We also have a blog from Charlotte Goulding, Palliative and End of Life Care Programme Manager for West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership.
Posted on: 21 July 2023
In this vlog, Cathy Elliott, Chair of NHS West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) and Deputy Chair of the West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership, focuses on the engagement and involvement work going on at the ICB Board and around West Yorkshire. This video was recorded on 4 July, before the 18 July ICB Board meeting.
Championing our children and young people’s hospices
Hello, my name's Charlotte.
Children’s hospices provide holistic and family-led support for babies, children and young people with life-limiting illnesses to help families make the most of every moment they have together. Contrary to what many think, a children’s hospice is not just about death and dying, or just about caring for the child - it’s about helping the whole family to live well. For the child, this includes overnight stays, creative therapy, days out, hydrotherapy, as well as nursing and medical care. For families, hospices provide counselling, peer-to-peer support groups, sibling support, memory making and bereavement support.
In this blog we visit Martin House Children’s Hospice (based in Wetherby) and the Forget Me Not children’s hospice (located in Huddersfield) to learn about the support they provide for babies, children, young people and their families across West Yorkshire, within the hospices and through community engagement.
Family support at Martin House
Many families who visit our hospices are surprised by the extent of support they receive.
For Rachel and Richard, Martin House gave them a ‘safety blanket’ for their 13-year-old son Jack. Diagnosed as a baby with conditions that mean his brain hasn’t grown as fast as it should, as well as severe epileptic seizures which starve his brain of oxygen, and the fact that he can’t swallow properly, Jack spent a great deal of his young life in and out of hospital.
But being referred to Martin House in summer 2020 meant Rachel and Richard know they have support when they need it. Rachel said, “I used to feel alone and scared. Now we have Martin House, I know I can just ring and speak to a doctor, even if it’s the weekend or at night – it’s our safety blanket.”
Our children and young people’s hospices also offer a range of bereavement and counselling support.
Forget Me Not’s support
Forget Me Not supports children with life-shortening conditions, their families and families living with the loss of their child across West Yorkshire. They provide expert clinical care, hydrotherapy, creative therapy, end-of-life care, bereavement support and counselling.
One of the unique areas of support that Forget Me Not offers is for families devastated by the sudden and unexpected death of their child. Losing your child suddenly is every parent’s worst nightmare. Sadly, for around 70 families in West Yorkshire every year, a sudden illness, a car accident, a fire, a suicide, will make this a tragic reality. Referrals for families whose child dies suddenly or unexpectedly come from various sources, including West Yorkshire Police, A&E departments at local hospitals, coroners’ officers and families themselves.
Once a family has been referred to Forget Me Not, they are contacted within 48 hours and offered immediate support to navigate the numerous systems and tasks they face, such as liaising with mortuary staff, coroners, police officers and registrars. Support is also offered to siblings and to families who are bewildered and sometimes re-traumatised by the complexity of what they have to face.
Families are also offered the opportunity to spend time in a private and comfortable space at the children’s hospice, where they can say their last goodbyes to their child and capture lasting memories.
Community engagement
Martin House and Forget Me Not hospices are committed to improving access to palliative and end-of-life care services for children and young people experiencing life-limiting conditions across West Yorkshire.
Nadiha Aktar and Sanaa Khan, cultural liaison officers at Martin House describe some of the challenges they have to overcome,
“One of the biggest battles has been breaking down some of the negative connotations around the word ‘hospice’, and that it is about far more than being a place where you come at the end of your life, “says Sanaa. Nadiha added, “We’ve found that working with some of the mums whose children use Martin House has been really successful in helping to overcome those perceptions. We also help people to understand that it is a place open to people of all faiths or none.”
Tara Mahmood, Forget Me Not’s South Asian family support worker explained how she supports families, “I offer advice and support to south Asian families and children who require palliative care, end-of-life support and to support choices and options. I will visit families at home or meet them at the hospice or anywhere where they feel comfortable. I often attend hospital scan or GP appointments to offer emotional support and translation. I run our spice and sparkle peer support group sessions and help with other groups like the walking group and rainbow baby group.”
A family member supported by Tara said, “Tara would come and visit on a weekly basis and I call her as well when things were going on and I didn’t know how to cope with it. That really helped - knowing that I could call her – I know she’ll be there."
This is just a snapshot of the family-centred and diverse support across West Yorkshire from Martin House and Forget Me Not.
Please do look out for our future blogs, as we visit other hospices across the region learning about the innovative and person-centred care our region should be very proud of.
Thanks for reading,
Charlotte
Leeds nurse amongst winners of national NHS photo competition
A research nurse at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (LTHT) is one of five winners of a nationwide photography competition celebrating the 75th anniversary of the NHS.
Ewa Gasior, Senior Research Nurse, won in the category ‘Our Care’ with a striking black and white photo that depicts the many hands that contribute to delivering patient care. The photo captioned “We’ve got you, You’ve got this,” was chosen for how it managed to capture the NHS core value of care, whether care to patients, volunteers, or to each other as colleagues.
The national competition, run by NHS England in partnership with Fujifilm, saw hundreds of the health service’s staff and volunteers from across the country enter photographs that told their unique stories of what the NHS means to them.
The five winners, each of whom represent the broad range of professions across the health service, were picked from a shortlist of 75 photographs across five different categories and their photographs were displayed at the NHS 75th anniversary service at Westminster Abbey on Wednesday 5 July. Read more on the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust website.
Information about measles
Measles has been circulating in England at higher levels so far this year, but the risk of large outbreaks in most regions is still low.
A press release from UKHSA was issued outlining the risk of between 40,000 and 160,000 cases sustained in London, but that the level of risk is considered low elsewhere in England.
250 hats knitted for babies born in Leeds during NHS75
Generous knitters have donated more than 250 hats in response to a campaign by the maternity team at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.
The campaign was part of celebrations for the 75th anniversary of the NHS on 5 July.
Knitters from across the country sent in a colourful array of hats in a variety of sizes which are being given to babies born in Leeds this year. 25 babies were born on 5 July at Leeds General Infirmary and St James’s Hospital. Read more on the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust website.
NHS West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board
The NHS West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) met in public for the seventh time on Tuesday in Batley. The Board’s role includes agreeing a plan for health and care services in West Yorkshire that delivers the area’s five-year strategy. Most decisions about circa £5billion budget and the services delivered locally are made in the five local places of West Yorkshire, via its strong local place partnerships in Bradford District and Craven, Calderdale, Kirklees, Leeds, and Wakefield District. The meeting included a pre-engagement session with people who access and deliver community care. The session was led by Thea Stein, CEO for Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust and Rob Aitchison, Calderdale, and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust, with other colleagues joining the session from organisations across the care provider collaborative. People shared their stories on community dental services, unplanned care, and urgent community care in the community.
The Board received an update from Cathy Elliott, Chair of the Board, and our CEO Rob Webster, as well as a focus on community care services, putting people at the heart of decision-making, commissioning services and the ICB’s draft Joint Forward Plan, which was approved. This sets out the ambitions and delivery of NHS care as part of West Yorkshire’s Integrated Care Strategy published in March. The plan was launched on 20 July. You can read the board papers, or watch a recording of the meeting at westyorkshire.icb.nhs.uk/meetings/integrated-care-board
Interviews with Board meeting and engagement session attendees:
Launch of our big plans
Building on people’s views on how its ambitions for the NHS will be achieved in a new joint forward plan for the area, the Five-year Integrated Care Strategy and the NHS Joint Forward Plan are available to view on the Partnership’s website at https://
Co-produced in partnership with colleagues from across all health and care sectors in West Yorkshire, they have been developed from Healthwatch engagement, local involvement activities, views from meetings held in public via the local health and wellbeing boards, West Yorkshire Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee, the NHS WY ICB and WY HCP Board.
A public consultation between January and March this year highlighted the importance of access to care, including GPs and dentists as well as breaking down health inequalities, better joined up care, workforce recruitment, and ‘getting the basics right.’ You can also read more about our Five-year Integrated Care Strategy and the Joint Forward Plan on the Partnership’s website news page.
Violence Reduction Partnership
Mayor of West Yorkshire, Tracy Brabin, launched the county’s first Violence Reduction Partnership this week. The switch from a Violence Reduction Unit marks the recent introduction of a Serious Violence Duty, placing legal expectations on key agencies. For more information, see the news pages on the West Yorkshire Combined Authority website.
All friends and secure together at independent living scheme, Stoney Garth
In the latest of our your home, your choice videos, residents Caroline and Anthea talk about life at Stoney Garth, an independent living scheme in Wakefield and describe their reasons for rightsizing. It was the right time for Caroline who felt she couldn’t care for her husband, who is physically disabled, as well as she used to. Anthea says it was difficult looking after mum and made the move after coming along to an open day to find out more about the options available to her. Living at Stoney Garth means they can mix with other people in a welcoming and friendly environment. They both like the extra security too. Coffee mornings, bingo, gardening, and group games are just some of the activities on offer. It’s never too soon to start thinking about a house that works for you. Join the conversation. Visit http://yourhome-yourchoice.co.uk to find resources and support to rightsize.
Green plan
We have updated our West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership Green Plan 2022-2025 which was written in response to the national Greener NHS document Delivering a Net Zero Health Service. The plan highlights some of the work that we’re already doing, describes the actions and targets for the next three years and brings together the green plans of NHS trusts across West Yorkshire.
Reducing the impact on our environment
In this two-minute video, the Partnership's Climate Change lead, Frank Swinton talks about the links between adversity, trauma and climate change. Climate change is here and now and Frank's response to feeling overwhelmed is to take action. The video is part of a panel discussion recorded at our Adversity, Trauma and Resilience Knowledge Exchange in March 2023. For more resources sign up to our Adversity, Trauma and Resilience digital portal or search ‘West Yorkshire trauma informed’.
Give your unwanted clothing a new home
Earlier this year we were proud to become the first Partnership of Sanctuary in the UK and want to do everything we can to support people seeking sanctuary in the Wakefield district and beyond. We know that many of you will have many items of clothing that you don’t need, perhaps they no longer fit, or you just don’t reach for them anymore. If you’re having a clear-out, please consider donating your unwanted items, particularly men’s clothing that are in good, clean condition. There will be a designated drop off point on the ground floor at White Rose House and we’ll ensure they reach people in need. Additionally, supplies of clean, new underwear and socks are always needed so if you have any of these, in any size please do consider donating them too.
We are also collecting essential toiletries like deodorant, shower gels, toothbrush/paste, period products, for people seeking sanctuary. If you have any, or feel like you could purchase an item on your next supermarket visit, then please bring those along too as we know they will be gratefully received.
West Yorkshire Learning Environments and Placements (LEAP) culture change event
The West Yorkshire LEAP team hosted a successful culture change event earlier this month, focusing on workforce, retention and creating supportive environments where people thrive. The event also showcased the work of student-led clinics and other innovative projects, ending with a session on compassionate leadership. A personal commitment to change activity finished the day - this will be re-visited in 3 months’ time, on 4 October 12-1 with an MS Teams lunch and reflection session. If you would like to attend this session, please email wy.
New director of strategy and change at South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
Following Salma Yasmeen’s success in moving to become chief executive at Sheffield Health and Social Care NHS Foundation Trust, Dr Dawn Lawson has been appointed to the role of director of strategy and change following a robust and very competitive process. Dawn brings vast experience in partnership working, change, and innovation. Her previous roles have included chief executive of Liverpool Health Partners, chief operating officer at Yorkshire and Humber Academic Health Science Network (AHSN), as well as senior management roles in NHS providers.
All the very best to Anna
Wakefield District Director of Public Health Anna Hartley is to leave Wakefield this autumn to take up a new position as Executive Director of Public Health and Communities at Barnsley Council.
Anna has shown outstanding commitment during her time in Wakefield, supporting the district through various challenges. Most prominently, she guided the public health response through the COVID-19 pandemic – demonstrating tireless and determined leadership.
Before training in public health, Anna worked in a multi-purpose community centre in the voluntary sector, for the NHS in Leeds and in the West Yorkshire Police to address the needs of vulnerable adults in the criminal justice system. She has a national and regional lead role for the Association of Directors of Public Health on the health of asylum seekers and refugees and is the lead Director of Public Health for West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board on inclusion health.