1. Bath and North East Somerset
June Issue 5
This issue’s Top Topics
Introduction
Update on Transformation Plans
You Said, We Did
Feel The Difference Fund
Friends and Family Test
Easy Read materials - update
National Citizens Panel Week
Introduction
Welcome to the June edition of the Bath and North East Somerset Citizens Voice – your Citizens’ Panel newsletter. You are receiving this newsletter because you have signed up to be a member of the Bath and North East Somerset Citizens’ Panel. The newsletter will also give up to date information on progress that has been made in transforming health and social care in our area.
Update on Transformation Plans
Mobile Working
We will shortly begin deployment of mobile working across a number of our services with expected completion of the project by the end of the year. We are starting with our Reablement, District Nursing and Community Matron services. There are a number of key benefits that the introduction of mobile working will help to deliver as follows:
Virgin Care colleagues will be able to access current service user records whilst with the service user;
Service user records are updated straight away reducing the risk of information being missed;
Increased time spent with the service user;
Potential that more service user appointments can be delivered per day.
Earlier this year we engaged with Citizens’ Panel members to share with them the two devices we were looking at to use as a mobile working solution. We took their feedback, along with feedback from a number of early adopter users and a decision was made on which device we are going to use. Devices the staff will use will depend on their role, for example, Community Matrons, District Nurses, Out of Hours and Twilight Nurses will get laptops. A decision is yet to be made about which device social care staff will use.

2. Transformation Plans Reablement
The Reablement Service provides personal care, help with daily living activities and other practical tasks, usually for a short, fixed amount of weeks. Reablement encourages service users to develop the confidence and skills to carry out these activities themselves and continue to live at home.
What has the project done so far?
The Reablement Review is an internally focussed review assessing the current service model in reablement and identifying any areas for improvement and new ways of working.
An audit of activity was completed during a week in May across the reablement service and we will be analysing the data from this audit to understand key trends.
What is the plan for this month?
We are working with commissioners and strategic domiciliary care partners to update a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP). A SOP is a set of step by step instructions developed by an organisation to help colleagues carry out complex, routine tasks.
3 Conversations
Social care workers, and people from all walks of life, are coming together to change the way social care works. Everyone would benefit from better and more effective support for people who need it and social care staff want people to be able to live their lives as independently as possible.
We have launched a number of innovation (pilot) sites across our social care teams to test our new approach and work differently with people. We meet once a fortnight to learn from each other, share stories and discuss the data we have collected.
In these innovation sites, social care staff will be listening to what’s important to the people they support, what’s working well and what they need help with. They are working with people to help them get the right support at the right time, with help, wherever possible, from families, friends and the local community.
We have launched innovation sites in our community and hospital teams and will be exploring how we can expand our hospital innovation sites. We are also working with health colleagues to explore how our new approach can potentially be spread into health services.

3. Transformation Plans Integrated Care Record (ICR)
The Integrated Care Record is a platform that provides secure access to joined up, timely information from multiple care providers enabling improved results and experience for service users, whilst helping to make things more efficient across the local health and care economy. There are a number of key benefits that will be released by the introduction of the Integrated Care Record, such as:
Improved safety – having accurate information available when needed
Improved service user experience – telling their story once
Real time information sharing – improved communication between organisations
Improved outcomes – integrated care plan enabling quicker and more efficient decision-making
Improved data quality – reduce potential duplication and errors in record keeping
Enables us to manage any risks effectively
Enables care co-ordination – care closer to home / reduce acute admissions
Improve operational efficiency
The first phase of the Integrated Care Record was launched in June 2018 with a small number of Virgin Care services and we are continuing to work across other Virgin Care services in B&NES and third party providers to enhance the data available in the ICR. We will shortly be starting work and engagement on the introduction of the service user portal which will allow users of services to access their own records and we will welcome the opportunity to work with members of the Citizens’ Panel at this point.
Mental Health
Bath and North East Somerset Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and the Council are reviewing the way community mental health services are delivered locally so they can decide what improvements need to be made in the future.
The review began last summer, when they asked people to tell them what is working well in current services, what could be improved and where there are gaps.
The Council and CCG held a series of public workshops to bring together people who use services, those who care for and support them, those who deliver services and anyone with an interest, to discuss in more detail how community mental health services could be improved.
The Council and the CCG are reviewing all of the feedback they’ve had from people so far and will share a summary with the public, as well as an outline of the next steps of the review.
If you have any questions or ideas about how community mental health services can be improved, please get in touch on

4. Transformation Plans Assistive Technology
What has the project done so far?
The CCG have launched a pilot to look at how assistive technology can help clinicians to assess a person’s need when they come out of hospital. They are currently trialling sensor systems – these sense movement and activity in a person’s home and can help therapists to monitor when a person might be more at risk (for example, when walking to the toilet at night time).
The CCG have also just received some ‘Ethels’ which are large computer tablets that enable a clinician to send prompts to patients (eg to take their medication), to video call or to send through exercise guidance. Family or friends can also download the app for free to interact with their loved one from long distances.
What is the plan for this month?
The CCG will continue to offer sensor systems and support via ‘Ethels’ to people coming out of hospital.
Home Care
B&NES Council and the CCG have been reviewing best practice in home care across the UK and have made contact with two other local authorities who are introducing new and innovative models. They have also looked at current services in B&NES and how they work for people.
The Council and CCG have held two workshops, one with commissioners and people who provide services, and the other with people who use services and those who care for them. Both workshops explored how we could make home care better in the future.
The Council and CCG are working with the Carers Centre to plan some further engagement with people who use services and those who care for them. They are also hoping to learn more from colleagues in other local authorities about their approaches.
How can you get involved?
If you have any experiences or views to share about home care, please get in touch with Alison Enever, Commissioning Project Manager on

5. Friends and Family Test (FFT)
Service users who receive our services are asked if they would recommend us to their family and friends if they needed similar care or treatment. This is called the Friends and Family Test. During April, May and June 98% of respondents said they would recommend our services.
Sample quotes:
Health Visiting Twerton and Moorland – “Fantastic knowledgeable staff. Really helped me with my baby.”
Learning Disabilities Autistic Spectrum Service – “They were really friendly and made us feel comfortable and that they really cared about helping us. We feel very positive about the future now.”
Mental Health Floating Support – “I have valued the support very much. They have been a lifeline for me at a very difficult time in my life – so positive and practical – a lovely person who is skilled in her role and genuinely interested in people and how to help and support.
You Said We Did
You Said We Did is a national Virgin Care programme that provides local evidence of how service user and carer feedback feeds into service improvements.
Examples:
Community Paediatrics
You Said: Child is due to transition to secondary school and needs their autism assessment completing urgently to support transition.
We Did: Agreed to give a priority appointment and to communicate the results ahead of agreed timeframes to the primary and secondary settings.
Integrated Hospital Services
You Said: Patients and their families wanted more information about the structure and content of family meetings.
We Did: We produced an information sheet for patients and relatives to tell them about family meetings held in the ward.
Learning Disabilities Social Work Team
You Said: Some male service users across both localities have asked for male workers to work with them as this is more appropriate
We Did: Social Workers are working across both localities when needed to support positive outcomes for service users.

6. Smokefree NHS Initiative Smoking is England’s biggest killer
Smokefree NHS Initiative Smoking is England’s biggest killer. We will be introducing the smokefree NHS initiative from January 2019 to help us lead the way in tackling this problem. We will provide support to help people to live longer, healthier lives. A smokefree NHS will be a place where every smoker receives quitting advice and support as part of their care and NHS sites can be smokefree environments for service users, colleagues and visitors. Survey We have done a comprehensive survey of colleagues to see if they know about what is going to happen. The results of the survey are: 194 people completed the survey. 66% were already aware of the NHS Smokefree sites policy and 82% did not consider it acceptable to smoke on NHS sites. Of those who identified as a Virgin colleague and a smoker 32% said they would take up the offer of free stop smoking support. Issues raised included concerns about compliance and enforcing the policy; the impact on service users and the impact on the local community. Next steps The next steps we are going to take are to do some publicity around the six months to the start of the initiative. The Healthy Lifestyles Team are working with a number of different colleague groups around raising awareness of what is going to be happening and offering our stopping smoking support services.

7. Feel The Difference Fund
Each year Virgin sets aside £100,000 to fund projects designed, developed and implemented by colleagues delivering services across the country, as part of our commitment that everyone feels the difference. The Citizens’ Panel votes on the B&NES applications monthly.
Successful Applications – April
Recipe cards for Feel Good Food, Connections Day Services, Radstock.
A cookery group that helps service users and the public cook meals successfully won funding to produce new recipe cards to encourage healthy eating. The Feel Good Food Group is currently introducing new recipes following feedback from members and will now be able to print the new recipes in an easy read format for users to take away as part of their Feel Good Food bags.
No applications were received in May
Applications - June
We have had two applications for funding in June. These are:
Autism Spectrum Conditions Service have asked for funding for an Autism Assistance Dog for one of their service users.
Shared Lives Service have asked to fund their annual barbeque for carers, clients and colleagues.
A decision will be made in the next couple of weeks about whether to fund these projects.

8. National Citizens’ Panel Week
Engagement with users of Learning Disabilities services. Thank you for your feedback on the Easy Read Citizens’ Panel application form and poster. We have collated all your responses, together with feedback that we collected from a number of Learning Disabilities (LD) user groups and have developed the final versions. The Clinical Commissioning Group have decided that the Panel will be their chosen key channel to disseminate information to and feed information back to service providers and LD service users. Martha visited an LD providers Forum to talk about the Panel and how we could work with them to engage with users of the LD services. Around 20 providers were present. Plans going forward: A launch event for LD support workers and LD service users to introduce and explain the Citizens’ Panel; Development of an explanation package for users and colleagues about the Panel; Martha will be attending the Shared Lives Service annual barbeque in July to introduce the carers to the Panel.
National Citizens’ Panel Week
National Citizens’ Panel Week took place during the week beginning the 11th June. We had a stand and information at the entrances to both Paulton and St Martins Hospitals. We also had a stand at our colleagues celebration afternoon. The Healthy Lifestyles Team took information around with them to events eg diabetes support groups. The Volunteer Centre in Bath library displayed some information for us. The aim of the week was to raise the profile of Citizens’ Panels both nationally and locally and to hopefully recruit some new members.
Thank you to Pippa Hawkins and Fiona Carr for helping at the stand.
Want more information?
If you would like more information about anything mentioned in this newsletter, if you have any ideas about items we could feature or have any feedback about the Citizens’ Panel then please contact Martha Cox, B&NES Engagement Lead on or
Website
Have you had a look at our website recently?
You will find more information about what we are doing on there.