Trust Matters June 2024 edition

Contents

Welcome from our Chair Kathryn Lavery

Welcome to the June edition of trust matters which is packed full of the latest news from our trust

We have launched our annual awards 2024 which showcase and recognise the valuable contribution that our colleagues and volunteers make to our organisation and communities we serve. It is always an exciting time and a great way to make sure that someone you know, or a team gets the recognition they truly deserve. So please take a few moments to enter your nominations.

It’s not long to go until our fun day and annual members’ meeting at Clifton Park in Rotherham on Saturday 20 July. It is set to be a lovely day with lots of fun activities for all the family. I hope that you will join us between 11am and 4pm and enjoy this free day out and come along to our annual members’ meeting which starts at 1:45pm in the Garden House.

We are also supporting our communities by doing our bit to help poverty proof our services. Our Laundry team has introduced a new free laundry service for those who are less well off and who want to create a good impression at interview. We have also launched a Vision Plus 2 campaign to make sure that children who need glasses have them, with one pair for home and the other pair staying at school.

Our hospice is looking after patients and families receiving end of life care by giving them some extra support in the form of comfort and bereavement packs. A big thank you to everyone who has supported our hospice through their fantastic fundraising activities. Your generosity is very much appreciated, and all donations are used towards the comfort of those in the care of the hospice.

We have a great opportunity for those of you who would like to be more involved with our trust, represent the views of staff and also to raise your own profile in the organisation. We are looking for colleagues to become staff governors and you can find out more about this role inside this edition.

In September this year, we will be relaunching our trust charity and welcome your views now on the branding ideas. There are some options so take a look and let us know your favourite one.

Finally, I want to say a big thank you to one of our patients who have created such inspiring artwork at Great Oaks in Scunthorpe. In fact, one of the paintings has won a national award. This is a great tribute to the artist and to our colleagues at Great Oaks for their encouragement and support in helping the person to rekindle their creative skills. All the paintings are displayed along the corridors at Great Oaks. But we wanted to feature one on the cover of this edition. As a special thank you to the artist we have donated £50 for the use of the artwork.

As always please take care.

Kind regards,

Kathryn

If you’ve a story to tell let our Communications team know.

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Learn in protected time

North Lincolnshire mental health and talking therapies care group has been successfully piloting a new protected learning scheme ahead of its trust-wide roll-out in the autumn, called LEARN, which stands for learning education and research or reflection network, the aim is to provide four hours of dedicated educational and professional development time each month for staff, away from their normal working duties.

Service Improvement Manager, Louisa Redhead, said: “We have been trialling a blended approach to the LEARN days, with a mixture of face-to-face and teams sessions to try and accommodate as many colleagues as possible.

“Our learning half days have been taking place in different locations, including Great Oaks and the Ironstone Centre. Where possible, the Teams sessions are recorded so they can be seen by those who are not able to attend on the day.

“We have had plenty of positive and also constructive feedback which is helping us to develop and shape the LEARN sessions as we move forward.”

The care group provides a bank-holiday type service on the protected LEARN time and provides other options for people whose working pattern may not include Wednesdays. Staff who work less than 37 and a half hours a week are offered a pro rata protected time-period, which can also be used for completing statutory and mandatory training or apprenticeship assignments.

The pilot scheme started in April this year, led by Care Group Director of Nursing, Victoria Clare, and the pilot will continue until the scheme is extended to the full trust in September.

“Educational content is provided by a mix of trust experts and external organisers. Sessions already held include a focus group on caring for gypsy and traveller communities, led by West Yorkshire based Leeds GATE, which is working to improve quality of life of that patient group. A future event in the diary is on drug and alcohol care, presented by the We Are With You charity, added Louisa.

“It’s very easy to reserve a place on the sessions, thanks to a new booking system, added to the trust staff portal by LEARN Co-ordinator, Alison Lopich and Trust Data Warehouse Manager, Paul Campbell.”

Learning half days start on 3 September

The trust’s first learning half day (LHD) is taking place on Tuesday 3 September from 1pm to 5pm.

This is where the whole trust has a half day protected time for learning per month. Each team and service will use this time productively for aspects of learning which are relevant to them in their area.

Your manager will be deciding what the sessions will be. So, if you think of anything which would be useful to your team and you, please let your manager know.

These dates are:

• Tuesday 3 September from 1pm to 5pm
• Thursday 10 October from 9am to 1pm
• Wednesday 6 November from 1pm to 5pm
• Thursday 12 December from 1pm to 5pm
• Friday 24 January from 9am to 1pm
• Thursday 13 February from 9am to 1pm
• Wednesday 26 March from 1pm to 5pm

It is really important that you attend these LHDs. Your manager will arrange your session.

Staff awards 2024 entries open now

Make sure a colleague or team gets the recognition they deserve by nominating them for an RDaSH Award.

We have four awards for a colleague, team, project, or idea which has a made an incredible contribution to our work in any of the four categories below:

1. Quality and safety award
2. Equality and inclusion award
3. Learning and education award
4. Research and innovation award

There are five awards for a colleague or team which exemplify our trust values in different ways:

5. Living our values award (shortlisted by our staff governors)
6. Nurturing the power in our communities exemplar award (shortlisted with our patients)
7. Equality diversity and inclusion champion award (shortlisted by our staff networks)
8. Volunteer of the year award
9. Peer support worker of the year award

Six awards are up for grabs to colleagues and teams which have made a massive difference in 2023 and 2024:

10. Colleague of the year “clinical” award
11. Colleague of the year “backbone” award
12. Leader of the year award
13. Backbone team of the year award
14. Team of the year adult clinical care award
15. Team of the Year children’s clinical care award

To make a nomination please follow the steps below:

• log into the staff portal on the intranet
• go to on “questionnaire”
• start new questionnaire
• select a questionnaire to fill out from the drop-down box and select “RDaSH awards 2024 nominations”
• press “select and continue”
• Once you have completed the nomination press “Submit”

The closing date for nominations is Saturday 31 August at 5pm.

So, what’s stopping you? Get those entries in now!

Our Chair Kathryn Lavery will also make a personal award to reflect an up-and-coming colleague who has made a real leadership difference in clinical or non-clinical practice.

The winners will be announced at our 2024 RDaSH awards ceremony on Friday 22 November in the Premier Suite at Doncaster Racecourse, Bawtry Road, DN2 6BB.

North Lincolnshire

Victoria is keeping everything crossed

A trust nurse is keeping her fingers crossed for success in a national healthcare competition.

Victoria Sinclair has made it through to the learning disability nurse Award category of this year’s National Learning Disability and Autism awards, where she is one of 12 finalists from across the country.
A primary liaison nurse with North Lincolnshire’s Community Learning Disability team, Victoria will be holding her breath when the winner is announced at Birmingham’s International Convention Centre.

She was nominated for the award by Matron Rachael Deakin for two pieces of work she has played a key role in locally, introducing VIP bags full of useful information for people with a learning disability to take to appointments, and the STOMP project, which aims to stop the over prescribing of medicine to patients with LD and autism. There are currently around 860 people on the learning disability register in North Lincolnshire.

Victoria, who started out in the NHS five years ago, working as a support worker at another trust for two years before qualifying as a learning disability nurse and joining RDaSH, said: I am delighted and proud to have been nominated and reached this stage of the competition. I really enjoy my job.

Wellbeing walk

Our health and wellbeing champion Sabrina Robinson organised a wellbeing walk at Central Park with colleagues to support the wellbeing of the team last month.

They got a cookie from “the cookie people” and a hot drink and took the time to walk and talk.

The aim was to take a break and look after their own wellbeing. Even though the weather was wet everyone still participated and they all received a little card with a positive quote to keep them smiling. If you’d like to arrange a wellbeing walk or have any ideas on how to boost your teams’ wellbeing, please speak to your wellbeing champion.

Happy retirement Wendy

We bid farewell to a dear colleague Wendy Fisher, who after 37 years as a nurse in the NHS has retired.

Wendy started her NHS career for RDaSH as a registered mental health nurse and supported the people who access our services, their families and her colleagues in a number of roles including senior leadership roles in North Lincolnshire and in the wider mental health services. Wendy has remained passionate about high quality and safe care throughout her career and has had a positive impact on the lives of the people she has had contact with in all of her roles with us.

From all of us here across the trust and in North Lincolnshire, we wish you every happiness in your retirement.

Inspiring artwork brightens up Great Oaks

Supporting and nurturing the creative talents of the people who use our services, to aid their recovery, is something that our colleagues at Great Oaks are passionate about.

The occupational and reablement colleagues recently encouraged a patient who had been admitted onto Mulberry house to use their art skills to create inspiring artworks for the walls of the unit. Five paintings were created and are on show on the corridors at Great Oaks.
Vicky Clare, Nurse Director, North Lincolnshire and NHS Talking Therapies Care Group, said: “These paintings are really impressive and were the idea of someone who uses our services. The artwork proved to be a great way for the people to access focused activities and brings hope to those still on their rehabilitation journey.”

One of the paintings called “The Psychedelic Mulberry Head” which has been used on the front cover of this edition of Trust Matters has won a national award.

The painting was submitted to the Royal College of Psychiatry Quality Network Working Adults (QNWA) competition and won. The following feedback was received:

“Many thanks for sending in the artwork for the QNWA artwork competition that was held in April. If possible, please pass my special thanks onto the artist for giving consent for her artwork to be submitted. We really enjoyed looking at the piece.

We are really pleased to say that this has been chosen as the new artwork on our upcoming publications and we think it looks brilliant. We’ll be sure to send across a copy before its published. Well done to the artist. We made a donation of £50 to the artist as a thank you for the use of artwork.

Care bear Chris

North Lincolnshire colleague Chris Knight kept ‘pawsing’ for the camera as he completed a day-long fundraiser around Scunthorpe General Hospital, inside Scrubs the Bear, North Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation trust’s charity mascot.

After getting his bearings, Clinical Nurse Specialist Chris amassed £184.17 from online and face-to-fur donations during this year’s mental health awareness week, with the money helping to pay for additional resources for people experiencing mental health issues whilst in hospital. Well done Chris and helpers Kim Atmore, Sarah Benetti, Roshanne Bottomley and Kay Fillingham.

Ten years of togetherness choir

In nearly its tenth year, the Togetherness Choir in Scunthorpe continues to bring joy and health and wellbeing benefits to local people living with Dementia and their family or carers.

Founded by Tracey Gouldthorp, Community Mental Health Nurse in the memory assessment and therapy service, and former Occupational Therapist colleague Janet Riggall, now retired, the pair keep the Dementia choir going in their spare time and with fundraising activities.

Tracey said: “Singing and music are very beneficial, for people experiencing a dementia condition, helping to lift the person’s mood, helps with sleep and helps with reminiscence. We have round 35 people who regularly attend, that’s people with the lived experience and their family or carers. The choir brings people together to sing and share their experiences.

“The choir is a passion and to keep it going we hold some fundraising events and receive donations from local community groups. Very recently we have received an amazing £953.13 from the Scunthorpe Rotary Club from a swimathon event, which included money from the local Scout Group to support the choir.

These donations make a real difference and show a true community spirit.” Taking part in the swimathon were two people from the choir with lived experience and three carers. Young people from a local Scout Group also took part in support of the rotary club. The scouts could have applied for their half of the sponsorship money but instead gave their share to the choir.

The choir has teamed up with the Reflections choir for a summer show on Friday 28 June at 7pm in Frodingham Parish Hall Church Lane (opposite St Lawrence’s Church). Entry is £2 and includes refreshments.

The togetherness choir holds its singing group every other Tuesday from 6pm to 7pm at Ashby Hub, DN16 2UT. The next couple of dates are Tuesday 9 July and Tuesday 23 July. There will be a summer break in August and the choir returns on 3 September.

Oxevision and myth busting

A few years ago, we introduced Oxevision to our mental health wards to help monitor our patients and keep them well and safe. The technology uses infra-red sensitive cameras in people’s bedrooms to help staff visually confirm a person is safe, measuring vital signs, such as their pulse and breathing rate, without disturbing their sleep.

However, there are a few myths circulating, so we’re busting them now.

Oxevision will not trigger an alarm when a patient’s vital signs stop.

So, you must always ensure you carry out physical checks as planned and as per policy.

Oxevision did not replace face to face physical health observations. It’s an assistant not a replacement.

The use of Oxevision is intended to complement clinical practice and not replace the need for good nursing interventions. Nurses, doctors and allied health professionals are expected to actively engage with patients in their therapeutic environment.

Kate McCandlish, Deputy Director of Nursing, said: “The needs of today’s mental health patients require a more personalised approach to care, embracing recovery-based treatment and safety planning including self-management for periods of ill health.

Care opinion model modernises Your Opinion Counts

After the successful initial pilot of care opinion and a trust wide launch, we are recruiting three champions in each service.

These champions will take the lead in responding to the feedback from patients, carers, and our communities which comes through care opinion.

We have two early adopter services, talking therapies and podiatry, which are using care opinion. Each service has a unique QR code, link and phone number for people who use the service and loved ones to offer feedback through care opinion, a public facing platform.

To know more about this exciting development or for any queries please contact stuart.green4@nhs.net for more information.

International human resources day

Our fabulous HR colleagues were celebrated on international human resources day on 20 May.

A drop in session was held at Almond Tree Lodge, in Doncaster, where HR colleagues could drop in, chat with our new Director of People and Organisational Development, Carlene Holden, and pick up a goody bag.

A big shout-out to you all for all that you do!

Making the move towards more personalised care

For nearly 30 years, we have been using the Care Programme Approach (CPA) to support patient care. For many of our patients, carers and families this has been a positive experience, with patients receiving high quality care based on the sound principals of CPA. However, there are some things which could be done better.

Unfortunately, not everyone meets the criteria for CPA, which means some people do not get the same standard or access to care. Ideally, we want all of our patients to be able to access high quality care, not just those on CPA. We have listened to patients, carers and staff with regard to what works well and less well. It is clear that everyone wants more flexible and personalised care, and a minimum universal standard of care for everyone.

As part of the move towards a more personalised care approach, we will be implementing a framework based on the following principles:

1. meaningful interventions identified early and planned between the patient and their care team
2. a named key worker for all patients but maintaining a multidisciplinary team approach, so that the right people provide the right care and allowing staff to make the best use of their skills and qualifications
3. high quality co-produced, holistic, personalised care and support planning with and for patients and with regular reviews of care plans
4. better support for and involvement of carers to provide safer and more effective care. This includes proactively seeking carers’ and family members’ contributions to care and support planning
5. a more accessible, responsive and flexible system with personalised and responsive crisis and safety planning tailored to the health, care and life needs, and circumstances of an individual, their carers and family members

Trust Deputy Medical Director Dr Sunil Mehta said: “This is a great opportunity to ensure everyone in need of mental healthcare can expect the same high-quality care. It puts patients at the heart of care plans that matter to them through solution-focused discussions and an approach that is digitally enabled and evidence-based.”

The new framework will raise standards for all and will be delivered through Dialog+ and three patient reported outcome measures (PROMs): Dialog, ReQoL-10 and goal based outcomes which will be used as a complimentary suite as and when appropriate for patient care.

We will of course maintain the positive aspects of care that someone on CPA currently receives. Patients will continue to be safe and will continue to receive the care they are already getting. Staff will be fully supported with a governance structure in place and the development of a training package taking place.

Dialog is a scale containing 11 questions which allow a patient to rate their satisfaction with aspects of their life on a score of one to seven. They can rate their overall quality of life, including satisfaction with their job, accommodation and relationships, within the first eight questions, and the care they are receiving in the final three. Dialog+ builds on the Dialog scale to provide a full therapeutic intervention through a structured approach to reviews with patients, using solution-focused principles, to develop co-produced and personalised care plans.

Eleanor Valantine, Senior Project Manager, Mental Health Transformation at our trust said: “This is a major shift in the way RDaSH provides care, bringing the added value of working together with partners like housing associations, the voluntary sector and community organisations to provide a whole system approach for our patients.”

Rotherham

Rotherham digital essential digital skills for life and work

We have teamed up with Rotherham Digital to run a course that boosts people’s IT skills and helping them to gain the many benefits of being online.

Colleagues in our pastoral support team are working with the Rotherham Digital team to build their confidence and knowledge of using digital devices.

The programme aims to help all people across Rotherham improve their digital skills and remove barriers they face in accessing and using technology. The essential digital skills course is playing a key part of this goal for our staff.

Louise Holland, our Pastoral Support Officer for Internationally Educated Colleagues, said: “It is the first time that we have worked together with Rotherham Council on this course. It is an exciting opportunity for our international educated colleagues to gain some extra support with their digital skills and nine of them have signed up for the course.” Running over 20 weeks from Riverside House in Rotherham, the training covers the essential skills of using digital devices, including:

• handling information
• creating content
• editing documents and images
• communicating effectively
• making transactions online
• being safe and responsible online

It also includes word processing, Excel spreadsheets, presentation, Outlook, and Microsoft Teams.

Paul Woodhouse, Digital Inclusion Delivery Manager from Rotherham Digital, said: “Rotherham Digital is a partnership programme, and we partner with many organisations across Rotherham including the NHS. There are many benefits for increasing digital skills for residents, both in their own lives but also to help them to access a range of services digitally. This essential digital skills course is appropriate for those who wish to strengthen their IT skills for life and work.”

Rotherham Digital is a partnership programme by Rotherham Council, the NHS, RotherFed, Voluntary Action Rotherham, RNN Colleges, Age UK Rotherham and Barnardo’s.

More information about the support they offer can be found on the Rotherham digital website (opens in new window).

New award launched in Rotherham schools

A new award has been launched for schools in Rotherham, showing how they put mental health at the forefront of their pupils’ wellbeing.

The mental health and wellbeing Award has been launched by our With Me In Mind Children’s Mental Health team.

Michelle Heaversedge, one of our clinical leads, said: “The award is a sort of kitemark, showing that schools really take care of children and young people’s mental health.”

School can apply to gain the award, but they will have to go through a rigorous process and then be audited every three years to check progress on what they provide to support children with their health and wellbeing.

Michelle added: “We have launched this award to incentivise schools to place mental health and wellbeing as a priority in the school. It’s a great way to show that schools are working hard to support their pupils’ mental health and wellbeing.”

Any schools in Rotherham wanting to take part should speak to their With Me In Mind colleague in school or contact Michelle by emailing michelle.heaversedge@nhs.net.

Patient feedback

Dear staff,

Thank you for all the hard work you guys do for me and everyone. Thank you for keeping me safe and taking the time to talk to me. To the male nurses and male students, thank you for being safe, I didn’t think I would feel safe, but I did, you are all so caring and it showed me that there are safe men out there. Angels are real, they don’t have wings, they wear NHS uniforms. All I can say is thank you so much.

From JL

Free fun day and annual members’ meeting

Free fun for colleagues, patients and the public includes:

• a giant walkabout adult dinosaur and baby dinosaurs and dinosaur petting zoo
• circus skills workshop
• coconut shy
• hook a duck
• play your cards right
• Test of strength
• mega buzz wire
• crazy mirrors
• face painting
• giant games area including snakes and ladders and noughts and crosses
• dance machine
• ice cream bike with free ice cream
• candy floss and popcorn cart
• air hockey table and much more.

There will be refreshments and food to buy too and visitors can find out about all of the trust’s services.

• Date: 20 July 2024
• Time: 10am to 4pm
• Address: Clifton Park, Rotherham (Garden house and surrounding parkland)

On the day spectators can also watch as RDaSH and community teams take part in the It’s a knockout style competition and rounders tournament. If you work for RDaSH, get your team in now by emailing rdash.rdashcommunications@nhs.net

We need teams of 10, but if you’re short, we may have others interested who can fill a slot.

Part of the day will also be the annual members’ meeting which will take place at 1:45pm in the Garden House, near all of the fun.

Get the date in your diary now!

Staff governors, elections are on their way, time to get involved

Becoming a staff governor is yet another way of getting involved and ensuring the trust hears the views of our staff.

Our governors have an important role to play, and we are keen to ensure you are all represented.

Staff Governors are ambassadors for our trust and responsible for representing the interests of the trust’s members and representing the views of your area. In our trust they will work alongside a range of public, patients and carers and appointed (partner) governors.

We are now looking to our care groups to each elect a governor.

These are great opportunities to get involved and to work alongside other staff that are part of the staff networks and become members of the new trust people council, just another part of ensuring staff are fully represented within the trust.

Being a governor means having your say, it means meeting quarterly with fellow governors to hear about the performance and plans of the trust. It means sharing experiences and asking questions. It also means our chair and non-executive directors (who are appointed by the governors) and the rest of the board have an avenue through which it can reach out to the community and hear about what matters. There are also a range of other things to get involved in, the annual members meeting (AMM) and other optional meetings, including peer reviews and visits, attending committees and collaboration with governors from elsewhere.

We would ask that you attend the quarterly council of governor meetings and the trust people committee. Please talk to your line manager about the opportunity and if you or they want more information contact;

• Sue Black, Corporate Assurance Officer on susan.black13@nhs.net
• Philip Gowland, Director of Corporate Assurance on p.gowland@nhs.net

We are looking for one person to represent each care group, but if more than one person is interested then we will undertake an election and everyone in the care group will get their chance to vote for their governor. It’s your choice who the governor is. Please be assured that you will be released from your role to support this work.

If becoming a governor isn’t for you, then please don’t forget to vote in the elections in the coming weeks to provide your support to a colleague. If you know of anyone else, friends, family, neighbours, patients, carers who might like to be involved then please help by signing them up as members in the first place, simply use this link to our online membership form (opens in a new window) or search ‘get involved’ on our website and if they would be interested in becoming a governor then share the information and contact details above

Readers letters

This is where you can write to us about topics of interest, either work related or something completely different. Please email your letters to us at rdash.rdashcommunications@nhs.net and include trust matters readers’ page in the subject heading. We hope to hear from you soon.

Doncaster

Time to shine. We’re highlighting some of our fabulous projects, giving them time to shine. Here’s one we’re proud of for Doncaster.

Helping patients stay at home

We joined forces with Yorkshire Ambulance Service to run a project to help keep people with pressure ulcers in their own homes.

Special packs from our district nurses have been distributed to specialist paramedics in urgent care across Doncaster.

It means paramedics can now treat a person with a pressure ulcer immediately and they may be able to stay in their own home and where appropriate they will be cared for by our Planned Care District Nursing team.

It means it saves ambulance time, as paramedics will be back on the road more quickly, and the majority of patients will be able to stay in the comfort of their own homes, cared for by district nurses, which also keeps hospital beds free.

The initiative launched on October 2 last year and has gone from strength to strength.

Joanne Dakin, Director of Nursing, Doncaster Adult Mental Health and Learning Disabilities Care Group Disabilities, said: “This means pressure ulcers are treated straight away in the patient’s home. It’s early intervention and it means if the patient has to go to hospital the ulcer has already been treated stopping it deteriorating. Alternatively, the patient may be able to stay at home and be visited by our District Nurses.”

Chris Harvey, Advanced Paramedic for Urgent Care, said: “I think it’s good that our teams will be able to instigate care for pressure ulcers earlier and also support the wider NHS system.”

New beginnings gardening donation for people in recovery

Supporting the recovery of people with an alcohol or drug addiction, is something that the team at New Beginnings is passionate about.

Located on Marshall Avenue in Balby, its allotment area forms an important part of the rehabilitation of the people who use its services offering them an opportunity to grow their own vegetables.

The team at New Beginnings was presented with a donation of gardening tools, sunflower seeds and a Bee Hotel for its allotment area from two local Doncaster businesses Meadfleet Limited and Keepmoat Homes Limited.

Neil Firbank, Senior Day Programme Lead, said: “A big thank you to everyone at Meadfleet and Keepmoat Homes for this kind donation which will be put to good use in our allotment. A key part of the recovery journey is giving people a sense of purpose and achievement. Our structured day programme offers people the opportunity to work in the allotment with all the vegetables grown being used in our cooking sessions.

“Many of the people who use our services benefit from the allotment and take pride in nurturing the plants they grow. We have a greenhouse and vegetable beds plus a wildflower area to encourage bees and other pollinators into our green spaces.”

The New Beginnings allotment area connects to promise 18 by providing a model of therapeutic inpatient care and enhance recovery.

If you or someone you know is experiencing drug or alcohol issues and want to talk to someone in confidence, please visit Aspire’s website (opens in new window) or ring 03000 213900.

Neil features in national awareness campaign

One of our colleagues is bravely sharing on video the story of the hostility he faced trying to overcome a drug addiction.

Neil Firbank, 46, movingly speaks about a depressing period in his life in StigmaKills, a national awareness raising campaign highlighting how people suffering from addiction are amongst the most stigmatised in society.

Neil outlines how his first brutal experience of addiction stigma was at the Doncaster pit village where he grew up, when local youngsters shouted, “you dirty smackhead” and spat at him while he was taking his children to the local shop.

He explains how it was just the start, as some time later a large group of men viciously attacked him, members of a local vigilante gang who were going round beating up anyone they suspected of being on drugs, accusing them of being responsible for local thefts and burglaries to pay for their drugs.

“Ironically, I was in full-time employment at the time and earning, but they didn’t bother to check that out. Looking back, I really think that getting into a treatment programme probably saved my life, said Neil, who now works as a senior practitioner with Aspire Drug and Alcohol services in Doncaster, supporting people in treatment.

“The stigma really did affect me in many ways, like having to wait outside the pharmacy to collect my methadone prescription. I wasn’t allowed to queue inside with the other customers, and it felt totally degrading. I was in treatment, trying to get clean, but being treated like an outcast.

“It’s the reason why I was more than happy to be involved in the StigmaKills campaign, being able to tell my story in my own words on camera was something I wanted to do.”

Produced by the NHS Addiction Providers alliance, the campaign “aims to highlight the damaging effects of stigmatising language and attitudes to those who experience addiction. It asks for all of us as individuals to look beyond the addiction and to see the person behind it and hear their story. It also aims to break down the myths and misconceptions around addiction, demonstrating it is both a mental and physical health condition and not a person’s choice.”

Neil started taking drugs as a teenager and started his treatment programme at the age of 23, volunteering to help with activities at the centre where he was receiving care, before securing a post helping others to follow in his recovery footsteps.

Some 23 years later he has established himself as a respected practitioner, responsible for founding Doncaster’s famous recovery games, which have gained international status for annually bringing together hundreds of people to celebrate being in recovery by taking part in an “it’s a knock-out” style competition.

You can watch Neil on video by visiting the StigmaKills (opens in new window)

Therapeutic pawfect week in diamond

Visitors to our Diamond and Therapeutic Activity Centre were treated to a guest appearance from Ralph, a “pets as therapy” dog, as part of a week of dog themed activities.

Ralph stole the show when he visited the centre together with his owner Sarah on May 16.

Mark Coley, Staff Nurse and Regional Makaton Tutor, said: “We are always looking for new ways to make the time people spend with us enjoyable and interesting.

We do many themed activities to support the people in our care. Our latest one was themed around our best friend, our dog. We sang songs, held quizzes and games all about dogs. The visit of Ralph certainly went down a treat.”

The last themed activity was for Red Nose Day, where they raised £100 for comic relief.

Mark added: “A massive thank you to all clients, staff, carers, and families for all the kind donations and for making the day a success.”

Help on offers for, mums with mental health needs

When Jess Anderson gave birth to her daughter Lydia she thought she’d the baby blues, but the feelings got more unpleasant and she knew she needed help.
Jess (36), who works within our trust in Doncaster as a South Yorkshire Workforce Lead, rang the Crisis team, asked for help and was referred to the perinatal mental health service, a service set up specifically to help new mums who need mental health support.

Jess, whose daughter is now four-years-old, said: “I’ve had anxiety and depression affect my life before but a few days after having Lydia it struck again. I thought it was the baby blues until I started having really unpleasant thoughts about harming myself and her.

“That May bank holiday I rang the crisis line for help and I was admitted to the Mother and Baby Unit for a couple of weeks and then had specialist perinatal community mental health support for a further 18 months.

“The psychologist and psychiatrist who supported me literally saved my life,” added Jess. “I would not be here today without them.”

• Jess Anderson’s story (opens in new window)

Jess is now well and enjoying being a mum. Her message to other new mums is: “Don’t ever be ashamed to ask for help. It’s normal to have these feelings. Some people love being a mum, others struggle, to varying degrees. Perinatal services are there to help you. Reach out and ask for help for you and your child.”

For more information about perinatal mental health services visit our website or call:

• Rotherham: 03000 215209
• Doncaster: 03000 211839

The PaNDAS foundation (opens in new window) is a brilliant charity that offers awareness and support around perinatal mental health.

If you want to find out more about her experience, scan the codes to read her blogs:

• Breaking the taboo (opens in new window)
• Four years on (opens in new window)

Want to find out more about supportive therapeutic observations?

We have an easy-to-understand guide on video about supportive therapeutic observations(opens in new window). Why not take a look now.

The trust clinches award

We’ve won the contribution to the network award at a recent NHS Benchmarking celebrating the network event held at the Birmingham Conference and Events Centre.

The NHS Benchmarking membership community is made up of health and social care providers, commissioners and like-minded organisations from all corners of the UK. It supports members to harness the power of data excellence, benchmarking and innovation to improve patient outcomes, raise health standards and deliver quality health and care services.

Sam Steeples, our Information Quality Officer, was a guest speaker and delivered a fantastic presentation on Benchmarking in practice: a view from RDaSH ably supported by her colleague Anna Jones, our Assistant Information Quality Officer.

The award acknowledged the outstanding contributions and impact that RDaSH has made.

We want to say a big thank you to Sam, Karen Samuels-Hannan and Anna for another year of dedication and commitment to the NHS Benchmarking Network.

The trust is privileged to have received national recognition and appreciates all of your efforts.

Need printing? We can help you

For all your printing needs, large or small, why not visit the Print Unit?

A personal service with competitive prices on orders of all sizes. We can provide:

• booklets and leaflets
• newsletters
• pull up banners
• side format printing
• posters up to A0 size
• business cards
• raffle tickets
• stickers
• labels of all sizes
• bespoke folded leaflets
• envelope stuffing
• laminating and binding
• print and postal service

Printing delivered to your door. We can save you time and money, so why not give us a try?

Call us on 03000 214127 or email rdash.printdesign@nhs.net.

Celebrating our internationally educated professionals

We showed our appreciation to our internationally educated and highly experienced colleagues for choosing to join us here at our trust.

The celebration event was an opportunity for them to meet up, have fun, share ideas and experiences.

Ask me anything

The move towards personalised care, Dialog+ and patient rated outcome measures (PROM) implementation.

• Date: Wednesday 31 July 2024
• Time: 10:30am to 11:30am
• Venue: Microsoft Teams

In the hot seat is:

• Sunil Mehta, Deputy Medical Director
• David Smith, Head of Information Quality (Chief nursing information officer and clinical safety officer)
• Andrew Heighton, Medical Director for North Lincolnshire Adult Mental Health and Talking Therapies care group
• Emma Sly, Senior Transformation and System, Lead Change and Transformation team

It’s all about you

At RDaSH we recognise that moving into a new role and into a new organisation can be challenging.

Settling into a new team, adapting to new and different ways of working can be difficult, a feeling that everybody knows everything can be unnerving and undermine your confidence.

So we’ve introduced two Legacy Mentors, Julie Lodge and Jo Lloyd who are here to support you and make your transition into your new role and even your new organisation go as smoothly as possible.

They don’t replace your supervision, induction or preceptorship.

They do provide a confidential safe space where you can share your worries and develop strategies both emotionally and practically to deal with the challenges you are facing, to enrich your experience of working at RDaSH.

They are your safe and confidential space.

Get in touch with us: rdash.legacy-mentor-team@nhs.net.

Brian Dolan’s visit

Our nurse leaders met Brian Dolan OBE, Registered Mental Health Nurse, and Registered General Nurse, when he visited us in May.

Brian is an Honorary Professor in Leadership in Healthcare at the University of Salford and Honorary President for the AGILE network of physiotherapists working with older people.

Thank you for visiting us.

Meeting our commitment to veterans

One of our Promises is to deliver in full the NHS commitment to veterans and those within our service communities, recognising the specific needs many have, especially for access to suitable mental health and trauma response services.

The need to support the armed forces community can be clearly identified within population data, which suggests that approximately 28,728 veterans live across Doncaster, Rotherham and North Lincolnshire. This equates to 3.86% of the population, around one-third higher than the UK regional average of 2.9%.

By comparison, looking at our caseload where someone has indicated they are a veteran, the figure is 1.8%, which is lower than the population. Veterans are often unidentified within healthcare systems, meaning they do not receive defined priority access to services when it is in relation to their time served. This lack of support often means they can become homeless, unemployed or incarcerated.

We currently have ‘silver’ accreditation as part of the Armed Forces Covenant, which deems RDaSH a Veteran Aware organisation. Many services do support veterans, and over the coming year we will be identifying if our services are prioritising access for veterans who have conditions relating to their time served (as part of the NHS commitment to veterans) and if not, establishing a pathway for this. We will also build upon existing networks and work with veteran communities to understand their needs.

If you are a veteran and are referred to our services, please make sure you let us know. As part of Promise 9 we will also look for opportunities for veterans to become part of our workforce.

We attended the Armed Forces Day events in Rotherham and North Lincolnshire on 22 June. Look out for us at the Doncaster event in Elmfield Park on 29 June.

One example where veterans have benefitted from support is through the NHS Talking Therapies service, which offers support to adults experiencing common mental health challenges. These include depression, anxiety, stress, panic, phobias, social anxiety, low self-esteem, health anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder, body dysmorphic disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

The team provides various talking therapies, including cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing (EMDR), and interpersonal therapy (IPT). Additionally, services in Rotherham and Doncaster offer depression counselling, couples therapy for depression, and general counselling. Therapists work with patients to determine the most suitable treatment.

Thanks Tammy

Members of the disability and wellness network (DAWN) want to say a huge heartfelt thank you to the outgoing Chair Tammy Hill.

Tammy’s commitment to the network has been exceptional and she has been a great source of support and inspiration to DAWN members during her time as chair.

Tammy has been instrumental in supporting the trust with policy reviews and helping to develop guidelines supporting neuro-diverse colleagues and members can’t thank her enough for her dedication and commitment over the last three years.

The new Chair is Rosie Elliott.

Amanda Ambler, our Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Participation Administrator, said: “I am sure Rosie’s knowledge and own lived experience will enhance the network and we look forward to the next era.”

Volunteer roundup

We have 113 volunteers! This is a great achievement and is a 33% of our proposed target.

To reach our target of 350, we are supporting steering groups across all localities to help all the 23 directorates in recruiting and retaining volunteers.

This will enhance the capacity and diversity of the workforce by an additional 10%. All directorates will have volunteers within them based on current paid staffing numbers. This month sees the following posts and proposed posts:

Current posts:

• wound store
• patient flow
• WellBean coffee lounge
• learning and development
• infant feeding peer support
• volunteers
• talking therapies
• podiatry
• patient carer and communities
• grounded research
• gardeners
• volunteer drivers
• fundraising volunteers
• councillors
• mentors for drug and alcohol
• peer support on the wards
• Reception, admin volunteers
• hospice support
• governors

Proposed posts:

• learning disabilities (trust wide)
• home based treatment volunteers (Great Oaks)
• inpatient ward volunteers (Great Oaks)
• admin, reception volunteers (Great Oaks)
• respiratory
• Rotherham ward volunteers
• recovery college volunteers Rotherham

The Patient Experience and Involvement team is here to support services and the directorates with recruitment to new or existing posts in front line and corporate services.

There are four short films from the recent trust volunteer and Involvement event which show the added value that volunteers bring to trust services:

• Ian Spowart’s video (opens in new window)
• Graham Keeton’s video (opens in new window)
• June Battersby’s video (opens in new window)
• Helen and Kathleen’s video (opens in new window)

Our next road show event for Rotherham is on Thursday 11 July from 10am to 2pm at the Riverside Café at Riverside House, please feel free to drop in. If you would like to learn more about volunteering opportunities for your service or want to get involved in the steering groups for the trust, please contact Neil Anderson via neil.anderson13@nhs.net.

Thank you to our volunteers

We said a big thank you to our volunteers with an event at Doncaster’s CAST Theatre recently.

We presented certificates to our volunteers and treated them to lunch.

We also signed up new recruits! If you fancy volunteering, get in touch now by emailing neil.anderson18@nhs.net.

Volunteer and never look back

A Doncaster man who was studying for a degree but had no work experience, turned to volunteering at a local hospital and has never looked back.

Atique Arif (44) now volunteers in two different areas with us and has also become a National Research Ambassador.

Atique has volunteered for four years and spends his time here working generally in the research team, called Grounded Research.

Atique explained: ”My path and Grounded Research’s paths crossed when I was in the final year of my degree. I had no experience to enter the world of work and they gave me the opportunity to gain vital experience. I took up the opportunity and never looked back.

“I get a lot out of volunteering,” added Atique. “Volunteering offers opportunities, networks, you get to see things and meet people. It absolutely is an amazing experience.

So what is Atique’s advice to anyone thinking about volunteering? ”Go for it,” he said. “Don’t look back, give it a try and you will enjoy it.”

Watch the interview with Atique Arif (opens in new window).

Anyone wanting information about volunteering or involvement should contact the Patient Experience and Involvement team by emailing rdash.patient-experience@nhs.net.

Encouraging more volunteers to join us

The drive is on to sign-up more volunteers across the trust and a series of roadshows will take our ‘come and join us’ message into the local communities we serve.

Promises 3 and 5 have set out a challenge to increase our volunteer tally to 350 across all services by 2025, up from the more than 100 we currently have.

On Thursday 11 July, the trust’s patient and public involvement team will take their information roadshow to the Riverside café, in Riverside House, the Council building on Main Street, Rotherham, from 10am to 2pm, where they are keen to talk to local people about potential openings in the NHS.

It’s one of a number of drop-in road shows currently being drawn up across the three geographical areas we cover, where colleagues will be able to have face-to-face meetings with local people to explain more about the trust and encourage their involvement.

Patient Experience and Involvement Lead, Stuart Green, who is assisted by Volunteer Co-ordinator Neil Anderson, said: “The sessions will be an opportunity to invite people of all ages and diverse groups to come and have a chat about jobs, apprenticeships and volunteering opportunities within our organisation.

“Currently, most of our volunteers tend to operate in the Doncaster area, providing fantastic support, and we now want to up the numbers in Rotherham and North Lincolnshire.

“We are also eager to talk to a wide range of patients, carers and members of the public who would like to have a say in how we run our services.

“The ‘meet us’ events will be very informal, people won’t be expected to sign up for anything but they will have the opportunity to find out more and have any questions answered.”

If you would like more information about volunteering or working for RDaSH, please ring 03000 0211547 or email patientexperiencevolunteers.rdash@nhs.uk.

Book your place now

We are holding a Support Worker event at the Holiday Inn, Warmsworth on Monday 1 July.

This event is a shared learning event for all healthcare support workers (HSW) from all clinical backgrounds. At the event we will be sharing quality improvement initiatives, career development pathways including apprenticeship opportunities to support our healthcare support workers with their career development.

We will also be looking at ways we can invest in our HSW’s and look at how we can involve them in shared decision-making around the care of people in receipt of our services, while also ensuring that they, as individuals, feel recognised and rewarded in everything they do all day, every day.

There are 26 places per care group offered on a first come first served basis.

To book onto this event please contact the below PAs within your Care Group stating:

• your job role
• work location
• length of time at RDaSH
• whether you have any dietary requirements or allergies

Please ensure you have the protected time to attend from your team manager.

The smart way to get replacement information technology equipment

Laptop playing up?

We have a flexible way of getting you back online, thanks to the new self-service smart lockers we are trialling at two places in the trust.

Simply contact the IT service desk on 03000 218118, or via the IT self-service portal, and explain your problem.

Agree a collection point for your faulty laptop, or other IT device, at either Tickhill Road Hospital reception or Swallownest Court and the IT department will email you a QR code to take with you.

Go to the smart locker at your chosen location, scan the QR code into the locker and one of the drawers on the unit will open automatically.

Place your faulty device in the drawer, close the door and rescan your QR code.

Another drawer will open and inside will be a replacement waiting for you.

Just take it out, close the door and you’re on your way. Remember, once you have your QR code you can access the smart locker 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

You choose the best time for you. The whole process is quick, simple, and easy. Please don’t be afraid to use it. Watch the video on how to access this (opens in new window).

International nurses day celebrations

Our senior nurses paid visits to teams working across the trust on international nurses day, armed with goodies! Here’s photos from the day.

Park run

• Heather Kerr, Community Mental Health Nurse in our enhanced care home response, Burn Park Run, Selby.
• Steve Forsyth, Chief Nurse running at the Dudley Park Run, Birmingham.
• Lynn Hall, Head of Communications, Sandall Park, Doncaster

91 years’ experience and still going strong

With 91 years’ nursing experience between them, we couldn’t miss this chance to find out a bit more about some of our nursing colleagues in our hospice.

Where is the weirdest place you have practiced nursing?

• Pool.
• Side of a motorway.
• Jamaica.

What do you love about being a nurse?

• Being with patients, and knowing you’re making a difference, helping them and their families.
• Working in a good team.
• Getting to care for people.

What advice would you give to our future nurses to support them to thrive #ournursesourfuture?

• Throw yourself in to learning opportunities on placement. Don’t wait to be asked. You ask if you can have a go or watch.
• Listen to your mentors.
• There will be bad days, hard days, tough days, stick with it because it’s worth it.

What makes you proud to be a nurse?

• The feedback you get from patients.
• Being able to care for someone.
• Making a difference to people to care for.

Proud to be an admin

To mark National admin day on April 24 we took an extra opportunity to celebrate and thank all our admin and clerical colleagues who work tirelessly across our organisation.

We have included a selection of photos from the day, plus a few comments on what they like about their role and working here:

“I like that my role is quite challenging and always have learning opportunities for personal development.”

“My work is at the heart of the organisation as I work in the Business Support team. That means that I can be involved in a variety of different projects and develop new skills.”.

Nurse scoops top award

One of our nurses has scooped a top award at the South Yorkshire Apprenticeship Awards.

Phillip Stephenson (pictured) who works on the Magnolia Neurorehabilitation Inpatient Ward, Doncaster, won the Health and Public Service Apprentice of the Year award.

Phillip is a shining example of how apprentices can support workforce shortages in healthcare. Phillip joined us in 2015 as a support worker supporting patients on our psychiatric wards, and over the next few years he learned so much about healthcare and was recognised for his passion in helping others. In 2019 Phillip was successful in gaining entry to our initiative to train more home-grown nurses.

From 2019 to 2021 Phillip completed his nursing foundation degree as a trainee nursing associate, and then worked on the wards as a qualified nursing associate. In 2022 he was successful in gaining entry to the RDaSH registered nurse apprenticeship and earlier this year he secured a permanent nursing role.

Well done Phillip on your achievements!

World hand hygiene day

Every year on May 5, the World Health Organisation’s Save Lives: Clean Your Hands Campaign, also known as world hand hygiene day, is celebrated.

The team on Magnolia Lodge held another successful hand hygiene event inviting colleagues to visit their Link Champion Kate Kenny to carry out hand hygiene assessments and to discuss the importance of hand hygiene.

At Cantley Health Centre Link Champion Barbara Symonds had been raising awareness of hand hygiene and bare below the elbows at team meetings and ensuring assessments are up-to-date.

Well done and thank you Kate and Barbara for your continued support to infection prevention and control.

Two of our infection prevention and control link champions have won Love2Shop vouchers after celebrating the day in their services.

A word search competition was also sent to all services and the lucky winner was Taiwo Falope from Brambles Ward. Congratulations Taiwo. Watch this short video (opens in new window) about this year’s campaign.

Free laundry service to address inequalities

We are keeping our promise of poverty proofing our services and tackling inequalities by offering a free laundry service to anyone who has a job interview and in need of clean clothes to wear.

Our on-site laundry has introduced a new scheme in a bid to support those who are less well-off and to help them make a first good impression at their job interview.

This new service which started on 6 May 2024 is one of the ways in which we are delivering on our promises to the communities it serves.

Lisa Grandcourt, Head of Facilities, said: “Creating that first good impression is an important part of being successful at interview. We know that not everyone can afford freshly cleaned and ironed clothes. This is why we are offering this service so that no one should feel disadvantaged by their appearance and to give them an equal opportunity to gaining employment. All we ask is that you show your interview invite.”

People using this free service can choose from having one pair of trousers and one shirt or blouse laundered. Other options include one skirt and one blouse or top, or one dress.

Garments need to be placed in a bag and brought into the RDaSH Laundry on a Tuesday between 7:30am and 2:30pm and they will be ready to collect the following Thursday between 7:30am and 2:30pm.

The Laundry Service is based on the Tickhill Road Hospital Site, off Weston Road, Balby, DN4 8QN. It is located towards the main hospital reception and follow the signs for laundry services.

Trust People Council launches next month

A new-style Trust People Council, which will represent collective voices from across our organisation in one key, influential forum, is set to hold its first meeting next month.

It will be chaired by Trust Vice Chair Dave Vallance and the membership will comprise our two trade union convenors, two staff guardians (Freedom To Speak Up and junior doctors hours), four staff network chairs, Medical Staff Committee chair, and six elected staff governors. Chair Kath Lavery, Chief Executive Toby Lewis and People and Organisational Development Director Carlene Holden will be the trust’s management representatives. A patient representative will also attend, in line with promise 5, as well as a colleague speaking up for our volunteers.

The first meeting will take place on Wednesday 24 July in person, with future sessions being held on Teams.

Carlene Holden said: “The primary focus of the Trust People Council will be to provide a collective forum to discuss the culture of RDaSH and to review the progress we are making in supporting our people as the trust transitions to a new model of care. Outcomes from the meetings will be reported to the board of directors and, crucially, the forum will provide very direct staff voice input into the decision-making of the trust.”

Future meetings this financial year:

• Wednesday, 30 October 2024, 12:30 to 2pm, via MS Teams
• Wednesday, 29 January 2025, 12:30 to 2pm, via MS Teams

Voices of Rotherham, Doncaster and South Humber (RDaSH)

Here are our first two Voices of RDaSH, Kathryn Bebb and Izaaz Mohammed.

The idea is you can find out more about whom you work with, their background, what they do day to day and how their work links to our 28 promises.

Kathryn Bebb

You may have seen our guest video messages, or video logs for short, from members of our team instead of Toby Lewis, our Chief Executive, on a couple of Fridays.

The idea is you can find out more about whom you work with, their background, what they do day to day and how their work links to our 28 promises.

Kathryn Bebb, our Matron for Community and Long Term Conditions, was the first guest video logger and I’m sure you’ll agree with us, she did a brilliant job!

Kathryn spoke about how she started at RDaSH and how community nursing teams are facing difficult challenges with increasing demands on services. Kathryn spoke about how fab our teams are, delivering high standard services to care for our patients. She also stressed the importance of listening to patients, face to face, because their feedback helps us learn and grow, and how it meets promise 4.

 

She also talked about work on the provision of different faith burials. Kathryn is part of the work taking place across the city to support people of different faiths to ensure their wishes are met in life and death.

She also spoke about our Gypsy, Roma and Irish Traveller community and how we’ve always thought they are a hard-to-reach community. She says, actually they aren’t but we have made our services hard to access.

Watch Kathryn’s full video message (opens in new window).

Kathryn said: “When I was asked to do the video, my first thought was what could I possibly say, and I was so nervous to be on camera. I shouldn’t have worried. I spoke from the heart and the Communication team put me at ease straight away. I thoroughly enjoyed being able to talk to so many colleagues through the video. I have received emails from colleagues old and new to connect over the subjects discussed which is fantastic. I would encourage anyone to get involved. If I can do it anyone can!”

Izaaz Mohammed

Meanwhile our new Director of Finance Izaaz Mohammed has also starred in our weekly video logs.

Izaaz, who will also be the lead executive for our Estates team, was previously our deputy director of finance.

Born and brought up in West Yorkshire, where he still lives, Izaaz is from a Pakistani Muslim family and his faith and heritage are important to him. He is interested in mental health support because a close family member suffers with significant mental health challenges and Izaaz has seen first hand the impact a lack of tailored and inclusive care can have not just on the individual themselves, but the wider family.

A chartered accountant by profession, Izaaz achieved this through starting as an apprentice.

“I spent a few weeks at university after my A levels, and for various reasons, I realised it wasn’t for me and I dropped out. After a few years of working various jobs, I landed a job working in an NHS finance department, and that’s when things started to turn around for me.

I was supported with plenty of opportunities to gain practical experience, and critically, funding for the exams and tuition to pass my accountancy exams,” said Izaaz. “So, you can probably understand why I’m really excited about our ambition to move to apprentice first for some of our roles later in the year. Traditional routes of study and entry into the workforce don’t work for everyone and just think of the number of potential people we’re missing out on if we don’t have apprenticeships front and centre of our recruitment plans.”

Izaaz also reminded people to sign up for the It’s A Knock Out competition and rounders contest on July 20 in Clifton Park, Rotherham and also officially launched our annual staff awards.

Watch Izaaz’s full video message (opens in new window).

Taking rubbish can save pounds

Waste management, there’s more to it than meets the eye.

It’s an important part of our journey to net zero and you can play your part by thinking ‘is this really rubbish?’ before putting anything into the waste stream.

“Many items are needlessly disposed of every year that could easily be reused or recycled to save money and reduce impact on the environment, said Ian Higgins, Trust Environmental and Waste Manager.

“Get your colleagues in on the conversation by spreading the word. Effective recycling saves the trust money. We can recycle metal, plastic bottles, cardboard, paper, wood, plus other items.

“It costs approximately £45 a tonne to process the Trust’s recycling waste, and nearly three times that to process our general waste. While none of our waste goes to landfill, it is used to generate heat and power, ensuring all recyclables such as paper, card, cardboard, plastics, wood and metals can save money. And the processes used in processing these reduce carbon as well.”

We have produced a handy pocket-size guide to managing waste across the trust. It sets out the colour codes for clinical waste; the various bags and containers to be used; and how to dispose of waste safely. You can read or download the leaflet at link address?

For example, did you know that Canon multifunction printers are provided across all our trust sites and the company provides a recycling service for all its toner cartridges? Free return boxes can be ordered from the Canon website.

We have a network of green champions who put the focus on their own areas, looking at how to improve sustainability locally and then sharing their ideas with a trust-wide group to spread the message further.

If you would like to help improve recycling or sustainability as a whole have you considered joining the green champions’ network? Please email rdash.netzerocarbon@nhs.net and if you have an idea for improving recycling or sustainability please email your thoughts to the same email address.

Order Canon return boxes (opens in new window).

Capital schemes are coming on stream

A multi-million-pound capital investment programme is well underway across the trust, promising major benefits to both patients and staff colleagues alike.

NHS South Yorkshire Integrated Care Board has provided £6.6 million of capital funding for major projects during the current financial year, some of which are nearing completion, with others due to start soon.

At Rotherham’s Swallownest Court, the Sandpiper and Osprey adult mental health wards have had extensive makeovers, providing extensive specialist upgrades and reconfiguration work, including improvements to bedrooms and ensuite rooms. Sandpiper is completed and Osprey’s move home from the Goldcrest decant ward is set to take place shortly.

In Doncaster, five bungalows at Bentley’s Emerald Lodge have been transformed. One will become a new primary care mental health hub; two will become the new home of the 0 to 5 Children’s services team following their relocation from Bentley Health Centre, and two further bungalows will be taken up by children’s services colleagues who were previously based in rented accommodation at Sprotbrough, now bringing them into our in-house facilities as part of an efficiency programme.

“In North Lincolnshire, a design team which includes architects, quantity surveyors and mechanical and electrical engineers has been appointed ready to plan extensive refurbishments at Great Oaks’ Mulberry and Laurel adult mental health and older people’s wards. The next phase of work is expected to start in October and be completed in March 2025, with further modernisation planned to take place subject to securing further funding in 2025 to 2026, which will include alterations to the main entrance area”, said Trust Head of Capital and Planning, Paul McGuinness.

“The investment will see Mulberry’s bed capacity rise from 17 to 19 and a courtyard area will be infilled to create additional multi-functional workspace for both agile staff working and training.

“Staff changing areas and facilities will also be improved. At Laurel Ward en-suite inpatient rooms will be upgraded, including alterations to form ward reception and multi-disciplinary team areas.

Other capital works include acoustic improvements to flooring and walls at St Nicholas House, Scunthorpe, to improve confidentiality during patient appointments. Acoustic works are also scheduled for the Crystal building at Tickhill Road Hospital.”

Swallow Court’s Kingfisher psychiatric intensive care unit and Great Oaks’ Mulberry Ward will be equipped with new secure alarmed bedroom doors that have both anti-barricade and anti-ligature design features.

A further major project will see 180 ensuite doors changed to more effective replacements in patient areas across the trust.

Across the trust wi-fi improvements have been made thanks to the investment cash.

The funding will also ensure the endpoint replacement programme continues, replacing laptops and PCs, with IT updates also planned.

And on the estates side, as well as the general in year maintenance works, bigger diesel tanks are being installed to provide additional capacity for the back-up generators on the Tickhill Road Hospital site. Improvement works to fire doors are also scheduled.

New campaign to help children

We’ve launched a new campaign to ensure children who need glasses get them and also have a spare pair called Vision Plus 2, our health screening practitioners in our School Nursing team screen the vision of all children in reception class. If they fail the screening, they are referred to an optician where they are issued with two pairs of specs. One to stay at home and the other pair stays at school. This is part of our promise 17.

Cheryl Irwin-Freestone, one of our Health Screening Practitioners, said: “We wanted to give all children aged 4 and 5 the opportunity to be at an advantage for their learning by never being without their glasses, in school. “We started this project after the Easter half term and we will be running it up to the end of the summer term. We are hoping to continue the project for each academic year for reception children,” she added.

Prior to Vision Plus 2, our practitioners were involved in the glasses in classes scheme that was a pilot scheme run by Bradford and Durham Universities.

Cheryl added: “This pilot scheme came to an end and we wanted to continue this amazing work, as we know how much of an advantage and benefit this will be for the children we see in schools. “

The scheme is currently being run in all Doncaster schools who have a reception class in partnership with Moorhouse Opticians, Specsavers at Armthorpe and Thorne, Parkhurst Opticians, Edwards and Walker Opticians and Premier Eye Care.

Cheryl added: “This initiative is to help to improve reading and writing and learning outcomes for children who need glasses.

Cognitive behavioural therapy and spiritual care

Our Chaplains have been learning about cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and how it can be used in spiritual care.

They attended an education session delivered by Sal Lawton, Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapy Lead in Doncaster, to learn more about CBT and the benefits it can bring to people seeking spiritual care.

CBT is a family of talking therapies, based on the idea that our thoughts, emotions, and behaviours are interconnected and impact how we feel and what we do. It can bring about a change to unhelpful thoughts and behaviours, assisting people to cope with, or overcome, various problems.

CBT is a goal-focused and active treatment where a person works with their therapist to create and complete tasks and challenges at home. The tasks are designed to help the person to make the most progress during therapy.

To find out more about CBT please visit our NHS Talking Therapy website (opens in new window) for cognitive behaviour therapy.

Read more about our Spiritual Care team.

Women’s network first birthday

Our Women’s Network celebrated its first birthday earlier this month.

The network meets bi monthly and focuses on topics which women face in the workplace. It also celebrates women in leadership roles. Our membership is always open and we will always welcome new members. No matter what role you are in within the trust we will always learn from each other.

Each meeting has a different theme or topic and our plans up to our next birthday include, imposter syndrome, looking after yourself, Women’s mental health and wellbeing. Our network rotates around our geographically locations of Rotherham, North Lincolnshire and Doncaster.

If you would like to join the network, then please email, rdash.equalityanddiversity@nhs.net or for more information please contact Jacqui Hallam.

Successful palliative end of life conference

Colleagues from across the trust attended our conference to enhance their skills and knowledge in providing care and support for people with palliative and end of life needs.

The conference which was held on two days in April gave healthcare professionals the chance to learn from experts in the field and share ideas to improve their practice and make a difference to people’s lives.

Celebrating the National day for staff networks

Staff networks are the backbone of inclusive workplaces, providing platforms of shared experiences, making connections, and enhancing employee engagement and organisational culture.

The networks we have in our organisation are transparent in their purpose. They are accessible to all, and everyone is very welcome to join. The aim of our networks is to be accountable in our goal to making our organisation and its culture inclusive.

This year for the National day of staff networks our colleagues shared their pledges on how they will contribute to #makingworkbetter and #Raisingthebar.

These include:

• work to my best ability and show compassion
• to be positive, happy and kind hearted to all

It’s a knockout competition

Calling all trust colleagues. Teams are needed for it’s a knockout competition and rounders tournament.

• Date and time: Saturday, 20 July 2024 from 10am onwards
• Venue: Clifton Park, Rotherham (in the garden house and surrounding parkland)

Teams of 10 for it’s a knockout and teams of 8 to 9 for rounders tournament.

Trophies and medals up for grabs. Family and friends welcome at our free fun day which incorporates our annual members’ meeting.

• Traditional side stalls.
• Giant games area.
• Soft play area.
• Dance machine.
• Giant walkabout adult and baby dinosaurs and much more.

To enter a team email our Communications team at rdash.rdashcommunications@nhs.net.

Charity matters

Have your say on our new charity branding

We’re looking to re-launch our RDaSH Charity in September, which will see us expanding the focus of our fundraising activities across all of our services and the localities we serve, and we’d like your views on your favourite branding option.

We recognise that the St John’s Hospice branding is already very strong and well-recognised, so we will retain this brand, but will incorporate a reference to the new RDaSH branding into the logo going forwards.

We’ve created three branding ideas, and we’d like you to give your view on preference.

Better lives

Background: Our charitable activities aim to support our staff and people in the communities we serve to live better lives, as well as those at the end of their life to live well with their conditions and have the best possible death in our care.

Hearts and minds

Background: Our charitable activities aim to support our staff and people in the communities we serve with both physical and mental health needs, as well as those at the end of life to live well with their conditions and have the best possible death in our care*.

Our Rotherham, Doncaster and South Humber (RDaSH) charity

Background: Our RDaSH Charity is for all of us. By supporting our own charity, you’re helping us to go above and beyond for the communities we serve.

Give is your views on favourite option by visiting our survey page (opens in new window).

We’ve launched our comfort and bereavement packs

Patients and families across Doncaster who are receiving end of life care are being given a gift of extra support, thanks to our NHS charitable funding.

St John’s Hospice has used its charitable funds, generated by donations from the public, to develop its “Comfort Pack” containing a mixture of practical equipment and information to support all patients and families as they are nearing end of life.

St John’s Hospice Community Specialist Palliative Care Team Leader Sarah Bell said: “A donation of £10 to our charity will pay for a Comfort Pack, which is a small gift to provide care and support to local patients and families, at what is a very difficult and distressing time for them.

“It comes in a branded Comfort Pack cotton tote bag, with the phone number for Doncaster’s single point of contact. This is the patient and family’s first point of contact should they need advice as things change, so they know exactly who to ring.

“We’ve included mouth gel, ultra mild toothpaste a toothbrush and mouth swabs, along with an information leaflet all about good mouth care. There’s also personal care wipes and shampoo cap for patients who may be bed-bound or finding it difficult to wash their hair.”

She added: “We’ve added a little note pad and pen for people to make notes or write down their thoughts. They may wish to think about making memories with their loved ones, so we’ve provided a handy leaflet to encourage them start thinking about this.

“There’s also an end-of-life booklet, which provides practical advice and reference to many aspects of care, including coping with the news, planning ahead, financial help, care as things change and support for carers, which will also assist with making plans.”

The charity has also put together a small bereavement pack for care staff to give to families after the death of their loved one, which contains a condolence card, Rose Crystal Quartz pocket heart and a packet of Forget-Me-Not seeds for remembrance.”

Sarah added: “We wanted to show that even after the death of their loved one, our service continues to care about those left behind, so this is just a small token from us.

“For a donation of just £5, our supporters will be helping to provide two bereavement packs for grieving families, which demonstrates a relatively small donation can make a big difference at a difficult time.”

Please donate now on our Just Giving page (opens in new window).

It’s the Great North run for Corrie

One of our Occupational Therapy Assistants Corrie Fisher is gearing up for the Great North run in September.

Corrie said: “Earlier this year I ran the Great Manchester Run half marathon. I felt that during 2023 I had become demotivated and so decided that in 2024, I would start training to run. I managed to get a time of 1 hour, 49 minutes, 15 seconds, a personal best which I was thrilled with.

“Although this run was important to me, it was always supposed to be a dress rehearsal for the bigger one, the Great North run in September.

“Due to my previous experience, I feel confident to put in a good effort in the north east in September, and this time I will be raising money for charity for the event.”

Hospice patients can now enjoy a spa bathing experience thanks to charitable funding

Patients at St John’s Hospice can now relax and enjoy a spa bathing experience, thanks to charitable funding.

Staff at the hospice, which celebrates its 32nd anniversary this year, were granted funding from the RDaSH Charitable Funds Committee after submitting a bid to completely re-furbish the facilities with modern, soothing décor, along with a state-of-the-art bathing system, which provides a gentle touch for sensitive skin.

Service Manager Sam Edwards who submitted the bid for funding said: “The original bathroom was very stark, and although functional it didn’t provide the comfortable surroundings and experience that some of our recently re-furbished areas offered.

“We are extremely lucky to receive so many charitable donations and were delighted to be granted the approval from the Charitable Funds Committee to spend the money to benefit patient experience in this important space.”

She added: “Soothing colours and lighting, along with modern accessories and décor make the space more inviting the bathing experience offers an opportunity to relax and soothe patients.”

The new £12,000 bathtub generates millions of jet streams, creating small bubbles which generate a gentle massaging effect, that stimulates blood circulation and eases muscle tension. This is an effective way of inducing deeper relaxation, and a pleasant sensory experience.

Ward Manager Hanna Bullock said: “The bathroom is now a warm, tranquil space and it’s an area our staff are proud to promote to our patients.

“The addition of a new state-of-the-art bath hoist, purchased from funds donated by Tickhill and District, Thorne Rural, Doncaster, Mexborough and Doncaster Went Valley Lions, means that we are now able to support patients with more challenging mobility issues.”

She added: “The bath even has music, to help provide a comforting and relaxing spa-like experience.”

Talking Therapies team took the plunge for charity

Two of our NHS Talking Therapies staff faced their fears and jumped out of a plane from 15,000 feet, to raise awareness of mental health and raise cash for charity.

Jemma Hall, 30, and Charlotte Weinberg, 29, both Communications and Engagement Officers for our Talking Therapies service, braved a skydive in the hope that their efforts will raise awareness of common mental health problems and to spread the word about the free mental health support that NHS Talking Therapies offers to those who may be struggling with depression or anxiety.

The duo, who took the plunge in May at Hibaldstow Airfield, teamed up with Hits Radio’s Cash for Kids charity, raising £1250 for children who need help.

Lottie said: “It was the scariest thing I’ve ever done in my life! It’s safe to say I wouldn’t do another one but I am so honoured to have raised so much money for such a worthwhile charity while promoting the work of Talking Therapies, which Jem and I are so passionate about.”

Jemma said: “Looking out from the plane as I was about to be thrown out of it at 15,000 feet was quite possibly the most terrifying moment I have ever had in my entire thirty years of life. I screamed before we had even jumped and then continued to do so all the way down! The free fall was wild, you tumble at about 120 kilometres per hour, then once you level out a bit, it’s almost a weightless flying feeling.

“It was an incredible experience that I feel honoured to have had, but I would never, ever willingly do it again – the fear was very, very real! It was completely worth it though as thanks to everyone’s kind donations we managed to raise a great amount of money for a great cause, Cash for Kids.

“We wanted to raise cash alongside raising awareness of the Talking Therapies service, as we are out working in our communities across Doncaster, Rotherham and North Lincolnshire all the time and we have seen first-hand that poverty, disability and quality of life can have a big impact on mental health.

“Cash for Kids support children and families living locally. All the money that is raised in our area stays in our area, with a focus on alleviating those issues that can contribute to poor mental health.”

There is still chance to donate, simply visit the donation page (opens in new window).

Our Talking Therapies service offers free talking therapies for anyone over 18 who is struggling with a common mental health problem. There are a range of treatments available by phone, face to face and online. If you are struggling with low mood, feel anxious, irritable or worried or struggle with low self-esteem, you can self-refer to the Talking Therapies service online (opens in new window) or by calling:

• Phone Doncaster team: 03000 211 556
• Phone Rotherham team: 03000 215 108
• PhoneNorth Lincolnshire team: 03000 216 165

Could you be a friend of St John’s Hospice

We’d like your expertise and insight into how we can improve what we do, so we’re inviting you to become a friend of St John’s Hospice.

Friends of St John’s Hospice is a small group of people who have used experience of our services, as either a patient, family member, carer, loved one of a patient, or volunteer.

The group will meet to discuss how St John’s Hospice services and fundraising activities are currently delivered and how the quality of our care can be maintained or improved.

The group will aim to meet at St John’s Hospice every three months. In these meetings we will:

• review how our services are provided and developed
• review feedback from Hospice users and suggest areas for improvement
• hear about our fundraising plans and give feedback about our events and activities
• discuss how to raise awareness about the range of our services, that take place within the hospice
• act as the voice for Hospice service users alongside staff and volunteers of St John’s Hospice in the delivery and planning of services

If you’d like to join, or require more information, please contact:

• Jenny Baynham on email jenny.baynham@nhs.net, or phone 03000 212000
• Sam Edwards on email samantha.edwards3@nhs.net or phone 03000 213659

Day therapy unit improving the lives of those with a palliative condition

Our day therapy unit offers support to improve the quality of life and symptoms of those who are living with a life limiting palliative condition.

It is part of St John’s Hospice on Weston Road, Balby, and is for anyone over the age of 18 years, who is living in Doncaster or registered with a Doncaster GP and who has a palliative diagnosis.

The Day Therapy Unit team is made up of a physiotherapist, assistant practitioners, complementary therapists, activity coordinator and a hairdresser. Together they provide support in a variety of ways including:

• peer support and socialising
• range of activities
• programme of self-management education sessions
• exercise classes
• opportunity for one to one assessments and support
• complementary therapies and hairdressing
• signposting and referrals to appropriate services
• a range of information resources
• lunch (if appropriate) and refreshments free of charge

As a therapy led service, we are unable to provide medical treatment and patients would still need to contact their GP for any general medical concerns.

However, for concerns about symptoms of the palliative condition, we may be able to signpost you to our specialist nursing and medical colleagues if appropriate.

If you or someone you know would benefit from the support of our day therapy unit, please ask your healthcare professional, such as your GP, specialist nurse, or district nurse, to be referred into the service.

For any further information or queries, please contact the Day Therapy Unit team on 03000 211145.

Happy retirement Julie and Val

We bid farewell to two of our Clinical Nurse Specialists Julie Brabazon and Val Maxfield.

Julie had been with St John’s Hospice since it opened its doors in October 1992. Val had been in community nursing since 2004 and joined the Community Specialist Palliative Care team in 2015 (previously known as the Community Macmillan team).

We couldn’t let them go without marking the occasion with their past colleagues coming in to wish them well.

Happy retirements to Julie and Val.

Toby’s last word

Becoming fully staffed, supporting careers and compassion

Thanks for reading all the way to the back of Trust Matters. By now you know that on 20 July, we are meeting in Clifton Park to play rounders, eat ice cream, talk to friends and neighbours, and hear honestly about the last year at the trust, and what’s ahead. And you know that we are investing £6m this year in changes to our wards at Great Oaks and to our bathroom salon doors.

It has been great to see a couple of colleagues take over my Friday video log slot, big thanks to Kathryn and Izaaz! The trust has leaders across the organisation, in our staff networks, in our directorates, through our Trust People Council (TPC), with the new roles within our governing body, and folk making innovative ideas happen in our laundry and in school nursing. Do consider whether you want to become one of six new staff governors with a big chance to tell the frank truth to the Board and people like me. We want your help and your candour. Voting opens later in the summer. Voting is open right now for our 15 Awards, I couldn’t be more excited to see who wins in November.

Healthcare support workers and many others

On 1 July we have our first conference with healthcare support workers (HCSWs) across the trust. Rachel Kumar has brought real leadership to this work. But it will be a two-way conversation. Because we need to develop colleagues who represent one of the largest workforce groups in the trust. People who spend probably more time with some of our most vulnerable patients than anyone else. And who sometimes feel forgotten or taken for granted.

We want to use the conference to take practical steps for change. Making sure colleagues have the knowledge and equipment to feel safe at work. Ensuring everyone knows the career and training opportunities on offer at the trust, not only to progress but also just to get fulfilment from the job right now. HCSWs bring experience, insight and skills into our teams and we want to make sure that those contributions are valued within nursing teams, multi-professional teams, and our trust as a whole.

Meanwhile, Emily Whitfield and colleagues, are expanding our nurse associate programme for those who want to become registrant nurses, there is every support to do so.

Investing to make a difference (look out for our October TM, did it work? investments special!)

Over £500,000 is being spent this year to expand peer support work (our promise 1). In children’s services, physical health, and neurodiversity, and in our mental health teams. We are spending big money too to better meet the complex emotional needs of our patients and to expand older peoples’ teams. Consistent with our trust strategy, and the principles of our organisational restructure in 2023, we are also ‘levelling up’ services for those with learning disabilities and early intervention psychosis care, making sure that we have sufficient resource in all three places we work within.

It’s not all big money. Sometimes, small sums make a difference. Funding has gone in to ensure we develop community coding, to support our work with our 5000 trust members, to provide infrastructure to address Multi-agency Risk Assessment Conference (MARAC) obligations, to support medical education, and, well, many more.

Partnership matters, continuing last month’s theme

In April trust matters focused on the power of partnerships. Such an important element in our trust because we do nothing alone. I am delighted to hear that our work with others to expand Health Based Places of Safety in North Lincolnshire and South Yorkshire is bearing fruit. It looks likely that the Integrated Care Board will fund a sixth suite for section 136 assessed patients. Decent mathematical analysis demonstrates that with six South Yorkshire suites, and our team too in Scunthorpe, we have enough space for the need in our population. But only if no-one stays there beyond 24 hours. You may be unsurprised to know that is the length of stay within the Mental Health Act. So, we intend to begin to manage services in line with that. This is a huge change but one I hope you would agree will benefit our patients, their concerned loved ones, and those of you who work in our wards and want the very best for those we look after. We can do this.

Thank you,

@TobyLewis_NHS (opens in new window)

Page last reviewed: December 23, 2024
Next review due: December 23, 2025

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