Posted on: 2 December 2022
Hello, my name is Chris.
I’m delighted to have been asked to write this week’s leadership message for the Partnership, and to help raise awareness of medicines safety.
We all know that medicines are widely used by the NHS to prevent, treat and alleviate disease and other acute and chronic medical conditions. Medicines are the most widely used interventions in healthcare, but incorrect usage will mean their benefit is not optimised and can also cause harm. When medicines are not taken or used correctly, it can lead to poor and worsening health and wellbeing. It’s a sad fact that medication harm accounts for 50% of the overall preventable harm in medical care.
To help reduce medication harm across West Yorkshire, the Partnership introduced a campaign to help patients be more actively involved in the safe use of their medicines. #WYMedicinesSafety launched at the beginning of September ahead of this year’s World Patient Safety Day when the theme was ‘medication without harm’.
A dedicated Medicines Safety page on the website offers information and guidance on medicines safety for patients and their families/carers. We’re continuing to promote medicines safety messages on social media and via other communications channels so it’s an ongoing campaign.
As part of #WYMedicinesSafety, colleagues have recorded a series of Medicines Safety podcasts to help get key messages out there. Topics covered so far include Structured Medication Reviews, the Me and My Medicines Communication Charter and medicines compliance aids. We’re also recording a series of bite-sized podcasts just for clinicians with specific medicines safety information and updates. One example discusses paracetamol and the importance of prescribing the correct dose according to a patient’s weight.
I was asked to take part in the following podcast recording to talk about taking medicines correctly. I must admit that I wasn’t too keen on the idea of being recorded whilst answering questions at first, but it’s surprising how quickly you get the hang of it. Before the pandemic, the Partnership’s podcasts were recorded in person but we’re now able to record using Microsoft Teams which is much more convenient and not quite as daunting.
Have a listen to the podcast below, and the others in the series, if you can. And please do share the links in any way that you think will help promote medicines safety across West Yorkshire.
Thank you and have a lovely weekend,
Chris
What else has been happening this week?
Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust
The half-way point has now been reached for the new A&E building at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary. Work started in March this year and it is due to open for patient care in Autumn 2023. Members from the NHS West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board were given a tour as the new inside is taking shape. The CEO at the Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust, Brendan Brown, hailed it as “phenomenal”.
‘Together We Can’ winter campaign
The ‘Together We Can’ winter campaign 2022/23 launched on Monday 14 November to a thunderclap as many partners tweeted the same message at 9am. You may have heard adverts for the campaign on local radio including Heart FM. Targeted online adverts are now live on Facebook, YouTube, Spotify and Google and an iVan has been out this week sharing the campaign messages . The promotional van has toured Calderdale and Kirklees and is heading to Wakefield on Monday (5 December) and Bradford on Tuesday (6 December). If you spot the iVan please do take a photograph if you can and tag us in on Twitter @WYpartnership.
This week we’ve added to our suite of materials and have made the leaflet available in Urdu, Punjabi and Gujarati. There has been a lot of support for the campaign in recent weeks and as we now creep further into the cold and flu season the campaign messages are increasingly important to keep sharing. You can access many of the campaign resources on the website.
As part of this year’s winter campaign, we are also reminding people that health services are extremely busy. Everyone is asked to play their part and to be better prepared during the cold and flu season and there are six simple things we can all do to help each other.
Primary care and community services
The NHS West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board met in November and included a special focus on primary medical services and integrated primary care (including community services). The Board discussed the current challenges and how these are being addressed in the immediate term and the longer-term transformation priorities. There was a reference to national vision set out in the Fuller Stocktake Report, workforce recruitment and retention, building investment, and digital enablement. The Board agreed that the on-going development of integrated neighbourhood teams was part of the solution, working closely with communities, so that care is more joined-up and personalised and that services are sustainable. This would form a key part of the remit of the new system Fuller Board that is due to be established in December.
Staff Mental Health and Wellbeing Hub
Thanks to vital funding from the staff Mental Health and Wellbeing Hub, The Cellar Trust will host a series of webinars to promote mental health and wellbeing.
This two-hour interactive facilitated webinar explores the concept of mental wellbeing and leadership with the ongoing response to the pandemic. Topics covered during the session include recognising the signs of poor mental wellbeing, self-care, leading through adversity, as well as practical wellbeing tools which can be used with colleagues.
These sessions take place on Tuesday 7 December and Wednesday 14 December, and Thursday 5 January, Tuesday 10 January, Tuesday 17 January and Thursday 26 January.
To book yourself onto the Leading Mental Wellbeing Together Webinar, please email wyicb-bdc.
Mental Health, Learning Disabilities and Autism
One of our Partnership’s 10 Big Ambitions is to reduce the gap in life expectancy for autistic and other neurodiverse people, those with learning disabilities and people with mental health conditions by 10% by 2024. Achieving this ambition will make life better for more than 200 000 people living in West Yorkshire.
Our Learning Disabilities Challenge is the programme that is driving these aims.
We have been working with colleagues across our places and in our Trusts to bring together, as far as possible, an extensive range of resources for people with learning disabilities and the people who care for and work with them. To make it easier for people to find and use these resources, we have uploaded them to our website in three categories that reflect the wider aims of our Partnership – Start well, Live well and Age Well, together with Working with people with Learning Disabilities. We are promoting these resources on social media and encourage all colleagues to use and share them. Local comms leads have been supplied with the asset suite or you can email maryjo.
Children, young people and families
We are delighted with the news that the West Yorkshire Children and Young Peoples ‘Complications from Excess Weight’ (CEW) service has been recognised by the European Association for Study of Obesity as a ‘Collaborating Centre for Obesity Management’. This status recognises West Yorkshire’s service as only one of 11 across Europe and only one of two across the UK.
Oral health is a key priority for us across West Yorkshire with the oral health group meeting with local authority oral health leads and dental public health leads for a discussion on oral health care across our area.
We have been focusing on developing an online parenting programme sharing insights and recommendations. This will be launched in this month with ‘lunch and learn’ sessions.
In November, the national CORE20PLUSFIVE Children and Young People Framework was shared with a national launch planned for this months. We have worked with national colleagues to influence the areas of focus. The final framework includes asthma, diabetes, epilepsy, oral health and mental health as key priorities. We are looking forward to using it to support our existing work to reduce health inequalities in children and young people.
Initial scoping discussions have taken place with the West Yorkshire group of designated safeguarding nurses to explore career development opportunities across the area for young people leaving care. ‘Project Hope’ will be co-designed with colleagues across West Yorkshire once mapping of existing offers is undertaken.
The content of the ‘Healthier Together’ website continues at pace using google analytics to review access to the site. A new page to support the mental health needs of young people has been co-designed with young people.
Last call for applications to our Improving Population Health Fellowship
Applications for our Improving Population Health Fellowship are open until Friday 9 December. This year we’re on the lookout for:
- 30 Health Equity Fellows
- 30 Adversity, Trauma and Resilience Fellows
- Five Climate Change Fellows
- Five Suicide Prevention Fellows
If you have any project ideas or want to volunteer as a mentor please contact verity.
White Ribbon Day
In this video Rob Webster, CEO Lead for the Partnership talks about White Ribbon Day held on 25 November every year providing the opportunity to show our collective commitment to ending violence against women and girls perpetuated by men. The campaign runs all year round, and works to raise awareness of violence against women, encouraging men to support women’s groups and raise awareness in schools and workplaces, of violence against women. The wearing of the white ribbon stands for never taking part in, condoning or staying silent about violence against women.
Support young people and create a loving foster family
Have you ever thought about fostering but been unsure whether it’s for you? In Calderdale Council’s latest campaign, foster carers have been speaking about their experience of fostering for Calderdale and busting some of the common myths associated with it.
There are many reasons why people choose to foster – it could be the perfect way to rethink your work-life balance, but most importantly, it could make a huge difference to a young person’s life.
Fostering for Calderdale is not-for-profit. The safety and wellbeing of the child or children involved is the main priority and the Council wants to find loving foster families in the Calderdale area who can enable a child or young person who cannot safely stay within their family to remain close to their existing friends or birth family.
Jo Needler, who is a Calderdale foster carer, has had several children in her care. She said: "It does bring its challenges up, but it's the best and most rewarding thing that you could ever do." In this short film she describes the process involved in becoming a foster carer and the support provided by Calderdale Council.
The Council needs foster carers who can provide all types of care - short term, long term, support care and emergency care for children of all ages – so whatever your circumstances and other commitments, the fostering team will work with you to explore what type of placement you could offer that works for you and your family.
To find out more about fostering for Calderdale Council, visit www.calderdale.gov.uk/fostering.
Funding boost for children's mental health support
Children’s charity SELFA has secured an £85,000 funding boost for children’s mental health support thanks to a new research report by Emma Pears, one of the partnership’s health equity fellows.
The Children and Young People's Mental Health in Rural Craven report identified a lack of accessible mental health services in rural North Craven and highlighted the need for a new approach. SELFA will use the funding to set up peer support groups for children and young people who are experiencing mental health issues as well and their parents and carers.
The research is part of the partnership’s Improving Population Health Fellowship and supports the Health Inequalities Academy to build knowledge, skills and courage to build more equitable organisations and communities. See the SELFA news pages for more information.