CQCThe up-coming inspection process explained.- page 4

Staff CouncilInterview with Phillipa Compson and Judy Fairburn.- page 14

Vision 2018Feedback from staff and the public. - page 8

In the spotlightTony Griffin, E & D manager talks about the latest E & D actions. - page 16

Your ideas & innovations

...page 12

Issue seven Summer 2014 The magazine for staff, members and volunteers

Simon GilbyChief Executive

INSIDE

News bites 3

Care Quality Commission 4

Trust news 6

Members and volunteers 7

Vision 2018 8

A day in the life 10

Trust news 11

FEATUREFocus on... 12 – 13

Staff Council 14

Staff Survey action plan 15

In the spotlight: E & D 16

Trust news 18

Getting to know you 21

Health and wellbeing 22

Brain training 23

Welcome to this summer edition of foryou, the magazine for all our staff, members and volunteers.

We’re well into the financial year and the spring and early summer has been busy for all of us again. We have published a number of reports on our performance, including the results and action plan for our annual staff survey (page 15), along with our Quality Account for 2103/14. Meanwhile the Livewell team is busy preparing for our summer health promotion campaigns (see page 19). But the big news is that we’ve been advised that our visit by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) is to take place in early September 2014.

This inspection will be a bigger version of those we have seen previously and is important for the trust for a number of reasons. Firstly, it is an important step in our journey to progressing to become a Foundation Trust and secondly it gives us an opportunity to demonstrate the fantastic work that staff all do day in day out (see page 4 to find out more about the CQC).

CQC visits should be considered ‘business as usual’ and provide a perfect opportunity for us to promote the care and quality we deliver every day. It’s our chance to share what we do with pride and, whilst improvements may be identified, we are a trust that engages in dialogue, a trust that listens to its staff and patients and one that is always looking for ways to do things better.

Our business planning events (which featured in the last edition) generated a fantastic response to our innovation survey, with plenty of interest from staff who wanted to get more involved. Take a look at page 12 to find out what’s been happening to the ideas to date and how to submit your own.

Finally, when we use the phrase ‘for you with you’ in our communications, we really do mean it. We want our staff, our members and our patients to shape the future of the trust and to engage with us at every opportunity. Whether it’s through attending events, using our patient experience channels, at team meetings, or simply sending an email, please tell us what you think.

On that note, I hope you find this edition interesting and engaging and as ever, tell us what you think. Your feedback is always welcome.

Welcome

Comment

PUBLICATION DETAILS

Published by: Communications and Marketing, Wirral Community NHS Trust.

SUBMISSION DETAILS

If you would like to submit an idea for an article, please contact:foryouCommunications and Marketing Wirral Community NHS Trust Old Market HouseHamilton Street BirkenheadWirral CH41 5AL

E: communications@wirralct.nhs.uk

THIS ISSUE

Follow me on twitter @SimonGilby_WCT

2 foryou Summer 2014

NewsBites

Got a story?This is YOUR magazine, so if you or your service have anything you would like to share, please get in touch using the details opposite.

League of Friends Applications are now open for teams in the Wallasey area which would like to bid for League of Friends funding for items or projects that would benefit patients. Previous examples include additional stethoscopes, specialist cameras that enable pictures to be sent for immediate diagnosis and chairs for obese patients. Further information and application details are available on StaffZone.

Study day The Continence service has held its first study for health visitors and schools nurses, to raise awareness and understanding about continence issues for children and young people and the referral routes for getting them the support they need. Feedback from the day was extremely positive and the service will be looking to hold more events later in the year. Watch this space…

Savile reports Last month (June) investigation reports into the allegations of abuse by Jimmy Savile were published by hospitals and healthcare facilities as part of a nationally co-ordinated process by the Department of Health. Wirral Community NHS Trust published our investigation into an offence that took place at the former St Catherine’s Hospital, Birkenhead in 1964.

Simon Gilby, Chief Executive said “As the report is published our thoughts are with the victim of this offence. It is completely unacceptable that it should have been allowed to happen and I apologise on behalf of the NHS that it was. Our investigation sought to establish as far as possible what happened. Importantly it has also been used to provide every assurance that something similar could not happen today, 50 years later.”

Highlights include...

Quality Account 2013/14

We recently published our Quality Account summarising our

achievements over the past year and setting our objectives for the next.

90% of community nursing patients screened for signs of early dementia.

95% harm-free care delivered (we are the safest community trust in England).

95% of our patients would recommend our services to friends and family.

96% of staff had an annual appraisal - highest for any community trust.

40 written complaints.

300 community placements provided to clinical students.

0 avoidable healthcare acquired infections.

20 Patient Experience Champions developed to help ensure patients’ needs are met.

90% best practice quality care standards (health visiting) for parents of children with complex long term conditions.

• Pressure ulcer care• Preventing harm• Continuous quality improvements• Vulnerable children

• Patient experience• Staff experience• Integrated care• Continuing healthcare

For a copy of the Quality Account visit our website or contact the Communications Team: communications@wirralct.nhs.uk

News bites

3Summer 2014 foryou

The Care QualityCommissionThe Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of all health and social care services in England.

It makes sure that hospitals, care homes, dental and GP surgeries and all other care services in England provide people with safe, effective, compassionate and high quality care. It also encourages care providers to continually improve by:

• setting standards of quality and safety that people have a right to expect whenever they receive care

• providing a public register of care services that meet their standards• monitoring, inspecting and regulating care services to make sure that they continue

to meet the standards

The CQC inspection regimeA new CQC inspection regime has been introduced as a result of the recommendations from the recent Francis and Keogh Reports. Previous inspections remain valid, but all new inspections will follow the new regime.

There are three types of CQC inspections:

Are we expecting an inspection?

• We will receive an Inspector of Hospitals visit in early September 2014, as part of our Foundation Trust application process

• We could receive a reactive inspection at any point in response to concerns raised by patients or staff

• We expect to receive a themed inspection around safeguarding shortly in line with CQC plans

CQC Inspections

Inspectorof Hospitals

Major inspection30+ inspectors

Monitor/FT requirement

ReactiveInspections

eg response topatient or

staff concernsAnnouncedvery limited notice

Unannounced

ThemedInspections

eg safeguarding

4

The Care Quality Commission

foryou Summer 2014

The Inspector of Hospitals visit in SeptemberWe are currently preparing for a Chief Inspector of Hospitals inspection, as part of our Foundation Trust process, in the first week of September 2014.

Before the visit we will need to provide the CQC with all information requested.

During the inspection the 25 to 30 CQC inspectors may also gather information by:

• speaking to people who use the services

• holding listening events or a series of smaller listening activities

• holding small group meetings with leaders of key services

• holding drop in sessions for people who use services and staff

• holding focus groups with people who use services and their carers, and with separate groups of staff

• interviewing individual directors as well as staff at all levels

• checking that the right systems and processes are in place

We will support the CQC in doing this by:• inviting staff to contact the CQC at the

appropriate time and encourage staff to speak to the inspectors

• making CQC comment cards easily accessible during the inspection so that people can share their experience of our service

• promote the CQC visit to staff and patients

Following the inspection the Trust Board will receive immediate feedback and a report will subsequently be developed and published on the CQC website.

At present we don’t know which of our services will be visited, but we expect them to visit our clinics and meet our patients at home, as well as taking time to check our services both in and out of hours. So any of them really!

We are proud of the care that we deliver across the trust and the compassion and commitment of our staff. So whilst we expect the inspection process to be challenging, we look forward to welcoming the inspectors in September and obtaining their feedback.

For more information about our visit please see our website or staffzone.

During inspections the CQC will aim to be able answer the follow questions about the service and ultimately the trust:

• Is it safe?• Is it effective?• Is it caring?• Is it well led?• Is it responsive to people’s needs?

For more information about the work of the CQC please visit their website www.cqc.org.uk

The Inspection processCheck we meet national standards

Focus on theexerience of people

receiving care

Assess which standards to look

into during an inspection

Spend time talking topatients and staff tocheck their findings

Cross check what they see and hear against

evidence eg care records, care plans etc

Look for evidence that regulations are being met(eg patient records, training, clinical or

supervision records, maintainance records,

infection prevention and control audits, risk

registers and action plans)

TheInspection

Process

The Care Quality Commission

5Summer 2014 foryou

International Nurses Day 2014CelebratingInternational Nurses Day 2014 (Monday 12 May) gave us a great opportunity to recognise and celebrate the hard work and dedication of our nurses and their integral role in healthcare.

This year, our nursing teams took part in a poster competition about what nursing means to them. Judged by our executive and non-executive directors, the winning poster belonged to the Integrated Discharge Team.

At Wirral Community NHS Trust there are more than 500 registered nurses working across approximately 17 different community based services.

Visit www.wirralct.nhs.uk to view the poster designs.

Just some of the compliments we receive about our fabulous nursing staff:

“Wonderful, helpful, caring staff. Thorough, clean and punctual. Cannot recommend more highly.” Community Nursing

“The nurse that I saw was fantastic, put me at ease and explained everything fully to me.” Sexual Health Wirral

“Nurse was friendly, professional and extremely helpful.” Health Visiting

“Great service, very welcoming and extremely high professionalism. My daughter was comfortable and put at ease throughout the whole treatment.” Community Dental

GP Out of Hours Service expandsPatients needing to use the GP Out of Hours Service can now see a doctor in Birkenhead on weekends and bank holidays. It’s NOT a drop-in service; patients must ring the GP Out of Hours Service (678 8496) for an assessment and will then be given an appointment if needed. But it means people in the Birkenhead area can often be seen by a GP closer to home. A GP is available at the Birkenhead base from 11.00am – 7.00pm on Saturdays, Sundays and bank holidays. The existing GP Out of Hours Service at Eastham, Wallasey and Upton remains unchanged.

GPs Support Phoenix Futures

It’s nearly a year since the All Day Health Centre started providing GP and detox services at local drug and rehabilitation centre Phoenix Futures. Over the last 12 months the service has worked in partnership with the charity to improve the assessment and management of clients at the centre, helping dozens of residents on their recovery journey towards a healthy drug and alcohol free lifestyle. One of our GPs visits the centre twice a week, and when needed clients can also book in to see a doctor at the All Day Health Centre. After completing the residential programme, many people then go on to register as permanent patients at the All Day Health Centre.

Phoenix Futures clients getting involved in our Singing for Wellbeing course.

Below: Nursing staff celebrating at St Catherine’s Health Centre.

Trust news

6 foryou Summer 2014

The Trust’s practice research projects are being run in partnership with the University of Chester. They are helping to:

• develop better ways to support people with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease in managing their condition

• find out from patients with leg ulcers their experience of compression bandaging

• improve communication with people during End of Life care

Trust members are now represented on the individual project groups as well as the Steering Group that oversees all of the projects. Their crucial role is to provide ideas and

constructive challenge, helping the groups remain focused on the needs of patients and service users.

Our Community Panel is a new group which will help us recognise and overcome the barriers that some people may face when using our services. It is working with us to review our progress against our revised Equality and Diversity Strategy and action plan and to increase our understanding of local needs.

Having members involved with this group means we will have a much better appreciation of where we can improve, especially for those people who are more at risk of being disadvantaged when getting health care (see the Equality and Diversity article on p16 for more information).

Members get involved!Thanks to all the public members who have come forward to join our Practice Development Research Partnership and Community Panel.

by Wilf NightingallI’ve been part of the volunteer team at St Catherine’s Health Centre for over a year now. The Health Centre has always been there for me when I need it, so volunteering is my way of giving something back.

I’ve been in and out of hospital every decade of my life - operations here, treatments there… So when David Hammond was doing a recruitment drive, I felt I should get involved.

It’s been a great experience so far. The staff are all so friendly, and the volunteers make a winning team! We all have a bit of a joke - it keeps us happy, keeps morale up and gives the people coming in through the door a bit of cheer.

Being on the frontline is what I enjoy the most, and greeting everyone with a smile. I was brought up in Tranmere, no more than a mile from St Catherine’s, so I know the area, and find it easy to speak to people as they come through the door. If people are ill they arrive with a great deal of fortitude. It amazes me how strong and brave some people can be. That’s why it’s so important they are met with a friendly face.

I love being a volunteer. My favourite thing is feeling that I am able to give something back and help people. Some people are so grateful, and it’s really rewarding to think I’ve made a difference.

Latest member eventThe Heart Support Service at St Catherine’s Health Centre was the venue for our last member event, in May. Caroline Golder and Jenny Brown gave members an overview of the cardiac rehabilitation, intermediate care clinics and heart failure service provided by the highly regarded department. Sam Lacey, our patient experience expert, then talked us through the ways in which we find out about and measure peoples’ experiences of our services, and how we are continually working to improve this.

The next member event is September’s Annual General Meeting, where members get the chance to hear about our performance over the past year, our plans for the future and to pose questions to our board members. See page 23 for more information.

A great big thank you!National Volunteers’ Week (1-7 June) was an opportunity to say thank you to the 100 volunteers who support our Trust. Each received a personal thank you card from Chairman Frances Street.

Linda Gorham, the Trust’s Volunteer Development Manager said, ‘We are very lucky to have so many dedicated volunteers. Whether supporting clinical staff in Physiotherapy, helping out with administration at the Heart Support Service or assisting Community Nursing teams, our volunteers collectively give around 4,500 hours a year of their time to enhance the services we provide. National Volunteer’s Week recognises the fantastic support they provide.’

Anyone thinking about volunteering can see the Trust’s current opportunities on our website: www.wirralct.nhs.uk. We are is constantly developing new placements and interested members get automatic updates by email or text when a new opportunity is added.

Volunteering

Members and volunteers

7Summer 2014 foryou

It’s been a busy few months for all those involved in developing Vision 2018. April and May were spent collating and evaluating the invaluable feedback from patients, staff and the wider public about the initial proposals. The feedback was collected from engagement events, focus groups and the on-line survey. It became apparent that the work that needs to be done to transform health and social care falls into the following main categories:

• Short term/ episodic care – for people who are generally healthy but require care for a specific reason for a short period of time. This includes both planned care (eg a person diagnosed as needing a planned hip replacement, or cataracts) and unplanned care (eg someone needing treatment for a broken bone, minor burns or emergency social care)

• Ongoing care – for people with long term / complex health conditions (ie people that require on-going support from numerous services. This includes a combination of planned and unplanned care, such as people with diabetes / alcohol or drug dependency / mental health conditions)

• Prevention and self-care – for everyone in Wirral. This focuses on enabling people to live longer, healthier lives by encouraging them to take more responsibility for their own health, to access support in the community, and to make different choices in managing their own care needs (eg smoking cessation support, accessing peer support and community/voluntary groups to maintain their wellbeing)

These categories will form the main Vision 2018 themes and a range of workstreams will lead on the development and implementation of the Vision 2018 strategy.

Vision 2018

8 foryou Summer 2014

Next StepsOver the coming months, using all the data collected, the workstreams will now start to map out plans to shape future GP, hospital, community health and social care services, so that:

• health and social care professionals will work together (in Integrated Care Coordination Teams or ICCTs), involving people in planning their own care and looking after their own wellbeing.

• GP and primary care, social care and other community based health services will be available 7 days a week

• more hospital services will be available in the community, with consultant led teams, meaning fewer trips to outpatients and shorter stays in hospital

• people will be empowered and supported to take more responsibility for looking after their own health, and change the way they access services - using the right service, at the right time, in the right place

For more information about Vision 2018, survey results and feedback, and to find out how you could get involved, visit wirralccg.nhs.uk

Running in parallel to the above and other redesign work, our safe staffing programme will ensure we have the optimum staffing levels to manage patients who attend all our services.

Integrated Care Coordination Teams (ICCTs)A core part of the Vision 2018 work is the development of the Integrated Care Coordination Teams, which aim to provide coordinated care for people with on going care needs. There will be four ICCTs in Wallasey, Birkenhead, West Wirral and Wirral South.

We caught up with Marion Robson, MDT Coordinator of Wallasey ICCT, to find out about the great progress already being made.

What do ICCTs mean for frontline staff – how are you working differently?

We’ve always had weekly meetings with community nurses, social services CWP, therapies and any other relevant services, but now we are operating as an Integrated Care Coordination Team, we are all more involved with one another and it’s a more structured and on-going process. We currently have three meetings a week: on a Monday morning when we discuss action points and identify which services need to be involved with each particular case, on a Wednesday when all relevant services get together to discuss each case in detail, and on a Friday, when we review the development of the case and identify further actions. As we get more referrals in, we expect the meetings will become daily. Care plans are more robust as all the relevant services are sat round the table together. It’s great because we are seeing a real commitment from everyone involved to make this work.

What effects are the ICCTs having on patients?

So many of our patients are elderly and many have no family. The ICCTs make it a much simpler process for them. They have one care plan, and one key contact. The ICCTs may decide that Mrs Jones needs more visits from the Community Nurse, and that the POPIN service would be beneficial. Perhaps there’s a housing issue that needs exploring, and a short-term need for social care support. The ICCTs can co-ordinate all this on behalf of Mrs Jones, and continually review her case, until she has all the support she needs to enable her to be cared for wherever she wants to be.

What are some of the challenges you’ve faced?

The biggest challenges have been around contacts and time restraints. We have to respond within 48 hours of receiving a referral, so time is always of the essence! And not everyone can always attend the meetings, so relationship building with key contacts is really important, so that we can progress things outside of meetings too.

You are at the heart of Integrated Care, but how important do you think it is for the rest of the Trust?

It’s crucial that all staff, patients and Wirral residents embrace this, and as many services commit to it as possible. There have been some teething issues, but by working together we will be able to deliver much better outcomes. Integration is the future!

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Vision 2018

Summer 2014 foryou

A day in the life:

You’ve probably heard from Amy Poole (nee Sclater) hundreds of times over the last few years. She joined the NHS as Communications Assistant for Wirral PCT back in 2007, and is now the Trust’s Communications & Marketing Officer. Life within the busy Communications & Marketing team is fast-paced and exciting, with lots of challenges and never-ending opportunities to learn.

Amy shares a snippet of a typical day:

What role would you like to learn more about? Email your suggestion for ‘A day in the life’ to:communications@wirralct.nhs.uk

Amy Poole

I start my working day on the train checking my emails, calendar and updating my ‘to do’ list. It can be a little hectic in the office – depending on the number of campaigns, projects, events or service tenders we’re involved in – so having this time really helps prepare me for the day ahead.

I’m currently supporting the Tissue Viability service with their ‘Wound dressings…solving the mystery’ event. I’ve led on all the publicity materials (eg press releases, posters, website updates and tweets) and the materials for the event itself (eg the programme, signage, evaluation forms etc). I’ve been monitoring social media activity and website traffic to see if our communications have been effective. On the day I’ll take the photos, send some tweets and follow up with a further press release.

We get involved in all sorts of things. Last week I was at Eastham walk-in centre during a visit from Alison McGovern MP. My job was to support the team, update our website, send tweets and ensure we got coverage in the local media.

As I’m writing this we’re dealing with an incident at the walk-in-centre

which has also affected A&E…following the flash floods the ceiling’s fallen in! We have to get lots of urgent messages out telling people where to go instead. It’s all in a day’s work.

We have bi-weekly team meetings to discuss organisational updates, current work and forthcoming projects. We’ve just been through our team objectives for the next year - we’ve got a lot to deliver, which is both scary and exciting!

We get around 10-15 website related requests each day, from simple tasks (eg updating content) to more complicated projects involving website development (eg online forms). We get over 8,500 visits a week so it’s important to keep information up-to-date.

I’m currently working towards a Diploma in Digital Marketing and am really interested in how we can use digital channels better to support our services and patients. There are so many opportunities but we have to consider existing work, competing priorities and what value things would add.

There’s also the usual daily media monitoring, preparation for

Friday’s staff bulletin, researching and writing articles for the magazine, and working on tender documents. This week I’m also creating patient leaflets for our Continence Service, and looking at an HSJ award application for the Heart Support Service.

I’m very inquisitive and I like to understand things properly so I know what we are trying to achieve and why. It means I can provide meaningful support and help plan and identify ways to achieve it. As a support service we don’t really get much in the way of feedback so it’s great when people take the time to tell us how things have gone. It reminds me why I joined the NHS in the first place.

Did you know?

During 2013/14 there were:

• 51 staff bulletins sent

• 4 magazines produced

• 267 tweets issued

• 39 press releases produced

• 26 health matters published

• 109,798 website visits

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A day in the life

foryou Summer 2014

Estates Update – Port Causeway and Hind Street Plans are being finalised to move the teams currently working at Port Causeway and Hind Street in the autumn. The moves will see therapy and specialist nursing teams from Port Causeway move to the Highfield Centre; the night nursing team and the Resource Centre to St Catherine’s Health Centre

The Highfield Centre is being vacated by colleagues in Cheshire & Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and gives us an ideal opportunity to make year on year savings on our accommodation costs.

Later in the year, we will also move the Wheelchair and the Independent Living Services to St Catherine’s Health Centre. Some existing services within the health centre will need to move to accommodate bringing additional services in. But we will aim to keep the disruption to a minimum. Please bear with us as these changes take place. We will let patients know of any moves that will affect them as soon as details have been confirmed.

Coming soon… Watch out for the new ‘patient experience kiosks’ due to arrive in some of the Trust’s larger health centres over the summer. The kiosks will be used to try and capture lots of different information, experiences and feedback from patients and staff, including responses for the annual staff survey and the ‘friends and family’ test.

SAVE LIVES: Clean your hands Our Infection prevention & control team supported the World Health Organisation’s annual ‘SAVE LIVES: Clean your hands’ awareness day in May with stands at two of our health centres. More than 60 people took the opportunity to test their hand washing technique and learn about drug resistant bugs.

Farewell...Steve Wilson

This month we say a fond farewell to Steve

Wilson, Director of Finance and Deputy

Chief Executive. Steve is joining NHS England as

Director of Financial Control. His new

responsibilities are to ensure excellence in

accounting, reporting and budgetary control for

NHS England and CCGs.

Steve said he’s looking forward to working so close to the leaders and policy makers for the NHS in England and developing an insight to the workings of the NHS finance function at a national level.

But he added: “I will really miss the close link to staff and services that I get at a provider like Wirral. I will miss the wider elements of my role beyond finance, and sitting on the senior management team of an organisation. Most of all I will miss the people at the Trust and being part of several really good teams (senior management team, finance, IT, business intelligence etc). We have achieved a great deal over the last three years and although

we have some real challenges to come we can all feel proud of the Trust and our services.”

Simon Gilby said: “Steve has played such a key role in establishing the Trust over the last three years and in us achieving what we have. We will miss him but we also wish him every success in his important and challenging new role”.

Arrangements are in hand to identify Steve’s successor.

Other changesWe would like to welcome Paula Simpson, who has joined the Trust as Head of Quality & Governance.

Queen’s Nurse AwardCongratulations to Jo Chwalko, Health Visitor Team Leader at Victoria Central Health Centre, who has been to a ceremony in London to be awarded the prestigious title of Queen’s Nurse. The awards are made by the community nursing charity The Queen’s Nursing Institute (QNI) for commitment to high standards of patient care, learning and leadership.

Jo Chwalko (left) with Jane Cummings, Chief Nursing Officer, NHS England.

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Trust news

Summer 2014 foryou

Your ideas and innovations

Got a great idea? We know that the best people to come up with ideas and improvements are usually the people that deliver our services or receive our care. We want to hear your ideas and suggestions no matter how big or small.

Whether it’s a way to improve how we do something, increase business opportunities or an innovation for new equipment or services… just let us know.

Turning ideas into reality?All the ideas that are shared are looked at and after an initial review, the idea is sent to the relevant service to assess and decide how to progress with it.

Many of the ideas will be straight-forward and easily implemented, but if not there’s plenty of support available to help make your ideas happen.

• The trust has partners that can help us investigate any technical solutions to help put your idea into action, they can even check to see if it could be patented!

• Guidance and support is available to bid for funding including the Clinical Innovation Fund. There is also access to external funding opportunities such as the Regional Innovation Fund.

innovation:in•no•va•tion [in-uh-vey-shun][noun]

- An idea, service or product that is new or applied in a way that is new to the business

- Introducing a new method, practice, device, system, etc

- The act of innovating

Innovation is already happening! Ideas can come from anyone - clinical and non-clinical staff, patients, members. The results from our staff innovation survey told us that 50% of you have been involved in innovation activities in the past year. We need to build on this.

At our recent business plan events various themes emerged from these discussions - one of these was Ideas & Innovation. You raised a number of questions…you wanted to know more.Hope our article goes someway to answer these questions?

12

Focus on...

foryou Summer 2014

“

Here’s one of the ideas we’re currently taking forward…Background:

To avoid unnecessary hospital admissions community nurses are currently trained to administer certain intravenous* (IV) antibiotics to patients within their own homes. But patients who are mobile and strong enough to get out and about can find waiting-in disruptive to their lifestyle.

Idea:One of our community nurses had the idea of opening IV antibiotic clinics for patients who preferred to attend a clinic rather than wait in for a community nurse visit. The idea is to give patients greater choice and increase flexibility.

What happened next?This idea was reviewed and we liked it. The original innovator was invited to take part in a team to take the idea forward and we are hoping that a pilot will start in the near future… watch this space

*administered directly into a vein or veins

They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.A. Warhol

What you asked for...1. Regular updates on ideas

and innovations submitted

We’ll obviously keep you informed of the progress of your idea and innovation. We’re developing a section on StaffZone where staff can view all ideas and find out what’s happening with them. You never know, seeing what someone else has suggested may inspire you too. We’ll also keep you informed of developments through the weekly staff bulletin and future magazine articles.

2. Guidance and assistance to measure the impact of innovation

Full support is available for every idea submitted, from review and implementation through to evaluation. Ewen Sim, Medical Director is also developing a new Research and Innovation Strategy which will help us to plan and monitor our progress across the Trust.

How to submit your ideaDon’t keep your ideas to yourself…send your ideas in! Ideas can be emailed to ideas@wirralct.nhs.uk or staff can submit them using the form on StaffZone.

”

13

Focus on...

Summer 2014 foryou

Congratulations to you both! What do your new roles mean to you?

PC: I was delighted to be elected. We’ve been part of Staff Council since it started and thoroughly enjoy being part of the group, particularly the discussions and the involvement we have with the directors.

JF: I’ve really enjoyed being able to contribute as a member and in this role my aim is to work alongside Phillipa to steer the group to be more involved in changes and developments, and really importantly, how these are communicated to staff.

Why is having a Staff Council so important – what’s its objective?

PC: The Staff Council is a fantastic innovation; it’s a forum for staff to discuss things directly with the Chief Executive and directors and for them to get the staff perspective.

JF: I’ve worked in the NHS for 25 years and could never have imagined having such a gateway to senior management. It’s great that these open roads have encouraged staff to

voice opinions and concerns and I think our directors welcome this feedback too.

How often do you meet and how do you support communication?

PC: We have monthly meetings with the directors and beforehand the Staff Council will have a quick catch up. Each member communicates differently, but as a group we include a brief monthly overview in the Staff Bulletin.

JF: Each month I ask staff if there’s anything they’d like me to raise. After the meeting I feedback to individuals, send email updates and I also have a ‘Staff Council Corner’ in our service newsletter.

What do you discuss at Staff Council meetings?

PC: The meeting is divided into two sections; items that are raised by staff and items from senior management. Recently we’ve been discussing things like training, estates relocations, uniforms, admin and staffing reviews and organisational developments and changes.

Phillipa Compson, Centre Manager at the All Day Health Centre, and Judy Fairbairn, Programme Coordinator Sexual Health Wirral, have been elected the new Chair and Vice Chair of our Staff Council. We caught up with them to find out about their roles and their ambitions…

JF: Our view is that people are more accepting of change if they know why change is happening, so we always try and get the background info.

What are the three key things you want to see Staff Council achieve over the next 12 months?

PC: I want to increase the methods of communication to and from Staff Council members to make us more accessible and the communication more interactive.

I also want to review our objectives to ensure we’re delivering what staff want from us.

JF: I want to see greater staff consultation around proposed changes, instead of being told ‘it’s happening’. Often then we can’t change the outcome, but can change how staff feel about it.

If you’ve got something you want to see discussed contact any of the Staff Council members. Contact details can be found on StaffZone.

Your Staff CouncilJudy Fairburn and Phillipa Compson, recently elected Vice Chair and Chair of our Staff Council.

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Staff Council

foryou Summer 2014

Foundation Trust progressOur progress to becoming a Foundation Trust has gained pace over recent weeks, with the confirmation of our Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection in early September.

Under the new CQC inspection regime trusts needs to undergo (and pass) an inspection by the Chief Inspector of Hospitals, before progressing to the final Monitor stage of the approval process.

If we are successful in our inspection in September, we would then pass from the management of the Trust Development Authority and into the remit of the regulator Monitor. Monitor will continue the rigorous inspection process, before finally passing us as a Foundation Trust.

Once in the Monitor stage, we will be able to start the election and appointment process to identify Governors to represent our trust members, and change our governance arrangements including how we operate as a trust.

Falls Prevention RoadshowThe Falls team were out and about in June providing advice and support to anyone who had had a fall or were worried about falling. Over 100 people visted the team and if you’d like to find out about what support is available, you can ring them on: 0151 488 7766.

Staff survey action planFollowing the release of the 2013 staff survey results this spring, we’ve developed some action plans to tackle the four key areas where we need to improve…

2

3

4

1 To improve staff engagement we will:

To improve wellbeing & resilience we will:

To increase the number of quality appraisals we will:

To ensure all eligible staff complete Health & Safety Training we will:

• introduce the national NHS Staff Friends and Family Test• review the role of the Staff Council • develop guidance to support managers and staff to manage

change• review the Communications and Marketing Strategy action plan to

improve two way communication and staff involvement

• regularly publish information about wellbeing support available • review support available to staff in relation to resilience• use Joint Forum (staff side union representatives) and Staff

Council to gauge staff awareness of wellbeing initiatives

• provide appraisal training to all managers• monitor completion of appraisals to achieve the Trust’s aspirational

target, 100% of eligible staff to have an appraisal by 31 July 2014• audit staff experience in relation to the quality of appraisals

• link essential learning to the performance management framework

• monitor mandatory training completion in the 2014 appraisals

Falls Prevention and Livewell teams supporting local people.

15

Trust news

Summer 2014 foryou

It’s barely three months since the

launch of the Trust’s Equality & Diversity

Strategy, but what a busy few months it

has been! The equalities agenda is

gathering pace and we’ve had an

incredible response from both staff and

the local community. Many people have

come forward to help us understand

the needs of individuals who may face

barriers either in the workplace or in

accessing our services.

by Tony Griffin,E&D Manager

16

In the Spotlight

foryou Summer 2014

To help us understand different people’s needs, a number of key equality actions have been identified, including establishing:

The Community PanelWho knew this would be the hottest ticket in town! The Community Panel has been created to help shape the Trust’s equality and diversity plans. Panel members all have local knowledge of the potential difficulties facing groups that are recognised within the equalities legislation as having increased risk of facing discrimination and inequality. They are called the Nine Protected Characteristic Groups and include; Disability, Age, Race, Sex, Sexual Orientation, Religion or Belief, Gender Reassignment, Pregnancy & Maternity, Marriage & Civil Partnership.

We also allocated two panel places for Trust members, and we had such an over-whelming response from people wanting to join, we had to hold interviews.

Staff Support Networks

The equalities agenda is also about supporting staff, so we’ve set up three new staff support networks; Lesbian Gay Bisexual & Transgender (LGBT), Black Minority Ethnic (BME) and Disability. The LGBT and Disability Staff Support Networks are both up and running, and already raising issues and discussing topics that will no doubt help us to understand some of the difficulties staff face and identify ways to make progress. However the BME staff support network didn’t attract much interest. We need to review how to best run it, as many of our BME staff work out of hours. If you have any suggestions as to the way forward please get in touch.

Equality Champions

Another key initiative has been the re-launch of the Equality Champions Group, which has been a great success, with more staff now volunteering to take part. We’ve refreshed the champion’s role - less emphasis on attending meetings, more on talking through equality issues with colleagues and helping to raise understanding.

I’ve also had the pleasure of attending several team meetings across the Trust, to talk about the different ways staff can become involved and to learn about some of the experiences staff have had when supporting patients from within the protected characteristic groups.

The promotion of the equalities agenda in many organisations is often difficult. On occasion it is even viewed as unnecessary - almost something separate from daily life. So, the enthusiasm with which the equalities message has been greeted indicates there’s a real appetite for involvement in making progress for both patients and staff alike.

So many staff already seem to ‘Get it’, so ‘Getting it right for everyone’ is not only achievable, but a vision that by working together really will be a catalyst for lasting change.

Find out how you can get involved, or request Tony to attend your team meeting by emailing: Anthony.Griffin@wirralct.nhs.uk or telephone 0151 514 2888 ex 1543.

I wanted to be part of something that concentrated

on how to improve the experiences of staff and

patients, understanding needs and how the barriers

people face affects the experience they have.

I’ve had the opportunity to train others in equality

awareness. It was great to meet staff working in

different areas of the Trust; to hear their views on

promoting equality in their areas and to provide an

understanding of the Equality Act 2010. Those that

attended the training felt that it gave them the

chance to think about equality for patients and staff

and how to make improvements for the future.

I hope that I can continue to be an Equality

Champion, to continue to improve my understanding

and to ensure that the services we provide are

accessible to all within our community.

Helen Lundy, Equality Champion

Community Nurse Bank Coordinator

As a gay man with a transgender history I was

delighted to attend the equality strategy launch

and talk about some of the key challenges that

LGBT people in Wirral face. There are many

barriers, especially when they encounter health

services… Too often our needs are over-looked.

After the event staff told me that they hadn’t

understood about the difficulties LGBT people

can face. I am grateful for the opportunity to

highlight some of the issues, and so pleased

that Wirral Community Trust is trying to

understand the needs we have and the

difficulties we face.

Sam Carr, Community Panel Member

Chair of LIVFast Community Network

In the spotlight

17Summer 2014 foryou

Families and expectant mums attended the events, took part in games and activities and received support from the team about breastfeeding and how to access local support groups.

Local mum Louise, who went to the Teddy Bears’ Picnic said, “This event

Celebrating National Breastfeeding Awareness Week 2014

has been a really good opportunity to get support and meet other mums who are breastfeeding. In comparison to 18 years ago breastfeeding has come a long way. My health visitor has been really good, the information she has provided has been very important because it’s helped me to continue to breastfeed when things have been difficult.”

The celebrations finished with a roadshow in New Brighton with over 300 people attending the event. The breastfeeding flash mob also made an appearance – if you missed it you can catch it via the Get Wirral Breastfeeding Facebook page.

To celebrate National Breastfeeding Awareness Week and encourage more mums to breastfeed, the Infant Feeding team hosted a series of events across Wirral with everything from a Breastfeeding Roadshow to a Teddy Bears’ Picnic in Birkenhead Park.

Care Aware Initiative

Did you know that there are 37,929 carers living in Wirral? With the number on the increase, it’s important that people with unpaid caring responsibilities are supported to stay fit and healthy. If you’re a carer, your health is as important as that of the person you are looking after; staying fit and healthy ensures that you can continue to care for your loved one.

Our Livewell team provides mini health MOTs for people providing unpaid care for a relative, partner or friend. The MOT includes blood pressure, height, weight and BMI checks, a confidential chat with a health trainer and advice around healthy eating, sleeping well, relaxation techniques, getting more active, losing weight and stopping smoking.

To book a free mini health MOT, for more information, or to find out if your GP is offering the Care Aware checks, call the team on: 0151 630 8383.

On Friday 13 June more than 115 nurses and healthcare professionals from across the North West took part in the Tissue Viability Service’s 10th annual study day – ‘Wound dressings…solving the mystery’.

Throughout the day, delegates were able to browse exhibitions displaying a wide range of products for preventing, protecting and/or healing wounds, and hear talks from some of the nation’s leading experts in wound care management.

Delegates said:

‘‘Excellent day, very informative and relevant... Look forward to next year!’’

‘‘Fantastic day, learnt a lot and will feedback to my colleagues.’’

‘‘I thoroughly enjoyed the day – all very relevant and very well put together.’’

Event success: Wound dressings… solving the mystery

Did you know?Wirral Community NHS Trust’s Tissue Viability Lead, Maria A Hughes, is an internationally recognised expert in pressure ulcer prevention and management. She has recently had an article published in the British Journal of Community Nursing and translated for a Portuguese nursing journal!

18

Trust news

foryou Summer 2014

The Livewell team supported National Smile Month by delivering a number of toothbrush exchange events in local nurseries and schools. Children and parents /carers were encouraged to bring in their old worn out toothbrushes and exchange them for new ones. During the events the team also chatted to families about the importance of oral health and how to look after their teeth.

Here are some tips to help you and your family look after your teeth:

• Change your toothbrushes every three months or when the bristles have become worn or splayed

• Never share toothbrushes - this is how infections can spread

• Choose an age appropriate toothbrush with medium textured bristles

• Brush teeth and gums at least twice a day, once at bedtime and at least one other time. Spit out after brushing - don’t rinse

• If using a mouth wash, use before brushing

• Always supervise children (8 yrs and under) with brushing

• Use family fluoride toothpaste containing 1450 parts per million (ppm) of fluoride

• Reduce the amount of sugary foods and drinks – keep them to meal times only

• Adults should visit a dentist once every two years and children once a year or as often as your dentist recommends

For more information call the Livewell team on 0151 630 8383 or visit www.wirralct.nhs.uk

National Smile Month

Nearly six months since our SystmOne go-live, things are going really well for the services who went on line first – health visiting, specialist nursing and community nursing. They are now well into phase two of the implementation programme; reviewing their working practices with the aim of having complete electronic patient records so that everything they need is at their fingertips when seeing and visiting patients.

Our health visiting team is already there with only one or two paper documents still used and scanned into the system. Emma Bennett from health visiting said “being able to

Dates for your diaryThe Livewell team will be out and about this Summer offering free health MOTs and support to stop smoking, lose weight, eat healthier and get more active. Keep an eye out for our campervan across Wirral over the next few weeks.

Every Monday, 10.00am - 1.30pmBeechwood Post Office, Fender Way, Beechwood Estate, Prenton, CH43 7ZJ.

Every Tuesday, 9.00am - 12.00noon Eastham area

Every Thursday, 10.00am - 4.00pm Wallasey area

Wednesday 23 July, 12.00noon - 3.00pmSeacombe Children’s Centre, St Paul’s Road, Wallasey, CH44 7AN.

Wednesday 6 August, 12.00noon - 4.00pmBirkenhead Park, Park Drive, Birkenhead, CH41 4HY.

fully utilise the system and have a full electronic patient record (EPR) is fantastic; it gives us total transparency and valuable intelligence that supports the team in providing an excellent and responsive service to our clients.”

Phase two also sees new services come on line; our phlebotomy service is starting to use SystmOne in the summer and our Livewell team in September. Sue Fennah, service lead for Livewell said, “we are very excited about using SystmOne. It fully meets our needs as a mobile service operating out of many venues across Wirral and supports our integrated service approach.” Our continence service will follow on in October this year.

SystmOne is progressing as a project and will play a significant role in enabling integrated care and the work of Vision 2018. (see page 8)

SystmOneTrust news

19Summer 2014 foryou

Alison McGovern MP visited staff at Wirral Community NHS Trust’s walk-in centre in Eastham Clinic in June to personally pass on her congratulations following last year’s successful CQC inspection, which recognised the high quality services it delivers to Wirral residents.

Alison McGovern MP said: “I’d like pass on my congratulations to the

Alison McGovern MP visits Eastham Clinic

team at Eastham Walk-in Centre on this fantastic news. It was a pleasure to be invited and meet with the staff and see for myself their dedication and expertise. It is a shining example of the hard work and care delivered by NHS staff and I am proud that this great care is being delivered here in Wirral South.”

Pictured left to right: Judith Roberts, Nurse Consultant, Unplanned Care, Alison McGovern MP, John Lancaster, Director of Operations and Jane Ralley, Community Nurse.

Sexual Health Wirral launches online booking The team at Sexual Health Wirral have launched a new online booking system. Patients can now choose to book an appointment online for a number of procedures at a date and time that best suits them.

Judy Fairbairn, Service Co-ordinator said, “Following patient feedback it became clear to us that although drop in clinics really work for a lot of people, patients with work, childcare and college commitments often prefer a fixed appointment to fit in with their lifestyle. We are always keen to respond to feedback and make our clinics and appointments as accessible as possible. Our new online facility is a very secure and private method of booking appointments, and we are excited that Sexual Health Wirral has launched an innovative online booking system that meets the needs of local people of all ages.”

For more information about the services offered by Sexual Health Wirral visit their website:

www.sexualhealthwirral.nhs.uk

Walking weekendStaff from the Minor Injuries and Outpatient departments at VCHC have had a walking weekend in Shropshire as part of their healthy living project. The group (which included some retired staff) stayed at the Wildethorpe Youth Hostel near Church Stretton.

Teresa Burgess, said: “The weather was good and we all thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful scenery of the Longmynd Hills. Several members of the group have also done brilliantly with stopping smoking and losing weight. We are all thoroughly enjoying healthy living!” The group are hoping to organise another weekend in the summer.

Victoria Central Health Centre (VCHC) staff enjoying fresh air and exercise!

Trust news

20 foryou Summer 2014

Who would you like us to put questions to next time?

Email your suggestions to communications@wirralct.nhs.uk

21Summer 2014 foryou

Recipe provided courtesy of the Livewell Programme, Healthy Cookery Course.

Chicken and roasted veg fajitas

Ingredients4 skinless chicken breast fillets

2 handfuls of mushrooms

1 green pepper

1 red pepper

8 soft flour tortillas

2 cups of lettuce

4 tomatoes

½ cucumber

1 tbsp of olive oil

1 onion

1 packet of fajita seasoning

Method (Serves 4 – enjoy!)Pre-heat oven to 200°C or gas mark 6.

Slice the chicken, onions, mushrooms, red and green peppers into strips. Place in a large roasting tray and drizzle with olive oil.

Sprinkle fajita mix over the chicken and vegetables. Stir evenly, ensuring they are coated with fajita mix and olive oil. Place in the pre-heated oven for 20-30 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the mixed salad of tomatoes, cucumber and lettuce leaves.

Once the chicken and vegetables are ready, warm the tortillas in the oven for 3 minutes or in a microwave for 1 minute.

Serve the roasted vegetables and chicken in a warm serving dish alongside warm tortillas.

Our Livewell Programme supports local people and their families to lead healthier lifestyles. Whether people are looking to eat healthier, get more active, quit smoking, lose weight or de-stress the team offers a range of support including healthy cookery courses, Tai Chi, drop in stop smoking clinics, weight management courses, chair based exercise classes and circuit training.

Here’s one of the recipes from our Livewell healthy cookery courses. Why not try it and send us your photographs to communications@wirralct.nhs.uk or tweet us @wirralct

Health and wellbeing tips...• get the kids involved – they are more likely to take part in

something if they’ve helped to pick it

• gardening is a great way to spend time as a family outdoors – why not try growing your own vegetables?

• organise a family picnic in the park with lots of healthy snacks – healthy food gives you energy and helps you feel good

• dust the cobwebs off your bike and go for a family bike ride

• take a ball to the beach for a kick-about with the kids

• get the kids involved in preparing a healthy lunch to enjoy indoors or outdoors

• walking is a fun and easy way to get active– leave the car at home and stroll to the shops

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Health and wellbeing

foryou Summer 2014

Fun stuff for while you have your tea break.

L W B T Q G B I K G S M X H N C

P C O P O B D L N N Z H Q C F G

A E P H K E E P F I T I A T F E

D N G N U P I W G N I G G O J Q

S B K S M D N X T E E B O C G W

M L O D L L Z N N D W T Y S F P

H V Q R B S Y L F R B E S P L J

S S E H G N I K L A W V X O G L

G B W Q T H N M L G T R H H V A

I E Z L C Y C L I N G X J Y G O

E H A I U B O W L I N G C F T S

V Z A N Y T S I V M G U P E V F

L T E S E Y W F D M A C N L S P

N Y L A U S H B D I S N P O M I

C G H N D R M Q N W I L U E A W

X C T N M W H O W S Q I Q M O M

BrainTraining

GardeningFootballWalkingTai ChiJoggingCycling

WordsearchSwimmingTennisHopscotchBowlingYogaKeep Fit

Stay fit and active this Summer...

We are delighted to invite you to our Annual General Meeting at the:Floral Pavilion, Thursday 11 SeptMarine Promenade, New Brighton, Wirral, CH45 2JS.

1.30pm Tea, coffee and refreshments / exhibitions

2.30 – 4.00pm AGM with question & answer session

There will be the opportunity before the AGM to view our service led exhibitions and speak to our staff.

Getting there: For details on how to get to the Floral Pavilion visit www.floralpavilion.com

Fort Perch Rock opposite the Theatre has unrestricted parking as has Marine Promenade and Kings Parade. There are a number of designated disabled parking spaces near to the entrance foyer.

To confirm your attendance please contact:T: 0151 514 2452 or 0800 694 9985Email: foryouwithyou@wirralct.nhs.ukWe look forward to seeing you there.www.wirralct.nhs.uk

23Summer 2014 foryou

Infection Prevention andControl Study Day 2014

If you work in health & social care, in a hospital or the community, then this study day is for you!

Friday26 September

2014Old Market House,

Birkenhead9.00am - 4.00pm

Inspirational speakers will cover areas of interest including: • Influenza through the ages

• Demystifying STIs and HIV

• MRSA - a patient’s story

Cost:• £25 delegate rate • Limited number of FREE* places for Wirral Community• NHS Trust employees, apply via StaffZone

Includes lunch, refreshments and certificate of attendance.

Book your place now!Visit www.wirralct.nhs.uk or contact the Infection Prevention & Control team on 0151 604 7750 or by email to ipc.wirralct@nhs.net* non-attendance will result in a charge

• Carbapenemase Producing Enterobacteriacea (CPE)

• Multi Resistant Organisms

• PVL-SA