As I was on annual leave last week enjoying time with the family, I couldn’t attend the HSJ Awards but what a great night it was for Staffordshire. Both North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust and Midlands Partnership NHS Foundation Trust were shortlisted for Mental Health Provider of the Year at HSJ Awards 2019.
Although neither of us walked away with the top prize, the fact that our area provided two of only five finalist is testament to the strength in depth we have across our system. Congratulations also to MPFT for success in the Health and Local Government Partnership Award.
Members of the two Boards mingled before the ceremony commenced, as you can see below. Many thanks to those who travelled down to London to fly the flag for Combined:David Rogers, Chairman
Buki Adeyemo, Medical Director
Jonathan O’Brien, Director of Operations
Tosca Fairchild, Assistant Chief Executive
Sam Mortimer, Associate Director, North Staffs Community Directorate, AMH Community Management
Carol Sylvester, Clinical Director, Acute & Urgent Care Directorate, Nursing and Quality
Tony Gadsby, Non-Executive Director
Patrick Sullivan, Non-Executive Director
Jane Munton-Davies, Associate Director, Stoke Community Mental Health Services
Joe McCrea, Associate Director of Communications
Remembrance Day
On Monday 11 November 2019, the Trust observed the two minutes’ silence at 11am.
Remembrance Day marks the end of World War One, at 11am on the 11th day of the 11th month, in 1918. Many thanks to all our staff who took part in the two minutes’ silence.
National Staff Survey
This week, the overall staff response rate for the Trust is 39%!
Thank you to everyone who’s filled in their survey this week.
But there are still plenty more of you that we want to hear from. Please give us your honest opinions in the survey – which should only take 10 minutes to complete. Your views really matter to us and help us make a difference to Combined as a place to work.
The survey closes on 29 November at 5pm, so there’s just two weeks left to make your opinion count. Sift through your inbox to find the email from survey@quality-health.co.uk and complete yours today.
If you have any questions, please get in touch with Marie Barley, Staff Engagement and OD Facilitator: marie.barley@combined.nhs.uk, FN 2360.
Occupational Therapy Week Celebrations
Last week our OTs have been celebrating Occupational Therapy Week. On Monday, they hosted an Afternoon Tea, welcoming all OTs, colleagues, service users and carers to join them.
Our OTs shared their ‘Small Change: Big Impact’ stories with us – the valuable ‘small changes’ they make really do make impacts that can last a lifetime to our service users.
The team have also been at Harplands with a stall to spread the word, and spent some time at Newcastle College to talk to students about Occupational Therapy as a career path.
Thank you to everyone who joined us in the celebrations!
National Highlight For Our Work on BAME Inclusion
Helen Smith and Tes Zaheer, BAME Inculsion Facilitator, travelled to London last week to attend an event on “ Addressing The Barriers For BAME Representation In The Workplace’ with speakers from a wide range of public sector organisations. I’m told it was a really good day with lots of energy and ideas.
The aim of the day was to discover how we can better establish strong partnerships across government and the wider public sector to help improve and transform the BAME representation in the workplace and it gave us the chance to highlight what we’re doing at Combined.
Speakers covered a range of topics, from government reforms to regulatory frameworks. Case studies demonstrated successful approaches to improve different areas of BAME representation, including staff support networks, racial diversity in senior management positions, and supporting BAME women in the workplace, with guidance in training and supporting staff to provide the highest quality of service.
Helen and Tes will be feeding back into local networks around some of these. If anyone is interested in seeing the presentations or hearing more, they are happy to discuss. Well done, Helen and Tes!