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Community Engagement Update
May 2023
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Come and find us at showcase event for dementia
Medway NHS Foundation Trust will be taking part in the Kent Dementia Showcase to raise awareness of the support available to patients living with dementia, and their carers, while they are in hospital.
Iain Tredway-Murray, Clinical Nurse Lead Enhanced Care (Dementia, Delirium and Mental Health) and Siji Arun, Deputy Clinical Nurse Specialist, will be on the Trust’s stand to offer advice to visitors. They will be joined by the Trust’s Dementia Buddy Coordinators, who support inpatients to help make their hospital stay a positive and inclusive experience.
The Kent Dementia Showcase, hosted by Kent Dementia Action, is a dedicated exhibition and conference for people living with dementia, their families, and carers and healthcare professionals.
Iain Tredway-Murray said: “Coming into hospital, whether visiting for an appointment, attending the Emergency Department or being admitted can be a confusing and sometimes frightening experience for people with memory difficulties, confusion or dementia.
“We will be attending the event to promote and raise awareness of all the support available to people with dementia as well as their families and carers. This includes promoting the use of the ‘This is me’ form, which is a tool we use to ensure care is individualised.
“Additionally, we will be sharing some of the activities that are available on our wards and the schemes the Trust is signed up to, such as: John's Campaign, Blue Wristband and the Butterfly Scheme.
Also attending for the Trust will be members of the Engagement Team and Trust Governors, who will also be seeking feedback about hospital services.
The event takes place at Kent Showground, Detling, from 10am to 3:30pm on Friday 19 May. Find out more below and here: Kent Dementia Showcase
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Volunteers needed for new Sheppey Frailty Unit |
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 Would you like to help us care for frail patients while they are in hospital? We are looking to introduce a team of volunteers to support our new Sheppey Frailty Unit and will be holding a recruitment fair at Sheppey Community Hospital on Monday 22 May.
The volunteers would help our patients during their stay in hospital, by offering them companionship and conversation and taking part in other light activities to help them feel at ease and stimulated, such as playing card or board games.
This opportunity would suit anyone with a few hours to spare each week who would like to volunteer for a good local cause or maybe develop skills for a career in adult or social care.
Ward Matron Haley Wawrzewska said: “We are a friendly and calm unit which looks after frail patients from Sittingbourne and Sheppey in need of hospital care.
“We do all we can to help our patients feel comfortable and at ease, but there is always more that could be done to enhance their stay with us and we can see that sometimes our patients may benefit from additional one-to-one time and stimulation that a volunteer befriender could offer.”
If you would like to find out more, the Trust’s volunteering recruitment team and senior nurses at Sheppey Frailty Unit will be running a recruitment fair at Sheppey Community Hospital, from 9am to 5pm on Monday 22 May.
For further information, please click here
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Meeting crowds at the English Festival |
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 Sophie Cawsey, Communications and Engagement Officer, Donna Law, Charity and Fundraising Manager, The White Rabbit, Winnie the Pooh, Tim Newman, Public Governor for Medway and Laura Adams, Patient and Public Engagement and Involvement Facilitator for Research and Innovation at the The English Festival
Our Engagement, Charity and Research teams had a great day at The English Festival, Riverside Country Park, talking to visitors and promoting what we do here at the Trust.
Sophie Cawsey, Communications and Engagement Officer, said: “Our bug stickers were a big hit with younger visitors! We had lots of interest from people visiting the festival with several signing up to become members of the Trust which is fantastic.
"We were also joined on the day by Tim Newman, one of our Public Governors for Medway.”
Donna Law, Charity and Fundraising Manager, said: "Our tombola to raise money for the charity was a great hit with a £121 raised in total. Every penny we raise benefits staff and patients so we are very grateful to everyone who took part."
Laura Adams, representing our Research Team was also on hand to promote the importance of research and how it benefits patients and colleagues.
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Our latest public event: Breaking down barriers and the stigma of perinatal mental health |
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 Irene Smith, Mental Health Midwife and Donna Collins, Thrive Specialist Mental Health Midwife
One in five women will experience a mental health problem during pregnancy or after birth. And 70 per cent of them will not seek advice or support as they do not think it is important or do not want to be a burden.
Our public event last week, in aid of Maternal Mental Health Awareness Week, provided an opportunity to raise awareness about the amazing work our mental health midwives do, and how we can break down barriers and stigma of perinatal mental health.
Irene Smith, Mental Health Midwife, said: “Raising awareness of perinatal mental health is important so we can change attitudes, and be an advocate for women and families affected by mental health difficulties. We want to help families to access the resources available in their local area.”
Donna Collins, Thrive Specialist Mental Health Midwife explained, a new Thrive (psychological support for birth trauma and loss) service will be shortly rolled out in Medway and Swale area over the coming months. She said: “Events like these are so important for both sharing information, and increasing awareness of services with those people who may not otherwise know what is available to support them."
Thank you to those who attended. If you would like the resources that were shared by the teams at this event, please email: met-tr.members-medway@nhs.net. A copy of the slides is available here
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Nikki Teesdale from the Medway and Swale Health and Care Partnership is pictured (left) receiving the award along with (from right): Martin Riley, Managing Director of Medway Community Healthcare and Senior Responsible Officer for Medway and Swale Health and Care Partnership; Mike Gilbert, Executive Director of Corporate Governance at the Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board; David Stokes, Chief Executive of Nucleus Arts; Jane Howard, Chief Executive of Medway Voluntary Action; and Martyn Reeves, Chief Executive of Friends of the Wisdom Hospice.
The Medway and Swale Voluntary and Community Sector Framework, thought to be the first of its kind, was recognised in the Innovation and Excellence in the Voluntary Sector category at the 2023 Healthwatch Recognition Awards held last month.
Finalised last year and signed by the leaders of 13 organisations, it strengthens the collaboration between councils, health and care bodies, and their partners in the third sector, with the aim of building strong and resilient communities. The vision set out in the framework also seeks to put prevention at the heart of health and care services.
Nikki Teesdale, Director of Health and Care Integration and Improvement at the Medway and Swale Health and Care Partnership (and pictured above), said: “I was delighted to accept this award on behalf of all the partners who were involved in developing this framework. It was designed to move us from having a good working relationship to transforming the way we collaborate across the public, community and voluntary sectors to build more resilience within our communities and prevent some of the health and care inequalities that we see in our population."
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As you may know, with funding from Macmillan, MVA are delivering an exciting new listening programme across Medway and Swale, working in partnership with our local Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) organisations, groups and residents. Your responses to this survey will help shape future services for everyone.
Click here to take the new online survey about Cancer Diagnosis and Patient Support Network Inclusion
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Age UK Sheppey are looking for volunteers to support people over 50. There are a range of opportunities available. To find out more please click here. |
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 University Library, Chatham
Our Governors and Blue (one of our 'pawesome' therapy dogs) will be back at the Drill Hall Library on:
Wednesday 17 May, 11am to 1pm
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 Hempstead Valley Shopping Centre
Our Governors and Research Team will be heading to Hempstead Valley on:
Friday 9 June, 10am to 2pm
Monday 19 June, 10am to 2pm
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 Armed Forces Day
Join us at Armed Forces Day. We will be there all day so pop over and say hi!
Saturday 24 June, 11am to 5pm
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 Summer Fun Day 2023
Our Summer Fun Day at the hospital is back. We hope you and the family can come a long and join in on our activities. More details coming soon - save the date!
Friday 28 July, 11am to 2pm
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Organ donation is the gift of life.
Grab some time to talk about it today with loved ones and add your decision on the NHS Organ Donor Register.
This is the official record which specialist nurses check if a person dies in circumstances where organ donation is possible, so it’s important to register your decisions here and share them with the people you love.
Recording your decision takes just a couple of minutes online – click here to do it: https://bit.ly/4169cXu |
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