5. The Swan newsletter April 2010 - Become an NHS Foundation ...

STAFF SPOTLIGHTA day in the life of… John Lawrence,bereavement and chaplaincy team leaderBeing in hospital is an anxious time for both patients and their friends and relatives. At Buckinghamshire hospitals, we want tomake sure everyone receives the best possible care and feel they have the information and support they need. As part of ourcommitment, the Trust has a 24-hour chaplaincy and bereavement service, accessible to all patients, staff and relatives.John Lawrence, bereavement andchaplaincy team leader, isresponsible for a team of 30volunteers, four chaplains and fivebereavement staff, who are onhand to provide spiritual andreligious care at our hospitals.John has now been with the Trustfor 19 months. He has afascinating background, includingbeing a volunteer in an Israelihospital for 2 years, a vicar for 14years and even a qualified banker.John feels his varied backgroundhelps him answer questions aboutlife and how people cope withand feel about spirituality.“I very much like my job becausethere is a lot of variety,” John says.“It’s nice to be able to pop yourhead into a ward or office and justtalk to people who need somecomfort, or just some assurancethat what they’re feeling is normaland that there’s help available”.An important role for John and histeam is to provide support for thedying and their relatives, givingeach patient a spiritual assessmentshould they want it. Spiritualsupport is offered as well as painrelief and treatment, as part of themulti-disciplinary team’s work.John and his team are alsoresponsible for training hisvolunteers – preparing them forvisiting the wards and spending timewith patients and their families.Training includes reflective practice,helping to develop listening skills,which are so important inproviding a bereavement andchaplaincy service.In his role as a chaplain andrepresentative of the Trust, Johnoften gets invited to speak at localchurches and groups about whathe and the team do for ourpatients and how it’s important tohave a support network to aid thehealing process.John says: I’m very committed tomy work and think it’s reallyimportant to teach people thatthere’s more to our departmentthan religious advice andbereavement services. We’re hereto listen and help those who arestruggling – we offer relief”.Among some of his duties, John canbe asked to read patients their lastrites at the bedside and helpsparents to deal with the loss of theirbaby, organising services whererequired. Whilst chaplaincy visits canbe pre-arranged, John spends a lotof his time in the intensive care unit,visiting families of patients in ourcare. He helps them to make senseof the situation they are in and lendsan unbiased ear when needed.Spiritual and pastoral care isn’tjust available to our patients, butstaff too. John believes it’s vital foreveryone involved in providingcare to have access to the samesupport and comfort.“Our staff need the service asmuch as our patients and I wanteveryone in the Trust whether it isnurses, doctors, porters or adminstaff to know that they can cometo us at anytime,” says John.A current project for John isworking towards a multi-faithchapel at Wycombe Hospital –something that is already in placeat Stoke Mandeville and enjoyedby both staff and patients. Thechaplaincy team are there to helpeveryone that uses our hospitals,regardless of their spiritualaffiliations – something thatmakes the service very accessible.If you would like to know moreabout chaplaincy andbereavement services in the Trust,John would be pleased to hearfrom you. Contact him atjohn.lawrence@buckshosp.nhs.uk.Getting the right resultsBreast screening team congratulatedA recent audit of the breast screening units atStoke Mandeville and Wycombe woncongratulations from the ‘right results’inspector, who described her walkthrough asan “excellent audit”.The ‘right results’ programme, run by NHSCancer Screening Programmes, monitors trustson how they process and issue breast screeningresults. The aim is that no woman shouldreceive a normal result and then need a recall.The auditor could find no errors or gaps in the“excellent” systems used by the Trust andpraised the “professional approach” shown bystaff. All screening films are double read witharbitration for different opinions and resultsletters are double checked before being sent out.The auditor said that both units hadimplemented the quality management systemwith great success.NVQ successSince the last NVQ ceremony in May 2009,14 HCAs and MCAs have achieved theirNVQ level 3 in either health or health andsocial care.NVQs are nationally recognised work-basedqualifications. The course takes 12 months tocomplete and the key to success isperseverance, hard-work and a very supportivesister/charge nurse.Katie Butterfield, NVQ lead and facilitator forthe Trust, said: “This is a tremendousachievement for our healthcare assistants andMCAs and the Trust is very proud of them all”.Staff who were presented with theircertificates in October included: Meldy Cejar,Catrina Dalton, Jennifer Bellion, NosheenKhan, Eva Anson, Kim Beveridge, ChloeFurness, Mandy Jardine, Cheryl Lee, SarahSambrooks, Katie Tether, Samantha Tennant,Stephanie Edmenson and Lucy Vengi.Congratulations!Spring 2010 Issue 5 The SWAN 11