Trust Matters September 2011

Issue 57 . September 2011

Inside:Merger update

IAPT survey results

Felixstowe Allotment Group

Community survey

Memory clinic at conference

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Suffolk Health and Wellbeing Month

Wedgwood building work

CAMHS research consortium

Whistleblowing

Agency worker regulations

Commemoration website

Personality disorder strategy

Foxhall House award shortlisting

Locality management

Terrace Restaurant closes its doors

Clinical supervision training

Farewell to Professor Robbins

Getting to know you

Top dementia care

Consultant research

ePEX record transfer success

Letters and compliments

. Contact us at: member [email protected] . online: www.smhp.nhs.uk/trustmatters

A big thank you goes out to staff who are getting involved in Suffolk Health

and Wellbeing Month in October. There are over 30 events registered

overall ranging from free Zumba, yoga and singing sessions, to stress

busting workshops, reminiscence road shows, an Open Secrets film

viewing and a ‘Random Acts of Kindness’ day. Find out more on the

webpages at www.themindsanctuary.com

Continues on page 3...

4 in 5 people who accessed

psychological therapies provided by

Improving Access to Psychological

Therapies (IAPT) were satisfied or very

satisfied with their therapist, a survey

has found. When asked how satisfied

they were overall with the therapist,

52.5% were very satisfied and a further

28% were satisfied.

IAPT caters for people with common

mental health problems such as

depression, anxiety and phobias in

partnership with Suffolk MIND.

An impressive 51% respondents said

they were very satisfied with their

working relationship with their therapist

and a further 30%t were satisfied.

The survey was carried out for the

period January to March 2011. Where

the results are less favourable than last

year this is thought to be because the

surveys were carried out anonymously

rather than completed in front of the

therapist.

Client comments included:

“My CBT therapist was excellent and

consequently my life is totally back to

normal.”

“My therapist was absolutely

fantastic and he has really helped me

to overcome my fears.”

“I was treated quickly and extremely

well in comfortable conditions.”

There is a common perception that

waiting times are too long which the

Trust is keen to dispel. 70% of those

questioned were satisfied or very

satisfied with the waiting time. Typically

patients are assessed within 10 days of

making contact with the service and

have their first treatment within 15 days.

Service users

positive about IAPT

The decision on whether the merger goes

ahead will be made at the end of

September. Monitor which is one of the

final organisation required to review the

merger plans, will meet with the Norfolk

and Waveney Trust in September.

A special meeting was held on 14

September to go through the proposal in

detail with the Board, and to discuss any

possible issues arising from the plans.

Monitor will then have its own board

meeting at which it will agree its

recommendation – in the form of a risk

rating between 1-5 (a rating of three and

above is considered acceptable). Monitor

will also provide a view on governance

(this is usually a traffic light – currently

green, but range from green – amber-

green – amber-red – red) on 28

September. However, the final decision

about whether the merger goes ahead is

not made until 30 September when the

Norfolk and Waveney Board of Directors

formally meet to consider the risk rating.

If the risk is considered acceptable, the

Board will approve the merger.

What happens then? If the Board of

Directors decide to go ahead,

documentation will be sent to the

Transaction Board and Secretary of State

to formalise the merger.

The proposed merger date is 1

November, at the earliest.

Have you say on the organisational

structure

All corporate and support services staff

involved in the formal consultation

process are encouraged to provide

feedback on the proposed new

organisational structure for the merged

Trust. The 90-day process with corporate

and support services and Suffolk Support

Services began on 1 September with all-

staff briefings in Norfolk and Suffolk.

A feedback system has been set up for

staff in Norfolk and Suffolk for staff to

make suggestions or comments about

the organisational structure and proposed

changes: [email protected]

What happens to the feedback?

Comments and queries are being

collated by the Human Resources Merger

Team and passed on to the relevant

Executive Workstream Lead for

consideration.

What if I have a question? The email

address is intended for feedback on the

structures and change management

processes. Personal queries and

concerns should be raised and dealt with

during individual one-to-one consultation

meetings or directed to your line manager

in the first instance. If you have an

urgent query that your line manager is

unable to answer which needs to be

resolved before your one to one meeting,

please call the HR Merger Team on

01603 421434.

Keep checking the staff consultation

page

A new intranet page has been developed

for the staff consultation process. It can

be found under Projects > Merger Project

> Merger Employee Consulation.

The page contains the latest information

during the staff consultation process.

Monitor’s decision:

what happens next?

CET1108_TrustMattersSEPT11:pages 14/09/2011 12:26 Page 1

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A new community health survey by Picker

Institute Europe for the Care Quality

Commission shows that the Trust is

achieving good patient satisfaction ratings

in line with the national average.

In the community survey the Trust scores

8 or above out of a possible 10 in 11 out

of 38 questions.

Lisa Llewellyn, Associate Director of

Governance and Patient Safety, said:

“The survey shows we are doing as well

or better than the national average and

there were no areas where we

underperformed compared with other

Trusts. In terms of overall categories, the

areas where we came out best were

questions about health and social care

workers (8.5 out of 10) and questions

about the care coordinator (8.4 out of 10).

The one weak area was in questions

about day to day living where we scored

overall 5.8 out of 10, but this was still in

line with the national average. We will

continue to work hard to improve our

performance so that hopefully next year

we can identify more areas where we are

above the average.”

Areas where the Trust scored particularly

well were: asked whether health and

social care workers treat them with

respect and dignity the satisfaction rating

was an impressive 9.3 out of 10. For the

important area of professionals listening

carefully to the patient the score was 8.6.

For knowing who their care coordinator

was, the score was 8.6, which was above

the national average. In an area where

Trusts have traditionally performed badly,

having the purpose of medication

explained, the score was a healthy 8.5.

For being given enough time to discuss

their condition and treatment, the score

was 8.4. For being given enough time to

express their views at a meeting, the

score was 8.3. For the competency with

which the care coordinator organises care

and services, the score was 8.3. For

having the professional take their views

into account, the score was 8.2. For being

able to contact their care coordinator if

they have a problem, the score was 8.2.

For having trust and confidence in the

professional, the score was 8.1. For being

asked how they are getting on with

medication, the score was 8.0.

Although the Trust has lower scores in

some other areas, these are all still in line

with the national average.

Areas that scored under 7 will be noted

for improvements. This includes receiving

help with care responsibilities, getting

help with physical health needs, for being

asked about use of non-prescription

drugs, for having an out of hours office

number, for help in finding and keeping

accommodation, for support finding or

keeping work, for getting help last time

they called in a crisis, for having a care

plan which sets out their goals, for being

told about medication side effects, for

finding talking therapy helpful, for being

given a chance to talk about what would

happen at a review meeting beforehand,

for involving a member of family or

someone close to the patient as much as

they would like, being given help to

achieve their goals and for being offered

a written copy of their care plan.

Community survey shows patient satisfaction

A Long Term Conditions Conference

was held at Trinity Park (Suffolk

Showground) on the 7th July 2011.

Among the delegates were GPs,

hospital doctors, nurses and

commissioners.

Dr Anna King, Associate Specialist in the

Ipswich Memory Clinic, gave a dynamic

presentation entitled “Dementia –

debunking the myths”.

In summarising her presentation, Dr

King said, “There are common

misconceptions, or myths about

dementia. I particularly wanted to

explain that dementia is not a normal

part of ageing, that it is important to

receive a diagnosis and that there is a

lot that can be done to help the patient

and their family.”

Delegates were also able to visit the

Memory Clinic stand (picture above)

manned by Dr Gill Collighan and Jackie

Carman, Team Manager.

Jackie said: “We are delighted with the

level of interest, links developed and

positive feedback received.”

Memory Clinic

attends conference

This summer saw the completion of a

greenhouse extension at Felixstowe

allotments. The allotment group was

started by Coastal CMHT ten years ago

at Railway Hill allotments off Coronation

Drive in Felixstowe. It runs every

Wednesday from 10.30 to 4.30 and

includes lunch. Some people come for an

hour, others all day. There are currently

13 attendees.

Senior occupational therapist, Jean

Fowler, said: “Gardening at home can be

lonely. The group is an ideal environment

for service users who need to adjust to

being with people and manage their

anxiety.

“The group has been very good for

people wanting to move on in their lives,

to gain confidence and a feeling of

mastery and pleasure. It ties in with goals

in their care plans and is part of their

treatment. One of our clients has now

moved on to volunteering in the garden

at Minsmere House in Ipswich.”

The garden comprises a quarter of an

acre with a pond, polytunnel, greenhouse

and tea shed. It is planted with

vegetables, flowers, fruit bushes and fruit

trees.

Service users harvest and take the

produce home. Surplus, including seeds

and fertiliser, is given away in the CMHT

office in return for donations which help

sustain the project.

Jean added: “Expanding the greenhouse

is brilliant because it means more than

two people will be able to work in there,

which will be good in the winter.

”We’re just putting the finishing touches

to it including a plastic covering. It has

taken about two months to do.”

Group member Colin, who has

fibromyalgia said: “Socially it a nice

group. I worked at Barnardo’s and did a

computer course at LearnDirect but I

have enjoyed this the most.”

Felixstowe allotment group:

blooming marvellous!

Below: The sun shines into the allotment group’s new greenhouse extension


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In November 2009,

the Trust identified

three quarters of a

million pounds

worth of desktop

devices - phones,

laptops and PCs - which were not being

used. The Trust actually had more

devices than staff and over the previous

12 months the number of desktop

computers had doubled. This led to the

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle project which

was launched in March 2010. Figures for

the first year of the project are now

available and show that the Trust is now

on course to reduce unnecessary costs

of around £0.3m annually. The project

quickly identified £150,000 of

‘tombstoned’ laptops – which had not

been used for a minimum of 30 days,

and some as long as a year. All unused

equipment was collected by IT and if

usable, rebuilt and redeployed. Some

staff were using old devices whilst new

ones in other areas were not being used.

Often quotes for new equipment led

instead to the redeployment of existing

equipment saving individual directorates

about £10,000 each. The reasons for the

surplus of equipment were various.

Devices were purchased each time a

new staff member was recruited or at

year end. Hardware was retained even

when there was no staff member in post

to use it. Sometimes equipment was

retained even when it had been

replaced. There was perception that

users could have more than one device

for their sole use and sometimes extra

devices were retained because of

reliability concerns. Staff working at

multiple sites sometimes accessed

numerous PCs instead of one laptop,

and many laptop users didn’t have use

of a docking station. As part of the

project, old and outdated equipment

which was underperforming was

replaced. Equipment was reclaimed in

areas where there was more than one

device per user and was then recycled.

The project aimed to ensure that

remaining devices were fit for purpose,

benefited from the correct peripherals

and were suitably located. Laptops and

desktops which were above minimum

specification were recycled and those

below specification were removed.

Laptop users were provided with docking

stations and flat screen monitors and

outdated PCs were removed. The

memory of some PCs was upgraded.

In the first year, the number of PCs and

laptops were reduced by around 300.

Over a four year period - the average

replacement time frame - it is projected

that the unnecessary costs will have

been reduced by £1m. All staff who have

been involved in the RRR project are to

be congratulated and thanked including

all those that volunteered info about

location of old and unused equipment.

Building work has started at Westgate

Ward, based at Wedgwood House in Bury

St Edmunds, to transform it into an ultra-

modern facility, perfect for patient-centred

care.

Staff spent the summer preparing for the

major refurbishment by decanting

inpatients into like-for-like areas where

they can continue caring for patients to

high standards.

The changes that are being made are

vital to creating a needs-led environment.

New features such as en-suite bathrooms

for all 17 bedrooms will allow staff to

provide dignity and improved quality of

care for patients during their stay.

The decant will allow changes to be made

with minimal disruption to inpatients,

allowing them to be moved out just once,

continue treatment as before, and then

move back in only when the

refurbishment is completed.

The building work will bring the ward,

which is part of the Trust’s older people’s

mental health services, in line with the

most modern mental health inpatients

environments in the country.

Julie Todd, Modernisation Project Lead,

said: “The work will be completed in two

phases, firstly transforming the 10-bed

side of the ward, followed by the 7-bed

dementia assessment unit.

“The project is part of a wider programme

of work to improve and modernise

services at the Trust.

“When the work is completed in July

2012, Westgate Ward will be brought up

to the standards of Foxhall House and the

new inpatient facilities at Heath Road,

both in Ipswich.”

The outside space will also be improved

with landscaped gardens providing

calming areas appropriate for the older

people being treated at Westgate Ward.

What is Suffolk

Health and

Wellbeing Month?

Suffolk Health and

Wellbeing Month is

a series of over 30

events taking place

during the month of

October. It includes events related to

World Mental Health Day, which occurs

on 10 October each year.

The month is focused on improving the

mental wellbeing of the people of Suffolk,

while also recognising the importance of

good general health in achieving this.


therefore includes activities that promote

an overall healthy lifestyle.

The Month has been coordinated in

partnership between The Mind

Sanctuary, Suffolk County Council and

the Trust.

Events have been organised by

organisations and therapists from the

public, voluntary and private sectors.

A full list of events can be found at

www.themindsanctuary.com

What are the aims of Suffolk Health

and Wellbeing Month?

The month aims to: reduce the stigma

surrounding mental health, promote local

services and organisations, and to

encourage people to take part in

activities that help them get involved in

their own wellbeing.

Why is Suffolk Health and Wellbeing

Month so important?

- 1 in 4 people experience a mental

health problem at some point in their life.

If we haven’t experienced it ourselves,

there’s a good chance that someone we

care about has.

- There is a strong link between our

physical health and our mental health.

Poor physical health can have a negative

impact on our mental health and vice

versa. We need to work towards an

overall state of good wellbeing.

- There are many local resources to

support individuals, organisations and

carers. There is no shame in asking for

help. Suffolk Health and Wellbeing Month

brings everyone together across the

public, voluntary and private sectors to

raise awareness of wellbeing services,

together.

Is it too late to get involved?

If you would like an event added to the


event listings then get in touch with

Helen Abbott, Communications Officer,

on 01473 329700 as soon as possible.

Get ready for Suffolk Health and

Wellbeing Month this October!

Building work begins to

transform Wedgwood House


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The Agency Worker Regulations come

into force on 1 October 2011. From their

first day’s assignment with the Trust, an

agency worker is entitled to have access

to collective facilities and amenities and

access to information on job vacancies

(this includes staff rooms, parking

facilities and any other provision for

directly recruited staff within the Trust,

but does not include discretionary

benefits such as gym membership or

those benefits that are only accrued

through length of service). From the 12

week anniversary of the agency worker’s

assignment with the Trust, they are

entitled to the same basic terms and

conditions of employment as if they had

been employed directly by the Trust:

- Key elements of pay (such as pay

based on an annual salary, overtime

payments and shift allowances.)

- Duration of working time.

- Night work.

- Rest periods and rest breaks.

- Annual leave (which could be in the

form of a payment if over the statutory

minimum amount.)

- Paid time off for antenatal

appointments.

The Trust and employment agencies

must be prepared for how this will affect

day to day operations and ensure that

the appropriate governance measures

are in place prior to this date. The

HR Resourcing Team have therefore

produced pages on their Intranet pages

dedicated to the Regulations and their

application within the workplace. The

pages include presentation slides with

further details for managers, a position

statement from NHS Professionals and a

useful Frequently Asked Questions

section. For further detail relating to

specific cases, please contact your

HR Advisor in the first instance.

Contributed by Human Resources -

Resourcing Team.

You may remember that back in April and

May we asked staff to take part in a

survey about their awareness of whistle-

blowing and safeguarding procedures.

Thank you to everyone who took part.

We received fantastic feedback with 687

responses!

The findings of the survey showed that:

- 1 in 5 respondents say that they have a

good understanding of what the whistle-

blowing policy is about.

- 3 in 5 are aware of the ‘what to do if you

think something is wrong’ Intranet page.

- 2 in 5 feel the Trust would be supportive

if they raised a concern.

- The majority of people said they would

contact their line manager, or a

combination of their line manager and

someone else such as the safeguarding

team, if they had concerns about a child’s

safety.

- The majority of people also said they

would contact their line manager if they

thought an adult was at risk of harm or

exploitation.

- When asked how the Trust could be

more supportive, staff suggested a

number of changes including improving

communications, reviewing training and

development and promoting information

sharing.

We want to know if you think something

is wrong. You can make a difference. Our

service users trust us to do the right thing

but we can’t make a change if you don’t

share the problem.

Please take just a few moments to

familiarise yourself with the following:

- The Safeguarding Adults Policy and

Safeguarding Children Policy

- The Whistle-Blowing Policy/Procedure

- The Safeguarding and the ‘What to do if

you think something is wrong’ Intranet

page.

Whistle-blowing and

safeguarding survey results

Agency worker

regulations

A website has been launched to act as a

growing archive of stories, photos and

facts about St Clement’s Hospital ahead

of its closure later this year. Please visit

http://www.smhp.nhs.uk/stclements

Feedback from a research consortium

has showed positive results for the

Trust’s Children and Adolescent Mental

Health Services.

As a member of CORC - the CAMHS

Outcome Research Consortium - data

and results from the Trust’s CAMHS

service is analysed and compared to

other services in the country. The Trust’s

CAMHS service submitted a total of

1141 cases to be reviewed and

benchmarked against CORC’s total of

115388 cases. CAMHS scored positively

regarding the interventions offered to

service users. Just over 30% of cases

were offered cognitive behavioural

therapy against an overall CORC

average of 5.4%. This is in line with

NICE guidelines.

Evril Silver, Consultant Clinical

Psychologist, said: “Our young service

users were rated by clinicians at the start

of treatment as less well adjusted than

the young people seen in the rest of

CORC. The most important CORC

measure is the ‘Added Value Score’.

This indicates to what extent our young

people improved when compared to a

community sample. Our Added Value

Score was similar to other CAMHS

services in CORC.”

CAMHS results were extremely high

compared to the CORC average in

regards to input from other professionals

involved: medical staff were involved in

32.4% of cases compared to the CORC

average of 22.6%; nursing staff were

involved in 48.3% of cases compared to

14.6%; and clinical psychologists were

involved in 41.5% cases compared to

just 16%. Evril added: “On the scores

measured by clinicians it appears that

the young people we see have lower

average functioning i.e. more serious

difficulties, than those seen in most other

services. This means that our CAMHS

service is doing as well as other CAMHS

services nationally even though we are

seeing young people with more serious

difficulties.”

Feedback for the Trust’s CAMHS Eating

Disorders team was particularly

encouraging. Parents of young people

being seen by the service were very

positive, with all marking ‘certainly true’

for being treated well and the team

working together. This is in marked

contrast to the rest of CORC, who did

not score so highly in these areas.

In addition, the young people

themselves were also positive with all

indicating that they are being treated

well by staff, and that their views and

worries being heard and the team

working together. 72% of parents

working with the eating disorders team

said ‘a bit better’ or ‘much better’ when

asked about improvements made as a

result of the service. This was also

positive in other CAMHS areas with 68%

for CAMHS West, 59% for CAMHS East

and 58% for ADHD services.

CAMHS sees positive ratings

from research consortium


This summer marked the end of an era as The Terrace Restaurant closed its doors for the final time. Catering staff and colleagues

from around St Clement’s Hospital gathered together for a special presentation ceremony and barbecue to mark the restaurant’s

final day. The restaurant had been running since 1996 in its current location and always received positive feedback from patients,

staff and visitors.

Meals will now be provided directly to the patients remaining on the St

Clement’s site at ward level. Staff will be able to access an

independent sandwich van service.

Photos from The Terrace

Restaurant’s final

day on 29 July

2011.

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Following criticism in the Rae Report,

work is underway to develop a new

personality disorder strategy for patients

who also have mental health problems.

The service will be the same across all

localities using existing experts and

training new ones. There will be a shift

from hospitalisation to wellbeing services.

The focus will be on long term rather than

short term risk. A key difference from

other services is that the clinical leads will

be psychological experts, not necessarily

consultant psychiatrists, although in some

cases this could mean medical staff with

psychological expertise.

The aims are to:

- Have better identification of who we are

taking about

- Understand the difference between

meeting a client’s need to reduce distress

and the service’s need to reduce risk

- Develop strategy within current

directives (there will not be a new

specialist service)

- Roll out supervision

- Develop new policies

- Clarify leadership

Awareness training will be set up to help

staff become aware of issues, identify

needs and be able to refer to appropriate

services. Clear policies will be developed

on awareness, assessment, risk

management, distress management,

clinical interventions and leadership.

The new supervision framework will be

used as a resource. Supervision will give

staff the space to reflect on the emotional

impact of their work, an opportunity to

discuss difficulties and to discuss

techniques and training needs.

Relationships with partner organisations

are seen as key as employment,

education and leisure are essential to

wellbeing.

Consultation events have been arranged

for staff to give feedback on the proposals

for a new personality disorder strategy:

- 21 September 2011, 9am - 11am

Meeting Room, Wedgwood House, Bury

St Edmunds

- 26 September 2011, 2pm - 4pm

Terrace Room, St Clement’s Hospital,

Ipswich

- 28 September 2011, 9am - 11am

Meeting room, Wedgwood House, Bury

St Edmunds

- 3 October 2011, 2pm-4pm

Terrace Room, St Clement’s Hospital,

Ipswich

Foxhall House at St Clement’s Hospital

has been shortlisted for a design

award. The Building Better Healthcare

Awards (BBH) are run by publisher,

Healthcare, Equipment and Supplies.

The shortlist covers 15 awards across

five categories. Foxhall House has

been shortlisted in the building design

category: award for best mental health

design. The architects were Devereux

and the building contractor, Kier

Eastern. Overall there were 202

entries.

Julie Todd, Project Manager, said;

“Everything in the new build has been

either purchased or designed to a high

specification to ensure a safe and

relaxing environment needed to

promote effective recovery.”

Jo Makosinski, editor of BBH, said “At a

time when the health service is having

to make cuts, seeing such innovation is

welcome evidence that the marketplace

is still thriving and that individuals and

companies have not stopped looking

for ways to bring about improvements

for patients and healthcare staff alike.”

The award ceremony will be held in

November.

Foxhall House

design award

shortlisting

Patient safety review: developing

a personality disorders strategy


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The roll-out of clinical supervision training

begins this month, with around ten Level

2 supervisors receiving a four-day train-

the-trainer programme. Altogether, we

have around forty Level 2 supervisors,

who are also in the process of identifying

interested and experienced staff to train

as Level 1 supervisors.

The new model of clinical supervision is

set out in Issue 10 of Trust Update.

In short, the new model will provide the

Trust and staff with a much clearer

process and a better system for alerting

the Trust to any areas which it needs to

improve its support to clinical teams.

In total, we will be training around 200

staff to deliver Level 1 supervision, with

four-day training programmes starting in

October. I’d like to thank Sara Hyde in

Education and Workforce Development

for the stirling work she has been doing

to organise all the training sessions and

bookings. There will be several cohorts of

staff going through the training for each

locality, with the aim that the Level 1

training will be complete by March.

There are also several two-hour

Introduction to Clinical Supervision

sessions being delivered in September

and October. These are for staff who do

not know much about the new system

and may have questions they would like

answered in order to determine whether

they become supervisors or not. Dates of

training and introduction sessions will

shortly be available on the training diary

on the intranet (under ‘Education and

Workforce Development’)

Staff should also shortly be able to obtain

Trust material regarding clinical

supervision on the intranet, and posters

explaining the model and system should

be starting to appear across your walls in

the near future.

Questions or comments? Contact

Anna Vizor, Consultant Clinical

Psychologist by emailing

[email protected]

Clinical supervision training begins

The next couple of years will be a

challenging time for the Trust but it will

emerge better and stronger than ever.

That’s the view of Professor Ian Robbins,

who has now left the Trust after four

years as Associate Director of

Psychological Services.

Under his leadership, an understanding

of the role of psychology staff and of

allied health professionals has been

greatly enhanced. Prof Robbins said this

was in contrast to when he arrived in

1997, when psychology staff were

perceived as being ‘peripheral’, as he

explained: “They were very positive

about my arrival because they had not

had anybody in a lead role for some

time, so they didn’t feel they had voice

and representation with the Trust

management,” he said. “They realised

things needed to change – they just

needed somebody to help them change

in a way which was good for them and

good for the organisation. I think since

then psychologists have been embedded

throughout, at the heart of clinical work

and providing good clinical leadership.”

The establishment of the Trust’s


Therapies – IAPT – service in 2008 owes

much to Professor Robbins who, with

colleagues, was instrumental in the

design of the service and its subsequent

success. The IAPT service was ahead of

similar services, joining the first wave of

the IAPT roll-out across the country.

More than 60 low intensity and high

intensity workers were recruited and

trained, at a time when the volume of GP

referrals was almost overwhelming for

the service. Fast forward three years and

the IAPT service has been named as the

best in the east of England in terms of

recovery rate and cost effectiveness.

Although he looks back on his time with

the Trust with fondness, Professor

Robbins says he will miss the friends

and colleagues with whom he has spent

the last three years so closely. “We have

some dedicated and loyal people in the

Trust and it’s been a pleasure working

here,” he said. “When I came,

psychology staff were not really being

used to the range of their abilities. I hope

the Trust retains the professional

structure which they are now used to

working in.”

As a worldwide expert in post-traumatic

stress disorder, Professor Robbins is

embarking on several projects with

veterans and combat groups in order to

provide support for soldiers feeling the

psychological effects of conflict.

He leaves the Trust with fond memories,

some firm friends and everyone’s best

wishes for the future.

This month sees the start of the Trust’s

new locality management structure.

Whereas before, the Trust’s clinical

services were run on a service line basis,

the new structure is based on geography.

It is designed to improve the experience

of service users as they come into the

Trust and ensure they receive a joined-up

service.

Daren Clark and Sandra Cowie are the

service directors of the West and East

localities respectively. They each oversee

a Wellbeing service in each part of the

county, a community and acute service for

the same areas, and specialist services.

The Wellbeing service:

The Wellbeing service is a primary care

service, including the Linkworker service,


Therapies (IAPT), the child and

adolescent mental health service, Primary

Care Health Workers and the future single

point of assessment.

Community and acute services:

This includes the adult and Later Life

inpatient wards, home treatment and

crisis resolution, community mental health

teams for both adult and Later Life,

assertive outreach, early intervention and

out of hours services. The broad remit is

about assessment, treatment and

recovery.

In the West:

Consultant Clinical Psychologist Anna

Vizor is the interim Lead Clinician for the

West Suffolk locality until substantive

appointments can be made.

Nettie Burns, former service line manager

for Later Life services, is the new

manager for the Wellbeing service in

West locality.

Paula Clarke, former associate director

for Learning Disability services and, more

recently, the lead for the cost

improvement plan, is the new manager

for community and acute services in West

locality.

Kate Dunne is specialist services

manager in the West. She will be

overseeing Child and Adolescent Mental

Health Services and CAMHS Learning

Disability services across the county as

well as Learning Disability services in the

West and the West eating disorders

service.

In the East:

Dr Vivien Peeler, Consultant Psychiatrist,

and Heather Balleny, Consultant Clinical

Psychologist, have been appointed as the

substantive Lead Clinicians for East

Suffolk locality.

Nina Parkinson, former associate director

for clinical governance, is the new

manager of the Wellbeing service in the

East locality.

Margaret Little, who was managing our

adult acute inpatient services, is now the

manager for community and acute

services in East locality.

Karen Clements, who has been managing

criminal justice services, is the manager

for specialist services in the East locality.

Karen’s remit will include criminal justice

services across Suffolk, Foxhall House,

Chilton Houses, Learning Disability

services at Walker Close, the East

community and the East eating disorders

service.

Locality management begins


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Ben Underwood, Consultant Psychiatrist

at the Trust, has been honoured with a

PhD and prizes from leading national

organisations for his continued research

into Huntington’s Disease. He has

conducted research into the degenerative

disease for the past 7 years.

In July Ben received his doctorate from

Cambridge University following a period

of study under Professor David

Rubinsztein. His research into

Huntington’s Disease, a hereditary

disorder that causes brain cells to die,

focused on drugs and genes which

modify laboratory models of the disease.

Huntington’s Disease produces physical

symptoms such as speech problems and

involuntary movements, as well as mental

health problems including problems with

memory and depression.

Ben said: “Huntington’s disease is a

crucial disease to study. The fact that it is

inherited provides advantages in terms of

understanding the mechanism of disease

and potentially designing treatments. This

is important not only for sufferers of this

particular condition, but it is hoped that

the knowledge we gain may have

application to other, more common, brain

diseases.”

Ben has also recently been awarded the

Eastern Division of the Royal College of

Psychiatrists Prize for Research, and

gained second place in the Royal Society

of Medicine Mental Health Foundation

annual prizes. During the summer, Ben

had the honour of presenting his research

at the International Congress in Brighton

after winning a bursary from the Royal

College of Psychiatrists.

He added: “I was delighted to receive

these awards, and I am very grateful to

the patients, Professor Rubinsztein and

Action Medical Research, who funded the

work. My next step is to secure more

funding so I can continue to try to bridge

the gap between the laboratory and

patients.”

Trust consultant honoured for research into Huntington’s Disease

Many, many thanks are due to our IT

teams for ensuring the safe transfer of

patient records to the updated version of

our electronic patient system ePEX.

I know that the process was not without

its challenges, as our IT staff had to

research the process, identify and plan

for risks and develop a number of work-

arounds which ensured that some 4.500

live records were transferred with the

least amount of risk and disruption. It

wasn’t a simple task. In fact some of the

team agreed to stay until 9pm on a

Friday night and actually ended up going

home at 3am on Saturday morning to

ensure that ePEX was back on line for

the weekend. Kate Walker, Chief

Information Officer, expressed her

particular thanks at the determination

and commitment of staff on this project

The changes to the electronic system

were requested by our clinical teams as

part of the improvements to FACE, and

our electronic assessment tool within

ePEX. The updates have saved around

3000 hours of clinician time. I am

particularly pleased with the collaborative

way in which our IT teams and clinical

staff worked together on this.

If the IT staff had not been able to

automate the data transfer, we would

have been looking at weeks of

disruption, during which there would

have been a considerable risk to patient

safety. Apart from the disruption caused

if we had to do this manually, each file

would have needed to be checked by a

clinician at the point of transfer – there

were too many points at which a manual

transfer could have gone wrong.

But, thanks to careful planning, the

transfer went really well. Thanks to

everyone involved in this important piece

of work.

Contributed by Barbara McLean,

Director of Nursing and Quality

ePEX patient

record transfer

What did you want to

be when you were

little? I wanted to follow

my dad and be in the

RAF. As it turns out I

have eventually

followed my mum into

the NHS!

If you could introduce one rule into the

working day what would it be?

Every Friday someone in the office

brings in cakes for everyone - a

popular idea I bet!

John Mawdsley, Trust

Liaison Coordinator

(NHS Professionals)

Where do you see yourself in 10 years? Living

somewhere nice in the countryside! Professionally

I’d love to progress in my current role.

What is your favourite book?

My favourite book is American

Gods by Neil Gaiman.

If you could have

one super-power

what would it be?

Definitely the power of

flight. Superman was

always my favourite!

If you won the lottery

tomorrow what would

you do with the money?

Buy my parents and sister

new houses, treat my friends to a holiday then go

away on holiday for a few months around the world.Marmite or peanut

butter? I prefer Vegemite.

A report from the Prescribing Observatory

for Mental Health Services, part of Royal

College of Psychiatrists, has found a

lower instance of antipsychotics being

given to dementia patients at the Trust

than the national average.

The National Dementia Strategy has a

set a target of reducing the prescribing of

antipsychotics by two thirds in two years.

Around two thirds of current prescriptions

are thought to be unnecessary and carry

unwelcome side effects such as

increased risk of strokes and premature

death.

The report found that 11 per cent of

Suffolk patients were given

antipsychotics, compared with 19 per

cent nationally. Of the 11 per cent, two

per cent also had a psychotic illness.

Cutting antipsychotics could save 1,800

lives nationally and cut strokes by 1,620

and could also save money. It is

estimated that only 20 per cent of those

given the drugs show improvement.

Dr Rob Butler, Consultant Psychiatrist in

older people’s mental health, said:

“Suffolk’s low figures could suggest that

staff are providing better alternative care,

with better interactions between staff and

patients and more personalised care.

Many people receiving antipsychotics are

not deriving any benefit from them. The

low rates in Suffolk are good news

because they mean that fewer people are

at risk of the harms these drugs can

cause.”

In the national sample there was a

marked variation in the proportion of

patients prescribed antipsychotic

medication according to clinical setting.

Around 50 per cent of dementia patients

in hospital were given the drugs but only

10 per cent of those being treated in their

homes. Suffolk was top of the table for

the proportion of patients being treated at

home.

Top care for dementia patients


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EDITORIAL: If you would like to contribute an article (and accompanying photo) for inclusion in the next Trust Matters please

email it to [email protected]. If you want to discuss ideas about potential features or make a suggestion about

improving the newsletter you can also email the above address or call Helen Abbott on 01473 329700.

The deadline for the November 2011 issue is October 21st.

If you have a letter you would like to share through Trust Matters, send it to Nicola Brown, Suffolk House, St Clement’s Hospital,

Ipswich or email [email protected] Letters may be edited and will be anonymised to protect service users’ identities.

To all staff on Southgate Ward

Many thanks for all of your support and

help over the last few weeks, you have

been a great help in assisting my

recovery.

To all staff at Sudbury CMHT

I couldn’t have done it without you and

will miss you!


Just to say a massive thank you for all

your help and support you gave me

during my stay. I’d like to especially thank

Carol, Dean, Becks and Abby for their

compassion and listening ears and for

helping me ground my thinking.

To all staff at West IAPT

This is to thank you. Last week I had a

20 minute conversation on the phone.

This was in preparation for the meeting

with a counsellor, when they’re available.

It gave me great encouragement and I

look forward to the interview when it can

be arranged. Once again, thank you.

To Nick Gould, CBT Therapist, East

IAPT

I wanted to write to say thank you very

much for all your support over the last

few months. You have really turned my

thoughts and made me challenge them.

Even when I have come to a session

feeling very negative and thinking you

would not be able to help, you have

managed to make me feel like I can carry

on and I can beat this anxiety.

I feel in a much better place now and

hope this will continue.

I have always felt very comfortable

talking to you and am always surprised at

how much I learn about myself through

the questions you ask me! You are

definitely the right man for your job!


I have nothing but praise for the hospital

medical staff and facilities and food. Not

only was I correctly diagnosed after 56

years by the exceptional Dr Michael, who

has probably saved me from an early

grave, but the quality of the nursing staff

who provide 24 hour care was

unparalleled. This includes many of the

agency staff also.

I was astonished by the quality of the

bedrooms and bathroom and the dining

room, TV room, activity room, music

room and the occupational therapy

creative art rooms, and the gymnasium.

None of this was expected as well as a

courtyard garden. All of it added to my

recovery as did the fellowship with

patients and staff alike.

To all staff at Newmarket CMHT

Words never say it all. Thank God for

Newmarket Mental Health Team.

To Dr Akmal, Consultant Psychiatrist,

Walker Close

My wife and I would like to thank you

most sincerely for the time and

consideration given to our son. Your very

clear explanations have enabled us to

understand some of the erractic

behaviour he sometimes shows.

To Debbie Pepperhill, Staff Nurse,

Wedgwood House

To you especially thank you very much

for the beautiful person that you are, and

a special thank you to all on Southgate!

My special thanks to the rest of the team

– and big big kiss to you my dear..

To Lisa Myers, Community Support

Worker, East Ipswich CMHT

We must thank you for your help and

courtesy. We are looking forward to

planning some treats for ourselves! Quite

a morale boost during difficult times for

us. We have now had our meeting which

was productive and reassuring. M

continues to have good days and not so

good days but we appreciate all the help

and understanding he receives from your

colleagues.

To Michelle Noakes, Case Manager,

East IAPT

I am just writing to thank you so very

much for all the help you have given to

me. I didn’t realise how low I had sunk

but you could obviously see this and

gave me the confidence to believe in

myself again. You taught me how to build

myself up without the pressure to

succeed. I could go on and tell you how

happy I am in so many different aspects

of my life at the moment, my positive

plans for the future and how you’ve

helped me be prepared for the less

attractive things that may lie ahead but I

probably would not finish writing.

To all at West CRHTT

Thank you so much for all your support

and kindness over the last ten weeks.

Take care and love and best wishes to

you all and thank you again.

To all at East CRHTT

Thank you so very much for your help,

support and kindess over the past few

weeks.

To Julie Piotrowski, CBT Therapist,

Walker Close

The discovery of CBT has been life-

changing and I find that I’m viewing my

whole world in a very different way now.

My thanks to you for helping me to break

down that ‘hard rock’ within my mind and

for enabling me to see that there is

another way to deal with my thoughts!

Many thanks!!!

To Nicola Brown, Head of

Communications

Thank you for being a lovely person to

work with. It’s not been that much but it’s

always been positive and productive and

I’ve looked forward to seeing you. Keep

up your good work

Letters and compliments

A thank you

drawing by a

young service

user to Lesley

Drew,

Community

Nurse,

Lothingland


Documents

Trust Matters September 2011