Welcome to the East Ayrshire HSCP newsletter

Since publishing our Strategic Plan for East Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership, our services have been looking at how we will enhance our approach to People, Compassion and Partnership in the work we do to deliver our priorities.

We developed the strategic plan and identified our priorities by speaking to people. This was an opportunity to collectively look across what we do and how we do it, and seek out where we can develop and advance. As we begin to roll out our plan, we will continue to listen, reflect and collaborate to shape the way we do things.

Our recent joint inspection of Adult Support and Protection services highlighted the strengths in our partnership working, and presents a great opportunity to work together as we prepare a joint improvement plan to address the priority actions. We will also soon bring Care Opinion services on board, allowing people to share their experiences of our services so that we can listen, learn and work together to continuously improve. The Annual Performance Report will be published following approval from the IJB, and will allow further reflection on our work. I would encourage you to look out for this as we share it in the weeks to come.

Our strategic plan ends with a thank you to people in East Ayrshire – the workforce, partner organisations, volunteers and communities – and I would like to reiterate my gratitude for your continuing support and dedication, as demonstrated in the stories below.

Craig McArthur, Director of East Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership

Therapeutic Play to Support Wellbeing

As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, more children are experiencing emotional wellbeing concerns. Our school nursing service and our healthcare support workers have received training in the use of play to engage and interact with our children in a different way moving away from more clinical models of interventions.

Amy’s story highlights the benefits of using play to engage with our children and families:

"I have recently been trained on the use of therapeutic play with children and young people. I had the opportunity to try out the sand tray with children I am supporting. The sand tray provided an immediate tool for communication and allowed the children to relax and feel at ease with me. I observed the children playing freely enjoying themselves. They were more relaxed to start talking, which allowed me to bring up the topics I was there to discuss and in a much less formal way.

"The sand tray worked wonderfully at breaking down barriers to communication as well as allowing the children some free play. I received immediate positive feedback and knew myself that its use had been very successful in improving outcomes."

Helping New Parents to Manage Epilepsy

Baby Peyton was born earlier this year to new mum, Stephanie. Stephanie was diagnosed with epilepsy as a child but remained confident in managing the symptoms, never letting it get in the way of doing the things she wanted to do. During pregnancy, Stephanie continued to have the occasional seizure, despite medication.

During the postnatal period, Stephanie accessed health visitor advice and parenting support to reduce any unavoidable risk to Peyton. This not only included health visiting support but also more specialised advice from the epilepsy specialist nurse who provided additional resources to both mum, dad and grandparents on small practical changes that could help keep Peyton safe. Stephanie felt this support helped to improve routines in the home, and allowed her to get more sleep and avoid epilepsy triggers.

Despite this support, Stephanie acknowledged a lack of confidence in relation to the unpredictability of her epilepsy and leaving the home with her baby daughter. This was explored with Stephanie further and a community practitioner from education got involved. Carrie now visits once a week to go for walks to local parks and Stephanie’s self-confidence has improved dramatically. In addition, a smart watch was obtained free of charge direct from the company to the family to support Stephanie’s continued independence. This watch can identify if Stephanie is having a seizure and send an alert. Stephanie is now feeling safe and well-supported, and can leave the home feeling confident as a mum to Peyton.

The above example highlights the benefits of inter-agency team work, communication with specialised services, and a robust child centred assessment with the child and parents views at the centre.

Shout Out to Early Years Team

The above stories give a glimpse into some of the work and dedication carried out throughout the partnership. The early years team have continued to provide a face to face service for children and families throughout the pandemic, ensuring the those who need us most are supported. Thank you to all from Sina Currie and the leadership team!

Community Rallies to Support Sensory Garden

Max and Angela from the Sir Alexander Fleming Centre, Day Service for Adults with a Learning Disability, reached out to the community for donations to help create a new sensory garden. They hope to promote an area dedicated to positive wellbeing that everyone can be a part of.

The call for donations was met with great enthusiasm, and the team received lots of plants and items to make fixtures. The garden development is well underway, with lots of people lending a hand including services in the council, local businesses Kilmarnock Car Breakers and Morrisons, and carer Mrs Farrell to name a few.

More News from Sir Alexander Fleming Centre

Staff member Ruth Denham organised competitions and quizzes to help celebrate and enjoy the Euro 2020 championships. The staff team got involved, supporting individuals to get to know about the countries involved. Window displays feature lots of handmade football related work, and the children from Flowerbank helped by designing their own football team.

Service users and staff took time out to reflect on the past year, marking the National Day of Reflection on 23 March. 

COVID-19 – Stay safe and get tested regularly

While restrictions have eased and we are now able to do more of the things we love, it is still important to remember that COVID-19 hasn’t gone away.

Even if you don’t have COVID-19 symptoms, it is still important to get tested regularly. And it’s even easier to get a rapid coronavirus (COVID-19) testing.

There are three options to choose from: at one of our test sites; by collecting a test kit from participating community pharmacies; or by requesting a test kit to be sent to your home.

Visit the NHS Ayrshire and Arran website to find the latest information on Asymptomatic Testing Sites. 

National Secure Adolescent Inpatient Service (NSAIS) – Foxgrove

To help meet the aims of the Scottish Government’s Mental Health Strategy 2017-2027, there will be a bespoke National Secure Adolescent Inpatient Service (NSAIS) created for young people in Scotland for the first time. This service for 12 to 18 year olds with complex mental health needs from across Scotland will be named Foxgrove and will be located in Irvine, North Ayrshire at the Ayrshire Central Hospital campus.

The Full Business Case for the project is under consideration by the Scottish Government’s Health Directorates Capital Investment Group with a decision expected later in the summer. To read more details on the project and to view a fly-through of what Foxgrove will look like after construction please visit: https://www.nhsaaa.net/hospitals/foxgrove/

Distress Brief Intervention in
Ayrshire and Arran

Distress Brief Intervention (DBI) is a two-tiered response to people experiencing distress, working with frontline agencies to offer connected, compassionate support. DBI has been running as a pilot since 2017, with services in Inverness, Aberdeen, Lanarkshire and Scottish Borders.

Level One support is provided by frontline partners in Primary Care, Police Scotland, Emergency Departments, NHS 24 and the Scottish Ambulance Service. The intervention provides a compassionate response to distress, signposting and the offer of a referral to DBI Level 2. Responding within 24 hours, level two support is provided by Penumbra in Ayrshire and Arran. We offer a 14 day supportive intervention focusing on self-management of distress, community based problem solving, developing distress management tools and signposting to community assets and relevant agencies.

Since June 2020, Penumbra has been providing the DBI service across Ayrshire and Arran through the NHS 24 Mental Health Hub. The Scottish Government commissioned this service for one year to respond to people experiencing distress during the COVID-19 pandemic. In early 2021, the service was extended and is now an established DBI pathway.

In addition to this, in January 2021, we began the rollout of DBI in Ayrshire and Arran through local commissioning. We are working collaboratively with key partners to incrementally implement the service. We plan to develop DBI Level 1 referral pathways with Primary Care, Emergency Departments, Police Scotland and the Scottish Ambulance Service.

This is one of several exciting new developments with Penumbra in Ayrshire and Arran.  

Further information on DBI. 

Break the Silence
Trauma Training Course

Recognising the importance of continuous professional development, Break the Silence were delighted to be able to offer a two-day trauma training course in May 2021 with Dr Karen Treisman, MBE. Following the success of the event they will be offering another opportunity to attend, plus a follow-up event to further build on skills in 2022.

Find out more about how the training course went, feedback from attendees and how to attend future events.

Pathfinder Programme Update

The EAHSCP Pathfinder Programme based in the Irvine Valley is a project focused on ‘transforming health and social care services for people with long term health conditions living in the Irvine Valley, including over 65s, using TEC as a key enabler’.

The Pathfinder team are now in the final stages of Define (under the Scottish Approach to Service Design Double Diamond). In March/April 2021, two core Pathfinder team members completed second stage interviews to sense-check data gathered from previous Pathfinder engagement.

We spoke to ten participants from across the Irvine Valley (a mixture of residents and workers) and had conversations around three key triangulated topics: knowledge of services, communication and barriers to accessing services. There was a good mix of female to male and a variety of ages to represent different cohorts of the community.

Through these second stage interviews, we defined a lot of our previous research and started conversations around how best to present our findings.

Find out more about how the Pathfinder Programme is progressing.

Community Alarm - Digital Upgrades

With less customers buying analogue telephone lines, and the service benefits offered by digital lines, telephony providers such as BT and Virgin Media are transferring all analogue phone lines to digital.

This means that if anyone has a Community Alarm in their home, the alarm may not function properly if their landline is upgraded to digital. As such, all control centre and care alarm equipment will need to be upgraded to digital. There is a planned replacement of equipment, which should commence later in the year. Meanwhile a factsheet is available with additional details.

For further information, or to arrange a ‘Team Talk’, email Susan Clarke or Chris Howe.

Couple Reunited at Thorntoun

Mabel came to live in Thorntoun in November 2020 during the current Covid-19 pandemic. Due to lockdown Mabel didn’t have much contact with her family or husband. Mabel is deaf, so she couldn’t even make a phone call. In May 2021, Mabel’s husband was coming to stay at Thorntoun, but staff kept this a secret from Mabel as they wanted to surprise her.

On the day of Bob’s arrival the reception area was decorated with balloons and banners; Mabel had no idea who was walking through the door and what was going to happen. The delight in Mabel’s eyes when she realized it was Bob was priceless and she was so very happy when she found out he was there to stay. It was a very emotional day and there wasn’t a dry eye in the house - the Roberts were together again. Mabel and Bob are both deaf and communicate using BSL.

Before Bob arrived at Thorntoun, staff could only communicate with Mabel by lip reading. Now Bob is delivering BSL classes to the staff every Monday afternoon, and this is working well.

Staff welcomed the ray of hope and happiness during such difficult times, and the team put a lot of effort into making the occasion special for Mabel and Bob. Housekeeping redecorated their room, kitchen staff put on a spread, and the care staff and nurses made the happy couple feel like stars.

Rainbow Services Scoops Prestigious Care Award

The Scottish Care’s annual Care at Home and Housing Support Awards were announced at the end of June during a virtual awards ceremony, hosted by Dr Donald Macaskill and Michelle McManus.

Well done Rainbow Services who won in the Provider of the Year category – a brilliant achievement to be recognised at a national level. Congratulations to your team!

Football Fan Puts Pen to Paper During Lockdown

The mental health team in Kilmarnock has a promising writer in its midst with social worker Neil Doherty recently publishing his first book.

With football matches no longer taking place during the pandemic, football fan Neil was motivated to fill the gap by writing about the sport. Taking the opportunity to use weekends and some annual leave, Neil has been able to publish his first book, World Cup 1998: Scotland’s Story – The France 98 Journey.

Neil said: “This is my first book, and was published to coincide with the Scotland Men’s National Team’s historic recent participation in UEFA EURO 2020 – their first major tournament appearance since FIFA World Cup 1998. As some will remember, Scotland played in the opening match of France 98 against world champions Brazil, the biggest fixture in the history of the Scotland Men’s National Team. My book tells this story in detail, beginning with the story of manager Craig Brown, and then covering the drama of Scotland’s qualification, squad selection, tournament preparation, training camp, and matches.”

Neil found the writing process extremely enjoyable and a form of escapism during a testing time for all. For those interested, Neil’s book can be found on Amazon. We would love to hear from others who have been able to turn their hands to something new, let us know for our next newsletters!

Doon Valley Community Campus

Scottish Government has agreed funding to an exciting new project for the future in the Doon Valley area, creating a new community hub located in Dalmellington.

This new campus will include Doon Academy, Dalmellington Primary and Early Childhood Centre, the Dalmellington Area Centre and the Doon Valley Leisure Centre. The hub will also provide a social environment and place to meet for the community and will create a sense of being the ‘beating heart of the community’ that has multi-functional use.

NORR architects have been appointed, embarking on an extensive engagement and consultation process. This will ensure everyone has the opportunity to influence the campus space and the consultation approach will be split into key stakeholder areas: community, HSCP, education and leisure.

Look out for information in respect of this very exciting venture - we are at very early stages with a planned completion date of June 2025.

An Introduction to Delirium:
45minute session

This session provides the baseline knowledge and skills required to care for someone with delirium. Ideal for health and social care workers new to delirium. Delirium training will be available via Microsoft Teams. Participants will require access to a computer or laptop which is installed with Microsoft teams. For all bookings and enquiries please contact Victoria.macrae@aapct.scot.nhs.uk

Dates:

• 13^th September- 2pm
• 11^th October -2pm
• 25^th November -2pm
• 13^th December -2pm

Delirium Management:
1hr session

This session is designed to look more closely at the causes, effects and management of someone with delirium. This is ideal for trained health and social care workers.

Dates:

• 30^th August -2pm
• 6^th September – 2pm
• 26^th October -2pm
• 11^th November -2pm

Transformation at
Social Enterprise Kitchen

The Riverside Centre has received generous donation from Howden in Cumnock which included some cupboards, work tops and even the kitchen sink! Day care assistant Steve used some of his time during the pandemic to completely transform the Social Enterprise kitchen in the centre. Steve was also able to make the space wheelchair friendly. The centre is in the process of giving everyone the opportunity to choose a new name for the facility.

Before and after at the kitchen

All About the Label in Cumnock also made personalised hand sanitiser bottles for all the staff and service users at Riverside.

HMP Kilmarnock Nyxoid Poster

A patient at HMP Kilmarnock with lived experience has created the cartoon strip in a bid to increase the uptake of Naloxone in order to prevent drug related deaths.

Addiction case worker, Gillian, worked with John on an idea to create a Nyxoid (nasal spray) poster and leaflet explaining how to use it, as there is currently only this for Prenoxad (injectable Naloxone). They felt this would be more relatable to individuals if it came from someone with lived experience of addiction, and John who is very good at art and hoping to go to art college in the future, created the cartoon strip to try and reduce the drug related deaths.

New Staff Welcome

We would like to wish a warm welcome to following new staff in Care at Home:

• Michelle Hose - System Support Officer
• Sarah Nesbitt - Community Care Officer
• Hayley Williamson - Bank Community Care Officer          
• Morgan McGinn - Bank Community Care Officer
• Lynn Samson - Bank Community Care Officer     
• Stuart Russell - Bank Community Care Officer     
• Karli Thomson - Bank Community Care Officer   
• Sarah Nesbitt - Bank Community Care Officer     
• Karen Wright - Bank Community Care Officer     

Care Opinion to Launch at East Ayrshire HSCP

East Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership has signed a partnership-wide agreement with Care Opinion which enables access to the full range of features and support for our services. We will be rolling-out Care Opinion across health and social care services locally over the next 12 months.

Care Opinion is an independent, not for profit, website where people can share their feedback about health and social care services easily and safely. Care Opinion has been leading the way in online, independent feedback since 2005 and has been used by all health boards in Scotland over the last 7 years. Thousands of stories have been shared to date, leading to hundreds of changes.

The Care Opinion team moderate stories prior to publication on the website, sending them to employees in the relevant service. Employees can then respond to stories and everyone can see how we are listening, learning and changing in response to feedback.

We want to utilise this powerful platform to the full to enable supported people, relatives, family and unpaid carers to share their experiences of our services so we can all listen, learn and work together to continuously improve.

We aim to launch Care Opinion from September 2021. Please look out for further information, awareness raising, promotion and training opportunities.

We are excited to see how this integrated health and social care feedback platform supports us to continue to deliver first class, person-centred care in East Ayrshire and look forward to working with you to encourage its use.

If you would like to find out more information please contact Erik Sutherland or you can find out more by visiting the Care Opinion website.

Adult Support and Protection Joint Inspection

An inspection of Adult Support and Protection (ASP) was held in East Ayrshire between April and June 2021. This meant that inspectors from the Care Inspectorate, Healthcare Improvement Scotland and Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary Scotland looked at the multi-agency processes used across East Ayrshire to support and protect adults at risk of harm.

Due to the complexity of the process with multiple information requirements, many people were involved to help coordinate and support the inspection. We could not have achieved the outcomes we did without the support and assistance of many people. Within the HSCP, key contributors were the ASP Team, our administrators, our social workers and our social work team managers, particularly social work colleagues in the Adult Concern & Initial Response Team. The inspection was coordinated through the Protection & Learning Team, and we collaborated closely with our Police Scotland and NHS Ayrshire & Arran colleagues to ensure that police and health information was fully included in the inspection.

There was already a great deal of useful learning and some improvement actions arising from the inspection and there is also further learning from the report. Our next task is to integrate the learning and areas for improvement into an ASP Improvement Plan. This will be led through the HSCP and the Adult Protection Committee on behalf of all multi-agency partners and an improvement plan will be published by September 2021.

The coordination of the inspection was very effective and demonstrates our strong multi-agency working at its best. This will stand us in really good stead for the ASP Improvement Plan as this is developed and implemented moving forward.

Special thanks from Protection & Learning go to Donna Sinforiani and Lisa Brock (pictured – superheroes of the inspection)...

...as well as to Natalie McIntosh, Diane Norwood, Karen Mitchell, Claire Stuart, Nicola Orr, Yvonne Hill, Ryan Fowlds and Michelle Hose (pictured – administrative champions of case file assembly).

Congratulations!

A message of congratulations to both Katie Pollock and Carron Wallace who have successfully completed the University of Strathclyde: PG Certificate in Mental Health Social Work (MHO) Award. Both have demonstrated determination and resilience in managing to complete this award in the most trying of circumstances.

Thank you to the respective Team Managers, Carol Fennell from LD Team, North and Anne Sym from MH/ LD Team, South and their fellow team members, who have supported Katie and Carron to undertake this challenging academic course.

Both Carron and Katie will make a welcome and valuable addition to the MHO team who all look forward to working with them.

National Care Service
Consultation Launched

The Independent Review of Adult Social Care (IRASC), often referred to as the Feeley Review, recommended the creation of a National Care Service, with Scottish Ministers being accountable for adult social care and support. The Scottish Government has proposed that the National Care Service should support people of all ages.

A consultation has been launched to seek views on creating a comprehensive community health and social care service for children and adults. 

You can access and respond to the consultation online, which is open until 18 October. A number of online consultation events are also taking place during September and into October. Individual parts of the proposals appear in separate sections of the consultation, allowing you to respond to specific areas of interest, and we would encourage you to take part.

Supporting Wellbeing Course

Supporting Wellbeing is a Management Essentials course for East Ayrshire Health and Social Care managers, where you will learn more about supporting your own and others wellbeing. It will particularly focus on the three cornerstones of prevention, early intervention and support.

Key areas that will be explored are:

• measures to pro-actively help ourselves and others to be well at work – PREVENTION
• tools and supports to aid EARLY INTERVENTION when there is a concern around someone’s wellbeing
• how to SUPPORT ourselves and others to stay well
• the wide range of supports available to all employees through Healthy Working Lives

The course is delivered over 2 x 1.5 hour sessions and you will be encouraged to share examples from your own experiences and practice of managing and supporting wellbeing.

To book your place please visit the Learning Academy website.