The MPFT Podcast

March is when the NHS Staff Survey results are published, and we are delighted to announce MPFT scorded above average in all nine of the key elements of the 2023 NHS Staff Survey, surpassing our previous year's results despite another difficult year for NHS services.

In this episode we are joined by two colleagues from our Organisational Development Team (Lisa Whitehouse and Abbie Charlesworth) who discuss the highlights in our results, and also the importance of the survey results in shaping and improving the health and social care services we provide.

Our Safeguarding Team offer an introduction to the White Ribbon campaign, and discuss the recent announcement of MPFT becoming White Ribbon accredited.

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Unemployment rates are often high for people with mental health issues and the road to a new job can feel overwhelming.

Within Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin, MPFT is working with specialist mental health employment support service Enable to support people to find work suited to their interests and skills. We chat with Neil Woodhouse, an Early Intervention Support Worker with MPFT, and Matt Morris, Senior Employment Specialist with Enable to explore this further.

Mike Cooper and Jade Clarke are MPFT Mental Health Nurses who work with local authorities, housing associations, and voluntary and community organisations in Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin to offer mental health support to people who are sleeping rough or experiencing homelessness.

They talk about the support they provide to some of the most vulnerable people in society, what motivates them, and the difference it is making.

Speaking up to raise a concern about anything that gets in the way of good patient care is vital in ensuring lessons are learned and services can continuously improve.

To mark Speak Up Month, which takes place throughout October each year, we chat with Kath Chambers, one of MPFT’s Freedom to Speak Up Guardians about the role and process of speaking up, and why she’s so committed to ensuring this is business as usual across the NHS.

In this podcast episode, we have the pleasure of chatting with Beth Barnett, an Occupational Therapist at MPFT.

Listen to Beth open up about her career journey, and share the driving force behind her choice to become an Occupational Therapist, and highlight her favourite aspects of the role.

In this episode we chat with two of our staff about the work that they have been doing to keep inpatients active during a hospital stay to support with their recovery.

The fun, inventive approaches that they and others across the Trust have taken to support our patients has led to MPFT being one of just a handful of NHS trusts in the Midlands to receive the Recondition the Nation Platinum Award.

Join Carol and Stacey in this episode of the Parents Podcast Series where they talk about breastfeeding when returning to work.

It can be a daunting prospect thinking about returning to work while breastfeeding. Carol and Stacey discuss your rights as a breastfeeding employee and top tips on how to practically manage your return.

In this episode of our podcast, we hear from Nicola Ball (Specialist Nurse Practitioner) who works in CAMHS, Lichfield.

Nicola talks about the therapeutic benefits of being outside in green spaces, and the development of a garden for children and young people at Holly Lodge in Lichfield.

In this episode Carol and Caroline talk about reducing the risks of accidental poisoning in children.

From kitchen cleaner to medicines and things lurking in your garden shed, keeping them away from children is so important. We all wish we had eyes in the back of our heads but being more aware of where we store things in our homes should help us to reduce those risks.

Mindfulness is about being aware of the present moment, sensations and thoughts. Becoming more aware of the present moment can help us enjoy the world around us more and understand ourselves a little better.

In this episode, health visitor Carol shares how mindfulness can be enjoyed in every day experiences and invites you to join her on a short guided meditation concentrating on your breathing, to help you focus on the here and now.

Sleep is so important, but busy thoughts can whizz around our heads, making it difficult to settle.

Join Health Visitor Carol as she invites you to follow a guided meditation to help quiet your mind in readiness for sleep.

She uses a visualisation technique where you will imagine walking along a beautiful beach, keying into your senses, before finding a comfortable spot to rest, relax and sleep.

In this latest episode of The MPFT Podcast we hear from Leanne Macpherson (Head of programmes at the Community Foundation for Staffordshire).

Leanne describes the Community Foundation's role in approving grant applications to organisations seeking to provide community-based projects that help support people in Staffordshire with mental health illness. This work is part of the Community Mental Health Transformation programme in Staffordshire.

Join Carol (a health visitor within the 0-19 service) as she talks you through a physical activity to help shake off feelings of tension or stress from the body.

This can be a useful technique to share with children; they too might benefit from shaking off feelings of tension or worry. Or you could decide to do this activity together with your child just for the fun of it!

In this episode Health Visitors Carol and Caroline talk about crying babies and the ICON messages that help people who care for babies cope with crying.

Babies start to cry more from about 2 weeks old and starts to get less each week after 8 weeks old and whether there is a reason or not it can be frustrating, upsetting and extremely stressful. They share advice to help with crying and what to do when the crying gets too much.

In this episode of The MPFT Podcast, Lyse Edwards (Head of Operations for the Children and Families Care Group) talks with Gill Phillips (developer of Whose Shoes, a game for co-production) and Rachel Crook (one of the Professional Lead Nurses in the Care Group) about the Whose Shoes Game, and how the Care Group are hoping to use it to shape services.

They share details of two upcoming workshops where Whose Shoes will be in use:

1. to help develop perinatal services on Wednesday 3 May
2. to explore how we better join up care for children and young people on Wednesday 24 May 2023 to which parents and professionals are invited

In this episode Health Visitors Caroline and Leanne talk about bed sharing or co-sleeping with baby. They share evidence-based advice so that parents can make informed decisions about their choices, but also highlight when it is considered dangerous.

In this episode of The MPFT Podcast, we hear from service uses and carers discuss why involvement is important and how it has benefitted them.

In this episode of The MPFT Podcast, we hear Lisa Healings from VAST and Garry Jones from Support Staffordshire, discussing how Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) organisations are working to co-deliver the Community Mental Health Transformation.

In this episode of The MPFT Podcast we hear from Chris Sands (Chief Financial Officer) and Alex Brett (Chief People Officer) describing Project Synergy: what it is, and why it came into being.

In this episode of The MPFT Podcast, we hear Matt Evans, Dr Angela Smith, Nicola Mayo, and Karen Wareham discussing the work taking place for older adults as part of the Community Mental Health Transformation.

In this episode of The MPFT Podcast we hear from Neil Carr (Chief Executive) discussing the recruitment and retention difficulties facing the whole of the NHS, and what MPFT in particular is doing to solve these problems.

In this episode of The MPFT Podcast we hear from Charlotte Woodcock (Operational Lead for the Staying Well Service). Charlotte describes what the process and appointments will be like for anyone referred into the service.

Safewards is a national model of care implemented on all of our inpatient mental health wards. This episode features Steve Martin (Associate Chief Nurse) and Gary Firkins (Escalation Management Intervention Service Lead) discussing the principles behind Safewards, how it is deployed in practice, and the positive effects it has.

In this episode of The MPFT Podcast, we hear from Fiona Moore, Kirstyn Marshall and Veronica Emlyn. They discuss Involvement and the important role it plays within the Community Mental Health Transformation.

In this episode of The MPFT Podcast, we hear from Angie Upton, Dr Sarah Lunt, and Jane Munton-Davies. They discuss what Midlands Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust have achieved in the first year of the Community Mental Health Transformation and what we’re hoping to achieve in year 2.

In this episode of The MPFT Podcast, we hear from Deborah Hargreaves and Michaela Kemp discussing the work taking place for young adults as part of the community mental health transformation.

Mark Fletcher is joined by two members of the Staying Well Service to discuss why the service is in place, who it can serve, and what those people referred into the service can expect.

In this episode of The MPFT Podcast, we hear from Dr Murray Campbell and Dr Waheed Abbasi discussing Primary Care Networks and the changes happening within primary care to support the community mental health transformation.

In this episode Kay Stevenson and Karen Dawson discuss the work that has taken place to complete Phase 1 of the integration of musculoskeletal services in Staffordshire.

In this episode of The MPFT Podcast we hear from Martyn Perry and David Hewitt discussing how digital systems are helping deliver the Community Mental Health Transformation programme, and how those changes benefit local populations.

In this episode Lisa Williams, Rachel Wooliscroft, Leanne MacPherson and Ben Hollands discuss the Community Mental Health Fund for Adults in Staffordshire. They consider how the fund will benefit service users and information about the eligibility criteria.

In this episode Mark Fletcher, Rachel Wooliscroft and Ben Hollands discuss population health inequalities, how they have impacted on mental health in the past, and what the Community Mental Health Transformation will do to reduce their impact in the future.

Helen Klich (Involvement Team Facilitator) is joined by Judithe Best to discuss her involvement in the development of Trust interview and recruitment training. Judithe is a Service User, and her experience of our services, along with her professional experience working in recruitment, have allowed her to make a significant contribution to improving our recruitment processes.

Steve Martin (Associate Chief Nurse) is joined by Dawn Beech (Clinical lead with Newcastle District Nursing Teams) and Rachel Quarrie (Discharge Liaison Nurse) discuss the recently created role of the Professional Nurse Associate.

In this episode we hear from Mike Brooks. Mike is a user of the Rheumatology Service at Haywood Hospital, and is also a Physical Health Peer Support Worker. Mike has been working as a patient representative on the integration of musculoskeletal services across Staffordshire.

Cathy Riley (Managing Director of the Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin Care Group), Sarah Oliver (Clinical Matron, for Adult Inpatients) and Kath Chambers (Freedom to Speak Up Guardian) discuss how the recent case of a whistleblower led to an effort that has embedded a culture of 'speaking up' across the Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin Care Group.

Steve Martin, Dr Matt Tovey and Martyn Perry discuss the implementation of the Trust's Digital Strategy. They talk about how the strategy will benefit staff and service users, reliability of systems, training and up-skilling of staff, and data quality.

In this episode we hear from Kieran Doherty, Head of Quality and Governance for Inclusion. Kieran describes his role and his experiences of the pandemic.

In this episode we will be focusing on the new Integrated Neighbourhood Teams as part of the transformation of community mental health services in South Staffordshire.

In this episode Jenny Harvey (Equality, Diversity and Inclusion team) is joined by Danny Haynes (Head of inclusion) and Taj Singh (Head of Operations for inclusion) to discuss how leaders in the Trust can approach the subject of equality and inclusion.

In this episode we will be focusing on the Mental Health Practitioners which have been embedded in Primary Care Networks as part of the transformation of community mental health services in South Staffordshire.

October is Freedom to Speak Up Month. In this episode we highlight the work the Trust is doing to foster a culture in which staff feel free and able to speak up and raise concerns.

In this episode we hear from Rob Abell, manager of the Performance Development Team. Rob describes his role and his experiences of the pandemic.

In this episode we will be focusing on the Dynamic Purchasing System which is part of the transformation of community mental health services in South Staffordshire.