Another year of Fabulous NHS Stuff!

Practice

The Mary Poppins Award

Be Happy- promoting positive health and well-being for children and young people

University of Central Lancashire

Many children and young people are struggling with the pressures of today’s society and their emotional health and lack of adequate support is often headline news. The author of this entry is a school nurse (and a mother), who sees these struggles first hand.

Accordingly, she designed a tool to be used with children and young people. It comprises a leaflet with the letters BE HAPPY on the front and corresponding words on the back to be completed with the child or young person. Each letter covers an issue found to contribute to some of the difficulties young people can face a.

B-Breakfast (many YP don’t have it)
E-Enjoy (in order to feel good you need to do things you enjoy)
H-Healthy (being physically healthy has a direct link to being emotionally healthy)
A-Achieve (recognising achievements makes you feel good)
P-Positive (looking forward to things helps you stay emotionally healthy)
P-Praise (Everyone is good at something)
Y-You (it is important to be encouraged to be yourself)

The ‘BE HAPPY’ skills may benefit both those experiencing current difficulties, and act as a preventative measure for those currently without any emotional struggles. Ultimately, the more preventative work regarding emotional resilience that can be done with children and young people, the less need for more in depth support at a later stage.

The target group is children in year 7 (11-12 years old) as the transition from Primary to Secondary school can be difficult to cope with and self-help skills could be particularly beneficial for a child at that time. However, this flyer could easily apply to children and young people of any age by using the same messages; the author has received positive feedback from children as young as 8 years and as old as15 years.

Thanks to Pennine NHS Foundation Trust for their support and sharing my vision.

The 5127 Award

Visionary new telehealth link in Millom helping to keep care closer to home

University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust

Millom has a small population of 8,500 people yet it generates 22,900 patient journeys every year to Furness General Hospital (FGH) for healthcare related to Emergency Department attendances, Outpatient appointments and Elective Admissions. The journey takes 50 minutes each way, and in many cases could be prevented. The scheme, called telehealth, which is currently being piloted, involves a triage room in Waterloo House GP Surgery in Millom which is equipped with a High Definition camera and monitor. There is a similar facility at the Emergency Department in Furness General Hospital to allow two way consultations to take place.

The project aims to deliver faster access for people to the most appropriate Healthcare Professional, and where possible reduce the time and effort required for them in order to do so.

Paul Grout, Deputy Medical Director, University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust, said:

“The purpose of the secure telehealth link is to enable direct communication between the two sites, enabling Nurse Practitioners or General Practitioners to call on the expertise of senior consultants in the Emergency Department to remotely triage a patient for a second opinion. “A high definition camera means that wounds or injuries can be seen by the team in Furness, potentially avoiding the need for patients to travel from Millom to Barrow and receive treatment locally.”

Alison Redshaw, Practice Manager at Waterloo House GP Surgery, said:

“The Practice is really excited to have such technology to work alongside normal procedures. The link to the Emergency department will provide the GP with expert emergency advice where appropriate, will give patients an additional service, and may prevent the journey through to Furness General.”

Jennifer Jakubowski, from Millom Health Action Group said:

“As a mother of five young children I find it extremely difficult to travel to Barrow for healthcare. The possibility of being able to get additional expert advice locally without having to leave the town would be absolutely fantastic and save enormous amount of time and stress for my whole family.”

Rebecca Fairclough (Electronic Patient Record Advisor, Better Care Together) held Telehealth training sessions for staff at Waterloo House GP surgery and said:

“Telehealth is going to benefit the patients of Millom massively; they may not have to make the long journey to see a specialist anymore. It may also reduce attendances to the Emergency Department at Furness General Hospital.”

Future plans include making video consultations available for Out of Hours GP’s and Out-Patient Appointments.

The TNT Award

Using trained volunteers to enhance end of life care in a hospital setting

Aintree University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (AUHFT)

Volunteers providing this service are an experienced and very dedicated group who have undergone a two and a half day interactive training programme covering the principles of palliative care and symptom control, communication skills, clinical governance, spirituality and resilience. At the initial setting up stages a small amount of funding was secured from Cheshire and Merseyside Strategic Clinical Networks to assist with volunteer training. The service operates on all Wards in the Trust from 8 am to 8 pm.

Volunteers carrying out this service sit with patients, hold their hands, moisten their lips, listen to their requests and generally show understanding and compassion to the patient and their family/carer. They also act as a liaison between the patient/family and the nursing staff, communicating any concerns in a timely and appropriate manner.

The service does not replace the essential medical and nursing care that patients require, but aims to supplement the quality and quantity of support for patients and their families. Being able to spend time simply sitting with a dying patient, talking to them and their relatives can be an enormous comfort and support at an emotionally challenging time.

The reassurance that a trained volunteer is staying with their loved one may mean that an exhausted relative can get some much needed rest or a meal, safe in the knowledge that they won’t be left alone. Having a volunteer on hand to alert nursing staff if the patient becomes distressed or unsettled relieves this burden from family and allows them to stay with their loved one. And of course for those without any family to be with them, the presence of a volunteer ensures that a patient doesn’t have to die alone.

Feedback from bereaved families has been extremely positive and volunteer companions carrying out this role feel that it is a privilege and an honour to be given the opportunity to contribute to the support of patients and families at end of life.

The volunteer companionship service has had a significant impact on the quality of end of life care that is delivered within AUHFT. It is the first of its kind to be delivered in a hospital setting and Aintree Volunteers are proud to be leading the way Nationally.

For further information on the Volunteer Companionship service at AUHFT please contact me:

Gail Bruen Voluntary Services Manager Tel: 0151 529 3996/ e-mail http://gail.bruen@aintree.nhs.uk

The Hartley Larkin Award

LEAD-it Leicester Emergency Advancement and Development of International Training

University Hospitals of Leicester

What did we do?

The delivery of international recruitment by a core team concentrating on processes of recruitment, support, training and integration of this staff group into the workforce and the retention of junior grade doctors (with time growing our own future middle grade/senior workforce), including constantly reviewing practice for improvements to ensure patient safety and staff satisfaction.

What we do :

A 3 month supernumery induction to enable experience of NHS systems and national/ local practice before being counted in rotas with an educational supervisor allocated with regular meetings;
Completion of work based assessments;
Competency sign off
360 degree multi source feedback
Suggested reading materials to enhance learning
Access to EM3 were accompanied by wearing a yellow badge ”doctor in induction” so staff were easily identifiable for support / guidance.
Other pastoral efforts including help with accommodation, banking, registering with a GP and cultural acclimatisation including a welcome guide to facilities and surrounding Leicestershire area.

After the initial 3 month induction which includes:

Educational supervisor regular meetings
Completion of work based assessments
Competency sign off
360 degree multi source feedback
3 monthly feedback meetings with the international Consultant lead / General Manager
Career advice, access to study events, leave and study budget (mirroring a training programme with access to case base discussion clinics , clinical audits, shop floor teaching)

Monthly Drop in clinics were arranged for pastoral support .

In 2015, an allocation of a buddy was introduced at induction, who had been through this recruitment to offer further pastoral support and acclimatization. Opportunities were given for a 3 month rotation to acute medicine within the 12 month initial contract. At the 6 month feedback meetings if competencies were on track and there was 2 way agreement, contracts were extended for a further 2-3 years.

Additionally, 2015 saw the development of a clinical attachment programme in a structured format leading to employment, social media for enhancement in recruiting, 1st Hospital Trust Grade Conference, introduction of Certificate of Eligibility for Specialist Registration programme (CESR) and the introduction of monthly international training events.

2016 has seen the development of mentoring/buddy training for medics, setting up of LEAD-it social media sites twitter ( @LEADit_) and face book (https://www.facebook.com/LEADitUHL), monthly compassionate care events, roll out of practice across the wider trust and region . 3 month secondment opportunities extended beyond acute medicine.