News

Dear Derian House Colleagues,

 

Writing this on the last day of January allows me to reflect on the start of the year, the challenges we have all faced with the continuing COVID rules and how this impacts on our daily lives. It has been a difficult month, January always feels a long and dark month and as we move in to February we can look forward to lighter evenings and plan for Spring and Summer.

 

As restrictions ease outside of Derian it is important to remember that as a health care provider we are still maintaining our COVID-Secure procedures. These are reviewed each month at the Senior Management Team meeting and feel that continuing to maintain  this approach until the end of March when we understand that many health care setting restrictions will be eased. I am very aware of the limited seating in Danni’s Diner and thank everyone for the continued support in maintaining the seating rules, we have managed for nearly two years and I am hopeful within a short number of months we can increase capacity and alongside these rules we also continue to apply the face mask and social distancing guidance.

 

I was hoping to do the Keeping in Touch sessions face to face at the start of the year however, restrictions stopped that happening, I do hope we can move back to those larger group sessions very soon. Below are some key items to keep you up to date with what is happening at the moment  :-

 

• The Hospice continues to get busier and as we welcome Ruth as our new Hospice Manager I know she is keen to ensure this continues, I would also formally like to welcome Ruth and our other new starters to the Derian family.
• Our Derian at Home colleagues continue to be busy supporting families across the region, winter is always a difficult time and our team provide so much support to families which we know is highly valued.
• We are continuing to increase services within Family Support and Wellbeing and it is great to see activities happening across Derian and beyond.
• We have also seen quite a few new staff commence in January in both the clinical and non-clinical areas, please pop on to the Intranet to check them out, if you see new faces around the Hospice please say hello and welcome them to the team.
• We saw almost 70 team members attend the Culture and Values sessions in the last couple of months of 2021, we hope to continue these sessions again in February to make sure as many people as possible can be part of Year 4.
• The financial situation in 2021 was challenging however, through the excellent work of our fundraising, marketing and communications teams we beat our revised budget. Although we had a deficit in 2021 we were ahead of what we planned to achieve and I thank everyone involved in every aspect of our income for their support and hard work.
• We have lots planned for raising funds in 2022, all our events are back on and we will share these with you shortly. If you want to get involved in fundraising then please pop and see one of the fundraising team.
• Our campaigns have been very successful with the latest telling Isabelle’s Story raising huge amounts. The work to manage these campaigns is massive so thanks to finance (for processing hundreds of donations), marketing and fundraising and of course thank you to Isabelle’s Dad who shared his words and feelings.
• In 2022 the world of CCG’s (clinical commissioning groups) will be changing, this is a massive shake up of the system and Lynn and I are heavily involved in discussions across Lancashire, South Cumbria and Greater Manchester We have quite a way to go but we are positive about the engagement so far and also pleased with the recognition of Derian House and the respect it has within the health and social care sector within the region.
• EMIS project continues and I will ensure we send a more detailed update to everyone very soon.
• Julie Atherton Professional Development Grant applications closed in early December and we were delighted with the response. Successful applicants should have been contacted and many congratulations to those who were successful. The grant programme will open again for applications in September 2022 so please discuss with your Line Manager if you have any areas of interest.
• Our shops had a successful Christmas trading period and we are now focused on growing our current stores and opening new stores in Accrington and Bury within the next few months.

 

Around and About the Hospice (and beyond)

 

• Reflection Garden, it is almost finished and I hope you have had chance to pass by and take a quick look. There are still some additional works to be done (canopy covers over two of the benches) and we have to wait a little while for the cement to dry before we can add water to the ponds, we hope this will be in about three weeks’ time. HSBC are coming in this week to help clean and replace the pebbles around the pools and we also have some of the bereaved family group coming in this week to take a look.
• Woodland Suite, this facility is now re-open after being closed whilst we completed the Reflection Garden, we have a few finishing off items of furniture to complete the furnishings but the room is available to book and be used.
• Derian on Holiday, both Ribby Hall and South Lakeland are closed for their annual check and refresh (this happens every year), we will be re-open again in the middle of February offering our Derian families a week’s holiday. If you have not seen these lodges then now is the time to visit as once we re-open we are usually fully booked and it is more difficult to view, if you are interested in visiting please speak to your line manager who can escalate to Luke and myself.
• EV Charging , after a number of delays in setting up the financial side of the machines we are hopeful these will be working at some point in February, Luke will send a message when this happens.

 

As you can see we have had a busy time and we have great plans for 2022.

 

Thank you all for your support and commitment and if you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask me, any member of the senior team or your line manager.

 

David