willen AR 11 - Willen Hospice

Our people2010/11 has been another year of change anddevelopment for our teams.Over the summer of 2010 we welcomed Aimee McDonaldand Jo Austin to the Finance team bringing additionalexpertise to the department, particularly in support of WillenHospice Ventures as new initiatives have been rolled out acrossincome generation activities. The Social Care team has alsoseen a number of new appointments with Sue Whear joiningthe team as Social Care Manager in November 2010 and thenew Macmillan funded post of Bereavement Co-ordinatorbeing established too. Other key appointments included DrBarbara Powell as Locum Palliative Care Consultant and thefull time appointment of Pauline Mitchelmore as Events Co-Ordinator within Willen Hospice Ventures, building on thesuccess of the Midnight Moo. Within Willen Hospice Ventures,Lynn Reeves was promoted to the post of Lottery andTrading Manager absorbing the Shops and Warehousefunctions in addition to managing the Willen Hospice Lotteryteam.An exciting development this year has been the appointment ofMarilyn David as Practice Development Manager, initiallyon a project basis. Previously the Community Nursing Manager,Marilyn has been building on her skills and knowledge to focuson improving best practice across all patient focussed areas,resulting in further educational events and internal audit activity.Staff from all areas of the organisation have been involved inthe awareness events and this has been a great learningopportunity for many.Another change resulting from this project was the internalpromotion of Mandy Jarrad to the post of CommunityPalliative Care Manager and Kate Knight transferring fromher post as a Sister within the in-patient unit to theClinical Nurse Specialist Team. In addition, we congratulatedLiz Haynes on her promotion to Manager for the Hospice atHome Team following the retirement of Denise Robson aftera long career with the Hospice. It is always rewarding to seeinternal promotions as they demonstrate our continuedcommitment to employee development.Early 2011 also saw the launch of the Willen HospiceManagement Development Programme. This modularprogramme has been developed by the HR Department and isbeing offered to all those in management positions and thosewho aspire to that type of role. A mixture of recommended andoptional modules, the programme seeks to provide managerswith behavioural skills and knowledge to help them managetheir teams and services more effectively, giving them increasedconfidence in this sometimes challenging area. The programmewas kick started with a module describing ‘The Big Picture’which was co-facilitated by Paul Hinson and provided attendeeswith an overview of the organisation, our vision and strategyand a clear insight to how we can all make a difference.There have also been changes to our Board of Trustees thisyear. Dr Julian Pedley retired from his post as Chair of theBoard of Trustees and we are delighted that Philippa Eccleshas now taken up that post. Jane Henshaw also retired as aTrustee this year, their active support will be missed. Newappointments to the Trustee Board included Paul Davis, JoniHawkes and Dr Penny McNamara who were voted in inFebruary 2011.Yet again, the hard work and commitment of all our teammembers, including our 600+ volunteers, has demonstrated thepassion our people have for the continued success of WillenHospice. It is certain we will see further developments in thecoming years, both of our team members and our services.