networkinternal magazine for staff and volunteers

March 2017 | Issue 176

2 March 2017

in this issue

Welcome to network

Senior manager on-call

Debra Garside - 24 March from 5pm to 27 March at 9am

Sue Allison - 27 March from 9am to 31 March

Georgina Bissell - 31 March to 7 April

Pippa Wilding - 7 April to 14 April

Barbara Gale -14 April to 9am on 15 April (Good Friday)

Sue Allison -15 April to 9am on 16 April

Victoria Barber- 16 April (Easter Sunday) to 9am on 17 April (Easter Monday)

Rachel Spencer - 17 April to 9am on April 18

Staff Support Counsellor Julie Dansie on 01787 228334

Hello: Bank Hospice Nurse, Victoria Mayes; Community

Support Team Manager, Gemma Lockyer; Warehouse

Assistant, Gareth Thomas; Crafts Volunteers, Claire Morris,

Margaret Bartholomew, Carrol Sadler and Lorraine

Bedford; Volunteer Receptionist, Christine Barber; Shop

Volunteer, Angie Underdown; Day Hospice Volunteer,

Kathleen McNeill; Complementary Therapist, Alison Rookes

and Volunteer Administrator, Susan Barker.

Goodbye: Relief Shop Manager, Terence Burrett;

Hospice Neighbours Administrator, Nicola Hurd; Shop

Volunteers, Rosemary Downes, Shirley Felton and Chantel

Fosker; Fundraising Volunteer, Emilia Jewell; Finance

Volunteer, Elisette Moreira; Catering Volunteers, Phyllis Daly,

Janet Fallaize, Jillian Lindsell and David Harwood who also

leaves his position as Volunteer Fundraising Administrator.

Changes: Shreena Vyas, Speciality Registrar, has

finished her placement and is now working on the bank.

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Organisational news

Our values Meet the team

The next Network deadline is Friday, 7 April. Please email all your stories, pictures and news to Katie Anderson at katie.anderson@stnh.org.uk

Handsome hound Buster Boo has proved he is the top dog as he is revealed as the winner of our Paws in the Park poster pooch competition.Buster Boo, British Bulldog, age 2, beat-off stiff competition from 510 other dogs to become the face of Paws in the Park 2017. Buster Boo and his owner Katie Dumican were invited to the Hospice for a photo-shoot.Katie said: “I was extremely happy to win. I really didn’t expect it; it came as a complete shock. Buster is perfect in my eyes he has a gorgeous face, he has a cheeky but very loving personality and makes me smileevery day. I’m very excited to see his chops on the posters and banners he has a gorgeous face.”

Our poster pooch Buster Boo

3vwww.stnicholashospicecare.org.uk

Organisational news

Reflective practice training session takes place Ten members of staff have recently completed a reflective practice training session, which aimed to give participants the tools to facilitate reflective practice sessions for colleagues. Reflective practice is essential for clinical staff, but there are also those from

other Hospice teams who can benefit from the training, for example fundraising, administration and facilities. Managers can identify the staff they think may need access to a small reflective practice group. Those who have already had the opportunity to train in

reflective practice will work to ensure that these needs are met. The initiative will be launched in the coming months, but if you have any questions or want to learn more about reflective practice contact David Rushton or Julia Dansie.

Bishops’ visit

The Hospice was pleased to welcome the Rt Revd Martin Seeley, Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich, and the Rt Revd Dr Mike Harrison, Bishop of Dunwich on Friday, 10 March. The pair stopped off as part of their Lent Pilgrimage, a journey which saw them walk 70 miles across Suffolk to meet communities and discover the challenges they face.After sharing evening prayers with, staff, volunteers, those being cared for by the hospice and their loved ones the Bishops had the chance to chat to everyone about their pilgrimage and enjoy refreshments provided by the Catering Team.

Our Hospice is in need of more people to be a good neighbour in their community.The Hospice Neighbours initiative which started in 2010 has proved extremely successful, but to make sure the service continues to grow more volunteers are needed. With this in mind, next month, the Hospice will be holding two information sessions for those interested in the role. Glenn Hubbard, Hospice Neighbours Manager, said: “Hospice Neighbours are there to provide a little extra help and support to those in our community coping with illness. “That support could be anything, it could be companionship, running errands, walking the dog, or helping around the house and garden. Being a Hospice Neighbour is about being a good neighbour, offering support to those who need it.”Kym Jackson became a Hospice Neighbour in Thetford about two-years-ago. Kym said: “I had always wanted to volunteer but just didn’t know what to do. I had often thought about doing the soup-runs at night, but then I saw an advert on Facebook for Hospice Neighbours and I just signed up. I like the idea of it and it fits in around my work. I have always just wanted to give something back.”The information sessions will take place on:Tuesday, 25 April from 10am to 11.30pm at the Hyndman Centre, Hospital Road, Bury St Edmunds.Wednesday, 26 April from 7pm to 8.30pm, at the Hospice, Hardwick Lane, Bury St Edmunds.You don’t have to book to attend, but if you would like more information please call 01284 719638.

Could you be a Hospice Neighbour?

4 March 2017

What’s behind service design

Our charity is focussed on making the changes it needs to make to ensure Hospice services continue to provide the very best experiences for those across our community in the final chapters of their lives.

We have now decided on a name for this ongoing process, which best describes what we need to achieve, Listen Learn Adapt:

Listen: to what our community says about their experiences of dying, death and bereavement, particularly the experiences of those who have not received Hospice support.

Learn: use the information gathered to gain an overall view on what people have said and explore ideas that could lead to better experiences.

Adapt: work with staff, partners, the people we care for their families and others to develop a sustainable service model.

The what, the why and the when? What are we going to do?

The simple answer is that we are going to start creating a Hospice service model that will meet the needs of our community now and in the future. To do that we need people to tell us about their experiences of dying, death and bereavement, we also need independent help to review our services. We need a fresh pair of eyes.

Why are we doing this?

• The demand for our services is growing and we need to reach more people in our community.• We are facing funding challenges. There will be a £236, 243 reduction in the amount we receive from the West Suffolk Clinical Commissioning Group in the coming years and it is becoming more difficult to fundraise.• We are spending more than we are bringing in. Currently we are funding this gap with the charity’s reserves but this cannot continue.

When will this start?

It started with the away days and over the next few months we’ll start the listening process. Our first exercise is to refresh the Hospice’s values. Over the page the Chairman of our Board of Trustees Charles Simpson shares how we are looking at our values and using this process.

5vwww.stnicholashospicecare.org.uk

Our Values

What do our values do?

Our core values create the foundation for everything we do. They guide the way we work together to care for our people and support their loved ones. Our values, which are rooted in the charity’s early days, have created our culture and are a combination of all our actions, behaviours and decisions. In many ways values set expectations, the expectations the charity has as an employer of its employees and volunteers, but most importantly the expectations our community has of us, it is often the ‘how’ we do something as well as the ‘what’ we do that makes a difference. Our current values are: leadership, communication, teamwork, quality, resilience, developing, respect, equality, learning and integrity.

Why change?

Our existing values and the behaviours they inspire have stood us in good stead for a number of years. To develop in the future we need to ensure that the values we have underpin and inform the services we provide to our community. Just as they can change over time, values can often have different meanings to different people. It is important that all of our volunteers and staff feel a connection to our values, which is why we want you to have a say on what our values should be.We would like everyone, volunteers, staff, those who use our services and their loved ones, to let us know what they think the values which form the cornerstones of our Hospice should be.

If St Nicholas Hospice Care was a person what would they be like and what

values would you expect them to have?This is the question Charles Simpson, the Chairman of our Board of Trustees, needs us to answer

We are giving everyone the chance to give their thoughts, which you can do from today. To start this process boards, along with chalk have been placed in Bradbury Green and at the Burton Centre. We want everyone to write on them the values they feel the Hospice

would have if they were a person. Over the coming weeks boards will also visit our shops, where we hope people will do the same. You can also share your thoughts by emailing enquires@stnh.org.uk, or by filling in our online form at

www.stnicholashospice.org.uk/valuesYou will be able to share your thoughts until April 18. On April 27 your views will be shared with our Board of Trustees. From this summary they will work to refine our core values.

What you need to do

6 March 2017

Our supporters Fundraising news

The Haverhill Lions Club has donated a share of the £3,000 raised during their pre-Christmas fundraising activities to the Hospice. They welcomed 620 children and their families to the Santa’s Grotto they built at Strumer Nurseries and Garden Centre. They donated £1,000 to us.

Friends Kerry Farrant and Emma Williams, who both lost parents to cancer have raised £13,033.70, with their My Mum My Dad fundraising campaign. The pair, who both live in Haverhill, decided to split the money with £6,516.85 each going to the Hospice and Addenbrooke’s cancer ward.Emma lost her mum Patricia Redpath to cancer four-years-ago, while Kerry’s dad Sam Stewart passed away due to the disease in September, 2015. Mr Stewart received care and support from the Hospice at home. To raise the funds Emma and Kerry held numerous events, from bingo nights to family fun days, across 2016, all of which were well supported.

One of our volunteers hopes eye-catching art will help raise awareness. Celia Gordon, who has been a volunteer for more than three years, has been busy organising an art exhibition and sale which will pack Tuddenham St Mary with artistic delights.On Saturday, 6 May and Sunday, 7 May the village’s St Mary’s Church will beopening its doors for the occasion which will raise funds for the Hospice and The Friends of Tuddenham Church. Celia, who volunteers on the Sylvan Ward every Wednesday, has led a team to organise the event, which is the second of its kind. Celia explains: “The Hospice offers essential support to people locally and it deserves

as much help as possible to keep its vital services available to the community.“It is important to get many more people to know and understand that the Hospice is dependent upon fundraising events and donations to keep it going. It is amazing how many people I come across who think it is an NHS service not requiring any further finance.”With more than 30 artists already agreeing to submit their work of varying styles and mediums, and with a generous percentage being split between the two charities it is hoped the artistic occasion will once again prove to be a fundraising hit. Admission to the exhibition is free and it is open from 10.30am to 3.30pm both days.

A much-loved family man will be remembered by his loved ones when they take to the sky in a bid to raise funds in his memory. Michael Cutts, known to many as Cuttsy, was diagnosed with a rare form of stomach cancer last September. Following the 50-year-old’s death in January, his wife Ada supported by friends has decided to take a leap of faith on September 24 in a bid to raise funds for the Hospice which supported Michael and his loved ones.

7vwww.stnicholashospicecare.org.uk

Putting pen to paper

Supporting people through the written word Finding understanding and comfort through the written word is at the heart of one of the Hospice’s support groups.

Now in its fifth year and having celebrated the launch of its fourth booklet, the Hospice’s Writing Group is continuing to give people the chance to stretch their imaginations while inspiring them to try new things. A small celebration marked the launch of the group’s most recent booklet, with Chief Executive Barbara Gale attending to share in the group’s success.Over the years the group have achieved many things– but their proudest team

effort remains the booklets they have created.The booklet’s cover reflects the group’s history and achievement - the pen is in memory of Roy a founder member and the only per-son to use a fountain pen, while the words on the back cover ‘we share laughter and tears’, ‘we don’t judge, just care’ were chosen from the work done by the group in 2012.

• The Writing Group meets every Friday from 2pm to 4pm. The sessions are free to attend, but you must book in advance. Telephone 01284 702525 for information.

June Horsfall, one of the group’s founder members joined while her husband Alf was being cared for by the Hospice. She shares her story.

“That first week there were just three of us. June a patient on the ward who ‘wanted to do something normal for a while’. Roy Salt, a Hospice day therapy patient who was also a volunteer and artist. And then there was me, another June, carer to my husband Alf, a Hospice day patient. As reluctant and apprehensive as I was that first week, it turned out to be the best thing I could

have done. However prepared we think we are for life changes, I was not. Being Armistice Day we were warned the fire bell would ring at 11am for the two minutes silence. Some how that eased the tension, we also heard that the tea and coffee would follow at 11.15am and that brought smiles. The second week I missed, Alf had radiotherapy so I did my homework at Addenbrokes. By the time the group restarted in 2012 my husband was a patient on the ward. The nurses persuaded me to join the group, Alf was safe in their care, I knew that, my fear was meeting the

group again after a 12 week gap, but after a warm welcome the fear vanished. For two hours I switched off. That day set the pattern, I left the ward three Fridays for those precious two hours of valuable me time.My hope is that the writing group will continue to sustain members, enabling them to switch off for a while, be themselves and go home feeling better than when they arrived.”

The Writing Group began in November 2011, supported by Suffolk Artlink and was intended to be a four week course. By the fourth week the members did not want the group to end and with an author offering to become a Hospice Volunteer it restarted in February 2012. Made-up of patients, carers and bereaved people over the years there have been 33 members of the group, with memberships varying from weeks, months and years.

8 March 2017

Say hello to the Education Team

What do we do

Who’s who(Left to right back row) Sallie Crouch (Volunteer Admin), Genella Kingham (Administrator), Celia Gordon (Volunteer Admin), Jane Creed (RN Clinical Skills Trainer), Corinne Revens (Clinical Trainer), Lisa Patterson (Community Educator)(Left to right front row) Sally Coldrey (Senior Educator,) Pippa Wilding (Head of Education & Outreach), Becky Holt (Assistant Community Educator), Alison Peacock (Administrator). Karen Wilcox is also the team’s volunteer for front of house external training.

If you would like to find out more about what the Education Department

does you can spent a Day in a Directorate with them.

What we do in practice

Top factAfter deciding their New Year’s resolution was to get fitter, the team decided the best way to do this would be to take on a challenge together. So after a suggestion from Genella, they decided to sign up to Women on Wheels (WoW). Their aim is to ride together and all cross the line together!

The Education Team aims to reach more people in our community of West Suffolk of South Norfolk to raise awareness of end-of-life care. This is undertaken by both formal and informal training sessions for professionals and the public alike. As well as our formal training to health and social care professionals we have also delivered training sessions to groups such as solicitors, the National Farmers Union, Racing Welfare, funeral directors and the WI. We do this by offering courses which cover both specialist and non-specialist subjects in palliative care.

We work closely with the CCG to provide support and training to 47 care homes to increase the confidence of staff to support their residents to remain in their chosen place of residence. This has resulted in new training programmes, workshops and identification tools around frailty, infections and falls for care home staff e.g. the identification ‘of a deteriorating resident’ tool.

• We provide and co-ordinate a wealth of educational courses which are free for all of the Hospice’s staff and volunteers to attend.• We take our training all over the community as we aim to increase the knowledge of end-of-life care.• We can tailor our sessions to meet the needs of local organisations for example we have been working with the chaplaincy team to co-ordinate ‘Gravetalk’ sessions to a wide variety of groups where we encourage people to think and talk about; life, death, society, funerals, and grief.• We have contracts with the local universities and colleges to provide student education and placements across the Hospice.• As part of our outreach work we connect with many local organisations e.g. the Suffolk Connect Project, which includes Bury and Sudbury Town Connect and Haverhill One.•We also co-ordinate all research applications to be undertaken at the Hospice ensuring all appropriate ethical procedures are adhered to.•We co-ordinate the process of ensuring the Hospice’s clinical guidelines are relevant and up-to-date.• We act as a resource within Suffolk and beyond signposting people to online materials, tools and resources.