Our voice winter 2017

Thurrock First Launched P4 Parkinson Disease Specialist Nurse of the year P17 Our People Award P15 Email: epunft.communications@nhs.net facebook.com/EPUTNHS

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Issue 2 Winter 2017

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Professor Sheila Salmon has a very big job to do.

She is the founding Chair of Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (EPUT), and along with the Board of Directors and the Council of Governors must make decisions on the future of the strategies that will affect tens of thousands of service users, and 7000 staff working in or from 200 locations.

EPUT was established in the Spring of 2017 as a result of the merging of the South Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (SEPT) and the North Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (NEP). Speaking just days into her new role, Sheila, said: “Having worked or lived in pretty much the whole of Essex, I know the county well, and through my former university regional role am also very familiar with Bedfordshire and Suffolk where EPUT’s services also operate.

“We now have a fantastic opportunity to become one of the most successful and innovative health and care services providers in the UK. We can take the successes of both previous organisations and extend these, as well as work on new initiatives to provide the very best in community, mental health and learning disability services that we possibly can.

“It is all about the patients and the people that we serve. That is what drives me - providing excellent care and positively influencing population health. To do that we must ensure the Trust works in partnership with other organisations including the voluntary sector and social care, and that it looks after its staff, so it can recruit and retain the best.”

Sheila has started as she means to go on: going out and visiting sites, meeting staff and service users.

“I want to quickly get under the skin of this organisation, and will be spending a lot of my time

“It is time for a new and different approach and for mental health and community services to get a much fairer share of the proverbial cake, we must strive towards equity.

I am chomping at the bit to begin this important journey of change with our talented teams across the whole of our new and highly capable organisation.”

Letter from the Editor Welcome to the Winter Edition of Our Voice. I hope you are keeping warm with the colder temperatures now chilling us all. But the bright lights of Christmas are shining wherever you go now and hopefully they brighten your days.

There has been so much going on since our last edition. Our newly merged organisation is going from strength to strength, and we have loads of good news stories about our staff, patients, carers, members and governors. We have a new Chair, Professor Sheila Salmon, and have included an introductory article setting out the plans for her new role. Following the successful elections in the summer, we are also able to introduce you to your new Governors (see pages 12-14).

Thank you so much to everyone who has taken the time to comment, contribute and submit articles. I hope you enjoy this issue and as always we are happy to receive your ideas for articles and contributions to the content. Please send them to me by email to Maxine. forrest@eput.nhs.uk or by post to Communications, The Lodge, Lodge Approach, Wickford SS11 7XX. And don’t forget the photos!

Maxine Forrest Editor

Message from Sally Morris, Chief Executive Welcome to the latest edition of Our Voice. As they say, ‘time flies when you are having fun’, but in our case the last eight months has flown by because we have been so busy.

When Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (EPUT) was formed in April 2017, an interim Board of Directors was in place. The new Trust’s substantive Board could not be appointed until the merged Trust’s new Council of Governors was elected and established in June 2017.

I was delighted to see how many of our members threw their hat in the ring, and I believe we have an excellent group of motivated and inspiring individuals on our Council. See pages 12-14 to meet all our Governors. Following the elections we moved quickly to get our Executive and Non Executive Directors on Board. See the results below: The substantive Trust Board includes me as Chief Executive, plus: • Andy Brogan

Deputy CEO & Executive Director Mental Health

• Natalie Hammond

Executive Nurse

• Dr Milind Karale

Executive Medical Director

• Nigel Leonard

Executive Director Corporate Governance & Strategy

• Mark Madden

Executive Chief Finance & Resources Officer

• Malcolm McCann

Executive Director Community & Partnerships

The new Governors appointed Professor Sheila Salmon as our Trust Chair from November 2017. The Governors also appointed six Non-Executive Directors who took up their positions on the substantive Board from October 2017. There is still one Non-Executive Director vacancy and recruitment to this post will take place early next year. See page 3 for the full line up on our Board of Directors.

The appointments followed a rigorous process which included external independent assessors on the interview panels and candidates meeting informally with key stakeholders, including service users, patients, carers and Trust volunteers.

So EPUT has a new Board of Directors, Council of Governors and Chair, but I want to pay tribute to those who provided their dedicated service to both the SEPT and NEP Boards. The September Board Meeting was the last for three long serving Non Executive Directors, Jan Hutchinson, who previously sat on the NEP Board and then subsequently on the Interim Board for EPUT. The two Steves – Cotter and Currell, who between them notched up 18 years serving on the SEPT Board and EPUT’s Interim Board.

Their passion for high quality health services and their expertise and experience was evident in all that they contributed. I thank you all for your significant contributions to the successes of the previous and current organisations. I wish you all the very best for the future.

As well as all the details on our new Board and Council, this edition includes articles about our staff and organisation’s achievements, proposals for transformative models of mental health services and essential contact numbers.

Our upcoming events are listed on the back page, and I look forward to meeting you at one of the many public meetings planned over the coming months.

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Welcome on Board Our new Chair and Non-Executive Directors (NEDS) We are delighted to welcome Professor Sheila Salmon as our new Trust Chair. Sheila started in her new role as Chair of EPUT on 1 November 2017. For the past seven years, Sheila has been Chairman of Mid-Essex Hospitals NHS Trust and prior to this was Chair of NHS North East Essex and Chair of the Essex Ambulance Service. She is also currently a Member of Anglia Ruskin University Medical School Strategic Steering Group.

We were also delighted to welcome six Non-Executive Directors: Alison Davis, Mary-Ann Munford, Amanda Sherlock, Nicci Statham, Nigel Turner and Janet Wood, who took up their positions on 1 October 2017. At the Board of Directors meeting in October, Sally Morris, Chief Executive, took the opportunity of thanking Janet Wood for acting up as Chair of the Trust for the last nine months and was pleased to confirm that Janet would remain as the Vice-Chair of the Trust. There is still one Non-Executive Director vacancy on the Board and we will be recruiting to this post early next year.

Sally Morris

Sheila Salmon

Chief Executive

Andy Brogan

Executive Director of Mental Health & Deputy CEO

Dr Milind Karale

Executive Medical Director

Chair

Our Board of Directors

Janet Wood Vice Chair

Mary-Ann-Munford Non-Executive Director

Our Vision

Working to improve lives

Malcolm McCann

Alison Davis

Non-Executive Director

Executive Director of Community Services & Partnerships

Our Values

Compassionate Empowering Open

Mark Madden

Executive Chief Finance and Resources Officer

Amanda Sherlock Non-Executive Director

Nigel Turner

Nigel Leonard

Non-Executive Director

Executive Director of Corporate Governance & Strategy

Natalie Hammond

Nikki Statham

Executive Nurse

Non-Executive Director

Post Vacant

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EPUT Recognised for Quality Improvements Grangewaters Ward in Basildon Hospital Mental Health Unit was awarded an Accreditation by the Royal College of Psychiatrists for their continuous commitment to improving the quality of its Inpatient Mental Health Services for Working Age Adults (AIMSWA).

The accreditation followed a review of Grangewaters Ward by inspectors from the Royal College of Psychiatrists. The 28 bedded-ward provides care and treatment for adults with acute mental illness. The accreditation is for a year and the ward will be reviewed again in summer 2018.

“All the staff on Grangewaters Ward always go above and beyond their role”

Chloe Cawston, Ward Manager said: “All the staff on Grangewaters Ward always go above and beyond their role.

We are such a close team, we are like a family. As a team we are all highly motivated and driven to provide the highest standards of care and always strive for outstanding practice. We all understand that the patients we look after are there for all individual reasons and our main aim is for them to have a positive experience from the point of admission to the time they go home.”

Andy Brogan, Executive Director of Mental Health Services and Deputy CEO at EPUT said: “This accreditation really acknowledges the hard work and dedication of all the staff at Grangewaters Ward.

It is thoroughly deserved and I am very proud of their achievement.

Being awarded an accreditation by the Royal College of Psychiatrists shows our commitment to continuously improve the quality of care that we provide, and this can only be good news for our patients.”

Thurrock First was launched in early November this year. This new and important service is a ‘first point of telephone contact’ for Thurrock adults covering adult social care, mental health, physical health problems that have been diagnosed and for which on-going care is needed. By calling the dedicated telephone number 01375 511000, people in Thurrock can be signposted to where they can get help. This is a partnership between EPUT, NELFT and Thurrock Council.

Thurrock First is an example of how good partnerships work together for the benefit of local people. Having just one contact number for mental health, social care and community services will make getting the help that people need so much quicker.

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“Having just one contact number for mental health, social care and community services will make getting the help that people need so much quicker.”

L-R John Brouder, CE -NELFT, Sally Morris, Tanya Sitch, NELFT, Cll Sue Little, Thurrock Council, Joe Fielder ChairNELFT

Cont from pg1... talking to staff at all levels, finding out what works well and what can be improved. But that does not mean I am going to be slow in getting started! Straight away I want to work with the Board and senior leaders in continuing the effective projects and replacing ineffective ones.”

Sheila comes to the role with many years of experience in the NHS and in higher education.

She began her career as a nurse and midwife, specializing in women’s and children’s services.

“I know mental health can stem back to even before a child is born. It is vital parents and children are given support so issues can be dealt with early on before manifesting further down the track.

“Throughout my career I have been continuously involved with nursing and medical practice in the public sector. I am like a stick of rock with the initials NHS running through me.”

“My aim is also to reach the most vulnerable adults, people with dementia, people with personality disorders, people who feel they cannot even access our services because they fear they would be stigmatised.”

After spending two decades working clinically in both hospital and community settings in rural and urban locations, Sheila took a masters degree in strategic leadership and a postgraduate diploma in professional education. She led midwifery and postgraduate health studies at what is now Anglia Ruskin University and soon became Regional Dean of the Health and Social Care Faculty.

She said: “At this point although nursing and midwifery training had moved out of the NHS and into university sector, I was still working very closely with providers of healthcare services. I have always seen the relationship between theory and practice as integral – it is so important to bridge any potential gap.

“Throughout my career I have been continuously involved with nursing and medical practice in the public sector. I am like a stick of rock with the initials NHS running through me.”

Prof Salmon has extensive experience working for bodies that ensure high standards of care and training in clinical settings. She worked with the Nursing and Midwifery Council on setting up safe practice regulations and also as a quality advisor with the General Medical Council to ensure the quality of doctors’ practice and registrations.

In 2000 Sheila took on the role of nonexecutive director and then Chair of Essex Ambulance Service, overseeing its amalgamation with the services of other counties to become the East of England Ambulance Service.

“I loved being involved with strategic development and continuous service improvement. That is what drives me,” Sheila enthused.

She was then appointed as Chair of a newly formed Primary Care Trust in north east Essex, which is where she again became involved in mental health and community care services.

“I originally came into contact with mental health as a midwife and I undertook research in perinatal mental health and postpartum psychosis.

“In my role with the PCT I had the chance to commission innovative and effective services to help people with mental health and learning disability issues and to expand community-based care, which is what I aspire to do in this new role.”

After four years, Sheila moved back into the acute sector as Chair of Mid Essex Hospitals Trust where she helped oversee the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) which saw Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford undergo a major overhaul, modernisation and expansion. She

“I loved being involved with strategic development and continuous service improvement. That is what drives me,” also co-led the setting up of a joint board of directors from Basildon, Southend and Broomfield Hospitals to drive forward the transformation of acute services across mid and south Essex.

Some eight years on Sheila, “felt I had gone as far as I could within the timeline of my appointment. The opportunity for this job at EPUT came up and I was invited to apply. I didn’t hesitate. I thought this was a fantastic opportunity to set up new sustainable services and extend or maintain already successful ones.”

Referring to the “bold statement” made by the Government that there would be more of a parity of funding for mental health with physical health in the future, Sheila said: “There is a long way to go as mental health is the poor relation of physical health.

“Yet the economic cost of disability associated with mental health issues is equal to the cost of the NHS as a whole so it makes absolute sense to re-prioritise and pump in much more investment so we can tackle mental health issues when they start and hopefully prevent them from escalating to the point where someone needs acute and highly specialised care.

“It is time for a new and different approach and for mental health and community services to get a much fairer share of the proverbial cake, we must strive towards equity. I am chomping at the bit to begin this important journey of change with our talented teams across the whole of our new and highly capable organisation.”

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Celebrating World Mental Health Day This year’s theme for World Mental Health Day (10th October) was mental health in the workplace. A series of events took place at various locations throughout the Trust. The Trust’s Employment Specialists were out and about in Chelmsford, raising awareness of mental illness and highlighting the help they can provide to employers and employees.

The Employment Service is very well established and has been running for many years and each year helps hundreds of patients to either find work or retain it.

717 people were helped to find or retain employment or into other vocational activity in 2016/17. So far, in 2017/18, Employment Specialist at EPUT has already helped more than 450 people.

EPUT was amongst the first five organisations to be recognised as a ‘National Centre of Excellence’ by the Centre for Mental Health for its Employment Specialist service.

An important aspect of the Employment Specialists work is engaging local employers, helping them to be ‘Disability Confident’, giving people with lived experience of mental ill health a fair opportunity.

They also carry the message ‘looking after the mental health of your workforce leads to better productivity and performance’.

For he’s a jolly good fellow Dr Milind Karale, Executive Medical Director at Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (EPUT) has been awarded a fellowship by the Royal College of Psychiatrists.

As a Consultant Psychiatrist, the fellowship is a mark of distinction and recognition of Dr Karale’s contribution to psychiatry.

Dr Karale said: “Being awarded a fellowship is a great honour. I am delighted that the Royal College of Psychiatrists considered me worthy of this award which really is a tribute to my patients and colleagues.”

Sally Morris, said: “Congratulations to Milind on being awarded a fellowship by the Royal College of Psychiatrists. I am really proud of his achievement. Being awarded a fellowship is an acknowledgement of the dedication and commitment to improving the lives of our patients.”

Dr Karale has been a member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists for several years and has written several chapters in books for the Royal College of Psychiatry examinations. He is also on the Board of Examiners for The Royal College of Psychiatrists.

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A Health Fair was held at the Cliffs Pavilion Theatre on Station Road.

Various services took part in the event. The Lakes Mental Health Unit in Colchester also held a “Tea & Talk” event for staff and patients.

New Mental Health Service for Essex Mums

EPUT has launched a new Perinatal Mental Health Service.

The new service will provide specialist community based care and support for women in the perinatal period (from conception to the baby’s first birthday) who are experiencing, or are at risk of developing a serious mental health condition such as; depression, postpartum psychosis, anxiety disorders including post-traumatic stress disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, bipolar affective disorder and complex traumas.

Support and guidance will also be available for women with a diagnosed mental illness who are considering becoming pregnant.

The service was launched following a successful bid for funding from the NHS England ‘perinatal mental health community services development fund’. Development of the new service involved remodelling and expanding the previously existing team in the South East of Essex to include South West Essex, and establishing a new

hub to cover the North of the county. Each hub is made up of a number of specialists in perinatal adult mental health, including: mental health nurses, a consultant psychiatrist and a clinical psychologist.

Women with personal experience of perinatal mental health issues have been involved throughout the development of the new service. One of these women, who has asked to remain anonymous, said: “When I

experience, I hope this will allow them to better help the women that they will be supporting.”

The new service will develop close links across the wide range of services available to pregnant women and new mums, and will work closely with professionals such as GPs, midwives, health visitors and obstetricians. The Perinatal Mental Health Service will also work with the Trust’s Rainbow Mother and Baby Unit, to help identify women who may be suitable for admission, and to support women who are leaving the care of the unit to move back into the community.

“Women with personal experience of perinatal mental health issues have been involved throughout the development of the new service.”

Dr Rina Gupta, Consultant Perinatal Psychiatrist at EPUT said: “Our Women in Essex have needed this service. With a birth rate of approximately 23,000, and around 1 in 5 women experiencing a mental health problem in the perinatal period, it is expected that there will be a large number of women and their families requiring our specialist guidance and support to steer them through this very vulnerable time. ”

developed a severe perinatal mental illness, it took a long time to find a professional with the knowledge and training to help me, as a service like this did not exist. The new specialist service is so important because it will allow women to quickly access the support they need at such a vulnerable time. Only when you have experienced perinatal mental illness yourself, can you truly understand what it is like, and what help you need. As the service has worked closely with women like me, who have this

Dr Rina Gupta, Consultant Perinatal Psychiatrist said: “Our team, with its dedicated staff will endeavour to provide an excellent and safe service to all of the women we see, so as to promote their mental wellbeing and improve long term outcomes for the family unit as a whole.”

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Jackie DoylePrice MP visits The Rainbow Mother & Baby Unit

Jackie Doyle-Price, Minister for Care and Mental Health, visited the Rainbow Mother & Baby Unit in Chelmsford on Friday 10 November. Ms DoylePrice met with Sally Morris, Claire Knight-Team Leader, Rainbow Unit, Janet wood-Vice Chair and Caroline Bogle-Service Manager, Community Perinatal MH Services, Dr Rina Gupta-Consultant Psychiatrist at EPUT. After a brief meeting, Ms Doyle-Price was given a tour of the rainbow Mother & Baby Unit.

L-R Claire Knight, Jackie Doyle-Price, Sally Morris, Dr Rina Gupta, Janet Wood, Caroline Bogle and Andy Brogan

e s a c w o h S Open Arts which provides a supportive and creative environment for people who are recovering from mental illness to express themselves by producing paintings and artworks, held a show in early November 2017 at the Hadleigh Old Fire Station.

Lynn Kent

Sue Richardson

The event was a great success and an opportunity for people who are recovering from mental illness and their carers to show their work to the public. The show was organised by EPUT and Open Arts.

Sue Richardson, Open Arts volunteer and part time studio manager spoke about how Open Arts helped her on her journey of recovery.

Jenny Secker Emeritus Professor of Mental Health and Lyn Kent, SE-SURG also shared the results of their research: Promoting mental wellbeing and social inclusion through art: six month follow-up results from Open Arts Essex and Why art? Exploring the contribution to mental well-being of the creative aspects and processes of visual art-making in an arts and mental health course.

Jenny Secker

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Jo Keay

Open Arts works across Essex to help people improve and maintain good mental health and wellbeing through creative learning, self- expression and social inclusion.

Will Quince, MP Visits The Lakes Mental Health Unit in Colchester Will Quince MP visited The Lakes Mental Health Unit in Colchester in early autumn this year to see what a mental health unit is like. Mr Quince met with senior managers including Sally Morris, Chief Executive of EPUT which manages The Lakes and he was later given a tour of Ardleigh Ward and Gosfield Ward.

Mr Quince said: “I would like to thank the Trust for kindly sparing the time to talk to me about their work and plans for the future. Tackling poor mental health must be a priority and I am pleased that Ministers have legislated to treat it with the same importance as physical health.”

Sally Morris, said: “It was good to welcome Mr Quince to our mental health unit in Colchester and I’m glad that he got the chance to find out more about the challenges we face in treating mental illness and what we are doing to improve the patient experience. Locally we are working hard to make mental health just as important as physical health.”

Heads2Minds is a website that has been created to raise awareness of mental illness. It provides information of the personal experience of mental illness by the creator of the website.

“Firstly to give you a little background information, my name is Liz. My sister, Kate and I decided to set up this website with a view to raising awareness of Mental Health from both sides I was diagnosed with Bi Polar 1 in 2003 and suffer mostly from psychotic manic episodes. We, as sisters would like to raise more awareness with regard to my condition and help to give people a greater insight into the world of BiPolar through my eyes.

Kate will also be sharing her experience with this condition as an outsider and come to a better level of understanding of my BiPolar.

I have completed several talks to share my experience with school students, employment forums, the police and various groups. You can book us by completing the contact form under ‘Contact’s or email us on heads2minds@yahoo.com.

I have told my story on how my condition has affected my family, my relationships, my work and other aspects of my life. I have had some amazing feedback and some truly positive comments, these are shared under the ‘Positive Points’ section.

Kate on the other hand has experienced very upsetting times through my condition and has, as myself too been the subject of sanism and a large lack of understanding.

Dr Sandy Sachse, Sidick Peeraully, Sally Morris, Lizzie Wells, Will Quince MP

Our goal together is to inspire and reach out to people in order to help fight the stigma that is still very much attached to Mental Health disorders and to encourage and support others also dealing with this condition and family members to help loved ones through difficult episodes.

Health Outreach for people who Outreach works closely with local GPs, the voluntary sector, cannot access “Health social services and other partners to encourage people to access mainstream health services.” mainstream health services

People in Suffolk who would not normally access healthcare, including the homeless, gypsies, travellers, Roma, refugee and asylum seekers, migrant workers, ex-offenders and Black and Minority Ethnic groups will benefit from the new Health Outreach service provided by EPUT. Health Outreach was previously known as the Marginalised and Vulnerable Adults (MVA) service and covers the east and west Suffolk areas providing care and support in community settings, at hostels, on the street or in the home.

The new Health Outreach service works in partnership with Volunteering Matters to enable people to access volunteering opportunities as part of their care and support. Volunteering Matters deliver volunteer programmes across the UK that helps to improve health and wellbeing and build stronger more inclusive communities.

Members of the public can self-refer to this service in person or by phoning 01473 341763. GPs and other healthcare professionals can also refer clients to this service.

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Canvey Island Integrated Neighbourhood Team Congratulations to the Canvey Integrated Neighbourhood Team who have won a ‘Partnership Working’ Award at the Essex County Council’s “You Make the Difference Awards”.

This team brings together health and social care professionals from different specialities (who may have been looking after the same person individually) into a single client-focused team. It’s a fantastic achievement recognising the work of members to design and successfully deliver an integrated neighbourhood model of care.

Volunteers Wanted Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (EPUT) is looking for volunteers to join and help with our work as and when they are able. There are three different roles; one is for a Volunteer Driver, the second is for a Support Worker and the third is for a Walk, Talk and Grow Volunteer.

Have a look at the roles listed below and give us a call now if you are interested in volunteering with us.

required to help keep the team environment tidy and free of clutter. Keep children’s toys tidy and inspected for damage. Help to develop the team office notice boards. You will also help with stock taking and ordering, collate patient feedback forms and directly help parents and young people with these forms. As part of this role, you will also help to keep patients/parents comfortable in the waiting area.

A Volunteer Driver is

A Walk, Talk and Grow Volunteer is required to work

required to drive a maximum of two patients and two staff to and from community venues to gain or re-gain skills outside of the hospital. For this role, the volunteer must be a car driver, hold a valid driving licence and appropriate insurance. The volunteer driver should be able to take directions and instructions from EPUT member of staff as and when required.

A Volunteer Support Worker is required to work at

the London Road Health Centre in Bedford. For this role you will be

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All of the roles will suit an English speaker, someone who is motivated to help others, patient, friendly, kind and caring.

in Thurrock (Corringham) or Southend (Hamstel Road). For this role, the volunteer will be helping with a new Walk, Talk and Grow project aiming to get young people to learn about healthy eating, growing their own food and learning to cook with them.

The volunteer will be required to help the team by contributing to the maintenance of the allotment, assisting in the safe use and management of tools and equipment and cleaning/tiding of the tool shed.

If you are interested in applying for any of the roles listed above, please call 01268 739 600 or email: businesssupport.volunteering@ eput.nhs.uk

FNP

Celebrate 10 years

BAME Launch More than 90 people attended the launch of the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) network in October this year at the Central Baptist Church in Chelmsford. The event was opened

by Sally Morris. The Trust’s BAME Network Chair, Edith Akenkide set the scene for the day. The special guest speakers were Professor Dame Elizabeth Nneka Anionwu, DBE, CBE, FRCN and Yvonne Coghill OBE. Dame Elizabeth spoke about her book, “Mixed Blessings from a Cambridge Union.”

The Black Asian Ethnic Minority (BAME) Network is open to all staff, including those from non - BAME backgrounds. One of the main objectives of the BAME staff network is to improve equality and diversity within the Trust.

The Family Nurse Partnership service celebrated their tenth anniversary on 17 October 2017. The event was held at the Life Lounge coffee shop in Westcliff-OnSea. The team have been supporting new and young mums to help them plan for the arrival of their baby, childcare, education and training. They also talk to new mums about work, housing and finances. The team aims to help improve antenatal health, child health and development and mum’s health.

“We look forward to many more years of providing this valuable innovative service.”

Tracey Scanlon, Family Nurse Partnership Supervisor said: “Celebrating 10 years of Family Nurse Partnership within the Southend Area feels like a significant achievement for our FNP team. During a time when many local authorities are cutting their FNP provision we feel privileged to be able to continue with our work in the Southend area. Today it was lovely to see clients and their children both past and present come and celebrate our success with us. We look forward to many more years of providing this valuable innovative service.”

Edith Akenkide, Jo Debenham, Sally Morris, Dame Elizabeth Nneka Aniowu, Yvonne Coghill, Malcolm McCann

The PLACE to be Earlier this summer, a report from the Patient Led Assessment of the Care Environment (PLACE) showed that EPUT is really the place to be for cleanliness, food, privacy and dignity.

EPUT scored highly and was above the national average in the six areas that were assessed earlier this summer. For cleanliness, the Trust scored 99.9% while the national average was 98.4%.

The Trust scored 93.5% for the quality of the food it provides to patients and the national average was 89.7%. For privacy and dignity, EPUT scored 89.1% while the national average was 83.7%.

97.9% was the score for the condition, appearance and maintenance of the Trust’s inpatient sites while the national average was 94%.

The Trust scored 92.6% for dementia care while the national average was 76.7%. For making the environment accessible to people with a disability, EPUT scored 90% and the national average was 82.5%.

Over the last two years, the Trust has maintained a 100% score for cleanliness in five of its inpatient sites; Basildon Mental Health Unit, Clifton Lodge, Rawreth Court, St Margaret’s Hospital and Thurrock Hospital.

Ian Crockett, Associate Director of Estates and Facilities said: “This is a really positive result which is a reflection of the dedication of our staff who constantly work hard to improve the patient environment and experience. We cannot be complacent and will keep working hard to maintain the high standards that our patients have come to know and expect from us.”

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Newly Elected Governors for EPUT On 1 April this year, North Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (NEP) and South Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (SEPT) merged to form Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (EPUT). EPUT now covers a much wider geographical area, the whole of Essex, Bedfordshire and some parts of Suffolk. EPUT is responsible for providing a wide range of community services including district nurses, health visitors, mental health and substance misuse services and much more.

Karen Brown: “With improved access to appropriate treatment, upgraded facilities and other improvements, we can work together towards gaining excellent mental health services, allowing us to provide an easier process for the individual, as well as hopefully easing the concerns of family members and friends.”

On 22 June 2017 our new Council of Governors was established comprising of Public Governors, Staff Governors and Appointed Governors. Governors, who are volunteers, are appointed by partner and stakeholder organisations or are elected by staff and public members. We now have a total of 37 Governors. Governors play an important role in our Trust: they act as representatives for their constituencies, members and the public hold the Non-Executive Directors to account for the performance of the Board and help the Trust decide its future direction.

Bob Calver: “The term ‘Mental Health’ conjures up many images, but there are many people with simple, easily treatable conditions that the Trust can help. I want those people to know what we can offer and I want to be the link to my local community.”

People choose to become Governors for different reasons. You can read some the reasons from our new Governors over the next few pages. You can also find out more about our Governors and the Governor role on our website.

Public Governors: Essex Mid & South Roy Birch: “I remain a prolific volunteer co-delivering a course for Carers, visiting Trust locations for the purpose of viewing and ensuring hygiene and patient wellbeing.

My knowledge and understanding of these enables me to raise questions and continue my awareness of policies, procedures and financial stability.”

Toby Blunsten: “I bring enthusiasm, energy and scrutiny to this role which will be needed to deliver the local Sustainability and Transformation Partnerships the Board will be overseeing.”

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James Clarke: “I will bring to the governor role a strong focus on quality and on ensuring that attention is paid to the needs of unpaid carers and other vulnerable and marginalised groups.”

Shurleea Harding: “I am very passionate about mental health, I want every patient to stand tall and proud, with their head high, as an equal alongside their fellow man.”

Andrew Hensman: “I will campaign for access to good quality services, maximising on the increased opportunities that have become available through being a larger organisation.”

Poppy Miller: “I believe that we need to raise public awareness as to the prevalence of mental ill health in our society, regardless of class or status.”

Catherine Trevaldwyn: “My particular interests are in quality of care, openness about mental health issues and reduction of stigma.”

Judith Woolley: “As your governor I will continue to listen and ask questions, so that I will be aware of the issues that concern our members, the public, the patients and carers and staff, and bring them to the attention of the Board members.”

Tony Wright: “I am keen to maintain our proud record of providing an excellent service throughout the Trust and linking my activities as Healthwatch Essex Ambassador and REACH Volunteer to ensure that EPUT provides better Patient Recovery facilities.”

Public Governors: Milton Keynes, Bedfordshire Paula Grayson: “I want to help EPUT make a difference for people, allowing them to stay physically and mentally well in their own homes.”

John Jones: “I attend Stakeholders and all Public Constituency meetings which demonstrate my continuing commitment to enhancing the provision of mental health and community health services, recognising that Mental Health has long been the poor relation in the NHS.”

Hasan Kayani: “As a young person, I aim to bring a fresh outlook to the trust and thereby provide a momentum for continued search for solutions for an excellent healthcare system. As your Governor I will support good governance and sustainable development at Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust.”

Clive Travis: “I am unfazed by the duties that come with the post, one of which is to tell it how it is for the service user even when this is uncomfortable to hear for the Board of Directors.”

Alex Zihute: “People working with clients should always learn and communicate respect, sensitivity and understand client’s differences in culture, values, beliefs and attitudes.”

Public Governors: North East Essex & Suffolk Ted Beckwith: “I have undertaken a variety of representative roles over the years, contributing, as far as I am able, to the health, wellbeing and the quality of life (not least my own) of my community.”

Peter Cheng M.B.E: “I have ten years’ experience as a public elected Governor to local mental health services and served on the Recruitment and Remuneration Committee and the Strategic Transaction Committee.”

Mikey Henderson: “I have always been civic minded and have played an active role in my community particularly with local hospital radios.”

James Mcquiggan: “I am the Chief Executive of Mid and North East Essex Mind, the local mental health charity. I welcome the opportunity to continue to support the newly established Trust EPUT, having been a Governor for NEP for nearly eight years.”

Michael Waller: “I believe that is important to present the views and needs of people in this community and how they can fit in with the developing work of the Trust.”

Staff Governors – Clinical

Clive White: “My background provides me with a unique set of skills that I believe will allow me to serve members and the public productively through the huge challenges that the NHS faces ahead.”

Gail Gibbs: “I feel very strongly about the importance of delivering an excellent person centred service for the clients, while supporting and training the staff to deliver this service.”

Tracy Reed: “In an ever-changing NHS, we must remain a high performing, high quality service provider and I believe my experience will enable me to represent the voice of the nurses in the

Public Governors: West Essex & Hertfordshire Brian Arney: “I will continue to use my experience to support both the development of EPUT’s services and the interests of members and patients.”

David Bamber: “Having been a Governor for 9 years, I know well the ‘reins’ and responsibilities of being a Governor, and have a passion for Mental Health, which is well known among professionals.”

Nadiene Birch: “I will bring a unique perspective to this role being able to use all of my experiences – good and bad, to improve communications and genuinely try to make a positive difference.”

Pippa Ecclestone: “I am committed to the principles behind Foundation Trusts; that people using an NHS service can feed back their experience to the service providers.”

community.”

Victor Ben-Okoh: “Our staff members play a vital part to EPUT core values and their input and concerns should be shared with the organisation’s. Board. I am a dedicated Clinician with lots of energy and passion and I have firm belief that I have all the qualities and passion to continue to support staff.”

Staff Governors – Non Clinical Pamela Madison: “I believe that staff at all levels make a vital contribution to the overall success of the NHS. It is important that all Trust staff have a voice and their views are heard and used to shape the Trust’s future.”

cont... on page 14

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Gillian Toby: “I am enjoying the experience of being a Staff Governor and have learnt a great deal about the complexities of the National Health Service in this very challenging time. I hope my experience as staff member working in forensic services adds value to the Council and to our staff members.”

Appointed Governors Cllr Tony Fish, appointed on behalf of Thurrock Council: “I am involved with many voluntary and community organisations in Thurrock including Thurrock CVS and I attend various Community forums in the Borough. I believe this experience will provide some added value to the role of the Council.”

Cllr Andy Wood, appointed on behalf of Essex County Council: “With 1 in 4 people experiencing mental health problems over their life, I am really committed to helping make Essex a Centre of Excellence and believe that merging the two trusts together was a step in the right direction.”

Clive Emmett, appointed as a Governor on behalf of the Council for Voluntary Service (CVS) Essex: “I am currently the Chief Officer of the Council for Voluntary Service Uttlesford leading an infrastructure organisation supporting the local Voluntary Community Sector. I am passionate about the impact the Voluntary Sector has within our communities.”

Cllr David Bowater has been appointed as a Governor on behalf Bedford Borough Council & Central Bedfordshire Council: “I want to help ensure that EPUT adopts the best practices from NEP and SEPT to provide uniform excellence over the entire area” Prof Graham Underwood has been appointed as a Governor on behalf of the Anglia Ruskin and Essex Universities

Cllr James Moyies has been appointed as a Governor on behalf of Southend-onSea Council

Shortlisted for Social Worker Team of the Year Award The Family Group Conferencing service, provided by EPUT has been shortlisted for the Social Worker of the Year Award – Team of the Year. The team has been selected as a finalist in the Social Worker of the Year Awards 2017 as a result of their outstanding work with vulnerable adults.

Family Group Conferencing is about working with family and friends of patients, with the consent of the patient to develop suitable care and treatment plans to help with their recovery.

The Family Group Conferencing service is one of 81 finalists across 16 categories and the winners from each category will compete against each other to be named the “Overall Social Worker of the Year 2017.”

Sally Morris said: “Congratulations to the Family Group Conference team for being shortlisted for the Social Worker Team of the Year Award. This award recognises staff who have gone above and beyond the call of duty to improve the patient experience.”

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L-R Jean Weavers, Jo Shead, Tim Canny, Joke Naber, Lyndsey Taylor

Our People Awards The newly merged Trust, Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (EPUT) has a new staff recognition scheme which is now open. We are looking for your nominations.

Has any of our staff treated you or a member of your family with exceptional care and kindness that went above and beyond what is expected? If so, you can nominate them for Our People Award!

We are inviting patients, carers and the general public to nominate staff for the EPUT Excellence – Our People Award.

Our People Award – this award recognises and celebrates the achievements of staff who have provided excellent services, encouraged and motivated others, embraced the Trust’s vision of “Working to Improve Lives” and demonstrated the Trust’s values of Compassionate, Empowering and Open.

We are accepting nominations for individuals and teams from the general public, patients, former patients, family members and carers.

Awards will be presented at the monthly Board of Directors meetings and those receiving Our People Awards will go forward to be considered for the Annual EPUT Excellence Awards. To nominate any EPUT staff, please complete a nomination form on our website: https://eput.nhs.uk/get-involved/our-people-awards/

Drive safely The festive season is fast approaching and we all want to see our friends and family at this time. Please do not use your mobile phone whilst driving – it is not safe to use your phone when you are at the wheel. Research has shown that drivers using a hands-free or handheld phone are slower at recognising and reacting to hazards. You are four times more likely to be in a crash if you use your phone. Even careful drivers can be distracted by a call or text and a split-second lapse in concentration could result in a crash.

It is illegal to use a handheld mobile phone when driving. This includes using your phone to follow a map, read a text or check social media. This applies even if you’re stopped at traffic lights or queuing in traffic. It is also illegal to use a handheld phone or similar device when supervising a learner driver. You can only use a handheld phone if you are safely parked or need to call 999 or 112 in an emergency and it’s unsafe or impractical to stop.

If you are caught using a handheld phone while driving, you’ll get 6 penalty points on your licence and a fine of £200. Points on your license will result in higher insurance costs. If you get just six points in the first two years after passing your test, you will lose your license. Using hands free (e.g. for navigation) is not illegal, however, if this distracts you and affects your ability to drive safely, you can still be prosecuted by the police.

The advice: Make sure that you put your phone away before driving so you won’t be tempted to use it. Make the glove compartment the phone compartment. Don’t call other people if you know when they are driving. Use hands free devices responsibly.

Make a pledge: It’s difficult to resist the temptation to pick up your phone when you’re driving – even though it’s illegal. But as soon as you take your eyes off the road and your hands off the wheel, you’re putting yourself and others at risk.

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From Basildon to Brockfield House

Beven Thomas Makings

When I went to Basildon Hospital, it was my first time in any mental hospital or unit and to be honest it was a terrible experience. Some of the staff were ok, very nice people but some were terrible they were very rude. In between my time at Basildon Hospital mental health unit and Brockfield House my mental health state got worse and worse to the point that I lost all contact with reality. It was horrible I was hearing voices every day hallucinating.This was not only affecting me but was putting a strain on my relationship with friends and family. This led to the point where without knowing attacked someone. This led to me spending around two months in Chelmsford prison health care. I was finally visited by a doctor from Brockfield House, Dr Baird. About five days later I was moved from prison to Brockfield House in Runwell.

Beat the flu, get the jab Winter is here and we are advising everyone to get their flu jabs now, if you have not already done so, so they can stay well and beat the flu this winter.

In the UK an average of 600 people a year die from complications of flu, however this can rise to over 10,000 people. Flu can lead to hundreds of thousands of GP visits and tens of thousands of hospital stays a year.

The flu jab is offered free of charge on the NHS to people who are at risk. The free flu jab is available to pregnant women, people aged 65 years of age or over, those with certain medical conditions and people living in a longstay residential care home or other long-stay care facility. Frontline health staff and social workers are also entitled to the free flu jab.

“The flu jab cannot give you the flu and it protects and reduces the risk of spreading flu.”

The most common symptoms of flu are sudden high temperature of 38°C or above, severe headache, general aches, pains, tiredness and weakness, shivering and chills, sore throat, a runny or blocked nose, and sneezing, a dry, chesty cough and difficulty sleeping. Don’t wait until you see any of the symptoms above.

Get the flu jab now and beat the flu.

Sally Morris, said: “I’ve had the jab which is safe and is the best defence against flu. With winter already here, we have to try to reduce the pressures on A&E and one way of doing this is by looking after ourselves. By having the flu jab we can protect ourselves, our families and friends against flu and stay well this winter.”

Want to play Flu Bee? Visit http://eput. flubeegame.com/ and click on the link and play the game! No downloading, only takes a few minutes and it’s fun.

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I moved to Brockfield House scared and very nervous mainly that it was going to be the same as my time in Basildon Hospital, how wrong was I. My time at Brockfield House has been very good, my mental health state is the best it has been in years. I have gained confidence and worked a lot on my anxiety. Weirdly my time at Brockfield House has been the best time of my life over the past five years. Brockfield House is an up to date facility designed to help people who suffer from severe mental illnesses. Brockfield House has some of the best doctors and staff in the UK.

”I do believe my experience at Brockfield House has been very productive. Here at the hospital I finally feel I have been made to feel like I am worth something.”

The doctors at Brockfield House are amazing, especially the one who has helped me feel great within myself and combat my illness, Dr Baird. He always has time to talk to you, he always makes you feel important. He has helped me combat my voices and hallucinations. He has not only helped me but my family too. I would love to say a massive thank you to Dr Baird. I do believe Brockfield House has saved me.

One of the things I enjoyed while I was at Brockfield House was the Recovery College. The Recovery College is a group set up by members of staff but is run by a patient of the hospital and another member of staff. There are many courses run including crop horticulture group, international cooking and mental health law and many more. Many patients have attended these courses; all the courses were all in high demand. I attended one course that was the crop horticulture group, this course I enjoyed very much. I learnt loads of new skills when it comes to gardening, what to plant where to plant and when to plant seeds. I spoke with another patient who also thought the Recovery College was really good. She told me that she had done a few courses including international cooking and mental health law which she really enjoyed as well. I personally agree that everyone who is affected by mental illness should attend the Recovery College courses. It helps to boost confidence, reduce anxiety and most importantly, you will learn new skills.

Fighting Mentally Fit Father of four, John Fraser, is a keen advocate of the benefits of exercise for improving mental health and wellbeing.

John was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and he receives these treatments from. Five years ago he started going to Club KO, a boxing club at Buckhurst Hill, and he cannot stop singing the praises of this club, the help he received from the owner Noel Tierney and support he has received from his mental health nurse, Lay-Hwa Ong. John feels that not only has he benefitted from this, but also his two sons attend the club and this has boosted their confidence and helps them to deal with issues such as bullying at school. John’s daughter has also taken up boxing as well. John says he has received so much help from mental health services and boxing which inspired him to help raise funds for children.

John said: “Here at Club KO, we do about three or four charity boxing events throughout the year, raising money for various charities. Mental health is close to our hearts and we want to raise money for children who are affected by it.

“Coming to the gym has helped me to stay fit, focused and positive, and I feel a lot more comfortable around people now.”

Because my illness is paranoid schizophrenia, coming to the gym and doing boxing helps me to deal with my paranoid thoughts. I am now socialising and mixing with other people.”

John Fraser is pictured with fellow boxing club members

Parkinson Disease Specialist Nurse of the Year Congratulations to Debbie Blake, our Parkinson Disease Specialist Nurse who has been voted Nurse of the Year by the Parkinson Disease Nurse Specialist Association in Bedfordshire.

Debbie said: “I was awarded the Parkinson’s Disease Nurse of the year award as part of the annual awards ceremony at the National PD Nurse conference. This is an award where Nurses are nominated by their peers recognising services and individuals for their contributions to the care and development of services for people with Parkinson’s. I have worked in Bedfordshire as a PD Nurse Specialist since 2001, we have been able to expand the service to three Nurses and now cover the whole County. I am very fortunate to work with an excellent team in Bedfordshire and was very honoured to receive this award.

Here in Bedfordshire we have strived to develop exercise programmes for

patients with PD and have worked closely with local charities and the MS society to set up music and movement, choirs, exercise classes, pilates and Nordic walking across the county. We also have peer support groups for Carers.

“We are passionate about patient care and strive to be as accessible as possible to our clients and carers.”

We have developed peer support groups for carers, telephone support clinics and specialist Telephone Consultation clinics. Community clinics and weekly hospital reviews to expedite timely dischargers. We run an annual three day Education Programme for Health Professionals and manage a case load of almost 800 patients across Bedfordshire.”

Debbie Blake is pictured with Consultant Neurologist, Dr Robin Fracknell

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Extra Support for people living with dementia and their families In mid Essex, people living with dementia and their families often receive services from a variety of organisations, including different parts of the NHS, social services and charities. Earlier this year, these groups decided to pool their expertise and offer more joined-up dementia care.

Now, Mid Essex Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) is working with Essex County Council, voluntary groups, community providers and NHS partners on more integrated dementia care through the Dementia Intensive Support Service, or DISS. After a summer of planning and preparation, the DISS launched to offer one-stop mental and physical care for people across Braintree District, Chelmsford City and Maldon District who live with dementia. The DISS offers both early intervention that can help people to stay in their own homes and crisis care if their condition deteriorates rapidly.

For its first two months of operation, access to the service was built up gradually to make sure the right resources were in place to support every single person who needed it.

From Monday 4 December, the DISS goes fully live – so any health and care professional can offer its wraparound care to someone living with dementia. Whether they’re talking to GPs or police officers, district nurses or care home staff,

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people with dementia and their loved ones can get immediate access to the service.

Also from 4 December, if a person with dementia has already received DISS care, they or their family can ask for further support directly, without needing to go through their GP, social worker – or anyone else.

Dr Caroline Dollery, Chair of Mid Essex CCG, said: “We want to make sure people receive the best possible dementia care, whether their needs are planned or they are in crisis, as close to home as possible. The DISS operates seven days a week and brings together support for both the physical and mental health needs of dementia patients.”

Contacting the Dementia Intensive Support Service is simple – just call 01245 515 313. The number is already in use for the dementia helpline run

by Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (EPUT), with clinical staff as well as trained advisers on the end of the phone, so people calling with dementia-related concerns can expect the right action to be taken.

“Care for people with dementia at an early stage is very important, as there is strong evidence that people who receive it stay independent for longer.”

The DISS can support people who don’t have a dementia diagnosis – and while early signs of the condition can be mild, there are some you can watch out for if you’re concerned about a family member or friend.

Problems with memory – such as finding it hard to recall words, dates, names or recent events – finding it hard to follow a conversation, difficulty in making decisions and forgetting time or what day of the week it is, as well as increased confusion, reduced concentration, personality or behaviour changes and the loss of ability to do everyday tasks are all signs.

Symptoms often get worse over time. This may happen slowly, or in sudden steps every few months or years but can include slowness of thought, feeling disorientated and confused, further memory loss and difficulty concentrating, severe personality changes

such as becoming aggressive, depression, mood swings and lack of interest or enthusiasm, finding it difficult to walk and keeping balance with frequent falls or loss of bladder control.

Stephanie Rea, EPUT’s Associate Director (Dementia and Frailty Services) said: “Dementia may be a progressive disease, but help is available through the DISS. Depending on your loved one’s needs, they can expect to receive a range of support including medication, nonmedical interventions such as cognitive stimulation therapy, advice about managing financial affairs and access to the 24-hour helpline.

“If you feel that someone you know may be suffering or worrying about their memory, you should encourage them to speak to their GP – but they can also be referred to the DISS by a wide range of health and care professionals.”

Uttlesford Community Integrated Team

Essex doctor’s marathon walk to stand up to cancer One of our doctors who feared she may permanently lose her voice after treatment for cancer is urging people to raise money for research to beat the disease.

Colchester Psychiatrist Dr Tanu Sarma’s vocal cords were paralysed during an operation to remove both her thyroid cancer tumour and her thyroid gland – meaning she could not swallow properly and talk.

Dr Sarma who lives in Chelmsford, knew she might be able to whisper again but there were no guarantees that she would talk as she used to. Not only was her career at risk but her son Kabir, then aged just seven months, only ate when Dr Sarma sang to him. With the cancer diagnosed when she was on maternity leave in January 2016 she feared Kabir, now two, would never know her voice and she would never again be able to read to her daughter Ananya, aged six at the time.

After hours exercising her vocal cords, within months, Dr Sarma was able to whisper and finally she could speak as she had done before.

Now she is encouraging people to support Stand Up To Cancer and has done some

Congratulations to Uttlesford Community Integrated Team Manager and End of Life Education Facilitator, Tracy Reed, along with west Essex colleagues in supporting the collaborative work in end of life care.

This resulted in Princess Alexandra Hospital (PAH) winning the most inspiring Trust award at a recent NHS Improvement (NHSI) event. The Trust won the award because they worked in partnership for the best outcomes for improving training and patient care. Professor Bee Wee, FRCP FRCGP FAcadMEd MA Ed PhD, the National Clinical Director for End of Life Care for NHS England, presented the award. The judging panel were impressed with the collaborative approach to handling end of life care.

fundraising for Cancer Research UK to help other people who are diagnosed with the disease.

Stand Up To Cancer is a joint fundraising campaign from cancer Research UK and Channel 4. Since its UK launch in 2012, Stand Up To Cancer has raised more than £38 million.

Dr Sarma was diagnosed after she was referred to see a consultant about unrelated hearing issues. Also a cancer specialist, he noticed a lump on her neck and referred her for an urgent biopsy.

Dr Sarma said: “I didn’t think anything of it, but a week after the biopsy I got a call from the surgeon, who asked if I could come into the clinic that night. I asked if it was bad news, and he said it was, but could not tell me anymore other than they had found some abnormal cells.

“I had recorded my voice for them in a talking book. I thought it would help them when I was away having my radioactive iodine treatment, I didn’t realise it might be the only way they would hear my voice.

“But I didn’t give up. I had a very good speech therapist and I worked so hard.

I spent hours every day doing my exercises.

“At first nothing came out at all, I tried to copy my therapist but there would be no noise.

But I kept doing the exercises and it worked.

“At first I would tire easily and it would go again, I could

retrieve them.

“The hardest part of this was not being able to see my children for three weeks, as coming into contact with me could have endangered them. My in-laws moved into our house to look after the children, and I drove myself from hospital to their house, where my husband came to stay with me, but we slept in

“But I didn’t give up. I had a very good speech therapist and I worked so hard. I spent hours every day doing my exercises.”

When he told me to bring my husband and asked how old my children were I put the phone down and thought: I am not going to live to see my children grow up.

Those few hours between then and getting to the clinic were the worst part.”

Diagnosed with grade five papillary thyroid cancer, she opted to have the whole thyroid removed in February 2016 to avoid further surgery in the future. Dr Sarma had been warned one of the potential but rare side effects was losing her voice. She said: “When it sunk in I was scared because they did not know if I would ever speak again. That was the worst thing, thinking I would never speak to my son and daughter again.

only whisper and people often couldn’t hear me. I had a whistle in every room at home so I could get my husband Anand’s attention if I needed to.”

It was not the end of her treatment. To ensure any remaining cancer cells were killed off she needed to have radioactive iodine therapy – because the radiation can affect people around patients, they are usually kept in isolation until the radiation reaches a low enough level.

Dr Sarma said: “I had to be in isolation in hospital for five days, even my meals were delivered to a box in the wall of my room from which I had to

different rooms and couldn’t be in the same room for more than five minutes.

“Before all of this I used to hate how my voice sounded when it was recorded but now it sounds so precious to me. This experience, everything we have been through, has made me realise how precious life is, just those moments with family, all the little things you take for granted. Now I feel lucky to be alive.”

Dr Sarma took part in an endurance challenge earlier in the year and the Shine Night Walk – a marathon through London to raise money for Cancer Research UK.

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The Benefits of Being a Merged Trust As a single Trust the new organisation can integrate its community-based physical and mental health teams to provide more rounded care for people with physical and mental health needs and specialist expertise will be more readily available to patients. Also, as a larger organisation, the new Trust should be better able to recruit and retain doctors, nurses and therapists, offering greater opportunities for their career development. In addition, by managing the north Essex-based and south Essex-based beds together, fewer mental health patients should need to go outside the county for inpatient care.

The plan for the merger also included taking a fresh look at how mental health services are delivered in Essex. In particular, the new Trust is looking at how the specialist services can work more closely with local GPs and community teams to ensure people with mental health conditions have better and quicker access to the most appropriate care and to enable people with serious illnesses, or who are in a crisis with mental health, to be identified and treated earlier and more effectively.

Since the merger, our lead clinicians have been working co-productively with local commissioners and people with lived experience and carers to draw together their ideas into proposed new, transformative models of mental health care and delivery. The aim is to transform services in ways which will move specialist mental health care out more into the community, making access simpler and where specialist care works in partnership with not only physical health care, but a whole range of social care and community support from statutory, charities and voluntary organisations impacting on local people’s mental health.

A Proposed Clinical Modelling Stakeholder Reference Group

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(SRG) of patients and carers and representatives of some local voluntary organisations has been established for some time. The group meets regularly and is co-chaired by people with lived experience. Additionally, some patients and carers are working co-productively alongside Trust clinicians and local commissioners.

What’s being looked at under clinical transformation proposals: The Trust has established several workstreams responsible for a particular aspect of mental health care. Their job is to listen to patients, carers, commissioners, staff and partners in other organisations and use their skills and experience, together with more formal research and studies, to develop new ideas and proposals that will improve services in line with the thinking set out above.

Currently, the workstreams are looking at ideas for transforming: • Services for people living with personality disorders • Services for people living with dementia and frailty • Urgent care services, inpatient services, home treatment and psychiatric intensive care (PICU) services • Primary care, crisis assessment and specialist community services Our local commissioners’ commissioning intentions for next year and their implementation plan for their new Essex Mental Health Strategy will directly affect our clinical transformation proposals.

Primary care proposals - current ambitions: • Reconfigure community mental health services to ‘wrap around’ primary care, with joint assessments and initiation of treatment in primary care and phasing out the outpatient model • Mental health nurses, doctors and other specialists would work alongside GPs to treat more people closer to their

homes, reduce referrals into secondary care services and provide rapid access to specialist services when needed • Provide new first-line crisis services based in primary care and extend their hours of operation to improve access for mental health crisis support.

• Establish community alliances, integration, collaboration and co-working • Increased use of new technology Dementia and frailty proposals current ambitions:

• Provide rapid access to our diagnosis services and develop more diagnosis in primary care • Improve our crisis response services by delivering intensive emergency support in people’s homes through extended hours of operation • Provide real-time responses to GPs to reduce crisis escalation • Enhance our liaison work with local hospitals and nursing homes.

• Provide timely and appropriate support to carers to ‘live well’ and also provide appropriate end of life care for people with dementia and their families • Integrated working between health, social care, third sector • Consistently planned and purposeful inpatient admissions with reduced need for admissions and reduced length of stay Personality disorders proposals current ambitions: • New recovery-based model providing treatment and self-care support to reduce referrals to acute mental health wards • New pathway integrated with primary care and IAPT - provided across and throughout services, rather than a specialist referral pathway • Remodel our psychotherapy

service to provide specialist treatments and interventions to those with the most complex needs • Multi-agency approach to managing frequent users of services • Evidence-based interventions and enhanced self care • Staff training programme to help diagnose personality disorders and provide the right care and treatment in a timely way • Integrated working between health, social care, emergency services, GPs and third sector • Development of a Service User Network • Telehealth and mobile working Urgent Care & Inpatients proposals - current ambitions: • 24/7 emergency response providing more treatments at home and reducing hospital admissions • Send fewer people out of area for acute inpatient care, ensure consistency across greater Essex and improve patient experience by developing a new assessment unit and short-term treatment approach in the north of the county (by reconfiguring an existing Trust building) • Firmly embedding ‘Home First’ approaches to offer intensive 24/7 home treatment & social support as an alternative to an acute inpatient admission, which would have an impact on bed numbers • Reduce length of stay by using safer care principles • Detained patients would be admitted still to treatment wards as there would be fewer informal patients on treatment wards • Enhanced multi-disciplinary therapeutic pathway We will keep you updated on the progress of our proposals in Our Voice, on our website and through our social media channels.

A pioneering initiative is supporting Essex adults, both with and without learning disabilities, to build their confidence, meet new people, and take part in regular physical activity.

Sport for Confidence began as part of an individual’s Occupational Therapy programme, and has now grown to around 500 adults benefiting from physical activity in a mainstream setting every month.

The programme offers over eight activities including Trampolining, Fencing, Netball, and Boccia, with the selection of activities tailored to each individual’s needs and interests. Sport for Confidence groups operate in seven sport and leisure centres across Essex.

“Holding groups within these mainstream facilities allows participants to access inclusive leisure facilities and activities that are readily available to the local community.”

Sport for Confidence operates through partnerships between healthcare professionals, leisure centres, and sports clubs. Occupational Therapists work directly with staff and sport coaches, mentoring, training and supporting

them to adapt behaviour and practice in order to allow sport and leisure activities to be truly accessible.

By facilitating access to local facilities, Sport for Confidence aims to increase social and community inclusion, while supporting individuals to develop confidence in attending mainstream facilities, clubs and groups. The programme also aims to provide opportunities for individuals to develop their social communication and interaction skills, whilst building meaningful friendships.

As Sport for Confidence programmes are developed with healthcare professionals, they are tailored to provide opportunities for individuals to achieve their personal goals in accordance to their care plan, or treatment goals. Participants are encouraged to regularly attend sessions, with the aim of increasing physical activity and supporting people to lead a healthy lifestyle.

If you would like to find out more about Sport for Confidence you can: Visit their website: www.sportforconfidence.com Call: 07809142805 Email: info@sportforconfidence.com

Stop the pressure In early November, the south east Tissue Viability Team celebrated worldwide ‘Stop the Pressure Day’ by raising public awareness of pressure ulcer injuries.

There were information stands at the Thundersley Clinic, Benfleet and Cumberledge Intermediate Care Centre, Southend. Both were a great success with attendance from various health professionals including Learning Disabilities, Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapy, Hospice, Sexual Health, Rehab and Stroke Team as well as student nurses and members of the integrated teams. The Tissue Viability team also had the support of the Diabetes, Continence and Leg Ulcer services on the day, and were able to distribute patient information leaflets in the clinics to raise awareness of pressure ulcers and how it could be prevented.

Katie Fox pictured at the information stand

Diabetic Foot Care in Bedfordshire People in Bedfordshire and Luton who are affected by diabetes are set to benefit from new and improved foot care as a result of extra funding provided by NHS England’s Diabetes Treatment and Care Programme.

The Podiatry Service which is provided by Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (EPUT) works with Bedfordshire and Luton CCGs and the acute hospitals to prevent serious diabetic foot complications that can sometimes lead to amputations.

10% of people with diabetes will have a foot ulcer at some point in their lives and diabetes is the most common cause of non-traumatic amputations according to NICE Guidance (NG19).

Early detection of problems with the feet of diabetic patients can prevent serious complications and possible amputations.

The Podiatry Service applied for additional funding for Diabetes Specialist Podiatrists to work across Bedfordshire and Luton with the existing Integrated Community Diabetes Team and a dedicated inpatient Podiatry Service on the hospital wards.

The funding will also mean that there will be more staff in the acute outpatient clinics at the Luton and Dunstable Hospital and Bedford Hospital.

As a result of the funding, the Podiatry Service is able to include a Vascular Surgeon, Vascular Nurse, Podiatrist, Orthopaedic Consultant and Diabetes Consultant. The team plans to employ a Diabetes Specialist Nurse and Plaster Technician.

The Community Podiatry Service will be able to provide training to members of the primary healthcare team to ensure appropriate referrals are made and improve their ability to carry out foot screening.

The Podiatry team will provide structured education and training sessions to educate and empower patients to improve their knowledge and increase confidence and skills.

Satisfaction survey for patients to monitor service will be developed by the team.

“The extra funding means that more complex assessments will be carried out in primary care.”

There will also be dedicated time to develop a foot protection service for high risk diabetics referred in to the podiatry service to try and prevent ulceration developing, by reviewing them in line with NICE guidance and offering offloading devices to reduce high pressure areas.

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CITIZENS ADVICE BUREAU Rochford, Rayleigh, Billericay, Brentwood 03444 770808 Basildon 03444 770808 Castle Point - 03444 770 808 Southend 03444 770808 Thurrock 03444 770808 Wickford - 0344 477 0808 Mid Beds (Ampthill) 01767 601368 Bedford 01234 867944 Dunstable 01582 661384 Leighton Buzzard 01525 373878 Luton 0344 245 1285 Saffron Walden 01799 618840 Harlow and Epping 03444 770808 Bishops Stortford 03444 111444 Uttlesford 01799 618840 Braintree 0344 4994719 Brightlingsea 01255 377080 Chelmsford 0344 4111444 Clacton 01255 377080 Colchester 0344 4770808 Great Dunmow 01799 618840 Halstead 0344 4994719 Harwich 01255 377080 Maldon 01621 875744 Manningtree 01255 377080 Stansted Mountfitchet 01799 618840 Thaxted 01799 618840 Waltham Abbey 0344 4770808 Walton-on-the-Naze 01255 377080 ext 110 Witham 0344 4994719 Loughton 0344 4770808

Age UK - Essex 01245 346106 www.ageuk.org.uk/essex EPUT PALs Patient Advice and Liaison Service freephone 0800 085 7935

Hospital Bedford Hospital 01235 355122

Brentwood Council Housing Service 01277 312500

Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals Switchboard 0845 155 3111 Southend Hospital 01702 435555

Southend-on-Sea Homelessness 01702 215002 Out of hours 01702 215000 Housing Advice 01702 215002 Thurrock Council Housing Advice Service 01375 652820 Bromford; Central Bedfordshire Floating Support Service 01525 862802 Shelter Housing Advice Helpline 0808 800 4444 Epping forest District Council 01992 564027 Uttlesford District Council 01799 510510 Colchester Borough Council Homeless - Housing Options Team 01206 282569 Colchester Borough Homes 01206 282514 Chelmsford City Council Housing 01245 606400 Braintree District Council Housing service 01376 552525

Age UK Age UK - Bedfordshire 01234 360 510 www.ageuk.org.uk/bedfordshire

Housing Basildon Council Housing: 01268 533333 Essex Social Services 0845 603 7630 out of hours: 0345 606 1212

Luton and Dunstable Hospital 01582 491166

The Princess Alexandra Hospital 01279 444455 Mid Essex Hospitals Main Switchboard 01245 362000 Colchester General Hospital Main Switchboard 01206 747474 Ipswich Hospital Main Switchboard 01473 712233 Sexual Healthline www.brook.org.uk Helpline: 0300 1237123 Confidential advice for under 25s.

CARERS Carers UK www.carersuk.org 0808 808 7777 Basildon Carers 01268 280441 Southend Carers 01702 393933 Thurrock Carers 01375 413754 01375 413640

Tendring DC Switchboard 01255 686868

Carers in Bedfordshire 0300 111 1919

Homelessness 01255 686438 / 444 / 445 / 446

Young Carers www.youngcarers.net

Homelessless Careline 01255 222022 Maldon DC Housing 01621 854477 Homelessness 01621 854477 CHESS (Churches Homeless Emergency Support Scheme) 01245 281104 Family Mosaic Braintree 01376 342162 Colchester 01206 773 000

Essex Carers Support 01255 474410 admin@essexcarerssupport.org.uk Action for Family Carers 01621 851640 info@affc.org.uk www.affc.org.uk Supporting Carers in Essex 0300 7 70 80 90 info@carersinessex.org.uk www.carersinessex.org.uk Carers Trust 0844 800 4361 info@carers.org www.carers.org Carers Direct 0300 123 1053

FRANK 0300 123 6600 WEB: www.talktofrank.com Clarendon Link Luton 01582 732200 OTHER NUMBERS NHS 111 for when you need medical help fast but it’s not a 999 emergency Just call 111, 24 hour service Essex County Council Social Care Emergency Duty Service 0845 606 1212 Essex Police Local non-emergency 101 Learning Disbility Mencap Learning Disability Helpline 0808 808 1111 www.mencap.org.uk Email: helpline@mencap.org.uk Chelmsford MENCAP 01245 268303 info@cityofchelmsfordmencap.org.uk Braintree MENCAP 01376 326302 Diabetes UK Careline helpline@diabetes.org.ukk www.diabetes.org.uk Diabetes UK Careline 0345 123 2399

Hospices St. Luke’s Hospice (Basildon & Thurrock) 01268 524973 Specialist Physiotherapy Service 01268 524973 St. Luke’s Hospice at Home (24 on call service) 07739 890140 Information Resource Service 01375 648170 Macmillan Dove Community Counselling Service 01375 648179 & 01277 658057 Lukes Counselling Service for Children & Young People 01375 648175 Bedford Daycare Hospice 01234 352015 St Clare (West Essex) 01279 773773 Havens Hospice (Southend) 01702 220350 The J’s Hospice 01245 475474 Farleigh Hospice 01245 457300

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Counselling Cruse Bereavement Care Bedfordshire 0300 200 4108 Luton & Dunstable Counselling Centre 01582 732450 CHUMS: Child Bereavement Trauma and Emotional Wellbeing Service info@chums.uk.com 01525863924

Eating Disorders South Essex 01268 243538 Caraline Eating Disorders Counselling & Support Service 01582 457474 Luton based charity BEAT 0300 123 3355 MIND Thurrock Mind 01375 391411 Basildon Mind 01268 284130

Step by Step self refer to service 01525 863966

Brentwood Mind 01277 234 246

Domestic Violence helpline 0808 2000247

Bedford, Luton Milton Keynes MIND 0300 330 0648

Therapy for you 01268739128 Counselling Directory 0333 325 2500

South East & Central Essex Mind 01702 601123

Relate -Colchester 01245 258 680

West Essex Mind 01371 876 641 Mid and North Essex Mind 01206 764600

Pier Talk 07474 119899 email - totonelson@hotmail.com www.piertalk.com

Mind Infoline 0300 123 3393 Mind Legal line legal@mind.org.uk

LIVE Goes

Healthwatch Healthwatch Bedford Borough 01234 718018 Healthwatch Central Bedfordshire 0300 303 8554 Healthwatch Luton 01582 817060 Healthwatch Essex www.healthwatchessex.org.uk 01376 572829 Healthwatch Southend 01702 416320 Healthwatch Thurrock 01375 389883

Could you provide overnight care to a child for the night after they’ve been charged with a crime?

Central Bedfordshire Council’s Fostering Team are seeking people to join their PACE fostering scheme and are looking for competent, caring and resilient people who can provide overnight care to young people who have found themselves in a difficult situation.

The council has a duty to provide accommodation to young people aged 10 – 17 years, who have been arrested Samaritans and charged in relation to a criminal 116 123 offence. As a PACE foster carer your role will be to provide overnight care to Thurrock First a young person before they attend court 01375 511000 the next day. You will be required to collect the young person from the police Drinkline station after office hours. The following The National Alcohol Helpline morning you will transport them to 0300 123 1110 court where they will be met by a social worker.

PACE placements are required in order to limit the amount of time children and young people are required to spend in police custody. As a PACE foster you will receive full training, support and you will be paid £237 for each week you are on duty.

Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (EPUT) is delighted to announce that from 13 November 2017 we will be providing the local rTMS (repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation) service. This treatment is a very effective, non-invasive, nonpharmacological treatment for depression.

Essex rTMS is a private service provided by EPUT and is currently the only rTMS service in the county of Essex. The course of treatment is delivered by our consultant psychiatrists and specialist nurses. Our rTMS Clinic is conveniently located in Brentwood with its excellent transport links from London, other parts of Essex and the Home Counties.

If you are required to care for a young person during your duty week you will receive an additional allowance of £113 per week, pro rata for each night you care for a young person. Typically you will only be required to care for a young person for one night.

If you would like to find out more you can visit our website, register your interest by calling our fostering duty worker on 0300 300 8181 or email fostering@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk

For more information on this new service, please contact the rTMS Team on the number or email address below.

Tel: 0800

0113024

email: epunft.essexrtms@nhs.uk

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Upcoming Events Members meetings Essex Mid & South Wednesday 6 Dec 10:00 Southend Southend University Elmer Approach, Southend-on-Sea, SS1 1LW

West Essex & Herts Thursday 14 December 14:00 Great Dunmow Foakes Hall, Foakes House, 42 Stortford Road, Great Dunmow, Essex CM6 1DG

Council of Governors meetings Time TBC

The Lodge, Lodge Approach, Wickford SS11 7XX

Monday 12 February 2018

Board of Directors meetings 10:30 – 13.00

Training Room 1, The Lodge, Lodge Approach, Runwell, Wickford, Essex SS11 7XX

Wednesday 31 January 2018 Wednesday 28 February 2018 Wednesday 28 March 2018 Wednesday 25 April 2018

South East Essex Mental Health Forum 14.00 - 16.00

University of Essex, Gateway Building, Elmer Approach, Southend on Sea SS1 1LW

Monday 29 January 2018 Monday 30 April 2018

Mental Health by Summer Hammond

It’s hard living with mental health It’s hard for your family and yourselves You do things you never vowed you would You do things you know you never should But still the voices play on your mind And they can be very unkind we are very misunderstood When the community meet a mental health patient, they would run if they could We are all human the same as each other We are all born from a father and a mother So don’t judge what you cannot see It offends people, especially me When you go to A and E It’s your mental health, not the physical ailment they see We don’t just rock and talk to the white wall We do normal things like play netball We are somebody’s daughter, somebody’s son Someone is our dad, and someone is our mum 1 in 4 people have a mental health condition And yeah we might not be in the same position But the whole world has to try its best To accept people are different and life is sometimes a big mess.

Are you a nurse that is looking to change employers, relocate or have recently qualified?

Then why not come and work for us?

We are looking for nurses to work across all of our locations in Bedfordshire, Essex and Luton within a range of specialties, some including community health services, forensics, learning disability, integrated care and inpatients and can offer competitive relocation packages to applicants who would be looking to re-locate for the right position.

For more information on our opportunities or to arrange an informal visit please contact EPUT recruitment on 01375 364513 or visit www.jobs.nhs.uk quoting Essex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.

Need help out of hours?

If you, a family member or friend is experiencing an urgent mental health problem at night or at the weekend, please contact our 24 hour, seven day a week number 0300 1230808 Our contact centre will either connect you directly or advise you of the best person or organisation to contact.

Remember – in an emergency always dial 999 immediately.