From everyone at Healthwatch Northamptonshire, we hope you have a joyous Christmas and a fantastic new year!
We've had another busy year at Healthwatch Northamptonshire. It has been great to reach out to so many people to gain insight into their experiences and help the health and care system to hear those voices and make real change.
This year, we took part in the national Healthwatch campaign, "What Would You Do?", in which we asked people to share their views about how the health and care system can better support their overall health and wellbeing. We did this work jointly with Northamptonshire Health and Care Partnership to inform future changes in the health and care system in the county and the local implementation of the NHS Long Term Plan. Find out what we discovered or read more about the event we held.
Young Healthwatch Northamptonshire has achieved a lot in the last year too. Along with Kettering General Hospital, Young Healthwatch Northamptonshire won the PENNA 'Team of the Year' award for their visits to the hospital, which helped the hospital make changes to the children’s ward based on their recommendations. Find out more about their achievement. Young Healthwatch Northamptonshire continues to engage with young people locally about how health and care services can best meet their needs. Check out the Young Healthwatch Northamptonshire page to stay updated.
We would also like to say a huge thank you to our many volunteers and board members that help Healthwatch Northamptonshire listen to the views and opinions of people around Northamptonshire.
Following on from the emotional wellbeing project with Northamptonshire Health and Care Partnership, in which Young Healthwatch Northamptonshire gathered the views and experiences of young people across the county on mental health and wellbeing services, Young Healthwatch now wants to find out specifically about the emotional wellbeing of young carers in Northamptonshire.
Members of Northamptonshire Young Carers (including Young Healthwatch Northamptonshire members) participated via video link in the East Africa Young Carers Festival 2019. Healthwatch Northamptonshire’s Chair and Commonwealth Organisation for Social Work board member, Dr David N Jones, also participated in the event.
Around 50 young carers gathered in Nairobi earlier this month (5-7 December 2019) for a festival of fun, reflection and campaigning organised by the Commonwealth Organisation for Social Work (COSW) in partnership with the Kenya National Association of Social Workers linked with associations in Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda and supported by the UK Children’s Society Young Carer Team and Nairobi County Council.
In our latest Quick Poll we want to know about your experience of using NHS 111. If you have called NHS 111, please tell us about your experience in our short survey.
Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (NHFT) has been rated Outstanding overall for the second time, following its recent CQC routine inspection.
During September-October this year the CQC inspected NHFT services and found they were well-led and caring, giving the highest rating possible of Outstanding overall. The CQC highlighted that:
The trust continued to deliver high quality, safe services across the five mental health services inspected
There was a strong culture of openness, honesty and learning. There was evidence of sharing practice with others, and an ethos for embracing constant opportunity for learning and improving
The trust had continued to prioritise their values in every interaction every day, and the culture of staff in the trust was one of kindness, teamwork and pride to work for the organisation
Staff felt valued by the trust, their managers and by each other. There was an emphasis on staff well-being and leaders saw this as a priority focus for those who worked at the trust.
Do you suffer from severe hand eczema that is not getting any better? Steroid creams and moisturisers not helping? Does your hand eczema disturb your sleep? Are ordinary tasks like writing a huge challenge? The ALPHA study aims to find out with NHS treatment for severe hand eczema works best. The ALPHA research team at Northampton General Hospital is looking for volunteers aged 18 years and over with severe hand eczema which is not controlled on a daily (regular basis) with prescription steroid creams. If you would like to help please see their website for further information.
As we are fast approaching the festive period, we know this time of year isn’t filled with joy and laughter for everyone. It can be quite lonely or stressful and can lead to feeling low in mood, anxious about going out or stressed with the thought of having to prepare for this time of year.
If you are starting to feel the stress of the festive period or know of friends, family members or colleagues who may feel like this please do speak to a member of Changing Minds IAPT team today. They know this time of year can be difficult and have a team of professionals in place that can provide advice, offer support or help to put the right techniques in place to help you get back to feeling like you again.
In partnership with the Mental Health Northants Collaboration (MHNC), Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (NHFT) will be opening the counties first ever Mental Health Integrated Hub in early 2020.
The Integrated Hub will feature a single point of access phone line for all mental health related advice and support across both the NHS via a 24/7 phone line that will be staffed by a range of mental health workers from NHFT and the MHNC and will take on the initial triage functions of the existing navigation model as well as provide direct access into third sector support and wider NHFT mental health support.
All referrals for non-urgent psychological therapy for mild to moderate common mental health problems can still be directed to IAPT.
If you think a person may benefit from seeing the Mental Health Navigation service at some point in the future, you can encourage them to self-refer by contacting IAPT directly on 0300 999 1616.
Kettering General Hospital has launched a new procedure to remove tumours from the bronchial tubes - providing quick relief for lung cancer patients without the need for a major operation.
It is first time the hospital has undertaken the procedure - which is usually done by a thoracic surgeon under a general anaesthetic at one of a handful of specialist respiratory centres.
It will mean patients do not have to travel so far for treatment and provide an alternative for individuals who are not suitable for major surgery.
Carers' Voice Northamptonshire is a county-wide organisation, supported by Healthwatch Northamptonshire, aiming to improve the services available to Carers' by seeking Carers’ views and opinions and making sure they get heard.
If you are a Carer you do not have to necessarily do everything on your own. By joining Carers' Voice you can share your own experiences with other Carers, learn about what support is available for Carers and raise any issues you have as a Carer. Your views will be fed back to the Carers' Partnership and Healthwatch Northamptonshire, where they can influence the planning and provision of carers support services for the future.
Accommodation Concern is recruiting for two roles, a part-time Rough Sleeper Outreach Worker to support a current full-time Rough Sleeper Outreach Worker and a full-time Rough Sleeper Tenancy Support Worker to support rough sleepers through intensive supported accommodation programme.
Interested candidates are requested to send a CV with a covering letter, stating why they feel they would be suitable for the role by email to manager@a-c.org.uk.
Closing date is Midnight on Sunday 29th December 2019
The NHCP Pod Squad is Northamptonshire Health and Care Partnership’s own podcast series offering another way for our county’s health and care professionals to keep in touch with the latest news and talking points.
Plans are well underway to ensure that everyone at EMAS is ready for another busy winter period.
Throughout 2019, EMAS has seen a 6% increase in demand compared to 2018, and it is expected to continue throughout the winter period.
Since last winter, EMAS has welcomed almost 300 new staff members to frontline teams, many of whom will be out on the road in time for our busiest period.
Ongoing transformation of services and work with NHS and care system partners to operate more effectively will continue to support specific winter-related moves to cut 999 calls and journeys to accident and emergency departments.
New Films Released to Inspire More Disabled People to Get Active
A series of short films have been released to help encourage more disabled people in Northamptonshire to get active. Each of the four films features a person from Northamptonshire with a disability, or long term health condition and shows them participating in a form of physical activity.
This January, there are lots of new jogging groups starting throughout the county. These groups are all aimed at beginners and are ideal for people who have never run before.
Northamptonshire County Council is trying to gain a better understanding of how people currently use country parks and what barriers may be preventing you from being more active in parks.
Help by completing this short questionnaire. Your feedback will be used to help improve the facilities and activities available in parks.
England’s top doctors have urged people to protect themselves and their families from flu over the coming week amid warnings that new cases may peak over the busy Christmas period.
As flu levels ramp up, alongside fresh calls for the public to get protected, Public Health England (PHE) has activated the Catch It, Bin It, Kill It campaign, to help prevent the spread of the highly infectious disease.
The NHS is calling on the public to heed advice and stay at home if they have norovirus to avoid passing it on, as hospitals in England have been forced to close more than 1,100 hospital beds over the last week.
Top medics are concerned about the spread of the winter vomiting bug this year and the impact it is having on hospitals and other services.
They are therefore urging those who catch the virus not to go back to work or school until at least 48 hours after symptoms pass, to avoid passing it on to others.
NHS England and NHS Improvement are looking for up to sight representatives (which are a mix of patients and carers) to make sure that the voices of people experiencing services are heard and considered in our work around mental health equalities.
Mental health inequalities are preventable and illustrate unjust differences in health status which are experienced by certain population groups. This can include differences in access to services and differences in outcomes for those accessing services.
For more information and downloads, scroll down to "Patient and carer representatives needed for the mental health equalities work", here.
NHS England and Health Education England have launched ActNow, an e-learning tool developed for health service and care staff to help them reduce hospital delays for patients.
Nearly 350,000 patients currently spend over three weeks in acute hospitals each year. Many of those are older people who are often frail, and while a short period of treatment in hospital is sometimes necessary, staying too long can leave them vulnerable to infections or deconditioning.
These new resources will help staff to take prompt practical actions and use every opportunity to ensure our patients are cared for in the best place for them. It will cover the use of new technology, effective early discharge planning and caring for people at home.
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