Diary of a Therapy Matron. Part 5

Last week I attended a meeting with a variety of senior leads from across the organisation to talk about the CQC’s ‘Well Led’ domain ahead of our likely inspection early next year.  In the meeting we talked about how our actions and behaviours as leaders influence the culture of the organisation as well as the quality and safety of the care we deliver.  We took opportunity to start to talk about some of the things we’re really great at as an organisation (there’s lots and lots!) and how we can talk about, focus on and grow these things more.

It couldn’t have been timelier then to attend a two day Appreciative Inquiry (AI) course this week. For those less familiar Appreciative Inquiry is a change process that focuses on strengths not weaknesses, encourages active engagement by everyone and encourages you to look at things in new ways through a process of inquiring (asking questions!) and really listening.  AI focuses on the things that would really add value (appreciate) if we did more of them. It’s a concept that really resonates with me as a therapist where our treatment approaches focus on ability not disability and using people’s strengths to achieve things in new ways. Click here for more

Diary of a Therapy Matron. Part 4

With the school holidays behind us I’m quite glad to have some working weeks ahead that aren’t quite so interspersed with annual leave (hence the missed blog last week).  In between though I’ve been busy with some really important core things these last couple of weeks: We’ve had more recruiting going on and it was really positive to have several outstanding applicants for our band 6 OT post at Princess of Wales Hospital who were very person centred and with really strong value bases evident in their practice examples;   and completing line management supervision with my band 7 leads ahead of next weeks service delivery unit ‘Finance and Performance’ and ‘Quality meetings’ where we share with senior managers what’s been happening in teams and information flows to us to disseminate out to staff.

A couple of great meetings this time included networking with the OT leads team at Worcester Acute Trust talking about how we can improve patient experience and information flow when patients journey between us and a meeting with one of the senior lecturers at Worcester University talking about how we . . . Click here to read more

Diary of a Therapy Matron. Part 2 

I have been in post for nearly four weeks now although spent last week in a very sunny Cornwall with my children.

 I have now sorted the practicalities of office space and IT and have been able to spend time out on a couple of the wards and meeting with hospital matrons and the therapy leads to start to understand where we’re at, who’s who and what peoples priorities are over the next couple of months. 

Getting out has already started to enable identification of some common issues across the county that we can explore (e.g. how we manage patients with altered weight bearing status, how we can reduce reassessment and duplicate forms when discharging to our own community services).  Click here to read more . . . 

Diary of a Therapy Matron

Hello, my name is Hannah Male. I commenced in post of 17th July 2017 as Therapy Matron for Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust providing leadership to the Occupational Therapists and Physiotherapists in our Community Hospitals and the Adult Speech and Language Therapy Service.

This is a new role for the organisation and a title not used elsewhere in the country which is a fantastic opportunity to develop a role that adds real value to supporting and developing both our staff and our services. On a personal level I have recently completed a masters in healthcare leadership which gave me opportunity to reflect on who I want to be as a person centred leader and enhanced my values around being open and transparent about what we do, using the diversity of those around us to shape services to be the best they can be and having clarity in our roles and responsibilities. Click here to read more . . .

My career in mental health – Donna’s story

I’d worked in admin jobs for the past 28 years or so, most of that within the NHS; but I’d reached a point in my life where I needed to do something different, something more patient-centred.  So when I saw the advert for an Office Skills Technical Instructor, I applied, not thinking in a million years I’d actually get it!

I’ve been with New Opportunities Worcestershire for a little over a year now, and I’ve never been happier. My colleagues are fantastic to work with, each of them very skilled in their areas. Team meetings are always informative yet fun, and laced with lashings of homemade cakes!

Click here to read more . . .

A day in the life of Clare Knighton Peer Support Worker

Here is an overview of my life on a typical working day – Every day is different and that’s what I love most about it!

I have been a Peer Support Worker since November 2015, where I use my lived experience of mental health difficulties to help others recover. I started work on Harvington ward in Kidderminster and then now I work on Holt ward in Worcester. 

Click here to read more . . .