April 2024
- Trust CEO and leadership arrangements from 1 June 2024
- Sexual Health Wirral – launch of new partnership
- ourPlace – Wirral’s new sexual health service for young people
- Super MaDE multi-agency event
- Patient-Led Assessments of the Care Environment (PLACE) Assessment
Outcome 2023 - Dr Amanda Doyle OBE, National Director for Primary Care and Community Services visits Team WCHC
- Public governor elections 2024
Trust CEO and leadership arrangements from 1 June 2024
From 1 June 2024, Karen Howell OBE, the Trust’s Chief Executive, will take up a new position as Chief Executive of Greater Manchester Mental Health Trust (GMMH).
Over the next two months Karen will remain as the Accountable Officer of the Trust. During this time Mark Greatrex, Chief Finance Officer and Deputy Chief Executive, will be taking on more responsibility including representing the Trust at Place and Cheshire & Merseyside system level.
Mark will officially take up position as interim Chief Executive of the Trust from 1 June.
Sexual Health Wirral – launch of new partnership
Monday 1 April, marked the official launch of the Trust’s new Sexual Health Wirral service offer (SHW), delivered in partnership with Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (LUHFT) and axess sexual health.
Delivered by a team of health professionals, including consultants, nurses and therapists, local people can access free and confidential contraception and sexual health services.
Each year over 19,600 people attend a walk-in or pre-booked clinic appointment at Sexual Health Wirral. Our clinics provide STI & HIV testing, results management, treatment for STI infections and several methods of contraception.
The service’s refreshed website (www.sexualhealthwirral.nhs.uk) encourages people to take responsibility for their own sexual health and wellbeing. It is a hub of information, support and advice for all things sexual health. With the click of a button, people can search for the information they need and access videos, e-leaflets and FAQs, as well as booking an appointment or requesting a postal STI test.
The new partnership will continue to offer outstanding sexual health services in the community and is delighted to also launch ourPlace – Wirral’s new sexual health service for young people aged 19 and under (read more in article 3).
Throughout the years Sexual Health Wirral has gone on an incredible journey and was recently rated as Outstanding by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). The CQC said; “staff treated patients with compassion and kindness, respected their privacy and dignity and took account of their individual needs. There was a strong, visible person-centred culture.”
They also said; “The service planned and provided care in a way that met the needs of local people and the communities served. It also worked with others in the wider system such as public health and local authority colleagues to plan care as part of wider strategies and action plans.”
ourPlace – Wirral’s new sexual health service for young people
‘ourPlace’ is the new sexual health service for young people aged 19 years and under living in Wirral.
Over the past few months, the team at Sexual Health Wirral has engaged with local young people to co-create a service name and visual identity and to understand how to create a discreet young person friendly clinic area.
Young people participated in face-to face-engagement sessions where service names and concepts were shared and tested. An online survey was also cascaded to capture the thoughts and opinions of this age group.
Following a review of the insight research ‘ourPlace’ was chosen as the name for Wirral’s new sexual health service for young people.
A vibrant and engaging visual identity has been designed to create a welcoming space where young people can feel confident and safe in accessing support.
Appointments can be booked via telephone 0300 123 5474 (Monday to Friday 8.00am – 5.00pm) or online via the service’s website.
Location: ourPlace, St Catherine’s Health Centre, 1st Floor, Derby Road, Wirral CH42 0LQ
Super MaDE multi-agency event
Team WCHC was proud to participate in the Cheshire and Merseyside (C&M) seven-day Super MaDE event. The multi-agency event brought partners together from our Trust, Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (WUTH), Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (CWP) and Wirral Council to safely discharge patients to the place they call home before the Easter period.
Trust colleagues from Community Integrated Response Team, Community Intermediate Care Centre (CICC), HomeFirst, Virtual Wards and Urgent Care were based on a rota at the hospital to maximise every opportunity with partners and build on the already great work taking place supporting patient discharge and preventing admissions where possible.
This event created unique opportunities to work collaboratively to address discharge challenges in real time.
Patient-Led Assessments of the Care Environment (PLACE) Assessment Outcome 2023
The 2023 Patient-Led Assessments of the Care Environment (PLACE) results have been released, with Team WCHC scoring above the national average in all six of the assessed areas, three of which scored 100%.
The assessment, undertaken by patient assessors, took place at Community Intermediate Care Centre (CICC) in October 2023 and included the three wards, Bluebell, Aster and Iris.
Feedback from the assessors was overwhelmingly positive. They reported that the wards had a positive environment and felt this would have a beneficial impact on many patients’ wellbeing, particularly those who had recent experience in either an acute hospital or other care setting.
The day rooms were popular with the assessors, who made the point that the social aspect of these spaces was vital in the rehabilitation process for many patients. They were also impressed with the behaviour and conduct of the clinical staff, who were observed treating patients with warmth and kindness. The ward managers were always open and responsive to the assessors’ questions, and all were noted as being proud of their wards and the staff who work within them. The wards also passed the friends and family test, with assessors stating that they would recommend the wards to loved ones and would even like to be cared for in the environment themselves.
Trust Chief Nurse, Paula Simpson said: “The management and clinical teams who work at, or in support of, CICC have expressed their pride in how the service has grown and developed since its foundation. This was recently recognised by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) who rated CICC ‘Good’ across all domains reporting that ‘staff treated patients with compassion and kindness, respected their privacy and dignity, and took account of their individual needs. There was a strong, visible person-centred culture.”
Dr Amanda Doyle OBE, National Director for Primary Care and Community Services visits Team WCHC
Last month, both our Trust and Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (WUTH) were delighted to welcome Dr Amanda Doyle OBE, National Director for Primary Care and Community Services along with Simon Banks, Place Director for Wirral. The purpose of the visit was to see first-hand the exceptional care, support and treatment delivered in Wirral.
Following a visit to WUTH in the morning, the visit to our Trust in the afternoon started with the Community Integrated Response Team (CIRT). The team works across a number of services including The Right Care Hub, Urgent Community Response (UCR) and HomeFirst. Dr Doyle heard first-hand how our expert teams see and treat people both at and close to home, ensuring essential care continues to be delivered and preventing a visit to hospital.
The visit also included meeting Trust colleagues and partners working on the Community and Primary Care collaboration between WCHC and Moreton and Meols Primary Care Network. The partnership approach explores how integrated teams can proactively help older people with frailty, identifying principles and practical developments to support better population health management across Wirral.
The Community Intermediate Care Centre (CICC) was the final stop of the day where they had a tour of Bluebell, Aster and Iris Wards.
Reflecting on her visit, Dr Amanda Doyle said: “It was really impressive to see the integrated work that is taking place on virtual wards and urgent community response, as well as the work that is being undertaken with the Primary Care Network. It was fantastic to see how colleagues are building such a great example of what an integrated team in the neighbourhood can look like.”
Public governor elections 2024
The Trust’s public governor elections will take place in the coming months. We are looking for 11 governors to work with Team WCHC and help steer and influence the health and social care services we provide to people living across the constituencies of Wirral – and beyond.
Being a governor gives patients, carers and service users a voice to help inform our service provision, planning for the future and our ambitions.
We have 11 seats up for election this year which includes:
- 3 seats in Birkenhead
- 1 seat in South Wirral/Neston
- 3 seats in Wallasey
- 1 seat in Wirral West
- 1 seat for Rest of England
- 2 staff seats
Following our recent CQC inspection where we were rated Good with areas of outstanding, we are looking forward to welcoming our new governors to join us as we continue on our journey to provide outstanding and essential community services.
We will be sending out further information about the elections, but in the meantime, to find out more about being a governor please visit our website www.wchc.nhs.uk/governors
Follow Team WCHC on social media for all the latest news and announcements.
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