December 2014 - The Retreat York

Retreat News

December 2014

Following a recent Board Meeting, I am now in a position to tell you about arrangements to bolster SMT capacity following David Smith’s departure. I am pleased to let you know that Linda Stephens will be joining us in January and working alongside me for three days a week in a consultancy capacity throughout 2015. Many of you will already know Linda from when she worked with us in 2013. She is a nurse by profession, has worked at Hospital Director level and has a broad range of skills, so she and I plan to work flexibly together. If you have any questions about this, please contact me.

Occupancy Rates This graph shows average weekly occupany as a percentage for the last 4 weeks. 100 92 84 76 68 60

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Acorn Unit • The Acorn Unit hosted a Peer Review Team on 26 November. They visited Acorn as part of our Therapeutic Community Accreditation Process to ensure that we meet the standards required of all TCs. It was an opportunity to learn how we might do things better but also to exchange ideas with clients and staff from other TCs. • On 19 November, Helen Crooke was interviewed by Radio York who wanted to know how Acorn help women who use self harming behaviours. One of the questions they asked was, can women ever stop self harming? The answer? Most definitely ‘yes’! • Diana Liddle and Sam Heuchan attended experiential training about the therapeutic community model this month. They have returned with a clearer picture of what it means to join and be part of a TC.

Activities • The Halloween night was a big success, a big thanks to all that came and Jamie our regular DJ. The prizes for best costume were awarded to York House. • Strensall had an afternoon at Tropical World in Leeds. We saw butterflies, snakes and Meercats.

Allis Unit • • •

Neil Ellis has been asked to move to Hannah and will be going on Monday 8 December, Tom Appleyard has been sporting a 70s Starsky and Hutch style moustache for Movember, Emily Richardson has joined the Allis team as a staff nurse.

Business Development • Tim Moore is settling in to his new role as Contracts Officer. In his role he will be taking over the gathering of all compliments. So if you receive any compliments be sure to send them along to Tim. • We were very pleased to welcome Tommy Whitelaw to give a talk on his experiences of being a dementia carer and his national campaign. The talk was attended by a mix of staff, members of the public and other health professionals. • We received 13 new referrals last month, which is six more than we received in November 2013. We have received 161 referrals this year.

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Chaplaincy • Our Retreat choir started on 4 November with 9 people attending the first session, led by our new choir leader Richard Safhill. We enjoyed an hour of fun singing, which included some rounds and other easy-to-learn short pieces. Do come and join our next sessions on Tuesdays 2 and 16 December at 7pm in the old library. No musical skills required, just a willingness to have a go…. • On 12 November we held a Memorial Service to remember people who have died in the past year, including Retreat patients, staff or relatives of people using our service now. It was well attended and we were delighted that some family members were able to contribute to the service by choosing hymns and readings. People left the service with a sprig of rosemary as a symbol of remembrance. Thanks so much to everyone who took part. Bronwen also ran the November CDG session on the subject of marking deaths and difficult anniversaries. She shared some of her academic learning about rituals, particularly around bereavement and how these can be helpful. Do drop her a line if you would like to hear more. • The Oracle was published earlier in November with a fantastic editorial written by someone on the Naomi unit. Thanks very much to her, and to all who contributed articles, news and photos. Also this month our Retreat calendar was produced and is for sale now for £6. People from Allis, Hannah, Acorn and Naomi share some fantastic images – as well as some from staff and volunteers – so please buy your calendar before stocks run out! All money raised will go towards the Garden Project Fund.

East Villa • Nothing Submitted. • Nothing Submitted. • Nothing Submitted.

Facilities • Facilities continue with bedroom refurbishments. Three completed recently on Hannah, one more underway and three rooms on George Jepson underway. • Works continue to the new garden off the Cherry Walk. • Minor changes to the layout of Finance Office, the George Jepson Laundry, Naomi Clinical Room and Naomi Dining Room are either completed or underway.

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Finance • Following Clare’s departure after more than 5 years at The Retreat to a payroll bureau in a professional accountancy practice, we have reorganised the payroll function. Carol will be dealing with all time sheets, annual leave and sickness administration and Peter will deal with any other technical payroll questions. Payroll now has a dedicated email address – payroll@ theretreatyork.org.uk – all queries or required information should go to this address. • We welcome a new Finance Assistant, Marie Robinson, who starts with us on 1 December. Marie will work Wednesday to Friday from 8am to 4pm. • A gentle reminder that the Finance Office opening hours are Monday and Friday 8am to 4pm and Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday 8am to 12.30pm.

George Jepson Unit • The decorators have commenced painting the doorways on the main corridor red. This initiative is in line with creating a more Dementia Friendly environment. • The unit is preparing for Christmas and a beautiful Christmas cake has been baked and decorated by our Home Cooking Group. • One of our gents took part in military parade to mark the centennial anniversary of the Remembrance Sunday. He marched with his regiment, exuding great pride for all of the accomplishments achieved by the regiment.

Hannah Mills Unit • On 2 December we are having an away day at East Villa with staff and patients. Sessions include: Ethos, Aims and Culture, Model and Pathway, Boundaries and Contingencies, and to end the day a team building session. • The team welcomes James Short back from paternity leave. James will be acting up when Chris Dawson leaves on 18 December. James will be supported by Neil Ellis who joins the team as deputy on secondment from Allis. • The group programme continues to develop with good attendance from patients. A weekly community action group provides feedback on the programme and ensures it meets the changing needs of our client group. For example by popular request an “Inner Vision Inner Voice” group has started up again. This helps patients explore their experience of hearing voices.

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HR • We have recently changed the way in which we undertake DBS checks for new starters and volunteers. We have now moved to an electronic system, resulting in much quicker return times and helping to enable new starters to join quicker than before. • The Sickness Absence Policy has recently been updated. These changes specifically relate to the ‘trigger points’ for each stage of the process and are designed to make the process easier for all to understand. The full policy can be found on the shared drive – if you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact the HR Department. We are also pleased to confirm that following feedback from the Staff Consultative Group, the company sick pay scheme has been reviewed and now means that enhanced entitlements start from 6 months service rather than 12 months. • This year’s Christmas Party is once again fast approaching and we hope that you are looking forward to the occasion. We would like to take this opportunity to wish you a most enjoyable evening and also provide a gentle reminder to everyone attending that you and any guests you bring are required to conduct yourselves in an appropriate and responsible manner throughout the evening. We are sure everyone will make the most of the evening and it will once again be a great success – thank you to those involved for arranging once again. All places are now taken – if you would still like to attend, please contact Carol Wheatley to put your name on the waiting list.

IT • There are 3 laptops and 2 projectors available for use by Retreat staff. Booking is done via the Laptop & Projector calendar in Facilities • All of the IT support staff (Teniel, James and Adam) can be reached at: [email protected].

Involvement • We delivered a speech at the mental health Healthwatch conference. • We are in the process of getting people who use our services involved in service planning and delivery, pathways work on Naomi and service model work on Hannah Mills. • We attended the National Carer Conference, lots of good networking opportunities, reviewed lots of current research and listened to lots of carers experiences.

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Katherine Allen Unit • Katherine Allen Team are looking forward to the three new support workers starting at the beginning of December. • We are continuing with our Dementia Action Group work and have finished decorating one of our small lounges, making it more homely and safe for our patients. • We are looking forward to Christmas when we hope to have our new uniforms and are planning a unit party in the QP Coffee Lounge.

Kitchen • The bread workshop was a huge success and everyone that took part really enjoyed the day, some of the bread produced was excellent and there are definitely some budding bakers in the group. • The staff block alterations are going ahead on the 9 December so the new look hot counter will be starting on the 10 December with more of a theatre style lunch service. • The next cooking workshop is on the 15 January in the Recovery College and will be covering pastry and cakes for anyone that is interested in getting involved.

Naomi Unit • We had a successful team away day on the 12 November. • We said goodbye to Janet Dodsworth on the 28 November and wish her all the very best for her new career. • Thank you to the painters for completing the corridor on Naomi it looks amazing.

Occupational Therapy • We are pleased to welcome Occupational Therapist Kristie Merry to the part-time post on Naomi. • We have enjoyed celebrating Occupational Therapy week by providing a display in reception with a range of Occupational Therapy leaflets/posters and quotes from staff, patients and carers. • Maureen Horsley and Joyce Latimer hosted an open international discussion on #OTalk for an hour, regarding the Peer Audit Tool Occupational Therapists at The Retreat use and received lots of interest, views and retweets with a potential reach of 124,000 people.

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Physiotherapy • We have recently had our bicycles serviced again so we can now give the option of allowing patients to take our bicycles out for a spin! If you know someone who is interested they will require an assessment/risk assessment before being allowed out. • Jabado has started again with Les, 10.30am on Fridays if you or any of your patients fancy having a bit of fun with exercise. • Badri has just completed his refresher in manual handling training and has lots of new ideas and techniques to roll out for everyone needing their training.

Psychiatry • Nothing Submitted. • Nothing Submitted. • Nothing Submitted.

Quality and Compliance • SMT have agreed to purchase the Safeguarding module of Ulysses. This will enable us to integrate information from Safeguarding alerts and IRFs and will assist in trend analysis. • Training on the CQC Fundamental Standards is being rolled out across the organisation. So far in excess of 75 staff have participated in the training. We are keen to access all staff on units, so if you would like to arrange some additional training for your unit please contact Jo Dent or Katie Kynaston. • The Compliance Group met for the second time earlier in November and we are planning a new approach to ensuring the 5 Fundamental Standards are embedded across all units. The five key questions CQC will ask are: • Is the service safe? • Is it effective? • Is it responsive? • Is it caring? • Is it well led?

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Recovery College • Kim Bevan and Emma Harris visited the Nottingham Recovery College and were made to feel very welcome, it was very interesting to see how an established college is working and we came back with lots of ideas. • Feedback from one of the students on the Safeguarding course – ‘really informative, good partnership between tutors’ • Thank you to all the peer support volunteers at the college for supporting the students and to the tutors for their hard work putting the courses together and enable the students to learn. We have had 50 students either completed or nearing completion of workshops/courses so far through the college – from the College we wish you a Happy Christmas and New Year.

Retreat Learning • Introduction of personalised online training plan and eLearning access for all new staff via induction section on Retreat Learning website. • Work has begun on transforming the old sewing room into a training room. • Work continues on developing a Care Certificate for all new Support Workers.

Social Work • Safeguarding Policy review work taking place – if anyone would like to discuss this please contact a Social Worker. • 11 Safeguard Alerts received by the Social Work Team in Nov. The Social Work Team would like to thank everyone one for being so vigilant. • The Social Work Team and Involvement Team are working on a Quality Assurance System for Safeguarding.

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Strensall Unit • Nothing Submitted. • Nothing Submitted. • Nothing Submitted.

Tuke Centre • We have been doing quite a lot of internal structures and systems work over the last few weeks. Through working groups all Tuke Centre staff have become involved with either inperson or email feedback. We have developed a new strategy, new structures and we’re midway through developing new systems. Might not sound exciting, but it is to us! • Psychologist Liz Lawson was interviewed by BBC Radio York about self harm in children and adolescents. Her input was excellent – if anyone wants to listen it can be found here - www. bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02bhyph at 1.11.43. It’s worth a listen! • We have two new volunteers Frankie Fox and Fran Copping who started on Friday 28 November and we have also added to our bank staff Becks Blain (OT) and Vicky Green (DBT therapist). In other staffing news, Vicky Hughes and Tracy Richardson went through an intensive week’s DBT training – hard work, but they got a great deal out of it. It also means that we have additional people to add to the DBT team.

York House • An ex-service user who left York House 6 years ago and moved into his own home in the community and got his driving license back, drove from his home in the North East by himself to visit everyone at York House. He caught up with old friends and enjoyed a few hours telling everyone about his progress. • One of our service users has finally had their funding agreed for a placement in the community after many years at York House and other similar facilities. • A service user attended a quality matters conference for all services in the North. She talked very eloquently about her injury and her experiences and how she felt that her time at York House benefitted her recovery.

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Working With Borderline Personality Disorder The DBT* Way

*Dialectical Behaviour Therapy

January 27 2015 th

9.30am - 4.30pm

The Retreat - 107 Heslington Road York YO10 5BN

Tickets £65 (lunch included)

An opportunity for: • Learning about BPD. • Exploring and understanding DBT. • Learning about the effective management of BPD • Meeting an experienced DBT team.

To book a place please visit: http://bit.ly/TukeDBT www.thetukecentre.org.uk

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@thetukecentre

What’s on ? Wednesdays 10.30am Staff Block

Thursdays 7.30pm Main Hall

Meet the SMT

Yoga

Tuesdays Fornightly 7.00pm - 8.00pm Old Library

December 5 2.00pm - 4.00pm Main Hall Nuzzlets

The Retreat Choir

December 8 1.30pm Coffee Lounge

December 9 7.00pm Main Hall

December 10 9.30am - 4.30pm Recovery College

December 10 9.45am - 10.45am Board Room

Body Shop Event

Christmas Disco

First Aid

Clinical Development Group



December 16 7.00pm Units

December 18 6.30pm-8.30pm Recovery College

Heworth Ladies Choir Carol Singing

Nativity

Jules Carol Singers

Photoskills

December 17 2.00pm - 3.00pm Lecture Room


December 19 10.301m Main Hall


Natural Laughter Skills

Tuesday Singers

The Bold Balladeers Christmas Show

Christmas Service

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