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Alone we can do so little; together we achieve so much! NEWS UPDATE: NOVEMBER 2008 Welcome to the November news update. As many of you know we are now online and we are uploading information on a regular basis. The website also contains a blog so if you would like to contribute we would like to hear from you. We welcome your comments and suggestions. If you have any information that you would like to share with others please let us know and we will be happy to circulate it in the next newsletter. If you are reading a copy of this email forwarded to you by a colleague we may not have your contact details. If you would like to guarantee a regular monthly copy of the mailing send your details to info@dignifiedrevolution.org.uk Dignity is More Than Just a Word Monday 26 January 2009 at RNIB Cymru, This event is now fully booked. However, we are running it again on 2 March 2009 at Age Concern Cymru The workshops are focused on fine tuning communication and listening skills to enrich relationships between clients, relatives and carers (and colleagues) Email for more information Download resources Copies of our case studied and the writing guide can now be downloaded from the links below Writing Guide www.healthcarealliances.co.uk/?WritingGuide Case Study 1 www.healthcarealliances.co.uk/?CaseStudyMD Case Study 2 www.healthcarealliances.co.uk/?CaseStudyJA Case study 3 www.healthcarealliances.co.uk/?CaseStudyLM GOOD NEWS CORNER From the seminars that we held in Cardiff and Wrexham this month we have been told about a number of examples of good practice and one of the attendees has kindly sent us a case study which is focused on the excellent care that his father received at Caerphilly Miners Hospital. Below are some excerpts. Email If you would like a copy of the case study. “From the staff in the admissions unit to the ward they spoke to us to inform us of his condition and what the treatment plan was. When I told them that I am a nurse they spoke to me using terminology that I would understand but I was not intimidated or threatened by this. They had also spoken to Dad in an appropriate and dignified manner to explain to him what was going on before he lost consciousness. My mother and I then stayed at Dad’s beside overnight. The staff were happy for us to do this and returned frequently to see how we were. We were offered countless cups of tea and they came and attended to Dad on a regular basis looking at his pressure areas and administering oral care as he was on 100% oxygen. He was unaware of our presence but we wanted to be there The nursing staff got it absolutely right during that long night. The popped over to see how we were without crowding us but making themselves available for anything we may have wanted. They played a blinder and it made me very proud to be a nurse and to see and experience how well things can be done”. We have also been made aware of an initiative in ACTIVITY Choosing Protection: Action on Elder Abuse Conference On 6 November we attended an Action on Elder Abuse conference that was held in Llandrindod Wells. It was an interesting and informative day dedicated towards legislation to protect vulnerable adults, an issue that is the focus of its current campaign. You can lend your support to the campaign by signing the Action on Elder Abuse petition Helping to ensure that people are treated with dignity and respect During November we ran seminars in m older people are starting to switch off because of the jargon that is being used m people need to obtain knowledgeable assistance when they are applying for benefits otherwise they could lose out m the continuing care assessment does not give a sense of who the person really is. It is so impersonal m do multidisciplinary teams really exist? m what training do people get to carry out assessments? m it is impossible to get a copy of a care plan m patients and relatives do not complain because they are concerned that it might affect their care m people don Edited feedback from the above events is provided below. More in-depth feedback can be found on the website "I wanted just to say how much I enjoyed the half day on Friday. My main interest in this area came from when I was teaching and encountered a description of appalling neglect involving an older patient who had been starved for 38 hours after her hip operation had been cancelled and rescheduled for the following day. I would like to stay in contact and perhaps make a contribution to your group as and when time permits" "This was a very interesting meeting which needs to be given a lot of thought when paying for care at home or in care or nursing homes. With all claims for help, financial or otherwise, there is an awarding criteria. It is essential therefore, that prospective claimants first seek advice from the Citizens Advice Bureau or a franchised legal practice specializing with DWP Benefits before submitting a claim” Another event was held on 11 November at m people won m concern about poor personal care in hospital, for example ingrained dirt around the neck and nails m a suggestion that some older patients prefer to wear bibs when having their meals m concern that there are support services, such as advocacy, available but people are not made aware of them It was suggested that: m there needed to be information and advice services sited in areas regularly accessed by the public – for example pharmacies. It was also suggested that a central hub should not be for specific age groups but should cover information relevant to all age groups m an information pathway could be developed that runs alongside care pathways so that patients/relatives and carers receive information at the appropriate point in their care. This has been developed for maternity services m a compliment, concern and complaint board could be situated outside the ward that patients, relatives and carers can use and which wards can use to take action at a local level. Voicing concerns and taking action swiftly might have the effect of avoiding complaints Edited feedback from 11 November is given below. More in-depth feedback with our responses can be found on the website "We all thoroughly enjoyed your presentations. I feel you have both come a long way in such a short time and wish you my very best wishes in continuing this much needed work. If I can be of any help, please be assured of my support" "I found your presentations both very informative and moving and at times felt ashamed that our profession had let you both down when caring for your relatives. However lessons can be learned and in doing so we can move forward and restore the "caring" element back within our profession. Although it was difficult at times to hear other people’s views of the nursing profession today, I hope that you can both be reassured, as can the other members who were there yesterday, that we are trying to promote the needs of our older patients both from within education and from clinical practice. I very much look forward to continue to support your work and if there is anything that I can do from within education to support, promote or circulate information on your behalf, please do not hesitate to contact me" “I enjoyed the session and it is always good to hear other peoples views, however, I have to say that it did feel a bit like nurses where getting a battering, and on some occasions I felt rather intimidated by the aggression shown by some members of the audience, this left me feeling that I couldn “I was one of only 3 nurses attending your seminar and also felt very battered by members of the public. I attended the seminar because I do care and want to make a difference, however I suffered a personal attack by a member of the public just for speaking out in our defence. it seems to me that if nurses care enough to attend organisers should make it clear that personal attacks are not acceptable - otherwise we will only alienate those nurses whose practice we seek to change …. During the course of my shift (on a ward for persons over 75 years) I was called “dearie”, “girlie”, “fatty”, “big fat one”, “Oi you”, “nursey” and” love” - and “staffy” which i believe is a breed of dog. Please remember respect works both ways” Our response to the above email acknowledges the fact that for dignity to be maintained respect has to work both ways. We sympathise with how the correspondent felt in this situation. It is not dissimilar to how patients/relatives and carers often feel when their knowledge, views and preferences are deemed unimportant by professionals. They are left feeling unimportant and lonely in a strange environment. The full response to the email can be viewed on the blog page of the website National Federation of Women’s Institute (WI) We attended a meeting at the Dignity is more than just a word We ran a workshop on 18 November in Workforce away day – dignity and respect We participated in Age Concern Morgannwg We have been invited to: m speak at Age Concern North Wales Central annual meeting in March next year. This is an event to which staff, volunteers, trustees and members are invited m attend the Conwy Voluntary Sector the Network Annual General Meeting to talk about A Dignified Revolution. The meeting is being held on 17 March 2009 m speak to the Carmarthen Positive ROYAL “I spoke about dignity at this year I Every day more than a million people in the The RCN is publishing various campaign materials and resources to inspire improvements in practice and boost the quality of care for patients and clients More information can be found on the RCN website COMMUNICATION – HOW CAN WE IMPROVE OUR SKILLS There was an article in a recent edition of the Nursing in Practice Journal that emphasised the importance of effective communication in the caring process. The author questioned whether nurses are skilled in verbal and non verbal communication and asked whether nurses update on these skills or just learn from experience. She says that the "Fundamentals of care and good communication should be at the heart of everything we do. A good consultation should start the moment you see the patient. Their nonverbal communication will tell you a lot about how they are feeling before they even speak. Listening to what they have to say about how they feel is an essential aspect of communication. Good communication is an essential component of high-quality care if we are to ascertain the patient We would agree with this view as poor communication is central to the many experiences that are shared with us and re-enforced in many of the recent reports that are related to NHS service provision. Written communication is equally important and it is interesting that over the last few months A Dignified Revolution has written to a number of statutory and professional organisations with requests for information but failed to receive replies. It would be interesting to know whether organisations have policies that stipulate timescales for responding to correspondence. DO BORDERS CREATE BARRIERS? In our previous issue of the news update we reported that our representative of A Dignified Revolution was asked to step down from a Welsh Assembly Dignity in Care Social Care Sub Group because she lives in "I was - let The key point for me is this lady Devolution has meant many carers (including me, whose late mother lived in Shropshire whilst I "It’s astounding that anyone’s current address is the criteria for involvement in anything like this! And yes, this introspective, not-one-of-us mentality is corrosive, short-sighted - an anathema in any progressive 21st century nation. It results in the ‘usual suspects’ style of involvement. Our representative who has now stood down from the social care group has written to the Welsh Assembly Government to register a formal complaint. She has also written to the MP and AM of the constituency where her mother lived, and to DAISY In June 2006 Sue Davies won a retrospective appeal against Carmarthen Local Health Board for the return of nursing care fees. £40,600 of the fees have been donated to Alzheimer’s Sue’s experience has been turned into a story and she has presented it to various groups across the country, most recently in Since early 2007 Sue has been part of the support team for the Cardiff Law School Pro Bono Clinic on Continuing NHS Healthcare and in October this year she presented her personal story at the in the student induction training week. Second and third year postgraduate law students have to take on extra responsibilities during their degree course. Young students who are prepared to bridge the generation gap, get involved with distressed families trying to get the support they need for their loved ones. They have to rise to the challenge of a steep learning curve when dealing with all local authorities concerned. They need to become familiar with terms relating to dementia such as incontinence, confusion, mood swings, memory loss, challenging behaviour, cognitive impairment, etc; all the terms that in general the young would not want to be interested or associated with. This is an excellent example of inter-generational working. As a result of her presentation 106 students out of 180 signed up to take on Continuing NHS Healthcare case work and for a second year running the Pro Bono team were nominated for the student team category of the junior lawyer’s division and won 1st prize. This success reflects the hard work and commitment of the Cardiff Law School Pro Bono staff, their students and all their supporters. NEWS Paying for Care in The Welsh Assembly Government wants to hear what the general public and stakeholders have to say about how it can create a fairer and more sustainable system for paying for care in the future. Further information can be found on the Paying for Care website . There are a number of ways in which people can air their views on the key issues by the deadline of 28 February 2009. You can email to obtain a hard copy of the consultation document and to send your views or write to the Paying for Care Team, Older People and Long Term Care Policy Directorate, Welsh Assembly Government, Cathays Park, Cardiff CF10 3NQ Reform of palliative care services announced Recommendations of a new report to improve palliative care services across New advocacy service for older people in north Age Concern North Wales Central has been awarded three year funding from Comic Relief. It will provide an advocacy service for older people living in, or faced with entering, care homes. Recruitment is under way and once the post is filled the first priority will be to recruit a small team of volunteer advocates. The service should be fully up and running by early 2009. For more information email bryn.williams@acnwc.org Dignity and justice for all There will be an event taking place at the Assembly building, The Senedd, Disability Wales is involved in a steering group mapping out an event to mark the occasion. The steering group is made up of Welsh national and local disability organisations representing the diversity of disabled people Periods of healthy old age A report has claimed that the health of older Europeans varies widely between countries, even in those with longer life expectancies, The study found people in Talking to old people like children cuts eight years off their lives Calling elderly people NHS A recent survey shows that people want to see tougher action taken against the NHS when it fails to help patients in pain A Help the Aged survey of more than 1,000 people found nearly two-thirds thought hospitals should be penalised for poor "pain management". The charity said the issue needed to be made a key priority like MRSA and waiting times - instead of being seen as doctors as inevitable in old age. It also called for pain management to become more of a priority across the rest of the NHS, including in GP care NICE must throw open the files on Alzheimer drug ruling Campaigners are hailing a landmark victory in the fight to overturn a ban on £2.50-a-day Alzheimer Read more on the Daily Mail website Super Charity calls on services to forge links with older patients The new charity that has evolved as a result of the merger between Help The Aged and Age Concern is calling on managers to forge closer links with social services to ensure that older people stay in hospital for the right length of time. The chair of the new charity said older people sometimes stay in hospital too long because a nursing home place cannot be found, and others are discharged too soon to increase patient flow. She said that managers should consult with older people when designing and commissioning services. Source: HSJ 6 November 2008 Hospital tied up elderly patients An investigation by Harrow Primary Care Trust (PCT) found nursing staff at We used to call them angels, so why have some nurses stopped caring? This article, recently in the Daily Mail gives an account of an elderly woman Patients for patient safety Action against Medical Accidents (AvMA) is looking to develop a wider Network of individual patients and members of the public who are interested in working with the NHS to improve patient safety. The aim is to ensure that such people are not isolated and can feel part of a network where they can share ideas and obtain mutual support.. For more information email anna@avma.org.uk or tel:020 8688 9555. For more information about AvMA visit www.avma.org.uk C. diff deaths in care homes triple in two years The number of elderly people killed by the superbug C. diff in care homes has tripled in two years. Experts said residential and nursing homes are breeding grounds for the bug, which mainly attacks the elderly, as so many people live in a small space. The figures show that private homes have far more cases of C. diff - an infection which can lead to diarrhoea and severe bowel inflammation, than state-run ones Measuring dignity in health and care services for older people The Picker Institute is developing a set of indicators for the measurement of dignity in care for older people. The indicators will be based upon the nine domains of care set out in the Challenge of Dignity in Care, a report produced for Help the Aged. The domains include personal hygiene, eating and nutrition, privacy, communication, pain, autonomy, personal care, end of life care and social inclusion Pope speaks to doctors about dignity of patients Pope Benedict XVI recently spoke to a group of Italian surgeons about the dignity of their patients High quality nursing care - what is it and how can we best ensure its delivery? This edition of Policy + looks at what high quality nursing care is, the challenges facing the nursing profession regarding the nurse of the future, and suggests ways in which the profession can better ensure high quality care for all Can you measure nursing? This edition of Policy + explores measures of the quality of nursing care and is based on the National Nursing Research Unit (NNRU) report State of the art metrics for nursing : a rapid appraisal. Drawing on a range of existing sets of indicators and systematic reviews linking aspects of nursing to patient outcomes, the paper examines whether or not nursing could be routinely measured in a way which would allow comparison between institutions and facilitate accountability for the quality of care RESOURCES Right care, Right deal coalition launches new campaign website Right care, Right deal - a coalition of three of the Royal A national clinical guideline on perioperative fasting has been produced by the RCN It provides recommendations for good practice and is intended to provide key source material for developing local guidelines. A quick reference guide is provided. There is a template for developing a patient information leaflet. There are also suggestions for engaging staff on the issue Supporting carers: an action guide for general practitioners and their teams The Princess Royal Trust for Carers and the Royal College of General Practitioners have teamed up to launch a self-assessment toolkit for primary care teams. It is designed to help them pool knowledge and skills and build on existing good practice, put in place systems for identifying carers at the earliest possible stage and share good practice with colleagues nationally. The guide comprises chapters on developing an action plan, case studies and sources of further information The Home Front The Home Front training pack has been designed especially for the domiciliary care sector, by people who have worked in, and understand the difficulties and complexities of delivering quality care in private homes. For further information about the training pack email enquiries@elderabuse.org.uk or tel: 020 8765 7000 Improving care in residential care homes: a literature review This review examines the research evidence available to support improved care for older people in residential homes Informal care for older people provided by their adult children This report looks at how around 250,000 vulnerable pensioners could be left without family care by 2041, opening up an unpaid care gap and potentially increasing demand for paid services Signpost - journal of dementia and mental health care for older people Signpost is a multidisciplinary journal aimed at professionals and carers working with older people with dementia and other mental health problems. It provides a user-friendly source of information and education, and is an enjoyable and often moving read Dignity in dying Dignity in Dying is the leading campaigning organisation promoting patient choice at the end of life. We are also a major information source on end-of-life issues. Dignity in Dying is independent of any political, religious or other affiliations. We are supported entirely by voluntary contributions from members of the public.Dignity in Dying strongly supports good palliative care, and is the leading provider of advance decisions (living wills) in the FORTHCOMING EVENTS Gala celebrity evening Monday 12 January 2009 Join Amanda Waring, the Awareness programme and the British Institute of Human Rights for a Gala Celebrity Evening at BAFTA, Amanda Waring is an actress, writer, film maker and campaigner for the elderly. She will be presenting her award winning short film "What Do You See?" made in memory of her mother actress Dorothy Tutin Rabbi Dame Julia Neuberger will be reading from her new book "Not Dead Yet: A Manifesto for Old Age" To book tickets email amanda@8fca.co.uk. For more information about Amanda 29 January 2009 QEII Conference Centre, For more information email vicky.bowness@govnet.co.uk Action on Elder Abuse National Conference 2009 23 March 2009 East Midlands Conference Centre, For more information tel; 0208 765 7000 RCN Nursing Older People conference 1 April 2009 For more information email pat.anslow@rcn.org.uk THE FUNDING OF A DIGNIFIED REVOLUTION The common experience of how close relatives, whilst in hospital, had not been treated with respect and, as a result, lost their dignity led a group of individuals to establish A Dignified Revolution in January 2008. A Dignified Revolution aims to ensure that older people are cared for with dignity and respect in hospital. We do this by raising awareness of dignity and respect issues to health professionals and to the general public All our events and publications are provided free of charge. If we do not receive sufficient donations, then we pay for the difference out of our own pockets. If you would like to help, we would like your time most of all. However, some cash would also be useful. £15 covers the cost of a person attending an awareness day; £30 covers the cost of printing and posting 100 leaflets; £100 covers the cost of one trip between North and Donations will help us to continue our work – so please give generously if you think our cause is worthwhile. Not a penny will be spent on administration or overheads – we don’t have any! Cheques should be made payable to A Dignified Revolution. We want to remain focussed on our goal of helping older people retain their dignity whilst in hospital. In order to avoid being diverted onto other issues and priorities, we do not seek statutory sector funding (although unsolicited grants will be accepted). So your support is important and will help to make a difference. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We would like to thank the following people for giving their time and expertise to help develop resources to support A Dignified Revolution: Lance Webster – for the design of our logo An individual (who would like to remain anonymous) for her production of our leaflet The Welsh Language Board – for the translation of our leaflet CONTACT DETAILS A Dignified Revolution Britannia House, Tel: 07811 159800 Fax: 01446 774864 Email: info@dignifiedrevolution.org.uk Website: www.dignifiedrevolution.org.uk |
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