children - West London Mental Health NHS Trust

simonsays
Welcome to the january issue of
Mental Health Matters
I would like to wish you all
a very happy new year and I
would like to thank you for
the work you have done at the
trust during the holiday period.
By keeping services running
smoothly at this time staff have
shown their usual high levels
of commitment to patients and
the trust. May I remind you that
this can be a particularly difficult
time of year for some of our
patients and of the need for
extra vigilance.
For some the new year can be a
time of reflection but for others
it is a time for new beginnings.
With that thought in mind it
is with great pleasure that I
welcome Nigel McCorkell to
the trust as our new chairman. I
was very sorry to see Louis go
at the end of last year but am
glad to welcome to the board an
experienced NHS professional
with a strong private sector
background. I am sure he will
learn about the organisation
quickly by getting out and about
to meet staff around the trust.
You can read more about Nigel
further down the page.
As an organisation we must
look forward positively to the
new year. Last year had its
challenges, for example with the
restructuring of the trust into
the five SDUs. Now that the
SDUs are up and running we
should look forward to more
stability and the opportunity to
grow as an organisation.
Safety and security are two
agendas which are set to
increase significantly this year.
It is our responsibility to make
sure that healthcare is being
New chairman announced
Nigel McCorkell has been
appointed as Chairman of the
Trust. Nigel took up the post on
5 January 2009 and will serve
the trust until 4 January 2013.
Nigel is a qualified accountant
with a background in the private
sector including, corporate
finance, aerospace and software
sectors. He was vice chair
of St Mary’s NHS Trust for
eight years leaving at the time
of merger with Imperial. He
chaired the board of governors
at Bournemouth University for
twelve years until he retired in
2004. He says, “I am delighted
to have been appointed as chair
of West London Mental Health
NHS Trust and look forward to
working with the board and staff
throughout the Trust.”
practised safely and in a secure
environment for both staff and
patients. The baby P case which
has had widespread publicity
reminds us of the paramount
importance of the safety of
children and in particular how
important it is to be thinking
about the effects of mental
illness for the whole family
(see page 17 for a feature on
safeguarding children). Our
priority is to make sure our
staff are appropriately trained
and supported to deliver safe
and secure services and I am
delighted to see the role of our
site security managers being
highlighted on the cover and
within this magazine. I am also
pleased to recognise that we are
increasing security at Broadmoor
Hospital with the introduction
of biometric scanning, a system
similar to the one already in
place in the Orchard (see page 4
for more of the detail).
If you have something you’d like
to share with me, email me at
chief-executive@wlmht.nhs.uk
May I wish you a happy new year and welcome you to the January edition of Mental Health
Matters. I have enjoyed getting out and about over the festive period to write the first staff
magazine of the year.
I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to the Limes unit where I met with an enthusiastic team of staff
working away providing high levels of care to adults from the Ealing area. Charlene from my
team was invited out to attend the joint working conference and her report is on the centre
pages of the magazine. I was also delighted to get to spend some time with Elbachir Chaker, one of our site security
managers. You can read about his working life on page 15 and he is also on the cover of the magazine.
I was welcomed to Lakeside Mental Health Unit to interview two of our service users who are also members of the
much talked about Hounslow Hawks football team. You can hear what Peter and Reza had to say on page 18.
It would be helpful if you could please take the time and fill out the readership questionnaire at the back of the
magazine. Return the questionnaire to the communications team and you will be in with a chance of winning a £25
Marks & Spencer voucher. The feedback from the questionnaires will help the communications team to shape future
communications work at the trust, and I will share the feedback with you in the next edition of the magazine.
Enjoy the magazine and do please get in touch with me if there is some interesting work going on in your part of the trust
Tara Ferguson Jones
Tara.ferguson-jones@wlmht.nhs.uk
mentalhealthmattersJanUARY2009
www.wlmht.nhs.uk
Foundation Trust
Equivalent update
The trust continues to work on putting together an
application to become a foundation trust equivalent,
which will give us similar freedoms to a foundation trust.
Our application to become an FTe will be judged on
how well the trust looks to be able to deliver high quality
services to the populations that we serve. We are near to
completion of a three to five year business plan for the
trust and this is something that MONITOR (independent
body set up to assess foundation trusts) will be looking at
in detail when it is deciding if our application is satisfactory.
The business plan has been informed by the plans of the
five service delivery units and the support services. The
business plans help the trust move along in line with its
overall strategy.
The next stage in the process is that the trust will have
to set up a membership body, which will elect governor
representatives. This will give staff, service users, carers and
local people a chance to have a voice in the organisation
and influence decision making.
In spring the trust will launch a consultation on FTe. This
will include asking people for their comment on the trust’s
strategy and also for their thoughts on a new constitution
for the trust. The consultation will be supported by
information events for staff and events in each of the
boroughs for local people.
The main benefits of becoming a foundation trust
equivalent are that staff and service users who are
members of the FTe can put themselves forward to
election to its board of governors, giving them a real say
in decision-making and greater access to information.
Such trusts are free to set their own strategy, to borrow
commercially and to invest in new patient care facilities.
This gives them greater scope for investing in new services
and setting local targets.
You will be updated on the trust’s
FTe application regularly via the
trust’s internal communications.
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