Hello everyone,

It is a great pleasure to be introducing this month’s newsletter in my new role as co-chair of the Greater Manchester Integrated Care Partnership. It’s 14 years since I last held a formal role in relation to health and social care and, with a new government putting the NHS very much under the spotlight, now feels like the right moment to step into this role.

The first thing I really want to get through is a message to the staff working in our integrated health and care system across Greater Manchester - not just clinical front facing, but the people working to support them at every level – that I see you all in terms of what you do, I see the pressures you are all under. You are important and valued members of the GM family, and it is my role as co-chair for this partnership to work out how other members of our GM family can take serious steps to take the pressure off you. We need to develop a unique GM approach to reform which helps takes the weight off the shoulders of primary care, A&E, urgent care and so on by working on the wider issues that shape our health, like housing, employment and transport.   

I personally don’t see how anything other than focusing on prevention will get us through the next few years. This is the moment to get serious about prevention and is what I want to do in this position. I am taking up the baton from Mayor Paul Dennett, who has been instrumental in getting such a strong partnership board up and running, and looking forward to working with my fellow co-chair, Sir Richard Leese, and the board to deliver safe and effective healthcare services.

Take care,

Andy

Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester

New chief strategy and people officer at Northern Care Alliance 

Gertie Nic Philib has joined the Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust (NCA) as the new chief strategy and people officer. Gertie joins the NCA from a joint role of chief people officer across South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust and George Eliot NHS Trust. She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, having dedicated her career to the NHS since 2001. As the executive lead for both the people and strategy functions, Gertie has a passion for ensuring that we create the best conditions for all our colleagues, where they feel they are valued, cared for and have a voice.  

This week, NHS Greater Manchester (NHS GM) has launched a public engagement exercise to gather views on children and young people’s attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) services in Greater Manchester.

We want children and young people to have timely access to support that is tailored to helping them manage their ADHD condition and symptoms, considering their needs as a whole and not focusing on their diagnosis. 

The engagement exercise, which runs until 29 November 2024, seeks to address some of the issues including long wait times, levels of ongoing support for patients, the referral and assessment process, and how services vary across Greater Manchester. Our biggest priority is to improve how cases are prioritised, and making sure that children and young people who are most in need, get help quickly.

How you can help

We have plans on how we can make improvements to children and young people’s ADHD services and peoples’ experiences. But first, we want to seek views on what matters most to people who use these services, their carers and/or families; and to help shape future services. We are also keen to hear from colleagues working in ADHD services or wider services that support children with ADHD.

There are a number of ways to give your views, including via an online survey, by email or attending a focus group. To find out more and get involved, visit our website.

Our website also includes a toolkit where you can help us promote our engagement activities, and includes draft wording newsletters. You can also share social media posts from our NHS GM account: Instagram, Facebook and X.

If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us via gmhscp.gm-stakeholders@nhs.net

Please note: NHS GM is also carrying out work to improve adult ADHD services. For more information on this programme of work, email: gmhscp.engagement@nhs.net; call, text or WhatsApp: 07786 673762.

Greater Manchester Police, in partnership with NHS Greater Manchester, has now launched Right Care Right Person (RCRP). It includes changes to how mental health incidents are handled. 

The national approach is designed to ensure that people of all ages, who have health and/or social care needs, receive the right support while also introducing thresholds to reduce the number of incidents the police are called to where they’re not the best agency to do so – in particular, those involving mental health crises.

More information about RCRP can be found on the GMP website.

A new state of the art Macmillan Cancer Support Centre at The Royal Oldham Hospital has officially opened its doors to its first visitors. 

Actor William Ash (pictured left), known for his roles in Emmerdale and Waterloo Road, was joined by Dr Zahid Chauhan, the Mayor of Oldham, to celebrate the opening of the new facility that will provide accessible face to face support for people affected by cancer. The hub site will also allow thousands of more people with the opportunity to access help tailored to their needs, both onsite and through outreach services in the community.  

Sarah Plant, NCA Macmillan Information and Support Service Assistant Manager said: “Dealing with a cancer diagnosis and treatment is an incredibly tough time and it is important that we come together as a clinical team and community to support those going through this crucial time in their live. The new hub will provide a friendly face and someone to turn to when things can be challenging.”   

A new talking therapy for children and young people experiencing unusual sensory experiences, such as hearing voices and seeing visions, is being trialled in Greater Manchester. 

The ChUSE trial, led by Dr Sarah Parry, strategic research lead at Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust’s young people's mental health research centre and Professor Filippo Varese of the University of Manchester, follows six-years of research with children and parents. 

The new talking therapy, the ChUSE intervention, has received over £260,000 in funding from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), and will provide much-needed support for parents and children.  

The trial will work with 60 children aged eight to 15 years old and their parents in Greater Manchester over the next 12 months. The results will then be used to develop future therapeutic approaches for young people in in children and young people’s mental health services with distressing sensory experiences across England. 

NHS GM has been recognised for its work to prevent foetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) in a recent national report. The report highlights our work to ensure that multi-sector services are aware of the kinds of improvements called for in the Quality Standard, and how full implementation of the NICE Quality Standard 204 is a specific priority within the NHS GM Joint Forward Plan.

FASD is caused by drinking alcohol during pregnancy which can result in mental and physical problems for the baby.

Last month, NHS GM campaigned alongside partners to bring awareness to FASD by hanging 660 baby vests over the bridge in Media City, representing the number of babies likely to be born with FASD in Greater Manchester in the next year, and was a powerful statement as the prevalence study was carried out in Salford. The baby vests will now go on tour and be put on display.

Roisin Reynolds, Strategic Lead-Population Health for NHS GM, said: “NHS Greater Manchester takes its responsibilities for the prevention of harm from alcohol-exposed pregnancies and the need for those with FASD to be diagnosed and supported, seriously.

"Since 2018, Greater Manchester has been a national exemplar in FASD prevention, awareness raising through our award-winning Drymester campaign, diagnosis, treatment and support. We believe that this work matters and are encouraging other areas to take a similar approach."

Moe than 16,000 people have completed suicide awareness training as part of NHS GM’s Shining a Light on Suicide prevention campaign.

The Zero Suicide Alliance was commissioned to develop free autism and suicide awareness training for anyone who may wish to offer support to an autistic person who may be thinking of suicide. Over 200 people with autism supported the work by sharing their experiences in a survey and autistic people were part of the working group who developed it.

The one hour training launched in April and, to date, over 16,000 people, including the public, health professionals and our partners, have completed the training. This fantastic success has been recognised at the Celebrating Neurodiversity Awards in London last week, where Zero Suicide Alliance was named a ‘Neurodiversity Champion’ in the ‘Inclusion Project of the Year’ category for the Autism and Suicide Awareness Training.

If you haven’t already taken the training, you can do so here https://shiningalightonsuicide.org.uk/learn-to-save-a-life/

Greater Manchester collaborative win the Improving Medicines Safety Award

Teams from NHS GM, Health Innovation Manchester and the NIHR Greater Manchester Patient Safety Research Collaboration picked up the 'Improving Medicines Safety award' for their project to scale the local Safety Medication Dashboard (SMASH) which benefits the Greater Manchester population.

SMASH is a pioneering IT system, created by the University of Manchester, designed to prevent prescription errors. Successfully tested by pharmacists and GPs in Salford between 2015-2018, it runs patient record data against evidence-based harm indicators, acute kidney injury or gastrointestinal bleeds, highlighting where reviews are required for patients.

Three wins for Northern Care Alliance's fantastic Frontrunner programme team

The Frontrunner programme picked up three trophies for their innovative work on the Northern Care Alliance's (NCA) footprint to return people over-65 home quickly from hospital, as well as improve care for people living with dementia.

The team won the award for 'Improving care for people with dementia across an acute hospital discharge pathway' for their 'Dementia and Days Kept Away from Home' project, and were highly commended in the 'Quality improvement initiative of the year award' for the 'Days Kept Away from Home Collaborative', and also highly commended in the 'Improving care for people with dementia across an acute hospital discharge pathway' award.

Read more information about the Frontrunner programme. 

Tameside team picks up Patient Safety Education and Training Award

A Tameside team focused on improving the care of patients with dementia scooped the Patient Safety Education and Training Award.

Led by Lead Admiral Nurse, Kellie Smart, and the Clinical Education team, the ‘ME in deMEntia’ training initiative replicates realistic exchanges between staff and people living with dementia, to help them better understand what it is like for patients with dementia. This encourages staff to focus on their response to, and treatment of, patients with dementia, leading to a more person-centred care approach.

More than 150 staff have had the opportunity to go through the training so far, with more to follow in the coming months.

Read more.

ICON Week 2024 (23-27 September) is dedicated to raising awareness about infant crying and how to manage it, supporting parents and carers, and preventing serious injuries, illnesses, and even fatalities caused by abusive head trauma, often resulting from shaking a baby.

The programme, embraced by health and social care organisations across the UK, providing essential information about infant crying, including coping strategies, parental support, and stress reduction.

This year’s ICON Week focuses on sharing ideas and best practices. Friends and relatives play a crucial role in supporting parents and carers during the challenging times when a baby is crying. Explore the new friends and family leaflet and other resources on ICON website.

Around 10,000 people aged over 65 in Greater Manchester injure themselves through falls each year. Local organisations are teaming up to ensure more services are in place for winter.

Falls can be serious in older people and some people are less able to recover well, which can lead to serious injuries, admission to hospital or a move into long-term care.

A £100,000 grant has been secured by Greater Manchester Integrated Care Partnership (GM ICP) and Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) in the belief that it will help to reduce hospital admissions.

And thanks to a new data-driven approach – unveiled during Falls Prevention Awareness Week (23-27 September) – it will be possible to intervene earlier and help to identify those who are most at risk.

Every year, thousands of people lose their lives to winter viruses like flu, COVID-19, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), with many more becoming seriously ill. The most effective way to protect against these illnesses is through vaccination.

We’re asking partners and stakeholders to share our pack of engaging content to help support an increase in uptake of winter vaccinations in Greater Manchester.

The toolkit includes copy for newsletters, electronic leaflets (including Easy Read), posters, screen graphics, a full social media pack and an information sheet to help facilitate supportive conversations around vaccinations. Materials in community languages and accessible formats will follow shortly.

Thank you to those who have requested printed copies of our materials to distribute on our behalf, it is very much appreciated. These should be arriving very early next week. We do have a small number of additional printed copies of our leaflets still available. If you would like to request some please get in touch. If you are short on time, the quickest and easiest way to support the campaign is to look out for the campaign posts and assets on our social media channels and share to your followers.

• Facebook @NHSGreaterManchester
• X @NHS_GM
• Instagram @nhs_gm

NHS GM are urging all parents and carers of 2–3-year-olds in the city region to book their children in for a flu vaccine ahead of the winter flu season. Invitations to that age group are now being sent out, following the vaccine offer for pregnant women and school children kicking off at the start of this month.

With the flu season usually peaking in December and January, it’s important that children as well as eligible adults come forward soon to top up their protection ahead of winter. Parents and carers are reminded that the flu vaccine for children aged 2-3 years is a quick and painless spray up the nose, without the need for an injection – unless the child cannot have porcine gelatine in medical products, in which case an injected flu vaccine is available as an alternative.

Parents and carers can visit our winter vaccination pages for more information.

October is breast cancer awareness month, and the Greater Manchester Cancer Alliance have shared a range of materials for partners to use to help raise awareness around breast cancer. This includes animations, case studies and graphics highlighting the signs and symptoms of breast cancer, how to check your breasts and the importance of attending breast screening.

You can download a toolkit, which includes graphics, suggested wording and alt text for social media posts, from the GM Cancer Alliance Campaign Resource Centre.