South Notts Urgent Community Response teams providing extra help with care boxes  

Nottinghamshire Healthcare’s Community Response teams have been providing a little bit of extra care this winter by gifting care boxes containing food like porridge pots, soup and teabags and practical things like hats, scarves and blankets to patients when they pay an urgent visit.

The Urgent Community Response teams provide urgent care to people in their homes, which helps avoid hospital admissions and enables people to live independently for longer. Through these teams, older people and adults with complex health needs who urgently need care can get fast access to a range of health and care professionals within two hours. 

The care packs are given, where there is a need, when the team visit vulnerable patients in crisis in South Notts. These care boxes will help patients through a short 24/48-hour period until further support is arranged. 

James Huguenin, Team Leader – Urgent Care Services (South-Nottinghamshire), says: “The Urgent Community Response Team sees patients at home when they are in crisis, and over the last six to nine months we’ve seen people struggling more.

“The care boxes were set up so we could help those in need as quickly as possible, and they contain a variety of non-perishable items such as food supplies, warm clothing, blankets, hot water bottles that help and support people when they need us the most. If clients are very cold, we also have access to emergency foil blankets too. Our clinicians all carry a box with them, so they can respond immediately to those in crisis.”

The UCR team in South Notts has also been working with the Morrisons supermarket in Gamston to source the items for the care packs.

James said: “The boxes were donated by a packaging company in Lincolnshire and the contents have been provided by a combination of donations from Morrisons, the general public and Nottinghamshire Healthcare staff. When a client is cold or can’t afford food or heating, this little emergency support box may be just what they need at the right time. Thank you so much to everyone that has donated so far and to Morrisons. 

“Moving forwards, we are rolling this out to more areas and the donations mean that our other colleagues in Community Nursing, Community Therapy Teams and Social Services are also able to carry an emergency box with them at all times too.”

Kelly Uveges, Morrisons Community Champion (pictured at the top with James), said: “Morrisons are keen to get involved in the community and support initiatives where they can and each store tries to support their local area. We felt that this project was something we could be involved in and have helped provide the items for the packs. This is offering support to the people that really need it and the resources are going to where they are most needed. This is what the Community Champion role is all about and is a cause I feel is important to support. “

 If you are interested in helping out, the team are looking for the following items: cup-a-soups, porridge pots and pasta meals (just add water), coffee sachets, tea bags, UHT milk, sugar sachets, biscuits and sweets, hats, scarves, gloves, torches (with batteries), handwarmers, blankets, bed socks and hot water bottles. 

You can drop off at Gamston Morrisons – you can use the foodbank cage which is opposite to the Pharmacy. Any queries email: champion.gamston@morrisonsplc.co.uk

Or you can drop with James at Cotgrave Health Centre: FAO James Hugenin, The Cotgrave Hub, Rivermead, Cotgrave, Nottinghamshire, NG12 3UQ

Rushcliffe allotments and green social prescribing

Green social prescribing is a way of connecting people to nature-based activities and green groups, projects and schemes in their local community for support with health and wellbeing. Often this will be through a referral from a Link Worker based at a GP practice or another primary care professional.

A great example of green social prescribing is the Rushcliffe allotments, started by the Rushcliffe Social Prescribing team in 2021, which you might remember as we’ve covered its official launch in this newsletter here. In November, Laura Armitage, Greenspace Social Prescribing projects Officer, visited the allotments and has written a blog about her experience, which you can read below…

Wednesday 23 November 2023

This morning was incredibly rainy but by 12 noon the sky cleared and the sun came out and I was ready for my visit to the Ruddington Allotments…

I’d been given instructions to find house number 69 and to follow a short path down the side of it until I reach a green gate. As I waited at the gate, a lady joined me wearing short wellies, a bobble hat and a warm waterproof coat – she smiled at me and asked me if I was OK.

I introduced myself and she recognised who I was as she had been told that a visitor would be coming today. Laura a social prescribing link worker who helps to run the community allotment joined us next, she was friendly and welcoming, opening the gate and directing is up to the garden allotment as she explained that she had had a few cancellations due to the weather.

To get into the allotment we passed under an archway and walked up a paved path which had raised beds on the left and a hedgerow on the right. They were more raised beds as we moved into the garden, with a summer house painted blue standing at one end, with an outdoor table and chairs.

The lovely lady I had met at the gate and Laura showed me around the plot explaining what they had done to get it to where it is in now. The garden looked really productive even in its autumn appearance with a large strawberry bed still flowering, a parsnip bed ready for harvesting and salad leaves ready for picking.

As the lady showed me round she told me how she’d started coming to the garden, explaining how it helped her to get out and that it gave routine and purpose to her week she said: “When I’m in the garden my problems disappear. Time goes by really quickly here.”

We had started weeding one of the raised beds happily chatting as we moved between here and the compost heap. Another member of Laura’s team joined us in the garden, he happily came in and got stuck in with us now around the parsnip patch. Putting on our gloves and beginning to wriggle up the parsnips, we soon realised they were larger than we thought and garden forks were pulled out of the summer house for our use. As we worked on the harvest, conversation flowed freely, a lot of it around the benefits of keeping active and how good it was to be out of the house and the office.

Laura mentioned that she had to take time out of her job to be at the allotment working with volunteers and how sometimes this could add extra pressure to her workload. But she went on to say that every time she ran a session at the garden she felt better after it: “I can go back with a clear head and be more productive.”

It also meant that she got time out in the community working with the people she was there to help. I felt that this was quite a major part of a link worker’s role and see the connection of the link worker with volunteers in the garden and members of the community as part of the job. I remarked on this to Laura, who replied: “It is good to be able to practise what we preach to people we work with.”

Eventually we stopped for tea, Laura had bought a flask of hot water and spare cups. We sat around the outdoor table in the sunshine discussing plans for the garden and things that we did in our day-to-day lives. The lady volunteer mentioned she had been reading a book but that it was quite hard going to retain the information. She and Laura went on to discuss things that might help and by the time the lady had finished describing her book she realised that she had retained more than she thought! She made a comment about finding it hard to stop sometimes and give herself the space to read and to just be. Laura turned this on its head asking: “If I say to you that I struggled to sit down and read because I feel guilty for not being active what would you say to me.”

The lady volunteer thought for a moment and explained how she needs the time to care for herself, saying how it could be a real pleasure curling up in a blanket with a book and hoping the book would be so good that the cup of tea made as you sat down had gone cold before you noticed. Laura listened closely and at the end talked about being compassionate to yourself when needed.

The talk turned to hobbies and activities, the changing seasons and eventually to getting up and washing and distributing the parsnips. As we got up, the volunteer mentioned issues with her mental health and well-being but said that now she had a plan. She said: “I know this day I do this, that day I do that, so I know I won’t just be sat around each day and I feel better.”

The harvest had filled three buckets so everyone was able to take some home – the rest were placed in buckets and taken to a central point in the allotments near a water tap where there was a rack for a local cafe to pick up from. Another grower from the allotments joined us in this central section amazed at the amount of parsnips and she messaged the local cafe to make sure they knew to drop by for a collection.

We all left the allotment together all still chatting and in good spirits the lady volunteer looking forward to the next session!

Introducing Broxtowe Health and Wellbeing coach Gareth Dixon

Last month, South Notts PBP News visited Gareth Dixon, Health and Wellbeing Coach in Broxtowe,  and took part in his exercise class for local people living with long term conditions. 

Gareth, who works for PICS across Nottingham West Primary Care Network, recently featured in a campaign from NHS England that launched across the country in October 2022. The campaign highlights just some of the new roles and specialist services available from local Primary Care Networks. 

The entire campaign features lots about the roles over posters, flyers, social media posts and more. Watch the video above to find out more about Gareth and the work of a Health and Wellbeing Coach. 

Feedback on the ‘Future of Healthcare in Rushcliffe’ events

 

During 2022, Rushcliffe health and wellbeing professionals held two free events to help local people understand more about changes to local health and wellbeing services.

People came along to listen to local GPs, mental health consultants, social prescribers, physios, pharmacists, council members and voluntary and community sector leaders talk about services and developments across Rushcliffe Primary Care Network. They also had the opportunity to talk about their own experiences and share ideas for improvements.

In addition to presentations and roundtable discussions, there was a bustling marketplace with exhibitor stalls manned by local health, care and Community Voluntary Service organisations.

The aim of the events was to look at how, through working together, we can enhance the health, wellbeing and resilience of local people and services. It’s hoped we can develop a shared vision for the future health of Rushcliffe with patients and residents as equal partners, while at the same time considering how we do this in a sustainable way aligned to NHS environmental commitments.

The events were attended by over 200 local people who shared their thoughts on local health and wellbeing services and how they could be improved. These comments and ideas were taken away and discussed and below are the outcomes of these discussions.

Further events are planned for 2023 so watch this space!

Congratulations to our Community Voices event  iPad winner Georgia

 

On Saturday 2 July, we held our very first Community Voices engagement event for young people at Nottingham Arena, with all the young people who joined us to share their views being treated to an ice skating session with their parents at the close of the event.

It was a really fun, action-packed morning with lots of discussion about what the young people loved about the area they live, in terms of health and wellbeing, local amenities and activities on offer, and what they didn’t like.

To support this piece of work, we also ran an online survey with a prize draw to win an iPad. All the young people who attended the Community Voices event were entered into this draw and the lucky winner was Georgia, who we surprised at her school, East Leake Academy, in early December. Georgia was presented with her prize by our Clinical Lead, Dr Nicole Atkinson and Academy Principal Blake Francis – pictured with Georgia above.

Involving people as we shape health and wellbeing services in South Nottinghamshire is vitally important. And as a partnership we’re really keen to hear young people’s voices. Georgia was a fantastic participant with lots of great ideas. Well done Georgia!

The key issues highlighted by local young people included having safe green spaces, local activities they can do with their friends, more support for bullying and additional mental health support in schools and in local communities. We will be publishing the full feedback report in early 2023 so watch this space!

Killisick residents set to benefit from NHSEI Prevention Programme 

 

We’re pleased that Killisick, in Gedling, has been selected as one of five pilots in Nottinghamshire and Nottingham to be funded through NHSEI Prevention Programme to promote happy and healthy communities in areas where the greatest health inequalities exis

Key to the project is a community engagement approach to ensure purposeful and sustained approaches to tackle health inequalities through co-production 

To begin to understand the local community, we have started with a collaborative approach to community engagement involving partners from a range of organisations with an active interest in the Killisick area. Partners include representatives from Gedling Borough Council, Nottinghamshire County Council, Active Notts, Newark and Sherwood CVS and other local organisations.

We have been working with partners and together, over the last few months, we have held a series of conversations with residents and stakeholders in the Killisick area to try and understand what it is like living there and any impact this has on people’s wider health and wellbeing. The pictures are from a recent stakeholder event at Gedling Borough Council. 

There have been successful engagement days including a Summer Fair and a cost of living event where local residents were given the opportunity to talk to partners about living in Killisick. Following these events, key themes have started to emerge from conversations. With this in mind, residents and stakeholders will be invited to work with partners to shape long term sustainable solutions which will have a positive impact on residents’ future health and wellbeing.

Partners are still keen to hear from more residents and stakeholders that live or work in the Killisick area. If you would like to share your experiences then please contact community@gedling.gov.uk

Introducing South Notts PBP Convenor Paul Devlin

 

We’re delighted to welcome Paul Devlin, Chair at Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, to the South Nottinghamshire Place-Based Partnership leadership team. Paul took over as our Partnership’s Convenor in the Autumn, following John Brewin’s retirement in August 2022.

A self-confessed ‘governance geek’, Paul is a highly skilled leader and change facilitator with a passion for community engagement. He has 32 years’ experience working in a range of health and social care fields in both the voluntary and public sectors.

He started his career in the third sector, initially with a small local HIV charity at the height of the AIDS epidemic in the late 80s, in a position that was very community and issue focussed. He followed this with a number of national roles at Age Concern, Action for Children and Headway, where he was responsible for engagement, involvement and governance.

It was through these positions that he first became involved in working as a non-executive in the NHS, initially at a Primary Care Trust where he stayed for six years, using his skills and experience to support its transition into Clinical Commissioning Groups.

It was after this that he took up the position of Chair at Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust before joining the Nottinghamshire system as Chair of Nottinghamshire Healthcare in early 2020.

Alongside his health and care roles, Paul also runs a successful consultancy business advising and training senior leaders and facilitating Board sessions, and he brings the skills of facilitating conversations and making things happen to the South Notts PBP Board, where he has made a real impact.

His experience with engagement has also been key to the direction of the partnership. Involving people and communities in shaping health and wellbeing services in South Nottinghamshire is vitally important.

As a partnership we’ve taken a bottom-up approach to engagement, making connections with our local communities and supporting people to work together with us on smaller community projects and wider partnership developments.

Paul says: “What the South Notts Place Based Partnership does really well is keep local communities at the heart of what it does. I think its key strength is that it brings together people who are much closer to front line and communities and whose start point is delivery, giving them the space and energy to do that.

“Then there are people like me and others, who think about the governance, how it fits into the whole system jigsaw and concentrate on how we can collectively add value to the delivery of improvements across the patch.

“Everyone around the table is up for doing involvement and engagement for real, showing people that it’s worthwhile getting involved as you can see the change that you have made and the influence that you’ve had.”

South Nottinghamshire has always been a hotbed of innovation, with partnership working consistently strong across Rushcliffe, Gedling, Ashfield and Broxtowe, and across the health, social care and voluntary sector, and Paul has already seen this strong partnership working in action.

 “When I’m at a Place-Based Partnership meeting, I’m in a space where the people are actually making a local difference and that is something that we’ve not always got right in system partnership working”, he says.

“We have the right people in the room, NHS, local councils, local Healthwatch, voluntary and community organisations, which enables us to pull together and make real things happen. And these are the people who really know what the challenges are, but at the same time we can then look at the real solutions together.”

South Notts Place-Based Partnership has big ambitions for the next two years, with projects looking at population health management working with two key areas in the patch and some innovative work around the cost of living, falls and mental health support for young people.

Paul says: “There’s some really exciting pieces of work happening at the moment, whether it’s thinking about health inequalities across our patch or some really powerful work around responding to the cost of living crisis.

“Our ambition as a partnership is to take the opportunity, and meet the challenge, of maintaining the focus on the priorities of the South Notts communities while also being a key player in the bigger picture of integrated care and how we’re all working together.

“Where commissioning bodies like NHSE England and ICB have priorities, I think there’s a real momentum to say that some of them could be delivered through the place-based partnership models. I think it’s really important for us to hold on to our primary focus, which is to be driven by our local communities, and where we can make connections with other agendas that is great.

“I think I can support finding our way through any gaps or differences that are there, and if we can hold on to the connectivity to our communities and embrace system change, we will have another great year!”

Professionally, Paul is a very busy man but when he’s not working, you might find him cooking up some vegetarian delights while listening to some of his favourite tunes – he confessed that, just before this interview, he was listening to ‘geeky’ 18 CD bootleg of rare Pink Floyd music!

Paul’s also very active on Twitter where you can catch up with what he’s up to at Nottinghamshire Healthcare and the South Notts PBP or simply pick up some music or cooking tips. Follow Paul on Twitter here.

 Local firm helps South Notts Befriending service spread Christmas cheer

Rushcliffe Community and Voluntary Service (RCVS) want to say a huge thank you to their volunteers and to KCH Garden Square for helping to spread some festive cheer to the people they support.

RCVS provide a range of support services to help people live their lives as independently as possible, particularly for those who are frail, elderly and vulnerable.  They were delighted to be approached by Hannah Scothern from KCH Garden Square, a chamber of barristers based in Nottingham who had heard about how their volunteer befrienders are supporting lonely and isolated people across South Notts.

Befriending support is invaluable especially to the elderly who are experiencing loneliness and isolation and and KCH were keen to bring them a little extra Christmas cheer by giving all of them a Christmas hamper filled with festive treats.

Living alone, with no family nearby, Mary is 81 and one of the people whose life has been improved by RCVS volunteers. She uses the Voluntary Transport scheme to get to essential appointments and really looks forward to her visits from Annette, her befriending volunteer, who sees Mary every week for a cup of tea, a chat and sometimes for a short walk.

Mary says that the Befriending and Voluntary Transport services are “invaluable” to her, with their help she is able to get out and about and enjoy life.  She was thrilled when Annette came for her weekly visit together with Hannah and said that the Christmas Hamper was “such a lovely surprise and lovely thought”.

Hannah said “What a privilege to meet Mary and the team at Rushcliffe Community Voluntary Service today.  I was lucky enough to be able to meet one lady who receives support from their befriending service & hear first-hand what a difference just an hour a week with her volunteer makes. I also met with her volunteer who spoke of the benefits she has found in volunteering.

“Their need for volunteers is now so great that the waiting list for befriending clients is full. I’d urge anyone who can offer an hour a week, in person or by phone, to look into their volunteer opportunities.”

“The support the team at RCVS provide is invaluable and I am so proud to have been able to organise this KCH Garden Square initiative. Also, a HUGE thank you to Colleague Box for their work in getting the hampers together and sent out. They made the process incredibly easy and the end products are fantastic.”

Anyone interested in volunteering should call RCVS on 0115 969 9060 or email volunteer@rushcliffecvs.org.uk.

 

Broxtowe team awarded accolade to recognise their ‘life-changing’ support for carers 

Broxtowe’s Care Navigation team find and register more carers than ever

On Tuesday 22 November, Primary Integrated Community Service’s Care Navigation team were awarded the Carer-Friendly Service Quality Mark for their ‘impactful and innovative’ support for Carers.  

The team works with residents with long term health conditions who are registered to GP Surgeries in Kimberley, Eastwood, Stapleford and Beeston. They help people manage their condition, remain independent and avoid hospital admissions.  

Nottinghamshire Carers Association (NCA)’s Stephanie Smith presented the award to mark Carer’s Rights Day, attributing ‘a significant increase in the number of Carers coming forward and getting support” to the team.  

The Care Navigation Service asks every person they work with whether they care for someone or if they are cared for by someone. With consent, they then register them as a Carer with their local practice, ensuring that they’ll get support in future, including flu vaccinations.   

Primary Integrated Community Services, a local GP-owned healthcare provider, provides the service in partnership with local GPs. In the same ceremony, PICS became the first organisation in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire to achieve a Carer-friendly accreditation as both an employer and service provider, reflecting their caring culture for both staff and patients.

In October 2022, a Broxtowe resident showing signs of developing dementia was admitted to hospital following a fall. His wife called the Care Navigation team to discuss options to support him when he was ready to leave. Joanne Pounder, Care Navigator, identified that his wife was his main Carer, and listened when she said that she wasn’t getting the respite she wanted.  

Joanne explained what she did next: “While we were working through options for her husband’s care, I said that we need to ensure that she is well supported and looked after too. I suggested we make a Carers Assessment, which would open up access to NHS funding for a Carer’s Break and she agreed. I registered her as a Carer with her GP Surgery and agreed that we would keep in contact to follow up on her husband’s care. The lady said that she felt supported by my call and felt there was hope.”   

Dr Paul Scullard, local GP in Eastwood said: “It’s wonderful to see the recognition of the work the Care Navigation teams do supporting not only patients but their Carers and family. I witness daily the impact of their interventions and they are frequently life-changing for patients and families.” 

Stephanie Smith, Health Liaison Worker at Nottinghamshire’s Carers Association, said: “The PICS Care Navigation team has engaged with our team to enhance their compassionate and empathetic service. With their innovative and impactful approach, I am confident that they will never miss an opportunity to identify a Carer.”