RDaSH Trust Matters February and March 2024 edition

Contents

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For an accessible format of trust matters please see the sections below, for a print format of the newsletter see below:

• Trust Matters February and March 2024 edition (PDF, 3.68MB)

Welcome from our Chair, Kathryn Lavery

Hello, and welcome to our first bi-monthly edition of Trust Matters for 2024.

There has been a significant amount of change within our organisation recently, with the introduction of our new corporate and clinical directorates. So, in this edition, we’re providing you with the latest information on the roles and responsibilities of the people who make up each of the 13 directorates.

We launched our new RDaSH strategy in October, and over the coming months we will use Trust Matters to make sure that you have the latest information on how things are going. 28 promises need a lot of attention, from all of us, and you can be certain that my board will support experiments and efforts to meet the objectives we have set for the next four years.

Earlier this month we celebrated National apprenticeship week, which gives us the opportunity to showcase some of our own apprentices and their journeys within RDaSH, and I think they demonstrate that you’re never too old, and it’s never too late to have a change of direction, and learn new skills, and I’d urge anyone thinking about an apprenticeship to find out more about the exciting opportunities on offer within the trust.

Have you downloaded the staff app yet? It’s a great way to keep up to date with all of the latest news from in and around the trust while you’re out and about. As someone who is regularly on the move and away from the office environment, I find it really useful and easy to use, so please take a look, if you haven’t already.

Finally, a belated Happy New Year to you all! I look forward to all of the exciting challenges and opportunities that 2024 will bring!

Kind regards,

Kathryn.

Hello my name is…

Thank you to everyone for wearing this badge playing an important role in keeping our patients safe. When we know each other’s name, helps to reduce barriers for people wanting to ask questions and seek support. If you’ve not received yours yet, please email the team at Woodfield House at rdash.whreception@nhs.net to make arrangements.

“I like my Hello My Name Is badge because I find it really helpful when I go out and about across organisations representing RDaSH. We can easily start conversations as people know me as Louise and we can talk about the work we do on a day to day basis.” Louise Treen, Transformation Programme Lead.

New BSL café helping you to feel confident when meeting a deaf person

The first of our British sign language (BSL) cafes was held in January. These cafes provide both colleagues and volunteers the chance to gain some basic BSL. You will also learn more about the deaf culture, supporting you to feel more confident when meeting a deaf person.

The BSL cafés are held in informal settings on the second Tuesday of the month. They are facilitated by Maria Lewin, Care Navigator with the South Yorkshire service for Deaf people with mental health needs. Currently the BSL cafes are held at the WellBean Coffee Lounge, near the entrance to Tickhill Road Hospital, between 2pm and 3pm. However, we are hoping to hold more BSL cafes across the trust. If you would like one in your area, please let us know.

The South Yorkshire Service for Deaf people with mental health needs links with the local secondary mental health teams and primary care mental health hubs to assess and provide interventions for the deaf community. The service also offers training about mental health and deaf people and supports services to become more accessible for the deaf community.

Did you know that we have some Deaf Awareness Champions in teams across the trust? These champions meet regularly with Maria Lewin and Rebecca (Bex) Walis, Clinical Nurse Specialist in Mental Health and Deafness. Together they discuss the needs of the deaf community and improvements that can be made.

Maria and Bex can offer training in this area if there are enough people interested.

Please contact:

• Email: rebeccawalls@nhs.net
• Telephone: 07770 828452

if you would like us to consider developing a BSL café or you would like some training in your area.

Working hard to provide the best care possible

Our trust is always wanting to improve and we’re using our Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF) incident response tools and approaches as the way forward.

We have our daily incident meetings, weekly safety huddles where we pull together what we have discussed during the week, ward and team safety huddles, swarm huddles and after actions review. All of these have one aim to help us to learn quickly, to do things better or differently for patients and to learn when things go wrong or when we see great care that we want to share with others. They also make sure we learn together.

Even though the word we use is incidents, it doesn’t mean that something has gone wrong each time. We also record positive ways of doing things too and ensure the organisation can share learning right across our services.

Have you attended the daily incident meetings? These are held at 10am every day and allow us to discuss our incidents quickly to identify any immediate actions, to look at staff support, to pick up on themes and trends and to also pick up on the good work that staff are doing. Anyone can attend. If you would like to attend, please contact the Patient Safety team on RDASH:

• Email: patientsafetyteam@nhs.net

So, what are each of our huddles?

Safety huddles

We’ve a photo on our front page of a safety huddle in Rotherham. It’s where our staff in care groups get together to talk about a safety incident or one of the team’s incidents, to look at what they need to do to minimise it happening again, or if it’s a ‘good’ incident, to see what learning can be shared to help colleagues.

Daily incident meeting

This is where a range of staff from across the trust meet each day Monday to Friday 4 to discuss any incidents in the last 24 hours again, good or where we can learn. We have representatives from care groups, students, pharmacy and many more colleagues. And any member of staff can attend if they wish to do so.

Friday safety huddle

This is where our senior staff look at any incidents from the week and decide if any of them need escalating, for example to an investigation. Swarm huddle As the name suggests this is where the relevant staff swarm together, often after an incident on a ward but these can be held for any service in any location. The team meet decide on any immediate learning that needs to be taken on board, ensure staff have support and are quick and easy to undertake.

Sharon Greensill, Deputy Director of Organisational Learning, Patient Safety and Inquests, said: “With daily incident meetings we look to see if we need to take any immediate action, if there is any immediate learning and if we need to do any further reviews on a particular matter. From these meetings, some incidents go to our Friday safety huddle.

“Since we launched Patient Safety Incident Reporting Framework we have seen a real change in the culture at RDaSH,” she said. “More and more colleagues are talking about incidents and are seeing them as a way to learn and to improve the care for our patients. Reporting incidents is good practice, it helps us to learn. An incident doesn’t mean something has gone wrong. Sometimes it means we can do something better or differently.”

Anyone wanting more information about huddles, the daily incident meetings or Patient Safety Incident Reporting Framework can contact Sharon by emailing s.greensill@nhs.net.

Managing our risks

Everyone deals with some sort of risks every day, from crossing the road to driving a car. But what does it mean for us at work? Well, every day we have work risks, whether they are clinical or organisational, such as finances being spent or our trust’s reputation. To support everyone in managing our risks we have something called the Risk Management Framework.

This framework is important to us as the trust really need to know what our risks are and how we can then work to reduce the impact or likelihood of the risk occurring to an agreed acceptable level. This is why we encourage everyone to ensure they tell their managers of any risk they have in their teams so that it can be placed on our risk registers.

But risk registers are not just about recording risks. Our new risk management committee, chaired by our Chief Nurse, and with leaders from a number of backbone and clinical teams within it, is meeting monthly. Their role is to make sure we are reducing or mitigating risk. Tackling the issues that you are concerned about.

Some of the high rated risks at the moment are:

• if we do not have adequate substantive medical staffing with ‘responsible clinician’ status which a statutory requirement then this may impact on the consistency, quality and safety of patient care, delays in discharge and added pressure for the staff teams
• if the trust does not have a clinical bank system sufficient to meet the needs of services, then this will result in an unsuitable workforce and increased agency spend
• if the nursing vacancies on adult mental health inpatient wards are not filled, then there is a risk to the continuity and delivery of quality patient care and staff health and wellbeing
• if there is a lack of robust and joined up commissioned eating disorder service, then may impact of the quality and safety of care delivery or add financial pressure to the budgetary control for the care group
• if the patient flow into and through the mental health inpatient units is not improved then the trust will continue to place people in out of area acute beds impacting on negative patient and family experience, increasing wait times and delivery against national key performance indicators

Phil Gowland, our Director of Corporate Assurance, said: “If you think you have identified a risk at work it is really important that you tell your manager so that they can place it on our risk registers. It’s the best way of managing them and makes it easier for us to keep an eye on them and hopefully keep them in check. It’s so easy to do. Tell your manager who will take note of the risk and escalate to ensure it’s registered. Just make us aware!”.

If you need any support get in touch with Jane Charlesworth, our trust Risk Lead, or any of the Corporate Assurance team by either:

• Email: janecharlesworth@nhs.net or rdash.corporate-assurance@nhs.net

Feedback from our visit from the health services safety investigations body

On Tuesday 23 and Wednesday 24 January, we hosted a visit from two inspectors from the Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB), which is an independent arm’s length body of the Department of Health and Social Care. As part of a national fact finding exercise, their aim is to investigate patient safety concerns across England to improve NHS care at a national level.

They were keen to understand how patients are cared for in out of area placements, the experience of those patients who have been cared for by out of area providers, and the improvements we have made to date, along with our plans to eliminate out of area placements by 2024.

During their time with us the inspectors spent some time with the trust Patient Flow team and senior leaders working within the mental health care groups and the corporate teams.

They observed some of our daily operational meetings and met some Doncaster patients who had recently been returned from out of area providers.

They also visited the Osprey Ward and joined in their multi agency admission and discharge event (MADE).

Whilst we look forward to the draft findings and recommendations, verbal feedback at the end of the visit was very positive:

• “thank you so much RDaSH we were so welcomed and given great access to staff and patients”
• “everyone we met, was very open and honest”
• “patient flow team methodology is brilliant. Identifies clear overview of patients and where they are in our system”

We were pleased to note that reference was made to our reporting culture being “open, incredible to see and evident to see everywhere they went” and staff gave very positive feedback about managers and leaders advising they felt supported.

The inspectors recognised the multifaceted challenges relating to the health and social care system (including housing) and how this can cause delays in patients leaving hospital and acknowledged that although our workforce is tired, they remain focused on doing their very best to support patients and each other.

We now look forward to receiving their formal report.

Website update

It’s almost three months since the launch of our new look website.

The main aim of the site is to signpost members of the public to our services quickly. Our service pages have been redesigned to have a brief description of the service, information on how to refer into the service and the main location(s). As requested during our consultation with members of the Patient Focused Group (PFG), local bus service information is also included.

Phase one of the new site was to focus on service information.

Phase two is looking at creating standardised referral forms and adding mandatory, corporate information including policies and reports.

In Phase two there will also be a review of all external websites being used by RDaSH services, with a view to incorporating them into the main RDaSH website. The website project team will work with the services to identify the information they need transferring across.

Accessibility is key to the new site design. You will notice that most documents have been converted into accessible web format (HTML). This is a legal requirement for all public body websites and apps. It means that information will display correctly on multiple devices and can be read by assistive technology, such as screen readers.

Meeting the WCAG 2.2 accessible standards means that most users can access and understand the information we provide more simply. There is a lot more work to do and look out for more information about how to create accessible information soon.

Racism has no place in our organisation

On Friday January 19, our Chief Executive, Toby Lewis used his weekly video log message to speak about racism within our trust. It is clear from incident reporting, from personal testimonials, and from other feedback, including our staff survey, that colleagues have witnessed and experienced racism.

In 2024 the trust’s board is determined to help everyone within our organisation to speak openly about these experiences, and to tackle them. The Anti Racism Alliance provides anyone with an opportunity to speak and to suggest ideas that might work. Our Race Equality and Cultural Heritage network network offers a space through which to reflect with colleagues on what works well at the trust and what needs to change.

Toby talked about the need to support people with training, to create opportunities for a diverse range of colleagues to lead and to develop, and especially about the importance of a clear consequence regime. Trust Matters caught up with Toby to find out more.

“Allyship matters when we think about any form of discrimination or exclusion. It is important that bystanders are able to offer their voice and their power to stand alongside anyone experiencing abuse or discrimination, whether that is because of their sexual preferences, gender, ethnicity, disability or religious belief.

Before July 2024 we will finish some work about consequences. That means two big things. We need to agree with our local police partners how they will support employees who experience racism, which is a potential hate crime. Sometimes when the perpetrator is in a health setting, some police forces do not act as clearly as we would want them too.

But inside RDaSH we also need to act. We are undertaking work to create, consult and then implement a trust-wide policy framework, which sets out when we would withdraw treatment, access to care, or access to a specific site or building in response to acts of racism by a patient or carer.

Sometimes racism happens between members of our teams. Again, we need to be clear on consequence. This will not be based on how offended someone is. Sometimes, a victim of racism has grown used to it. But the trust is not neutral. We will act to tackle racism in our organisation.

Racism is an issue across our society. It is not part of the trust because we are employing fabulous colleagues trained elsewhere in the world. It has been experienced by first, second and third generation migrants into Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. People born in this country. But we need to lean into and play our part in stopping racism in our space.”

Get in touch with any member of the clinical leadership executive if you have ideas about how we can make our anti- racism work real across the trust in 2024.

Anyone who hears, sees, or experiences racism, will be supported to take action. You can do this by emailing our Equality Diversity and Inclusion Team on rdash.equalityanddiversity@nhs.net or with the Freedom to Speak Team on email rdash.ftsu@nhs.net. But your line manager is also key, everyone working in leadership roles at the trust has a responsibility to act.

Race Equality and Cultural Heritage (REaCH) staff network meetings:

• Tuesday 12 March from 9:30 to 11:30am at Woodfield House Board Room 1
• Tuesday 9 April from 1 to 3pm (venue to be confirmed).

Anti Racism Alliance meetings:

• Thursday 4 April from 10 to 11:30am at Woodfield House Board Room 1
• Thursday 13 June from 10 to 11:30am at Woodfield House Board Room 1

Welcome to our new governors

We’ve just appointed four new governors after running successful elections.

Jo Cox, our Lead Governor, on welcoming our new recruits, says that governors are vital to RDaSH as they are the eyes and ears who represent service users and the public. “The role of the governor is really important. It’s for anyone who is passionate about the NHS, with RDaSH I have a personal reason to be a governor. I also want to see RDaSH succeed and drive forward quality services for patients and service users. “As a governor I have a voice on behalf of the community,” added Jo. “I can express opinions for others, particularly those accessing services. I can help RDaSH understand what the people who use RDaSH need and how the trust can improve.

“The recent Promises are so important, “she added. “Governors have a clear role in supporting RDaSH to achieve these. We are the eyes, ears and the ‘go between’ between the public and managers and we are responsible for working closely with the Board. We can help directors and non-executive directors to do their jobs and challenge them if we feel that RDaSH isn’t following a process or procedure or if something isn’t working as effectively as it should.”

For Jo having a voice is so important to her and she has seen changes at RDaSH since playing her part as a governor.

“A keen focus on equality, diversity and inclusion is also so important in order to address health inequalities and to improve access to RDaSH services within the diverse communities we serve” she added. “It’s important to the governor role and we can help RDaSH achieve this.”

Farewell from Sheila

It is time for me to say my goodbyes as I embark on a new chapter for my family and me into the new world of retirement and all the excitement it brings.

My time at RDaSH has been amazing, eventful, challenging, fun, and non-stop busy. Just the way I like it! Life would not have been this way without the unwavering support, kindness and commitment of colleagues, friends, critics, and family. I thank you all for some great memories.

As you know I have had a few roles during my time here at RDaSH. I started as, Executive Director of Nursing and Allied Health Professionals (interim), then progressed to Executive Director of Nursing, Allied Health Professionals (substantive) and Deputy Chief Executive. I was Interim Chief Executive for a while when we successfully recruited Toby Lewis and then lastly as Executive Director of Nursing and Deputy Chief Executive. I took on these differing roles because RDaSH colleagues, partners and my family encouraged, supported, trusted, and believed in me to lead and be successful. For this I am truly grateful.

Throughout my career in the NHS, I have had the privilege of working with some exceptionally talented and compassionate people who have inspired me and from whom I have learnt so much. I have made some lifelong friends and hold some great memories. I have had some real belly laughs and have experienced some very sad losses for which I have truly cried.

Looking forward I am ready for this new chapter in my life. I know retirement will be a whole new adventure and just as busy and fulfilling. I am ready to go with it.

Thank you RDaSH for having me.

Thank you, Sheila!

On behalf of the board and executive group, we wanted to include in Trust Matters, a note of thanks.

In any organisation people make the difference. Some work for many years, others stay less time but, as Sheila has shown, they leave a legacy. A proud British woman of colour, a nurse to her bones, Sheila has helped so many colleagues to “step into their authority”. A role model nursing leader who leaves big shoes for Steve Forsyth to fill.

Sheila leaves the trust having completed our Care Quality Commission review of readiness, exemplified by the peer review programme across the trust. Rightly proud of the transformation of our complaints process, and the green shoots of excellence we can see in our volunteering work and our patient experience team. We will soon launch our quality and safety plan that Sheila has helped to shape, involving, as ever, many others and making sure we hear the voices of sometimes unheard communities.

Enjoy your retirement: we will miss you.

8th best in the country

We’ve come 8th out of 214 trusts in the country for our staff flu vaccination programme for winter 2023 to 2024.

This is a great achievement demonstrating our values of being caring and safe, passionate, and progressive.

Overall, our trust reached 82.85%.

Overall response %

Group	Percentage response
Children’s care group	89.43
Corporate division	60.65
Doncaster mental health and learning disabilities	88.56
Physical health and neurodiversity care group	89.08
North Lincolnshire mental health and talking therapies group	68.68
Rotherham care group	82.07
Grand total	82.86

These figures are for frontline clinical staff only excluding bank.

Sam Butcher, Chair of the Flu Vaccination Steering Group, said: “This is the result of the hard work and determination of everyone across the trust. Doing their bit to keep their family, friends, and vulnerable patients safe.

Whether you were involved in the steering group, the planning, logistics of storing and administering the vaccines, workforce and performance colleagues helping with data entry and collation, inputting the information into national systems, adding clinics and sessions to the staff portal, creating the comms campaign, or making time in your busy day to get your flu vaccine, thank you.

“A special thanks to our flu vaccinators for going above and beyond their day job to provide clinics, in staff work bases and fitting around work patterns, making it easier for colleagues to have their vaccine.

“We’ve already started planning for the next flu season. Analysing what went well and where we can improve to do even better this year. If you have suggestions for improvements for our forthcoming staff flu vaccination campaign, please look out for the survey in the coming weeks. We really do welcome your feedback.

Chance to win via RDaSH app

Download the new staff app to be in a chance of winning an Alexa echo dot. Find the giveaway section in Work Perks and enter your details.’

Growing from strength to strength

A community group in Rotherham set up two years ago is growing from strength to strength, and its latest edition is a community garden.

S62 was cofounded by Sarah Lacey, Director and Project Co-ordinator, and it runs from The Drop-in Centre, Harding Avenue, Rawmarsh.

It has sessions most days and welcomes residents of Rotherham with open arms. They are now working with our trust, to have a say on services and advise on what can be improved upon. And, in the last few months their activities have grown to include launching a recovery group for people recovering from drugs and alcohol addiction, partnered with other organisations in Rotherham to create the Rotherham Adult Mental Health network with Voluntary Action Rotherham, they are launching their community allotment at Chapel Walk, Rawmarsh, at the end of this month, they’ve become involved in the Rotherham Together Partnership, to represent as a grassroots Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise organisation in Rotherham and on one morning a week they have a volunteer benefits and debt advisor to help Rotherham people attending their group.

Sarah said: “We first opened as a constituted group and over time as we grew, we expanded to become a community interest company.

“We are a group of people with lived experience of illness and mental health. Together we tackle mental health, isolation, supporting self development of peers, poverty, and recovery in the community,” she said. Just one of the sessions they hold is Men’s Mental Health Group which meets weekly and cofounder Luke Brailsford, who facilitates the group, firmly believes it saves lives, as the men get together for company and take part in a range of activities, from eating meals together to going to watch football. Samantha Smith is S62’s newest Director and one of Rotherham’s Recovery Community Champions. Through her own lived experience, she has just launched their new Recovery Peer Support Group, The Next Chapter, which has opened up another much needed support avenue in Rotherham.

“We are now working with RDaSH to show what peer support is in Rotherham and working to form best practice for peer support,” said Sarah. Peer support is where people use their lived experiences to help each other.

Residents can join group sessions, open to all adults across Rotherham, by simply dropping into one of their sessions or contacting for further information:

• Email: enquiries@S62ctr.co.uk
• Telephone: 07502 754011
• s62ctr website (opens in new window)
• Follow on social media @s62ctr (opens in new window)

Tree planting at Great Oaks

Staff and volunteers armed with garden spades and forks rolled up their sleeves to plant 300 bare root trees donated by NHS Forest on Saturday 3 February.

This is the first step towards providing improved green space for patients and staff, with the aim of cultivating a native hedgerow along the border to the rear of the Great Oaks site, to help preserve native wildlife, by providing shelter to birds and other animals, pollinators like bees and insects, which are vital for the preservation of the local ecosystem.

Great Oaks Modern Matron Martin Jones said: “As well providing a haven for wildlife, trees also help with carbon storage, air pollution removal, flood and temperature regulation and noise mitigation.

“So, these little plants are helping us to make a big difference in our very own back garden.”

Celebrating Ramadan: this year’s RDaSH Iftar

This Ramadan, the 71st Doncaster Hunafa Scout Group is back again to run its most popular event, Iftar Under the Stars!

Iftar Under the Stars is a family fun day for charity. It is designed to bring together the families of Scouts, along with the wider Muslim and non-Muslim community, to experience an evening of Scouting activities followed by an evening meal and prayers under the stars. Tickets, at £7.50, will soon be on sale for the event which will be held at Woodfield Park, off Tickhill Road, Balby, Doncaster, on Saturday 23 March between 3pm and 8pm. Tickets are available on the Eventbrite website (opens in new window).

Ramadan is the ninth Islamic month in which Muslims fast and celebrate the revelation of their Holy Book, The Quran. It’s a time to reflect, renew faith, and practice intense devotion and spirituality. One of the most commonly used phrases to wish someone a happy Ramadan is by saying “Ramadan Mubarak” which translates to “Blessed Ramadan”.

This year, Ramadan is expected to begin on Monday 11 March, depending on the sighting of the moon, and will last for 29 to 30 days.

Muslims observing the fasts during this month will abstain from food and drink during daylight hours and pray in congregations after breaking their fast after sunset. Here are some simple ways for managers and colleagues to create a supportive environment during Ramadan:

1. have a conversation with colleagues before Ramadan starts to discuss their individual needs
2. schedule meetings, training sessions, events earlier in the day or morning. Be mindful of the impact that fasting might have on your colleague as the day progresses
3. support flexible working, particularly around taking breaks and ensure colleagues working late shifts get enough break time to pray and break their fast. Eid al-Fitr, an Arabic phrase meaning ‘Festival of Breaking the Fast’, is a celebratory time spent with friends, family, and the local community and officially marks the end of Ramadan. The exact timing is based on the sighting of the moon. Eid al-Fitr officially begins at the start of the Islamic month of Shawwal, the tenth month of the Islamic (Hijri) calendar. This year, Ramadan is expected to end on Tuesday 9 April 2024, depending on the sighting of the moon
4. since the Islamic calendar is lunar, please be mindful that employees may not know the precise time off they’ll need for Eid al-Fitr, so they may request annual leave at short notice. If you want to wish someone you know a happy Eid, you can say: “Eid Mubarak” to them. When translated into English, it means ‘blessed festival’ or ‘blessed feast’. It is the most common way people express their celebration to family and friends

Let’s talk apprentices

During National Apprenticeship Week (February 5 to 11) we showcased some of our apprentices and their journeys here with us.

Gaining new skills and qualifications

When Emma Skirrow was 43, she gained a new job and decided she wanted more knowledge and decided to be an apprentice.

Emma who is one of our Data Quality Technicians, encouraged others to follow the apprenticeship route, whatever their age, to get the qualifications they need.

She said: “When I was successful in getting my new job, I knew the basics of being a data quality technician, but I wanted to learn more. I wanted to study to gain knowledge but also for confidence, so that I knew what I needed to do this new role.

You can see all of Emma’s story on YouTube Emma’s story (opens in new window).

Never too old to study an apprenticeship

When Debbie Horton started in a new role with us it was highlighted to her that she had lots of experience but no relevant qualifications to climb the career ladder, so she signed up for an apprenticeship.

Debbie, who was 50 at the time, completed three years of study in 2023 and is now looking forward to studying a Chartered Manager Health and Social Care degree level qualification.

Read all of Debbie’s story on YouTube Debbie’s story (opens in new window).

Having the opportunity to reach your goal

Danny Bowler from the Enhance Care Home team is studying a DA Physiotherapy and shares his apprentice journey.

“Becoming a physiotherapist has always been my goal but back in 2018, I received the news that I had stage 4 cancer. This set the goal back as my focus was on recovery rather than career aspirations. Now clear of cancer, an apprentice physiotherapy position became available in RDaSH. I knew that this opportunity would be perfect for me. I would have the flexibility of attending university and also earning a wage at the same time, something that an undergrad BSc does not offer.

“Being able to further expand my knowledge of the human anatomy, physiology and having the clinical opportunities to apply learnt knowledge and understanding to my practice. I feel this has increased my confidence when having clinical and non clinical conversations with other health professionals.

“My proudest achievement would be achieving a very successful grade in my muscular skeletal assessment. I knew before starting my apprenticeship that the muscular skeletal assessment was going to be one of my weakest areas so I knew that I had to apply myself even more than what I would in other modules. Achieving this grade did increase my confidence massively as I know that as long as I continue to apply myself, the results will follow.

Anyone thinking of doing an apprenticeship, I would encourage them to go for it. It is a very different way of studying and can be very intense at times, but I feel this is the best way to become a physiotherapist.

Latest news from our staff networks

Our staff networks are open to all colleagues, volunteers, and students, whether you identify with a particular group, or you would like to learn more and attend as an ally to support your colleagues.

We had a busy year in 2023 with celebrations held for Black History Month, Disability History Month, LGBTQ+ History Month, along with attending Doncaster, Rotherham, and North Lincolnshire Pride. We also saw the launch of our new Women’s Network.

With collaboration from the Disability and Wellbeing Network the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) team also launched the reasonable adjustment toolkit, along with the revamped Wellbeing Passport for all colleagues.

If you’d like more information about this, please contact the EDI Team on:

• Email: rdash.equalityanddiversity@nhs.net

Meet you network chairs

DAWN (Disability and Wellbeing Network)

Network Date for your diary: DAWN, 4 March, 1:30pm to 3pm.

REaCH (Race Equality and Cultural Heritage)

MS Teams Date for your diary: REaCH, 9 April, 1pm to 2:30pm.

LGBTQ+

Date for your diary: LGBTQ+ 1 April, 1:30 to 2:50pm.

Women’s

Date for your diary: Women’s 25 April, 9:30 to 11:30am.

For more information, or for an invitation to any of the meetings, please contact the EDI Team on:

• Email: rdash.equalityanddiversity@nhs.net

Other news for consideration

Dr Mike’s ‘interpreter’ role

Dr Michael Seneviratne has taken over an additional role as the trust’s Chief Clinical Information Officer (CCIO).

The post involves being a vital bridge between Health Informatics and clinical colleagues as we carry out research and move ahead with introducing more digital technology to enhance the care we provide for our patients.

Specialty Doctor Mike said: “In some ways you could describe my role as an ‘interpreter’ between Informatics and clinicians, so we can work together with a common language that we all understand. A good example is SystmOne where I am working with trust teams to understand their needs, ready for sharing with IT colleagues as we continue to develop the software.

“The CCIO role fits in very well with another role I have as the trust’s Clinical Director for Research.”

Dr Mike, who joined the trust in 2016, has taken the CCIO role over from Dr Arty Das.

Evaluation leads to improved patient care

Research by two of our Clinical Psychologists has led to improvements in the way one of our older adult mental health inpatient services supports people with dementia who display behaviours that challenge.

Their findings have now been published in the respected peer review journal, Working with Older People.

It was while Dr Nicole King was on Doctorate of Clinical Psychology training that her supervisor, Rotherham Clinical Psychologist Dr Ian Asquith, asked her to carry out a service evaluation of the ways behaviour monitoring charts were being used in an older adult inpatient service, to understand staff perceptions of behaviour monitoring charts and see if any changes needed to be made.

Colleagues had previously used the charts to record behaviours that challenge in dementia, what may have caused them, and any consequences and staff interventions as a result.

Dr King, who is now a qualified Clinical Psychologist working in adult mental health in Doncaster, said “The aim was to see how the charts were being used and to see what colleagues thought of them, if they were valued and how useful they were.”

The evaluation highlighted that although staff felt confident in completing the charts, they were not always seen as worthwhile, the processes following their completion were unclear, and they felt disempowered in the systemic hierarchy of inpatient setting. This prompted Dr Asquith to look further afield for a different model.

Dr Asquith said, “knowing some of the challenges with our old system, this gave us an opportunity to explore new approaches. An evidence-based colour coded chart was being used by colleagues at Humber NHS Foundation Trust, who were very happy to share their practice with us so we could think about how it could be applied in the ward”.

“Our old charts only recorded negative behaviour, when a patient had reached a crisis situation and needed support. But by now using a colour arrangement our ward colleagues monitor positive behaviour with a green symbol, yellow for escalating behaviour, and then finally red for a crisis that is likely to result in an incident. They can then review what potentially caused any escalation.

“Dr King’s evaluation revealed that it wasn’t just about reporting and collecting data but also about putting structures in place to support colleagues to feel confident in the way the system operates. It’s now embedded in the ward, and they have really bought into it.”

You can read “An evaluation of behaviour monitoring charts for behaviours that challenge in an old adult inpatients dementia service” on the emerald website (opens in new window).

Meet the Patient Experience and Involvement team

Hello, we are the Patient Experience and Involvement team, and we are here to understand and improve patient and carer experience.

We work in partnership with local communities to shape and develop services and keen to hear all voices, and to connect. There are many ways to get involved to help with co-production and transformation. Some people choose to join one off focus groups, and other people choose to formally volunteer with us.

We are involved with various projects all supporting the 28 promises, specifically, promises 1 to 5 which nurture partnerships with patients and citizens to support good health.

Patient Experience team

Hello, my name is Paula Rylatt, and I am the Deputy Director for Patient Experience and Involvement. I also work with the South Yorkshire Mental Health, Learning Disability and Autism Provider Collaborative for community and patient engagement and co- production.

More about Paula Rylatt

I am a registered mental health nurse and have worked here since 2018. Before this, I had many different clinical, service improvement, and system leadership roles. I’m delighted to lead the team here, we lead work around engagement and involvement with citizens, patient’s, carers, and the public.

We work with people with lived experience of health and social care to shape and continually improve services, work with patient and carer feedback, and with volunteering. We also lead specific pieces of work such as the Patient Carer and Race Equity.

Framework, an approach to meeting the needs of diverse communities and reducing health inequalities in terms of access, experience, and outcomes in mental health services. We also work in partnership with community and neighbourhood groups in each of our areas regarding all things involvement, and specifically regarding peer support developments.

Always happy to chat, so please drop me email me if you are interested in hearing more at p.rylatt@nhs.net.

Hello, my name is James, and I am the Patient Experience and Involvement Lead for the team.

More about James

During my professional career I have worked in mental health services for around 12 years, I have also worked for the British Institute of Learning Difficulties (BILD) on their BILD Act panel as an expert by experience. Prior to starting my current role, I was in post with the Learning and Development team here at the trust facilitating reducing restrictive interventions.

The views and experiences of everyone who uses the trust, and its services are extremely important in developing and shaping the future of RDaSH. I believe everyone should be empowered to speak up and be heard. This could be a person being nursed on one of our wards, a person in our local community, or someone who has formerly accessed our services and their family and carers for example. If you would like to know what opportunities are available, please feel free to email me or any member of the team at james.dickinson@nhs.net.

Hello my name is Maryam, and I am the Expert by Experience Lead. I am a registered Pharmacy Technician and have a had a variety of roles throughout my 10 year career in the NHS.

More about Maryam

I am a passionate advocate for quality improvement and procedure change. Alongside empowering people to speak up about their lived experience to help reduce stigma surrounding mental health, reduce health inequalities and improve services at RDaSH for all. Please email me or a member of the team if you have any questions at maryam.saddiq@nhs.net.

Hello, my name is Safeena Ali, and I am the Patient Experience and Involvement Facilitator.

More about Safeena Ali

Having substantial experience in the NHS, (just under 17 years), I have developed an extensive knowledge base and experience of working within multi-disciplinary teams and agencies across health and social care, public and voluntary sector, community and the independent sectors.

Building on this experience I value the opportunity to be part of the Patient Experience Team and develop and support initiative’s in improving patient access, experience, and involvement opportunities in the services RDaSH offers its population.

I have successfully set up over 15 projects aiming to improve access to services and information across health authorities, while being the advocate for many carers, patients and colleagues who want that little extra support and a ‘listening’ ear.

As a British Asian I bring to the role my own personal experience of some of the challenges and the wins I have achieved through my academic and professional life as a mother, wife and daughter and a friend among may other roles trying to support others by being an example through empowerment and role modelling.

Please don’t hesitate to get in touch safeenaali1@nhs.net.

Hello, my name is Terrie Batty, and I am the Administrator for the Patient Experience and Involvement team. I have worked in admin for the NHS for around two years which is a great passion of mine.

More about Terrie Batty

I am very excited to be part of the team and gain an understanding of how the service is delivered from a patient perspective while keeping the team organised and prepared for the day ahead. Everyone in the team is very warm and welcoming. We are looking forward to building positive relationships. Any queries you can email me at terrie.batty@nhs.net.

Hello, my name is Dave, and I am new to the role as Patient Experience and Involvement Lead.

More about Dave

I’ve worked in the NHS since 2011 in mental health care, starting on the wards, then in a community team. I spent seven years working in an NHS charity developing local peer led projects to help people build better lives, helping to build connections, friends, networks, and developing exciting new skills and talents to help people invest in themselves and see their own potential, involving patients and carers in their own care planning and long terms health.

I sit on two independent charity boards Barnsley Football Club Community Trust and the Sleep Charity. Both are South Yorkshire based. I am delighted to join the team here and look forward to working together across the footprint. You can contact at david.watson39@nhs.net.

Hello, my name is Neil, and I am the Volunteer Coordinator for RDaSH in the Patient Experience and Involvement team.

More about Neil

This is an exciting role for me because I started off as a Volunteer for RDaSH myself and through this I know how important Volunteering is for the person with lived experience as well as the Volunteer. I have worked in previous Volunteer focused roles before with other hospital trusts such as North Lincs and Goole, but before this I used to work in Media working on TV shows such as X Factor and Emmerdale. Being a person with lived experience of a mental health condition, I feel I can use this to influence my role.

Volunteering is the backbone of an organisation, and I can’t wait to create exciting opportunities for current and future volunteers. If you wish to speak to me further, my email is neil.anderson18@nhs.net.

Hello, my name is Glyn Butcher, and I am a Director of the People Focused Group (PFG) in Doncaster.

More about Glyn Butcher

I have been involved in mental health services for 38 years as a young carer and my own involvement from the age of 19 years.

I have a diagnosis of emotional unstable personality disorder and autism as well as other long term physical health conditions. I choose to see my mental health as a gift rather than an illness. It lets me to see the world differently, to problem solve differently, challenge things differently, understand things differently and to have different types of conversations which allows me to lean into communities.

I have a different consciousness that opens me up to new possibilities. One of them being the power and potential of peer support. Peer support not only changed my life, but also saved my life. I work alongside the Patient Experience and Involvement team, with the brilliant Karen Senior from PFG, supporting our peer support partnerships, and community mental health transformation. I use my networking skills to connect people and relationships across Doncaster community, bringing the RDaSH promises to life and improving services for you and me.

Hello, my name is Karen Senior. I am the Community Peer Support Manager for the People Focused Group.

More about Karen Senior

I have been with The People Focused Group since we moved into our home The Wellness Centre.

Before this, I’d worked in learning disability services where I was passionate about Person Centred Planning and had supported people in different places around the country to start their journeys in life with personal budgets.

I have diagnoses of Bipolar and Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder and have always struggled to hold down a job for more than a couple of years as the system couldn’t support me.

When I arrived at The People Focused Group, I finally found a place where I could be honest about who I was and was supported when I became ill by the whole group.

I have done various roles at The People Focused Group but am currently setting up Peer Forums in a number of places. These forums will be putting peers at the centre of moving peer support forward in their area and making sure that peer support stays pure and in communities.

I live near Barnsley in a beautiful part of the world with my partner and mischievous little dog Artie May. I love a simple life drinking cups of tea and cooking homely meals.

Come meet us at:

• Swallownest Court, Rotherham on Tuesday 5 March from 1 to 3pm
• The Woodlands, Rotherham on Tuesday 19 March from 1 to 3pm
• Great Oaks, Scunthorpe on Tuesday 16 April from 10am to midday
• Great Oaks, Scunthorpe on Tuesday 30 April from 1 to 3pm
• Hazel Ward, Doncaster on Tuesday 14 May from 10am to midday
• Hawthorn Ward, Doncaster on Tuesday 28 May from 1 to 3pm

Contact us by using one of our shared inboxes or email us direct.

Voluntary services:

• Email: rdash.volunteers@nhs.net

Patient experience:

• Email: rdash.patient-experience@nhs.net

IT equipment amnesty appeal

Got any laptops or other IT equipment which you are not using or only using occasionally? Please contact IT Services so that they can be reused or recycled.

The IT Department is working on an asset management programme to ensure that the trust’s IT equipment is being used to its full potential and efficiency, especially laptops.

We know there are many laptops which are not being fully used so we need to bring them back to IT Services.

If you have any laptops or other IT equipment that haven’t been used for the last two months, or sitting in a cupboard or drawer, please email us at rdash.itamnesty@nhs.net and we will arrange collection.

Each laptop returned will save the trust £1,000.

Fundraising

Ironman Jim’s mental challenge

Trust colleague and extreme runner Jim Fletcher pushed his mental and physical boundaries to the limit for a local good cause.

He completed the daunting Goggins 4x4x48 challenge, running four miles every four hours for 48 hours from Thursday 9 February through to Saturday 11 February 2024.

Jim, who works at Doncaster’s Sinclair House, said: “It’s a running challenge that doesn’t just put your physical fitness to the test, but your psychological strength as well as you don`t get to sleep. I did it to support Doncaster Housing for Young People Limited, and any donation will help make an impact. Please donate if you can. Thanks in advance for any contribution you can give.”

Final total to date stands at £1,024 and his fundraiser link is open if you’d like to support him on the GoFundMe website (opens in new window).

Scott Sykes is fundraising

Senior Finance Business Partner Scott Sykes has been selected as a fundraiser on the Doncaster Rovers legends team in this year’s legends game vs Liverpool legends held at Doncaster Rovers Eco Power stadium on Saturday 8 June 2024.

Mixed teams of fundraisers and ex professionals of Doncaster Rovers and Liverpool will be playing football in aid of Doncaster based cancer Charity Evestrust. In the 2023 same fixture almost 5,000 fans attended the game.

Evestrust is a local charity supporting people with cancer and their loved ones by fulfilling dreams and any money raised supports this.

Scott is aiming to raise £1,000 and if anyone would like to donate towards this amazing charity, scan the QR code to the right.

Thank you so much. Keep your eyes peeled for information over the next few months for tickets to the game going on sale.

Eve Merton Dreams Trust Legends Football fundraiser (opens in new window).

Keeping you mentally well in winter

Finding life a struggle, feeling stressed, anxious, or depressed? Our free Talking Therapies services can help. We provide a range of psychological therapies that are effective for stress, anxiety, or depression, which are common mental health problems lots of us experience.

You can refer yourself directly, or a GP can refer you. Help is available in person, by video, over the phone or as an online course.

Talking Therapies are effective and confidential treatments delivered by fully trained and accredited NHS practitioners. Talking Therapies services offer cognitive behavioural therapy, counselling, guided self-help and other therapies.

To be eligible you need to be aged over 18 years and be registered with a GP. You can either fill in an online form, phone your local service or email. Someone from the service will get in touch.

Marcia Watson is a Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner at Doncaster:

• “Our aim is to provide you with tools to help manage your symptoms of depression and anxiety, now and into the future. Our diverse team are all professionals, and we supply interpreters if English is not your first language to ensure inclusion for all. If you feel Talking Therapies may benefit you, please do not hesitate to call us.”

Kerry Clarke explains her role as a Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner at Rotherham NHS Talking Therapies.

• “Recent events, like the pandemic and cost-of-living crisis have led to many people needing support to manage things like low mood. Coming to Talking Therapies helps you to learn ways to support your own mental health and find some control in the anxious environments we all find ourselves in.”

Kerry Davies is a Counsellor for Long- term Conditions at Doncaster NHS Talking Therapies:

• “As a team we support patients to connect mind and body to work with what the body needs with their health condition diagnosis. We are a team full of compassion, empathy, and resilience. We support patients to feel heard and make the changes they want to make to reach their full potential.”

Jenny Gravestock is the Clinical Lead at North Lincolnshire NHS Talking Therapies:

• “It’s not always easy reaching out for help and it can sometimes feel like a big step. If you think we might be able to help you, please get in touch. We can talk to you about the treatment we can offer, working with you to find the best option for you.”

Help refresh the South Yorkshire Start with People Strategy To make NHS services in South Yorkshire the best they can be the NHS South Yorkshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) is seeking your help.

The ICB is required to have a document (or strategy) that explains how and why it will involve citizens. In South Yorkshire it is called Start with People: South Yorkshire.

You could tell them how you think they should involve you, what you think to their previous strategy, what you think of the changes they’re thinking about making to the strategy or what you think should be included in their strategy.

There is a range of ways to give your views, including a survey, email address, MS Teams online meeting, drop-ins, a readers panel and an offer to attend your existing meeting.

The refreshed strategy will go to the ICB meeting in May 2024. This initial phase of involvement will be taking place until the middle of March.

Visit the NHS South Yorkshire ICB website to find out how you can get involved.

Care group news

Rotherham news in brief

Woodlands staff are supporting our older adult patients to feel empowered and bring a sense of ‘home’ to the inpatient service, they are doing this by creating ‘date day’ whereby the patients are supported to cook a meal for a loved one or relative and then invite the relative to share a meal with them. The team have run husband and wife dates and dad and daughter ones

Rotherham schools invited to work towards new mental health and wellbeing award

We’ve launched a pioneering new schools- based award which aims to put a greater focus on pupils’ mental health.

Open to all schools in Rotherham who are partnered with our With me in Mind (WMIM) mental health support service, the NHS accredited Mental Health and Well Being Award is the first of its kind in South Yorkshire.

Rachel Evans, from the WMIM team, said: “The aim of the award, is to embed a culture of mental health and wellbeing amongst the whole school community, pupils, staff and families.”

“We are working alongside Rotherham’s Genuine Partnerships organisation to roll-out the award scheme, which will see each school allocated a ‘coach’ to support them on the path to accreditation.”

Accreditation is linked to the Government’s eight principles for promoting mental health and wellbeing in schools, which include: targeted support, working with parents and carers, and enabling the student voice to influence decisions.

“Crucially, a key part of the award is looking at life from a student’s perspective and listening to their thoughts on the school environment, what they like and what they think could be better. Focus groups will also be set up, including representatives from parents and staff.”

North Lincolnshire news in brief

• We held a Multi Agency Admission and Discharge event. This is protected time to focus on improved patient flow, opportunity to recognise and unblock barriers to discharge through collaborative working.
• Dialog+ Risk Training was delivered to North Lincolnshire Primary Care and Community colleagues in January (15 and 22).
• Carers Forum Launch.
• Going Greek, colleagues are working hard to travel the distance from Rotherham to Kefalonia with the aim to improve fitness, health and wellbeing and also promote environmentally friendly travel.
• Careers events, actively promoting employment opportunities in our care group. Attended events at local schools and colleges and also at recruitment events in Hull to promote our careers further afield. Plans to attend more events in 2024 including schools, colleges, local recruitment events.

International workers induction

Our Chaplaincy team took part of the induction for new international workers.

Hasim Patel and June Rutherford, Chaplains presented the work of the team and the care and support they provide to both patients and staff.

Colleagues from various countries spoke about their homes and what led them to a career in mental health care. They spoke about their faith and cultures and shared experiences when they were not so confident to talk about these things. Stories were shared of people’s faith journey and how it has impacted their life and profession.

A good discussion ensued with a question and answer session.

Doncaster news in brief

New services launched

We’re launching two new services for people with dementia in Doncaster.

We’ve teamed up with Doncaster Age UK, Alzheimers’ Society and Doncaster Council to create the services, which will be officially launched on March 21 at the EcoPower Stadium in the city.

Watch this space for more news about the services and photos from the launch day.

Children’s drawing competition

We’re inviting local schoolchildren to enter a competition to design a new fundraising collection box for St John’s Hospice.

St John’s Hospice has launched its ‘Hospice Heroes’ campaign to encourage Key Stage One and Two primary school-aged pupils to get involved with its fundraising activities by creating artwork to appear on a cardboard collection box for supporters to donate their loose change.

St John’s Hospice Events Coordinator Richard Smith said: “We’re reaching out to local pupils to create bright, eye-catching artwork to encourage people to make charitable donations, no matter how small for St John’s Hospice.

“The entries should be in colour, in any media such as pencil, pen, or paint, using our downloadable template.”

The competition will be judged by the St John’s Hospice Team, along with patients and families in their care, with the winners’ artwork appearing on the new charity boxes.

There will also be a prize for the overall winner in each Key Stage One and Two category.

To enter the Hospice Heroes Art Competition, please visit the St John’s Hospice events (opens in new window).

Chaplaincy teams meet to discuss best practice

The Chaplaincy team from Sheffield Health and Social Care trust (SHSC) visited the our Spiritual Care team for an afternoon of learning and sharing best practices.

Father Andy Graydon delivered a team building exercise, and Hassan Jamil a reflection piece for both teams to draw from one another’s experiences being a chaplain. RDaSH and SHSC are both part of the Integrated Care systems, South Yorkshire Chaplaincy Team Network.

Talking about good communication in healthcare at Sheffield University

Chaplain June Rutherford and daughter Sam McMahon were recently invited to speak about good communication and its importance in the NHS to final year nursing students at the University of Sheffield.

June, talked about the subject from a non-clinical perspective and from her experience as a Healthcare Chaplain working at our Spiritual Care Centre.

Sam, who is a learning disability nurse by background, also has extensive experience working on our neuro rehabilitation wards. She is currently working in the Learning and Development team and is supporting students, educators in practice and clinical preceptees and preceptors.

Sam is also developing a student education programme that supports both students undertaking their placements at RDaSH and the clinicians in practice supporting them.

Sam said: “It’s important that new clinicians understand that good patient communication is essential in delivering respectful and compassionate care.

“Good communication begins from referral by a primary care clinician through to discharge from secondary care, clear, accessible communication is vital throughout.

New hospice day therapy service

Our hospice has launched its new-look Day Therapy Unit providing therapy led service for Doncaster people living with a life limiting palliative condition.

This new service aims to improve quality of life and symptoms, through meeting other people and taking part in a range of guided activities.

St John’s Hospice Lead Physiotherapist Sally Wheater, who played a primary role in setting up the service said: “We’ve developed our services around the needs of our patients and offer support in self-managing a variety of symptoms, along with gentle exercise.

“Our aim is to support patients so they can perform daily activities independently and have a sense of control over their lives, while continuing their important life roles and usual routines.”

The team, which comprises of assistant practitioners, complementary therapists, an activity co-ordinator, and hairdresser, offer a variety of sessions from Tuesday to Friday in the Hospice’s Day Therapy Unit. Patients are encouraged to set goals for what they wish to achieve from their weekly sessions, which run for 12 weeks.

Sally said: “People living with palliative conditions can sometimes feel isolated, so these sessions offer an opportunity for peer support, drawing on shared personal experience to provide knowledge, social interaction, emotional assistance, or practical help, often in a way that’s mutually beneficial.

“We’re also providing education sessions, creative activities, complementary therapy and hairdressing to stimulate and soothe our patients while they are here, and we’ll be relying on their feedback to continually develop the care we provide.”

Referral to the Day Therapy Unit is via a healthcare professional (such as a GP, specialist nurse, or district nurse). When we receive the referral, we will carry out a face-to-face assessment to see whether the service will be of clinical benefit to the patient.

Service Manager Sam Edwards said: “We’re delighted to have launched this much-needed new service making a real difference to local patients. Our aim is to help them manage their condition as early as possible after their diagnosis, with the best possible quality of life.”

For more information on how to support St John’s Hospice, please visit the St John’s Hospice (opens in new window).

Sabrina’s busy making friends

A gentle giant is putting smiles on colleagues’ faces as a ‘furvorite’ visitor to trust sites in Doncaster.

Therapy dog Sabrina is visiting all our physical care teams at least once a month as part of a health and wellbeing initiative, with the four-year old Saint Bernard happy to sit back and be patted and fussed.

Owner Laura Barker, Clinical Team Lead for Dietetics, accompanies the 62-kilo pedigree pooch on her trust travels and says everyone is pleased to see her.

“She is so good natured and happy to meet people, we get a warm welcome everywhere we go. It’s great to see colleagues enjoying being with her, taking a few minutes out of their busy days to relax”, added Laura.

The visits were the idea of Health and Wellbeing lead Leah Walto and Clinical team leader Clare Hardy.

Away from our trust, big-hearted Sabrina has raised hundreds of pounds for the Battersea Dogs Home charity by taking part in doggy fundraisers and donating blood for other dogs every three months.

New online Your Opinion Counts form

Did you know that we a have a new online form for patients, carers and anyone wanting to leave us feedback and comments about the trust?

You can find the form on our trust website at the link below: Your feedback and complaints online form (opens in new window).

Flourish news

New appointment at Flourish, we’ve appointed a new operations manager at Flourish, our community enterprise in Doncaster.

Ashley Evans (34), of Warmsworth, Doncaster, took up the job recently. He joins us from a previous role with recycling company Veolia, based in Sheffield.

Ashley, pictured above, said: “I’m really looking forward to the new role. It’s a completely different change for me and it’s exciting.”

Ashley is busy getting to know the Flourish team and says he’s loving his new job.

Coming soon

Keep your eyes peeled in The Walled Garden, the coffee shop shed will be re-opening its doors and there will be an ice cream cart very soon

Walks and wheels

Walks and Wheels aims to remove physical and mental barriers to becoming more active through travel. Flourish has teamed up with The Yorkshire Bike Shack and Pedal Ready to deliver this brand-new active travel programme on behalf of Doncaster City Council.

There are courses to help people to learn to ride, confidence building lessons, safe route planning, one-to-one bike rides, group bike rides and bike loans. There is a range of adapted cycles to suit all abilities to use while taking part.

There is also support to overcome barriers to walking, recognising that walking isn’t easy for everyone, whether due to mental or physical health conditions or from simply not having the confidence or motivation to leave the house. They offer walking activities in small groups or on a one-to-one basis and can even meet you at your door.

They can help you to explore and plan routes in your local area and can loan walking aides should you need them. People can self-refer to the scheme at the Yorkshire bike shack website (opens in new window).

Toby’s last word

Two months ago, a Christmas card dropped through your letter box. Unless you have joined the trust since January 1, obviously. The card was to thank you for the work you do, and the compassion that I can sense in so much of our work.

But it was also to highlight some things about 2024. And as we are two months into the 12, I wanted to remind you, and myself, of those three things:

• we want to be an organisation where absolutely everyone wears a Hello My Name Is badge. Our employment policy now makes that mandatory. That determination to be a place where everyone knows your name is because we want to be friendly, to be kind, and to let those we work with and look after to know who we are and who we identify as
• communication can always be improved at work. It won’t have escaped your attention that we have an app. We want to make that app the normal way we share information inside the trust. We want to cut back on emails. Make smart use of noticeboards. Make sure you have a team meeting to talk and make sense of your work alongside others. But the app is key. You can dip in and out, choosing what information you need. Please download the App. Log onto our intranet or use the QR code earlier in this edition of Trust Matters
• and we will start from September, with our new Learning Half Days (LHD). You will hear much more about these before then. North Lincolnshire colleagues across both care groups start a pilot in April. LHDs will give us time to talk, to enquire and be curious about what works well across the trust. Chance too to pick specific training and skills

Of course, 2024 also sees us get busy with the strategy and the promises. But we can’t do that if you don’t know about them. So, in March, we have a small anonymous survey to test knowledge of the promises. It is not an exam! We are just wanting to know if you know.

Fill in a short form (opens in new window), letting us know, so we can test ourselves on how we are communicating, and whether there are parts of the trust who know more about the work to be done than others.

Thank you,

@TobyLewis_NHS (opens in new window)

Page last reviewed: May 07, 2024
Next review due: May 07, 2025

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