ISSUE 09 // APRIL 2014

In this issue...

FREE

Your Foundation Trust Members’ Magazine

You and Your Care

YOUR NEWS News from across the Trust PAGE 04 YOUR ExpERtS We answer your health care questions PAGE 06 YOUR SAY Make local health care better PAGE 10

www.bdct.nhs.uk

Our Speech & Language Team

Help AwaisPAGE 08

Our

Issue

Speech & Language

Kathryn Bond, Specialist Speech and Language Therapist, will be giving a talk about what stammering is, its causes and how it affects people. The talk will challenge perceptions of stammering and explore how you can support a person who stammers.

Date: 10 April 2014

Venue: Hilton Hotel, Hall Ings, Bradford BD1 5SH

Time: 1.30pm – 3.00pm or 6.00pm – 7.30pm

To book your place or for further information please contact Courtenay White:

Tel: 01274 363601

Email: Courtenay.white@bdct.nhs.uk

Understanding Stammering:

How You Can Help!

You and Your Carewww.bdct.nhs.uk

Welcome to Your HealthWelcome to our Speech and Language Therapy edition.Bradford District Care Trust’s Speech and Language Therapy Service supports people of all ages who have eating and swallowing or communication difficulties (listening, understanding, speaking). This can be as a result of a range of things including: development delay, learning difficulties, autism, deafness, stammering, stroke, head injury and cleft palate.

Our specialist speech and language therapists work at a range of community centres, schools, hospitals and health centres to offer assessments, support, education and treatment to help people communicate better.

In this edition we have featured a case study about the work of Gail Silcock, Speech and Language Therapist who works in schools to support and develop children’s speech, language, social and listening skills. You can read about her work on page 08.

Three of our experts have also answered some of your questions about children’s speech development, communication difficulties following a stroke and swallowing difficulties on page 06.

We hope you enjoy this edition. If you want to find out more about our Speech and Language Therapy service you can visit www.bdct.nhs.uk/speechtherapy or call us on 01274 770397.

Karen Baguley Specialist Services Manager, Speech and Language Therapy

Front cover: Awais and his parents see page 08 & 09 for full story.

Your ContactsEditor Jayne Murphy

Designer Ben Cullimore

Contributors Sam Hirst, Aimee Haggas, Courtenay White

produced by Communications Team, Bradford District Care Trust, Victoria Road, Saltaire, BD18 3LD

Email yourhealth@bdct.nhs.uk

Chief Executive Simon Large

Chairman Michael Smith

The editorial deadline for the July 2014 edition is May 16 2014.While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of contents the publisher cannot accept any responsibility for errors or omissions, or from any matter in any way arising from the publication of this material.

For more information about the work of the Trust please visit: www.bdct.nhs.ukwww.facebook.com/bdct02twitter.com/Bradford_DCT

Welcome // Your Health

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Contentsp04 Your News

p06 Your Experts

p08 Your Story

p10 Your Say

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Your News // Your Health

YourNews

New Community Mental Health TeamWe have a new team of Advanced Nurse Practitioners working in Bradford and the District community mental health services.

Advanced Nurse Practitioners (ANPs) focus on the mental and physical health needs of service users. They support our consultants by offering service users assessments to make sure their care is coordinated at the right level. This may mean a person can be discharged much quicker and the consultant can work more closely with those identified as in the greatest need.

Our team meet service users in their own homes or in a nurse led clinic. They are qualified prescribers and can complete medication reviews and change medication in a very short period of time. They also carry out physical health checks and refer to other specialist health providers if necessary.

The latest news from across our Trust

telling it StraightYoung People with autism who use our Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services have developed a toolkit to give adults an insight into the condition.

‘Autism from a Young Person’s Perspective’ includes first hand examples, case studies, drawings and poetry to help people understand what autism is, how young people with autism feel and how they would like to be understood and supported by adults.

The toolkit was developed over a series of weekly workshops with Barnardo’s Healthy Minds Participation Service.

To request a copy of ‘Autism from a Young Person’s Perspective’ please contact dave.benn@barnardos.org.uk or 01274 481183.

Thank you to everybody who completed our

short survey about Your Health.

Congratulations to Mrs D Pollitt from Skipton, who was selected at random, and is the lucky winner of £50 M&S vouchers.

You can give feedback about Your Health at any time by emailing yourhealth@bdct.nhs.uk or call 01274 363601.

Courtenay White, The Foundation Trust team’s Business Admin Apprentice, has won the Advanced Apprentice of the Year Award by NHS Health Education Yorkshire and the Humber.

Courtenay, who many of you have met at events and spoken to on the phone, attends Shipley College one day a week and is studying for a Level 3 NVQ in Business Administration.

Stella Jackson, Foundation Trust Membership and Governance Manager said: “Courtenay has embraced the apprenticeship programme. She truly deserves recognition for her role within the Trust.”

Courtenay added: “It feels great to win the award when there are so many other brilliant apprentices out there.”

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Developing Young Children’s SpeechHere are 5 tops tips from our Principal Speech and Language Therapist, Margaret Greer, who works in the Children’s Team to help develop children’s talking skills.

Comment on what they are doing keeping your language very simple. This will be meaningful to the child since it follows on from what they are interested in and makes it easier for them to understand the language that you are using.

Playing with others is important for the development of your child’s language. When playing together with toys comment on what your child is doing, using short, simple language like ‘brick.’

Offer simple choices to make it easier for children to tell you what they want. For example you could say “do you want the bricks or the car?” This way they can copy you and try to say bricks or car.

Listen to what your child says and repeat it back so that they know you’ve understood them.

Give praise when your child uses a new word. This will give the child lots of encouragement and confidence vital for successful language development.

If you’re concerned about your child’s speech development contact our Speech and Language Therapy Team on 01274 770397.

*These tips are mostly relevant to very young children particular under 3s.

Courtenay Makes the Final

Q. My 3 year old can’t say her “s” sounds. Should I be worried about her speech? What can I do to help? Helen, Keighley

A. You don’t need to be worried yet! Learning to speak clearly is a developmental process that all children go through. It takes most children until they’re about 7 years old before they can say all their speech sounds clearly.

The best way to help your 3 year old is to listen carefully to what she says and respond to what she’s saying not how she’s saying it. Don’t correct her speech, do model the correct pronunciation eg if she says “I dee a dock” you should repeat back “I see a sock” and put a slight emphasis on the sounds that your child has mispronounced. This means that she hears the words said clearly and she knows that you understood what she said. You can see my top tips for helping young children learn to talk on page 05.

Q. My uncle has Downs Syndrome. He has to have a soft, mashed diet because he has difficulty chewing and swallowing. How can we make sure he still enjoys family mealtimes with us? Shanaz, Girlington

A. The swallowing difficulties you describe (dysphagia) are common in people with Downs Syndrome, they tend to have low tone (“floppy”) muscles in their mouth. This means muscles used for chewing and swallowing may be weaker and it can be difficult to break food down enough for it to be swallowed safely. This is why your uncle needs soft mashed foods.

This doesn’t mean he can’t enjoy mealtimes though. Ask what his favourite foods are and find a way of modifying them to a soft consistency. A trip to the fish and chip shop, for example, is still possible – remove the batter from the fish and cut any hard ends off the chips, add gravy, curry sauce or mushy peas and mash well. Mash each food separately rather than all together, so that food still looks appealing and appetising on the plate.

You can read our “Safe Swallowing Recipe Book”, designed for carers of people with a learning disability and dysphagia. It’s free for carers in Bradford, Airedale and Craven.

Order a copy at www.bdct.nhs.uk/safeswallowing

Your Experts // Your Health

Here, we answer your health care questions.

YourExperts

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Rebecca LeightonHighly Specialist Speech and

Language Therapist for Adults with a Learning Disability

Margaret GreerPrincipal Speech and Language Therapist,

Children’s Team

Our

Issue

Speech &

Language

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Your Experts // Your Health

Q. My brother had a stroke 2 months ago and is struggling with his speech. He knows what he wants to say but can’t always say all the words. He’s really frustrated and it’s affecting his confidence. Is there anything you can do to help? Peter, Shipley

A. This is very common following a stroke. It happens because of a disruption in the language systems in the brain. It’s not always possible to fully restore previous language function after a stroke but research suggests most recovery occurs within the first 6 to 12 months after injury. Your brother is still very early on in his recovery.

Here in Bradford people can refer themselves directly to our Speech and Language Therapy team. We would look at the extent of your brother’s difficulties including speech, understanding of speech, reading and writing. We would also support and encourage alternative ways to communicate such as using writing, gesture and communication books in picture format, particularly if speech is very compromised.

Low mood and feelings of frustration are also common following a Stroke. Encourage your brother to visit his GP, they can refer him for specialist support.

Naveed AslamHighly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist

To find out more about our Speech and Language Team:Call 01274 770397 Visit www.bdct.nhs.uk/speechlanguage

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Your Story // Your Health

YourStory Sharing your

experiences.

“My parents told me something wasn’t quite right with my son’s hearing when he was six months old.“Awais was my first child and I just thought all children developed at different stages. However, something was still playing on my mind and I took Awais to see his GP.

“At 10 months old he was diagnosed as profoundly deaf in both ears – this meant he couldn’t hear anything. It was devastating news. I really struggled and didn’t know which door to open. Little did I know years later Awais would have full hearing in both ears!” explained Zatoon Bi.

Now aged 12 years old Awais can hear with the support of two cochlear implants. These are surgically implanted electronic devices that create sound to a person who is profoundly deaf or severely hard of hearing.

At first, Awais only gestured and has slowly learnt to talk. He still needs some extra support developing his communication skills and receives this from the Trust’s Speech and

Language Therapist, Gail Silcock at his school, Hanson Academy.

“I see Miss Gail every Monday,” said Awais. At the weekly sessions Gail and Awais take part in activities to develop his speech, language, social and listening skills. Gail sets Awais a programme to build his skills and monitors progress.

“She helps me with my speech. We do syllables. Awais has two!,” explained Awais.

Using physical demonstrations Gail gives Awais instructions such as “Place the phone under the piece of paper and place the phone in-between the red scissors and CD.”

“Although this might seem simple it helps Awais to listen to instructions, hear

different speech sounds and to understand preposition (words that explain the position of something such as on, over and between). If he’s then asked in the classroom to put the register on top of the table he knows what to do.” Said Gail.

It’s really rewarding to see the progress Awais is making. He’s never short of a smile and it’s a real pleasure to work with him.Gail Silcock

Our

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Speech & Language

Your Story // Your Health

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“We sometimes play games – you can develop so much language through games. With the game pictured. I ask Awais instructions such as: “Can you find the first red monkey on the second row?” These are transferable skills helping to develop Awais’s communication skills so he can process information to support him at home, school and in social environments. It’s all about making him feel confident and good about himself, equipping him with skills that will last for life.” Added Gail.

Awais enjoys playing football on the Xbox with his brothers and cousins. Using the skills he has developed with the support of Gail and his family he can communicate in

structured sentences and say: “It’s my turn next,” “I win!” “I like Barcelona best.”

Gail also gives Awais’s parents activities they can work on at home to further develop communications skills and is available to answer any concerns they may have.

Zatoon said: “Awais is happier now. It’s great we can have a conversation with him. He had no hearing at all and gestured but would get really frustrated. Seeing him achieve so much is a massive pleasure for me and my husband! It’s important to stay patient and take it as it comes because all the hard work you and professionals put into your child really pays off in the end!”

Part of Gail’s support at Hanson Academy is commissioned Service for Deaf Children and Young People (Bradford Council). For help and advice about commissioned support in your school see our back page advert.

Pictured: Gail and Awais

YourSay

Your Say // Your Health

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Be a part of making local health care better.

Our Trust is about to embark on an in-depth inspection process led by Professor Sir Mike Richards, Chief Inspector of Hospitals.Inspectors from the health watchdog, Care Quality Commission (CQC), will undertake an in depth inspection of the Trusts services some time between April and June 2014; we will receive unannounced and announced inspections including at evenings and weekends. This will provide you, our members, the public and our staff with a clear, detailed picture of the quality of care at Bradford District Care Trust.

A range of our services at different sites will be inspected including our mental health in-patient services, mental health community based services and our other community services including health visiting, district nursing, school nursing and other specialist services.

Simon Large, Chief Executive, said: “The visits will look at whether each of our core services are safe; effective; caring; responsive

to people’s needs; and well-led. As a result, we will be rated as outstanding; good; requires improvement; or inadequate. This is an important milestone for the Trust as it marks the next step towards securing Foundation Trust status.”

The inspection team includes over 20 people made up of senior clinicians, Care Quality Commission Inspectors, professional and clinical staff and other experts, including trained members of the public (‘experts by experience’).

Simon added: “There will be opportunities for local people to be involved in the inspection process. We expect the CQC to be hosting a number of events where people will have the opportunity to tell the inspection team what they think about the services the Trust delivers. I would strongly encourage people who have received care at our Trust or who want to share their thoughts to attend.”

If you want to receive information about these events please email ft@bdct.nhs.uk once dates, times and venues are confirmed event details will be on our website.

To book your place on this talk please contact: Courtenay White on 01274 363601 or email ft@bdct.nhs.uk

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Developing Young Children’s SpeechFamilies who speak Latvian, Czech, Slovak and Polish are among communities getting support from our Speech and Language Therapists.Polish mum of two Angelika noticed that there might be a problem with her son Dominik’s speech soon after his second birthday.

Angelika explained: “Dominik wasn’t speaking as well as his older sister. I spoke to my health visitor and she suggested Dominik had a hearing test. This came back normal so Dominik was referred for Speech and Language Therapy.”

Louise McChrystal, Consultant Speech and Language Therapist for Multilingual Communities, assessed Dominik’s speech and language skills in his home language Polish, and his additional language English.

Following the assessment, Louise has been working with Dominik, to help with his speech sound development. To do this they use play to keep the sessions entertaining, concentrating on helping Dominik to pronounce words that he cannot say. Therapy sessions are supported by interpreters from Enable 2.

Angelika said: “Dominik loves his speech and language therapy sessions. I help Dominik at home with his activities in Polish. I think it’s really important that parents help their children at home, just like they would do with homework.

“Dominik can now use and pronounce many more words. He’ll try difficult words too. I would definitely recommend this service to other families, the support has been brilliant.”

Families can self-refer by calling 01274 770397 or by speaking to a health care professional.

Your Say // Your Health

Living weLL with DementiaDate: 14 May 2014

Time: 1.30pm - 3.00pm or 6.00pm - 7.30pm

Venue: Hilton Hotel, Hall Ings, Bradford, BD1 5SH

Info: Dementia is currently one of the highest priorities for the NHS. You can find out more about this condition and the support available for people suffering with it at a talk led by Dr Gregor Russell, Consultant Psychiatrist.

MAY 2014

Date for your DiaryPictured:

Angelika & Dominik

You and Your CareAllied Health Professionals

& Planned Care Services

Commissioned Speech and Language Therapy in your school• Assessment of speech, language and communication needs• Support to develop communication friendly classrooms• Training and support for your school workforce• Targeted interventions for individuals and groups

Talk to us today! Tel 01274 770 397

All Speech and Language Therapists that we provide are HCPC registered and fully qualified members of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists ensuring the highest standards of care and professionalism.

www.bdct.nhs.uk/schoolspeech