News Summer 2016 St George s Community Trust In Conversation with... Louise Burrows, Calderdale Clinical Commissioning Group St George s Community Trust first to complete the Quality For Health award 1 What is Regional Voices?
Welcome Hope everyone is not getting too wet in the downpours that seems to come with the lovely sun we have been having. F i r s t l y a H U G E congratulations to St George s as the first organisation to complete Quality For Health. Well done and I can t wait to hear from others when they complete too. Furthermore there have been a couple of great events recently; the Engagement Champions with Learning Disabilities spent time talking to their peers about what this means for them and the BME Health Forum held its first ever event (see pages 5 and 6 for more details). Finally we find out about Turning Point Counselling Service and hear about their great work. Enjoy the summer and I ll see you on the other side. Happy reading! Soo CEO, VAC P.S. Check out our volunteering opportunities on page 7. Who knows, you might even be tempted to become 2 a Trustee at VAC. 1 Give something back - Become one of our trustees V o l u n t a r y A c t i o n Calderdale is currently going through a period of significant redevelopment and, as such, seeks enthusiastic, dedicated and qualified trustees to oversee the next stage of our work. No prior trustee board experience is necessary, but if you believe in: taking a consistent, honest, and ethical approach to setting business delivery. inclusivity; respecting and celebrating the d i v e r s i t y o f o u r communities and users. delivering services in a professional, and expert, contemporary manner, with integrity and passion. e m p a t h y a n d responsiveness to the needs of local people and their communities. building supportive internal and external relationships based on trust and respect. Then we want to hear from you. An informal conversation with the current chair of the board can be arranged b y e m a i l i n g soo@cvac.org.uk We are particularly looking for an exceptional individual who can take over the role of Chair of the Board of Trustees ( t r a i n i n g a n d development will be provided). This will involve the regular line management of the CEO as well as working closely with the Senior Management Team to develop the business of the board. Applications for this post would be especially welcomed from those operating in an HR capacity, who have experience of senior staff line management. For more information, please see our website: www.cvac.org.uk
St George s Community Trust first to complete the Quality For Health award St George s Community Trust ltd (SGCT) is the first organisation to be awarded the Quality For Health (QFH) quality assurance award. The organisation - based in Lee Mount, Halifax - completed the Quality For Health Award in just 10 months. The QFH award is designed to support local voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) groups to evidence the quality of health and social care services they deliver to funders and commissioners. QFH launched in June 2015 and requires groups to evidence their commitment to delivering quality services at either level 1, 2 or 3 depending on the experience and capacity of the group; SGCT applied for the level 3 award. SGCT offer a range of activities around 4 different business strands: Children & Young People Health & Wellbeing Training & Employability Environmental Projects Lisa Okonkwo, Manager of SGCT said: I am really pleased that St George s Community Trust ltd is the first organisation to complete the Quality For Health Level 3. We found it a very worthwhile quality assurance scheme and going through it really made us think about what we did and why! I am looking forward to the opportunities it may bring and would like to thank VAC for their support in bringing it to completion. The staff of SGCT were presented with their award by VAC Quality For Health Lead, Terry Perkins and Quality Lead for the C a l d e r d a l e C l i n i c a l Commissioning Group ( C C G ), L o u i s e Burrows. To find out more about QFH, please call 01422 348777 or visit the website www.qualityforhealth.org.uk 3 Left to Right - Louise Burrows, Lisa Okonkwo, Terry Perkins 2
The In In Conversation with... section of of the the magazine is is all all about the the organisations that Voluntary Action Calderdale and work its closely projects with. work closely For this with. edition, For we this spoke edition, with we Louise spoke Burrows with Luke Turnbull who is the who Quality is the Manager Designated for the Nurse Calderdale for Safeguarding Clinical Commissioning Adults of the Group Calderdale (CCG). Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG). What is your role within the Calderdale Clinical Commissioning Group? The role of the Quality Manager within the CCG is to gain assurance that the services we commission meet the three domains within the Quality Framework; safety, clinical effectiveness and positive experience. My background as a nurse and hospital matron for many years gives me the ability to understand what a quality service should look, and feel like for patients. I work within a team who in turn work with our providers to ensure that they meet the requirements within the three domains. Our Providers include: the hospitals (CHFT), the local mental health trust (SWYPFT), the private hospital (Spire at Elland), Yorkshire Ambulance and the GP practices across Calderdale. VAC was funded by the CCG in 2014 to provide support and to develop Patient Reference Groups (PRGs) in Calderdale. PRGs are there to work alongside their GP surgeries and offer patients views on the services they provide. Why do you feel that PRGs are important and how do their decisions affect your work? The PRGs form an important part of the experience element of the quality domains; they are made up of volunteer patients from the practices who support the GPs and practice managers to ensure that the practice is doing its best for all the registered patients. In a nutshell, patients can help to keep the practice staff grounded when they are making decisions about the services they provide. 3 4
The patient voice in decision making helps practices to provide services that patients want and in turn gives a more positive experience to those who use the practice services. The Calderdale Health Forum invites local PRG members to involve them in what s happening with the CCG. How important is this network for gathering views and sharing information? The Health Forum is a great way of the CCG listening to a representation of the people who use all our services across Calderdale. We share what the CCG is doing and they in turn share what they might be doing within the practices. As with the PRGs the opinion of patient representatives keeps the CCG grounded in some of our decision making. VAC has been helping to collect patients responses using the NHS Friends & Family Test in GP Surgeries; why is it important to collect the views of patients and how does the CCG use this information? Before the Friends and Family Test was introduced into GP surgeries the only way of gathering what people thought about their GP surgery was from a small annual patient experience survey carried out nationally, or from the few comments that patients post on NHS Choices. By asking a couple of simple of question at a local level (the Friends and Family Test), we are able to gain an understanding of the general level of satisfaction with the services provided by the practices. It s also easy to see when things are going wrong and we can put actions in place to rectify this. The practices also use what the patients tell them to make changes to the way things are done, for example a patient wrote on his feedback that it took too long for the practice to answer the phone; the practice invested in a call management system which means the practice monitor how long it takes and are able to act when lines are busy and now patients don t wait too long for the phone to be answered. 5 A big thank you to Louise Burrows. If you would like to know more about the Calderdale Clinical Commissioning Group, please visit their website www.calderdaleccg.nhs.uk 4
Engagement Champions at It s My Health Day Voluntary Action Calderdale and the Engagement Champions were invited by the Calderdale, Kirklees, Wakefield and Barnsley L e a r n i n g D i s a b i l i t y Partnership Boards to an event called It s My Health Day. The event, which took place on the 25th May, was a showcase of the services and the work going on to help people and families get good support in their community to stay healthy. Megan Vickery, VAC Engagement Officer ran a stall at It s My Health Day with the help of two of our Engagement Champions - Sarah Mitchell and her husband Michael Mitchell (both pictured below). Sarah and Michael both began the Engagement Champions training in October 2015 for local Calderdale organisation Cloverleaf Advocacy. Sarah said: I have enjoyed the Engagement Champions Training Now trained Engagement Champions, Sarah and Michael help their family and friends have a say when the Calderdale C l i n i c a l Commissioning Group (CCG) is consulting with the public. In 2014 VAC recognised that people with learning disabilities face significant barriers to involvement in p u b l i c a n d p a t i e n t engagement. From this, a training programme was developed for people with learning disabilities to be trained to become Engagement Champions. Of the 60 trained Engagement Champions VAC currently have, 11 are from the LD community. Megan Vickery said: The programme for people with learning disabilities has been made possible by working together with Pennine Magpie and Cloverleaf Advocacy. They have helped to shape and deliver the training making it accessible and enjoyable for their service users. To find out more about the Engagement Champions project please contact Megan on 01422 431094 or email megan.vickery@cvac.org.uk 5 6
BME Health Forum Event The BME Health Forum provides a platform for members of BME (Black & M i n o r i t y E t h n i c ) c o m m u n i t i e s, a n d organisations providing s e r v i c e s f o r t h o s e communities, to discuss health issues. The Forum meets every two months and looks at any health issues and services i m p a c t i n g o n B M E communities for example dementia, diabetes and niche tobacco products. At a meeting earlier in the year, it was decided that the Forum would put on a free event for BME communities to find out about all the local health services available to them. The event took place on the 26th May at Queens R o a d N e i g h b o u r h o o d Centre in Kings Cross. Over 40 members of the public attended the event and spoke to stallholders from: Smokefree Yorkshire Bluebird Care Womens Activity Centre Macmillan Stroke Association Better Living Team Healthy Minds 7 Alzheimers Society Touchstone Overgate Hospice Insight Healthcare Making Space Calderdale Carers Calderdale CCG Verd de Gris Ltd SWYPFT Calderdale Hospital Trust Dr Steven Cleasby, Assistant Clinical Chair of the Calderdale Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) was also in attendance and spoke to the stallholders about their work - some of which has been funded by the CCG. Alan Duncan, Development & Delivery Lead at VAC who helped facilitate the event said: This was the first time the Health Forum had put on an event of this type. The Forum is really pleased with the reception it got from local communities and from service providers. It gives the Forum a great platform to move forward. To find out more about the BME Health Forum, please contact Alan Duncan on 01422 431093 or email alan.duncan@cvac.org.uk 6
Volunteer with Voluntary Action Calderdale As part of national Volunteers Week (1st June - 12th June), VAC launched their new volunteering roles. The volunteering roles will help you make a real difference for local people when it comes to health and social care services in Calderdale including: Engagement Champions Engagement Champions are representatives of local communities. They are trained to talk with people about local health services. They give local people the chance to influence the way health services are planned and delivered. Trained Engagement Champions can earn money for local community organisations by doing engagement work. Mystery Shoppers VAC are seeking volunteers to Mystery Shop local health and social care services. Trained Mystery Shoppers will be able to provide a real time measurement of service user experience in order to support the improvement of services and the quality of experience 8 for service users. 7 Patient Volunteer P a t i e n t Experience E x p e r i e n c e Volunteers will collect and collate feedback from patients about local GP Surgeries using the NHS Friends & Family Test. The test was created to help service providers and commissioners understand whether their patients are happy with the service provided. This volunteering role will help increase patient e n g a g e m e n t a c r o s s Calderdale which will lead to a much better picture of how local GP Surgeries are perceived by their patients. VAC Trustees V A C i s l o o k ing f o r enthusiastic, dedicated and qualified individuals to join the trustee board. No prior trustee board experience is necessary. Applications for this post w o u l d b e e s p e c i a l l y welcomed from those operating in an HR capacity or who have experience of s e n i o r s t a f f l i n e management. Vanguard Panel Calderdale Community Vanguard partners have made a commitment to involve local people in the development of their new care model, Care Closer to Home. They would like people to get involved in the community panel to help make sure that the patient and carers voices are heard when developing the new model of care and to ensure that it meets the needs of local people. To find out more about any of the volunteering roles, please call 01422 348777 or email info@cvac.org.uk. You can also find out more on the VAC website www.cvac.org.uk/volunteering
What is Regional Voices? Regional Voices for Better Health exists to champion the work of voluntary and community organisations a c r o s s E n g l a n d, i n improving health and wellbeing, reducing health inequalities and reaching c o m m u n i t i e s, w h i c h traditional health and social services struggle to meet. Regional Voices are a national network with r e g i o n a l c o v e r a g e. Together, they connect to over 25,000 voluntary and community organisations across England. Regional Voices are a voluntary sector Strategic Partner of the Department of Health, NHS England and Public Health England and work with other p a r t n e r s, s u p p o r t i n g voluntary and community organisations to understand changes within the NHS and support organisations to influence changes, policy d e v e l o p m e n t & commissioning, in order to achieve better outcomes. 9 To improve health and reduce health inequalities, Regional Voices: connects policy makers with the work of voluntary and community organisations at local, regional and national levels to shape health & care services informs voluntary and community organisations about changing health structures and how to engage with them c h a m p i o n s b e t t e r commissioning and co-production of health, well-being and care services, in partnership between statutory and voluntary organisations influences health and social care policy at regional and national levels through identifying good practice and s e n d i n g p o w e r f u l, co-ordinated messages to government, based on e v i d e n c e a n d c o n s u l t a t i o n w i t h voluntary and community organisations. Emma Baylin, Regional Voices Health & Networks Manager for Yorkshire & Humber found a new home at VAC after the closure of Involve Yorkshire & Humber in late 2015. Emma works closely with other regional coordinators and national Regional Voices to locally coordinate and deliver programmes on behalf of NHS England, Public Health England, Dept of Health and CQC as well as supporting other national pieces of work. This work includes c o o r d i n a t i n g t h e HealthNet YH network that VCS organisations can receive updates about national policy developments and how they may impact locally training & development opportunities support to navigate the new NHS systems hearing and sharing good practice with others in the sector For more information or to sign up to receive Healthnet B u l l e t i n s, e m a i l regional.voices@cvac.org.uk or call 07495 049458 10 8
Calderdale Clinical Commissioning Group support... Turning Point Counselling Service Based in Brighouse, The Turning Point Counselling Service offers individual counselling to any person over the age of 14 living within the Calderdale area. The Turning Point began its work in 2002 through the inspiration of one qualified counsellor from a local church. Approaching Churches in Brighouse and Rastrick she enquired if they would sponsor a counselling service for the whole community. T h e T u r n i n g P o i n t Counselling Service is very proud of its history and the role the local Churches have played in service development. It is important to note however, that the services of The Turning Point are open to all, regardless of faith or religion. The Turning Point is the only third sector inclusive counselling service in the Lower Valley which offers long-term in-depth therapy and support to local people suffering from mental and emotional distress. As a counselling service they provide a safe space that is confidential and nonjudgemental to all those in the community. At Turning Point, they firmly believe that all residents of Calderdale should have access to counselling and as a result they provide an inclusive service open to all. As well as a busy counselling service, the Turning Point Counselling Service also provides a Debt Advice Centre. The Debt Advice Centre based in Brighouse is a project offering debt advice and independent support to community members struggling with their personal finances. The aim of this service is not to take your debt away but rather to help a service user to take a step back, consider options and then take control. 9 10 Throughout its history, all services to clients and service users are free of charge. Working with a single paid worker, a Counselling Co-Ordinator, all other staff, whether counsellor, receptionists o f f i c e s i t t e r s a n d management committee member are unpaid and do their valuable work on a voluntary basis.
To enable health and safety and good practice, The Turning Point has a small group of volunteer sitters. Sitters provide a meet and greet service for clients and also ensuring they have two people in the building at any time. At the moment, Turning Point are recruiting for new volunteer sitters and would welcome any input and application from interested individuals. The Turning Point Counselling Service and V o l u n t a r y A c t i o n Calderdale As a member of Voluntary Action Calderdale (VAC), The Turning Point has benefitted greatly from support, advice and guidance from colleagues at VAC. Turning Point Counselling Service see VAC as similar to a very useful consultant, whether it be help with policies and procedure, safeguarding information or employment law. VAC has offered insight and direction that has enable us to move forward and develop. One area where this was particularly relevant was a recent successful bid to the CCG. In order for the Turning Point Counselling Service to restructure and continue to secure the valuable service they delivered, the o r g a n i s a t i o n n e e d e d funding to develop their business, employ staff and put in place more robust r e p o r t i n g / m o n i t o r i n g systems. To do this, they applied for funding from the Calderdale CCG Care Closer to Home grant scheme supported by VAC. To help with The Turning Point Counselling Service s application to the fund, VAC provided insights into the bidding process and application completion. As a result, Turning Point were successful in their bid and received 3 years of funding that will enable them to develop their service, increase capacity and improve systems and processes. Simon Jackson, whose Development Management post is funded by the CCG said: In my relatively short time working for the Turning Point Counselling Service, I can see clearly the positive impact VAC input has had on the service. Obviously one element of this is the help and support in our CCG bid. However, it goes further than funding bids in that all aspects of our work is enhanced by our positive relationship with VAC. Should you want any further information about Turning Point please visit the website www.turningpointbrighouse.org.uk. You can also call them on them on 01484 950808 or email i n f o @ t u r n i n g p o i n t - brighouse.org.uk 11 10
VAC is a company limited by guarantee registered in England No. 4115234 and registered charity no. 1087518 If you require VAC News in an alternative format, please ring 01422 348777 12 or email info@cvac.org.uk