Helen Kelly Award 2019
The Helen Kelly Award 2019 which recognises outstanding care, compassion and kindness towards ei
ther a service user or colleague.
Theresa Connor was nominated for her kindness and compassion towards a gentleman in her care who had a terminal diagnosis. She helped him compile his “Happy List” after his diagnosis, and arranged for him to sing with the FV Nurse’s Choir which was on his list.
Helen Kelly was the HR director for NHS FV who sadly passed away. Her family helped choose the winner.
Our Voice
The “Our Voice” focus group was established early in 2018 by staff and service users from the NHS Learning Disabilities Community Residential Resources in Forth Valley. Service manager Helen MacDonald wanted to find a way for the CRR service to be driven by service users, making them the “jewel on the crown” of the service. The introduction of the Health and Social Cares Standards (June 2017) provided the push and opportunity to drive forward with person centred care and support and the focus group was born. Representatives from each of the five houses (Alanmor – Camelon; Arnothill – Falkirk; Ercall Road – Brightons; Randolph Road – Stirling; St Blanes – Dunblane) were invited to come and discuss the idea and how it could be taken forward. From this very first meeting it was evident that the service users wanted to part of this and were keen to come onboard, a plan was made to meet again and have further discussions on how the service could be run together and the best way to achieve this. Service users were very enthusiastic and requested name badges as they were not all known to each other prior to the first meeting, it was also established that the group needed a name that represented them well, incorporating who they were and what they were going to achieve. The most important points raised by the service users was that they wanted to be heard and to make choices, our voice, our choice were common themes during discussion. Everyone agreed ‘Our Voice’ summed the group up well.
The group set out a list of aims summarising what they wanted to achieve. These aims were to improve the quality and support provided by the service; to highlight the importance of service users being involved in processes & working in partnership; to identify things the service does well; to identify things the service could improve; and to identify anything that service users would like to see happening in their service. The group had in-depth discussions about support and what they felt was important: they wanted to maintain the best possible health and wellbeing; staff to respect their home and way of life; to feel safe and be free from all forms of abuse; to be respected for the lifestyle I choose to lead; to be supported to try new things – locally and pursue my interests/hobbies; be supported to be the best I can be in life. The group wanted to make sure that what was important to them was clear to everyone. The group established their wants fitted four categories: Safety, Health, Choice and Support. The representatives from each house then got to work on designing a poster for the group. No one poster was chosen; instead aspects from all posters were selected to come up with the final design. The names of the houses along the branches represent that although we all go in our own different direction; we all come from the same service and share the same values.
Since the group started they have looked at and changed the staff recruitment process, with service user involvement at all stages as well as increased service user involvement in staff supervision sessions and staff team meetings. The group have been working with representatives from RBS regarding banking & managing money and fraud. Due to banks closing it is discussing options that would be safe for all concerned; this work has been continuous over the last year, and it has given the group an opportunity to amend the local financial policy and procedures. Caring for smiles (Dental Health) has attended a meeting and arrangements were then made for each of the five houses to have a visit & discuss the importance of oral health. An area the group wanted to establish was a social events and activity programme. The social events have been a great success with parties for different occasions; pamper evening, charity coffee mornings, a picnic, a BBQ and a bus trip to St Andrews. Each house takes it month about to arrange the event and everyone is welcome to attend, these events have been highly successful with very positive feedback from all involved.
Future plans for the group are to continue to look at different aspects of health, such as: health screening, diet and wellbeing, and exercise, as well as continuing to work alongside RBS regarding improving access to banking and managing finances.
The group members now attend fellow members house meetings to discuss minutes from “Our Voice” on a monthly basis so that their work is been shared throughout the service.
Our voice has been established now for 14 months & it would be fair to say that there has been real positive outcomes for individuals and this has been achieved working together.
NHS forth valley staff awards 2019
Outstanding Care Award Winners Lochview nursing team.
Forth Valley Website