Following the appointment of Aidan

Thomas as chief executive the Trust has

been welcoming more friendly faces into

its midst.

Barbara McLean has now stepped in as

director of nursing following Robert Bolas’

retirement. Barbara comes with a wealth

of experience of developing nursing

leadership and managing and delivering

mental health services. Her key priorities

are service user engagement, clinical

development and shared

learning.

Barbara is looking

forward to meeting staff and clinical

teams: “I want to make sure I am getting

on the wards and in departments. We run

a 24-hour service and I want to ensure

that staff who work out of office hours

have the opportunities for the same level

of development and learning.”

Roz Brooks, director of quality and

nursing at Norfolk and Waveney Mental

Health Trust, will take over the role post-

merger.

With the secondment of Robert Nesbitt to

NWMHFT, we have now been joined by

Paula Bourthis who takes over the role

of Trust secretary.

Some of her duties involve improving the

system for health records, tightening up

corporate governance and reviewing legal

arrangements.

Paula is already known to a number of

members of staff through some work she

completed last year

as part of the merger

assessments. Until

her retirement in

September her main

focus will be health

records.

At present, health

records are kept in a

number of places,

including basements

which are dirty,

damp and difficult

to access.

In addition, the records are kept in

alphabetical order, which presents

privacy and data protection problems.

Paula is working with project

managers Punna Athwall and Crissy

Webber towards a solution which will

see all the paper health records kept

at S Block in Bury St Edmunds, and

re-filed using a system called

Terminal Digit – this relies on records

being given a numerical reference

rather than using the patient’s name.

Paula’s core role, as Trust Secretary,

is a Board-level position. She is the

‘conscience’ of the Board, challenging

staff at all levels to ensure good

governance is achieved. This includes

making sure there are no financial

irregularities, that records are kept

appropriately and

that decisions are

followed up and not

allowed to fall by

the wayside.

Paula also leads on

Freedom of

Information Act

requests and

compliance with the

Data Protection Act.

Dr Hadrian Ball is

the new medical

director for the

Trust, having previously worked in Norfolk

for 10 years. He has also

been appointed medical director

designate for the merged Trust. “Before I

came here I was aware that the results of

service user surveys were stronger in

Suffolk than in Norfolk, and I am keen to

find out what is behind that,” he said.

“Since I’ve been here, I have been

extremely impressed with the IT

department. I’m very interested in the

concept of information systems and how

they can improve the productivity of

healthcare professionals.” Hadrian is

arranging visits to clinical and non-clinical

areas over the coming weeks and

months, and is keen to hear colleagues’

views. “I like listening to service user and

carer representatives and I generally try

to concentrate on putting into place the

systems and frameworks which allow

people to get on with their jobs and make

all the really important decisions.”

Hadrian is also the responsible clinical

officer and Caldicott Guardian.

Also in this issue: meet interim finance

director Keith Mansfield on page 7.

. Contact us at: member ship@smhp.nhs.uk . online: www.smhp.nhs.uk/trustmatters

Issue 55 . May 2011

Inside:• Executive team• Fire safety• Library services• Merger update• Clinical engagement• Service Governance Department• Equality survey results• Stepping Forward 12• Mental health and the media• Terrace Restaurant closure• Patient safety review• The Great Escape• Payment by Results success• Exploring shared decision-making• Farewells and fundraising• Working with voices• Beat the Blues campaign• Aidan meets staff and sets priorities• Meet Keith Mansfield• Employee Engagement Group• Getting to know you• Letters and compliments

Barbara McLean,

director of nursing

Paula Bourthis, Trust

Dr Hadrian Ball, medical

director

New faces welcomed

to the Trust Board

A key focus will

also be around the

governance of the Trust

– including making sure

that we spread the

learning, having that

drive to develop the

workforce. I also want to

make sure that we hear

the voices of service

users. I want to see how

involved they are, and

what that involvement

looks like.

People have been very

open and honest, which has been

very useful in assessing where we

are and where we need to be. My

overriding view was that there were

lots of good clinicians and staff who

wanted to do the right thing but they

were being hampered by a lack of

direction. The organisation at that

time felt tired, like it had run out of

steam. The changes the Board are

making now will address this.

I was impressed with the support

and corporate staff that I met as part of

the merger sessions. I was impressed

with how they were dealing with all the

uncertainty in a considered and dignified

way and although the merger presents a

great uncertainty for them as individuals,

none of them opposed the merger itself.

CET110223_TrustMattersMay11:pages 11/05/2011 13:16 Page 1

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All staff should receive training

in fire safety at least every 12

months. This is legal

requirement under the

Regulatory Reform (Fire

Safety) Order 2005, Health

and Safety at Work Act 1974

and the Management of

Health and Safety at Work

Regulations 1999.

One of the Trust’s Fire Safety

Advisers who carries out

regular training sessions is

Richard Smith. “The training I

do includes knowledge of how

fires start, spread and grow,

potential causes of fire, good

housekeeping and fire

prevention; it also includes fire

safety awareness in the home.

After all, if you’re injured

tackling a fire at home, it has a

direct impact on your

availability for your employer”,

he said.

Richard (pictured) joined the

Trust in November 2010. He

began his career as a fire-

fighter in the West Midlands

Fire and Rescue Service

before moving to Suffolk Fire

and Rescue Service in 2004 to

take up a post as lead officer

on the Countries first Private

Finance Initiative scheme,

then he became the brigade’s

training officer and finally area

manager, east, responsible for

14 fire stations situated

around the coast from

Lowestoft to Felixstowe.

Richard undertakes around six

training sessions a week

covering the St Clement’s

site and various other

hospitals, clinics

and Trust

properties. His

colleague Malcolm

Codd generally

covers the North, Waveney and Great

Yarmouth whilst Ray Leonard, who

retires this month, generally covers

Bury St Edmunds, Newmarket and the

West of the County. All three Advisers

also carry out detailed work place fire

risk assessments throughout both

counties as required.

The fire training covers:

- Fire chemistry (how fires start, stages

of combustion and fire spread.)

- Fire growth and fire protection within

buildings.

- Firefighting equipment (how to use the

extinguishers and classes of fire.)

- Hazard spotting and potential causes

of fire.

- Emergency action to take if you

discover a fire or hear the fire alarm

sound.

- Evacuation procedures and

strategies.

Training is usually carried out on site in

the area where people work however,

attendance at other establishments is

permitted where circumstances dictate.

Anyone wishing to arrange a work

place fire risk

assessment or a

fire training

session should

call the Estates

department on

01473 329750.

Fire

sa

fety

is e

ve

ryo

ne

’s b

usin

ess

RichardSmith, firesafetyadvisor

Approval date dueSuffolk will soon learn whether it will

merge with neighbouring Norfolk and

Waveney Mental Health Foundation

Trust. The two trusts have submitted a

business case and integration plan to

Monitor, which is an NHS regulatory

body and one of a number of

organisations that must approve the

merger. A decision is due mid-year.

Chief executive designate Aidan Thomas

said the submission to Monitor is one of

the most important steps in the

approvals process. “We were required to

make submissions to the Strategic

Health Authority, the Cooperation and

Competition Panel (CCP) and Monitor,”

he said. “If Monitor approves the merger

we have a green light to merge.

“The Merger Programme Management

Office, which is responsible for

overseeing the merger, is making sure

any request from Monitor is met swiftly.

This is designed to minimise the chance

of any delays in delivering their

decision.”

Aidan said the CCP has delivered its

advice and the Strategic Health Authority

has supported the merger.

“I am confident the merger will go ahead,

especially as we have strong support

from service users and other key

stakeholders.”

Preparation in the lead-up to themergerWork is already underway on the

structure of the combined Trust, with

most of the new executive directors

designate appointed.

“The executive directors designate are a

combination of staff from both Trusts,”

Aidan said. “These staff will step into

their roles when the merger takes place,

which is expected to be in July at the

earliest.”

A number of the directors designate are

already working in Suffolk following the

departure of several key staff.

“Our executive teams in Suffolk and

Norfolk have a large body of work to do

in preparation for the merger. This

includes aligning service governance

and finalising the locality structure,”

Aidan said. “It is also a busy time in

terms of staff as we match up human

resource policies and undertake the

TUPE process.

“The team working in Suffolk have been

focused on governance, as this is key

issue for the Trust.”

Are you up to date?More than 300 staff have registered to

receive electronic merger updates.

These updates include the merger staff

newsletter, which is published every

three weeks. To sign-up, write to the

Merger Programme Management Office

on merger.pmo@nwmhp.nhs.uk.

Merger update

Internet search engines, like Google,

provide a simple way to do a basic

search… but if you use these methods

alone, you won’t return the most credible

sources of information with which to

support your work. Academic journals

don’t always show up in search engines

and the results will display many

duplicates. Specialised databases, such

as NHS healthcare database PsychINFO,

will show each reference only once,

making it easier to scan through the

results. You can define your search to

specific fields such as author or title,

search using psychological index terms

or by keywords, and apply limitations

such as a date or population group.

Often, you are able to access the full-text

article immediately for free. Alternatively

you can save and email your results and

request articles that are not available to

you in full-text. If your role requires you to

employ evidence-based practice or you

are involved in conducting research then

you can book a database search training

session. Training can be delivered at a

location and time to fit in with you and

takes just an hour of your time. A

mediated literature searching service is

also available.

The full version of this article can beread on the Intranet under Trainingand Development > LibraryInformation and Knowledge services.

Searching beyond Google

CET110223_TrustMattersMay11:pages 11/05/2011 13:16 Page 2

Stepping Forward 12, the last in the

Trust’s current series of award-winning

engagement events took place at the

end of March. The events aim to

improve communication service users,

family carers, partner organisations and

Trust staff.

The event started with a welcome and

brief overview of the day and its aims by

Mayor Jane Chambers (Councillor for

Ipswich Borough and Suffolk County

Council) and Derek Jones, practice

educator, who facilitated the day.

The morning session was focused on

medication; how medicines work and

their side effects. The pharmacy team

also outlined the help and support

available for people who have queries

with their prescription. Esther Johnston,

head of pharmacy, hosted a question time

event with Trust clinical pharmacists

Karen Barker, Katherine Delargy and Sue

Galloway. Some of the questions people

asked included how to manage the side

effects of existing medication and which

foods can help improve mood and mental

wellbeing and why sometimes the same

medication looks different.

In the afternoon, the Trust’s director of

community engagement, Robert Nesbitt,

gave an update on the merger.

Following this, there was a feedback and

discussion session on previous Stepping

Forward events, along with consideration

of the direction that service user and

family carer engagement should take in

the future. At the end of the final session,

the Trust’s chairman, Lord Newton of

Braintree, presented Jeannie Wright with

a bouquet of flowers to thank her for all

her work in organising the Stepping

Forward series. Barbara Dale, from SUF,

also presented Jeannie with a gift.

To close the day, Jane Chambers thanked

everyone for coming and for their

continued input, which ensured the Trust

listened to people’s views.

As well as feeding back into the Trust as

a whole, there are also opportunities for

people to feed directly into the team who

may have provided their care.

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Changes to the executive team, see front

page, have brought a new and clearer focus

on clinical engagement.

Hadrian Ball, medical director, defined clinical

engagement as “the active partnership at

service level in all of the activities and

processes that are delivering the Trust’s

strategic objectives.

“Whether a strategy is clinical, financial,

estates, governance or workforce-related,

they should all point in the same direction,

closely bound together and have clinical

strategy at their core.”

A Clinical Cabinet has been set up to address

key many issues preventing effective

communications and clinical engagement.

The group comprises of senior managers as

well as clinical and medical leads and meets

regularly to resolve operational issues quickly.

Left to right: Mayor Jane Chambers, RobertNesbitt, Jeannie Wright and Derek Jones.

Robert Nesbitt, director of community

engagment, gives the latest merger updates.

Clinical engagement

Many thanks to all the staff who took

part in our equality survey at the end of

last year. 1 in 4 of you replied so it has

taken a while to complete the report! In

the next Trust Matters we’ll bring you

the highlights in a special article, or you

can read the full report at

www.smhp.nhs.uk> Information>

Equality and Diversity > Staff Equality

Survey 2010.

STOP PRESS! Following on from the

success of SMHPT’s membership

over the last three years, the new

merged Trust will be a Stonewall

Diversity Champion.

The Centre for Service Excellence, the

team that oversees governance in the

Trust, has been recently reorganised.

The new team name is the Service

Governance Department, and is based

in the main hospital building at St

Clement’s. The team covers:

• Complaints and serious incidents

requiring investigation (Nina Parkinson),

• Governance, Care Quality Commission

registration, clinical audit and the Quality

Account (Lisa Llewelyn), • Ligature audit

action plan (Risk manager Neil Paull),

and • Legal services and Mental Health

Act administration (Paula Bourthis).

Service Governance

Department

Equality survey -

results now out!

An Acute Care Forum has been set up to address clinical engagement concerns and

met for the first time on 10 May 2011. The main aim of this group is to provide

leadership and direction to the development of acute services across the whole

Trust. It ensures that the Trust’s clinical leads are communicating effectively and

working to the same goals. Although executive directors will be in attendance the

Forum will chaired by a senior clinician and/or a manager within clinical services.

Barbara Mclean, interim director of nursing, said: “The first Acute Care Forum went

extremely well. A work programme has been agreed, which looks at priorities for

services and included communication to clinicians and to Board level.”

The Forum follows key principles such as accessibility, relevance, efficiency and

care quality to underpin its work. It also provides a focus for agreeing acute service

priorities such as improving safety of service and the patient’s experience.

Barbara added: “The Forum will not only be looking at patient safety issues but will

be looking at the real concerns and demands on staff in the field.”

In 2010/11 a series of ‘Learning by

experience’ sessions occurred,

also aimed at improving

communication between clinicians.

These sessions were for clinical

staff, mainly those in senior

positions but not exclusively, to

review and learn from serious

untoward incidents. Staff read the

serious untoward incident report in

order to work out what was known

about the situation, what went

well, and what would have been

an more appropriate service, and

what should be fed back to whom.

The attendees were very positive

as the sessions give clinicians a

chance to reflect and learn without

feeling blamed.

CET110223_TrustMattersMay11:pages 11/05/2011 13:16 Page 3

I am a media student from Felixstowe and

since October I’ve been doing work

experience with the communications

team. As a big fan of the U.S. television

series “Criminal Minds”, and a regular

Eastenders watcher, I am very interested

in the representation of mental health in

the media. When I was asked to

investigate this topic further I couldn’t wait

to get started. I began by designing a

survey to ask the public what they thought

they knew about mental illnesses from the

media, and if they thought the media had

done a good job informing them about

mental health problems. I expected that

the majority would know very little about

mental health as, in my view, the media

distorts reality for entertainment

purposes. 1/5 participants said the media

is not very good at giving accurate

information on mental wellbeing although

many could name a range of mental

illnesses and answer questions such as

“In one year how many people will suffer

from some sort of mental illness”

correctly. This could be due to the BBC

and other channels trying to break down

the stigma by creating documentaries and

using the theme of mental wellbeing in

storylines. Celebrities like Stephen Fry

have been very open about their mental

health experiences, making it more

accepted.

I spoke to Caroline Giles, head of

marketing, about the awareness of mental

health problems. Symptoms being

featured in soap operas and online could

allow people to self-diagnose, and

therefore access the IAPT service. We

also discussed

that one of the

most common

responses to the

question “Why

do you think the

media’s

representation is

in accurate?”

was that in

television

programmes

people with

mental illnesses

get help and support from services and

the community. In reality people feel that

resources are scarce, showing that the

awareness of the help available is not as

prominent as the awareness of the

illnesses themselves. Caroline pointed

out that “broadcasters have a

responsibility to represent real issues

fairly and accurately.” In this case

producers could take the storyline to the

extreme for the purpose of entertainment,

yet argue that it could happen, giving a

bias view of mental health issues and

helping create the cycle of stigma.

As a media student I know how much the

media can influence our views. This study

has shown me that although we rely on

the media for information we cannot rely

on it not to show us the full picture. I think

the various channels promoting mental

health and wellbeing awareness are

doing a good by not only covering it in

fiction but also in documentaries such as

“Sectioned”, which has won various

awards for being so informative.

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Mental health and the media

Patient safety is our top priorityI am writing this to explain a little more

about the external review of patient

safety which was carried out at the Trust,

and to tell you what we are doing to put

right the issues identified.

The recommendations in the report are

wide-ranging and indicate the fact that

clinical and managerial leadership and

our systems were not working as they

should, rather than a reflection of our

healthcare.

The review which led to the report was

carried out in December 2010 and

January 2011 by an external assessment

team, led by an experienced professional

called Malcolm Rae – hence the name of

the document, the Rae Report.. They

interviewed staff and our service users,

examined our systems and processes

and made a series of recommendations.

We have already made changes as a

result of the report and will continue to

work through the programme in order to

address each recommendation.

The review itself was commissioned by

the Trust with NHS Suffolk, and was

sparked by the death of a young man

who died on one of our inpatient wards.

Prior to that, we had a cluster of five

homicides in 2009 which were the

subject of an independent review. The

work programme refers to nine

homicides, which is the five plus an

additional four which happened after

2009.

It’s tragic whenever a death happens.

The majority of mental health trusts have

experienced homicides and suicides,

although they all try to reduce the risk of

these. I don’t wish to detract from the

severity of what happened, but I do want

to stress that we are not unusual. An

important point, however, is that we must

learn from what happened and put

measures in place to reduce the

likelihood of it happening again.

What appears to have happened in the

past is that there were many action plans

and that these were either confusing or

had not been audited to ensure actions

had been taken. Those, plus other

governance issues, are the crux of the

Rae Report.

We are confident we will make all the

changes needed within the timescale set

out in the work programme. Over the last

few weeks, we have been putting in new

procedures, reorganised support teams

and cut through complicated processes

in order to address the

recommendations.

The list of improvements is long, but we

will address each and every

recommendation in order to improve the

systems and processed which underpin

quality healthcare.

Aidan Thomas, chief executive.If you have any questions orcomments, I would be pleased to hearfrom you: aidan.thomas@smhp.nhs.ukTel: 01473 329603.See page 7 for more from Aidan.

The Terrace Restaurant, which currently

provides hot meals, snacks, beverages

and vending services for staff and

visitors, will sadly close the doors for the

last time on Friday 29th July.

Peter Richardson, managing director for

Suffolk Support Services, said: “For

many years now the restaurant has

proved to be very popular with patients,

staff and visitors. Our catering team here

at St Clement’s has been continually

praised for their hard work. Their BBQs

and special theme days have been

particularly successful. However, the

Trust Executive team has agreed that as

services begin to move off-site there will

be a considerable fall in the demand for

the service. It is therefore sensible and

cost effective to close the restaurant at

the end of July.”

The closure of the Terrace Restaurant

should deliver a considerable saving

towards the 2011/12 cost improvement

programme. Any costs incurred will be

absorbed by Suffolk Support Services.

Staff will be able to access an

independent sandwich van service and,

if necessary, additional delivery points

can be requested by teams. Any

departments that require food or

beverages for meetings or training will

need to make their own arrangements.

The catering staff will be holding a BBQ

during July to say goodbye (date TBA).

Questions? Call the ModernisationProject Office on 01473 329318 orPeter Richardson on 01473 329337.

Restaurant to

close its doors

CET110223_TrustMattersMay11:pages 11/05/2011 13:16 Page 4

Well done to clinical teams throughout the

Trust, who collectively met the Trust-wide

objective of ‘clustering’ 50% of service

users by the target date of 31 March

2011. At the beginning of March the figure

was at 38%, so teams should be rightly

pleased of their contribution. Reaching

the 50% mark means that the Trust can

now claim £89,000 of funding for patient

care.

‘Clustering’ refers to placing service users

in one of a series of care package

clusters - ultimately, the Trust’s

commissioners, who pay for healthcare

on behalf of the county, will pay per

headcount in each cluster. This system is

called ‘Payment by Results’.

The assertive outreach team based at

Trotman Court worked together to reach

a team rate of 100%. Team leader

Matthew Morris said that he supported

the care package principles of Payment

by Results, which set out what services

may be provided for service users.

Chief executive Aidan Thomas, who

visited the team, said: “I have worked in a

Primary Care Trust and seen how much

money has been given to acute general

hospitals compared to mental health

trusts. PbR can balance that and ensure

we get adequate funding which is the

best for our service users.”

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Back in April around 80 people in fancy

dress were blindfolded and dropped at a

secret location in the Suffolk countryside.

Their challenge was to find their way back

with no money, phones or maps!

Three teams from Suffolk Support

Services entered: The Outlaws (Robin

Hood, Maid Marion and Friar Tuck), Euro

Trash (an Englishman, an Irishman and a

Scotsman), and our own team The Super

Mario All-stars (Mario, Luigi and Princess

Peach).

When we were dropped off we didn’t

have a clue where we were. We flagged

down the first car we saw and the

gentleman driving said that Snape (our

first destination) was 6 miles away. I

desperately hoped he was wrong!

On the way back we had to complete

tasks at particular places and answer

certain questions. We answered the

question about the Snape village sign

then bumped into The Outlaws and

decided to work together. We retired to

the Crown Inn to glean some information

from the visitors. While Friar Tuck and

Maid Marion pumped the locals for

information, Robin Hood used the phone

to call the Black Tiles to find out their

soup of the day (question 7).

Our uneasy alliance continued as we

blagged a bus ride to Woodbridge waving

at less fortunate teams trudging down the

country lanes. Once in Woodbridge it was

every team for themselves. The Outlaws

took off with renewed vigour while we

struggled along with our Mario Karts

(who’s stupid idea were they?).

There was still one task to complete - we

had to get a copy of yesterday’s paper. In

desperation we started knocking on

people’s doors. We didn’t get a paper but

we did manage to cadge a lift to the

Maybush (the final destination)!

I’ve got to say I felt rather smug - surely

no one else had experienced such good

fortune! As we entered the grounds of the

Maybush a cheer went up and we saw

that we were actually the 6th team back.

Euro Trash, who were sitting in the

sunshine, explained that they’d had even

better luck than us! They had hitched a lift

to Woodbridge where they’d found an

internet café to research their answers.

The Outlaws found out that crime doesn’t

pay. They hijacked a lift that had stopped

for a team of pirates but only made it fifty

yards down the road before the driver

ejected them. To add insult to injury the

pirates went speeding past in another car!

Our teams raised just under £1,000 for

St. Elizabeth Hospice. Though none of us

won the Super Mario All-stars did take the

prize for best fancy dress! Thanks to

everyone who helped - you know who

you are!

Contributed by Luigi (also known asIain Armstrong).

Left to right: Lisa Weston (change manager), Ollie Riches (volunteer trainer), Boena Zeneli(information analyst), Iain Armstrong (informatics trainer), Abbie Wallace (RA agent), PasqualePascarella (informatics training officer), Ian Simmons (informatics trainer), Patrizio Pascarella(change manager) and Diane Weeding (RA agent).

The Great

Escape!

Healthtalkonline, the award-winning

website of personal health experiences,

has published a new section on the role

of shared decision-making between

patients and their doctors. The section is

based on extensive analysis of patient

interviews across a range of mental and

physical illnesses by the Health

Experiences Research Group, University

of Oxford. The research revealed wide

variations in the degree to which patients

are – or want to be – involved in

decisions about their treatment. The new

webage, which can be found by clicking

on ‘Improving Health care’ at

www.healthtalkonline.org, is intended to

help both patients and health

professionals better understand the

different types of relationship that they

might share.

Users of Healthtalkonline.org and

youthhealthtalk.org will find accounts of

issues such as diagnosis reactions,

doctor consultations, effect on work,

social life and relationships, decisions on

treatment options and side-effects.

For more information on the shared-decision making project contact:sue.ziebland@phc.ox.ac.uk.

Exploring shared

decision-making

CET110223_TrustMattersMay11:pages 11/05/2011 13:16 Page 5

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A fundraising event held to mark the

transfer of the Trust’s substance misuse

services to CRI (Crime Reduction

Initiative) raised £750. Rather than just

holding a party to mark the end of an

era, staff decided to make the evening a

charity event. Suffolk charity FIND

(Families in Need) was chosen because

it helps many of the service’s clients.

FIND is a Christian-based charity which

provides emergency assistance to

families or individuals affected by poverty

or dispossession. It provides free food,

cooking utensils, clothing, toiletries, baby

equipment and nappies, bedding,

sleeping bags, curtains and furniture and

white goods. The party was attended by

many staff, past and present, including

the founders of the service over twenty

years ago, Tim Webb and Carey

Godfrey. Lee Harnden, associate

director, said: “Thanks to a lot of hard

work and meticulous planning, the

transfer of the service to CRI went very

smoothly. The main focus was ensuring

continuity of service for our clients and

the staff did an amazing job, so that

everything was in place when staff came

to work for the new organisation on April

1st. We spent many hours working with

HR’s change management team

facilitating one to one meetings for staff.

We identified what client information

needed to be transferred across and

gained written consent from 630 people

for that. We had weekly management

meetings and organised briefings for

staff so they knew what was happening

or if we didn’t know something we told

them we did not know. The relationship

with CRI was a good one and we are

now renting them two clinic rooms in the

West whilst they wait for planning

permission for their new base.”

A new training package designed to help

staff engage with service users who hear

voices has really taken off. By the end of

June, 130 clinical staff will have

completed the training with each new

session being fully booked within a week

of going live.

The one day training, ‘An Introduction to

Working with Voices,’ is a response to

feedback from last year’s ‘Giving

Psychosis a Voice’ conference attended

by 120 people. It challenges traditional

thinking that all voice hearers are

mentally ill and encourages people to see

voices as a meaningful experience rather

than a symptom.

Studies have found that 2-4% of people

who do not have a mental health

diagnosis across the world hear voices,

whereas only 1% of the whole population

are diagnosed with schizophrenia. The

majority of people who hear voices do not

need or seek psychiatric treatment.

For those that do seek help, traditional

treatment, which usually takes the form of

antipsychotic medication, can be very

helpful. However, evidence suggests that

even with such treatment, up to 60% of

people continue to experience voices. It

is therefore important that other

approaches are available.

The training is run by Matthew Morris,

locality manager for the East Suffolk

Outreach Team and his colleague, clinical

psychologist, Dr David Williams.

Sessions are held in Bury and Ipswich.

Dr Williams said: “The training aims to

give people an understanding of the

origins of the voice hearer’s movement

and some ways in which we can help

people who hear voices cope with and

find meaning in their experiences. The

day looks at what voices are, how they

are perceived and the impact they have.

Participants are encouraged to use their

imagination to understand what the

experience of hearing voices may be like.

The training also looks at common fears,

coping strategies and the impact life

history may have on the form that voices

take. It looks at longer term recovery

stories to see what can be learned and in

particular any underlying emotional

issues which feed into voices. The idea is

to normalise the client’s experiences to

help them find meaning in the voices and

a greater sense of personal power.”

Matthew Morris said: “The numbers

coming forward for the training show that

there is a real motivation in staff to

participate in learning they feel is

meaningful. We have excellent staff in

this Trust and they have been very

positive in engaging is something that

although challenging, is relevant to their

day to day practice.“

Feedback from staff attending the training

has been positive. Comments have

included:

- “Very enjoyable day: challenging and

thought provoking. I have a new insight

into some of the positive aspects

(protection) of voices and can directly link

this to my work experience.”

- “Excellent! I found some of the

exercises a bit emotionally challenging...,

but seriously found it really enjoyable and

educational.”

Matthew and David are also starting a 10

week group in May for service users

within Assertive Outreach in the East.

Matthew and David are also starting a 10

week group in May for service users

within Assertive Outreach in the East.

For details of future staff sessions, visit

the training and development tab on the

intranet and look for the training diary.

Further information is available at

www.intervoiceonline.org/information.

Farewells and

fundraising

As the Spring sun brightens the Suffolk

skies, there is a chance to look back at

the “Beat the Winter Blues” seasonal

campaign: ‘Suffolk Libraries’ mental

health and wellbeing information service

put together a campaign to lift the people

of Suffolk from the winter blues in

partnership with Trust link workers

Suzanne Wyard and Sarah Ray.

The campaign encouraged libraries to

have a musical theme with the emphasis

being on the “Beat” and for events to

have an information element on subjects

from debt advice to improving access to

psychology therapies (IAPT). The uptake

from libraries across the county was

encouraging and for those who did take

part the benefits were obvious.

The campaign started in February 2011

with a lively event at Felixstowe Library.

Steph Merret, Felixstowe library manager,

said: “Councillor Goodwin officially

launched the Beat the Winter Blues

campaign while customers browsed the

stalls collecting giveaways and

information while enjoying the upbeat

music chosen by students from Deben

High School. All the stall holders were

really friendly and welcomed the chance

to network with each other. They all

thought it was a worthwhile event for

them and customers.”

Woodbridge library had a similar day in

March 2011, including a live band,

smoothy bike, salsa dancing and health

walk led by NHS Suffolk. Music was

supplied by Sanguine Sea and stall

holders offered information on staying

healthy including gym and swimming

sessions at a local leisure centre.

One story that sticks in my mind is an

older customer who spoke to Suzanne

and Sarah at the Felixstowe event. She

said that she had been living with general

anxiety for most of her adult life and she

felt very unsupported by her general

practitioner. She was sent away with a

handful of advice, an appointment for

further support and a very large smile.

Events also took place at Great Cornard,

Halesworth and Southwold. My thanks

goes to all who took part in this event and

for making it a real success.

Contributed by David Grimmer, mentalhealth and wellbeing informationservice coordinator at Suffolk CountyCouncil.

Winter wellbeing campaign puts spring in step

CET110223_TrustMattersMay11:pages 11/05/2011 13:16 Page 6

Since Aidan Thomas joined the Trust as

chief executive in March he has been

visiting various teams to meet staff and

get feedback on what matters most to

you. Aidan has already visited Wedgwood

House, Suffolk Support Services teams

including finance and estates, the

Newbourne Centre at Heath Road,

Foxhall House, assertive outreach

(briefly), Minsmere House and Walker

Close. He is visiting CAMHS this month

and will gradually work his way around all

service areas.

“It is really important to me as chief

executive to connect with staff across the

Trust,” Aidan said. ”I want to find out the

issues affecting different teams and have

the chance to see first hand the fantastic

work being done at the Trust.

“Everyone I have met has been

welcoming and friendly. I am looking

forward to working the odd shift in our

services too. Despite the governance

issues the trust has which receive a high

profile at present I wouldn’t hesitate to

recommend the services to a friend or

relative. I want to thanks staff for their

hard work dedication and commitment.”

Aidan has also been sharing with staff the

key issues that the Trust will be focusing

on in the coming months:

“My two top priorities are patient safety

(see article on page 2) and the cost

improvement plan.

“I’m reasonably optimistic that we will

achieve our financial target of 5% savings

this year and we have number of plans in

place to achieve this including the

introduction of locality management, and

some service redesign. But we are

getting additional financial support to help

with patient safety, and this means we

don’t have to worry about funding the

initiatives set out in our safety programme

this year.

“However, this additional money is for

one year only, so we need to keep up the

momentum on our savings plans. I have

asked Paula Clarke, associate director for

learning disabilities, to head up a cost

improvement plan programme board to

over see this work. This board will

replace the cost improvement plan

programme management office (PMO).

This work falls under QIPP (Quality,

Innovation, Prevention and Productivity),

a Department of Health initiative that I am

keen to promote in the Trust. The aim of

QIPP is to improve the quality of care

provided by NHS services, while also

improving efficiency.

“There have already been some fantastic

developments such as productive wards

and the information technology

modernisation programme. I want to build

on the work already done and embed

efficiency and productivity into the heart

of care delivery at the Trust.”

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Name and job titleMaria Perez Pedrero, CPN, Haverhill CMHT.

What is your most read book? Lord of the

Rings.

Marmite or peanut butter? Hate them both.

What do you love most about your job?When people get better.

What’s your ideal holiday location?A nice beach.

What was your first ever job? Healthcare

assistant at a psychiatric hospital.

If you were a superhero, what powerwould you have? Become invisible.

What is your favourite meal? Indian

What did you want to be when you werelittle? A nurse.

If you won the lottery, what would youbuy? A little island.

In the 2010 NHS staff survey, the Trust

appeared in the top 20% of mental

health trusts in 6 areas, including

commitment to work life balance, job-

relevant training and percentage of staff

experiencing violence. However, it came

in the bottom 20% in 13 areas.

A new Employee Engagement Group

(EEG) is being set up to address these

areas, which will meet bi-monthly and

produce a quarterly action plan. The

EEG aims to address the concerns by

providing leadership in the development

of staff networks, reviewing programmes

of work associated with employee

engagement and acting as champions of

the staff survey programme.

The group will include director of human

resources, Kate Coplestone and

representatives from all areas of the

Trust. Chief executive Aidan Thomas will

also attend periodically, demonstrating

commitment from the top.

The areas where the Trust’s

performance was weakest were:

- % of staff having well-structured

appraisals in the last 12 months (30% -

national average 40%)

- Impact of health and well-being on

ability to perform work or daily activities

(1.68 out of 5 – national average 1.62)

- % of staff able to contribute towards

improvements at work (61% - national

average 67%)

- % of staff experiencing harassment,

bullying or abuse from staff in the last 12

months (17% - national average 14%)

Areas where staff experience had

deteriorated most from the previous year

were:

- Impact of health and well-being on

ability to perform work or daily activities

(1.53, down from 1.68)

- Staff motivation at work (3.76, down

from 3.86)

- Work pressure felt by staff (2.99, down

from 3.10)

- Staff recommendation of the Trust as a

place to work or receive treatment (3.30,

down from 3.37)

If you have any questions about theEEG then you can contact workforceplanner Ben Askew on 01473 329282.

Trust acts on staff

survey results

Getting to know you

Get

tin

g t

o k

no

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aria

Per

ez P

edre

ro,

CP

N.

Keith Mansfield, pictured, has recently

joined the Trust as interim finance director

after Nick Gerrard moved on to pastures

new. Keith has 15 years experience as an

NHS director, having worked his way up

from the bottom of the ladder 40 years

ago. If the Trust merges Andrew Hopkins,

currently finance director at Norfolk and

Waveney Mental Health NHS Foundation

Trust, will assume the role for the joint

organisation.

“In the short time I am here my aim is to

keep the ship

on a steady

course,“ Keith

said. “With

proposed NHS

reforms it is

critical that the

Trust lives

within its

means. During my time here I need to

ensure the Trust delivers excellent

services within the funding available.”

Meet director Keith Mansfield

CET110223_TrustMattersMay11:pages 11/05/2011 13:16 Page 7

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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 helen.abbott@smhp.nhs.uk. 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 July 2011 issue is June 20th.

To Shirley Foulger, CBT therapist,IAPT - Thank you for being there and for

all your help and support.

To Andrea Brown, Louise Tym, DrElizabeth Jupp and all the SEIPS team- I just wanted to say thank you for all

your support since I have been with the

early intervention team. You are a really

great team and do a great job. Keep up

the good work. Thanks for all the times

you’ve listened to me.

To Judith Thomas, team manager,Bury CMHT - I would like to thank you

for the help and useful advice you gave

us when A was ill. It was such a worrying

time, with difficult decisions to be made,

and your help was invaluable. He seems

to be settling in well in Stowmarket and

hopefully he will learn how to be self-

sufficient and look after himself.

To Natalie Bailey, CPN, Bury CMHT- If there are a million ways to say thank

you it is not enough. Your help and

support has been wonderful, thank you

so much.

To Denise Hender and Tracy Abbott,Work Life Balance team- Having worked for various NHS Trusts,

I can honestly say the support,

friendliness and quality of service given

by Denise and Tracy - but in my case

Denise in particular - has been

invaluable and far superior to any other

Trust to date.

To Mary Davis, senior case manager,IAPT - I wanted to pass on how

supportive I found our conversation. I

was feeling down at the time and was

worried I was wasting your time and

couldn’t be seen. The time you gave me

made a real difference.

To Emma Ellis and Paul Newbury,SEIPS - Just a few words of thanks to

you both for all your support you have

given to N and me. It was good to see

you today Emma.

To all staff on Redwald Unit - This is

just a small note to say a big thank you

to all the staff at Redwald. I’m sorry my

time has come to an end, but I shall

always remember the kindness of the

staff – nothing was too much trouble in

the care given.

To Dr Anna King - In your opening

comment of your letter you wrote “It was

a pleasure to meet with you”. I wish to

reciprocate, commenting that it was also

a pleasure to meet with you too. I

appreciate your diagnosis surrounding

the MCT, and having now studied the

MCT document I understand your

conclusions. I have taken notice of your

advice.

To ECT team - We felt we just had to

express our thanks again for the

dedication, care and love you showed

mum when she came to ECT. She loved

you all and you always treated her with

great dignity. Mental health is not easy

and you sometimes don’t get the

recognition you all deserve.

Our loss was very sad time but knowing

that people like you had done your very

best and more made it easier to bare.

We thank you all from the bottom of our

hearts!

To all staff on Bromeswell Ward - How

can I thank you enough for looking after

me over the past four weeks. You have

made me stay a pleasant one and I shall

miss your company. You keep me young.

I shall most likely be visiting your ward

again but hopefully not as a patient but

as a visitor.

To the IAPT East team - The service I

received was outstanding and the

manner in which it was delivered by my

therapist was exceptional - my deepest

gratitude.

To all staff on Westgate Ward - The

family wish to thank all the staff on

Westgate Ward very much indeed for the

care and consideration shown to my wife

and to her visitors during what has been

a very difficult time

To Barbara Oakley, Joan Aby andAnne Hopkins, Sudbury CMHT- I cannot thank you all enough for your

help and encouragement and support

that you gave S and me while I was very

ill. I am very well now once again. Thank

you all very much.

To all staff on Playford Ward - This is

just a small thank you for looking after

my daughter who has now been

transferred. You were all so kind and

patient with her in spite of her problems.

To the Crisis Resolution Home

Treatment Team

- I received a very good service and am

about to be discharged from Coastal

CMHT.

To Alma Yule, therapist, IAPT East

- Thanks for all your help and support.

To Denise Tourney-Godfrey, CPN, East

Ipswich CMHT - Thank you so much for

everything you have done to support me.

I have always looked forward to meeting

with you as you have always put me at

ease and made me laugh with your

fantastic sense of humour. You’re a

wonderful CPN and I will miss you.

To all staff on Westgate Ward - Thank

you all for the wonderful party and

presents. I have chosen the spot in the

garden for the lady and I shall use the

vouchers towards a water feature, so

when I am out in my garden I will think of

you all with much love.

To the Crisis Resolution Home

Treatment Team - I received a very

good service and am about to be

discharged from Coastal CMHT.

To all staff on Bromeswell Ward

- Thank you so much!

To Vicky Coomber, linkworker

- Thank you for your time at the surgery. I

enjoyed meeting you, and came away

feeling positive. I was on a roll last week,

but have taken a backward step over the

last couple of days. It is therefore

encouraging for me to know that there is

help out there, and I look forward to

meeting my advisor. I was impressed

with your knowledge about people’s

feelings and your caring disposition,

especially for someone so young. You

have a huge role to play in making

people happy, and I wish you well.

- I just wanted to write you a note to say

thank you. You were the first person I

had spoken to in such depth and I feel

better for being able to talk everything

through with someone unconnected with

it all. Anyway, thanks again for listening

and for doing the work you do.

Letters and compliments

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 nicola.brown@smhp.nhs.uk Letters may be edited and will be anonymised to protect service users’ identities.

CET110223_TrustMattersMay11:pages 11/05/2011 13:16 Page 8