Attached is the monthly calendar for the Rosewood Centre for April. If you’d like to know more or get involved in any of the activities, please contact Laura.Ingham@NottsHC.nhs.uk
involvement
NHS Sustainability Day – Rosewood
A huge thank you and well done is deserved by a team of volunteers at Rosewood for their recent work in the garden. In particular, Gordon, Steve and Michael’s hard work is very much appreciated. Also thanks to Stacie from the Environment Team who came to the Centre meeting to do a talk on NHS Sustainability Day and got stuck right in to digging up weeds and helping out.
Rosewood garden before…
…and after!
The old wood and dead clematis have been used to create a “Bug Hotel” along with some recycled bread palettes, old pots, broken concrete and an old door mat. This will hopefully be a good habitat for insects and possibly the odd hedgehog.
A handcrafted willow bird feeder and nesting box have been donated to the Centre as an example of what can be made with the willow we’ve started to grow. These will help support the local wildlife.
The willow has been planted ready to grow and harvest to donate to wards. We’ve planted a colourful selection of basketry willow, so we should have a rainbow of colour later in the year.
We still have work ahead of us in planting and growing vegetables for the rest of the year, but we’ve already taken a big step in tidying it up after the winter season.
As part of NHS Sustainability Day, our pledges as a centre are:
- To improve our recycling
- To turn off equipment not in use
- To support local wildlife
Hello, my name is Mike.
Hello, my name is Mike. I’m a volunteer at Rosewood Involvement Centre in Ollerton. I started attending two years ago, when I was caring for a close family member with depression.
As everyone who has been a carer will know, it can be a time to show people how much you love and care for them, but it can also have incredibly negative effects on your own well-being. The loss of the person you once knew, the fading away of your social life and free time, the increased stress, anxiety and isolation… all this can have alarming consequences for your own physical and emotional health.
That’s why it is essential that carers can have quality time for themselves, where they can be just like anyone else. Rosewood was just such a place for me. When I began attending, I was unsure what to expect. I was made to feel at home and it was not long before I was fully immersed in the world of Involvement.
Being able to see that there were other people just like me assuaged my sense of loneliness and isolation. Learning that there were others who suffered badly from mental health conditions and recovered to live a normal life gave me hope for the future. I began to attend every session I could.
Making friends and getting away from my caring role was not the only benefit of Involvement. I was able to access a number of training opportunities which greatly enriched my personal and professional development. This included Involvement Interview Training which consisted of a course learning how to conduct an interview. Once trained, I participated in interviews for potential Trust employees as part of a patient/carer panel. You can learn a lot to use for your own future experiences as an interviewee!
I was able to attend Training sessions to ensure best practice in the workplace such as safeguarding children and vulnerable adults, equality & diversity, manual handling and back care, deaf awareness, and food hygiene and safety.
I have been given the opportunity to tell my story of caring to a number of audiences, including Trust staff members. This is very important to me since you are in a position to advise staff on what works well and what could be done better. Any opportunity to help shape attitudes and practice is vital. After this, I was able to participate in the Care Programme Approach (CPA) training, which involved delivering a presentation.
Training played a part in finding a role I love where I can use my experience to help others. I began this role in August 2014. Around the same time, the person whom I cared for made a full recovery from their illness. Recovery is an on-going process, but there has been no relapse and our lives have returned to normal; full of health and happiness.
However, I know that this is not always the outcome; for many people with mental ill-health. It is something they have to face on a daily basis and often for the rest of their lives. Their well-being is no less important than mine. That is the reason why I still volunteer; advocating the role of Involvement in ensuring best practice within the Trust.
I stood for the role of Public Governor in the 2015 elections. To my surprise and gratitude, I was elected for three years! I’m looking forward to advocating my views, holding the leadership to account, and hopefully inspiring other people in my former position to see that, yes, things can get better. We must never stop working to better the lives of those with mental health issues, and those who care for them.
Hello My Name is Jonathan
Hi my name is Jonathan and I am the Involvement Centre Manager in Nottingham. What does it mean to manage an Involvement Centre? Well the answer is varied and never the same!
My job is not boring, sometimes challenging and can be very rewarding. I often think of myself as having three bosses, my line manager, the Trust and all the volunteers that I work with and have a duty to make sure they are heard.
The reason I come into work is to improve and change services for people that receive them. Which I believe is the main reason everybody in the NHS comes into work. We (staff) just sometimes get a little pressured to deliver on targets that don’t always work for the person that is in front of you that day.
I hope the work we do within Involvement means that we can deliver on those targets without forgetting what is most important to those that receive treatment and care. The care part is really important; the NHS is a world leader at ‘treatment’ but sometimes we fall down on the ‘care’ part, and its’ then that people feel dehumanised and frustrated.
Let’s talk to each other, find out what we all would like. Be honest about what we can do, and completely honest about what we can’t do. Ask ourselves ‘would that feel ok if it was my Mum being cared for’?
Involvement gives us a chance to stand back and think about services in this way. We should always listen, but more importantly we should all be part of the solutions that we find.
That’s why I come to work – and not everyday is like that, but enough are.
If you’re interested in being a volunteer email: involve@nottshc.nhs.uk or call
0800 052 1415
Two & Four Legged Volunteers working their magic at Lings Bar
by Joanna Rapson
Volunteering Manager -Involvement, Experience & Volunteering Team
Our Involvement & Volunteering services often link with external volunteering organisations. One rewarding example of our partnership work is with ‘Pets as Therapy’
Read more here about the wonderful work at PAT
Rosalind Maxwell-Harrison and her German Pointer PAT dog Flo have been regular visitors to the Lings Bar Hospital, Gamston inpatient wards since April 2015. Patients who have been in hospital for several weeks can often find their days to be endless.
Rosalind and Flo’s visits give patients something to focus on that is not health related and can reinforce and retrieve good memories. One of the health benefits of the visits has been noticeable. Some patients who became withdrawn have blossomed when chatting with Rosalind and stroking a very patient Flo’.
Visiting the Peaks at Rampton Hospital
by Carol Ward
Involvement Volunteer The Rosewood Centre
Instead of attending the usual Rosewood Friday Centre meeting I’m off into the Peaks Unit at Rampton with Nigel, Graham and Alan. I’m apprehensive and excited at the same time. After going through the usual security checks, we are escorted across to the Peaks. As we approach the unit I can see the enormity of the building which I’d not realised before. The building is unusual in design. It is made up of seven spires hence its name – The Peaks. The first thing I notice at the front door is pots of flowers which are cheery and a welcome sight on arrival; they immediately soften the building.
We enter via the front door and the vestibule is small but light. We sign in via the visitor’s book which is resting on a lectern which reminds me of a church setting, which is lovely too.
We then pass into the next room which has a model of the building in it. It holds little messages created by the patients that you can pick up and read before putting back for the next person to read.
We continue through locked doors into the first main bit of the building. The corridor is wide, spacious light and airy. It has a lovely feel to it and instead of feeling more nervous, I’m feeling the sense of space which is surprisingly nice.
We are met by staff and move into a nice cosy room with soft furnishings. Once we are settled, the patients are brought into the room to meet with us. We say hello. Once settled, the nurse practitioner welcomes everyone and we do a round of introductions. It strikes me how young some of the guys are, and I can’t help but wonder how they have got to this point? Some of them look pale and sleepy whilst others are vocal and more animated.
The patients talk about issues that matter to them, such as being affected by short staffing and activities being cancelled. Mary [modern matron] reminds them that they need to motivate themselves as well. I can imagine this being easier said than done. I also realise that what Mary says also needs to be heard by the patients.
Nigel [Rosewood Centre Manager] tells the patients about Rosewood and the activities that we do, both within the Centre and outreach work as well and also about the work we have been doing in other parts of Rampton Hospital.
Some of the patients leave the room to do their shopping whilst others who have done their shopping come in to replace the ones that go out to the shop! It’s good to meet them and the staff within the Peaks and a pleasant and welcoming experience. We have a chance at the end of the meeting to have a look round the hospital. Firstly we have a look in the woodwork room where we see some beautiful creations made by the patients, ranging from a wooden dolls house to beautiful wooden bowls which are very tactile. We then visit one of the wards and I see a seclusion room for the first time and it actually looks better than I thought it would. I am told by the staff that it isn’t used very often. The ward is bright and airy and the guys can freely access a small garden. The plants in the garden are colourful and cheery and there are seating areas.The hospital is working towards forming a sensory garden.
The visit has been a positive experience. Thank you to staff and patients within the Peaks – another positive learning experience. I am looking forward to more voluntary work at Rampton.
Rosewood Involvement Centre Friday Meetings
by Sheila & Stephen – Involvement Volunteers (Aka Q)
The Rosewood Involvement Centre holds a centre meeting every Friday afternoon, in Ollerton in North Nottinghamshire. This meeting is for Involvement volunteers with guest speakers and staff sharing their experiences and information together. Sometime we receive training at the meeting to help us with our volunteering activities. The meeting usually kicks off with a sandwich lunch prepared by our volunteers which is a good way to get to know staff and new volunteers too.
Discussions are wide and varied such as the Executive Leadership Council (ELC).
The Executive Leadership Council (ELC) is made up of 150 senior members of the Trust. They meet on a monthly basis to share and discuss the leadership and direction of the organisation.
New volunteers joined the council in September 2015. Volunteers are expected to feedback to the Rosewood Friday meeting about ELC so that Involvement Volunteers have some awareness of what happens in our Trust at senior level. It helps us to understand how the Trust is thinking and moving forward.
We are encouraged to feedback about our involvement work in the meeting. Paul R, Involvement Volunteer, shared his experience at one meeting about The Kings Fund Conference in London. The subject was “Improving access to Mental Health” through digital means. Involvement is really varied and finding out what is going on in other parts of the country can be really useful to help us in Involvement.
Updates from other Involvement meetings are shared in the Friday meeting such as the ‘Routes to Employment’ meeting held at Duncan McMillian House Nottingham which is open to anyone with an interest in getting back to employment for people who have been experienced mental ill health by raising awareness of the barriers in returning to work after being unwell.
Upcoming weekly events are shared such as ‘Bassetlaw Live’ Hospital Open Day, the Monday Communications Group, Carers Groups and Mental Health Awareness Weeks events.
Patient-led assessments of the care environment (PLACE) Audit Training is just one of the many opportunities held at Rosewood .The meeting encourages us to suggest things that may help in our roles as volunteers. E.g. A dance group was suggested to give volunteers some self-confidence, fun and help fitness.
New volunteers are welcome at Rosewood. Tel: 0115 993 4567 for more information
E-mail: involve@nottshc.nhs.uk Twitter: @InvolveT1
