l News Sophia Hawkins wins Support Worker of the Year award

TalkingPoint

WINTER 2014

l Meet Dr Felix Davies, our new MD for Mental Health Services

l NewsDrop-in clinic sees great results

We spotlight our new Mental Health Business Strategy

Steps to success

Useful numbers(Free confidential support and counselling for Turning Point employees)

(Confidential number to call if you are worried about any malpractice)

Welcome

2

Welcome pointContents

2. Welcome point

3. Our WorkSophia wins Support Worker of the Year award

4-5. SpotlightOur new mental health business strategy

6. TP People Meet...Dr Felix Davies, our new Managing Director for Mental Health Services

Face to FaceRachel Helliwell, registered care home manager at our Reevy Road Residential Care Home in Bradford

7. News and Views

Learn from...our Kent services’ People’s Parliament

8. Your Turning PointPutting the fun into fundraising

Plus ’How Turning Point helped me’.

Have your say

£15

Talking Point is your magazine and we are keen to hear any stories you want to share. Email us at:talkingpoint@turning-point.co.uk

The Exchange (Manchester)

0161 238 5100

The proportion of adults who will experience some

form of mental health illness this year.

300,000

Sources: 1. Mental Health Foundation2. Public Health England3. Mencap

Standon House (London)

020 7481 7600

Worried about somethingat Turning Point?

0845 888 1110

65%The proportion of UK adults with a learning disability who want to work. But only 1 in 5

does.

Employee Assistance

General Turning Point enquiries

The number of people known to be opium/crack users (OCUs) in

England last year.

1 in 4

To the point

As this is the first edition of Talking Point 2014, I would like to wish you a very Happy New Year – even though we are well into the New Year now!

The beginning of a new year often heralds new and improved ways of doing things. You will see from our Spotlight Section on pages 4 & 5, that with the arrival of Dr Felix Davies as Managing Director of our Mental Health Business Unit, many people have been involved in

developing a new strategy under the banner of Inspiring Recovery. You can also get to know more about Dr Davies on page 6.

We have also been looking at how we refresh our values and vision for Turning Point, so that when we get to celebrating our 50th anniversary , which takes place this year, these really reflect how the organisation has developed and grown since then – thanks to all the great work done by Turning Point people past and present. More about this in the coming months...

You will have seen that as well as including some of our more regular features, we have made a few changes to Talking Point to make it more personal to you: this is reflected in the TP People section which gives you a chance to “meet” and come “face to face” with people in the Turning Point Team. If you would like to introduce yourself or your team in future editions, do let us know. This is your magazine, so we are always keen to hear your views and get to know more about you. Is there anything you would like to see in these pages? Which articles do you particularly like reading?

Victor has also asked that I thank all those who have taken time to email him. A selection of the common themes and Victor’s responses are included on page 7 and will feature on our intranet, IRIS, too. As he says, this remains an open channel from you to him, so do keep your thoughts, concerns and ideas coming. Winnie Coutinho, Editor (talkingpoint@turning-point.co.uk)

0800 716 017

Sophia wins Support Worker of the Year award!

Colleagues at our Catalyst substance misuse service have created a pioneering steroid drop-in clinic operating across Carmarthenshire, where the service is based.

Targeting steroid and other image-enhancing drug users, the team at the service have extended their opening hours to provide specialist evening clinics offering advice and information.

The service has also made free – and clean - equipment available to users of these drugs, via the confidential

Our Work

£15Our latest update on just some of the activities our Chief Executive, Victor Adebowale, has been carrying out on behalf of our services and clients:l I was invited to give evidence to the London Assembly’s Police and Crime Committee about my recent Independent Commission on Mental Health and Policing report which

made recommendations for the Metropolitan Police to improve their response to mental health issues. I told the

Committee I welcomed the progress made so far but actual change on the ground must happen, and the Met should publicly

outline what they are doing to improve their practices. l I also spoke in a debate in the House of Lords about the Lobbying

Bill, raising concerns that the Bill does not shed enough light on lobbying but instead risks negatively impacting on democracy by restricting the campaigning

activity of organisations and individuals that leads to social change.l In addition, as usual I attended all three main party conferences last year, holding

roundtable discussions with ministers, MPs and representatives from other organisations.

needle exchange already in operation at the service. Feedback from service users has been positive so far, with many saying the ‘pick and mix’ style exchange means they are able to access the specific equipment they require – which in turn means less equipment finding its way on to the streets.

To make accessing the service even easier, the service is also providing a new text service, whereby service users can text the recovery drug workers’

Drop-in clinic is seeing great results

Sophia Hawkins, Project Worker at our Learning Disability service in Hertfordshire has walked away with the prestigious Support Worker of the Year Award at the annual HCPA Care Awards.

Run by the Hertfordshire Care Providers Association, the awards celebrate the ‘exceptional care that takes place in the county’.

Turning Point was a finalist in two categories, Support Worker of the Year and Best

Care Business categories.Sophia said of her award:

‘I’ve been in the care profession for eight years and really enjoy supporting individuals with learning disabilities and making a difference to their lives. I feel honoured and delighted to have won this award.’

Davinder Jhuty, Regional Manager for our Learning Disability services in Hertfordshire added: ‘It was great to join together with others working in the health and social care sector in Hertfordshire to celebrate and promote best practice. We were also joined by two of the people we support in Hertfordshire who thoroughly enjoyed the ceremony. Well done to Sophia and all the other finalists and award winners.’

If you would like to know more about this initiative, email Katie.davies@turning-point.co.uk.

INFO POINT

mobiles for advice and information or to make appointments.

Team leader Sian Roberts and recovery drug worker Caroline Bell also spent an afternoon out and about in the community, visiting gyms and supplement stores to publicise the clinic – and the team hopes to boost the number of people they are reaching further by recruiting a support worker to the team.

Colleagues and service users at our mental health service The Mill, in Leyland, got their hands dirty late last year, taking on a gardening project to improve their environment.

The idea came about after the local authority provided £250 to improve the service’s surroundings. Everyone got together to discuss how best to use the money and, after someone suggested it would be nice to have a green area for service users to sit outside, it was agreed to spend the money tidying up the neglected gardens.

The garden had become so overgrown that when clearing it the team found a selection of interesting items, including a set of rusty keys, a saw and some money. Once cleared, the service users planted some long-lasting and year-round alpines to add colour. Wall beds were also planted and tubs with herbs were added. A bench made out of recycled pallets finished the garden off perfectly, providing a great seating area for service users and their guests.

Project Worker Richard Flather said: ‘We would like to thank South Ribble Borough Council for their generosity with the grant that made the garden project possible. In addition to that help, Jane Bell, a local councillor, has been helping our service users by organising collections for food donations from councillors. The service users wish to thank Jane as this has helped many of them in times of hardship.’

The Mill goes green!

Winner of the Support Worker of the Year, Sophie Hawkins (far right) helped organise events such as an Olympics Day and BBQ (top left)

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Spotlight

The Mental Health Business Unit (MHBU) has just launched its strategy for the next three years: Inspiring

Recovery. Here we take a look at the strategy’s development and introduce the seven objectives

which outline the focus of work for the Business Unit.

Inspiring Recovery

It has been five months since Dr Felix Davies took over as the Managing Director of

the MHBU (you can read more about him in the “Meet...feature on Page 6). Prior to this appointment, several other changes in staffing and services have left things in the Business Unit looking quite different. In light of these and now the launch of a new strategy, we wanted to give you an update.

The MHBU is currently recruiting a Head of Operations, as well as an Area Operations Manager for the North West, and is looking to establish

Residents and staff at our Stevenage service

new roles to strengthen service user and carer involvement, Recovery, clinical leadership and planning, project and performance management. The number of IAPT (Improving Access to Psychological Therapies) or primary care talking therapies services have reduced over time, largely due to changes in the way in which some of these are funded – moving from block contracts to Any Qualified Provider (i.e., a range of providers rather than a single one) - but the plan is to increase the number of IAPT services again as a key focus. There is also a new

service that is being provided within the last few months – the Manchester Short-Stay Mental Health Service, which is a supported accommodation service to help move people on from acute psychiatric wards as soon as they are ready. This was originally going to be a brief pilot, but has been extended by commissioners for a year, due to their high level of satisfaction with the service.

As well as changes within Turning Point, over the last year there have been changes in funding and policy more

widely. Whilst there has been a lot of talk in government about addressing issues in mental health care, there have also been in cuts to funding in real terms. With a new Managing Director, it was important that the MHBU responded to these changes in an innovative and dynamic way. So in September, work began on a new strategy to set out the Unit’s aims and objectives.

“Positive, productive and inclusive consultation”The first step was to consult with colleagues, service users, families and carers on the issues that mattered to them. These contributions and suggestions were written into a Consultation Paper which was distributed widely across the Business Unit for further comment. An email address was also set up to allow colleagues to respond with their thoughts.

Our Seven ObjectivesThe initial consultation period identified various subjects that people were passionate about. The second period of consultation and collaboration then began, building on the themes identified. Meetings were organised in Manchester, Wakefield and London, with service users, carers and colleagues from across the organisation in attendance. From these meetings, seven objectives were developed and fine-tuned. These are introduced opposite.

Mental Health Business Unit Strategy 2014-2017

Spotlight

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1. Outstanding ServicesOne of the things that came up again and again in strategy meetings was a real sense of pride in the high standard of care provided by our colleagues. This forms the first objective: the MHBU will strive to build on and continue this, to deliver outstanding services that we are passionate about and expert in. Through this, Turning Point’s MHBU can succeed in meeting the needs of more people.

2. A Centre of Excellence for RecoveryRecovery is defined as “the process through which people find ways of living meaningful lives with or without ongoing symptoms of their conditions.” (www.imroc.org). Recovery has always been at the heart of the work of Turning Point, and this objective seeks to formalise that approach, integrating the principles of ImROC (Implementing Recovery through Organisational Change) in work across the Business Unit, to promote and achieve recovery for our service users. One of the ways to do this is to provide service users with the opportunity to develop skills through work experience and volunteering within Turning Point.

3. Achieve Significant Market ShareIn order for the MHBU to grow and to reach more people, it is important that it is competitive and adaptable in its business strategy. Therefore, this objective details the ambitions of the Business Unit to develop sustainably in new areas and to secure existing business opportunities. Secondly, the objective sets out to increase awareness of the work of Turning Point and the outstanding services provided by the MHBU, in order to attract new business opportunities.

4. Integration ExcellenceThis objective relates to the need for services to have a more ‘joined up’ and holistic approach. It is linked to patient centred care, the philosophy that puts the wishes and needs of the service user at the heart of their care. The objective aims to further develop our linked-up care pathways and to build partnerships with services so we can deliver fully integrated mental and physical health services for the benefit of service users.

5. Great Place To WorkTied in with Turning Point’s

Inspiring Recovery

overall commitment to become a great place to work, the MHBU is determined to develop and improve the way it communicates with colleagues, as well as developing the ‘employee voice’- the means by which colleagues can have their views heard. The objective also includes initiatives to maintain the health, happiness and wellbeing of employees, including by recognising their achievements.

6. High Brand AwarenessThe purpose of this objective is to increase awareness of the Turning Point Mental Health identity or ‘brand’. Raising awareness of the brand is important for winning new business and maintaining our influence (see the next objective). There are several ways to achieve this aim- by holding events, conferences and open days as well as work that Felix will undertake, publicising and promoting the excellent work undertaken by the Business Unit.

7. National InfluenceWith the launch of the Government’s “Closing the Gap” paper outlining 25 priorities for change in mental health care and

the work of the “Time to Change” Campaign to end stigma and discrimination against people with mental health problems, there has been a major media focus on mental health in the last few weeks. Whilst this focus has been welcomed by both Victor and Felix, it is important that these policies and campaigns are translated into real actions and changes on the ground, especially in the face of cuts in funding for mental health services. This is where Turning Point and specifically the MHBU can use its influence to lobby for change, and to campaign for the resources to improve the wellbeing of service users. The MHBU hope to accomplish this by staging events to demonstrate best practice and by establishing channels to involve colleagues in national policy and strategy development.

It is hoped that this strategy will see the MHBU grow and develop in a way that reflects the needs and values of our service users, colleagues, families and carers. If you have any thoughts in relation to this article that you would like to share with Dr Felix Davies, please do contact him via email – felix.davies@turning-point.co.uk.

TP People

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Where do you work and what is your role?I am the registered care home manager at our Reevy Road Residential Care Home in Bradford – a large 24-bed home for adults with learning difficulties. We currently have 22 people living here and one in transition. Our residents come from referrals by social workers across the Bradford area. Our service moved into Turning Point from the NHS in March 2012. My day-to-day role can be really varied. My office is within the home, which allows me to stay very close to what’s going on. The people who live here will often sit and talk to me. It helps me have a really good relationship with them and, if there’s an incident, I know about it first-hand. It also means I get involved in all sorts of jobs. With an office next to the front door I could be welcoming a health worker one minute and a plumber or builder the next.

Tell us about the work you are doing at Reevy Road…One of the areas we’re doing a lot of work on at the moment is around giving our residents a say in where they want to live and how they want to live. Traditionally, national residential care has not taken residents’ views into account, but we want them to be able to live how they want to. Also, when we were part of the NHS there was a lot of red tape and bureaucracy. Now we are part of Turning Point we’ve started making some great improvements across the service – from some simple things like putting in carpet, wallpaper and blinds so it’s less clinical, to improving the ways in which people can communicate using assisted technologies. That’s something that will help the people we support in their everyday lives.

And tell us a bit about how you like to relax outside of work…You wouldn’t believe how much I get up to outside of work! I have two young girls so spend plenty of time ferrying them around to horse riding and gymnastics. I also run and enjoy boxercise, walking and cycling. As a Christian, I do quite a lot of work building links within the local communities and supporting people in need. That gives me a different perspective and the experience I get from that is obviously something I also bring to my work with Turning Point.

Meet...Dr Felix Davies, our new Managing Director for Mental Health Services

Welcome to Turning Point. Tell us about your role?Being so new to Turning Point, I am still exploring my role, but in short I have been brought in to come up with a new strategy and direction for our mental-health offering, to review what we do, and make changes where necessary. I am responsible for all our mental health services, and accountable for the quality of care we provide and the financial sustainability and viability of our mental-health offering. There is also the day-to-day business – making sure employee are healthy and happy, that service users are receiving the support they need and that we are using our resources appropriately.

Can you tell us a bit about your background?From 2008 to 2013, I was Director of Psychological Services at South Staffordshire & Shropshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, where I was the professional lead to 400 staff. I established the multi-agency Staffordshire & Shropshire Hoarding Group and the first national conference on hoarding. I was national honorary secretary for the British Psychological Society Division of Clinical Psychology from 2004 to 2007, and chair of the West Midlands Regional Advisory Committee for Applied Psychological Services from 2011 to 2013.

How big is Turning Point’s mental health offering?We have services across the country, from York and Whitehaven, to Hastings and Brighton. We have a cluster running diagonally from the north-west to the south-east, with a fair few services in Manchester. We are also in Cumbria, Lancashire, Sussex and London. So we have a very good spread across the country. There are 444 staff working in mental health across Turning Point, at 28 services.

What’s your focus at the moment?A big piece of work has been the strategy I have drawn up, with input from across the Mental Health business unit and the wider organisation. This has just been launched. The mental-health world is changing rapidly. Funding is decreasing

and the needs and demands being placed on us are increasing. We are also seeing increased competition, so we have been taking a look at what Turning Point is already good at – and what else we could be good at. We also considered all of that to work out what direction we should be going in.

What excites you about the future of Turning Point mental health support?Doing more of what we’re already doing well and making that more widely available. I came to Turning

Point because I saw something different and interesting. That boils down to the recovery ethos we have here. Our mental health support teams are very passionate, very committed and talk about the people we support in a respectful, adult-to-adult way – in a way that empowers them to make their own decisions about their own goals in life. They are also focused on balanced and proportionate support, making sure service users get what

they need. It’s remarkable that we have a consistency of that type of care across Turning Point.

Our strategy is about taking the best of each service and combining it . We can then take that a step further and benchmark ourselves against the best around the country and internationally, with the aim of being world-leading. So I’m excited about our existing services, but also the future.

How are you including colleagues and service users in the work around the strategy?We have held events for operational managers and regional events for front-line colleagues. Service users, families and carers have also had input into the strategy through events and via our service user champions and operations managers.

More details on this strategy and its development can be found in Spotlight on pages 4&5.

To take part in ‘Face to Face’ contact talkingpoint@turning-point.co.uk

INFO POINT

FACE TO FACE

To take part in ‘Meet’ contact talkingpoint@turning-point.co.uk

INFO POINT

Rachel Helliwell

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News and Views

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Your points of view As Turning Point employs aound 3,000 employees, consists of around 250 services and has head offices in London and Manchester, it is not always easy for our CEO, Victor to get to meet us all and understand the things which are important to us. One way of addressing this was for him to send out an email and video communication to every Turning Point employee in September last year. In these, he reflected on the tough times that we have experienced, thanked everyone for their work and commitment and gave us all a flavour of how Turning Point will develop in the following years. He also encouraged us to get in touch with him so he could really understand what was important to us and gave out his email address so we could make direct contact. Those who contacted him appreciated the opportunity to get in touch directly and Victor was heartened that they had made the time to share their views. Below is a sample of some of the themes that came up.

A number of you were concerned about the fact that there had been no annual pay increase for some time and that as a result of this and the rising costs of

For some time now, a series of People’s Parliaments – self-advocacy groups that see colleagues and service users working together to improve support and generate new ideas – have been popping up across Turning Point.

Recently, colleagues at our Kent People’s Parliament addressed the issue of how service users can stay safe, particularly when out and about at night.

To help, project worker Jacqueline Sharp and support worker Philippa Nash-Deary welcomed Police Community

Support Officer Brian Lamberton to the meeting, so Brian could offer some advice around ‘staying safe in the community’.

Among other things, the group discussed not using dark

alleyways and always parking and walking in lit areas when it is dark. Not talking to strangers and certainly not accepting lifts from anybody that they do not know was also discussed.

The team also talked about the ‘Keeping Safe Scheme’, which safeguards people with a learning disability while out in the community. Under the scheme, they receive a card that can support them in getting help if they are lost, upset, confused or unable to tell someone they need help.

our Kent services’ People’s ParliamentLearn from…

living, some were finding it hard to manage on their current salaries.

Victor’s response: I understand the concerns about the absence of pay rises for a number of years being difficult for people. The lack of pay award for a number of years was partly as a result of us being part of the NJC (the national body which agrees all local authority pay awards).

I don’t want to be in a position where we have pay freezes for another five years. I recognise what a challenge this is and I very much hope that we will be able to offer pay rises in the near future. Part of the reason for withdrawing from the NJC was so that Turning Point would have more control over decisions around pay – I want to be able to use the funds available and distribute pay awards according to the needs of our organisation, rather than these decisions being made by an external body. Although, I can’t make any promises at this stage, it is my hope that the organisation will reach a position where pay awards will again be a real possibility and this is something that I am personally committed to keeping under continuous review. Growth was an issue which

was close to some of your hearts, in particular some of you wanted to see us grow in Wales.

Victor’s response: I am very passionate about growing, so that the work that we do is accessible to many more people. I would very much like to grow more in Wales.

The challenge we are always going to have is deciding which bids to go for and which not. Each has to be assessed carefully in terms of financial viability, the prospects of actually winning the bid and other demands on a limited team. If a large integrated service opportunity came up in Wales we would absolutely consider going for it. The difficulty with smaller bids is that it is sometimes difficult to achieve financial viability while providing the kind of service model we want.

We are thinking about refreshing the strategy for Wales as we look at all new growth prospects, so watch this space.

The visibility of the senior team was something that you appreciated and some of you felt had been improved in recent years. People were encouraged to hear more about what Victor and the Chief Executive’s team do but

there was some concern that we use the right language when talking to across the organisation so that it was accessible to a wide number of people. It was important that Turning Point wasn’t seen as a faceless company.

Victor’s response: We are looking at how we can do even better on this and I am in conversations with my senior team and our Employee Engagement Manager about how we can achieve this. We are absolutely committed to making sure that we keep in touch with, and have really good knowledge and intelligence about the everyday challenges and opportunities that all our services face. We will be developing our people and employee engagement agenda in the coming year and a part of this involves communicating with you all in a less corporate, more personal way and with straightforward more accessible language.

We will be communicating more on this on our intranet and in future editions of Talking Point. Victor is keen to stress that his email remains an open channel to him and would like you to continue to contact him in this way.

Please email Jacqueline.sharp@turning-point.co.uk or Philippa.nash-deary@turning-point.co.uk

if you would like more information about how they engaged the police to visit their People’s Parliament group.

INFO POINT

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Your Turning Point

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About Talking PointTurning Point is a registered charity, No. 234887

Address: Standon House, 21 Mansell St, London, E1 8AATel: 020 7481 7600www.turning-point.co.uk

Talking Point is published for Turning Point by Red & White Publishingwww.redandwhitepublishing.co.uk

Joan Bottomley, a 96 year-old person we support at our Reevy Road residential care home in Bradford, tells us how Turning Point is supporting her…

‘I recently moved to Reevy Road after living for more than 40 years in a nursing home. The move has been great for me. I now have a flat complete with a kitchen, lounge and bathroom that I share with my best friend Lily. That gives me a sense of independence but also someone close to be with. The flat was only recently decorated, and we got to have some input into how we wanted it, so it’s very much to our tastes. Being in the flat also means we get to choose what we want to eat and drink, and the staff here ensure the kitchen is well stocked for us. Being at Reevy Road has given me more opportunity to access the community too, because there is lots of staff support. I enjoy the house activities here and it’s great that I can entertain my family and friends in my flat.’

How Turning Point helped me

If one of your clients would like to share their experience of how Turning Point helped them, contact talkingpoint@turning-point.co.uk

INFO POINT

Jack Diamond, a client at our Countisbury House mental health service in Cardiff put pen to paper recently to write a festive poem. The poem is entitled ‘This garden’.

This GardenThis autumnas I gaze into the fusciawithout my glasses on,all I can seeis a blur of green and red.I think if only we had just a sprinkling of snowon Christmas morningfor the children ,I could seethe whole of Walesin just one bush.

If you have a service user who would like to share some poetry – or any creative writing – through Talking Point, please contact us via IRIS.

Poetry Corner

There are always plenty of fun events taking place across Turning Point to raise money for good causes, and the end of 2013 was no exception.

Colleagues at the Exchange took part in Save the Children’s Christmas Jumper Day in December, for example (above) encouraging people to wear Christmas attire in the office and make a small donation to Save the Children for the privilege.

Meanwhile, colleagues at the Exchange in Manchester held a Halloween bake sale (below), raising more

than £175, which was used to provide Christmas treats for families we support under our Substance Using Family Support Service. Congratulations to business development officer, Tanya Basu, for baking the winning cake!

Of course, November sees men around the world grow facial hair to raise awareness of prostate cancer under the name of ‘Movember’ – and colleagues across Turning Point also played their part in that last year. One of our mustachioed masters can be seen below.

Putting the fun into fundraising

Save money on printing!

Like how Talking Point looks as an e-magazine? Get in touch with

the marketing department if you’d like to publish any of your service publications or

newsletters like this.

A painting of Victor which was painted by service user Chris Turner (above with Victor)