wednesday December 10 at 7.30pm. The event is not ticketed so anyone wishing to attend should arrive early.
Sorry
Apologies to Kaly Bhabra, consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist mentioned in the last Talk About, for spelling her name incorrectly.
Children in Need Staff at Dewsbury Health Centre raised £150 for Children in Need this month.
Movers and shakers Starters • Lynn Callaghan, School Nurse HVMH; • Lynn Thornton, HPV Co-ordinator School Nursing HVMH; • Dr Julie Manning, Speciality Doctor, CASH, PRCHC; • Susan Sykes, Staff Nurse, HPV Team, School Nursing, HVMH; • Benjamin Woodhouse, Senior Medicines Management Advisor, PRCHC; • Donna Thewlis, Temporary Organisational Development Administrator, SLH; • Lisa Ingham, School Nurse, PRCHC; • Rea Haigh, School Nurse, MHCHC; • Suzanne Vear, Staff Nurse, Fartown Health Centre; • Dr Mangipudi Jayashree, Speciality Doctor, CASH, PRCHC; • Lisa Hardcastle, Staff Nurse, Grange; • Kirsty Charlesworth, Bank HCA; • Janet Rothery, Diabetes Admin Assistant, SLH; • Amanda Hindmarsh, Practice Support Pharmacist, PRCHC; • Dawn Vince, Personal Assistant, HVMH; • Julie Patel, Staff Nurse, Maple Ward, HVMH; • Phillippa Townend, Staff Nurse, PRCHC; • Irene Almond, Bank Staff Nurse; • Julie Martin-Hirsch, School Nurse, Fartown Health Centre; • Lisa Storey, Specialist Nurse Kirkburton Health Centre.
Leavers • Richard Herbert, Richard Lynch, Anne Dove. CASH – Contraception and Sexual Health HCA - Health Care Assistant HPV – Human papillomavirus HVMH – Holme Valley Memorial Hospital MHCHC – Mill Hill Community Health Centre PRCHC – Princess Royal Community Health Centre SLH – St Luke’s House
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Kirklees Community Healthcare Services
update
Kirklees leading on The Productive Ward L-R: Holme Valley Matron, Julia Calcraft; League of Friends Chairman, Geoff Castle; Jeanne’s first Manager, Mrs June Taylor, Jeanne Holmes; Alan Holmes; Locality Manager, Maria Hepworth; Chairman, Rob Napier.
Jeanne will be missed There aren’t many people who can say their first and a further seven managers came to their retirement “do” but Jeanne Holmes is in that privileged position. When she retired as administrator/personal assistant at Holme Valley Memorial Hospital, Holmfirth after 20 years the place was packed with current and former colleagues wanting to wish her well. NHS Chairman, Rob Napier, paid tribute to Jeanne’s years of dedicated service and recalled presenting the first Kirklees PCT Employee of the Year award to her in 2006. Julia Calcraft, Matron at Holme Valley, spoke for all when she described Jeanne as giving 110 per cent, being the fount of all knowledge and a very special person. She recalled how Jeanne advised on royal etiquette - thanks to her past experience as secretary to the Royal Show - when the Duchess of York came to open Hawthorn Ward in the early 1990s. Staff were able to bow and curtsey in fine style as a result. And Julia added: “Jeanne has supported me through many organisational changes. She has been my confidante, my mentor and an absolute true friend. We all wish her a long, healthy, happy retirement” Jeanne is committed to working with the hospital’s League of Friends and the present Chairman, Geoff Castle, paid tribute to her work for the charity. She is also involved with the Royal British Legion and until recently, the Lifeboat Society. Maria Hepworth, current Valleys Locality Manager, said: “Everyone speaks of Jeanne with a lot of respect and affection. Thank you from the bottom of my heart and from the community nursing staff, thanks for your support and regular counselling sessions! Now it’s time to concentrate on yourself and your family. We wish you luck – you deserve it.” Jeanne and her husband, Alan, run the Post Office in a village just outside Holmfirth. She will continue to be up at the crack of dawn for the newspapers and intends spending more time with her daughter, son-in-law and two granddaughters. She said: “I have been very fortunate in the people I have worked with and with my managers. I have the greatest admiration for the nurses here because I couldn’t do their job. I will miss you all – but not the work! Thank you all so much for coming today – I thought there might be about a dozen people here at the most!
A few months ago staff on Maple Ward at Holme Valley Memorial Hospital, Holmfirth, were singing the praises of Releasing Time to Care – The Productive Ward. Now Kath Evans, Service Development Manager Adults is helping to roll out the initiative across the whole of Yorkshire and The Humber, Kath, who has previously worked as both a district nurse and in hospitals, is spending two and a half days a week under a service level agreement on the year-long task for the Regional Health Authority. Kath is working between the NHS Institute, which developed The Productive Ward and subsequent training courses, and community hospitals in the region. The initiative aims to improve ward processes and environments to help nurses and therapists spend more time on patient care to improve the reliability, safety and efficiency of the care delivered. Kath’s role is to support staff as they take on The Productive Ward work and to create links for them with other organisations going through the same transition. She has also set up the Community Hospitals Sharing Network and arranged its first meeting at Holme Valley. The next step for the “Productive” family is Productive Community Services. Kath will be involved in its development over the coming year, working with the NHS Institute and NHS Calderdale, who will be the “learning partner” and will develop and test the tools.
They’ve moved The Paddock Health Visiting team that was based at Paddock Children's Centre has now moved to Princess Royal Community Health Centre. They can be contacted on 01484 344323 / 344321.
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Off to the Orkneys Health Visitor Denise Campbell has retired after 36 years in the NHS and she is moving to an entirely different lifestyle. Denise, who came to Huddersfield in 1984, is off to the Orkney Islands to run a bed and breakfast cottage. It’s very different from life in Fartown. Fartown Health Centre was bulging at the seams on the day of her retirement presentation. There were Denise’s NHS colleagues, those from the local authority, the voluntary sector, the independent sector, and patients. They all joined in singing the specially adapted version of the Blondie hit “Denis, Denis” as a mark of their respect and affection for Denise. Speaker after speaker told of her warmth, inspiration and commitment to her work, her colleagues and her patients. They also paid tribute to her involvement with the overseas charity, the Ashanti Trust. Sheila Dilks, Director of Patient Care and Professions, recalled Denise’s time as Secretary of the Health Visitors’ Association to which she was as committed as she was to her job. She said: “She saw what needed to be done and she made sure it got done. She
Denise with just one of her bouquets and just some of her colleagues.
was driven. She was a name at national level. She has been a leader here and nationally. Leadership isn’t always about being at the head of things, it’s often about making difficult decisions and supporting your colleagues through them.
She continued: “It’s been a wonderful career but I couldn’t have done any of it without the team. We have been a family. Thanks to all the teams I have worked with and all the relationships I have had with the voluntary and independent sectors.
“I admire your courage and tenacity. Good luck, keep your passion and thank you.”
“I shall miss each and every one of you. I can’t thank you enough and I don’t doubt you will space in your hearts for a new person.”
Denise, who was showered with gifts and flowers, said she couldn’t have had a better job if she had designed it herself.
Equality Impact Assessments – a must do As a statutory organisation we are legally required to carry out equality impact assessments on our services but it also makes sound common sense to do so. We need and want to offer accessible and equitable services.
we need to look more closely at our processes. NHS Kirklees also doesn’t have many disabled job applicants and the workforce is predominantly women. These are both factors that we need to look at,” said Kashif.
Kashif Ahmed, Equality and Diversity Manager, said: “We need to eliminate anything that would have an adverse impact on any services we deliver to the public or internally, such as recruitment and retention. We are concentrating on gender, disability and race but will also consider age, religion/belief and sexual orientation.”
Half-day workshops delivered by an external trainer will begin in mid-January
In recruitment he explained that in one quarter of the year there were 104 applications from Pakistani people yet only four were appointed – a disproportionate number. “There could be a completely logical explanation for this or it could be that
And an impact assessment template and guidelines will be available on the intranet. After that no recruitment advertising, new service specifications or policies will be approved unless they have been impact assessed. Anyone who has responsibility for recruitment or service or policy development will be involved but everyone else will need to be aware of equality impact assessments because it will give them a greater understanding of equality issues.
Raising our profile NHS Kirklees was a sponsor in the recent prestigious Huddersfield Examiner Business Awards, jointly sponsoring the Community Award. The decision to become involved was designed to raise the profile of our organisation in the community. Chairman, Rob Napier, presented the award to The Pink Link Ltd., a haulage company of Netherton, Hudersfield, which has raised almost £55,000 for charities since 2001. The Chairman is pictured presenting the award to The Pink Link’s Vicki and Beverley Shelton.
Volunteers make such a difference
International Volunteers Day
Friday December 5 is International Volunteers Day and to celebrate the valuable work of volunteers in this organisation you have the opportunity to meet some of them that day at St Luke’s House. Our Community and Volunteer Engagement officer, Christine Stephen, will have a stand in reception and will be available, with some of our volunteers, between 10am and 2pm. You will be able to find out what a volunteer might be able to do for your service – and just as importantly, what you could do for them. For more information contact Christine Stephen on 0753 426 0943 or email Christine.stephen@kirklees.nhs.uk.
L-R: Vera Stanley and Chris Stephen
Vera Stanley has clocked up an amazing seventeen years as a volunteer at NHS Kirklees and its former organisations. She is our longest serving volunteer having started working for the organisation in November 1991, originally working two days a week. In the early days Vera provided administrative support to the former health promotion team, now public health. Her work has been very varied, including typing reports and recipes for the “Friends with food” project to compiling packs of information for the Smoking Cessation team. At the moment Vera is summarising questionnaires from training sessions. She has also worked on reception, covering for lunchtimes and staff meetings. Chris Stephen, Community and Volunteer Engagement officer said: “Vera is a shining example of the dedication and time ordinary people can give to the NHS. She has shared her knowledge and skills with many staff over the years and has been a real asset to the organisation, helping staff to offer a better service for the people of Kirklees.” And Vera says: “Volunteering gives me a pattern to the week and I feel appreciated as I am able to free up staff by working on projects that are time consuming”. Volunteers come from all walks of life and are all ages. Some like to add volunteering to their CV while others want to feel involved or may have an interest in a particular illness or health issue.
Could you use some help from a volunteer?
Productive Primary Care Following the very successful Productive Ward pilot at Holme Valley Memorial Hospital, Holmfirth, two GP practices from Kirklees are taking part in a Productive Primary Care pilot across Yorkshire and Humber. This will be facilitated over six months, looking at areas where efficiencies can be made in the functioning of the practice. There were a number of practices interested in this pilot and any learning will be shared. Expressions of interest received from GP practices across Kirklees. The selected practices are Mount Pleasant Medical Practice in Dewsbury and The Waterloo Practice in Huddersfield.
Place Survey 2008 – Your Place, Your Say Kirklees Council is staging a 15,000 household survey called the Place Survey. The aim of the survey is to capture the views, experiences and perceptions of people living in Kirklees.
Get involved
Remember, this is your newsletter and we’d like everyone to be involved. So, if you have anything you’d like to share please send it to: Communications team, St Luke’s House, Blackmoorfoot Road, Crosland Moor, Huddersfield HD4 5RH 01484 466044/466223 or email communications@kirkleespct.nhs.uk Deadline for articles for next issue is 12 December 2008
NHS Kirklees and the police – in partnership with the Council will use the results to offer services better tailored to meet the needs of local people. The focus will be on making things better for local people and places rather than on the role of organisations and the services they deliver. The results will be available in the New Year. There will be a workshop in spring 2009 to look at some of the issues raised by the survey and what they mean for us, both at overall Kirklees level and within localities. More information will be available next year.