Post Board Blog March 2019
In this month’s Post Board Blog from Professor Sue Proctor, find out what's been going on to help improve the way our staff, service users and those closest to them work together, plus a powerful and honest story from Alex, who accesses support from our ADHD services.
Welcome to my latest Post Board Blog, following our meeting on Thursday 28 March. In our new rotation of ‘full and light’ Board meetings, this month’s was a full one and a mixture of verbal and written reports were received.
We began with a question from a member of the public about patient choice and inpatient care. As it was a very specific, personal question a response was given directly by the care services team, however the person who had raised the question wanted her thanks to be passed to the Board and wanted it to be recognised that she was very happy with the response she’d received.
Our Board meetings are held in public and anyone who would like to ask a question of our executive and non-executive team is able to do so – in fact we encourage it. Information about how to do this is available on our website.
Sharing Stories
This month’s Sharing Stories session focussed on adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD. Consultant psychiatrist, Rob Baskind, kicked off the presentation with an overview of the neurodevelopmental disorder and its symptoms, which include difficulties with concentration, forgetfulness, hyperactivity, being impulsive and impatient, and mental restlessness. Rob is the clinical lead for the Trust’s service and he spoke with passion about the work the team does and how privileged they feel to be able to quite literally help change people’s lives. He went on to describe the effects that stigma and a lack of understanding about the condition – even amongst health care professionals – can have on the people living with it, and spoke about the frustrating misconceptions that ADHD is something that people will simply grow out of, or is a product of poor parenting. This is something that Alex, a young woman who accesses support from the Trust’s service, said she recognised only too well. She’d blamed her symptoms on anxiety and depression, dismissing the possibility of ADHD because “it was just for naughty children”. She greeted her eventual diagnosis with mixed feelings. Pleased on one hand that she could finally understand why she’d struggled with studies and friendships throughout her childhood and had been sacked from countless jobs after leaving school, but also recognising that she’d always held on to “the endless hope that I’d wake up one day and feel ‘normal’”.
Alex talked us through her treatment, and how she’s made friends and now feels part of a community who she describes as passionate, creative and kind. She’s currently at college studying for her GCSEs and feels, for the first time, that she’s doing well. It was a very powerful and honest account that highlighted why breaking down societal stigma is so vitally important. Alex has set up a YouTube channel and Twitter account to do just that – learn more about Alex’s journey on the adult ADHD channel and by following @channeladhd.
Valuing inclusion
The Sharing Stories sessions are so important to us as a Board, so it was wonderful to hear that the people who’ve taken part at previous meetings have also found it a really positive experience. This feedback was given at the Valuing Inclusion workshop that the Trust’s Patient Experience Team held in Leeds last week. More than 80 staff, service users and those closest to them spent the day talking about how we can improve the way we work together. The event is the first part of our response to a recent external review into our experience and involvement processes, which was commissioned by our Director of Nursing, Professions and Quality, Cathy Woffendin. Cathy’s team are now busy collating all that feedback and it will be discussed by a new strategic steering group that is being established to develop an overall strategy and key priorities for patient experience, involvement and carers. The group’s first meeting will be held in April.
Recruiting staff and celebrating success
We received an update about the great work that’s continuing to support recruitment in our nursing directorate. This includes improving and simplifying the recruitment of nursing graduates, offering career conversations, promoting research careers and inviting bank staff to take a contract. While this is resulting in a steady reduction in our vacancy rates for nurses, we are experiencing a rising turnover rate for allied health professionals (AHPs), particular senior occupational therapists. We really want to understand the reasons behind this recent rise, and Cathy will bring the results of some detailed research and investigation work into the recruitment and retention of this group of staff to the Board meeting in May.
The Board also heard that almost 80 percent of our staff had their flu jab this year. This makes us the second highest mental health trust in the country for uptake! So, a fantastic result and huge thanks go to everyone who has helped to protect our colleagues, service users and their families from the potentially deadly virus.
Continuing with the theme of great results, our Director of Organisational Development and Workforce, Claire Holmes, described the work that’s been going on in response to the recent Staff Survey results. We are performing better than the national average for mental health and learning disability trusts in 70 percent of key areas, however we did see a slight decline in the scores around equality and diversity. Non-executive Director, Margaret Sentamu, offered some reassuring feedback about what’s happening across the Trust to address these results and reported that she’s excited about the work that’s planned and ongoing in this area. We take the results seriously, and action planning takes place at individual team and service level to address the key themes and drive change. This is an ongoing process, but the improvements in scores this year give us great assurance on our approach. You can read the full report into our results on our website.
Speaking out
The Board heard that the Freedom to Speak Up Guardian (FTSUG) action plan and strategic policy was on track and in line with national guidance. The FTSUG role was introduced in 2017 in response to the Mid-Staffordshire scandal and encourages staff to speak up about any issues surrounding patient care, quality or safety. Following a review of processes at Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust, there has been a national recommendation that settlement agreements must not be used to avoid whistleblowing issues. The Board were assured that this had never – and could never – happen at the Trust, and that we are committed to continuing with this good practice.
There was a verbal report about how the Trust responds to complaints. The Complaints Team, working closely with care services, has worked hard over the last 15 months to develop and improve the Trust’s complaints management process, improving response times and experience. It was great to hear that we’ve got a good grip on such an important quality indicator.
The Board also heard that as we head towards the end of financial year our financial performance is significantly ahead of our planned position, and that agreements between the Trust and our commissioners mean that we will be able to sign our 2019/20 clinical contracts in the coming days.
And finally….
This week marked the launch of a range of new and dedicated community mental health services. The redesign of our community services has been a huge three year project that involved thousands of staff, service users, carers and partners in the development of new service models. This includes new dedicated community teams for both younger and older adults, a new 24/7 mental health crisis service and an intensive home treatment team. More information about the services is available on our website. The Board thanked everyone who has been involved with the project and we look forward to receiving updates on the performance and evaluation of the new ways of working.