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HighlightsApril 2014MONTHLY

MEET THE BOARD:Who’s doing what in theCommonwealth Games?

THERE is nothing quite like that frisson of excite-ment when you wake up on the CaledonianSleeper and get your first glimpse of dawn break-ing over the Cairngorms.

That is how my exhausting first week in Aprilended: travelling home early on Saturday morninghaving had the privilege of sharing with colleaguesfrom around the globe some of the experience ofNHS Highland at 14th International Conference onIntegrated Care in Brussels.

At the conference I was delighted to be able toshowcase a little part of Scotland, as well as listenand learn from others.

At the same time, back in Highland, other col-leagues were recognising that some of the prob-lems we are facing around remote and rural reten-tion are mirrored halfway around the world whenthey hosted a visit by colleagues from the West

Continued on page 2

TRAIN OF THOUGHTREFLECTIONS ON A

A few words from the chief executive

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Coast Health Board on the South Island of NewZealand. And while at the conference, I had newsfrom across the pond that cardiology work in NHSHighland was being cited at a conference inWashington DC as an example of great practice!

So why am I compelled to write this as wetrundle over Drumochter?

I have today an even greater sense of pride,passion and ambition for the work that we do herein NHS Highland. Every day thousands of peoplebenefit from our collective efforts, and the empa-thy and expertise shownby staff. It’s true that weare far from perfect but itfeels right to reflect on thejob we do every singleday. This is not a self-congratulatory pat on theback but more a plea andencouragement to stickwith it.

We have just completedone of the most difficultfinancial years I have everexperienced, needing tosecure support to breakeven. That struggle hasbeen felt by us all and weface further challengesahead.

While we need to get this under control theboard continues to give us great latitude and cleardirection. Earlier this month, it agreed to move toan integrated model of care in Argyll and Bute,endorsed our carers strategy and approved themove to public consultation of redesign of servicesacross Badenoch and Strathspey, and Skye, Lo-chalsh and South West Ross. All are examplesborn out of genuine partnership working.

As we now pause a moment in Dalwhinnie Sta-tion, I know that we are doing the right things –focusing on the person, “every person everytime” (and, as one patient pleaded: “Please canwe make it this patient this time).

Keeping people well, making care as personalas possible, giving and getting respect, and look-

ing after ourselves and others are values that Ihope band us together across NHS Highland.

And this is what lies at the heart of the HighlandQuality Approach. We have a responsibility tomake the most of what we have got, whether thatis money, time or experience, and work togetheras a team to deliver the best that we can. We willdo that by continuing to steal shamelessly fromthe best in the world, but share openly and withhumility what we have achieved ourselves. Learn-ing is key: learning from each other, listening andreflecting, and working in partnership as equals.Patients or professionals, doctors or drivers, cli-

ents or cleaners – we allhave a legitimate perspec-tive, but need to build trustand integrity.

So let’s put our sharedeffort to doing more of theright thing. We know thatit is not going to be easy,but making a difference topeople’s lives never is.Let’s celebrate our suc-cess, learn from our mis-takes and always strive tobe better that we were be-fore.

NHS Highland is great be-cause of what you do, so Iwant to thank you for allyour efforts, energy and

ideas. It is really appreciated by me personallyand by the vast majority of the people across Ar-gyll and Bute and the Highlands.

I wonder again what has compelled me to putpen to paper. Maybe falling asleep in London andwaking up just as we cross into the NHS Highlandarea was too spooky to ignore! I can only reflectthat it feels the momentum is gathering on some-thing very important here – and we might not rec-ognise it.

What we have is special, it is Team Highland,and it is worth shouting about, albeit quietly, in a‘Highland’ sort of way.

My goodness, it’s good to be home!

Elaine Mead

A few words from our chief executiveContinued from front page

Let’s put our

shared effort

to doing

more of the

right thing

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The west coast healthsystem – New Zealand

“WHEN you read some of thereasons why NZ’s west coastsystem needs to change (seebox below), you really couldbe thinking we were talkingabout North and West High-land,” said Dr Paul Davidson,NHS Highland’s clinical direc-tor for the area.

The west coast of New Zea-land is a place of great naturalbeauty where the primary indus-tries are mining, forestry andfarming.

The health board is the majoremployer in the area, employingover 1,100 people. It is New Zea-land’s most sparsely populatedhealth board with a populationdensity of 1.3 people per squarekilometer, less than 10 per centof the New Zealand average.

Reflecting on the recent visitPaul pointed out, “Our challengesare so similar. I talked so much Iwas exhausted! Dr Carol Atmore,their chief medical officer, and DrMichael Frampton, their pro-gramme director, really grilled mebut it was great.

“The main things we dis-cussed were how best to meetthe needs of rural communities,medical workforce models, ruralrecruitment and retention andhow to maintain skills.

“I was really struck with the

progress they have made in de-veloping a faculty of rural gener-alists under their GP Royal Col-lege umbrella.

“They staff their hospital with a

mixed model of generalists andspecialists, nurses and doctors.“They have found recruitment ofconsultants to rural hospitals al-most impossible, meaning lots ofoverseas recruitment. Their ex-perience of community involve-ment has been helpful at all lev-els.”

Their visit was also very wellreceived by Dr Iain Gartshoreand Mary Gartshore (Mallaig andAcharacle Medical Practice).They have already been back in

Lessons fromthe other sideof the planet...

SHARING AND LEARNING ACROSS THE GLOBE

Ageing populationachieving clinical sustain-abilitycreating a sustainableworkforcejoining up fragmentedsystems

developing fit-for-purposefacilities

integrating care

transport

achieving financial sus-tainability

WHAT do Alaska, Norway and New Zealand have in com-mon?

One thing is that they have small populations spread outover large, beautiful areas. Another is that their health chiefsare liaising with NHS Highland on areas of common interest:models of care for remote and rural areas; integration ofhealth and social care; transport, recruitment and retention areall high on the agenda.

In February, NHS Highland hosted a visit of senior stafffrom the South Central Foundation in Alaska. Their ‘Nuka Sys-tem of Care’ describes their whole healthcare system which iscreated, managed and owned by Alaska Native people.

There have also been study tour visits by senior colleaguesfrom the west coast of New Zealand (31st March to 4th April)and Norway (21st to 27th April).

Highlights caught up with some of NHS Highland’s col-leagues who met the New Zealanders.

Some of the challenges in the west coast of New Zealand

Continued on next page

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SHARING AND LEARNING ACROSS THE GLOBE

touch with Carol and Michaelabout the local issues they wereparticularly interested in:the role of the first and emer-gency respondersthe new community healthassistant model (Nuka model)engaging the public in someof the challenges and solutions.

Mary said: “All in all we felt itstimulating and comforting tolearn that half way round theworld they too are in a similar po-s i t i o n t o o u r s e l v e s .“Hopefully by working togetherand sharing ideas we can findsome solutions to our commonproblems.”

Meanwhile, colleagues in Lornand Islands were equally enthusi-astic.

Veronica Kennedy, acting lo-

cality manager, said: “We had anexcellent visit from the New Zea-land team.

“We took them round the hos-pital and focused on SPSP andadvanced practice for nurses andpharmacists.

“They were really interested inour advanced nurse roles. Theyremarked that they do not havenon-medical prescribers in NewZealand and so were very inter-ested in how this was working.”

For Ian Rudd, NHS Highland’sdirector of pharmacy, it was awelcome opportunity to catch upwith the New Zealanders. Ianspent a year living in the coun-try’s west coast when he was apre-registration pharmacist.

“Speaking with Carole Atmoreover dinner I think the key learn-ing for me was that people willmove to remote areas if they feel

they are part of a supportiveteam. Also that by moving to aremote location this will not meanthey are cut-off from future careerprogression.

“Access to good education forchildren was also a significantissue.”

During the four-day tour theyvisited Nairn Town and CountyHospital, Royal Northern Infir-mary, Ach an Eas Care Homeand Mackenzie Centre (all in In-verness), Belford Hospital andTweeddale Medical Practice inFort William, Mallaig MedicalPractice and Lorn and IslandsDistrict General Hospital in Oban.They even managed to fit in a tripto Stornoway to speak with col-leagues in NHS Western isles.

Watch out for May issue ofHighlights to get feedback fromthe Norwegian trip.

Continued from previous page

Reflections on New Zealand: NHS Highland has gained a fascinating insight into the health systemin the country’s west coast

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SHARING AND LEARNING ACROSS THE GLOBEInternational Conference

on Integrated Care

THERE was, perhaps, nomore apt place for holding the14th International Conferenceon Integrated Care than in theheart the European Union.

At the start of April, 400 dele-gates from across the world con-gregated in Brussels to be in-spired about the benefits of work-ing together across boundaries,and to learn how to do it better.

Indeed, it was the spirit of co-operation and collaboration whichframed the plenaries, workshopsand discussions across the con-ference’s three days.

Four key themes — aroundpolicy-making, integrated care inpractice, making the transitiontowards integrated care, and fos-tering innovation — provided afocus for the debating of ideasand the sharing of experience.So, it seems reasonable to ask,what did those at the forefront ofintegrating heath and social careoffer by way of answers?

First, there’s not a single an-swer. Again, quite aptly for thepolitical centre of 28 diversemember states, attendees inBrussels took away an apprecia-tion of the endless variety of solu-tions and initiatives which cancontribute to the health and well-being of different populations.

Developing services whichmeet the needs of individuals andcommunities means working withunique groups in unique contexts.

Attendees heard about pri-mary care co-ordinators in Singa-pore, and Samoan-speakingcommunity nurses in New Zea-land; of home-based end-of-lifecare in the Basque country, andvirtual ward rounds in SouthDevon.

Second, and in spite of thedizzying array of potential direc-tions, there’s little doubt acrossthe globe that integration is theway to go.

A number of speakers debatedthe ways in which the successesand failures of integrated carecan be measured, questioningwhether current methods takeinto account the priorities ofunique individuals. But none ar-gued against the importance ofbreaking down barriers whichprevent citizens leading healthyand independent lives.

Third, in a memorable phraseprovided by former NHS Scotlandchief executive Derek Feely:“steal with pride”.

While the variety of practice isbewildering, delegates were en-couraged to copy initiatives fromother countries, adapting andadopting them to fit their own lo-

cal needs. Some are less rele-vant for the Highlands – working,for instance, with insurers to pro-mote exercise. But some are ripefor stealing. A time-bank for vol-unteering from the Netherlands,perhaps? Or an online patientportal from Denmark?

Fourth, people across theglobe are already stealing fromthe Highlands. There’s a hugeamount of interest from profes-sionals and leaders who havebeen inspired by what has beenachieved to date in North High-land, and eager to learn from thesuccesses and mistakes. In a hallof policymakers, researchers andpractitioners from right across theglobe, eyes turned often to thepioneering work happening inScotland.

They’ll do so again when theconference next meets – in Edin-burgh 2015.

NHS HIGHLAND continues to travel far and wide to keep pacewith health and social care developments.

During April colleagues attended International Conferenceon Integrated care in Brussels, the Annual International Forumon Quality and Safety of Healthcare in Paris and American Col-lege of Cardiology conference in Washington DC.

Here, Evan Beswick, service manager in Raigmore Hospitaloffers some insight on integration. Evan presented a posterbased on his Masters dissertation at the 14th International Con-ference on Integrated Care.

Stealingwithpride...

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SHARING AND LEARNING ACROSS THE GLOBEAmerican College of

Cardiology Conference

FOR Coronary Care Unit clini-cal ward manager CharlieBloe, a trip to Washington DCfor the American College ofCardiology Conference provedto be almost a home awayfrom home.

Charlie explained that he wasparticularly interested in the ses-sions relating to atrial fibrillation(AF) and its treatment, but itwould seem that the work beingdone in NHS Highland on AF isalso of particular interest to oth-ers.

He said: “AF is the most com-mon cardiac arrhythmia and isresponsible for 15 per cent of allstrokes and these tend to bemore debilitating and have ahigher mortality rate compared toother strokes.

“In Highland we have a verygood AF service. We see about140 patients a year in our nurse-led clinic and our online coursewhich we developed, which aimsto educate healthcare workers onthe link between atrial fibrillationand stroke, now has over 12000users worldwide.”

Treatment for AF involves aprocedure call electrical cardio-version which requires the patientto be given anticoagulants to thintheir blood to avoid clotting be-fore delivering an electric shockto the chest under anaesthetic.Blood thinning was historicallyachieved using the drug Warfarin.This required monitoring of bloodlevels and around half of patientswere having their procedure can-celled at short notice as bloodthinning was inadequate.

The treatment is now doneusing novel oral anticoagulants

(NOAC’s), in this case a drugcalled Dabigatran, meaning thatthe patient’s blood levels do notneed to be monitored resulting inless cancellations.

Charlie said: “Research donein Highland has shown that byusing Dabigatran on our patientsthe cancellation rate dropped by72 per cent resulting in less dis-ruption to our patients and theirclinical care.

“Our research was publishedin the British Journal of Cardiol-ogy but it was still a surprise tome when I was in Washington tohear about our work in Highlandbeing talked about during a dis-

cussion on cardioversion!“Working in Highland does

bring with it its own unique chal-lenges due to the remote and ru-ral nature of the area but I thinkwe’re able to show that the ser-vice we are running is first classand attracting attention at an in-ternational level.

“It was a long way to go to getsome local news but it was verywelcome!”

The research published canbe seen here - ht tp: / /b j c a r d i o . c o . u k / 2 0 1 4 / 0 2 /d a b i g a t r a n - i m p r o v e s - t h e -efficiency-of-an-elective-direct-current-cardioversion-service/

A long wayto go to

get somelocal news!As explained on the previous page, NHS Highland strives tokeep pace with health and social care developments.

But when Coronary Care Unit clinical ward manager CharlieBlow attended the American College of Cardiology conferencein Washington DC, he found that NHS Highland was the sub-ject of attention!

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MEMBERS of the public areplaying a valid and useful role inmonitoring performance withinNHS Highland – but that hasn’talways been the case.

At least that’s the view ofAlan Simmons, a public memberof the clinical governance com-mittee and a member of the pa-tients’ council at Raigmore Hos-pital.

Mr Simmons told Highlights:“To be honest, I get the feelingthat having public representationon the committee was simplytolerated at first. I have to say,it’s not like that now. If you areinterested, you genuinely canmake a viable contribution, and Ithink that is recognised. I wouldcertainly encourage other mem-bers of the public to get in-volved.”

A spritely 80-year-old, MrSimmons has a wide-rangingcareer in business that took infootwear retailing, rabbit produc-tion and much more besides.

His involvement in the healthservice, other than as a patientin England – “and that was withvarying degrees of success” –started in 2008 when a friendsuggested that he might like tojoin the Raigmore Patients’Council.

“I thought I could play a role,”he said. “I believe it is importantthat patients have a view onwhat’s going on in Raigmore,and that they can play a part in

persuading people in hospitalthat when they see a patientthey are looking at a person andnot a condition.”

As with his early experienceon the clinical governance com-mittee, Mr Simmons said his ini-tial views of the patients’ councilwas that it was “tolerated ratherthan embraced – but that hasgradually improved”.

“I wouldn’t be on it if I didn’tfeel we could make a differ-ence,” he said. “Being from theoutside, we are not there toteach our grandmother to suckeggs, but quite often we can of-fer a different take on thingswhich can be beneficial.”

With 15 members, includingthree recently recruited ones,the patients’ council meetsmonthly under the chairmanshipof Carl Hope, surgical speciali-ties divisional manager, and dis-cusses a wide range of issues

and concerns relating to Raig-more, and has regular guestspeakers.

With representation on a vari-ety of groups, covering anythingfrom patient safety and nutritionto cancer care and OPAC (OlderPeople in Acute Care), the coun-cil tackled just about everythingthat matters to patients at Raig-more – except specific com-plaints.

“That’s not our role,” saidAlan. “But while we don’t dealwith individual complaints, we doconsider them in general terms.”

So what aspect of the healthservice most interests Alan?

“I wouldn’t say there’s oneparticular thing,” he responded,“but I personally don’t think thatwe fight our corner stronglyenough when it comes to ourbudget. Budgets aren’t written intablets of stone but they aretreated as if they are. I thinkthere’s an attitude that we are alimb of the health minister, andthere’s a lack of recognition cen-trally that we have very distinctneeds here.”

Alan stressed that he was onthe clinical governance commit-tee as a member of the publicand not as a representative ofthe patients’ council.

“What I say at the committeeis my view alone,” he said. “I amnot accountable to the public –I’m just there to throw in my 10cents’ worth.”

‘I’m just there to throwin my 10 cents’ worth’

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION: ‘We can make a viable contribution’

QUOTE

Quite oftenwe can offer adifferent take

on thingswhich can be

beneficial

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NHS HIGHLAND business sup-port officer Neil Simpson is pre-paring for a gruelling 67-mile cy-cle around Loch Ness nextmonth.

The 32-year-old, who is basedat Kinmylies, signed up for theEtape Loch Ness in a bid to raisemoney for the Archie Foundationand says pedalling for the chil-dren’s charity has given him extramotivation.

“I needed an extra push tomake sure I continued to trainand get myself ready,” Neil con-fessed.

“I started training in October,which wasn’t the best idea as thewinter weather had taken a turnfor the worst.

“Whenever I had any hesita-tion about heading out in the rain,wind and snow of the Highlandwinter; I reminded myself why Iwas doing it.”

Opportunities to get out on his

bike were not only hindered bythe weather, as Neil and his wifehad welcomed their second soninto the world less than threemonths ago.

Neil said: “Our son was bornnine weeks ago and that hasmade it more difficult to find thetime.

“We have another wee boywho is three, so looking after thekids and working a full-time jobcan be very tiring.”

He added: “I’ve managed toget in over 50 miles of training onmy bike and on the exercise bikein our garage and my wife com-plains that I get a few hours offeach Sunday morning to go cy-cling!

“My entire family have beenreally supportive as have my col-leagues at work. One of them isalso taking part and he has beenencouraging me and giving mesome helpful tips.

“I chose the Archie Foundationbecause, as a father myself, ittugs on the heart strings and it’sgreat that such a service existsfor those who need it.

“They do fantastic work andI’m delighted to help out in anyway I can.”

The funds raised by Neil willgo towards the Archie Founda-tion’s Highland Children’s UnitAppeal, which will enable the re-development and extension ofthe current Ward 11 at RaigmoreHospital.

The new children’s ward willinclude a high dependency unit,play facility, family room and achildren’s day care unit. Work willbegin on the project later thisyear.

If you wish to make a donationto support Neil’s cycling efforts,visit his justgiving page -www.justg iving.com/Nei l-vs-Nessie

ALL IN A GOOD CAUSE: Business support officer set for cycling challenge

Neil gets on his

bike for a charity

AN ‘Introduction to Statistics’course is to be held at the Centrefor Health Science in Invernesson Thursday, 15th May.

To run from 9.30am-12.30pm,the course will be presented byNHS Highland research and de-velopment manager FrancesHynd.

The course is designed to pro-

vide a basic understanding of sta-tistics and preliminary data de-scription and analysis.

It will be made up of a mixtureof talks and practical exercises,and will give attendees an under-standing of types of variables,data summary, data display, in-ferential statistics, probabilities,basic statistical methods and

confidence intervals.An application form can be

found on the R&D page, which isunder the heading ‘Staff’, on theNHS Highland intranet. Other-wise, emaillaura.mcilhatton@nhs.net

People attending the courseare asked to take a calculatorwith them.

Shining a light on the basics of statistics...

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HIGHLAND Alcohol andDrugs Partnership(HADP) are conductingan online survey on

legal highs, also known as novelpsychoactive substances (NPSs),in a bid to provide better supportto those who use the drugs.

HDAP is a group of agenciesthat work together to reduce therisks and harms from alcohol anddrugs across Highland and ismade up of NHS Highland, High-land Council, Police Scotland, theCrown Office, HMP Invernessand the third sector.

HADP co-ordinator DebbieStewart said: “We want to collectinformation that will help preventpeople using these substancesand also improve the support op-tions that are available.

“By conducting this confiden-tial online survey and telling us

about your or your friend’s experi-ence with legal highs or NPS, youcan play your part in helping oth-ers to stay safe.

“We are keen to establishbaseline information on theprevalence and trends of NPSsand find out from users – or thefriends and acquaintances of us-

ers – what support is requiredand what can be done to preventuse.

“To date, little research hasbeen conducted into the shortand long-term effects of thesedrugs, how they work, their im-pact on mental and physicalhealth and the overdose poten-tials.

“We hope that by undertakingpublic consultation such as thissurvey, we can gain a better un-derstanding of the substancesavailable and offer better support,advice and guidance to thosewho use them.”

The free, confidential surveyc a n b e f o u n d a twww.su rveymonk ey.com/s /legalhigh-nps-highland.

For further information on thewo rk o f HDAP, g o t owww.highland-adp.org.uk

Survey to

shed light

on legal

highs

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Recoveryworking group

wins awardTHE annual Mental Health Nursing Conference,which is supported by the Scottish Government,took place in Edinburgh on 24th March.

The conference also encompassed the mentalhealth nursing forum for Scotland awards event andmental health practitioners and teams were encour-aged to submit examples of their practice for con-sideration by the committee.

This year saw the largest number of submissionsto the awards and the Argyll & Bute CommunityHealth Partnership recovery working group waspresented with an award for its contribution to prac-tice excellence within inpatient services.

Gillian Davies, practice education facilitator anda member of the recovery working group, said thegroup’s members were “delighted” to have receivedthe award from the Scottish Mental Health NursingForum.

“We would like to thank all our colleagues fortheir support over the last two years,” she added.“Achieving this award is a real recognition of thecommitment that the group has to supporting recov-ery within mental health care".

John Dreghorn, programme director for mentalhealth in Argyll and Bute, said: “This award high-lights the excellent work that staff, along with our

partners, are doing in modernising mental healthservices in Argyll and Bute with a strong focus onrecovery from mental illness.”

Recovery working group members picturedwith their certificate. At the back are SaraHeath, mental health physiotherapist and TinaJordan, ACUMEN development worker. In theforeground are Teresa Sinclair, senior chargenurse Mental Health Services, and Gillian Da-vies, practice education facilitator, MentalHealth Modernisation.

NHS Highland appoints interimdirectors of operations

NHS HIGHLAND’S chief operat-ing officer, Deborah Jones, hasconfirmed that interim directors ofoperations for the Argyll and ButeCommunity Health Partnershipand Raigmore Hospital havebeen appointed.

Christina West (Argyll andBute) and Linda Kirkland(Raigmore Hospital) have taken

up their positions, which havehave been offered for up to oneyear. Christina was locality man-ager for Mid Argyll, Kintyre andIslay. Linda is NHS Highland’sdirector of quality improvementand will continue to have an over-view of the Highland-wide qualityimprovement agenda.

Backfill arrangements are in

being arranged.Deborah said: “Our directors

of operations are crucial seniorroles and I am really delighted tohave made these appointments.

“These are very challengingtimes and I would ask everyoneto get behind Linda and Christinaas they settle into their newroles.”

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Argyll & Bute CHP Valuing Services Awards

THE Macmillan DaySuite at the Mid ArgyllHospital, Lochgilphead,recently received a do-nation of a cheque for£800. This was pre-sented to the staff by a

Tarbert gentleman whois currently receivingtreatment at the facility.

The cheque was pre-sented on behalf of theMasonic Lodge Tarbert,Tarbert Lochfyne 1306,

which had raised thecash at its annual ladies’night.

The money is to gotowards the general run-ning and ongoing equip-ment costs for the facil-

ity, which has proved tobe invaluable to patientsreceiving treatment.

Previously many peo-ple would have had totravel to Glasgow, Valeof Leven or Oban fortheir treatment but theopening of the day suitein Mid Argyll Hospitalhas lessened the needfor patients to travel toreceive their care.

Colette Morgan, Mac-millan nurse specialistsaid: ‘’The MacmillanDay Suite was onlymade possible with thegenerous help from pub-lic donations and withthe ongoing supportshown from the localcommunity it will allowus to continue to de-velop and expand thisservice.

“We are very gratefulto the Tarbert peopleand the Lodge for thisdonation.”

Pictured courtesy of the Argyllshire Advertiser

Members of staff at the Macmillan Day Suite at Mid Argyll CommunityHospital are pictured receiving a cheque from members of the Lodge Tar-bert, Tarbert Lochfyne 1306

THE Argyll & Bute CHP Valuing ServicesAwards were held on 8th April in Mid ArgyllHospital, Lochgilphead, with VC links toOban, Helensburgh and Rothesay. A total of49 awards were celebrated – 29 with 20years’ service, and 20 with 30 years’ ser-vice. Pictured at the awards ceremony areKathryn Bell, Susan Clarke, Stella Cockburn,Linda Gillen, Margaret MacFarlane, MarionMacDonald and David Ross. In attendancewere Robin Creelman, chair of Argyll andBute CHP; Deborah Jones, chief operatingofficer; George Morrison, interim director ofoperations; David Logue, head of HR; Coun-cillor Douglas Philand and locality managerChristina West.

Macmillan day suite gets £800 boost

- 12 -

JOANNE THORPE and MairiMcGregor have retired from theirroles with the NHS Argyll andBute CHP.

Lead midwife Joanne andnurse co-ordinator Mairi will besadly missed by their colleaguesand the communities to whichthey have dedicated many yearsof professional service.

Joanne came to Argyll in theearly 1990s after working in high-dependency maternity services inGreater Glasgow Health BoardSouth East Division. Her first postas a midwife in Oban saw herbraving the elements to makesure that women in more remoteand rural locations had access tothe same quality of midwiferycare. This even included paddlinga canoe with the father of a newbaby to their island home to carryout a post-natal visit to the newmother and baby!

Leaving Oban to take up hermore senior post in Mid Argyll,Joanne then led the changes in

midwifery care to develop a ser-vice that focused on the needs ofwomen and sought to makeevery pregnancy, labour and newbirth a special experience foreach family.

In recognition of her work andthe credibility which she estab-lished with her colleagues andcommunities, Joanne became thelead midwife for Argyll and Butein 2008.

Mairi worked as a midwife withJoanne in Oban in the 90s, lat-terly working more with thosewomen whose lives were affectedby substance misuse and domes-tic violence. She then took up arole working to improve access tohealth services for homeless peo-ple. In 2009, her role changed toincorporate a co-ordination ofservices role for looked after andaccommodated children, gypsytravellers and homeless people.

Mairi always worked in an in-clusive and supportive way, es-tablishing strong relationships

with professional colleagues inthe NHS and other partner agen-cies, always working to help im-prove lives of those in more vul-nerable positions.

Pat Tyrrell, lead nurse for Ar-gyll and Bute CHP said “Wewould like to give our most heart-felt thanks to both Joanne andMairi for all of their years of ser-vice.

“Each of them has contributedhugely to the improvement inhealth services in Argyll and Buteand they will both be very muchmissed by all of us. We wishthem well in the next phases oftheir lives, knowing that neither ofthem will be resting on their lau-rels for too long.”

Farewell and thanks todedicated employees

Easter cheerHUGE thanks are due to the In-verness branch of recruitmentagency Brook Street UK fortheir Easter delivery to Raig-more Hospital’s Children’sWard this month.An amazing number of Eastereggs were handed over to bringsome Easter cheer to our pa-tients.Pictured are: back row – WendyMitchell (Brook Street); GrantFalconer (Brook Street) and PatDouglas (children’s ward); frontrow – Aleshia, Gregor and CraigMundie.

- 13 -

RAIGMORE Hospital staffmember Ross McEwen will

be joining a brand new line-up of 'T.Rex', featuring original drummer BillLegend, on an international tour.

Ross, who lives in Inverness andworks as a member of the domesticservices management team, cur-rently performs with Scottish rockband Roadway and ex-Bad Com-pany guitarist Dave 'Bucket' Colwell,and has worked with, among others,members of Rain-bow, Foreigner, theMarianne FaithfulBand and TheSmall Faces.

He said: “I wascontacted in Febru-ary of this yearwhile I was outteaching in theUnited States ask-ing if I’d be inter-ested in joining thisproject and I happilyaccepted the offer.

“T. Rex has agreat legacy and ahuge catalogue ofsongs and materialwhich is recognisedaround the world.I'm very happy tostep into what seems to be a wellorganised band with a clear mission… to bring the music of T. Rex to thepeople who love it.”

As well as Bill Legend, Ross willbe joining lead vocalist DannyMcCoy, who in addition to touring hisown 'T. Rex show' around Europe forseveral years was a member ofMicky Finn's T. Rex in the early2000s, backing vocalist Claudi Schelland guitarist Fred Zahl, who has pre-viously played with Survivor vocalistJimi Jamison.

Fronted in the 1970s by the lateMarc Bolan, T. Rex enjoyed 11 suc-cessive UK top 10 hits including'Metal Guru', 'Bang A Gong (Get It

On)', ‘Jeepster’, ‘Children Of TheRevolution’ and '20th Century Boy'.

Ross said: “I was aware of Dannyand of course Bill but we hadn’treally spoken before. They wereaware of my work with both Road-way and ex-Bad Company guitaristDave Colwell, which I must say I wassurprised and thrilled to hear.

“There are some terrific T. Rextribute bands about and even a MarcBolan musical but this isn’t a tributeband, we’re lucky enough to have Billon board, who performed on all of

the hits and I understand he is thelast living member of that most suc-cessful line up of the band, whichadds something special to it all.

“I'm looking forward to visitingnew countries, playing these classicBritish rock songs with Bill, Dannyand the rest of the band and contrib-ute to many great concert experi-ences for people. It’s a great oppor-tunity for me and something I value agreat deal and can’t wait to get stuckin and on stage!”

The band is expected to begintour dates in Europe during the sum-mer. Tour dates will be posted on theband's official website: www.trex-music.com.

20T

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EN

TU

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BO

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OB

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- 14 -

Changes to your pension contribution rates from 1st April 2014As has happened in previous years, year-end employee pension contribution rates have revised. Thisapplies to both employees in the NHS Pension Scheme and Local Government Pension Scheme. Forthe financial year 14/15 the contribution rates have also been increased for NHS scheme members:

In addition, weare required tore-assess em-ployee contribu-tion rates on thebasis of wholetime equivalentearnings in13/14 and usethis to re-assess thebanding andresultant pen-sion schemec o n t r i b u t i o nrate going for-ward.

From Apr i l2015, there willb e m a j o rchanges in theNHS PensionScheme affect-ing all schememembers whohave more than10 years to nor-mal retirementage (60 or 55 forthose in SpecialClasses). Fur-ther details willbe published indue course.

1 Up to £15,431 5%2 15,432 to £21,387 5.6%3 £21,388 to £26,823 7.1%4 £26,824 to £49,472 9.3%5 £49,473 to £70,630 12.5%6 £70,631 to £111,376 13.5%7 Over £111,377 14.5%

Contribu-tion rate

FTE PayMin

FTE PayMax

Contribu-tion rate

FTE PayMin

FTE PayMax

5.5 Up to 20,933 8.4 58,694 60,3465.6 20,934 22,241 8.5 60,347 62,0955.7 22,242 23,724 8.6 62,096 63,9495.8 23,725 25,151 8.7 63,950 65,9175.9 25,152 26,138 8.8 65,918 68,0096.0 26,139 27,205 8.9 68,010 70,2396.1 27,206 28,362 9.0 70,240 72,6206.2 28,363 29,623 9.1 72,621 75,1686.3 29,624 31,001 9.2 75,169 77,9026.4 31,002 32,513 9.3 77,903 80,8416.5 32,514 34,152 9.4 80,842 84,0126.6 34,153 35,350 9.5 84,013 87,4416.7 35,351 36,635 9.6 87,442 91,1626.8 36,636 38,018 9.7 91,163 95,2136.9 38,019 39,509 9.8 95,214 99,6427.0 39,510 41,121 9.9 99,643 104,5027.1 41,122 42,871 10.0 104,503 109,8627.2 42,872 44,777 10.1 109,863 115,8007.3 44,778 46,071 10.2 115,801 122,4177.4 46,072 47,083 10.3 122,418 129,8367.5 47,084 48,141 10.4 129,837 138,2137.6 48,142 49,248 10.5 138,214 147,7457.7 49,249 50,407 10.6 147,746 158,6897.8 50,408 51,621 10.7 158,690 171,384

7.9 51,622 52,896 10.8 171,385 186,2878.0 52,897 54,235 10.9 186,288 204,0298.1 54,236 55,644 11.0 204,030 225,5068.2 55,645 57,128 11.1 225,507 252,0368.3 57,129 58,693 11.2 252,037

Local Government Pension Scheme

NHS Pension Scheme

Tier Pensionable pay (whole time Contribution rate in 2014-15equivalent) paid in 2013-14

- 15 -

THE organisation that monitorsstandards in the care serviceshas issued a glowing report onthe Telford Centre in Fort Augus-tus.

The NHS Highland centre,which offers residential and daycare provision for older people,achieved near-perfect scores in arecent review by the Care Inspec-torate.

It was awarded maximumgrades – five, meaning ‘verygood’ – for the quality of both thestaffing and the home environ-ment – and grade fours, meaning‘good’, for management and lead-ership, and care and support.

Joanna Hynd, NHS Highland’sdistrict manager in Lochaber,said: “These are fantastic resultsfor a great centre. When it waslast inspected, in January 2013,the centre achieved straightfours.

“To have bettered that thistime is a real credit to the man-

agement and staff, and reflectsour commitment to drive up qual-ity and deliver high-quality care.”

And that point is reflected inthe inspection report, whichstates that the centre’s managerand staff “are committed to pro-viding high standards of care andsupport to the residents and theirfamilies”.

The report adds: “Staff pro-mote a person-centred approachto care with residents givenchoices in all aspects of dailylife.”

And in its conclusion the reportstates, “We found the staff werevery friendly and provided awarm, welcoming atmospherewithin the home and were re-spectful to the residents.”

A separate inspection reportwas issued by the Care Inspec-torate on the day care supportservice at the Telford Centre. Itreceived grade four (‘good) rat-ings for all categories but thequality of the environment, whichwas given a three grading.

Joanna Hynd said: “No matterwhat grades the Care Inspector-ate awards, we are always striv-ing to improve everything we do,and I am sure the support servicewill use this report as motivationfor delivering an even better ser-vice in the future.”

‘Fantastic’ inspectionreport for care home

Directors sought for new sexual violence service

CARE INSPECTORATE: Telford Centre betters previous good report

RAPE Crisis Scotland is workingwith local partners in the High-lands to establish a new Rapeand Sexual Violence Service.

People with the skills, knowl-edge and experience to supportthe establishment of the new or-ganisation’s board of directorsare now being sought.

Anyone who would like more

information about becoming adirector is invited to attend openevening on 30th April 2014, from5-7pm in the Glen Mhor Hotel,Inverness.

The event will feature a pres-entation on the project so far, onthe wider context of the work, onRape Crisis Scotland and the net-work of local centres.

To register for the event emailGillian.Gunn@nhs.net with yourname and email address.

To find out more before theevent contact Sandie at 0141 3314 1 8 7 , e m a i lSandie.Barton@rapecrisisscotland.org.uk or Gillian at 014637 0 4 7 2 4 , e m a i lgillian.gunn@nhs.net

QUOTE

‘We found thestaff were very

friendly andprovided a warm,

welcomingatmosphere

within the home’

- 16 -

SELF-DIRECTED SUPPORT

THE Social Care and Self-Directed Support (Scotland)

Act may only have been livethroughout Scotland for a fewweeks, but people in Highlandhave been using one part of theAct – direct payments – to theirbenefit for quite some time.

One of them is Connie Feelyand her husband John from In-verness. John was assaultedseveral years ago in Glasgowand has been left with a braininjury. His wife, a registerednurse, has had to quit her job tobecome his full-time carer.

“Before SDS, John and I re-ceived no help or support, I wasjust struggling away,” said Con-nie. “Our social worker let usknow about SDS towards theend of last year and it seemed tooffer us a way out of the routinewe were in.

“John loves to go walking inthe great outdoors and throughour direct payments, we havebeen able to get someone tocome along and take John out –he’s trying to climb a Munroshortly. John comes back fromhis walks as a completely differ-ent person: he’s calm where hecan be quite verbally aggressiveand his whole mood seems toimprove.

“We couldn’t have done thiswithout our SDS direct pay-ments. SDS has enabled us tomake enormous changes andit’s not just for bringing a careror someone else into the houseto look after John; it has alsogiven me a break and a piece ofmind whenever he’s out withsomeone. It’s been the bestthing that has ever happened tous.”

Self-Directed Support worksby assigning each individual witha personal budget to spend on

the support they need in order tolive the live they want. By doingso, it puts the person in controlof their social care and support.

There are four options avail-able as part of an outcome fo-cused plan which is providedfollowing a local community careteam assessment including adirect payment, individual ser-vice fund or a continuation of thetraditional service, provided bythe Highland Health and SocialCare Partnership.

Connie continued: “WhatSDS has enabled me to do isrelieve some of the tension inmy body; I can almost feel itleaving me every time I take abreath. The set-up that we havewouldn’t suit everyone, but thatis the beauty of SDS.

“Everyone is different andhas their own needs, desiresand dreams and SDS can helpmany people in Highland takecontrol of their lives to helpmake them come true.”

Why SDS is

OK for us...

LOOKING UP: John Feely enjoying the great outdoors

- 17 -

SELF-DIRECTED SUPPORT

‘Even small

changes can have

big impacts for

unpaid carers’“WE have to be realistic. There is still a lot of workto be done around putting the person at the cen-tre. How do we make sure that it’s about workingwith the individual and following them rather thanmaking them fit in with what we do?”

This is a question that is at the very core ofwhat Margaret Laird (pictured) does on a daily ba-sis in her role as project manager for the care im-provement team.

Her work, which has seen her secure a sec-onded post with the Scottish Government’s jointimprovement team, focuses on the developmentof the personal outcome plan.

Margaret explained: “This is a piece of workmaking sure that we, as an organisation, aremuch more focused on the individual and what’simportant for them and how we actually supportpeople to achieve better outcomes, such as im-proving their overall quality of life.

“The biggest challenge my colleagues and Ihave faced is how to implement an approach thatfits in with the day-to-day running of a busy wardor team without making it feel like an add on. Wehave to support the staff to do the work and en-sure that the work flows.

“When something is in front of you and you seeit as a vision, as an aspiration; this is helping ustake that leap forward and make it really happen.But it won’t happen overnight and this is where wehave to be realistic around the time frames.”

It is clear to see that one fundamental aim ofthe personal outcome plan and its approach is to

demonstrate how even small changes can havebig impacts for all adults and unpaid carers. Thisis all influenced by having a conversation about anindividual’s hopes, engagement with change,identifying with their own personal and communityassets and by making informed choices.

This work, understandably, has been given thebacking and support of many NHS Highland pro-fessionals, who see it playing a crucial role in en-suring the integration of health and adult socialcare services continues to be as effective and effi-cient as it has been to date.

“Staff teams in NHS Highland will benefit fromhaving a coherent approach across planning withboth service users and carers,” said TheresaJames, NHS Highland lead officer for carers.

“Carers have sought recognition as equal part-ners in care for some time and welcome the moveaway from agencies conducting carers‘assessment of need’ to collaboration in planningsupport using an outcomes approach; so this is avery welcome development.”

Self-Directed Support Highland team manager,Jennifer Campbell, said: “Taking forward the out-comes agenda will be of immense benefit to NHSHighland, particularly in relation to the philosophyof self-directed support (SDS).

“SDS encourages an outcome-focused ap-proach to assessment, ensuring people have in-formed choice about the way social care and sup-port is provided to them by taking control of themoney spent on that support.”

- 18 -

SELF-DIRECTED SUPPORT

THE Social Care and Self-Directed Support (Scotland)Act launched on 1st April radi-cally alters the shape of socialcare.

The Act places duties onlocal authorities to offer peo-ple who are assessed asneeding social care informedchoices around how their carepackage is delivered.

Along with an outcome-focused support plan, sup-ported individuals have fourchoices of how their socialcare can be arranged. Thesecond of these, an IndividualService Fund (ISF), has un-dergone an extensive trial.

Self-Directed SupportHighland team manager Jen-nifer Campbell said: “We haverecently reached the end ofthe second stage of ISFevaluation in Highland. Therewere five service providerssupporting a number of indi-viduals who have been trial-ling option two.

“Although we have nowcompleted the trial period, weare still at the early stages ofoffering ISFs and our hope isthat we can work with provid-ers around how they can be-gin to offer this exciting ap-proach to delivering Self-Directed Support.”

An event for service pro-viders and health profession-als was held in Inverness ear-lier this month when the suc-cess of the trial was evalu-ated.

An ISF is when a sup-ported individual opts to havea service provider managetheir individual budget – asum of money given to a ser-vice user to spend to helpthem achieve their agreedoutcomes.

By doing so, it gives sup-ported individuals who accessservices choice and controlover how their social care isdelivered and who by.

This will give people flexi-bility around how and whensupport is delivered.

Jennifer continued: “Theprovider and supported indi-vidual plan together to workout how the individual budgetwill be spent.

“This means that whencompared to receiving a directpayment, there are less ad-ministrative duties for the ser-vice user or their representa-tive to manage.

“Again, this gives them themaximum amount of controlof their care without the stressof having to manage the fi-nancial aspect.”

ISF trialevaluated

HIGHLAND Health Sports and SocialClub’s is looking into the possibility ofstarting a traditional folk club to beheld fortnightly in the Recreation Hallat Raigmore Hospital, Inverness,starting around 20th/27th May, withScottish country dancing being anintegral part of the proposal.

People who may be interested inhelping with the running of the club,anyone who would be willing to teachScottish country dancing and musi-cians who would like to be involvedshould contact either John Evans –john.evans3@nhs.net; Stephen Davi-son – stephen.davison@nhs.net; orA l i s t e r D i b d e n –alister.dibden@nhs.net

The winners of HighlandHealth Sports and Social Club’smonthly draw for April were as fol-lows: 1 (£50), Shirley MacLean; 2(£25), John Huband, EmploymentServices; 3 (£25) Karen Scott,Women & Child.

The club has a Zumba (exerciseto Latin music) class at 6pm onWednesdays in the Recreation Hallat Raigmore Hospital. It’s free to clubmembers, £4 to non-members. Goalong and dance yourself fit!

Traditionalfolk clubproposed

- 19 -

MORE than 250 members of staff havebeen honoured this year at the annual

Valuing Awards Ceremonies which have beenheld across Highland.

The awards, which were launched in March2009, recognise employees who have reachedeither their 20, 30 or 40-year service milestone.

Over 145 staff working in Highland joinedthe NHS 20 years ago in 1994, the year thatgave us Justin Bieber!

Ninety members of staff celebrated 30 yearsof service, having joined the same year, 1984,that Torvill and Dean won gold at the Olym-pics.

And 40 years ago 17 people currently work-ing in Highland joined the NHS, the same yearyou could watch the Towering Inferno andpeople were working a three-day week in a bidto conserve electricity.

Philip Walker, head of personnel, said: “TheValuing Service Awards are a popular eventwith receipients with many over the yearscommenting that it really does make them feelvalued by the organisation.

“We value our staff very highly and see theValuing Service Awards as a way of recognis-ing the long and dedicated service given bymany of our employees.”

250-plus staffmembersare honoured

- 20 -

THE nat ional ly- ledTransforming Outpa-t ients Programme,which seeks to improvethe quality and effi-ciency of services forpatients, is well underway within NHS High-land with an open dayevent giving patients,staff and members ofthe public the chance tohave their say.

Lucy Briggs, Trans-forming Outpatients’

project manager forNHS Highland, ex-plained that the opendays held earlier thismonth gave an opportu-nity for people to havetheir say on what theywanted their out-patients department ofthe future to look like.

She said: “For mostpatients it’s possible thatout-patients is the onlyhospital department thatthey will visit. Therefore

it’s vital that while wehave the opportunity tom a k e i n n o v a t i v echanges in our servicethat we have buy in fromour most importantstakeholders – our pa-tients and their families.”

The open days wereheld in the OutpatientsDepartment at Raig-more Hospital.

Staff, patients andthe public were invitedto see examples of what

out-patients used to belike, what it is like nowand suggest how theywould like the service tobe delivered in the fu-ture.

Topics consideredover the two days in-cluded how we book out-patient appointments,how we should treatyou, who you shouldsee, where you shouldbe seen and how weshould see you.

FOURTEEN NHS Highland de-partments have signed up to aninitiative to give unemployed peo-ple work experience.

And a 54-year-old who hadbeen out of work for five yearssays his story underlines thevalue of the scheme.

Nigel (Ted) Edwards, fromTain, suffered an industrial injurywhile working as a self-employedodd-job man in 2009. It renderedhim unable to work, but last yearhis Jobcentre Plus adviser se-cured him a voluntary work place-ment with NHS Highland at Lara-chan House in Dingwall.

The scheme allowed him tocontinue to claim Jobsekers Al-lowance and he had his rail fareto and from Dingwall paid for.

So impressed were managersin Larachan House with Ted’swork as an admin assistant thathe was interviewed for a three-

month vacancy that had croppedup.

He got the job, and was sub-sequently told he would be kepton for a further six months.

“That will finish in July, and Iam determined to do all I can togive myself a chance of beingkept on even longer.

“I would never have been inthis position were it not for thevoluntary work placement.”

Ted has a creative back-ground. He’s a classically trainedpianist and composer, photogra-pher and designer, and reckonshe can turn his hand to prettymuch anything.

And he’s been doing just thatin Larachan House, doing gen-eral admin, diary managementand graphic design work. He de-signed and produced a map ofNHS Highland sites, and evenorganised the ‘Being Here – Sup-

porting Strong Communities’seminar held in the Centre forHealth Science, Inverness, earlierthis year. That involved organis-ing the venue, invitations to andtravel and accommodation fordelegates, catering, designing thedelegates’ badges, and perform-ing a ‘meet-and-greet’ role on theday.

“Working for NHS Highlandhas been a great experience forme,” said Ted, “and it’s all thanksto that two-month voluntaryplacement I secured.”

Josie Thomson, the Dingwall-based NHS Highland hotel ser-vices manager who helped to ar-range Ted’s placement, said: “Wehave had a couple of people fromJobcentre Plus on these place-ments, and Ted’s a great exam-ple of how they can help people.

“He’s been a real asset to usin his time here.”

Voluntary role leads toNHS Highland job for Ted

Out-patients department hosts open days

- 21 -

Autism group celebratesfacility’s first birthday

ON 2nd April Autism Initiatives celebrated bothWorld Autism Day and the first anniversary of itsHighland One Stop Shop in Inverness.

Autism Initiatives provides support to those withan Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC) and for thelast year has done so through the Highland OneStop Shop. To mark the anniversary, it held a spe-cial event attended by health professionals, serviceusers and carers in their Albion House base.

Gill MacLennan, Highland One Stop Shop teamleader, said: "We are delighted to mark our firstbirthday this year after a fantastic first 12 months.We have made enormous progress in that time,having transformed the look of our base into a wel-coming, autistic friendly environment where peoplecan come for advice, support and to chill out."We

have also played an integral role with the HighlandAutism Improvement Group (HAIG) to help improvethe quality of services to further support those inHighland living with autism.”

The event included an opening address from Au-tism Initiatives assistant director Cathy Steedman, atalk from NHS Highland area manager Jean PierreSieczkarek about the importance of the one-stopshop, and testimonies from the service users them-selves about the positive impact that AI and its one-stop shop has had on their lives.

"Events like World Autism Day and the one-stopshop’s first birthday can only help this and enablepeople in Highland who may be living with the con-dition to have a sense of community and identity,”said NHS Highland professional lead Faith Wilson.

HEALTH minister AlexNeil last month visited Ar-gyll & Bute Hospital andthe Blarbuie Woodlandsin Lochgilphead.

During his visit Mr Neiltoured the occupationaltherapy department,where he talked to pa-tients taking part in a craftsession.

He also visited thephysiotherapy gym,where he was shown theequipment available tostaff and patients, and theadmissions ward, wherehe met and spoke to pa-tients.

Mr Neil then visited theplanned site of the newmental health hospitaland took a walk throughthe lower part of the Blar-buie Woodlands.

Pictured, from left, are Elaine Watson and David Wright of Acumen, Pat-rick Harvey of Blarbuie Woodlands, Alex Neil and John Dreghorn, pro-ject director for the mental health redesign

Health minister goes walkabout on hospital visit

- 22 -

NIMBLE FINGERS: Project to display wares

A PROJECT in which people withlearning disabilities produce andsell craft items made from recy-cled materials has been given achance to showcase its work tocouncillors from throughout High-land.

‘Nimble Fingers’, based in theMontrose Centre in Inverlochy,has been invited by Steve Bar-ron, the chief executive of theHighland Council, to mount a stalloutside the council chambers inInverness on 8th May, when thecouncil holds its next full meeting.

“We were really honoured tobe asked,” said centre managerLyn Johnson. “It’s a tremendouspat on the back for members ofthe Nimble Fingers team, and willbe a great opportunity for them todisplay their work.”

The invitation came last week,when Mr Barron dropped in onthe Montrose Centre to see forhimself what the team has beenup to since it was formed lastyear. Representatives of various

organisations that work with Nim-ble Fingers, including VoluntaryAction Lochaber, the Shirley Pro-ject and Lochaber High School,turned out for Mr Barron’s visit.

The Nimble Fingers projectwas developed to encouragecreativity and to engage serviceusers in a meaningful activity.

Another key aim is to providea bridge linking the service userswith the wider community, andthe Nimble Fingers team havetaken their produce – which in-clude iPad covers, cushions andcarrier bag holders – to craft fairs,lunch clubs and care homes.

As well as their craft work, theNimble Fingers team has recentlydeveloped an outdoor gardeningproject.

“We try to ensure that our ser-vice users have as wide a rangeof activities as possible,” said LynJohnson, “and we’re all lookingforward to giving Highland coun-cillors and council officials an in-sight into their work next month.”

MEMBERS of NHS Highland’ssmoke-free service and oralhealth improvement team visitedLochgilphead High School tohand out information to young-sters about the dangers of smok-ing as part of No Smoking Day.

Tar-filled jars boxes containingthe chemicals found in cigarettesand a carbon monoxide meter forthe pupils to blow into were ondisplay.

George Durnan, smoking ces-sation advisor, said: “We havecome today to raise awarenessfor future generations about thedangers of smoking.

“The message is really don’tstart to do it.

“At the moment about 23 percent of the Scottish populationsmokes. The Scottish Govern-ment wants that down to five percent by 2034.’’

Pupils told of smoking dangers

Council showcasefor Lochaber team

Treatment roomservice launchedCAMPBELTOWN Hospital hasstarted a treatment room ser-vice based in the A&E depart-ment.

The appointment-based ser-vice allows patients to attendfor chronic wound care, sutureremoval, UV treatments andother routine procedures whichpreviously they would havehad to queue for with patientsrequiring emergency treat-ments

The new service will preventpatients having to endurelengthy waits for relatively sim-ple and routine procedures.

Not neededTHE old Golspie Health Centrehas been redundant and theNHS Highland board hasagreed to its disposal.

The premises had beenused as an office base for thecommunity mental health team,learning disability nurses, so-cial workers and HighlandCouncil mental health officers.

However, these staff haverecently been relocated to theLawson Memorial Hospital inGolspie as part of the creationof integrated teams.

Small claims formsTHE forms and procedures fordealing with small claims inNHS Highland have been up-dated and are now available inthe Forms Library on the intra-net in the Small Claims sec-tion.

Members of staff are beingurged to dispose of any exist-ing paper copies of theseforms they may have and startto use the new ones.

- 23 -

FOLLOWING the presentation ofthe NHS Highland Advocacy Plan2014-17 to the board's Februarymeeting, it was requested thatfigures on the numbers of peopleaccessing advocacy services beprovided.

A report to the board’s Aprilmeeting showed that AdvocacyHighland, which covers North

Highland, dealt with 204 casesfrom April to September 2013,while in the same period Lomond& Argyll Services took on 181new cases in Argyll and Bute.The Carers' Advocacy Servicesupported 82 cases for the sameperiod.

Board members were told thatwork is ongoing to increase the

capacity of the Highland Carers'Advocacy Service.

The report also used figuresfrom Advocacy Highland for theyear from April 2012 to give anindication of the kind of issuesdealt with. These ranged frommental health care and treatmentand benefits issues to guardian-ship, housing and legal matters.

Paving the way towardsintegrating services...

NHS HIGHLAND and Argyll andBute Council will set up a Healthand Social Care Partnership todeliver integrated health and so-cial care services in Argyll andBute.

At its April meeting, the High-land board endorsed a joint re-port from Argyll and Bute Counciland NHS Highland setting outkey recommendations for plan-ning and delivering integratedservices as required by the PublicBodies (Joint Working) (Scotland)Bill which comes into force on 1stApril 2015. The council agreed itat its meeting on 20th March.

The Health and Social CarePartnership (HSCP) will have abudget pooled from both the NHSand council and will be account-able to both organisations. Theservices it will be responsible fordelivering will be identified by ashadow integration board and

agreed by the NHS board andArgyll and Bute Council.

This ‘body corporate’ model ofthe HSCP means that staff whowork for NHS Highland will re-main NHS employees and coun-cil staff will remain council em-ployees.

The shadow integration boardwill include representatives ofboth organisations and will pre-pare an integration plan for ap-proval by the Scottish Govern-ment. A chief officer for healthand social care will also be jointlyrecruited.

Both organisations have alsoagreed that a comprehensivecommunication and engagementstrategy will be put in place toensure there is robust engage-ment with local communities andthe wide range of stakeholdersinvolved in health and social carethroughout 2014/15.

Commenting on the endorse-ment of the plans by the board,NHS Highland chief executiveElaine Mead said: “I am confidentthat we will make integration workwell in Argyll and Bute. We al-ready have a strong track recordof collaboration with the Counciland this move will furtherstrengthen our joint working andprovide dedicated local care tothe people of Argyll and Bute.

Sally Loudon, chief executiveof Argyll and Bute Council,added: “Our focus is on deliveringservices that will meet the chang-ing needs of our communitiesnow and into the future andbuilds on the significant strengthsof our existing partnership work-ing.

“This is an important step for-ward in delivering the highestpossible quality of services forpeople in Argyll and Bute.”

Board given breakdown of use ofadvocacy services in Highland

ARGYLL & BUTE: Joint report approved by NHS Highland and council

- 24 -

A 44-YEAR nursing ca-reer has ended with theretiral of Fiona McPhee,who had latterly beenworking part-time aspractice nurse inSouthend Medical Prac-tice, Kintyre.

Fiona’s nursing jour-ney began in Edin-burgh’s Royal Hospitalfor Sick Children. Shethen spent several yearsin Jersey General Hos-pital in the Channel Is-

lands before returning toher home town onCampbeltown in 1975 totake up a post as staffnurse in what was theoriginal cottage hospital.She moved to SouthendMedical Practice in2004.

“My life in the NHShas never been dull, al-ways changing andchallenging but so re-warding,” said Fiona. “Ifeel very privileged that

so many people havetaken me into their trustand confidence and al-lowed me to share intheir care and recovery,and am so grateful forthe role everyone hasplayed and shared in myworking life over theyears. They have beenhappy years with fondmemories.”

Fiona said she wasnow looking forward tohelping with her grand-

children, continue volun-teering with MacMillanCancer Information andSupport Service, “andgenerally catch up withso much – the list isendless!”

Nurse retires after 44 years’ service

IF you are running ameeting or a group ses-sion, facilitation is anessential part of yourskill set.

A competent facilita-tor is able to set up, runand conclude a meetingso that the group hasclear direction while feel-ing supported and in-volved; is able to dealwith and respond towhatever happens onthe day; and delivers ameaningful outcome.

A course, ‘Introduct-ion to Facilitation’, willbe held in the John De-war Building, Inverness,on 29th April.

To book, contactMargaret Wilson on01463 706880, marga-ret.wilson1@nhs.net

For further informa-tion, contact MichelleJeans on 014637 0 6 8 5 7 , m i -chelle.jeans@nhs.net

Course on

facilitation

THE NHS Highland Endowment FundCommittee has allocated funding forstaff to use in support of personal orcareer development learning activitiesthat are not a core requirement oftheir role but will be of benefit to pa-tients, staff or the delivery or improve-ment of services.

And applications for bursaries arenow being welcomed — though, witha closing date of applications of 2ndMay, there’s no time to lose.

Applicants should consider allother sources of funding prior to ap-plying to the Non-Core EndowmentFund. Alternative sources of fundinginclude managers’ training budgets,local endowment funds, sponsorshipand Individual Learning Accounts.

Applications are limited to one persupplicant in any round of funding.

Applicants have previously beensupported for activities in the followingareas:Certificates/diplomasConferencesDegreesOccupational qualificationsPost-graduate studiesStandard or Higher GradesOther learning opportunities.

Applications require a current Per-sonal Development Plan containingthe learning activity for which you arerequesting funding. Information on thestudy leave policy can be found onthe intranet.

For more information, contact PaulSimmons, learning and developmentfacilitator, at paulsimmons@nhs.net(tel. 01463 706885) or Margaret Wil-son at margaret.wilson1@nhs.net (tel.01463 706880.

SUPPORT: Non-Core Endowment Fund applications invited

Bursary bidsare welcomed

- 25 -

INTERNSHIP: German medical student impressed

A YOUNG German medical student who has beenat Wick Town and County Hospital on a month-longclerkship has praised the level of care in Caithness.

Nicolas Kunat, a 25-year-old fifth-year scholar atthe Technical University in Munich, had contactedrural general hospital manager Pauline Craw aboutthe possibility of undertaking a four-week internshipas part of his course.

“I was really interested in getting to know howthe NHS manages in such a remote and rural set-ting,” said Nicolas. “Part of my course requires meto undertake four 30-day medical clerkships and Iwill do half of my time in Town and County Hospitaland the other half with the outreach team.

“This is ideal for me as I am interested in pallia-tive care and dementia and learning more abouthow these services are delivered in such a remotelocation.”

He added: “I have been extremely impressed bythe level of care and medicine in Caithness. Thehands-on clinical approach of the many wonderfulconsultant doctors that work here is fascinating tosee. I hope to learn a lot from this experience.

“I was made to feel very welcome by everyone atthe hospital, especially the other junior doctors andstudents, who ensured that I was part of the teamand that has helped me settle in quickly.”

Although Wick maybe a long way from Nicolas’home in Bavaria, it’s a relatively short journey whencompared to his previous medicine-related intern-ships in Burundi, India and Tanzania.

These exotic locations add further weight to analready considerably impressive CV, which boastssuch achievements as being awarded the best bac-calaureate thesis in the Federal State of Bavariaand having his research published last year.

Pauline Craw said: “We were delighted to offerNicolas a medical clerkship here in Caithness andhe is a very impressive young man.

“His grasp of the English language is exceptionaland his thirst for knowledge and desire to learn andimprove is infectious. We hope that he gains a lot inhis time here in Caithness.”

And how does life compare for Nicolas, whocomes from the largest state in Germany with apopulation of 12.5 million, to Caithness, with apopulation of 40,000?

“I love the outdoors so that makes Caithness awonderful place to live,” he said.

“I love having the seaside and the beautiful High-lands of Scotland so close by and after work, I loveto go a run and breathe in the fresh air. However, itis very different to Munich when it comes to a stu-dent night out!”

Level of care

in Caithness is

‘wunderbar’

IN view of the many major events taking place inScotland this year, such as the CommonwealthGames and Ryder Cup, as well as other sportingand cultural events, NHS Highland managers andemployees are being advised that it may be difficult

to obtain overnight accommodation, especiallywithin budget. Employees are also being remindedthat sufficient advance notice, with a minimum of aweek, should be given for accommodation book-ings.

Busy year may make accommodation bookings difficult

- 26 -

THE manager of NHS Highland’sBayview care home in Thursohas been selected to be a fieldathletics official at this year’sCommonwealth Games.

Claire McIntosh (pictured), acoach at Caithness Amateur Ath-letics Club, became an athleticsofficial five years ago and hasofficiated at the Celtic Games.

She described her selectionfor the Commonwealth Games,which starts on 23rd July, as a“huge honour”, and added: “Icould be involved in any fieldevent, but my favourite is thehammer so it would be great if Igot to do that.”

Claire (49) has had a lifelonginterest in athletics, favouring

throwing events such as discusand shot. Her role at coach withCaithness AAC is a time-consuming one, involving regularclub sessions and much travel toevents throughout the country.

“I find it very rewarding,” saidClaire, who serves on the clubcommittee. “It’s great to be in-volved in encouraging youngpeople get involved in somethingas fulfilling as athletics can be.”

Claire’s three children have allbeen keen athletes, with daugh-ter Lucy following in her mum’sfootsteps as a keen hammerthrower with Caithness AAC.

Outside sport, Claire, is man-ager of NHS Highland’s Bayviewcare home in Thurso.

Claire is by no means the onlyNHS Highland employee with arole to play at the Games.

Last month, Highlights re-ported that Inverness-based clini-cal research nurse Fiona Lesliewill join the team of volunteers atthe Games. Fiona had used theStaff News Drop Box on the intra-net to try to find out if anyoneelse from NHS Highland hasbeen chosen as volunteers.

After reading the Highlightsarticle, Sheena Edwards BEM,has been in touch to explain thatshe will be using her three weeks’summer holiday to serve as aGames volunteer, and will be partof the medical team based at theprimary care centre in the con-testants’ village.

Sheena is an advanced nursepractitioner working part-time fortwo separate practices,at Kilcreggan Medical Centreand Helensburgh Medical Centre.She is also the NES GPN educa-tion advisor for Highland West.

And Morag Redshaw, commu-nity psychiatric nurse at Dun-donell Community Clinic in Ross-shire, will be a team leader forspectator services at the velo-drome and Emirates Arena dur-ing the Games. Her next trainingfor the role will be at Hampden on7th May.

GLASGOW 2014: NHS Highland employees secure roles at sports event

Games ‘honour’ forcare home manager

Linda chosen to carry Queen’s BatonAN NHS Highland employee from Oban has been chosen to takepart in the Queen’s Baton Relay.

Linda Anderson-Kerr (55) was nominated to take part in the event— a unique tradition of the Commonwealth Games — for her volun-teering work with Distance Highland Befrienders, which supportspeople who live in remote and rural areas and who experience men-tal health issues or have dementia.

Linda, library services manager at Lorn and Islands Hospital,Oban, said: “When I found out I was to be a baton-bearer I was over-come, to be honest; it’s a great honour.

“The Queen’s Baton symbolises the coming together of Common-wealth nations. My volunteering work is about community inclusive-ness and trying to stop isolation and so, on some level, it’s parallel towhat the Queen’s Baton is about.”

Are you taking part in the Commonwealth Games or do you know someone who is?Let Highlights know by contacting tom.davison@nhs.net (tel. 01463 704903).

- 27 -

Dispenser and shop manager Leigh-anne Jenkinson, pharmacy managerMavra Gouseti and checking technician Margaret Thomson pictured withCouncillor Jim Crawford, who popped in for a visit on the new Milton ofLeys community pharmacy’s opening day. Councillor Crawford was amongthe Highland councillors who backed the application.

NHS HIGHLAND has welcomed theopening this month of a new commu-nity pharmacy at Milton of Leys in In-verness.

The application to open a new phar-macy in the community was unani-mously granted to Sanjay Majhu of theApple Pharmacy Group when the Phar-macy Practices Committee met in Oc-tober last year.

The new pharmacy opened on 7thApril.

Helen Macdonald, NHS Highlandcommunity pharmacy business man-ager, said: “Providing a community

pharmacy in Milton of Leys will enableresidents to access an increased rangeof healthcare services on their door-step.

“The skills and experience of thepharmacist will complement the exist-ing primary care team of healthcareprofessionals.

“Pharmacists have a key role in pro-viding health education and promotion,supporting the population with self careand self management of long-term con-ditions by using their expertise on thebest use of medicines.”

AN application tointroduce a phar-macy in Castle-town, Caithness,has been refusedfollowing a meet-ing of the NHSHighland Phar-macy PracticesCommittee (PPC)last month.

In looking at theapplication thePPC had to deter-mine whether al-lowing the applica-tion was necessaryor desirable in thearea.

The Committeevisited the area inquestion and theyalso had the out-come of the appli-cants and theHealth Boardspublic consulta-t i o n s w h i c hshowed a com-plete lack of sup-port for a phar-macy in this area.

While it wasacknowledged thatthere are currentlyno pharmaceuticalservices within thearea it was agreedthat, as residentscan access theseservices easily inThurso, the appli-cant had not beensuccessful in prov-ing inadequacy ofpharmaceu t i ca lservices.

Community pharmacyopens in Milton of Leys

Castletown

application

is rejected

- 28 -

IN this issue of Highlights AllanSimmons takes a look at the rolethe public can play in monitoringNHS performance.

If you want to expand yourknowledge in thisfield why not take alook at the followingHighland Health Sci-ences Library re-sources: Patient andpublic involvementtoolkit (W 84 CAR),Citizens, consumersand the NHS: cap-turing voices (WA540 HOG) or Criticalperspectives on userinvolvement (W 84BAR).

Are you attendingthe Introduction tofacilitation course? Why notcheck out these titles held in theHighland Health Sciences Li-brary: How to present at meet-ings (HF 5718.22 HAL), Facilitat-ing with ease!: core skills for fa-cilitators, team leaders and mem-bers, managers, consultants, andtrainers (HM 134 BEN) and Fa-cilitation: an art, science, skill orall three?: build your expertise infacilitation (HM 134 MAN).

Get some background on is-sues around mental health for thesixth NHS Highland MentalHealth Conference by looking at:Law, values and practice in men-

tal health nursing: a handbook(WM 32 WIL), Empowerment,lifelong learning and recovery inmental health: towards a newparadigm (WM 30 RYA), and

Practical care plan-ning for personal-ised mental healthcare (WM 100LLO).

Interested in theintriguing, fascinat-ing enigma that isautism? Then whynot have a look atthese Library as-sets: Autism: avery short introduc-tion (WM 203.5FRI) written by oneof the foremost ex-perts in the filed –

Uta Frith.The library also holds works

by other experts in the field in-cluding: The autisms (WM 203.5COL).

Whatever your needs theHighland Health Sciences Libraryis here to help you. Don’t spendmore than 10 minutes on a prob-lem you may be having – contactthe library.

To find out more about the li-brary and our many services call01463-255600 (x7600).

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

Subject Librarian

If you want toexpand yourknowledge...

Survey onmedicinesinitiative

MEDICINE Sick Day Rules pa-tient information cards were dis-tributed last year to all GP prac-tices, community pharmacies andhospitals in NHS Highland.

The aim was to improve pa-tient safety by increasing aware-ness of medicines that should bestopped temporarily during anillness that causes dehydration.

NHS Highland is now evaluat-ing this initiative to determine ifthe cards have been effectiveand should continue to be sup-plied.

To support this evaluation, youcan complete the following shortsurvey – it should only take acouple of minutes to com-plete: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/SickDayRulesCards

Any queries should be di-rected to Clare Morrison, leadpharmacist (North atclare.morrison2@nhs.net

Disruption likelyWORK will soon be starting oninstalling a new biomass boilerfor the accommodation block atRaigmore Hospital in Inverness.

While everything will be doneto keep disruption at a minimumit will sometimes be necessary toput in place some short-termroad closures in the area.

The work will start at the rearof Arden Court and continuearound all of the blocks over thenext few months.

Further updates will be pro-vided when necessary. NHSHighland apologises for any in-convenience caused.

Mental health,autism, gettingthe views of thepublic, facilitat-ing – the High-

land Health Sci-ences Librarycan help you

with all of theseand more

- 29 -

THROUGHOUT April, BowelCancer Awareness Month, NHSHighland urged all men andwomen aged between 50 and 74to complete a screening test kit.

Bowel screening is the mosteffective way to detect the condi-tion in its earliest stages, whenpeople may not have any symp-toms. People aged 50-74 are in-vited to complete a simple homescreening test kit every twoyears. People aged 75 and oldercan still take part in screening ifthey wish by calling the ScottishBowel Screening Helpline on

0800 0121 833 to request a kit.Dr Rob Henderson, NHS High-

land consultant in public healthmedicine, said: “The number ofpeople in Highland taking part inbowel screening compares fa-vourably with that in other parts ofthe country which is excellent.Uptake of bowel screening withinNHS Highland, which stands at60.9%, is among the highest outof all Scottish Health Boards

“However, approximately 40%of people don’t take up the offerand I’d really like to encouragethem to consider doing so.”

Bowel screening campaign

Applications wantedfor PhD studentship

EDUCATION Scotland and Stir-ling University are now seekingapplicants for a three-year PhDstudentship to research the rela-tionship between socio-economicdeprivation and school achieve-ment in Scotland.

The studentship has resultedfrom a successful application forfunding from the Economic andSocial Research Council/ScottishGraduate School of Social Sci-ence collaborative studentshipsscheme.

The studentship provides feesand a living allowance, and isopen to application by suitablyqualified candidates who hold EUcitizenship. Applicants will nor-mally be expected to have a rec-ognised Master’s degree, includ-ing advanced research skills. Thisstudy will be supervised by Pro-fessor Mark Priestley(m.r.priestley@stir.ac.uk).

Information about the pro-

posed study and how to apply isavailable on Stirling University’swebsite.

The deadline for submission ofapplications is Friday 2nd Mayand the studentship will begin on1st September 2014.

For further information, contactJanet McCurdiej.h.f.mccurdie@stir.ac.uk or Pro-fessor Mark Priestley(m.r.priestley@stir.ac.uk).

ALERT coursesALERT (Acute Life-threateningEvents Recognition and Treat-ment) courses are to be held inFort William on 7th May and Raig-more on 16th May and 19th June,with further courses to be heldlater in the year.

For information and to book aplace, contact Graham Geddes on01463 707636, email gra-ham.geddes@nhs.net

Appeal forward visitors

NHS HIGHLAND’S volunteerservice manager, Ian McCon-nell, has launched an appealfor people to volunteer as wardvisitors.

The role would involvespending time chatting andlistening to vulnerable patientswho do not receive any visitorswhile in hospital. It is a chal-lenging but rewarding role thatis important in enhancing qual-ity of care NHS Highland pro-vides.

There are currently opportu-nities available in RaigmoreHospital, Nairn Town andCounty Hospital and Invergor-don County Community Hospi-tal.

Anyone interested can con-tact Ian on 01463 704867 orby email toian.mcconnell1@nhs.net

Traffic Lightsworkshop

SEXUAL health charity Brookhas received Scottish Govern-ment funding to roll out its‘Traffic Lights’ child and youthsexual behaviour trainingacross Scotland.

The Highland Traffic LightsTraining Workshop is to beheld from 10am-4pm (9.30amfor tea and coffee) on Thurs-day 8th May 2014 in the Con-ference Room, New StartHighland, 9 Carsegate RoadNorth, Inverness.

The training is aimed atpeople who work with childrenand young people in any set-ting but who are not child pro-tection specialists.

- 30 -

Applicationssought for

sixth annualmental healthconference

APPLICATIONS areinvited from peopleto attend the sixthannual NHS High-land Mental HealthConference, to beheld in the Dru-mossie Hotel, Inver-ness, on 29th May.

The conference,which will featurespeakers and work-shops with themesfrom local and na-tional initiatives, isprimarily aimed atmental health pro-fessionals but appli-cations are also wel-come from anyonewith an interestin mental healthcare.

To apply for aplace e-mail High-UHB.MentalHealthConference10@nhs.net by 7th May.

Registerof members’

interests

MEMBERS of theNHS Highland boardmust register theirinterests.

The board’s Aprilmeeting was toldthat the board regis-ter has now beenupdated, and wouldbe kept at theboard's offices forpublic inspection.

- 31 -

NHS HIGHLAND staff are beinginvited to an information sessionon heart failure to be held inRaigmore Hospital on 9th May tomark National Heart FailureAwareness Day.

The aim of the event is to raiseawareness of heart failure includ-ing possible symptoms, the im-portance of early diagnosis andwhat treatment is best.

Mandi Smith, lead heart failurenurse for NHS Highland, ex-plained that the information ses-sion would be open to all butthere would be key elementswhich should be of particular in-terest to staff.

She said: “We want to use theawareness day to raise the profileof this condition not only so thatpeople know more about it but sothat those who have it, or indeedtheir carers, know what optionsand help is available to them.”

Mandi explained that heartfailure was a long-term conditionthat could leave people with a

poor quality of life. In the pastyear 200 patients have been ad-mitted to Raigmore with short-ness of breath and fluid retentiondue to heart failure, often requir-ing a prolonged stay in the wards.

It is important that these pa-tients are educated about theircondition and how to recognisethe symptoms of when their heartis not coping, such as an in-crease in breathlessness andweight gain or a decrease in theirexercise tolerance, and get sup-port to help them self-manage.

The Heart Failure Nurse ser-vice was set up in 2006 in part-nership with the British HeartFoundation and in that time morethan 800 patients have been sup-ported in self-managing their con-dition and gain an improvementin their quality of life.

Mandi added that the informa-tion session will also allow staff tofamiliarise themselves with theScottish Patient Safety Pro-gramme Heart Failure bundle,

which is currently being piloted inWard 6C at Raigmore Hospitaland which allows the staff to en-sure that the patients are receiv-ing the correct care.

She said: “While we do getabout 200 heart failure admis-sions per year in Raigmore Hos-pital not all patients admitted arereferred to the nurse service.Without this education and sup-port, patients can have severalreadmissions.

“The bundle is being designedto ensure that all patients admit-ted with symptoms of heart failureare seen by a specialist and fol-low up support is organised.

“Giving the patients and carersthe right information and educa-tion allows them to identify whensomething is going wrong andadjusting their medication to pre-vent readmission to hospital.”

The information session willtake place in the main entrancecorridor (Zone 5) of Raigmorebetween 11am and 5pm.

Staff invited to heartfailure awareness day

THE annual ‘Caring for the Eld-erly in Scotland’ conference willbe held in the Hilton GrosvenorHotel, Edinburgh, on 21st May.

Among the speakers will beRosemary Wawrzyniak, one oftwo Deputy Public Guardians inScotland. She manages one ofthe multifunctional teams, theGuardianship account reviewteam and the team which investi-gates complaints received re-

garding possible financial abuseof incapable adults.

Delegates will also hear from:Dr Anne Hendry, national clinicallead for Intergrated Care with theScottish Government; RanaldMair, chief executive of ScottishCare; Ellen Hudson, associatedirector of RCN Scotland; NikiMaclean, director, Scottish PublicServices Ombudsman; Jacque-line Petland, researcher practitio-

ner from the Firefly ResearchTeam; Dr Gary Morrison, execu-tive director of the Mental WelfareCommission for Scotland; ClaireSweeney, senior manager of Au-dit Scotland; Lynn Williams, pol-icy Officer of the SCVO; and Val-erie Carr, creative/lead servicedirector with We are Snook.

To book a place or get moreinformation on the event e-mailwww.mackayhannah.com

Annual conference on caring for the elderly

- 32 -

A TRAINEE clinical scientistworking for NHS Highland hasbeen rewarded for the hard workshe has put in during her studies.

Corinne Johnson, who isbased in the Medical Physics De-partment at Raigmore Hospital, istraining to become a medicalphysicist and is currently in hersecond year of the clinical scien-tist training scheme.

As part of this training schemeshe was required to complete anMSc in Medical Physics at Aber-deen University. Towards the endof last year she not only gradu-ated from this course with a dis-tinction but also received the Uni-versity’s Harry D. Griffith prize forachieving the best exam marks inher year.

She said: “The MSc I com-pleted has three terms. The firstcovers all topics which you couldencounter in medical physics in-cluding radiotherapy, nuclearmedicine, radiation protection,UV, ultrasound, MRI and bioengi-neering.

“The second semester allowedspecialisation into three subjectareas, mine being radiotherapy,radiation protection and nuclearmedicine, and the third semester

was spent on the MSc project,which I completed in the NuclearMedicine Department in MedicalPhysics at Raigmore.

“I was very pleased with bothmy grade and the award I re-ceived and I have recently foundout that I have also been nation-ally awarded for the project dis-sertation I completed in the Nu-clear Medicine Department.”

Corinne was awarded the In-

stitute of Physics Medical PhysicsGroup Postgraduate Dissertationprize. This is a national awardgiven to the dissertation whichwas considered by the committeeto have made the greatest contri-bution to the advancement ofmedical physics.

She said: “I am delighted. Ihave put a lot of time and effortinto this and to see my hard workpay off is very rewarding.”

Fraser Brunton, director ofmedical physics for NHS High-land, praised Corinne’s hard workand national recognition.

He said: “Corinne is an excep-tional trainee clinical scientistwho is already making a signifi-cant contribution to the advance-ment of Medical Physics, which isessential to the developing appli-cation of science and engineeringin medicine.

“Corinne was among the verybest of 158 applicants who suc-cessfully overcame stiff interna-tional opposition to join the na-tionally funded training scheme in2012. We are very fortunate tohave her working here in NHSHighland.

“She is one of six trainees, allhigh academic achievers, whohave been undergoing traininghere in recent years to becomeState Registered Clinical Scien-tists. Three of our trainees nowhave permanent posts in NHSHighland and one is now em-ployed in NHS Grampian. Theyare a credit to the profession andI am very proud of each one ofthem.”

Trainee clinical scientistwins national award

QUOTE

‘We are very fortunateto have her working here in NHS

Highland’

- 33 -

IN February the Samaritanslaunched a drop-in service inDunoon so that local residentswould have access to free, confi-dential, face-to-face support.

This service, provided by vol-unteers from Inverclyde andGlasgow, is available betweennoon and 4pm every Monday.

Anyone wishing to use the ser-vice should phone 07950 458121to make an appointment..

Joe Brown, regional convenorsaid: “People talk to Samaritans

in their own way about whateveris troubling them. They will oftentalk to us about things that theymight not share with anyoneelse. For some people, talking toSamaritans is the first step indealing with the worries theyface. This can help them buildthe strength and confidence todevelop their own strategies andsolutions.”

The project is a partnershipbetween The Samaritans, ArgyllVoluntary Action and the Argyll &

Bute Choose Life initiative.Tracy Preece, Argyll & Bute

Choose Life co-ordinator, said:“Choose Life is part of the Scot-tish Government’s strategy to re-duce deaths by suicide acrossScotland. When events in life feeloverwhelming, talking to some-one about those feelings andthoughts is important in keepingyourself safe. We are reallypleased to be able to support Sa-maritans and promote their workin Argyll and Bute.”

Samaritans launch service in Dunoon

MORE than 30 delegates fromNHS Highland, Argyll and ButeCouncil, Macmillan and a numberof other organisations recentlymet Macmillan education staffand specialist nurses for a studyday on cancer.

There was a wide range oftopics, including the impact ofwelfare reforms, the Macmillantelephone helpline service, theimportance of exercise and dietfor people with cancer, advancedcare planning, making a will andchoosing your own funeral.

A panel of people from a num-ber of local initiatives spoke atthe event and included a repre-sentative from the library informa-tion centres established in Rothe-say and Campbeltown libraries.

Lisa Anderson, from ObanHospice Community Services runby North Argyll Carers’ Centre,spoke about her work with people

with life-limiting conditions andthe therapies she and her col-leagues are able to offer such ashydrotherapy trips, art therapysessions and creative writing ses-sions as well as one to one sup-port depending on individual cir-cumstances.

Anne McGlynn, the Macmillanpharmacist in Mid Argyll Commu-nity Hospital, spoke about thedevelopment of a local serviceproviding some chemotherapytreatments to patients in Mid Ar-gyll and surrounding areas.

Delegates highlighted howMacmillan was able to view thebigger picture nationally and howit proves services and educationfor practitioners and members ofthe public.

Overall the day was seen asan invaluable source of informa-tion which will help delegates intheir interactions with the public.

Study day considers thedirection of cancer care

ARGYLL & BUTE: Host of groups take part in information exchange

A HEAD Injury Information Daywill be held in Eden Court, In-verness, on 13th May to markAction for Brain Injury Week.

The event, to run from 11am-2pm, will have as its theme‘rehabilitation from brain injury’and will be addressed by DrBarbara Chandler, Dr LouiseBlackmore and Nigel Small,from NHS Highland.

It has been organised byDigby Brown Solicitors.

There is no need to sign upin advance but for more infor-m a t i o n c o n t a c t K a t h -leen.McMonigle@digbyborwn.co.uk (tel 0141 566 b9569).

Spotlight on

brain injury

- 34 -

THINK of film premieresand you might not immedi-ately think of Dunoon.

But, as Highlights re-ported last month, thetown’s cinema recentlyscreened the world pre-miere of a short feature,The Last Cigarette, and ahard-hitting documentaryfeaturing actor David Hay-

man and pupils of DunoonGrammar School.

The film and documen-tary built on previous NoSmoking Day campaigns.

The project was led byFiona Duncan, an NHSHighland oral health im-provement practitioner.

Pictures courtesy of theDunoon Observer

- 35 -

PHOTO GALLERY

THE Marie Curie Field of Hope at the MidArgyll Community Hospital in Lochgil-

phead now has more than 3,000 daffodils infull bloom.

The Field of Hope was planted in October2013 by volunteers and, as well as welcomingvisitors to the hospital, it provides a place forpeople to remember loved ones they havelost to cancer.

People can dedicate a daffodil to the mem-ory of their loved one and this will then be re-corded in a book showing a list of names ofthe people that have had a flower dedicatedto them.

This book will soon be available to view inthe Mid Argyll Hospital. If you have any photographs for High-

lights, please email tom.davison@nhs.net

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 arti-

cles for Highlights to

tom.davison@nhs.net (01463 704903)

or visit the Staff Dropbox on the NHS

Highland intranent home page.

What’s your story? Keep Highlights informed

- 36 -

SCOTLAND andGhana are two countries younormally wouldn’t pair to-gether.

However, thanks to aunique link-up with NHSHighland and other partners,several NHS Highland em-ployees have spent time inGhana and discovered bothcountries have more in com-mon than you might think.

The link was set up in2009 by Anne Mason sup-ported by seedcorn moneyfrom the Tropical HealthEducation Trust.

Anne explained: “TheHighlands has similar issuesto the north of Ghana. Bothface recruitment, retention,professional isolation andtraining challenges. The keyquestion is how to deliver

quality healthcare to a dis-persed population. Bothcountries recognise the needto build workforce capacitythrough locally deliveredhealthcare education.

“The link operates at bothgrassroots and strategic lev-els. Our shared aspirationsinclude developing an em-pathic understanding towardeach other’s challenges anddeveloping targeted continu-ing professional educationopportunities for NHS staffand our colleagues in Ghanathat strengthen both ourworkforces.

“We have run several pro-jects with our Ghanaian part-ner. Our current project wastriggered by concerns raisedby the regional director ofthe Upper West Region,about the rise in alcohol con-sumption within the region.

Continued on next page

- 37 -

OURMISSION IN

AFRICA

“This is an impoverished areaof Ghana. A recent study hasindicated increasingly easy ac-cess to the local brew associatedwith sexual abuse. Our own ex-periences have also revealed thatpregnant women drink alcohol asa medicine and young childrenhave easy access to alcohol.”

Within their most recent pro-ject, two teams have visited theUpper West Region of Ghanaover the past two years, led byAnne, the professional lead co-ordinator for the Scottish partner.

Last October, Deirdre Macleanand Marny Townsend, two ofNHS Highland’s alcohol brief in-tervention trainers, went toGhana with other members of theproject team and delivered train-ing in alcohol brief interventionsand awareness raising about al-cohol to a range of stakeholdersin the regional health services.

As a result, nine alcohol train-ing champions (community men-tal health nurses) were identifiedwho made a commitment to takeon the learning from that trainingin the meantime and to train oth-ers if possible. In July 2013, thesecond team, which including

Jane Groves and San-dra Campbell from NHS High-land, went to Ghana to continuethe training.

Jane said: “We went to sup-port these champions in develop-ing their alcohol brief Interventiontraining role as well as develop-ing their communication skillsaround working with alcohol us-ers at all levels of use, whetherit’s with harmful, hazardous ordependant drinkers. We incorpo-rated an approach called motiva-tional interviewing to do that.”

Sandra Campbell had visitedthe West African country twicebefore.

She said: “I first went over in2009 on a student nursing place-ment and I gained so much fromthe first visit that I felt it was cru-cial for my development as ahealth professional to return tothe county and continue to learn.

“Health professionals inGhana are the masters of im-provisation and through this, Ilearnt to think on my feet andhow to work under a completelydifferent type of pressure to whatI have experienced back home.

“The experience of visitingGhana has sharpened my skillsas a nurse and provided me with

practical skills that far exceedwhat I had imagined were possi-ble.

“The best example is that, asthey speak a wide variety of lan-guages in Ghana, I have devel-oped an understanding andknowledge of how to communi-cate with people who don’t speakthe same language – somethingthat is becoming more and morecommon with NHS Highland withthe amount of Eastern Europeanworkers arriving in our area.

“The trips have been excellentfor shared learning and it hasalso increased my awareness ofhow fortunate we are in thiscountry on so many different lev-els.”

West Africa is a place that isvery close to Jane’s heart, havingspent two years working as ateacher in Nigeria after graduat-ing from university.

On her return to Africa, shewas delighted at the work beingdone to educate people about thedangers of alcohol. Like here, it isvery easy to drink alcohol at haz-ardous or harmful levels and notrealise it.

She said: “From my perspec-tive, it was great to meet thesechampions. I thought they wereincredibly enthusiastic and reallykeen to develop solutions andservices which would be respon-sive to the real needs of Ghana-ians.

“They had raised a lot ofawareness about alcohol by go-ing on the radio and also through

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OURMISSION IN

AFRICA

going into local schools to edu-cate the youngsters.

“What I found was the descrip-tions of the problems around al-cohol use are in some ways notunlike Scotland to be honest. Al-cohol is used a lot in celebrationsand there has been an increasein drinking levels, includingamong pregnant women.

“Alcohol has a role in local cul-ture, but few people realise thatthey may be drinking at risky lev-els. There are no safe levels ofdrinking during pregnancy.

“One of our team learning ex-ercises was to go to thelocal hospital and look attheir admission records inA&E and other depart-ments and see how manycould be linked to alcoholin some way.

“We found over a thirdof patients were admittedwith conditions whichcould be related to alco-hol in some way – againvery similar to Scotland. Isuppose it is just like over here;it’s the norm to drink more than issensible, but people don’t realisethat’s the case.

“The purpose of ABIs is toalert people to that: it’s not reallyabout dealing with alcohol de-pendency, which is a slightlymore complex issue. Many staffgroups can have a role in deliver-ing ABIs.

“It’s to do with having conver-sations with people, to alert them

to the fact that they maybe drinking to a level which atsome point will cause them harm.That is what most people in Scot-land don’t realise.”

Jane believes the trip was ex-tremely worthwhile and evenclaims that the weather in Scot-land was better than it was inGhana at the time she was there!

She said: “Overall, it was afantastic experience. My col-leagues and I really gained a lotfrom it. Of course, there were afew challenges we had to over-come – one being when heavyrain delayed a big meeting.

“The champions I worked with

were all community psychiatricnurses so they were all workingin mental health and they all hadbig rural areas to deal with.

“They had big transport prob-lems, much worse than here, andI think they got a great deal out ofbeing together in the same roomfor a week as they don’t often getthis chance.

“Again, some of that is exactlywhat happens in Highland. Practi-tioners become very isolated –

one of my jobs here is to try andreduce some of that isolation andsupport their capacity.

“I learned that some of the ap-proaches we use here are andcan be applicable elsewhere. “

Anne Mason wishes to thankthe volunteers for their commit-ment and for the support fromNHS Highland and reiterates thereciprocal nature of this work.

“Building partnerships like thistakes time to develop communi-cation systems and trust,” shesaid. “We strive toward an au-thentic partnership but this re-quires extraordinary teamwork,staying power, modesty, humour

and understanding. Inreturn, our own personaland professional valuesare challenged and wegain a new set of skillswith the added bonus ofmotorbike riding!

“We could not havebuilt this link without thesupport of our main fun-der the Tropical HealthE d u c a t i o n T r u s t(www.thet.org) and NHS

Highland. We have also receivedfunding from the British MedicalAssociation Humanitarian Fund,and through individual fundrais-ing.”

Anyone wishing to know moreabout the link or wishing to bepart of the African link (bothGhana and Zambia) should con-t a c t A n n e Ma s o n a tAnne.C.Mason@ed.ac.uk or thechair, Terry Veitch, atterry.veitch@nhs.net

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Can you describe your job?Ability to foster flexible workingpractices, demonstrate initiativeand decision-making skills, lead-ing a team of workers in variousroles, demonstrating a clear un-derstanding of the needs andwishes of older people, leadingthe staff in the knowledge andpractice of health and safetyissues, supervising staff, abilityto accurately record informationand compile written reports, pro-moting and understanding anti-discriminatory practices alsodemonstrating good organisa-tional skills and delegating tasksas appropriate.

Describe yourselfI am an energetic conscientiousperson who enjoys carrying outmy work practices to a highstandard; this also carries intomy home life where I have abusy croft life which is a goodcontrast to my workingroutines and gives me time tounwind.

Hobbies and interests?My faith plays a significant rolein my life. I enjoy Zumba andhave a great interest in cooking.I also enjoy traditional Highlandmusic and attend ceilidhs bothat home and away and attendthe National Mods yearly. I thor-oughly enjoy ceilidh dancing

whenever possible. My favouritedance is the Highland Scotishe.

What was the first single youever bought?So Still Runs The River by KenDodd (I loved it, ha-ha).

What is your favourite food?Soups (making and eating).

How about your favouritefilm?Paint Your Wagon with LeeMarvin and Clint Eastwood.

What’s your favourite TV pro-gramme?Crime/pathology programmes orscience fiction.

Finally, what’s your favouritebook?Lee Child books.

If you won £10 million in thelottery, what would you spendit on?My family; a new house with anen-suite bathroom; a night outfor my colleagues; a new smartcar; visit family in Australia and,oh yes, a personal trainer.

What about a smaller sum,say £1,000?Oil for heating system.

If you could have dinner withthree people, dead or alive,who they be and what wouldyou cook them?Lee Marvin, and would do a hogroast for him on the croft.Queen Victoria, and I wouldcook her sweet and sourchicken.Will.I.Am, and I would cook himScotch broth and a pan of minceand Golden Wonder tatties.

Answering the questionsthis month is RosemaryMacIver, a senior social

care worker based in Gairloch

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A’ freagairt nan ceistean air a’ mhìos seotha Rosemary Nicìomhair, neach-obrach

cùram sòisealta ann an GeàrrlochAn urrainn dhut an obair agad

a mhìneachadh dhuinn?

A bhith comasach air modhan-

obrach shùbailte a chur an

gnìomh, sealltainn gu bheil

sgilean tionnsgnaidh is co-

dhùnaidh agad, a’ stiùireadh

luchd-obrach ann an diofar

dhòighean, a’ sealltainn gu

b h e i l e a r a ’ t u i g s i n n

feumalachdan agus miannan

sheann daoine, a’ teagasg luchd

-obrach ann am modhan-obrach

slàinte is sàbhailteachd, a’

cumail sùil air luchd-obrach,

comas air aithisgean a’

sgrìobhadh is fiosrachadh a

chlàradh, a’ tuigse ’s a’ cur air

adhart modhan-obrach neo-leth-

bhreitheach ’s a’ sealltainn

deagh sgilean rianachd agus a

bhith comasach air obair a’

roinn eadar luchd-obrach mar a

bhios dligheach.

Innis dhuinn beagan mud

dheidhinn fhèin

Tha mise a’ dol gun fhois gun

fhiaradh, ge b’ e aig m’ obair no

aig an taigh. Tha croit agam ’s

tha sin a’ toirt an cothrom

dhomh m’ obair làitheil a’ chur

an dara taobh airson ùine agus

ged a tha sin gam fhàgail trang,

’s e diofar sheòrsa obair a th’

ann.

Cur-seachadan?

Tha mo chreideamh na phàirt

mhòr dem bheatha. ’S toil leam

a bhith a’ dèanamh Zumba agus

tha ùidh mhòr agam ann an

còcaireachd. ’S toil leam

cuideachd ceòl Gàidhealach

agus bidh mi tric a’ dol gu

cèilidhean aig an taigh agus air

falbh bhon taigh agus bidh mi

dol chun a’ Mhòid a h-uile

bliadhna. ’S fìor thoigh leam a

bhith a’ dannsa gu seachd-àraid

Highland Scotishe.

Dè a’ chiad chlàr a

cheannaich thu a-riamh?

So Still Runs The River le Ken

Dodd (bha dùil agam gun robh e

sgoinneil!)

Dè am biadh as fheàrr leat?

Brot (a bhith ga dhèanamh agus

ga òl).

Agus dè mu dheidhinn am

film as fheàrr leat?

Paint your Wagon le Lee Marvin

is Clint Eastwood.

Agus mu dheireadh, dè an

leabhar as fheàrr leat?

Na leabhraichean aig Lee Child.

Nam buannaicheadh tu £10

millean air a’ Chrannchur, dè

dhèanadh tu leis?

Chosgainn air an teaghlaich e,

cheannaichinn taigh ùr dhomh

fhèin le en-suite, oidhche a-

muigh còmhla ris an fheadhainn

a tha ag obair còmhla rium,

smart car ùr, dheidhinn a

dh’Astràlia a’ coimhead air

càirdean agus, oh aidh,

personal trainer.

Dè mu dheidhinn suim nas

lugha, can £1,000?

Ola airson an taigh a

theasachadh

Nam b’ urrainn dhut do

dhìnnear a’ gabhail le triùir,

beò no marbh, cò thaghadh tu

agus dè dhèanadh tu dhaibh?

Lee Marvin agus ròstainn muc

dha air a’ chroit.

A’ Bhànrigh Bhictòria agus

dhèanainn cearc sweet and

sour dhith.

Will.I.Am agus dhèanainn

bobhla math brot dha agus pana

mions is buntàta prann.

- 41 -

STAFF from NHS Highland andthe Highland Council put theirprofessional working relation-ships on hold for 90 minutes onFriday, 11th April.

Suits and ties were swappedfor shorts and shin pads in afriendly football match in Inver-ness which saw the health boardemerge victorious with a 2-0 win

before being presented with theinaugural ‘Shambles ChallengeCup’.

Goals either side of half timeproved to be the difference in aclosely fought contest which sawplenty of goalmouth action andexcitement. Both sides did every-thing they could to secure thevictory – and bragging rights –

before heading off for a few‘refreshments’.

In what is hoped will be aregular event on the football cal-endar, it is yet another exampleof the close relationship betweenthe two organisations, culminat-ing in the historic integration ofhealth and adult social care ser-vices in 2012.

THE WINNING TEAM: Back row (l-r) - Iain Addison, James Hayward, Frazer Mackenzie, DuncanAlexander, Kenny Oliver, Michael Gates, James Alexander, Gordon Seago and Andy Devlin; frontrow (l-r) - Mark Kerr, Michel Laidlaw, Stuart Randall, Ray Stewart, Chris Madej, Rob Kerr and DonaldLaidlaw

A COURSE on ‘Good ClinicalPractice’ (GCP) will be held onThursday, 12th June, in the Cen-tre for Health Science, Inverness.

All staff involved in clinical tri-als are recommended to under-take Good Clinical Practice (alsoknown as Good Research Prac-tice) training, and ensure thattheir GCP knowledge is updated

every two years. GCP is an ethi-cal and scientific quality standardfor designing, conducting, re-cording and reporting trials in-volving the participation of humansubjects, and compliance withthis standard provides public as-surance that the rights, safetyand well-being of trial subjectsare protected and that the clinical

trial data is credible.GCP training is a contractual

obligation for some staff on sometrials and where it is not NHSHighland would still strongly rec-ommend completing the training.

To apply for the course, whichwill be presented by Dr StuartMcCully, emaillaura.mcilhatton@nhs.net

Good Clinical Practice course planned

It’s a Shambles as NHS Highland take the honours