Monthly shout out: Allied Health Professionals leadership work

Our monthly shout out goes to Leanne Horsley from Sherwood Forest Hospitals Trust and Sally Knapp from Nottinghamshire Healthcare Trust for their system leadership work with Allied Health Professionals (AHPs). AHPs include physiotherapists, occupational therapists (OT), therapeutic radiographers, podiatrists, paramedics and other professions in health and care.

Leanne and Sally have worked strategically and collaboratively with a range of AHP leads to:

attract over £765,000 of investment through short term funding for specific projects
lead staff development opportunities across seven different AHP groups
grow practice placement capacity
support four different professional apprenticeships helping unregistered staff take up new roles as AHPs
lead the Nottinghamshire senior leadership team and OT system-wide integrated rotations with a suite of resources and blueprint for this to be replicated
develop a toolkit for OT services that will be used nationally to establish innovative and robust rotations for newly qualified occupational therapists that encompass health and social care organisations, across physical and mental health settings
produce and implement an AHP support worker development toolkit to help provide a full and accurate picture of the unregistered workforce, which is crucial for workforce deployment, planning and future staff development
create an AHP educators’ community of practice to increase clinical placements in the private, independent and voluntary organisation sector
the possibility of an AHP legacy mentor programme where experienced AHPs, usually in latter stages of their careers, provide coaching, mentoring and pastoral support to staff newly appointed into Health or social care

Suzanne Avington, Associate Director for AHPs at Nottinghamshire Healthcare Trust, said: “Leanne and Sally are forward thinking, proactive innovators. Their pursuits build on national AHP and health policy and direction which they continue to shape to the needs of the ICS. Their work and their approaches inherently reflect the three principles of the Integrated Care Strategy. They epitomise working across organisations, identifying, and acknowledging the diversity and unique offer of AHP workforce across health and social care to grow and develop a future generation of staff that are multiskilled and adaptable. With understanding and curiosity, they look to test how inclusive our offers are to educate and train staff in order to develop the capacity and capability of a diverse workforce that is reflective of the communities we serve.”

Monthly shout out to – the Smokefree Team at Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Congratulations to the Smokefree Team at Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, who have been awarded the ICS monthly shout-out for their work to support patients with mental illness to stop smoking.

The work of the team includes:

Setting up a smokefree service within inpatient mental health units, utilising a holistic, person centred approach to smoking cessation and harm reduction.

Designing and facilitating the use of bespoke, educational resources and materials to aid distraction techniques to manage nicotine withdrawal. These have been produced in an easy-read format and other languages and also flash cards for non-verbal patients. The packs have been shared with other mental health trusts nationally.
Delivering bespoke training sessions to patients, directly on the ward, educating on different types of Nicotine Replacement Therapy, alongside the benefits of a harm reduction approach for patients who are not ready to quit smoking.
Designing and delivering speciality training modules to 2500 staff working in patient facing areas such as coffee bars and receptionists in GP surgeries.

Delivering a suite of support and training within the Specialist Services directorate, including Child And Adolescent Mental Health, Mother and Baby and also within the prison service.

The team is an example of best practice nationally and it supports other mental health trusts with the implementation and facilitation of smokefree services, including the writing of their smokefree and vaping policies and procedures.

System Analytics Intelligence Unit podcast

The System Analytics Intelligence Unit (SAIU) was set up on 4 July 2022. This followed the COVID pandemic, where as a system we identified the huge value and benefit of integrated working with our systems data/intelligence and analytical partners to better identify and support the health and care of our population.

In our latest ICS podcast, Dr Kathy McLean (Chair of the Integrated Care Board) chats to Maria Principe (Director of Clinical Transformation and Effectiveness, ICB), Sergio Pappalettera (Contract and Information Manager, ICB), Stephen Wormall (GP lead for health inequalities mid Notts, ICB) and Chris Packham (Associate Medical Director at Nottinghamshire Healthcare Trust) about how the SAIU is offering a more granular and detailed understanding of what’s happening in and across our system.

The Princess Royal launches new mental health therapy group in Broxtowe

Her Royal Highness, The Princess Royal, visited Plumptre Hall in Eastwood today to learn about ‘invaluable’ new services from mental health occupational therapists who help residents improve their mental health.

Her Royal Highness is the Patron of the Royal College of Occupational Therapists and made a special visit to Nottingham to learn more about the positive impact of the new service during a special event jointly hosted by Nottingham West Primary Care Network and the Royal College of Occupational Therapists.

People living in Nottinghamshire can now access support from mental health professionals without a referral from a GP. Mental health occupational therapists are clinically trained and work with people of all ages to find holistic personalised, practical solutions to everyday challenges.

In Nottinghamshire, mental health occupational therapists work from general practice surgeries and get involved with local community groups to identify and address mental health needs early on. This new service is available across Mid and South Nottinghamshire to residents registered with a GP surgery in Hucknall, Gedling, Broxtowe, Mansfield Town and South Mansfield, and North Ashfield.

Catherine Seals, Mental Health Occupational Therapist for Nottingham West Primary Care Network, invited The Princess Royal to launch a new group-therapy choice for residents that promotes conversations about mental health and offers practical, personalised steps to help keep well.

Residents of Broxtowe met with Her Royal Highness and talked about using the service to manage their daily routines and achieve personal goals. Paul Cooke, 36, a father of three from Giltbrook and engineer at Rolls Royce, described his experience of therapy with a mental health occupational therapist as “a breath of fresh air” and explained how working with Catherine “helped me align more to my old self.”

The Princess Royal heard how mental health occupational therapists focus on how mental health may be affecting a person’s daily life, help people identify their goals and break down barriers to achieving them.

Local health care staff invited Her Royal Highness to explore the different techniques used to empower patients to manage anxiety and mood, regulate emotions, develop motivation and interest levels, and renew their interest in hobbies and important roles within life.

Sir John Peace, Lord Lieutenant of Nottinghamshire was part of a group of local dignitaries, who, together with representatives from the Royal College of Occupational Therapists and NHS Nottingham leaders, saw for themselves how occupational therapists design services that improve care within communities.

Nottingham West supports a collaboration of 12 GP surgeries within Broxtowe, and was one of the first Primary Care Networks in the country to employ mental health occupational therapists. Nottinghamshire leads the way in creating new services within primary care due to an effective partnership between 11 Primary Care Networks, including Nottingham West, and Primary Integrated Community Services (PICS), a local healthcare organisation run by GPs.

Find out more about the different roles in general practice.

Find out how the mental health occupational therapy role works.

Monthly shout-out: Respiratory Nursing Team

Congratulations to the community respiratory nurses from Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust for their work to support people with learning disabilities who have COPD.

The team identified that specific patient groups were facing barriers to receiving information for them to self-manage their COPD. Lead nurse Hiedi Swift and Learning Disability Nurse Sarah Atkinson have worked with the respiratory nursing team to develop a COPD action plan for patients with learning disabilities.

The plan was adapted to make it more pictorial to allow patients to interpret it more easily. This will help them to identify problems earlier and reduce the chance of hospital admission and GP contact.

The COPD self-management plan is coloured so patients with Autism can use it more easily and read it with comfort. The inside of the plan retains the traffic light system as most patients can follow this. The biggest change has been the actions, which have been changed from written directions to pictures. The correct inhaler technique is also being added into photographs for the patients to check they are using their inhalers correctly.

Hiedi Swift, lead nurse for the project, said: “We wanted to ensure that all patients from all socio-economic backgrounds had the information they needed to help manage their COPD. Patients in the Mansfield area have varying barriers to communications, which can include poor literacy. By adapting the information for different groups, we can help prevent ill health for everyone who is affected by this long-term condition.”

The COPD learning disability plan is the first one developed in the UK.

Personal finance and credit score workshops for health and care staff

Experian, the global information services company, has announced an extension to its partnership with health and care organisations in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire. Together they have created a unique series of face-to-face and online workshops for employees on how to manage their finances amidst continued challenging times.

Working specifically with Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Integrated Care System (ICS), a partnership between the county’s NHS and care organisations to support health and wellbeing, five “Money Clinics” and a number of online webinars will take place over the next two months. These clinics are open to any of the 71,000 staff to attend and will provide insights, support and guidance on personal finances and credit scores.

Expert teams from Experian and Citizens Advice Nottingham will be on hand to answer questions on a range of topics including how to successfully build a credit score, applying for credit, budgeting, managing debt and claiming benefits. In addition, staff have the opportunity to arrange one-on-one sessions to discuss any topics related to improving their financial health.

This Experian programme forms part of a broader support package offered to staff via The East Midlands Hub Winter Wellbeing Support which can be accessed here.

These workshops are an extension to the partnership between Experian and Nottingham and Nottinghamshire ICS. A pilot programme with Nottingham University Hospitals took place last year with over 250 NHS staff attending two “Money Clinics” and five “credit workshops”.

Steve Thomas, Managing Director, Strategy & Innovation, Experian UK&I, said: “Being able to provide face-to-face sessions, and webinars, to NHS and care workers, is part of Experian’s ongoing commitment to improving financial health in the UK. NHS and care workers provide us all with vital support, so it’s great to be able to help them in return.

“We believe that guiding staff on personal finance topics like credit scores, building credit for the first time, or getting help with debt, can help people stay in control of their money. This means they’re more likely to be able to get credit in the future, at times they really need it.”

Philippa Hunt, Chief People Officer at NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire, said: “With the current cost of living continuing to affect us all in different ways, we know financial management can cause feelings of stress and anxiety. We are very grateful to Experian for hosting the clinics and we hope as many health and care colleagues as possible engage with the sessions to gain advice and support. Building on previous events, Experian are a valued partner to help with money management and financial wellbeing.”

Simon Mee, General Advice Service Manager from Citizens Advice Nottingham said: “Citizens Advice Nottingham & District provide free, confidential, and impartial advice and campaign on big issues affecting people’s lives. Our goal is to help everyone find a way forward, whatever problem they face.”

Find out more about Experian

Monthly shout-out: Sandra Morrell

Sandra Morrell, Designated Nurse for Safeguarding Children at NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire, is the winner of our shout-out this month after she was awarded a ‘Safeguarding Star’ by NHS England. This award acknowledges Sandra’s wide contribution across the Midlands region, especially her work around report writing training.

Joanne Harrison, Assistant Director for Safeguarding NHS England – Midlands, said: “The impact of your leadership supports and inspires colleagues that you connect with in their professional practice. You have been a great support to our regional team in our strategic approach over the years.”

Organisation leaders commit to joint working

The leaders of health, care, local authority, voluntary and community sector organisations have signed up to work together for the benefit of Nottingham and Nottinghamshire people.

A wide range of organisations have signed the ‘Integrated Care System Partnership Agreement’ which pledges a commitment to work together with a shared purpose of ‘every person enjoying their best possible health and wellbeing’.

Dr Kathy McLean, Chair of the Integrated Care Partnership, said: “We know that good health and wellbeing is of immense importance to everyone. We recognise that each person’s health doesn’t begin and end with single organisations. Health may be affected by many different things, such as the quality of housing, job or training prospects or access to healthy food. This Partnership Agreement signals that organisations are committed to working and planning together across organisational boundaries to make changes which can support individuals to reach the goal of ‘every person enjoying their best possible health and wellbeing’.

“Leaders have also pledged to listen to the experience and aspirations of local people and communities and act on these together. Having this collective commitment will ultimately help to improve the health and wellbeing of our local people.”

The full list of organisations and signatures can be viewed on the Integrated Care System Partnership Agreement.

Dr Kathy McLean elected as incoming Chair of the NHS Confederation’s Integrated Care System Network Board

Dr Kathy McLean has been elected as chair of the NHS Confederation ICS Network from April 2024. The Network supports leaders to exchange ideas, share experiences and challenges and influence the national agenda on key issues such as social care reform and elective recovery.

Dr McLean is also Chair of Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Integrated Care Board and University Hospitals Derby and Burton.

Dr McLean said: “I am delighted to have been elected to the role of Chair of the ICS Network. It is a critical time for systems, and it will be important to help health and care leaders work together to share best practice, challenge each other and influence the national agenda.

I’m looking forward to taking on this exciting new role and driving forward the integration agenda.”

Find out more: https://www.nhsconfed.org/news/new-chair-ics-network-announced