Newsletter

www.healthwatchstaffordshire.co.ukenquiries@healthwatchstaffordshire.co.uk@HWStaffordshire0800 051 8371

February 2016

Inside This Issue:Volunteering News Advocacy News

Project updates Experience Exchange

Engaging Communities Staffordshire (ECS) awarded Advocacy Quality Performance Mark (QPM) from National Development Team for Inclusion (NDTi)

Our wonderful Advocacy Team learnt that they have been awarded the Advocacy Quality Performance Mark (QPM) after a lengthy assessment and accreditation process. This is followed by a structured site visit by NDTi assessors who meet with our advocates and the people we support.

The QPM is the UK’s only independent quality performance mark for organisations offering independent advocacy; an essential service for people who need support to express their needs and have increased choice and control in their lives.

Liz Learoyd, Complaints Advocacy Manager, said: “We are very proud to provide a professional, independent and confidential service free of charge to Staffordshire residents who are accessing or wish to access health and social care services. The award and the feedback from the NDTi reflects the high quality of independent and confidential advocacy services provided by the Advocacy team”

Jan Sensier our Chief Executive said: “I would like to congratulate the whole team on a very well deserved award. We are delighted to receive this award as it reflects on the hard work done by the staff and our volunteers. We hope that we will be able to provide our services to even more people in future, as we know there is real need for high quality, independent and confidential advocacy services.”

We look forward to proudly displaying our new quality standard and encouraging people to get the support they need to get their voice heard!

ADVOCACY NEWS- Making your voice count!

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In July 2015, Healthwatch England launched a peer review initiative, which was based around the Local Healthwatch Quality Statements designed to assess and understand the impact and effectiveness of a local Healthwatch. The initiative is a partnership between Healthwatch England and Professor Mark Gamsu and Jennie Chapman from Leeds Beckett University.

Peer Review approaches have been in existence for some time. It is an approach that is used in academia, government policy and a number of professions to improve quality and performance. “Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people of similar competence to the producers of the work (peers). It constitutes a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer review methods are employed to maintain standards of quality, improve performance, and provide credibility.”

Peer Review provides an opportunity to bring external, critical challenge to a local organisation or service.

Some of its potential advantages are:• Expertise - peers will bring with them an understanding of the challenges and opportunities that a local Healthwatch faces.• Trusted - for some organisations a perspective from a peer might be received better and carry more credibility than that of someone with no direct experience of local Healthwatch• Confidentiality - in practice this is a boundaried process, the peer reviewer will come from a different Healthwatch/local authority area, so the review will be removed from local commissioning and relationships• Learning - the peer review process might provide opportunities for shared learning - both for the local Healthwatch and for reviewer

Continued on next page...

From 1 February 2016, the Healthwatch Staffordshire NHS complaints advocacy text number has changed. The 60006 number is no longer active and our new number is: 07724172811

Connecting with service users when they’re on the go is more important than ever, and our new text message service allows us to send texts as well as receive them, which is more user friendly than our old service. We hope to be able to reach out to people who may find it easier to communicate with us via text messages and be more user friendly and accessible to people with hearing impairments.

Text us for a response within 48 hours and let us provide you with advocacy support if you have a complaint about the NHS in Staffordshire.

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The advocacy text number has changed!

Healthwatch Peer Review

Peer Review continuation...The review was structured to cover the following areas:• Strategic Context and Relationships• Community Voice and Influence• Making a Difference Locally• Informing People• Relationship with Healthwatch England

Healthwatch England paired Staffordshire with Kent, as they have similar demographics, with a mixture of rural and urban areas, although Healthwatch Kent is about 30% bigger, and has 7 CCGs to work with, rather than our 5. The review teams were made up of the Chief Executive and a Volunteer, and both teams spent 2 days visiting and meeting a range of volunteers, commissioners, staff and service centres. John Bentley wrote a piece last month about the visit to Kent, and arguing Sat Nav apart, it was an intensive 2 days that have given a lot of food for thought and will lead to developments and improvements. The team that visited Kent were very impressed with their communications team and have come back with ideas that will be put into process over the coming months.

Each team then compiled a report to be considered by their paired Healthwatch, Healthwatch England and Leeds Beckett University. The full and finalised reports will be available on request, once they have been received by the Board.

As a taster, these are the main points Kent made about Healthwatch Staffordshire under the most important heading “Making a difference locally”• It was felt that HWS is “at the table” and involved in the right meetings and forums and is a powerful voice• Outcomes, impact and changes to services were not always easy to identify, but in discussions with staff it was clear they are happening but need to be “shouted about” • This was reinforced by stakeholder who were not always aware of outcomes and stated they would welcome proactive communication that highlights activities and achievements

Our comments to Kent under the same heading were: • The challenge of being part of the establishment or the voice of the people is being met• There is well-structured project initiation process with clear outputs• The Provider Group has been developed to oversee the impact of projects• They have logical and well understood systems• There is potential to use the case studies for individuals as a template for case studies for bigger projects• More effort needs to be made recording and celebrating success• There is potential to use evidence from NHS Complaints Advocacy more effectively

Overall both Teams thought the process had great value, and intend to meet again in the Spring to see what further developments have been made since the visits in December.

Jan Sensier, Chief ExecutiveJohn Bentley, Vice Chair - Healthwatch Advisory Group

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Healthwatch Peer Review

Engaging Communities (ECS) awarded Investing in Volunteers standardWe are extremely pleased to announce that we have been accredited with Volunteering England’s Investing in Volunteers standard. We would like to thank all our volunteers, staff and board members for helping us achieve this standard and for their great support during the assessment process!

This is a testament to our commitment to supporting volunteering and participation in the community and the outstanding commitment of our volunteers to our organisation. The award confirms we meet a range of best practice standards and excel in all aspects of working with its volunteers. Jan Sensier, Chief Executive Officer said: “Engaging Communities (ECS) is delighted to have achieved the Investing in Volunteers standard. Our volunteers make a huge contribution and we are committed to providing them with the best possible support. Working towards Investing in Volunteers has enabled us to identify how we can improve the way in which we recruit, train and support regular volunteers. Volunteering is a two-way process and we want to offer our volunteers the chance to gain new skills and feel they are a valued part of the team while making an important contribution to our work with the communities.”

Sarah Bailey, our Enter & View and Volunteer Coordinator said, “As an organisation we value our volunteers and their support in the work that we do. By working for and achieving this accreditation, I hope that it goes some way to show them just how important they are to us by ensuring our processes and systems make the experience of volunteering a good one. A big thank you to all involved in helping us to achieve this.”

People interested in volunteering with Engaging Communities (ECS)/ Healthwatch Staffordshire should visit http://healthwatchstaffordshire.co.uk/and click on the ‘Join us’ section for opportunities or contact Sarah Bailey on 01785 224819 or email sarah.bailey@ecstaffs.co.uk .

Many thanks for your support!

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Volunteering News

Your opportunity to make a significant contribution to the local Health and Social Care services in Staffordshire. Healthwatch Staffordshire has an exciting opportunity for a member of the Healthwatch Advisory Group with Engaging Communities Staffordshire.

The Healthwatch Advisory Group brings together people with a range of skills, knowledge and experience, which when combined, can be used to support Engaging Communities in the delivery an effective Healthwatch in Staffordshire.

For the additional information and details of how to apply, please visit; http://bit.ly/21iXM0L

The closing date for applications is Tuesday 8 March 2016 and a selection workshop will be taking place on Monday 21 March 2016.

If you have any queries about the Healthwatch Advisory Group, please contact Sue Baknak, Engagement Manager on 01785 221703.

We look forward to receiving your application.

Primary Care Strategic Delivery PlanECS, in collaboration with Healthwatch Staffordshire and Healthwatch Stoke-on-Trent has been busy delivering a wide programme of public engagement activities to gain community feedback on the proposed Primary Care Strategic Delivery Plan, including insights from harder to reach and seldom heard groups, as well as the general public. The intention is that this feedback will inform the further development of the plan, and its implementation. Both Healthwatch organisations are working collaboratively to ensure that the views of their respective communities across Staffordshire Moorlands, Newcastle-under-Lyme Stoke-on-Trent localities are heard.

Activities to date have included:• Over 200 online surveys completed• 350 paper copy surveys distributed• Over 115 peopled booked onto the public events (to date)• Focus groups and drop-in sessions• 13 patient survey sessions in GP practices across North Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent.

There is still time to complete the on-line survey viahttps://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/healthwatchstaffsPrimaryCare and if you need help in completing the survey, you can contact either Healthwatch Staffordshire on 0800 051 8371 or Healthwatch Stoke-on-Trent on 01782 683080.

Community Services Following the completion of Phase 1 of our Community Services project which saw us working with a cohort of Year 5 Keele Medical Students focusing on awareness and experiences of community services in the Newcastle-under-Lyme area, a report was produced which identified the Lichfield area as a possible comparator for Phase 2. A second cohort of Year 5 students, who have been working with us since January on the project agreed with this recommendation and are now keen to hear from Lichfield residents about their experiences. Our volunteers have been out and about speaking to residents in a variety of locations completing surveys and gathering feedback but there is also an on-line survey as part of this project.

If you live in Lichfield area you will be able to complete the survey using this link; https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/AccesstoCommLichfield

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Project updates

Healthwatch Advisory Group - Recruitment 2016

Healthwatch Staffordshire constantly monitor and review our Experience Exchange feedback platform which records experience of local services. Your feedback provides essential information on how we can argue for your interests and of those using health and social care services across the county.

When you engage with us and give us your feedback it helps service providers to make decisions that shape their services and the information you provide help enhance the experience for your fellow service users. We listen to your feedback and pass them onto relevant people who make decisions or changes that reflect what you tell us. A recent example of this relates to several comments we received regarding the quality of food provision at County Hospital, including;

“That the food return to the excellent standard it was until the recent changes, so that patients do not receive food in containers that have disintegrated and end up as inedible bits of plastic in disgusting looking and tasting food with a shelf life up October 2017. How many preservatives must it contain?”

We contacted County Hospital, Stafford and discovered that “there has been a temporary change in the patient food service at the County Hospital. This is while the kitchen is refur-bished after 20 plus years of service”.

John Hughes, County Hospital Facilities Project Manager said; “This has meant we are having to buy in the food until April when the kitchen is returned to the team. The meals will then revert to the in-house produced meals. These have always been of high quality and great pride is taken by the team in the preparation of the patient meals.

We have procured the best meals on the market to try to reduce the quality as little as possible. From a nutritional perspective these have been reviewed by our Dietetic colleagues etc. but we recognise it is hard to replicate the quality of in house produced service. We can only ask that users of the services are patient with us during the frustrating process of refurbishment”.

If you wish to submit your own feedback, suggestion or comment visit our Experience Exchange site; http://x2.healthwatchstaffordshire.co.uk/

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Experience Exchange Your feedback counts

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Mon Robert Peel Hospital, Plantation Ln, Mile Oak, Tamworth B78 3NG

Healthwatch drop in Robert Peel Hospital, Tamworth

Contact: Kerry-Jane.Kelly@ecstaffs.co.uk

10.00 - 15.00 pm

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Mon 29th Feb: Healthwatch drop in Robert Peel Hospital, Tamworth

UPCOMING EVENTS

Churnet Room, Moorlands House, Stockwell Street, Leek, ST13 6HQ

Contact: Kerry-Jane.Kelly@ecstaffs.co.uk

14:30 - 16:30 pmTue

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Tue 1st Mar: Primary Care Strategic Delivery Plan: Leek

Fri

Samuel Johnson Hospital, Lichfield WS13 6EF

Primary Care Strategic Delivery Plan public event

Contact: Kerry-Jane.Kelly@ecstaffs.co.uk

1Thu 3rd Mar: VAST Annual Conference

Yarnfield Park Training and Conference Centre, Yarnfield, Stone, Staffordshire, ST15 0NLThuVAST Annual Conference

09:00 - 16:00 pm

10:00 - 14:00 pm

Contact: Kerry-Jane.Kelly@ecstaffs.co.uk3Thu 3rd Mar: Healthwatch drop - Samuel Johnson Hospital

Tamworth Library, Corporation St, Tamworth B79 7DN

Thu

VAST Volunteering Fair- Robaston College

Healthwatch drop

10:00 - 15:00pm

Contact: Kerry-Jane.Kelly@ecstaffs.co.uk3Fri 4th Mar: Healthwatch Drop in Tamworth Library

Rodbaston College, Rodbaston Dr, Penkridge, Stafford ST19 5PH

Healthwatch Drop in Tamworth Library

Contact: Kerry-Jane.Kelly@ecstaffs.co.uk

10:00 - 12:30 pm

4Mon 14th Mar: HW Stand - VAST Volunteering Fair Rodbaston College

Mon

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Wed South Staffs College, Lichfield Campus, The Friary, Lichfield, WS13 6QG

VAST Volunteering Fair

Contact: Katy.Warren@ecstaffs.co.uk

10.00 - 14.00pm

16Wed 16th Mar: HW Stand - VAST Volunteering Fair - Lichfield Campus

UPCOMING EVENTS

South Staffs College, Tamworth Campus, Croft Street, Tam-worth, B79 8AE

Contact: Kerry-Jane.Kelly@ecstaffs.co.uk

10.00 - 14.00pm Thu

Thu 17th Mar: HW Stand - VAST Volunteering Fair-Tamworth Campus

VAST Volunteering Fair 17

Improving Lives Update Event What is care coordination and what will it really mean for local people

with long term conditions or for older people who need extra support?

What’s the Citizens’ Panel and what influence will it have?

What will be different about East Staffs’ health services from April 2016?

If you’ve heard about ‘Improving Lives’ you’ll know that we’re approaching the start of the contract which East Staffordshire CCG has awarded to Virgin Care.

Together, we want to improve health outcomes and life experiences of local people with long term health conditions (such as diabetes, heart failure and many others) and frail, older people, their families and carers.

The CCG and Virgin Care invite you to come along to find out what’s been happening, what’s planned for the coming months and years, and how you can be involved.

Tuesday 22nd March 2016 at the Pirelli Stadium Princess Way, Burton upon Trent, DE13 0AR

Time: 7.00pm – 8.30pm (registration from 6.30pm)

To book a place, please email improvinglives@northstaffs.nhs.uk

or call 01782 298192.

More information about Improving Lives can be found at http://eaststaffsccg.nhs.uk/improving-lives

Helping local people to live more independent, healthier lives 610

If you join us as a member via our website you can vote at our agm.Visit: www.staffsneurologicalalliance.org.uk

Tuesday 15th March 201609:30 - 14:30

North Staffs Medical Institute, Hartshill Road, Stoke-on-Trent ST4 7NY

The day will include

SNA AGM presentations from Stoke Stroke Service,Keele Medical School, Keele Neurobiological Research anda keynote address from Robin Morrison about a project to

improve neuro services in Staffordshire.

5th birthday cake

Please register by emailing Steve Searle. Stall positions are also available

Email: sjsearle90@gmail.com Tel: 07800 504 366

Staffordshire Neurological Alliance5 Years On

www.staffsneurologicalalliance.org.uk

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Ian’s update - Tamworth, Lichfield and East Staffs

“It has been a busy month in Tamworth, Lichfield and East Staffs, with several Healthwatch drop-ins planned by our shortly departing Community Engagement Lead Katy Warren in order to introduce one of our new Community Outreach Officer’s, Ian Wright, to the demands of increasing the awareness of Healthwatch Staffordshire around the Tamworth and Lichfield area in particular. You can see a few pictures of our stand at both Lichfield and Tamworth libraries, which coincided with the very popular Baby Bounce and Rhyme sessions for toddlers. We engaged with over 100 people during these two events which was quite amazing, and many signed as members to receive our monthly newsletter in order to keep abreast of developments in Health and Social Care in their particular area.

Following that, Healthwatch were delighted to support the Domestic Abuse Awareness campaign organised by Tamworth Borough Council, where several partners used an empty retail outlet in the Ankerside Shopping Centre to talk about that very important issue, giving us the opportunity to explain how Healthwatch operates locally. This was again an incredibly well supported event, as have been all the previous ones in Ankerside. Some pictures show the event. In East Staffs, we are pleased to be supporting Burton Albion Community Trust as we move towards an event on June 23rd at Uttoxeter racecourse, ‘Let’s do Business’. We and several partners will have an exclusive area under the banner of ‘Let’s do Health’ which we already expect to be very busy and popular.In addition, we have been busy utilising our volunteers to carry out surveys at Queens Hospital, Burton in connection with people’s knowledge and understanding of Community Health and Social care services in the community, which has again given us the opportunity to engage with almost 200 people.

These surveys also took place at the Samuel Johnson Community Hospital in Lichfield, and this gave us the opportunity to introduce our new Administration/Information Officer Abigail Benge to some of the engagement work carried out by Healthwatch Staffordshire. You can see Abi outside the entrance just prior to starting the surveys.

The Staffordshire and Wolverhampton Cancer Advocacy Project is now being delivered across the whole of Staffordshire/Stoke on Trent and Wolverhampton by the Beth Johnson Foundation through funding from Macmillan Cancer Support.

There are around 1.3 million older people (65+) living with cancer in the UK, many living on their own with no close relatives; isolated people in Staffordshire and Wolverhampton could benefit from this service.

Advocates support and enable people to exercise their rights, express their views, explore and make informed choices. They aim to be the “voice” of the older person, are non-judgemental and make sure those they support are heard and their views and opinions are acted upon. The Cancer Advocacy Project works with people 50+ who are affected by cancer, either as a patient, carer or relative.

The Beth Johnson Foundation has a long history of providing advocacy for older people and of working with volunteers. The Foundation employs five Area Co-ordinators who are each responsible for promoting the project in their own area in order to acquire referrals and to attract people to become volunteer advocates.

The Co-ordinators aim to recruit and train older people who themselves have been affected by cancer, to provide support to their peers. Initial induction and training is provided and the volunteer advocates are offered regular supervision and group peer support with an ongoing training programme.

The issues addressed by the advocates have been wide ranging from supporting patients with oncology appointments to helping someone discharged from hospital to find sheltered accommodation.

The Beth Johnson Foundation has a website www.bjf.org.uk where you can find out all about the work of the organisation. The website includes a link to the Cancer Advocacy Project which has information regarding both referral making and volunteering.

People who have been supported by an advocate have said: ‘I don’t think I’d be here if I didn’t have the support as I didn’t have the fight or the will’‘The service is fantastic, the things organised have been second to none’‘I don’t know how I would have coped if it wasn’t for you’If would like to refer someone to the project or you are interested in training to be an advocate please contact macmillan@bjf.org.uk or telephone 01782 844036 A film about the Advocacy Service was produced by Inspired Film & Video and is available through the project blog: https://youtu.be/6a_Wxb3zNqwwww.twitter.com/StaffsCancerAdvwww.facebook.com/StaffsCancerAdvocacy Cancer is the toughest fight most of us will ever face and no one should have to face it alone. If you have any questions about cancer, need support or just someone to talk to, call free, Monday to Friday 9am-8pm on 0808 808 00 00 or visit www.macmillan.org.uk.

Beth Johnson Foundation, Registered in England & Wales No. 6454378. Registered Charity No. 1122401

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No one should face cancer alone; could an advocate help?

aiming for a

brighter future

SUN (Staffordshire Umbrella Network) is a networking group of parents and carers of children and young people with additional needs, voluntary groups and agencies, coordinated by SEND Family Partnership.

Do you have a child with a special need or disability? Are you a professional who would like to represent your service at a local parent network group meeting? Would you like to join us at our SUN meeting and network lunch?

Meet new people.Exchange information and tips.Find out what is going on locally.Chat to other parents and professionals informally over lunch.Be updated on the work of the Parent Participation Service, SPAN.

To attend please ring SEND Family Partnership on 01785 356921 or email

sun@staffordshire.gov.uk. The meeting, including lunch is

FREE OF CHARGE.Staffordshire SEND Family Partnership (Information, Advice & Support) Service is funded by Staffordshire County Council. It operates independently as a confidential service for parents and carers of children and young people (0-25) with special educational needs and disabilities.

If you have any special requirements, or if you, or someone you know, would like a copy of this flyer in large print, Braille, or on audio-tape please contact SEND Family Partnership on 01785 356921.

Staffordshire Umbrella Network-SUN

SUN Stafford/Central Friday 4th March 2016 10-12 with network lunch 12-1 Rising Brook Church Conference Ctre,Burton Sq,Stafford,ST17 9LT

Focus on

- Ways to move forward. Learn about the support offered by SEND Family Partnership to help you resolve issues as early as possible. Will also include practical tips and hints to put across your point of view. - The new Carers‛ Hub. What do they do? Meet a member of the team and find out more about the types of support and services they offer.

Booking Essential

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New recruitment drive for library volunteers

Libraries across the county have launched a campaign to recruit more library volunteers in every Staffordshire library over the next few months. Staffordshire Library and Information Service has developed a new, more flexible and varied role to encourage a wide range of people to try volunteering at their local library.

You can find out more about volunteering at their local library from the people that do it already. The new website at www.staffordshire.gov.uk/volunteerinyourlibrary contains a wealth of videos, case studies and accolades. People can express an interest through the website or by ringing the dedicated team at 01785 278311 - there’s no need to apply straight away.

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