-
Good Housekeeping Leads to Better Health Care Services
NHS Berkshire West will be looking back on twelve months of achievements at its Annual General Meeting on Wednesday, 8th September, Reading Walk-in Health Centre, Broad Street Mall, Reading (2pm-3.30pm). The AGM will reveal how the primary care trust has successfully managed the budget to improve health outcomes for the people of Wokingham, Reading and West Berkshire.
Charles Waddicor, Chief Executive, NHS Berkshire West, said: ‘Prudent financial management has allowed us to reinvest in health care provision with the aim to provide services that are high quality, cost effective and meet the needs of patients. The new Reading Walk-in Health Centre, the expansion of cardiovascular health checks and moves to tackle obesity demonstrate that we are truly world class commissioners.’
He added: ‘Staff have again shown dedication and commitment over the past twelve months in helping us to provide better health care service. This has led to increased dental access, a reduction in the number of smokers and unplanned teenage pregnancies, and keeping hospitals in Berkshire West clean and safe. The recent World Class Commissioning results placed NHS Berkshire West in the top 10 PCTs in the country and in first place in the South Central region.’
NHS Berkshire West will also showcase how it keeps people well and out of hospital through the “Choose Well Journey” exhibition on the same day from 12pm till 4pm in the Central Square at Broad Street Mall Shopping Centre, Reading.
The “Choose Well Journey” encourages patients to think about the right place to go to when they need to access NHS services. Each aspect of the “Choose Well Journey” and the health services available will be represented, from Accident and Emergency paramedics and out of hours GP services, to pharmacies and how to keep a well stocked medicine cabinet.
In addition, visitors to the exhibition in Broad Street Mall will be able to get their blood pressure, pulse and Body Mass Index checked and join the Health Network and parents will be able to chat about childhood immunisations whilst their children have their faces painted. There will be a ‘smoothie bike’, which produces refreshing drinks but only after people have put the cycling effort in and the Eat 4 Health team will be showing people how they can make a more long term commitment to improving their health and well being.
The “Choose Well Journey” exhibition in the Broad Street Mall shopping area is completely free and the PCT hope that members of the public will take the opportunity to come along and ask questions and find out more about services. However, places at the formal business Annual General Meeting upstairs at the Walk-in Health Centre are limited and it’s best to reserve a place in advance by contacting Steph Bennett tel: 0118 982 2705 email: steph.bennett@berkshire.nhs.uk
Copies of the Annual Report will be available at both the AGM and the “Choose Well Journey” exhibition as well as the PCT’s website.
-
Better Dental Access for Patients
NHS Berkshire West is pleased to announce that it has commissioned three new dental practices in line with its overall aim of increasing access to NHS dentistry for local residents. It is planned for the new practices to open by December 2010 in Earley, Finchampstead and Pangbourne.
Department of Health figures issued last week (17th August) show NHS Berkshire West has increased year on year the number of patients seen by NHS dentists from 184,755 in March 2009 to 200,483 by July 2010.
Hugh O’Keeffe, NHS Berkshire West Dental Commissioning Manager, said: ‘The opening of the new dental practices will further improve access to dentistry for patients in Berkshire West. This is in addition to the three practices we opened last year in Twyford, Newbury and Shinfield and the performance of all our current dental practices which has helped increase the number of patients accessing dentistry over the past year by more than 15,000.’
For further information on which of the 51 NHS dental practices in Reading, Newbury and Wokingham are currently accepting new patients, or for a copy of our new simplified guide to costs, please visit www.berkshire-pct.nhs.uk/dentist or contact our PALS (Patient Advice and Liaison Service) on 0118 982 2829.
-
Berkshire West Stop Smoking Success
NHS Berkshire West’s Stop Smoking Service exceeded its targets by 14 percent this year, helping 2,474 people to stop smoking.
The news comes as a report from the NHS Information Centre issued on Thursday says NHS Stop Smoking Services helped more smokers than ever before.
In the Berkshire West patch, 60 percent of people who committed to give up smoking succeeded, while nationally the figure was 49 per cent. The target figure for the region was 2,165 quitters.
Iwona Rodriguez, Stop Smoking Co-ordinator said: 'We’re delighted that our Stop Smoking Service at NHS Berkshire West has been so successful. We have a number of initiatives to help people throughout the area and our drop-in clinic (known as the POD) at the Broad Street Mall, Reading was recently cited in a national report on tobacco control as an example of good practice. *”
The POD, which opened in autumn 2008, offers free one-to-one advice and support six days a week.
For the second consecutive year, slightly more women than men tried to stop smoking with the support from NHS Berkshire West. The most popular treatment was Nicotine Replacement Therapy using nicotine patches, inhalator or gum.
The service can be contacted on: 0118 952 5400 or email the service here: stopsmokingservice@berkshire.nhs.uk
*A Smokefree Future – February 2010
-
Nursing in Berkshire West – 100 years after Florence Nightingale
The pioneer of modern nursing – Florence Nightingale – died one hundred years ago. The profession has moved on since then and the event prompted NHS Berkshire West nurses reminisce about the changes seen in their lifetime.
The lady with the lamp became famous throughout the world for reforming healthcare, proving the importance of sanitation and establishing nursing as a profession.
Since that time, the profession has moved on and although the science of nursing has made leaps and bounds, the care, values and compassion remain.
“Florence Nightingale would be proud of what we’ve done here in terms of preventative care, said Maria Cook, a Vascular Disease Prevention Nurse based in Reading. “Our Health Checks for over forties mean that we can identify our patients before they have heart attacks, strokes or even suffer from high blood pressure.”
Maria started her nurse training in Bedford 30 years ago and moved to Reading shortly afterwards when she got married. She added: “The first thing I learnt as a nurse was to feel a pulse for a full 60 seconds. That’s not done so much now but it’s a practice that we’ve adopted again for our Health Checks because it means that we can identify irregularities more easily – an irregular pulse can be an indication that a patient is likely to be at risk of vascular disease and stroke.”
Julia Bliss, Joint Reading Intermediate Care Services Manager, who started as a Cadet Nurse in 1970, agreed that nurses are now involved in many more proactive and preventative programmes than at the start of her career.
“Our End of Life Out of Hours Nursing Service means we can support people overnight with help and advice on controlling symptoms such as pain, sickness, breathlessness and anxiety – whereas before nurses would often go back in their own time to help patients.”
The extended hours mean many patients can avoid unplanned hospital admissions as they are able to ask for help from the team when necessary.
“There is better pain relief and symptom control now for patients. Patients are involved in their care and learn to manage their illnesses with our help,” said Julia.
Nurses who trained in the sixties and seventies welcome the increased training, responsibility and challenges given to their role, as well as the technology that facilitates their work. Florence Nightingale would surely also approve.
-
Extended Out of Hours Care Provides Comfort to End of Life Patients
NHS Berkshire West has extended its Out of Hours Nursing Service to provide help and support for patients who are at the end of their life and who wish to remain in their own home.
Patients or relatives can now call the service overnight for help and advice on controlling symptoms such as pain, sickness, breathlessness and anxiety.
Kim de Sousa, Service Manager for Wokingham Intermediate Care and Out of Hours Nursing said: “Night time can be the worst time for patients and their relatives when their usual support services are unavailable – and since we started offering this service, the response has been excellent.
'Patients and families are reassured that there is experienced nursing support available should they need it. It has meant that many patients have avoided unplanned hospital admissions as they are able to ask for help from our team when necessary.'
In addition to preventing inappropriate hospital admission, the service also facilitates hospital discharge and links in with Marie Curie nurses providing help with cancer care for local patients.
A new report* from the National End of Life Care Intelligence Network (NEoLCIN) shows that age, gender, cause of death and socio-economic factors affect where people die. The South East region has one of the lowest proportions of people dying in hospital (56 per cent, compared to London’s 66 percent and the West Midlands’ 60 percent).
The service extended its hours in March to be available from 11pm until 7am and operates seven days a week, covering the whole of the NHS Berkshire West catchment area.
To benefit from the service, patients should be referred by their GP or other healthcare professional and be in need of palliative end of life care and their family or carer also need to be aware of their diagnosis.
• Variations in Place of Death in England: Inequalities or appropriate consequences of age, gender and cause of death? For more information please see www.endoflifecare-intelligence.org.uk
-
West Berkshire Children Enjoy the Great Outdoors
West Berkshire children can increase their enjoyment of local parks and green spaces thanks to an activity scheme from NHS Berkshire West.
The scheme, which was launched on 11th August at Northcroft Leisure Centre in Newbury, provides activity bags for children in eight local parishes. NHS Berkshire West used Big Lottery funding from the Chances4Change programme to fund the project.
At the launch, the children played rounders, cricket, badminton, football and more. The bags, dubbed Big Green Activity Bags, aim to encourage children to play outdoors and also contain kites, Twister and skipping ropes.
Jeremy Speed, Locality Public Health Lead at NHS Berkshire West said: “This scheme is an opportunity for young people to take part in activities they may not normally do. For example, a group of youngsters could borrow a rounders set and take it to their local playing field or park for a game. The idea is to get people outdoors, being active and getting some fresh air.”
Deborah Ginja, of the Recreational Trust Committee, Ashampstead said: It's great to have sports equipment to get local children active – Ashampstead is a small village quite far from the leisure facilities in Newbury. We plan to store the kit locally with a couple of keyholders to sign it out, so that families can borrow it whenever they wish.”
The bags were allocated to parishes in Lambourn, Theale, Yattendon, Brightwalton, Shefford, Ashampstead, West Ilsley and neighbourhood wardens in Tilehurst/Pangbourne. Why not contact your local parish council now?
-
Safe and Healthy Fasting for People with Diabetes
NHS Berkshire West is urging people with diabetes to take care when fasting during Ramadan.
This follows an event hosted by NHS Berkshire West alongside patient education organisation DESMOND last weekend (Saturday 31st July) to raise awareness about the issue.
The patient education day was held at the Pakistan Community Centre, Reading, targeting patients with Type 2 Diabetes which is estimated to affect up to 20 per cent of Reading's Muslim community.
GPs, diabetes educators and public health staff were on hand to provide medical advice to patients with diabetes who will fast during Ramadan which commences on 11th of August for a month.
During the event they were encouraged to:
- consider making a choice about whether to fast or not during Ramadan
- to fast with the support of a GP, nurse or dietitian
- be aware of food choices and possible changes to medication if they fast
Dr David Buckle, NHS Berkshire West Medical Director said: Patients with diabetes who fast during Ramadan should visit their GP to ensure they receive expert medical advice and support to remain healthy otherwise they risk complications such as low blood sugar levels, dehydration and thrombosis. Patients with diabetes should also monitor their blood glucose levels and if they have any concerns they should seek help from their GP immediately.
Dr Miriam Al-Kashi, a local GP at Balmore Park Surgery, Reading, who helped organised the event, said: It was the first patient education day held in Reading and it will help generate further awareness among the Muslim community about safer fasting.
NHS Berkshire West will be holding an event for GPs and nurses on 18th August in Reading to make them more aware of the need to monitor patients who are diabetic and fasting.
For further information about this contact Dr Miriam Al-Kashi
email: miriam.al-kashi@nhs.net
-
NHS Berkshire West Hospitals Score Highly in Assessment
New findings published by the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) demonstrate that community hospitals in Berkshire West are treating patients in clean and well maintained environments.
The Patient Environment Action Teams (PEAT) programme (which is managed by the NPSA) assesses all hospitals and inpatient units with 10 or more beds to ensure improvements are made to the non-clinical aspects of patient care covering environment, food, privacy and dignity.
A PEAT team inspected the Duchess of Kent House, Oakwood Unit, West Berkshire Community Hospital and Wokingham Community Hospital earlier this year, and the findings reveal they scored good or excellent in each of the three main categories.
Sarah Bellars, NHS Berkshire West Assistant Director Clinical Quality and Patient Safety said: 'We are delighted that the report reveals that all our community hospital facilities are providing patients with a high standard of non-clinical care. Patients rightly expect to be treated in clean surroundings, with good food and with respect for their privacy and dignity.'
'Our aim is to work with staff to promote a culture of pride and ownership and to develop an understanding of how the care environment directly affects health and wellbeing.'
PEAT teams consist of nurses, matrons, doctors, catering, domestic service managers as well as groups of patients, their representatives and members of the public.
For more information about this year's PEAT scores, please visit www.nrls.npsa.nhs.uk/patient-safety-data/peat
-
Report Reveals Safe and Clean Hospitals
NHS Berkshire West's four community hospital facilities have been given the seal of approval for maintaining safe levels of cleanliness and infection control.
It follows a visit by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to two wards at Wokingham Community Hospital (Ascott and Windsor) and one at West Berkshire Community Hospital (Highclere) in June.
During the unannounced inspections staff were interviewed and information looked at to see how infection control and cleanliness procedures and polices were being followed.
The inspectors were satisfied that their findings did not require further visits to the remaining community hospital facilities at the Oakwood Unit, Reading, and Duchess of Kent House Specialist Facility, Reading.
The CQC has today (Wednesday 28th July) issued its report about the inspections which shows that NHS Berkshire West community hospitals are meeting all fourteen national measures that ensure cleanliness and infection control for patients.
Charles Waddicor, NHS Berkshire West Chief Executive, said: "Staff at all our community hospitals must be congratulated for their hard work to maintain safe levels of cleanliness and infection control. It also demonstrates that we are very committed to giving patients the highest standards of care possible in our hospitals - we must now maintain this success and not allow ourselves to become complacent."
Sarah Bellars, NHS Berkshire West Assistant Director Clinical Quality and Patient Safety, said: "In all our community hospitals staff are trained to follow good practice guidelines for example by washing their hands at regular intervals and by wearing uniforms that are bare below the elbow. This helps to maintain clean wards and to reduce the risk of infection which ensures that patients can recover in safe environments."
"We are particularly pleased with the outcome of the visit by the Care Quality Commission because they based their findings on their inspection of only three community wards in Berkshire West which reflects their trust in us."
You can view the Care Quality Commission Report here.
-
£300,000 Raised for Duchess of Kent House
Duchess of Kent House Charity has raised £300,000 to support the NHS Berkshire West Hospice based in Liebenrood Road, Reading.
A cheque was handed over to Charles Waddicor, the Chief Executive of NHS Berkshire West by George Solly the Charity's Director of Fundraising earlier this month.
The money will fund the family support and bereavement service, psychology service, chaplaincy, complementary therapy treatment, patient outings and transport, up-keep of the Duchess of Kent House garden, and Internet installation.
It will also partly fund (£50,000 a year) a new Volunteer Befriending Service for Duchess of Kent House over the next three years.
Charles Waddicor, NHS Berkshire West Chief Executive, said: "We are very grateful for the large donation from Duchess of Kent House Charity to help support the specialist palliative care work we carry out at the Unit."
George Solly said: "Thanks to the generosity of so many people, we have been able to raise a significant amount of money which will help maintain the excellent level of care provided by the centre. In addition, the new Volunteer Befriending Service will receive funding to enable it to develop and grow."
The Volunteer Befriending Service was officially launched on Wednesday 14th July at Duchess of Kent House in Reading at a ceremony attended by nine of the 12 volunteers who have already undergone induction training to help patients with progressive life threatening conditions in their homes in the Reading and Wokingham area.
Befriending Volunteer Murray Allam, said: "I cant wait to team up with a patient to provide them with companionship and support in their everyday life. The induction training I received was very detailed and informative and Im sure will help me cope with the challenges ahead."
Jane Rankin, Volunteer Services Manager at Duchess of Kent House said: "We are currently seeking further recruits for the next round of induction training which commences at the end of September. We want to hear from people who could spare a few hours a week helping patients with tasks such as writing letters, sharing an activity or giving carers a break."
For further information about joining the Volunteer Befriending Service please contact Jane Rankin on 0118 955 0443 or email: jane.rankin@berkshire.nhs.uk.
|
COMMENTS
