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OCTOBER 2015

Highlights

DEAL CLEARS

LAND has been secured for a new hospital in Fort William.

The Highland Council has bought a site on the Blar Mor, next to the health centre, to replace the 50-year-old Belford Hospital in the town centre.

The council was asked by its community planning partners last year to take the lead to secure the land for a replacement hospi-tal. Tesco were selling the eight-acre plot as part of their portfolio of surplus sites and had set an imminent closing date.

Working in collaboration with NHS Highland, HIE, West High-

land College UHI and the Scottish Government, the council acted in an enabling role in securing the land for £2 million for a new hos-pital and potentially a new sci-ence academy for the West High-land College.

As part of the deal, once fund-ing is in place to build the new hospital, NHS Highland will trans-fer the existing Belford site to the council to deliver affordable hous-ing in the centre of Fort William. NHS Highland and West Highland College will now work with the council to take forward proposals

Continued on page 2

Please get your flu vaccine: Pg 10

WAY FOR BELFORD REPLACEMENT

Peak shot

earns prize

for Linda

SEE PAGE 2

Highland Council and health board in Fort site agreement

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Paving way for new Belford...

for the site. The council’s chair of planning

and development, Councillor Audrey Sinclair, said: “This is a tremendous and long awaited success for the Lochaber area. It is a good example of partners working together to achieve suc-cess.

“The deal will enable the area to flourish with the prospect of a new much needed hospital and additional facilities for the West Highland College.

“I would like to add recognition

for former council leader Michael Foxley who was a significant force behind this project and worked to get Scottish govern-ment support to make this hap-pen.”

Mr Foxley, a non-executive member of NHS Highland’s board, said: “As instigator of the plan, I see this as a great result for teamwork and genuine com-munity planning across six public bodies.

“I would particularly like to thank Elaine Mead, chief execu-tive of NHS Highland, Allan Maguire of The Highland Council

and Charlotte Wright of High-lands and Islands Enterprise, along with the Deputy First Minis-ter. I am confident that on the re-dundant Tesco site, a new hospi-tal and a science learning centre will rise like a phoenix.”

The leader of the council’s Lochaber Area Committee, Coun-cillor Thomas MacLennan, said: “This is an important first step forward for the many partners involved in securing for Fort Wil-liam and Lochaber a new 21st century hospital and potentially other much-needed develop-ments.”

Continued from front page

New group for breastfeeding

BREASTFEEDING mums and mums-to-be from Sutherland will now have access to support from their local breastfeeding support group.

The group, Bainne, run by NHS Highland breastfeeding peer Myra Morrison from Gol-spie, is open to any breastfeed-ing mum who is looking for some advice and support.

Myra has, along with fellow peers Maree Mcleod and Joanie Mackay-Shanks, completed NHS Highland peer support training and was keen to offer support to breastfeeding mums in the area as soon as she could.

She said: “As peer support-ers we will support new mums coming out of hospital with ad-vice and tips on breastfeeding as well as offering help and ad-vice to expectant mums.

“The group will take place on the last Monday of every month in Lairg Community Centre from 1-3pm. It’s very informal; mums can feel free to pop in with their baby for a coffee and a chat.”

A STRIKING image of a snow-covered Highland mountain has won an award for an NHS High-land employee.

Linda Kerr, library services manager at Lorn and Islands Hospital in Oban, has won the adult category in the stills photog-raphy competition held as part of the Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival. She entered the competition after reading about it in Highlights.

The competition had as its theme ‘Passion for the Highlands’ and Munro-bagger Linda ex-plained in the explanatory text that accompanied her entry: “The mountains and wild places of the Highlands are my passion.

“Big open skies, jagged craggy peaks and high ridge walking ex-hilarate me. Snow adds another dimension. In this wilderness I am inhaling nature’s tonic. How can I be anything but joyful in

such breathtaking beauty?” Linda took her winning photo

of Binnean Mor near Kinlochleven last February and it is currently being displayed, along with the other entries, at an exhibition in Eden Court in Inver-ness.

“It’s great to have one of my pictures shown alongside so many great photographs at a venue like Eden Court,” said Linda. “I know that promoting wellbeing is what the arts and film festival is all about, and wellbeing is something I certainly get out of hillwalking.”

Linda received her prize, a £50 voucher, at the festival’s Highland launch in the Town House, Inverness, earlier this month.

The Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival takes place at various venues throughout Scotland until 31st October.

Prize photograph in the spirit of festival

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Board’s finances: No

room for manoeuvre NHS HIGHLAND is at risk of breaching its target of achiev-ing financial break-even by the end of this financial year by around £5 million.

However, finance director Nick Kenton told NHS Highland’s board meeting earlier this month that he believed break-even could be achieved, and he set out a contingency plan to cover the potential overspend.

But he did so with a warning: there would be no room for ma-noeuvre.

“The plan would utilise all available reserves,” he told the board, adding that he believed further contingencies needed to be developed immediately. This would “provide additional security and mitigate any further risks crystallising over the remainder of the financial year”.

The director’s report showed that in the five-month period from April to August, the board over-spent its revenue budgets by £3.4 million.

However, it underspent its capital budget – the board is not able to move funding between capital and revenue budgets – by £300,000 in the same period, and the board is on course to meet its break-even target for capital.

New scheme for trainee social

workers launched NHS HIGHLAND has created a new trainee social worker scheme which will see five health board and Highland Council staff supported through their Social Work degrees.

This is the only such scheme being run by an NHS board and is offered in partnership with the Open University. Each of the trainees will study for a BA (Honours) in Social Work.

After they have completed their degree, NHS Highland will continue to employ them in the same teams they currently work in as registered social workers.

NHS Highland’s head of care services improvement, Janet Spence, said: “This is a state-ment of our intention to invest in our workforce. The five trainees have taken up posts in and around Inverness. Support for the project has been strong, and competition for the posts was

fierce. Each of the successful ap-plicants is local and has a strong grounding in social care – with three having previously worked as referral assessment officers.

“This is an exciting develop-ment and offers the opportunity for NHS Highland, as an inte-grated health and social care pro-vider, to identify and support local staff to gain a professional social work qualification while working.

“The calibre of the trainee so-cial workers is high, each bring-

ing with them a range of previous care experience.”

Mrs Spence continued: “It will be quite a challenge for them to work full-time and study for an Honours degree while having family commitments too.

“However, they will be fully supported by NHS Highland both financially, by paying for their study, and by promoting strong line management, team and peer support and professional supervi-sion.”

Pictured, from left, are successful applicants Emma Mackman (Nairn), Moira Helliwell (Inverness community mental health team), Fiona Fraser (Inverness East rural), Dawn Thomson (Inverness East urban) and Heather Strang (Dingwall)

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BY Christmas, what amounts to a new health centre will be up and running for residents of the Small Isles of Eigg, Muck, Rum and Canna.

A team from NHS Highland has been working on the conver-sion of the former doctor’s house on Eigg into a health and wellbe-ing centre.

NHS Highland architect Heather Cameron, who has man-aged the project, said: “We’re looking to transfer to the building this year and we’re confident that

we’ll be using the new-look prem-ises by Christmas.”

NHS Highland is considering options for making the existing health centre available for com-munity use.

Still on the Small Isles, NHS Highland has agreed to a request by residents to postpone a health fair, which had been pencilled in for September, until next spring and it’s hoped that the event will also celebrate the opening of the new surgery.

The health fair is intended to

be community-led, and will offer advice on such as diet, smoking and alcohol. NHS Highland is happy to consider any other ideas for the fair.

Meanwhile, NHS Highland’s team of four rural health and so-cial care support workers on the Small Isles are continuing with their learning objectives to enable them to meet the needs of the island communities.

Formed in April, the team – three Eigg residents and one from Muck – complements the work of doctors, nurses and therapists. They have already completed orientation and basic skills training, for which they have been provided laptops, and re-cently had a talk from the lead physiotherapist for Lochaber and Skye.

They have also had infection control training by video-conferencing and will be receiv-ing some training on basic nail-cutting. It is also planned that they receive smoking cessation and alcohol advice, mental health first-aid training, which will teach them to give initial help to some-one experiencing a mental health problem, and some IT training.

Work under way on new

health centre for Small Isles

‘THE only way is up!’ That was the message on the tee-shirts worn by

a group from Highland who attended the annual Scottish Medical Training and Careers Fair.

Held in Glasgow’s SECC last month, the event is a major showcase for medical training in Scotland – and a small team from NHS Highland wasn’t going to miss the opportunity to spread the word to those present about what’s happening in the north of the

country. NHS Highland clinical director Dr Paul Davidson,

director of medical education Dr Emma Watson, consultant physician Duncan Scott and remote and rural programme manager Martine Scott were at the event representing the north of Scotland.

They were joined at the fair by Kerry Russell of the North of Scotland Planning Group and rural fel-lowship co-ordinator Dr Gill Clarke.

NHS Highland team at medical training showcase

Far North redesign progresses

WORK is ongoing to redesign health and social care services for North Sutherland.

One of the driving factors is that funding has been available from The Highland Council to build a care home on the north coast. How-ever, more crucially, there is a need to ‘future proof’ services.

A paper to NHS Highland’s board earlier this month explained that the area’s two residential care homes were not purpose built, one had failed to meet Care Inspectorate standards, staffing them had been “extremely challenging” and the cost of running them was “extremely high”. More generally, NHS Highland has been unable to recruit GPs and other professionals to parts of the area, and board members were told that this was likely to get harder in the future.

Taking these factors into account, informal engagement with the communities has been taking place to explain some of the problems and to agree on the process of looking at future models of service.

A short video on the redesign can be viewed on YouTube at https://youtu.be/Uus3HYc5YkA

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MEMBERS of The Highland Council’s education, children and adult services committee have agreed to support the role of health and social care professionals in making people in their area aware of the importance of making ar-rangements for power of attorney when they are still capable.

The Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000 provides a legal framework for safeguarding the welfare and managing the finances of adults who lack capacity due to mental disorder or inability to communicate.

While having the capacity to do so, an adult may grant a power of attorney giving an attorney powers over their property, finance or welfare or both. A power of attorney is a written document giving someone else authority to take actions or make de-cisions on the adult’s behalf.

The chairman of the council’s education, children and adult services committee, Councillor Drew Mil-

lar, said: “This is not just about safeguarding the interests of our older members of the community it’s about adults having a plan in place if they become ill or injured and are unable to look after themselves or make decisions for themselves.

“None of us can say what the future holds and it’s important that we all make decisions for our own future welfare while we can and encourage others to do so.”

Council leader Councillor Margaret Davidson added: “Having a clearly defined legal plan of power of attorney can help Highland Council and NHS Highland provide health and social care assistance to those in need much quicker and without delay. With a power of attorney in place much-needed as-sistance for adults with incapacity can be held up.

“I would urge everyone, their families and friends to consider their own situations and look into setting up their own plans of power of attorney while they can.”

Raising awareness of power of attorney

Bid to lure GPs to remote practices

DOCTORS at the annual confer-ence of the Royal College of General Practitioners, held in Glasgow’s SECC from 1st-3rd Oc-tober, were given an insight into practising in remote and rural parts of Highland and Argyll and Bute.

NHS Highland, along with NHS Shetland and NHS Dumfries and Galloway, mounted a stall at the event promoting remote and rural working.

At the royal college’s confer-ence in Liverpool last year, NHS Highland not only had a stand promoting remote and rural prac-tice but arranged for a van, carry-ing advertisements plugging the Highlands as a great place for doctors to work, to drive around the city.

That exercise was repeated at this year’s event.

The theme of this year’s con-ference was ‘Expanding Horizons of Care’.

T HANKS have been ex-pressed to Sheelagh and Pe-

ter Mosley, from Inverness, who asked for donations for Raig-more’s cardiology department instead of presents for their re-cent golden wedding anniversary.

A total of £800 was raised

from this gesture, and the money will go towards helping develop the specialist nurse service.

Pictured with Mr and Mrs Mosley are Shona Fraser, ICD specialist nurse, and Professor Steve Leslie, consultant cardiolo-gist.

Golden boost for department

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Success at

the double STAFF, patients and volun-teers at two Argyll and Bute hospitals were celebrating af-ter receiving a prestigious na-tional award this month.

The chemotherapy day ser-vices and a room for relatives of in-patients approaching end of life at the hospital in Lochgil-phead and the Macmillan day bed unit at Lorn and Islands Hos-pital in Oban were all awarded a Macmillan Quality Environment Mark.

The awards recognise and reward good practice and high standards within the physical en-vironment of a cancer care build-ing. They were developed by Macmillan Cancer Support in col-laboration with people living with cancer and organisations includ-ing the NHS.

The Macmillan day suite in Lochgilphead provides a desig-nated area for patients to receive chemotherapy and other treat-ments. It was built in 2013 follow-ing donations from the local com-munity and Macmillan Cancer Support.

It means that patients with cer-tain cancers can receive chemo-therapy treatment at their local hospital rather than having to travel to Glasgow or Oban.

The Dunadd Room, which in-cludes a comfortable lounge area, a bathroom and balcony, provides a quiet area and can be converted into overnight accom-modation for the relatives of inpa-tients approaching end of life.

The Macmillan day bed unit in Oban includes a chemotherapy treatment room with seven chairs, a separate treatment room with a bed and a quiet

room. It was also opened in 2013 and houses an information centre and dedicated pharmacy which offer a much needed resource for patients.

Elaine Hamilton, associate Macmillan development manager of the west of Scotland, said: “These awards reflect the hard work and dedication of everyone involved in making the units very special places.

“Assessors found that staff work extremely hard to create a welcoming atmosphere and that

they are committed to providing high-quality care in a comfortable environment. We are delighted and they should be congratulated for their hard work.”

The Macmillan Quality Envi-ronment Mark helps to ensure that people affected by cancer are treated and supported in physical environments of uni-formly high quality. The scheme is open to any healthcare provid-ers from the public, voluntary or private sectors that operate a cancer care building.

The team at Lochgilphead

The Macmillan day suite team

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THE Diabetes Action Plan 2010: Quality Care for Diabetes in Scotland was centred on principles of quality and was intended to drive up stan-dards of care through genuine involvement of people with diabetes as well as sharing out-come information and best practice.

Supporting and developing staff is just one of the areas that has been outlined as a priority as ensur-ing healthcare professionals caring for people living with diabetes have access to consistent, high-quality diabetes education equips them with the knowledge, skills and confi-dence to deliver safe and effective diabetes care.

The Diabetes Foot Education Network (DFEN) sessions began in October 2014, bringing together all staff concerned with the early referral, care and support of those with diabetes foot problems.

Each session, which runs for 75 minutes via video-conference link, offers inclusive access from varying locations. Sessions take a case study ap-proach to interrogate how existing national guide-lines may be used to increase the early referral of persons at high risk of foot ulceration.

The aim of the DFEN is to provide networked education for those concerned with the care and treatment of people with diabetes, to increase awareness of existing national guidelines for the early referral of those with diabetes foot ulceration, to provide opportunity for at distance staff network-ing and sharing best practice, to promote early re-ferral of all persons with diabetes and at risk of foot ulceration, to promote inter-professional learning

and to enhance the role of the diabetes foot multi-disciplinary team. All staff concerned with

the assessment, care and treatment of persons with diabetes foot problems are encouraged to book into these networked education sessions, improving ac-cess to evidence-based approaches to improving early referral. The diabetic foot is everyone’s re-sponsibility.

Feedback from those who have attended the sessions has been very favourable and are valued by those attending.

Since the sessions began four have been deliv-ered with topics covered including early referral of

diabetes foot ul-ceration, vascular management and intervention in the foot in diabetes and foot risk awareness and management edu-cation.

Topics for future sessions will in-clude microbiology of diabetes foot ulceration, appro-p r i a t e a n t i -microbial use in diabetes foot ul-ceration, dermatol-ogy of the foot in diabetes and nutri-tion and diabetes foot ulceration.

Diabetes Foot Education

Network – one year on

For more details contact HIGH-UHB.DiabeticFootEd@nhs.net

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N URSE Edith Cavell was born in Norfolk on 4th December 1865, and was appointed first ma-

tron of the Berkendael Medical Institute in Brus-sels in 1907.

In August 1915, having been charged with as-sisting 130 people to escape from Belgium, she was court-martialled and condemned to death, and she was shot on 12th October that year.

On the centenary year of her death, Inverness remembered her by holding a dedication and me-morial service.

Highlands honour

a nursing heroine

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THE remote and rural project for Mid-Argyll and Kintyre is pro-gressing well.

Its aim is to recruit to vacant general practice posts, to provide a sustainable and high-quality primary care and community hos-pitals (both in-patient and A&E services) and GP out-of-hours services in the area.

These services require GPs with an extended range of skills to undertake this triple-duty role.

In Mid-Argyll, the medical practices at Lochgilphead and Inveraray have merged, pro-viding a larger pool of general practitioners; four new GPs have

been recruited in the past 12 months.

The proposal for Kintyre is to establish a single GP out-of-hours service and a single GP practice-led community hospital in-patient and A&E service cover-ing the whole of Kintyre and an additional 1.5 GPs have been appointed to deliver this service.

Campbeltown Medical Prac-tice has assumed responsibility for in-patient care and out-of-hours services for the entire pen-insula, while maintaining their own in-hours general medical services work.

Daytime GP services will con-

tinue to be provided across the area’s two other practice sites, Carradale and Kintyre Medical Group.

Both the service models are also supported by emergency nurse practitioners based in the hospitals and by the community nursing team working until 9.30pm.

Stephen Whiston, head of strategic planning and perform-ance in Argyll and Bute, said: “We believe that this model of service provision will ensure maintenance of a high quality and sustainable service to our remote and rural communities.”

Consultants

join the team A NUMBER of key new appoint-ments have been made by NHS Highland.

Dr Jennifer Hyland has taken up the post of consultant in gen-eral adult psychiatry, having relo-cated from the Yorkshire area, where she completed her training in a similar semi-rural setting.

She has previously worked in the Highlands and was keen to return to the area.

Dr Caroline Duncan has taken up the post of consultant haema-tologist, having spent the last four years working as a consultant haematologist in Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.

She previously enjoyed work-ing at Belford Hospital during her training and was keen to return to the area and enjoy the opportuni-

ties that come with living and working in the Highlands.

Earlier this month Dr Jan Sznajd started work with NHS Highland as a locum consultant in rheumatology. He will take up the substantive post in the New Year.

Dr Sznajd is originally from Poland, where he worked as a consultant for nine years.

In the past two years he has started a research project at Ox-ford University, focusing on vas-culitis.

Dr Jonathan Brodie has joined NHS Highland to as consultant radiologist. Dr Brodie qualified from the University of Aberdeen in 2008 and has spent the last five years working as a registrar in Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital. His training included

attachments at West Suffolk and Ipswich hospitals as well as Pap-worth Hospital.

Having previously worked as a junior doctor within NHS High-land, he is keen to contribute to-wards the collaborative working and educational environment here.

His interests include thoracic, cardiac and head and neck imag-ing as well as medical education.

JENNIFER HYLAND

CAROLINE DUNCAN

JAN SZNAJD

JONATHAN BRODIE

Mid-Argyll and Kintyre model takes shape

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AS this year’s NHS Highland flu vaccination programme kicks off, staff from across the organisation are being encour-aged to make sure they take the opportunity to get vacci-nated.

All staff, particularly those who have direct contact with pa-tients, are being invited to attend drop in clinics or look out for the mobile trolley sessions in or near their department.

Dr Ken Oates, consultant in public health medicine for NHS Highland, hopes that staff will take the opportunity to be vacci-nated.

He said: “Staff suffering from flu can unintentionally pass this on to others, including the pa-tients they are looking after.

“We are making every effort

to make flu vaccination as easy and accessible to our staff as possible over the coming weeks.

“Flu is not a minor illness. It can make people feel extremely unwell for two to three days and full recovery normally takes a week. Even fit healthy people can develop more serious con-sequences and can require hos-pitalisation.”

Further details on clinics dates, information for healthcare professionals and information on myth busters are all available on the flu page of the staff intranet.

Department launches new

intranet service THE NHS Highland procurement department has launched its Con-tract Information Notices (CANS) on the contracting intranet page.

A few months ago, Highlights reported how the department was the first port of call for contracts or purchases. The department en-sures that any equipment is pur-chased via national contracts. Failure to do so could result in huge financial ramifications.

CANS will now be uploaded regularly for all local contracts awarded by procurement, includ-ing all the information staff will need relating to the contract, such as supplier details and ordering.

Raigmore progress

NHS HIGHLAND’S board has taken the next step in plans to re-furbish the critical care facilities and theatre suite at Raigmore.

Such projects follow a pre-scribed process which, in this case, has seen the approval by the Scottish Government of an outline business case. The next step, which the board took at ear-lier this month, was the approval of a full business case.

Units are merged

TWO of NHS Highland’s opera-tional units – Raigmore and South & Mid – have merged.

“Having seen the benefits of single management, single budg-ets and single governance through the integration of health and social care, the intention is to facilitate greater integration of acute and community services,” NHS Highland’s board was told at its meeting earlier this month.

Staff are

urged to

get flu

vaccine Protect your patients Protect yourself Protect your family Get the flu jab soon See intranet for details or ask your manager

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MEMBERS of NHS Highland’s board were told at their meeting earlier this month how NHS Highland had improved its Treatment Time Guarantee (TTG) performance.

The TTG, introduced in 2012, requires that no patient should wait more than 12 weeks for treat-ment from the date of the clinical decision for the required treatment.

However, the board was told, a number of fac-tors – including an increasing number of referrals, consultant vacancies and unwillingness by existing consultants to undertake additional activity – con-tributed to an increasing number of patients breach-ing the TTG. That prompted the production of a

TTG recovery plan, which was implemented in January with the aim of ensuring that no patients breached the TTG by the end of September.

A chart presented to the board showed the re-duction in TTG breeches since the plan was imple-mented. On 2nd January there were 789 breeches; by 18th September the number was down to 320.

Clinical staffing issues, the prioritisation of can-cer patients and bed pressures have been factors in the board failing to meet the target of zero breeches by the end of September. The board was told that the expectation now was that by December no spe-ciality except orthopaedics would have any patients waiting over 12 weeks.

MOVES are in hand to estab-lish a closer working relation-ship between NHS Highland and the University of the High-lands and Islands (UHI).

At its meeting earlier this month, NHS Highland’s board approved a Memorandum of Un-derstanding between the two or-ganisations which will form the basis of developing areas of com-mon interest.

A paper to the board explained that the two bodies had responsi-bility for aspects of the wellbeing and prosperity of the population of the Highlands, and shared an interest in education, training, research, continuing professional development (CPD) and widening access into education and em-ployment.

The health board already has similar formal relationships with

some other universities and the paper stated that it was now “essential” that the relationship with UHI be recognised in a Memorandum of Understanding.

“This,” the paper stated, “will be mutually beneficial and pro-vide a framework for joint work that will be taken forward on a basis of equality and reciprocity.”

It’s proposed that a range of initiatives be taken forward under the memorandum, including un-dergraduate and postgraduate training and CPD for a range of health and social care profession-als.

One particular initiative will be to further develop NHS High-land’s quality improvement agenda based on the Highland Quality Approach. The health board has strong links around the use of improvement science with

several external partners, and these will be further developed with the aspiration of creating a leading centre of excellence en-compassing academic and NHS staff, potentially providing exper-tise that is relevant to the whole of the public sector.

The paper to the board also showed how stronger links with UHI would, among other things, strengthen opportunities for joint work to address inequalities, in-cluding those relating to remote and rural deprivation.

And it explained that stronger links were likely to improve re-cruitment and retention of staff where recruitment had been his-torically challenging.

The board agreed to the set-ting up of a project management board with UHI to develop closer links.

Board members briefed on improvements to Treatment Time Guarantee performance

Board forges closer

links with university

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ALL NHS Highland staff involved in clinical trials are recommended to undertake Good Clinical Prac-tice (also known as Good Re-search Practice) training, and en-sure that their GCP knowledge is updated every two years.

GCP is an international ethical and scientific quality standard for designing, conducting, recording and reporting trials involving the participation of human subjects, and compliance with this stan-dard provides public assurance that the rights, safety and well-being of trial subjects are pro-

tected and that the clinical trial data is credible.

A course, ‘Good Clinical Prac-tice, Introduction and Update’ will be held on 19th November in the Centre for Health Science, Inver-ness.

The ‘introduction’ element will be from 9.30am-4.30pm and the ‘update’ part, for those who have already attended an introduction course and are refreshing their knowledge every two years, from 11am-12 noon.

To book a place email laura.mcilhatton@nhs.net

Campaign

to tackle

loneliness

LONELINESS increases the risk of dying earlier by 10 per cent.

And this year’s Befriending Week, to run from 1st-7th Novem-ber, aims to raise awareness of and combat the issue of loneli-ness, and to promote the work of befriending services.

Chest Heart & Stroke Scot-land’s Befriending Service helps to reduce isolation for those living in the community with cardiac ill-ness.

As Highlands co-ordinator June MacLeod explains: “The vol-unteers in our service offer a one-to-one support service to provide companionship to people who experience limited social contact.

“Volunteer befrienders are re-cruited, trained and carefully matched with people who need someone to talk to, go shopping with, or perhaps just share a cup of tea. Often a volunteer be-friender is the only person that some people will see in a week.”

“Befriending Week provides CHSS the opportunity to thank our volunteers for the massive impact their time makes to beat-ing loneliness in the local area.

“The results of befriending can be very significant often providing people with a new direction in life, opening up a range of activities and leading to increased self-esteem and self-confidence, all helping to beat loneliness.”

To find out more about sup-porting your local befriending ser-vice, call June on 01463 701196 or 07748464867, or email june.macleod@chss.org.uk

Course on Good Clinical Practice

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ONLY 25 per cent of those who have attended NHS High-land stress control classes in Lochaber are men – but the proportion is still seen by the course organisers as “remarkably high”.

Adrian Hart, of NHS High-land’s community mental health team in the area, says he ex-pected very few men to attend the courses, which have been held in an attempt to tackle head-on what is seen as a significant but often hidden issue.

“Let’s face it, Lochaber isn’t the sort of place you associate with men being open about any mental health issues they might have,” said Mr Hart.

“So the fact that around 25 of the 100-plus people who have turned up are men has really surprised me.

“Frankly, I reckon it’s a re-markably high number given the reticence men in the West High-lands have when it comes to these matters.

“Hopefully, the continuing and open access of these courses will encourage more men to at-tend.”

NHS Highland has run four six-week stress control courses since the beginning of last year, and is holding another – again

over six weeks – in Kilmallie Hall, Corpach. The first session was held on 21st October and each one runs from 6-7.30pm.

The community mental health team in Lochaber sees around 300-400 referrals every year but the course is designed to sup-port people who, for a range of reasons, do not seek help through more conventional routes.

Mr Hart explained: “People are not formally referred to these courses – they simply turn up if they feel they need help.

“And our experience is that

the courses do help, not least because of how they are struc-tured. They’re a bit like evening classes really. They don’t in-volve group therapy, no-one is asked to talk about their particu-lar situation in front of others, no writing is involved in the course, and they offer a degree of ano-nymity which those attending appreciate.

“The courses show people some great ways of controlling stress, and help them to handle common problems such as loss of confidence, sleep issues, anxiety and so on.”

Mr Hart, a cognitive behav-iour therapist, added: “We are repeating the courses because they have proved to be very popular, and that reflects the fact that stress, depression and anxiety are common problems.

“I can’t say that stress is a more significant problem in Lochaber than elsewhere but I do know that there are many, many people in the area who can be helped with mental health issues.

“I’d urge anyone who feels they may need a bit of help to come along.”

Pamphlets are available at each session and a free relaxa-tion CD is given out at the class.

Surprise at male

response to stress

control classes

Under stress …depression and anxiety are common problems

- 14 -

R EABLEMENT is the provi-sion of care-at-home ser-

vices in a reabling way to maximise or regain a person’s skills in daily functional tasks.

It helps people to learn or re-learn the skills necessary for daily living and its main aim is to restore people’s confidence and maximise their independence potential.

The Argyll and Bute Reshap-ing Care for Older People Board invested in a reablement project over the last three years and funding from the Integrated Care Fund has been secured to main-stream reablement for all local residents who require care-at-home services.

To implement the reablement approach, four full-time posts were created in each area of the Argyll and Bute Community Health Care Partnership.

Three posts were filled by Band 6 occupational therapists, and someone is being recruited to the post in Mid Argyll.

In Cowal and Bute, the team member is Finola Owen, who has worked in Dunoon inte-grated OT team for the past seven years.

Covering both Cowal and Bute can be challenging but Fi-nola is passionate about reable-ment as it embodies the core philosophy of her OT profession.

Finola said that reablement gave people the opportunity to maintain their independence, dignity and respect, and had a clear positive effect on them.

The team member for Oban, Lorn and Isles is Louise Duff, who moved from Ayrshire two years ago. Louise’s remit at this time was to roll out the reable-ment training, facilitate the prac-

tical side of the reablement process and engage with the third and independent sector.

Louise, is an enthusiastic OT committed to the reablement project, previously had valuable experience of reablement role has brought this with her to the current project.

In Helensburgh and Lomond, the team member is Lucie John-son, an OT based in Helens-burgh. Lucie relocated to Scot-land in May and is keen to em-bed the reablement approach in her area.

She is proactively working with the independent providers in her area to establish a reable-ment service.

The post in Mid Argyll and Islay initially proved difficult to fill. However, it is hoped a suc-cessful candidate will be re-

cruited, and the team members already in post are looking for-ward to sharing ideas and work-ing with their new colleague.

Alongside Linda Currie, Re-ablement Workstream 3 chair-person and OT professional lead for Argyll and Bute, the team members are developing standard operating procedures to facilitate the long-term sus-tainability of reablement.

This includes the adoptive use of two outcome measure-ment tools: the Indicator of Rela-tive Need (IoRN2, Joint Im-provement Team-Scottish Gov-ernment, 2015) and the Adult Social Care Outcomes Toolkit (ASCOT, University of Kent, 2012).

The team is exploring and developing innovative and thought-provoking training pro-grammes to facilitate the change in cultural attitudes to care-at-home provision. From this, the team plans to present at the Na-tional College of Occupational Therapy conference in 2016.

The reablement approach sits comfortably in the integra-tion process, as it requires a multidisciplinary/agency input.

For information regarding any issues raised above contact the reablement worker in your area: Finola Owen, Cowal and Bute, 01369 708306; Louise Duff, Oban, Lorne and the Isles, 01631 789091; Lucie John-son, Helensburgh and Lomond, 01436655052; Linda Currie, Mid Argyll, Kintyre and Islay, 01631 788971.

Occupational therapists Louise Duff (left) and Lucie Johnston

Argyll & Bute

reablement

service

- 15 -

TWO NHS Highland workers and a Highland healthcare team have been selected as finalists at the Scottish Health Awards 2015.

Gavin Hookway, senior quality improvement lead at Raigmore Hospital, was nominated for the ’Quality Champion of the Year’ award thanks to his commitment to raising standards across NHS Highland.

He has been described as committed, motivated and ap-proachable, and his efforts have been linked to a variety of im-provements across a range of services offered to patients in Highland.

Pauline Jespersen, a practice nurse partner and integrated team leader, was nominated for the ‘Nurse’ award for her work at Lorn Medical Centre in Oban, where she has been based for the past 15 years.

She has been praised for her leadership skills and has pro-vided mentorship and support for many practice nurses who work in more isolated roles in the re-mote and rural parts of Argyll and Bute.

Pauline’s contribution has led to various improvements, includ-ing a successful record of change and redesign to improve services for patients and families in Oban, and a highly performing general practice with very positive feed-back from patients.

The Highland Family Nurse Partnership Team (Jacqui Ste-vens, Anne Johnstone, Kirsty Fuller, Jennifer Stariski and Lorna MacAskill) was nominated for the ‘Services to Women and Chil-dren’ award for their intensive home visiting programme aimed at improving outcomes for young pregnant teenagers and their chil-dren.

The team has demonstrated innovative ways of engaging with clients and their families, gaining their trust and motivating them to develop healthier behaviours. The outcomes have been so im-pressive that the team is now a permanent fixture and expansion plans are being discussed.

All nominees fought off stiff competition from across the country to secure their place at this year’s glittering award cere-mony next month.

Elaine Mead, chief executive of NHS Highland, said: “I am ab-solutely delighted that NHS High-land and The Highland Council will be represented at this year’s Scottish Health Awards. These are three really worthy finalists and I warmly congratulate them.

“I wish them and indeed all the finalists a fantastic and inspira-tional evening. These are prestig-ious awards and it is right that we take some time out to recognise the enormous contribution staff make day in day out.”

Childcare For Me Too! DO you work shifts? Are you a working parent with childcare com-mitments?

Care and Learning Alliance, a third-sector childcare organisation based in the Highlands and Moray, would like to have your views. It hopes that, working together, it can ensure that atypical childcare moves higher up the agenda in community planning.

Prior to the general election in May, all political parties made pledges to make childcare more flexible and affordable to all.

Now, to hear from shift workers, Care and Learning Alliance has devised a short survey called Childcare For Me Too! It says opinions and views raised by respondents will be used to lobby for change.

Care and Learning Alliance hopes that NHS Highland employees will take a few minutes to complete its 10-question survey and make their voice count.

The survey can be accessed at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CFMTLINK

Highland healthcare

heroes shortlisted in

Scottish Health Awards

- 16 -

FUEL poverty is a major prob-lem in Scotland, with more than one in three people un-able to afford to heat their homes to an adequate level.

For those living in fuel poverty, the consequences are ill health, discomfort and debt, and can of-ten lead to people choosing be-tween heating and eating.

Energy Action Scotland (EAS) campaigns for an end to fuel pov-erty and works to turn cold, damp houses into warm, dry homes.

EAS has recently secured fund-ing from SSE to provide free training to frontline staff responsi-ble for looking after the health, wellbeing and social welfare of vulnerable clients.

The training is offered in two stages:

One-day fuel poverty/energy efficiency training: Places are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Participants will receive a certificate for Continued Personal Development (CPD)

purposes. The one-day course aims to improve understanding of domestic energy efficiency and the impact of fuel poverty on vul-nerable, low income households.

The course will also raise awareness of schemes, grants and other support mechanisms for energy efficiency improve-ments, creating an effective means for linking those in need with the help available.

This course will be delivered in the following locations in High-land: Oban, Friday 6th November 2015 Easter Ross, Thursday 3rd December 2015 Wick, Friday 4th December 2015 Inverness, Friday 22nd Janu-ary 2016 Fort William, Monday 25th January 2016

One-week energy aware-ness, City & Guilds (Level 3): A limited number of places will be available to those completing the one-day training.

This training will be delivered in a central location.

Successful candidates will re-ceive a City & Guilds Certificate, which can be used for CPD pur-poses.

This course is designed to fur-ther enhance knowledge of en-ergy efficiency, enabling those working directly with vulnerable households to provide practical and effective support.

Those interested in attending the training should return the booking form on the left to rose-ann.porteous@eas.org.uk

Free training on offer to NHS

Highland staff on fuel poverty

- 17 -

NHS HIGHLAND met its infec-tion prevention and control tar-gets for Clostridum difficile (C. diff) and Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia (SAB) in the period from January to March this year.

However, board members were told at their October meet-ing that, according to figures that have yet to be validated, it failed to meet its C. diff target in the period from April to June.

In her report to the board, in-fection control manager Cath-erine Stokoe explained that the target was that there should be 32 cases of C. diff in patients aged 15 and over for every 100,000 total occupied beds. For NHS Highland, this means no

more than around 78 cases by the end of March next year. How-ever, the unconfirmed rate for April-June stood at 51.71 cases per 100,000.

“The current level of cases this quarter is higher than expected, and we are actively working with Health Protection Scotland and NHS Highland staff to monitor the situation,” a report to the board stated.

Board members were told that the transfer of Argyll and Bute infection prevention and control services and governance from NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde to NHS Highland had been com-pleted.

The report to the board also explained that the infection pre-

vention and control nursing team across Highland continued to deal with increasing workload demands such as the manage-ment of clinical infections such as chickenpox and flu, while dealing with existing demands.

Winter education sessions available

THE NHS Highland infection prevention and control team have published details on their winter education sessions.

An update on norovirus and influenza will be held on the following dates in the fourth-floor training room at Raigmore Hospital between 2-pm and 3pm on 28

th October, 4

th No-

vember and 13th

November.

One has already taken place, on 20

th October.

DO you have a spare desk in your office that you’re desperate to get rid of? Perhaps you can’t find an extra chair for your meet-ing space.

You need look no further, as an innovative sharing portal named Warp It has been intro-duced in Highland to help you share equipment – and help re-duce the health board’s carbon footprint.

Staff can now arrange for equipment to be shared and saved via one website, which has been dubbed an “internal eBay”.

NHS Highland environmental and sustainability support man-ager Ruth Innes said: “Warp It

was launched in 2013 and stands for Waste Action Reuse Portal. It now has over 1000 schools and charities plus over half the univer-sity sector in the UK using the service, as well as councils, the NHS and private sector.

“Staff can place items of equipment they don’t need onto the site by taking a photograph of the item and uploading it onto the system.

“It runs on a first-come, first-served basis and no money changes hands.

“It can also be used by staff to identify equipment they need for a specific time or highlight when it will be available from. It’s a win/

win situation for staff. You simply have to register on the site and you’re free to start browsing and sharing.

“Furthermore, the online portal tells you exactly how much money you have saved by using the service, and also highlights how much waste you’ve avoided – and that has an impact on re-ducing our carbon footprint.

“There is potential for signifi-cant savings to be made using this resource, and I would en-courage all NHS Highland staff to sign-up for Warp It.”

You can access the site at www.warp-it.co.uk/company/nhshighland

How staff members can share equipment

Board members

briefed on infection

control figures

- 18 -

CLUB NEWS

T HE Highland Health Sports and Social Club will hold

its annual general meeting from 12 noon to 1pm on Mon-day, 2nd November in the Rec-reation Hall on the Raigmore Hospital campus.

All members are welcome and encouraged to attend.

Light refreshments will be pro-vided for those who have to at-tend in their lunch break.

S OME of the club’s classes appear to have gone into hi-

bernation for the winter! This means that the only class

the sports and social club has on the go at present is the Yoga Fit class which is held fro, 5.30-6.30pm on Thursdays.

The cost of £5 and everyone is welcome.

W INNER’S of the club’s Oc-tober prize draw were as

follows: 1 (£50) Louise Galbraith, s/n

ward 3A; 2 (£25) Laura MacGillivray,

bed manager, 7th floor; 3 (£25) Keana Mackenzie,

haematology.

A DAY trip to Macarthur Glen and Almondvale Shopping

Centre in Livingston has been organised for Saturday 14th No-vember.

The bus will depart from Inver-ness at 6am and will depart from MacArthur Glen for the return journey at 4pm.

Various pick-up points will be available.

For tickets, contact Kathy Fra-ser on ext.6001 or email

Kathy.fraser@nhs.net Alternatively, call Alister Dib-

den on ext 4351 or email al-ister.dibden@nhs.net

The cost for members is £25 and non-members, who will be made most welcome, pay £30.

T HE children’s Christmas party organised by the club will this

year take the form of a trip to the pantomime at Eden Court, Inver-ness.

This year’s panto is Peter Pan and the club’s outing will be at 5pm on Saturday, 19th Decem-ber.

Only children of members are eligible, and they must be able to attend without parents.

Places are limited, so will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.

- 19 -

EVER wonder how you can save yourself time searching for something on your computer? Or do you long for the ability to use your computer like a pro? By using these top tips from our in-house techies you’ll be half-way there...

How to find almost anything

The Windows (Win) key – that’s the one with the logo between Ctrl and Alt – can help you find almost anything. Tap it and the start menu appears and you can simply start typing. Type Word and a list of possible matches will pop up with the most likely

will at the top, find the one you want and hit return. Other key Windows features

In all the following, hold the Win-dows key down then hit the key you want...

Win + E – opens up Windows Explorer (My Computer) and the file browser.

Win + D – takes you straight to your desktop and back again, keeps your work but ensures instant privacy.

Win + L – locks your com-puter instantly.

Other shortcuts that you are useful for you to know are:

Ctrl + C – Copy; Ctrl + V – Paste; and Ctrl + Z – Undo

These and many other short-cuts, top tips and useful informa-tion are available on the intranet and by using them you could save so much time.

Read more of the techies’ top tips here:

h t t p : / /intranet.nhsh.scot.nhs.uk/Org/CorpServ/eHealth/TechTips/Pages/Default.aspx

Downloading the printable document on the above page and taking 10 minutes to work through can save you countless hours in the future.

TOP TIPS FROM THE TECHIES...

- 20 -

THE latest meeting of Mull and Iona Health and Care Review Group Review Group, heard that Dr Alexander MacLean would be commencing on 1st November and this will now mean that there would be two salaried GPs. The two remain-ing GP posts will continue to be advertised.

Non-emergency patients transport was also discussed. The Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) remains the first point of contact for transporting patients

who have a clinical need. How-ever, to support the timely move-ment of patients the SAS also has arrangements with the Red Cross and Ross of Mull Commu-nity Transport to provide alterna-tive transport.

The SAS is also looking to es-tablish new links with other pro-viders on Mull and Iona.

One of the SAS staff should qualify as a paramedic in Febru-ary, meaning that there will be two trained paramedics.

Meanwhile, the training for the

first responders is well under way.

These community volunteers are trained and equipped to at-tend emergencies until the ambu-lance arrives and it’s planned that the service will go live in Novem-ber/December

The Mull and Iona communi-cations and engagement group is to be reconvened to support on-going communication on the re-view and the wider integration of health and social care services on Mull and Iona.

Social work on the move

ADULT social work services in East Caithness are now based at the medical centre in Wick.

The move to the centre’s Trust Wing brings together for the first time the local district nursing and social work service teams into the same base.

Teresa Green, integrated team lead for East Caithness, said: “Having both teams operat-ing from the same building is part of the continued benefits of developing effective integrated adult health and social care. It should mean members of the public and service users access-ing these services should experi-ence a more seamless service.”

Teresa added that plans to develop a single point of contact for access to all adult health and social care services across Caithness wee also well under way.

She said: “This is an exciting time for services and I look for-ward to seeing the benefits this move, as well as a single point of contact in the future brings.”

New GP to start on Mull and Iona

- 21 -

Symposium to get to the heart

of the matter HEART of the Matter 2015, the annual cardiac education sym-posium organised by staff of the coronary care unit at Raigmore Hospital, will be held next month.

The programme for this year’s event, to be held in the Drumossie Hotel, Inverness, on 11th November, includes pres-entations covering the new SIGN guidelines, heart failure, anti-platelets, diabetes manage-ment in heart disease and car-diology case studies.

There will also be several workshops this year covering familial hypercholesterolaemia, ECG interpretation and a chance to ask questions.

Check out the intranet for registration details.

See next page.

How to maintain your bicycle…

NHS HIGHLAND is working with Velocity Cycle Cafe again to provide some essential bike maintenance classes.

The four-week course will cover the basics cyclists need to stay safe and keep their bike in good working order.

Places are limited, so any-one interested should be able to attend all four sessions. There will be further opportunities in the New Year.

The course will run 5.30–7pm on Wednesdays 4th, 11th, 18th and 25th 4November in the street Space at the Centre for Health Sciences on the Raigmore Hospital campus.

To reserve a place, email dan.jenkins@nhs.net

IMPROVING patient flow and reducing the number of delayed discharges … just two of the goals of the new Lorn & Islands Hospital Medical Unit Redesign Steering Group, which met for the first time this month and agreed a terms of reference and membership.

Membership of the group will include local GPs, local health and social care managers, staff-side representatives, finance and HR representatives, local council-lors and representatives from the local Health and Care Forum. The Scottish Health Council is also being invited to join.

Four sub-groups have been set up to feed into the group. One will look at bed modelling, and will re-view historical, existing and pro-jected bed occupancy, and will

investigate the length of time that patients remain in hospital, the reason that certain patients are repeatedly admitted and the rea-son for delayed discharges.

One sub-group will consider ‘criteria and flow’, looking at the best place for people if they re-quire admission in order to ensure they receive optimum care and timely discharge.

One sub-group will look at staff education and competency, while the fourth will be responsible for communication and engagement, ensuring that patients, the public and other interested stakeholders are kept informed as plans de-velop.

The steering group will arrange public and staff drop-in events to answer any questions and to al-low people to raise any issues.

AS part of its ‘Bridging the Gap’ project, Epilepsy Scotland is of-fering free epilepsy awareness training to health, social work, teaching and voluntary-sector workers, and to people with the condition and their friends.

The awareness t ra in -ing session will be held on 19th November in Duncansburgh Macintosh Parish Church, Fort William.

The event will look at what causes epilepsy, different seizure types and what to do if you see someone having a seizure. Time will also be spent discussing the

impact epilepsy can have on mental health.

In addition, Epilepsy Scotland will run a free seminar on teen-age brain development and sleep for anyone interested in adolescence.

It will consider why many young people are significantly more sleep deprived than previ-ous generations and the reper-cussions on mental health and learning.of this

The awareness training will run from 9.30am-12.30pm and the teenage brain seminar from 2-4pm.

Redesign at medical

unit gets under way

Training session designed to

raise awareness of epilepsy

- 22 -

WE might think we know about the dangers of high cholesterol, the ‘Silent Killer’, but what about an inherited condition that leads to dam-agingly high cholesterol levels?

One in two men and nearly one in three women who inherit Familial Hypercholesterolaemia (FH) will develop coronary heart disease by the age of 55 and NHS Highland is using National Cholesterol Month (October) to raise awareness of this condi-tion.

Niki Russell (pictured below right) has recently been appointed as NHS Highland’s FH nurse spe-

cialist and, even though she worked in Raigmore’s coronary care and the cardiac rehabilitation unit from 2009, she didn’t realise how common and un-known the condition was until she started the job.

She said: “It’s one of the most common inherited conditions, with about one in 200 people affected by it.

“That equates to about 1,300 in the Highlands, but it’s under recognised and we are only aware of about 10 per cent of the people potentially with FH.

“The problem is, if left untreated it can lead to an onset of very early cardiovascular disease and if you have high cholesterol your chances of have having a heart attack at a young age are considera-bly higher.”

Niki explained that some people had high cho-lesterol because of lifestyle choices such as a poor diet with lots of saturated fat and little exercise but FH is an inherited condition which means that a parent passes down this condition to a child.

If a parent has FH there is a 50 per cent chance of a child inheriting this condition.

Niki said: “If it’s not treated the risk of developing

Familial Hypercholesterolaemia

It’s all in the genes

for 1 in 200 people

Continued on next page

- 23 -

Familial Hypercholesterolaemia

coronary heart disease and having a heart attack at an early age increases.

“If you have FH you have elevated cholesterol levels when you are born and FH stays with you all your life. It can cause a gradual build-up of fatty ma-terial in your coronary arteries.

“There is not a cure but it can be very success-fully managed. The only treatment is to have a very healthy lifestyle and, importantly, to start on statin therapy as early as possible to reduce the total cho-lesterol levels that are in the bloodstream.

“FH is caused by a problem with one of three genes and many people with it don’t even know they have it. The best way to be aware is to remem-ber what has happened in your family history. The question you need to ask is: ‘Does heart disease or high cholesterol run in your family’?

“If you are concerned discuss with your GP and ask about getting your cholesterol tested.”

Also part of Niki’s role, which is an 18-month pro-ject funded by the British Heart Foundation, is edu-cation for patients, families and GPs but a major part of her work is ‘cascade screening’.

She said: “When I am made aware of a person who has this condition, I approach then and ask permission to approach other family members to

rule out whether they have inherited the condition. This is done by a simple blood test to check choles-terol levels and genetic or DNA test to look to see if they have a mutation.

“The important thing to remember is that it’s very treatable and we treat people from the age of 10. Early intervention reduces the chance of a person developing coronary heart disease almost to the level of someone who doesn’t have the condition.”

Niki is one of only two FH nurse specialists in Scotland, with the other covering Grampian and Tayside. The work she and her colleague do is sup-ported by clinical genetics teams in Grampian and Highland, in conjunction with NHS Highland lipid consultant Marie Van Drimmelen.

Since starting in June, Niki has been setting up the systems to improve detection, publishing a clini-cal pathway for GPs and, as part of the educational side of her role, she will be presenting at the Heart of the Matter’ event in Inverness on 11th November.

She said: “It’s saving lives. Already in Highland through the cascade screening there are families with children who have been identified with the con-dition who are getting treatment that will help pre-vent them from developing problems in the future.”

C h e c k o u t : h t t p : / /guidelines.nhshighland.scot.nhs.uk/Cardiology/Famhyper/index.htm

Continued from previous page

A SENIOR care assistant at Kintrye House in Invergordon is among the first NHS High-land graduates of a national project designed to improve oral health in care homes.

Mark Mackenzie (39) com-pleted the Caring for Smiles certi-fication, Scotland’s national oral health promotion, training and support programme. It aims to improve the oral health of older people, particularly those living in a care home environment, through the education of care staff by NHS oral health educa-tors.

And Mr Mackenzie is urging fellow healthcare professionals to sign up to become fully-certified Caring for Smiles graduates.

“I have already encouraged my colleagues at Kintrye House to take part in the programme and I think every person who works in healthcare should sup-port this innovative project,” said Mark.

“It has equipped me with the skills to assess residents’ teeth and work alongside our resident dentist to ensure they have a high standard of oral health. I don’t think people realise how big an impact poor oral hygiene can have on your overall health.”

He added: “I completed the foundation level training, which is delivered at Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) 5. It covered a wide vari-ety of topics, including common

risk factors of tooth decay and gum disease, and taught me the practical skills to look after natu-ral teeth, dentures or soft tissue of the residents in our care.

“I have plans to undergo the next phase of training, which fo-cuses on the oral care of patients living with dementia, and I’m really looking forward to learning something and increasing my skill set.

“It’s free to sign up for so I would encourage all healthcare staff in Highland to get involved.”

Anyone interested in undertak-ing the Caring for Smiles training in Ross-shire should contact Miranda Moodie on 01349 817 122 or email Miranda.moodie@nhs.net

Mark paves the way in oral health project

- 24 -

T HE Highland Health Board Carol Concert Choir has performed for many years in Eden Court,

Inverness, and has raised thousands of pounds for CLIC Sargent.

Now, the hunt is on for staff and friends who en-joy singing to join the choir as it prepares for this

year’s concert, on 29th November. Rehearsals are being held on Sundays through-

out November in the Recreation Hall, Raigmore Hospital, between 2pm and 4.30pm.

Finally, for more information check out face-book.com/carolconcert

- 25 -

A SERVICE for people in Ar-gyll and Bute who have multi-ple sclerosis has been recog-nised in a national award scheme.

When physiotherapist Derek Laidler started working with NHS Highland, he was frus-trated that there was no rehabili-tation service in his area for people with neurological condi-tions – so he decided to do something about it.

And five years later, the ser-vice he helped to set up in Oban has caught the eye of judges in the first QuDoS in MS Awards, which recognise quality in the delivery of services for people with multiple sclerosis.

Derek and Andrea James, who helped him to develop the service when she was project manager with community enter-prise initiative Lorn and Oban Healthy Options, are among three finalists in the award’s ‘Innovation in Practice’ category, which recognises work to pro-mote services between hospi-tals and the community.

The winners will be an-nounced at a prestigious awards ceremony in Old Windsor, Berk-shire, on 7th November.

“Being selected as a finalist is recognition at national level for a local service developed in Oban,” said Derek.

“It’s really quite humbling that this small-scale, local service been named as a finalist among a list of major MS centres and

large teaching hospitals throughout the UK.”

Derek, who is physiotherapy team lead in Oban, Lorn and Islands, explained that the awards highlighted innovation and excellence in MS manage-ment and service delivery, as well as the valuable contribution of individuals and teams in im-proving the quality of life and experience of care of people with MS.

And that’s always been the goal of the service he helps to manage with Healthy Options.

People in Argyll and Bute who have neurological condi-tions such as MS are generally referred to NHS Greater Glas-gow and Clyde but Derek was concerned that there was no follow-up rehabilitation provision for them in their home area.

Now, however, many of these patients are referred to Healthy Options for an exercise programme that helps them to improve their physical abilities, manage their condition and make the most of their life.

Derek said: “In partnership with Healthy Options, we now have a service of which we can be proud. Argyll and Bute has a higher-than-normal percentage of residents who have MS, and the neurological rehabilitation service which Healthy Options provides on our behalf is now available to about 100 people in the Oban and Lorn area.

“I do believe that if there is a

problem in the community the answer lies within that commu-nity, and that’s certainly the case with this service. It’s a great example of community resilience, working with partner organisations to develop patient-centred solutions.”

MS patients are assessed by Derek in the physiotherapy de-partment before being referred to Healthy Options and seen by an exercise professional on a one-to-one basis for eight to 12 weeks, helping them to strengthen their muscles, im-prove balance and develop their physical skills based on their initial assessment findings.

Thereafter, it is hoped they will be sufficiently informed to manage their condition them-selves, although they are able to start their own personal pro-gramme, the cost of which de-pends on the activities chosen, with support from Healthy Op-tions and the physiotherapy ser-vice when required.

In some cases, the patients are seen in their own home but others go to the gym; Derek said that the Atlantis Leisure Centre in Oban had “fully bought into” the service, allow-ing patients to use the gym dur-ing their rehabilitation.

He observed: “Exercise is often more effective than medi-cation when it comes to control-ling symptoms in MS so having access to suitable resources is vital.”

Rehabilitation project in

running for UK award

- 26 -

By Cath Cakebread, Service manager additions IN late 2014/15, the Argyll and Bute Addiction Team (ABAT) underwent an independent review of the service.

The review utilised the National Quality Devel-opment (NQD) programme funded by the Big Lot-tery and delivered by Scottish Drugs Forum (SDF). The NQD programme aims to assist drug and alcohol services to identify areas for improve-ment and development. The ABAT was reviewed against the eight National Quality Principles for Substance Misuse Services in Scotland published by the Scottish Government in October 2014.

The review target was 60 service users (approximately 20 per cent of active caseload) completing survey questionnaires. We exceeded our target with SDF receiving 132 returns (approx 32 per cent). In addition, SDF held focus groups with 24 service users. Service user length of time with the service ranged widely, from one week to over 20 years. Forty per cent of respondents were female and 60 per cent were male. Service users wrote comments throughout the questionnaire and examples are included in the results below.

National Quality Principles for Substance Misuse Services

1. You should be able to quickly access the right drug or alcohol service that keeps you safe and supports you throughout your recov-ery. Of 128 respondents: 118 (92%) agreed it was easy to be referred to the service. Of 130 respondents: 122 (94%) agreed they were able to start us-ing the service quickly. Comments included: “I was very impressed by how quickly I received an appointment through after I had been referred to the service.”

"Very helpful that home visits are available from obviously very busy staff.” 2. You should be offered high-quality, evi-dence-informed treatment, care and support interventions which reduce harm and em-power you in your recovery. 2a. Impact of service contact on physical and psychological health Of 130 respondents: 122 (94%) agreed they were experiencing an improvement in their general health as a result of using the service. Of 129 respondents : 119 (92%) agreed their feelings and thoughts were more positive through being involved with the service. Of 131 respondents: 122 (93%) agreed that the service was help-ing them to consider choices, risks and conse-quences. 2b. Impact of service contact on drug use Of 66 respondents : 5 (7%) said their drug use had not changed. 34 (52%) said their drug use had improved/stabilised/reduced.

Continued on next page

‘Highly regarded’ Independent review

of the Argyll and Bute

addiction team finds

that the service meets

all of the eight quality

principles

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27 (41%) said their drug use had stopped during contact with the service. Comments included: “I have now been clean from heroin for three years and do not use Valium any more.”

2c. Impact of service contact on alcohol use Of 119 respondents: 14 (12%) said their alcohol use had not changed. 57 (48%) said their alcohol use had im-proved/stabilised/reduced. 48 (40%) said their alcohol use had stopped. 3. You should be supported by workers who have the right attitudes, values, training and supervision throughout your recovery jour-ney.

Comments in the SDF report included: “It has emerged strongly during the survey that service users value highly the positive attitude and commitment of staff to helping them and the involvement service users have in planning and reviewing their treatment and care. This is essen-tial in assisting engagement with the recovery plan. The quality of support and care provided by the ABAT was highly praised by service users.” “Before I came here I was told they were under-standing, listening, helping, private, confidential. That is what I needed." “Good comments about the hard work and effort the addiction team does and how they have pas-sion for their work." “I have felt encouraged and supported by the staff.”

4.You should be involved in a full, strength-based assessment that ensures the choice of recovery model and therapy is based on your needs and aspirations. The SDF report stated “a strength of the service is that nurses and social care staff, where neces-sary, adopt complementary roles in supporting assessment and treatment planning according to their particular skills”.

Of 130 respondents: 123 (95%) agreed they took part in a full as-sessment of their needs 5.You should have a recovery plan that is per-son-centred and addresses your broader health, care and social needs, and maintains a focus on your safety throughout your recov-ery journey. Of 131 respondents: 16 (93%) agreed they were involved in the development of their recovery plan.

Comments included: “It would take an essay to write the help the ad-dictions team gave me to stop drinking.”

5b. Partnership working The SDF report stated, “Staff take a proactive role in accessing other local services to support ser-vice users’ needs as part of their recovery plan”. Of 125 respondents: 66 (53%) said they had received support to access other services 53 (42%) said this did not apply to them Comments from service users included: “Whole new perspective on my lifestyle.” “Good help with services I did not know about like help with housing, household goods, etc."

6. You should be involved in regular reviews of your recovery plan to ensure it continues to meet your needs and aspirations. The SDF report stated: “One area of challenge in assisting service users move on from the service exists due to the absence of local support groups, such as mutual aid or other recovery communities that are not 12-step orientated”. Of 133 respondents : 119 (90%) agreed their recovery plan was reviewed with them regularly. Of 130 respondents: 117 (90%) agreed that the service was help-ing them to achieve goals that were appropriate for them.

Independent review of addiction team Continued from previous page

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Independent review of addiction team

7.You should have the opportunity to be in-volved in an ongoing evaluation of the deliv-ery of services at each stage of your recovery. The report stated: “While most service users stated they were aware of how to make a com-plaint, a substantial minority (about 25 per cent) did not. “However, it was evident during service user fo-cus group sessions that service users felt com-fortable in raising any issues of concern with their ABAT worker at an early stage”. “Service users are involved in continual consulta-tion with their own worker about their personal recovery plan and the interventions they receive”. Of 128 respondents: 110 (86%) said they were able to give their views on the service where they felt the need for this. Comments included: “Some staff felt that limited staffing resources available within the ABAT would make develop-ment of user involvement a lower priority; how-ever there was recognition across the team that service quality could be enhanced in embracing user involvement in a way appropriate to the ser-vice and its resources”. Of 128 respondents: 60 (48%) agreed there are opportunities for me to take part in activities to help improve or de-velop the service 21 (17%) neither agreed or disagreed 12 (10%) disagreed 32 (26%) felt it did not apply to them. 8. Services should be family inclusive as part of their practice Of 128 respondents: 78 (61%) agreed their family/carer was in-volved in development of their care plan 28 (22%) said this did not apply to them

The final summary within the SDF report

states: “The Argyll and Bute Addiction Team is highly regarded by its service users. The profes-sionalism, positive, non-judgemental attitude of staff and the person-centred approach taken are

particularly valued. “The team can work with a wide variety of ser-

vice user needs at different stages and recovery planning, involving service users, is a foundation of treatment and care interventions.

“The service has made considerable efforts to be as accessible as possible across all locations in Argyll and Bute, providing home-based appoint-ments as well as flexibility of office or other suit-able sites as available.

“Service users spoke of many improvements they had experienced in their substance use, health, social functioning and other areas of their lives as a result of having received services from the ABAT.

“With regard to the Scottish Government’s Quality Principles used as a benchmark for this quality survey, in the opinion of the facilitator, the current performance of Argyll and Bute Addiction Team satisfactorily meets each of the 8 Princi-ples.”

While we were pleased to have such a positive review of the service we note the need to im-prove.

Both staff and service users commented on one of our locations are being unwelcoming as visitors have to stand in the street and ring a bell for entry.

We also were aware of the need to develop meaningful service user involvement within the service.

The Alcohol and Drug Partnership is taking forward the development of a service user strat-egy which we hope will assist us.

Meantime, we were encouraged by having an increased number of service users attend our de-velopment day where we feed back the results of the review and began to develop our improve-ment plan together.

This review would not have been possible with-out : The professionalism of Bruce Thomson, SDF national quality development facilitator The kindness of service users who gave up their time to complete questionnaires and/or at-tend a focus group The considerable efforts of all the staff who, whilst continuing to deliver the service, managed the process of encouraging service users to en-gage in the review.

Continued from previous page

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Training: what is statutory, what is mandatory and why is it so important?

NHS HIGHLAND has a legal requirement to provide a safe and healthy working environ-ment for employees, contrac-tors and for those that use its services.

One way in which it does this is through a range of statutory and mandatory training pro-grammes to ensure employees are appropriately trained and de-veloped and able to apply their knowledge and skills.

The training employees must complete depends on the job they do and the environment in which they work.

A statutory and mandatory training prospectus has been de-veloped to help managers and employees identify the training that must be undertaken for par-ticular job roles.

Managers are responsible for identifying and agreeing with em-ployees the statutory and manda-tory training that they must under-take for their job role.

The prospectus should be

used as part of the induction process and personal develop-ment planning and review proc-ess to identify statutory and man-datory training and refresher training requirements.

The prospectus is reviewed on a regular basis, giving due regard to new and emerging guidance and feedback.

The learning and development team is working with all statutory and mandatory training providers to ensure a record of training is maintained within the ‘Oracle Learning Management’, which is the new course booking system built into ‘e:ESS’, the new na-tional HR system. This also in-cludes all e-learning courses that employees have successfully completed on learnPro NHS.

Both managers and employ-ees can access training records now.

Employees can access their individual training records via Learner Self-Service

And managers can access individual training records for all staff under their direct line man-agement via Learner Man-agerYou will need your e:ESS login details and be logged into the system. If you have forgotten either your username and/or password, use the e:ESS online log-in assistance. If you are a manager and not all your employ-ees are available to you or you do not have Learner Manager a c c e s s ; e m a i l H i g h -UHB.eESSHighlandSupport@nhs.net for further assistance.

A new intranet site has been developed that includes relevant docu-mentation and information regarding statutory and mandatory training: h t t p : / / i n t r a n e t . n h s h . s c o t . n h s . u k / T r a i n i n g /StatutoryandMandatoryTraining/Pages/Default.aspx

Further information and advice is available by contacting paul.maber@nhs.net or 01463 706878.

What’s your story? Keep Highlights informed

Do you know of something you think

should be featured in Highlights? An

award, an achievement, a piece of

research, an appointment, a retiral …

you name it, Highlights has a place

for it.

Please send your articles to

tom.davison@nhs.net (01463 704903)

or visit the Staff Dropbox on the NHS

Highland intranet home page.

You can follow NHS Highland on:

WEBSITE www.nhshighland.scot.nhs.uk

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TWITTER www.twitter.com/NHSHighland or

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Highland Health Sciences Library

Of labs, nurses, consultants and ambulances – health libraries save time,

money and improve patient care NHS HIGHLAND has embarked upon an excit-ing approach to health and social care, the Highland Quality Approach (HQA- http://www.nhshighland.scot.nhs.uk/AboutUs/HQA/Pages/Welcome.aspx).

This is based on the work of a number of insti-tutions worldwide including the Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle. Within these systems libraries play key clinical and education support roles.

Additionally, a recent summary(www.achsm.org.au/DownloadDocument.ashx?DocumentID=2064) has focused on the financial savings that health libraries can bring to their funding bodies.

Health librarians, like scientists working in laboratories and consultants dealing with pa-tients, are specialists in their field.

The time of NHS staff is precious and it would be inefficient for example, to have a nurse ana-lyse a blood sample or a consultant to drive an ambulance to fetch a patient to hospital. The main job of these staff is to treat patients and unless they need to, not to spend large amounts of time seeking out information – that is the role of the health library.

With this in mind, the Highland Health Sci-ences Library has analysed some of its work for

potential cost savings to NHS Highland. For each query the responder was allocated

the mid line of their salary grade taken from (http://www.hospitaldr.co.uk/blogs/guidance/nurses-and-nhs-managers-pay-scales-for-20122013) Users were asked either the time they had already spent on the query, or the amount of time they reckoned using the library would save them. The time the search took the library service was also noted and the cost sav-ings were then calculated. The results are tabu-lated at the foot of the page.

In these three queries, the Highland Health Sciences Library has saved NHS Highland £620 – an average saving of £206 per query. These figures clearly show that by utilising the library services staff can potentially save NHS Highland large amounts of money with the added benefits of freeing up time, possibly seeing more patients and improving patient care.

Remember, whatever your needs the Highland Health Sciences Library exists to help you. Save time and money. Don’t spend more than 10 min-utes on a problem you may be having – contact the library instead. To find out more about the library call 01463 255600 (x7600).

Rob Polson, Subject Librarian (rp5@stir.ac.uk)

Note: These figures delineate the time savings only, they do not include potential further cost savings accrued from putting the information found into practice.

Enquirer Time spent/estimated (cost to NHS)

Finding information (cost)

Library saving to NHS Highland

8 working hours @ £36/per hour = £288

5 working hours @ £45/per hour = £225

8 working hours @ £18/per hour = £144

5 minutes @ £18/per hour = £1.50

1 hour @ £18/per hour = £18

c1 hour @ c£18/per hour = £18

£286

£207

£126

Manager

Consultant

Nurse

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Can you describe your job, Doreen? I am an advocate for patients and quality of care within the Raigmore Hospital critical ser-vices upgrade and I assist with aspects of quality and patient safety issues/risks within the surgical unit. How would you describe yourself? Open, honest with a Geordie sense of humour and a strong protestant work ethic. Do you have any hobbies and interests? Cooking, gardening and learn-ing to play piano. What was the first single you ever bought? Great Balls of Fire by Gerry Lee Lewis and Purple People Eater by Sheb Wooley. I bought both together in 1958. What is your favourite food? Thai.

How about your favourite film? Dirty Dancing Do you have a favourite tele-vision programme? Strictly Come Dancing. Which book have you most enjoyed? Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts. If you won £10 million in the lottery, what would you spend it on? I would give funds to Thai Or-phanage, ensure my family were financially secure, give some to cancer research and buy lots of jackets. What about a smaller sum, say £1,000? Jackets, jackets and more jack-ets. What are you pet hates? People who lie and hidden agendas.

If you could have dinner with three people, dead or alive, who they be and what would you cook them? I would invite Nelson Mandela, Mother Theresa and Desmond Tuto. I would probably do some-thing light such as spinach, courgette, goats cheese with a honey and raspberry balsamic glaze. What are the best and worst parts of your job? Working alongside my col-leagues to provide good clinical care, observing the positive out-comes of the Raigmore Hospital refurbishment and the raised morale of members of staff which results from the improved environment … these are the best parts of my post. The worst part of the job is endeavouring to achieve the best outcomes possible in the critical services upgrade with budget restrictions which are sometimes misunder-stood by colleagues.

& Q A

Answering the questions for Highlights this month is

Doreen Bell, clinical advisor/associate director surgery

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