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Hello team Derian,

Welcome to my update for this week.  I hope you find the information useful, and as always please do pop in and see me if you have any questions on the content.

So let’s talk growth…. What do we mean when we say we are growing ?

I wanted to clarify with you all about the level of recruitment we have across the charity at the moment.  I know that many of you are wondering why we are recruiting to some of the positions currently advertised/being recruited to, so I thought I’d try to provide some context for you.  If you remember the staff briefings that were held in November, we shared the ambitious plans for growth across the charity, in particularly our care offer.  And whilst we have had to step back a little bit on this growth plan due to staffing pressures, the plan is very much to build back capacity and continue to reach for our goals.

So with this comes the need to invest in our care team staff, and we have been appointing CSWs and Nurses, and we need to continue to recruit more.  With the staff we have recruited so far we expect to be in a position to increase our in house care from 4 to 5 beds in July, and would hope to aim to 6 in the Autumn, subject to continuing to recruiting staff.  We’ve also recognised that driving the growth plan forward is a HUGE task, much bigger than we first realised, and to achieve this Catherine has requested additional support in a leadership capacity to free her up to focus on the strategic side of her role, and so we have appointed Bridget Thomas who will join the team as Deputy Clinical Director on the 20^th May.  In addition, Catherine and Bridget will need dedicated admin support to free up Kelly and Rebecca, and so a part time PA role has been recruited to, and Julie will start in June.

The investment in the care side of the charity is much needed otherwise we will not achieve what we need to in ensuring we not only get back to previous recent capacity levels, but that we fly past them and then move forward to increasing capacity to a 10 bed model.  Yes – 10 beds !

It’s probably at this point that I share with you all that the Trustees have asked me to develop a proposal for getting us to 10 beds available every night for a range of complex and stable children and young people.  Ruth and I have worked up a draft staffing model including specialist roles and an increased medical model, and this has been costed.  I’m looking forward to exploring this with the trustees next week.  If approved this will create opportunities for development across the care team.  We have a very supportive Board and if the plans are in line with what they wish for us to deliver they will approve the funds required to achieve a vibrant, busy, and most importantly high quality safe in-house offer for more bcyp.  It is really exciting !!

As part of this we will review the facilities and other resources needed to support the growth.  One discussion is about a dedicated nursing station in the children’s bedroom corridor, but there will be much more, and I want you all to be part of these discussions.

What is absolutely clear though, and we are under no illusion, is that we are not going to be opening 10 beds any time soon.  This is a planned approach and will require careful project management, but the very fact that we are looking at how we do this is brilliant and hopefully provides clarity for everyone on what we are trying to achieve.

The other side of the recruitment is in non-care roles.  Clearly if we are growing our services we will need to raise more money and have a bigger back office support function, and this is why we are now investing in these areas, to build the platform ready to grow.

If you have any feedback on the ambitions, or want to chat to me about any aspect of it please do.

Have a lovely weekend everyone

K

Hi everyone,

It’s St George’s Day next week on Tuesday 23^rd April, and in celebration of the day we ask if you could wear something red or white.

For all staff who require to be IPC compliant, to carry out your role please ensure you are bare below the elbow and maintain IPC standards.

MONDAY 15^th

• Say hello to our new starter Sarah James, who joins us today as our new Estate Maintenance Support.

• It’s movie time – what film would we like to watch in the Cinema today?

TUESDAY 16^th

• Derian Playgroup is back this morning, where our babies and toddlers will be enjoying a morning of music, messy play and fun in the Seaside Room from 10:00am – 11:30am.

• Our children and young people will be enjoying a therapeutic TAC PAC session with Claire (Wellbeing & Play Worker) in the Sensory Room this afternoon.

• Individual and group sessions of Music Therapy with Martha will be held in the Snug from 2:00pm this afternoon.

• Trustees, donors and representatives from LifeNoW will be visiting us for a ‘Goodbye’ event, as we celebrate the work they’ve collaboratively done with us over the last five years.

WEDNESDAY 17^th

• Our gardening volunteer Jackie will be up in the Greenhouse from 10am – 12pm, hosting a plant sale in aid of Derian House. Cash is preferred but card payments can be made at Reception as an alternative.

• We’ll be spending our morning making spring wreaths in the Messy PlayZone.

• Join our music teacher Rachel in the Snug from 11:00am – 12:00pm for her weekly hour of music.

• Fancy a splash? Our children and young people will be enjoying a session of hydrotherapy in the pool this afternoon.

THURSDAY 18^th 

• It’s Rainbow Day! Have a root through your wardrobes and see what colourful items you can find – but please remember to adhere to IPC policies when doing so.

• This morning, you’ll find us in the Messy PlayZone doing rainbow crafts and collages, and sun-catcher making.

• Join our children and young people for a colourful music and movement session with ribbons and scarves, which will be held in the Messy PlayZone this afternoon.

• John (Family Counsellor)’s fortnightly mindful meditation for all staff will take place in the Cinema from 4pm today. If you need to take a weight off your mind then please feel free to come along and enjoy the opportunity to relax.

FRIDAY 19^th

• We’ll be in Danni’s Diner this morning, making face-themed biscuits to take home.

• What’s that smell? It’s time to play one of our iconic Derian games in the Messy PlayZone this morning – Smelly Bingo!

• Siblings group Chill Out & Chat will be meeting in the Seaside Room this evening for their monthly session.

SATURDAY 20^th

• An abundance of our Lodgers will be here today and tomorrow for a special social weekend, where they’ll be making plenty of memories with their friends.

• Danni’s Club – for our younger siblings – will meet in the Seaside Room this afternoon.

SUNDAY 21^st

• The social weekend will continue up in the Lodge for our young people.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS

• A huge thanks to all of our staff and volunteers who helped out at yesterday’s Stars & Cars event at Bolton Arena – the day was a tremendous success, with thousands of guests flocking to meet their heroes and some epic movie vehicles. We can’t wait to see how much we raised!

• If you would like to share with the rest of Derian what your department is up to in the next 7 days, please send an email to cameron.murray@derianhouse.co.uk before Friday the week before.

Have a great week everyone! J

We have signed a contract with Abbey ICT to support us with any I.T. issues on a permanent basis.

If you have an issue with your computer, the first step will be to email support@abbeyict.com and a ticket will be opened for the job.

If it is an urgent matter, you can also call Abbey ICT on: 01254 272000, option 1.

A member of the Abbey ICT team will also be on hand to answer questions or help find solutions to any problems once a week (this will usually be a Wednesday).

For any other queries about IT please contact John Boe.

TUESDAY 26^th

• Karen (CEO), alongside members of the Fundraising Team, will attend the monthly Gambling Oversight and Assurance Meeting.

• We’ll be welcoming some of our Derian families into the Seaside Room for Family Day Care fun… with an Easter theme, of course!

• Join us in the Messy PlayZone this morning for Easter craft activities.

• What’s that smell? It’s smelly bingo time! We’ll be in the Messy PlayZone playing one of our favourite games.

• The Education Team will once again be teaching palliative care modules to colleagues from Greater Manchester in the Conference Room today.

• Say hello to our new student Janice, who is a return-to-practise Learning Disabilities Nurse and will be here at the hospice for the next seven weeks.

• Individual and group sessions of Music Therapy with Martha will be held in the Snug from 2:00pm this afternoon.

WEDNESDAY 27^th

• Claire (Wellbeing & Play Worker) will be in the Sensory Room this morning, hosting a therapeutic TAC PAC session for our children and young people.

• Join our music teacher Rachel in the Snug from 11:00am – 12:00pm for her weekly hour of music.

• Our in-house children and young people will be enjoying fun and splashes in the hydrotherapy pool this afternoon.

• Derian grandparents will meet up at their monthly Cornerstones session in the Seaside Room this morning.

THURSDAY 28^th

• We’ll be making colourful tissue paper flowers in the Messy PlayZone this morning.

• Our pet therapy pooch Shuna will be roaming the corridors with her human Linda for cuddles and kisses with our in-house children and young people.

• Get your aprons on; it’s time to make some delicious hot cross buns in Danni’s Diner this afternoon.

• Our lads from School’s Out will join us at the hospice today for plenty of fun with friends.

• Our Education Team will be teaching palliative care modules to colleagues in Blackburn today.

FRIDAY 29^th

• As we await Easter, we’ll be spending Good Friday making chocolate Easter nests and cakes in Danni’s Diner…

• …and enjoying plenty of themed arts and crafts in the Messy PlayZone this afternoon!

• There is a basic life support drop-in session for anyone wanting to attend in the Skills Lab from 2:00pm – 5:00pm.

SATURDAY 30^th

• Our children and young people will be enjoying a Saturday morning splash in the hydrotherapy pool.

• Youth Family Drop-in continues with a monthly session held today in the Lodge.

• Stretch out and relax in a guided relaxation and massage held in the Sensory Room this morning.

SUNDAY 31^st

• Happy Easter to everyone who celebrates! We hope you have a cracking time – our children and young people certainly will be, with an Easter egg hunt around the Sensory Garden in the morning and Easter egg decorating in Danni’s Diner throughout the afternoon.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS

• If you would like to share with the rest of Derian what your department is up to in the next 7 days, please send an email to cameron.murray@derianhouse.co.uk before Friday the week before.

Have a great week everyone! J

Hi everyone, slightly later weekly update….

Recruitment

1. We had a phenomenal response to our advertisements for CSW and Nurses, and as a result we have offered positions to 7 candidates.  We’re still keen to find a few more and so we’re continuing with our recruitment.
2. Over in Income and Engagement we’re getting ready for interviews for the Family Engagement role.  We are recruiting to a brand new role in fundraising – the hunt is on for an Events and Community Fundraising Manager. The new role will manage the team, allowing Head of Income Generation Mick Croskery to focus on the strategic overview of the service as well as our retail.
3. We’ve had a brilliant response to our Graphic Design role, and we’re also looking for a really savvy e-commerce assistant to drive our retail e-sales.
4. We’ve shortlisted for Catherine’s PA role and we hope to have someone in post soon.

General

1. Thank you to everyone who made good use of our new suggestion boxes. These were read out at We Are Derian las t week and passed to the relevant Department Leads to review.  Hopefully we can resolve all of the low-level suggestions quickly and then see some really exciting ideas and suggestions for how we can improve our services coming through – aim big!
2. The new vending machine has gone down a storm! You told us that you needed somewhere to get that mid-afternoon sugar fix and we hope this hits the spot.
3. Some successes in the fundraising team this week include: Morecambe Bay Walk now fully filled with all 200 places snapped up. We also have 20 groups of youngsters signed up for £50 Junior Challenge (more than double last year’s total!) and our brand new fundraiser – Walk this Way – which will see people enduring a firewalk, glasswalk and Lego walk to raise money for us – has been launched. Do you dare take part?

Good News

1. We did some twinning with Saint Oswald’s children’s Hospice this week.  Suzanne facilitated a wonderful experience for two training ACPs, who wanted to understand the role of ACPs at Derian house
2. I’m delighted to let you all know that Colin has been appointed as Director of Finance and Resources.  This appointment was explored over the summer when we re-structured the senior leadership team, and I am really pleased that we now have that crucial role in place.  Colin will continue to oversee the charities finances and investments along with developing the charities IT strategy and looking at future proofing systems.

And finally we said goodbye to Barbara who has retired but who will be back as a volunteer, and to Verity as her fixed term contract has come to an end.

Enjoy the week everyone, celebrating birthdays before the end of the month are Karen Radley, Caroline Williamson, John Pye and Prisha Patel….. Happy Birthday !

Dear Team Derian,

Following the first round of staff briefings in March, which have been a great success, we are holding a further briefing session for those staff who could not attend the March events.

As with previous sessions, these will be hosted by Catherine Randall, Chief Nurse, and Anthony Mohammed, Head of Quality.  It will take place in the Conference Room at Derian House, outlining what and how the CQC assesses us and your role in any visit they will make.

Please remember, this is mandatory for all and will take place on:

Wednesday 3rd April                  3.00 to 4.30 pm

As part of the information we will provide, you will receive a copy of our own Staff Briefing document to take away and reflect on what is expected from our teams.

We will also look at how you can contribute to our plans to ensure the CQC sees all the great work we do.

This is a fantastic chance to ask any questions you may have about the CQC inspection process, what we have done so far and how you can get more information.

To book yourself a space, please contact Anthony Mohammed.

Many thanks,

Anthony.

Good afternoon, Starting on Tuesday the 2^nd April we will have an engineer with us to carry out the 6 monthly service of the air-con system in order to carry out this service the engineer will require access to all rooms containing Air-Con equipment, I do expect the whole process to take up to 4 days.

The engineer attending is called Tom and many of you may well recognize him as he has been on site many times before.

Hi all,

One of the feedback areas at the previous We are Derian staff forum was the absence of Leadership and Management Team (LMT) roundups… and so they are back!

Here’s a run-down of some of the news and issues discussed at this morning’s meeting…

FACILITIES

• The vending machine is due to arrive today and will be located in Danni’s Diner.
• The removal of trees from the car park could provide an additional 12 parking spaces. This is being costed so we’ll update more at a later date.
• Electric gates are also being costed at the entrance to the site for security purposes and we will update once we know more.
• Work will be carried out to extend our reception desk to allow two people to sit at the desk. This will mean volunteers working on reception can be supported by admin staff.
• An audit of Wi-Fi blackspots is being carried out to ensure we have good signal all over the hospice. 4G dongles will be purchased for iPads to ensure that records will be able to be accessed if the internet goes down.
• We have a new starter in the facilities team who will begin work in April and are still looking for a second person.
• Further fire marshal training will take place. Please be reminded that if you have been trained as a fire marshal, you are required to undertake this duty.

CARE

• Current staffing shortages has meant we are currently operating at 4 beds. This has meant that some children and young people have had to have their planned respite stays cancelled. The current recruitment drive for nurses and CSWs is aiming to tackle this situation and get us back on track for our ambition to open 8 beds this year.
• Looking longer term, a piece of research is to be commissioned to clarify who we are and what services we can offer to families in the next 5 to 10 years. This piece of work will help clarify who we offer services to and our discharge criteria going forward.

FINANCE AND FUNDRAISING

• The last 2 months have been steady across income and retail and our investments are doing well. We have extended the financial year to end of March 2024 so February is the 14^th month of a 15 month year. This will bring us in line with the financial year used by most industries.
• A TV advert featuring Holly’s family will be showing, encouraging people to leave us a gift in their Will, throughout May. You can make a free Will with us. Visit derianhouse.co.uk/legacy for a information pack.
• We are recruiting a Fundraising Manager to run the Community and Events Fundraising team under Mick Croskery’s leadership.

GENERAL

• Did you know? Risk assessments will now be stored on the Q drive rather than the intranet. All policies will continue to be stored on the intranet. Both are available for all to access.
• Thanks to everyone for attending one of the 5 CQC preparation sessions that have taken place in recent weeks. There will be more sessions in July and then later in the year to help us all feel ready for our inspection, which we expect to be some time in 2025.

WHAT’S ON WEEKLY @ DERIAN HOUSE

(Monday 18^th March – Sunday 24^th March)

MONDAY 18^th  

• It’s movie time! What will we decide to watch in Derian at the Movies this afternoon?

• Good luck to Tanya and Alison (Clinical Education), who have been down to London today to present to the panel for the Student Nursing Time Awards.

TUESDAY 19^th

• Weekly Derian Playgroup will take place this morning in the Seaside Room for our families, babies and toddlers from 10:00am – 11:30pm.

• Give a big warm welcome to some previous members of Team Derian who will be here at the hospice today for training with our Education Team, before they come back as bank staff.

• Heads down, it’s Prize Bingo time! Join us in the Messy PlayZone this morning for one of our favourite activities.

• Caroline (Wellbeing & Play Worker) will facilitate a session of Sensory Story Time in the House Lounge this afternoon.

• Individual and group sessions of Music Therapy with Martha will be held in the Snug from 2:00pm this afternoon.

WEDNESDAY 20^th

• Ribbit! It’s World Frog Day, so we’ll be participating in funny frog fun in the Messy PlayZone this morning.

• Alison and Kirsty (Clinical Education) will be teaching the Paediatric Palliative Care modules to colleagues from across Greater Manchester here at the hospice.

• Join our music teacher Rachel in the Snug from 11:00am – 12:00pm for her weekly hour of music.

• Our in-house children and young people will be enjoying fun and splashes in the hydrotherapy pool this afternoon.

THURSDAY 21^st

• It’s International Day of Forests, so naturally we’ll be celebrating with forest art led by Arron (Wellbeing & Play Worker) in the Woodland Walk today.

FRIDAY 22^nd

• Our children and young people will be in the Messy PlayZone taking part in blossom tree hand and finger print painting fun.

• Join Claire (Wellbeing & Play Worker) for a therapeutic TAC PAC session this afternoon in the Sensory Room.

• The Education Team will be back at Brian House Children’s Hospice for the Blackpool Kentown launch day.

SATURDAY 2^3rd

• Our children and young people will be baking some yummy treats to take home in Danni’s Diner this morning.

• The lovely Derian Mums Bereavement Group will meet at their monthly session in the Seaside Room from 10:00am – 12:00pm today.

SUNDAY 24^th

• It’s a bug’s life! We’ll be busy bees making bug hotels in the Messy PlayZone today.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS

• If you would like to share with the rest of Derian what your department is up to in the next 7 days, please send an email to cameron.murray@derianhouse.co.uk before Friday the week before.

Have a great week everyone! J

Hi Team Derian, here is your weekly round-up….

• Goodbye and good luck to Lizzie Lysons who has now left us due to personal reasons. The search is now on for a new graphic designer to join our comms team and we are delighted with the response so far.  Yesterday, after 13 years at Derian, we waved goodbye to Sue Duckett.  Sue will leave a huge hole in our community offer and we wish her all the best in her new role.

• Some of our most loyal donors were treated to afternoon tea and tour of the hospice on Thursday afternoon. It’s really important for us to show our donors where their money goes and they left feeling inspired (and full of Jeff’s delicious cakes).

• Our family section of the website is preparing to launch at the end of next week with just a few last minute tweaks needed. The idea is to provide an area for families to find out more details about our services. If anybody wants to have a sneak peek and let the comms team have any feedback that would be much appreciated. The link is derianfamily.co.uk

• Our Palliative and End of Life Care Education project has successfully launched and received some wonderful feedback from the professionals who have undertaken the training so far.
• We have 65 sign ups including some internal staff, 3 were rejected though so 62 total. We have 41 active learners who are on the platform and 78 courses have been completed with a total of 25 learning hours.

• Over in retail, our Blackburn and Preston shops will be treated to a mini makeover in the coming weeks to make sure our shoppers are getting the best experience.

• The Stars and Cars event (14 April) is looking for volunteers. If any staff are interested please get in touch with Mick Croskery. Jobs include setting up the event, stewarding duties and checking tickets. In return you will get fed and watered and get the chance to meet TV stars including Hacker T Dog and Doctor Who’s Sylvester McCoy, and also to see some of the coolest cars from your favourite movies.

• Thanks to everyone who took part in our CQC preparation sessions. We’ll have more of these in the coming months to make sure we are all happy and confident of what to do at our next inspection

• Thursday also saw another professionals day at Derain, with over 20 colleagues attending the education and learning suite with Keynote speakers throughout the day

• We’re well on the way planning our annual Forget Me Not service and we’ll share more about this over the coming weeks.

• Thank you to those of you that met with the Leadership Team and Trustees on Monday.  Sadly I was unable to attend after organising the meeting, I understand it was a productive meeting exploring both our current challenges and also thinking about our future cohorts of BCYP.

Celebrating birthdays are Shirley, Megan, Natalie and Catherine…..have a wonderful birthday.

Have a great weekend everyone,

Hello

Please can we make everyone aware that we have a young adult staying with us for respite this week with a Severe Nut Allergy.

Thank you

Hello All

Just a gentle reminder that the front office (next to reception) is still being used for admin staff and volunteers – on a number of occasions they have been asked to leave the office so it can be used as a meeting room – please remember that until we have a new reception desk the administrators and volunteers still have to remain in that office to continue with their work.

To make it easier for reception (and if you are happy to do so), please will you pass your car registration details on to reception so these can be added to the spreadsheet – this helps to find the right person when someone is blocked in 🙂

“People often misunderstand palliative care to relate solely to end-of-life care. Palliative care is an approach that is focused on improving the quality of life for a baby, child or young person with a life-threatening or life-limiting diagnosis.” ✨

Last week, we brought you the news that a county-wide education project to train professionals how to give better care to seriously ill children had been launched right here at the hospice 🙌

Developed by the incredible Education Team here Derian House, the project aims to give hundreds of the area’s sickest children a better experience no matter where they are being cared for – with the training available for doctors, nurses, health professionals, social workers and teachers 🥰

The project has been made possible thanks to £100,000 of matched funding by NHS England and will be hosted by Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB) 🫶

Both face-to-face and online learning courses will train professionals in how to communicate sensitively, how to spot symptoms of worsening conditions, how to put a plan in place for child’s care at the end of their life, and what practical steps to take after a child has died 💚

There are 200 guaranteed spaces per month for professionals who want to take advantage of the training, and those interested can book a space by filling out the form below 📋

➡️ https://tinyurl.com/4znunfw5

Hi everyone, hope that you are all well and enjoying the warmer brighter March days….. here’s your Friday update:

1. Staffing update….. we welcomed Paula Buchanon to the team this week in her role in Admin, and today we said a fond farewell to Gareth and Lindsay, and we wish them the very best of luck and thank them for their hard work and contribution to Derian.  We also send Andrea much love as she embarks on her Mat leave, and we look forward to seeing her and baby soon.  We wish Tina a very happy 25^th work birthday today, what an achievement and what an absolute asset to Derian.  Our very own Ellie has been appointed to the Performance and Data Lead role, this is great news and fab to see Ellie progress her career at Derian
2. We have had an amazing response to our recruitment campaign, it was definitely helped by the wonderful video that many of you were part of.  Over 80 applications were received and we will be interviewing 25 candidates for nurse or CSW positions on the 20^th and 21^st March.  We look forward to growing the team over the coming months.  We shortlist next week for the Family Engagement role, and we’re still on the hunt for estates support staff.
3. We’ve had a more positive discussion with L&SC ICB, we’re hopeful we will know more before the end of March regarding the ongoing funding.  GM are a little way behind but we are in discussions and hope to have clarity soon.
4. L&SC have developed a new commissioning framework for children’s palliative and end of life care and are seeking views on the document in its draft form.  We are very much part of driving this agenda, Catherine is representing Derian on the task and finish group that has been set up to drive this forward, and the first meeting of the group is on the 18^th March, here at Derian.
5. We’ve been rolling our Risk Management Training to the trustees and the wider management team.  Don’t be upset that you’ve not attended yet….. its coming your way…. J
6. The CQC awareness workshops have started this week.  Please do get yourselves booked on.  They are really useful and will help us ensure that we are ready and dare I say looking forward to CQC visiting at some time in the future.
7. I have had feedback regarding the generators not coming on at times when we have a power cut.  I can assure everyone that the generators were set to switch on when power had failed and been off for a few minutes (it was set to this to allow the power sufficient time to reset and come back on) and have been working effectively, however since the power cut in the evening a couple of weeks ago we have now changed this and the generators will switch on after 10 seconds.
8. World Book Day efforts across the hospice were brilliant !!
9. We absolute recognise the staffing challenges currently across the care team.  Discussions have taken place at the recent trustee meeting regarding the impact of this and the necessity to reduce planned stays.  A further meeting has been planned for Monday with Trustees, SLT and Care Team Leadership to explore how we can manage the situation and how we can look forwards and agree a process of discharge.  Further discussions will take place about our longer term catchment area and our ambitions for Derians reach/cohort size etc.
10. We’ve welcomed a number of visitors this week, all of whom have been absolutely blown away by everything that you do.
11. We hope the improved benefits package has been warmly received, please do pop in to Kim’s drop in session on the 18^th with any specific questions or queries.
12. Two suggestions boxes are now available for staff to provide feedback, ideas, ask questions etc etc.  Please do use them.  They are located in the Diner and the entrance to Vinten Place.

Apologies to Catherine Prince, who celebrated her birthday over the weekend and I hadn’t sent an email out last week, hope you had a great birthday, and celebrating their birthdays this week are Olivia Jones, Amy Wilkinson, Lauren Prochyra, Ellie Smith and Shirley Parkinson.  Happy Birthday everyone !

Finally, from me personally, thank you to everyone for your support and well wishes regarding my other half’s ill-health, it is very much appreciated, I definitely feel the Derian love.

That’s about it for now

As always, I have an open door policy so please do pop in….

Hello Team Derian,

The first thing I need to say is a massive apology to you all for I realise that my note to you all following our trustee meetings has been missing for some time now and for that I am sorry.

So this the start of my recompense and I promise to write to you all following every trustee meeting going forward to ensure you are kept up to date with our discussions.

Firstly I think it is really important that I acknowledge that the last year has been a time of considerable change for all. Change is never easy, but we all have our parts to play in ensuring that Derian House is the best place for our children, young people and their families to receive care, and is the best place to work. We can expect that change will cause uncertainty and not everyone will like the changes that we must make to ensure the future sustainability of Derian House.  The recent staff feedback from the We are Derian forum certainly tells us that we have much left to do to achieve our aims but the board of trustees are committed to ensuring that we move forward on our journey to be the best we can be. The trustees are grateful that the senior leadership team openly shared the feedback that you gave and we have seen the response from the senior leadership team and agree with the actions that they have committed to put in place to enable us to continue on our journey of cultural improvement. We noted comments about the visibility of and access to trustees. It is important to remember that trustees are not officers of the charity but are volunteers, many of whom have full time roles in other organisations.  Clearly, if there are serious or legitimate concerns from staff, the trustees are committed to understanding that and supporting resolution and so I welcome the implementation of formal speak up arrangements and am delighted to report that Helen Curtis has agreed to take on the freedom to speak up trustee role that will give you the route through which you can raise concerns that are not or cannot be dealt with through your line management or internal escalation arrangements.

We have seen a number of staff leave the organisation over the last 12 months and I’m hoping that you will have seen the recruitment campaign that we have in place in order to improve our staffing levels so that we can open as many beds as possible to support our children families and young people. In the short-term, we know that vacancies will present us with a challenge and but we are hopeful that we will be able to recruit a number of excellent staff over the next few months which will see us move back to full capacity and make Derian house a thriving hub of activity.

Alongside the staff, the feedback and the recruitment challenges that we face, the board also discussed finances. Whilst we are fortunate as a charity to have reserves in place that will enable us to continue with the excellent work that you all do, it is important that we spend our money wisely. The future of the statutory funding that we receive is uncertain and that means it is even more important we are careful with the scarce and precious resource that our supporters provide us with. I would ask you all to support the notion of spending wisely and spending well.

One of the other areas of focus at our meeting was governance. We need to focus on improving our governance processes and ensuring that we are able to deliver care at the highest standard.  The senior leadership team will be asking for your support in ensuring that we raise standards, improve processes, improve culture and to that end, maintain our CQC outstanding rating.

Though change is hard and we know we have much to do, it is an exciting journey which we know can lead to more great things.

Thank you for all you continue to do.

Hi all,

We have planned to have a rainbow day theme on Thursday 18^th April 2024 for this we would love if people could wear all things colour, as always for those delivering care or duties around the hospice please adhere to IPC bare below the elbow. We had in mind bright colourful t shirts with uniform trousers.

We will be have rainbow activities and crafts throughout the day, perhaps we will find a pot of gold.

For those of you who have roles within the Care Team, please familiarise yourselves with the updated Education Calendar, which sits under the Education tab on the Intranet.

Keep an eye out in the diary and on handover for ad-hoc training, and for any further information please speak with the Clinical Education team.

A county-wide education project to train professionals how to give better care to seriously ill children has been launched this week.

Developed by Derian House Children’s Hospice, the project aims to give hundreds of the area’s sickest children a better experience no matter where they are being cared for – with the training available for doctors, nurses, health professionals, social workers and teachers.

The project has been made possible thanks to £100,000 of matched funding by NHS England and will be hosted by Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB).

Both face-to-face and online learning courses will train professionals in how to communicate sensitively, how to spot symptoms of worsening conditions, how to put a plan in place for child’s care at the end of their life, and what practical steps to take after a child has died.

There are 200 guaranteed spaces for professionals who want to take advantage of the training, and those interested can book a space by contacting: clinical.education@derianhouse.co.uk

The initiative will also include working with the Kentown Children’s Palliative Care Programme, training its nurses so that they can deliver the education package to other health professionals across the patch and spread good practice.

Kirsty Blackburn, Education Manager at Derian House, said: “People often misunderstand palliative care to relate solely to end-of-life care. Palliative care is an approach that is focused on improving the quality of life for a baby child or young person with a life threatening or life limiting diagnosis.

“The modules should provide a good understanding of ways we can enhance care for children and their families.”

Catherine Randall, Chief Nurse at Derian House, said: “We’re proud to be involved with this fantastic project that aims to improve the quality of the care our children and young people receive no matter where they are.

“Our specialists at Derian House are honoured to share best practice with professionals from across Lancashire and South Cumbria to ensure children and their families receive the care they deserve.”

To book onto the training contact clinical.education@derianhouse.co.uk

ENDS

Afternoon all,

I just wanted to remind everyone regarding the procedures for handling donations of goods which are given to us by our supporters. This applies to anything from clothes, Easter eggs (boo!) to toys & games.

In the first instance any donations must be assessed by myself or in my absence a member of the Fundraising team. The reasons for this are multiple, firstly to ensure the donor gets the correct recognition. Secondly to ensure that the donation is recorded correctly by the Fundraising and/or Retail team and thirdly to ensure the donation heads to the correct area of the charity – weather this is to our children and/or families or to our Activities/Care Team, Fundraising or Retail arm. No donated items are to be looked through or taken by anyone other than myself or a member of the Fundraising or Retail team.

Under no circumstances or exceptions should there be any variation from the above. No donated items are allowed to be purchased by members of staff without them first heading to myself or Tony (our eCommerce Manager) – this is so we can appraise them for the correct price. Only after any appraisal has taken place will it be possible for a potential staff purchase at the appraised price. This procedure is non-negotiable and is ultimately to ensure the donors wishes of a maximum possible financial return to the charity and our children and families.

If you are unsure on the clarity of the above procedure or have any further questions please feel free to ask. J

Dear team Derian,

As part of our preparations for a potential CQC visit, we are holding a series of CQC briefing events at Derian House.

The first of these are taking place in March and being delivered by Catherine Randall, Chief Nurse, and Anthony Mohammed, Head of Quality.  These will take place in the Conference Room at Derian House and will outline what and how the CQC assesses us and your role in any visit they will make.

This will be mandatory training and it is expected that everybody will attend one of the sessions, with the dates available as follows:

Wednesday 6^th March                  10.30 to 12.00am

Thursday 7^th March                       9.30 to 11.00am

Tuesday 12^th March                       2.00 to 3.30pm

Friday 15^th March                           1.00 to 2.30 pm

Tuesday 19^th March                       2.30 to 4.00 pm

As part of the information we will provide, you will receive a copy of our own Staff Briefing document to take away and reflect on what is expected from our teams.

We will also look at how you can contribute to our plans to ensure the CQC sees all the great work we do.

This is a fantastic chance to ask any questions you may have about the CQC inspection process, what we have done so far and how you can get more information.

To book yourself a space, please contact Anthony Mohammed.

Many thanks,

Anthony.

MONDAY 26^th

• It’s movie time! What will we decide to watch in Derian at the Movies this afternoon?

TUESDAY 27^th

• Weekly Derian Playgroup will take place this morning in the Seaside Room for our families, babies and toddlers.

• To celebrate International Polar Bear Day, we’ll be making some furry polar bear artwork in the Messy PlayZone this morning…

• …and making polar bear food (it’s really frozen banana yoghurts!) in Danni’s Diner this afternoon.

• Individual and group sessions of Music Therapy with Martha will be held in the Snug from 2:00pm this afternoon.

WEDNESDAY 28^th

• Let’s make some noise and make musical instruments in the Messy PlayZone this morning.

• Our homemade instruments will come in handy for our weekly singing session with Rachel (Music Teacher) in the Snug from 11:00am – 12:00pm.

• Derian grandparents will gather at their monthly Cornerstones meetup in the Seaside Room from 10:00am – 12:00pm today.

• Our in-house children and young people will be enjoying fun and splashes in the hydrotherapy pool this afternoon.

THURSDAY 29^th

• Let’s wake up and get our bodies moving – it’s time for music and movement with Claire (Wellbeing & Play Worker).

• Join Caroline (Wellbeing & Play Worker) for a session of Sensory Story Time in the House Lounge this afternoon.

• The Trustees will be in the House for the Board of Trustees meeting, which will take place from 6:00pm – 8:00pm tonight.

• It’s the final day of our Top Dog challenge today. 51 pooches have walked through all weathers this past month to raise vital funds for Derian House – with over £7,000 raised so far!

FRIDAY 1^st  

• Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Hapus to all of our staff and volunteers who celebrate St. David’s Day. We’ll be taking part in daffodil crafts and Welsh cake making throughout the day.

SATURDAY 2^nd

• It’s competition time! Who’ll win in a game of Boccia and Curling, held in the Messy PlayZone this morning.

• Join us in Danni’s Diner this afternoon for yummy baking fun, where we’ll be making tasty treats to take home.

SUNDAY 3^rd

• It’s World Wildlife Day, so we’ll be doing arty fun in the Messy PlayZone this afternoon.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS

• If you would like to share with the rest of Derian what your department is up to in the next 7 days, please send an email to cameron.murray@derianhouse.co.uk before Friday the week before.

Have a great week everyone! J

Good morning 🙂

The time has come that you have all been waiting for…..DIVE FOR DERIAN IS BACK FOR 2024!

Ever fancied jumping 15,000ft out of a plane to raise money for Derian House Children’s Hospice?? Well now is the time!

We have just under 50% of our places left on this year’s event, and I wanted to make sure that Team Derian didn’t miss out!

So here goes….drum roll please…….the dates we have available are…..

• Sunday 7^th July 2024
• Sunday 28^th July 2024
• Sunday 11^th August 2024 SOLD OUT

For you to take part in this years Dive for Derian for FREE, all we ask if that you pledge to raise a minimum of £450 per diver for our hopsice, via our favourite fundraising platform, Just Giving.

However, as with anything of this nature there are certainly risks and terms & conditions involved. To help you make your final decision about taking the leap, we ask that you head on over to Black Knights website to look at their frequently asked questions, terms & conditions, medical consent forms and privacy policy. They are located in the links below, please pay particular attention to the medical consent forms as these can be a deal breaker regarding you taking part in the activity.

• FAQ – https://bkpc.co.uk/faqs/
• T&C’s – https://bkpc.co.uk/terms-and-conditions/
• Medical Consent Forms – https://bkpc.co.uk/consent-forms/
• Privacy Policy –  https://bkpc.co.uk/privacy-policy/

If anyone has ever fancied taking the leap but wants to know more…please feel free to ask me any questions regarding the day, the fundraising or the health and safety details.

Hoping to see some of Team Derian there!

Have a lovely day.

Happy Friday everyone, please find below your weekly CEO Derian update….

Whilst not everyone values these emails and some felt they were “too positive”. It is important to clarify that I will never break bad or negative news over an all staff email – it will always be done face to face where possible.   I want these emails to be of value to you all and so perhaps you could suggest what subjects you would like me to talk about or share in these emails.

One idea is to have a weekly point dedicated to celebrating good work in the hospice that is clearly linked to and demonstrates our values. Staff could email me in confidence to celebrate something positive that they have seen in their colleagues that week and I could include it in my weekly email.  If you have any other ideas please let me know.

1. The We Are Derian Forum met this week and provided much feedback, we hope that holding the forum monthly as requested enables us to work through challenges/concerns together as they arise.
2. We have quite a lot of recruitment at the moment.  As a reminder we are working hard to increase our care team and looking to appoint a number of registered and non-registered Integrated Care Team staff.  We are also recruiting to the Child & Family Advocate/Engagement Lead, Administrator, Data & Performance Lead, Facilities support.  This week we have also added an additional Exec Assistant role to work with Rebecca in providing support for the Trustee Board, myself and Catherine.  Our retail operations are searching for a number of exciting volunteer roles to support our online sales, please do share with anyone you think may be able to provide some help.
3. We’re very much looking to shine a light on areas of our work that we are massively proud about.  The Say My Childs Name campaign will be put forward for national recognition through the Charity Awards.  Fingers Crossed.
4. I had the privilege of being able to chat to sunflower “A”s parents this week.  It was humbling and inspiring to hear how much they have valued their stay with us at Derian, and the care and compassion our teams has provided for them and their beautiful baby girl.  Thankyou everyone for going above and beyond to make the most precious of memories for them.
5. Our Trustee meeting takes place next week on Thursday evening, please do give our trustees a warm welcome, many of them do come in to the hospice earlier and enjoy a walk round and informal chat to staff.
6. The new furniture for the sunflower rooms and reflection room has arrived, I hope you all agree that it improves an already wonderfully special space.

Birthday wishes over the coming week go to Chantal Porter and Rebecca Shivji, have a great day J.

And finally…. I saw this I thought I’d share…..

Good morning everyone, I hope that you are all well.

Thank you for your feedback at the We Are Derian Staff Forum held on Tuesday of this week.  My apologies I was not in attendance due to being on annual leave.  I thought it useful to come back to you all with a response on the key themes that were raised during the forum especially as much of the feedback was not dissimilar to the feedback that you gave to me 12 months ago when I chaired my first forum.  I also wanted to share with you that when I was briefed on the feedback on Wednesday morning I contacted Karen Swindley, Chair of the Board of Trustees, who came in to the hospice that day so that I could share your feedback directly with her.

From the debrief I received I can summarise the key points, and my initial response, as follows:

1. Staff feel unnerved and unsettled

I absolutely acknowledge this, change in whatever form is unnerving and unsettling for all.  One of the slides that was shared at the strategic plan staff briefings in November was dedicated to change and how it can impact on everyone.  I would encourage anyone who may be feeling anxious, overwhelmed or just unsure to seek support and guidance from your team leaders and managers, or come to chat to me personally.  Whilst it is undoubtedly uncomfortable for many of us, me included, it is very much a normal part of the process of change in any organisation, and I would ask that you give it time and work collaboratively with your colleagues as we move forward together.

1. A lack of clarity in roles and teams

The Integrated Care Team has been established following the merger of the Community Team and the In House team.  The bringing together of the two teams that had previously worked very much in silos was proposed from the feedback given from staff during the early part of last year.  Having thought about your feedback, we should produce new organograms and structure charts for the charity and this may provide more clarity, so I’ll ensure that we do this.  If there are any other concerns or queries relating to this these then please do let me know.

1. High number of leavers

You are right to be concerned, this concerns everyone at the organisation, and as such we have agreed that the HR Strategic Sub Committee will do a deep dive audit in to the number of staff who have left recently to identify any concerns and/or themes, or lessons learnt going forward.   The number within the last 4 months is less than the 27 that I think was mooted, it is 16 – which is still very much a worry.  Following the deep dive a report will be produced and the key messages will be shared with everyone.

1. Lack of Trustee presence and a feeling of not being able to speak to Trustees

I am very much a supporter of open communication between all staff and our trustees, and have encouraged this.  It is how I have always worked with a trustee board – and as a trustee on several boards that I have sat on.  The trustees will explore this at their next meeting.  It is very positive though that a number of trustees have been visible over recent weeks and many staff have taken the opportunity to feed back about their views directly to trustees.  To make this process more robust and provide clarity on process, going forward where there may be matters that cannot be resolved or addressed through internal escalation procedures we will have an identified nominated Trustee who will become a Freedom To Speak Up Guardian.  Once this appointment has been made we will share their details and how you may wish to access this.

1. Communication

From what I can gather there were a few points raised here.  As a result we will undertake a review of our current Internal Comms, as this is key to staff engagement, ensuring that we are sharing the right things at the right time with everyone.  It was also raised that the updates following SMT meetings weren’t being shared, we absolutely agree that this has fallen by the wayside as we have re-focussed the management team meetings, and so we will ensure that an update from these meetings is shared going forward.  And thirdly there seems to be some distrust of my weekly update email.  Whilst I have received a huge amount of positive feedback about the weekly email, some of you think the email is too positive and isn’t truthful.   You have my assurance that the emails are open and transparent but I’ll definitely bear your views in mind going forward.  If anyone would like to provide examples of information that you feel hasn’t been true then please do let me know.

1. The structure of the Leadership and the Management Team

There seems to be a lack of understanding regarding the management structure.  We will share clear organograms, but as a reminder here is the charity wide management structure which came into effect in September 2023 to help deliver our strategic aims.

1. CEO & Directors – The Leadership Team (Strategic Focus)
2. Heads of Departments/Managers – The Management Team (Operational Management Focus)
3. In addition, given the size and complexity of our Care offer, we have a Senior Care Team Structure under Catherine, which provides oversight and leadership across our clinical and care services.  (Heads of Service, Education Manager, ACPs)

1. Finances

Some people have asked whether they should be concerned about the charities financial position.  The answer here is absolutely not.  I have been keeping everyone up to date regarding our statutory funding discussions and in the last weekly email shared that a deficit budget had been presented to and approved in principle by the F&I committee, ahead of full approval being sought at the upcoming trustee meeting.  Many charities set deficit budgets, especially in times when they are awaiting clarification on funding, it’s also being prudent and cautious to some extent.  Financially we are good shape with strong levels of reserves which will enable us to weather any possible reduction in funding.   We do, however, need to ensure that every penny that we spend is spent well and on the right things and that we obtain good value in all that we do.  As you know we have set an ambitious strategic plan for the next 3 years, this is very much a plan around growth and that remains our focus.

1. Culture

Many are concerned about culture, but it feels like the expectation is that improving the culture is someone else job.  Culture is everyone’s business, it’s how we do things with and to each other.  Your experiences will shape the workplace culture. People work well together when they trust one another, feel a strong sense of community, care about one another’s success, and appreciate one another for who they are. Therefore, to improve our culture, we all need to establish and build trust, build community, invest in each other, and celebrate our differences.  It’s not easy…. and it takes commitment from everyone.  I will think about how we can actively measure our success in improving the culture and everyone’s alignment with our core values.

1. Vinten Place and the Hospice

It was disappointing to hear about the continuing “Us and them” mind-set that is defined purely by two separate buildings.  We are one team.  We are all here for the same reason.  No one team is more important than another.  We will continue to work to break down these barriers, and ask that you all support this.

1. CEO

It was felt by a couple of staff that I am not a visible enough leader.  As CEO my role is across the whole of the charity and it can be difficult to be everywhere, I will however reflect on this and look to spread myself more across the departments.  Since Catherine’s appointment I have consciously stepped away from day to day involvement in Care to enable Catherine to establish her leadership presence.  Over recent weeks due to matters outside of work, I have needed to be more flexible with my working hours and this may have impacted my visibility on site.

1. A loss of fun

You said that we don’t do anything fun anymore.  Who has stopped the fun?  This hasn’t been a directive from anywhere.  You don’t need permission to create a wonderful environment, it’s a given.  We are a children’s charity and we should be creating wonderful activities and fun filled days every day for our children (and our staff!)  Please put the fun back in to your work and if unsure please ask.

1. Anonymous feedback

We were until yesterday unaware that there was a facility for staff to feedback anonymously via the intranet.  This has never been brought to our attention.  Now we know about it we can certainly follow up on this going forward.  In addition we have ordered 2 lockable feedback post boxes which we would encourage you to use.

1. We Are Derian frequency

You have asked that the forum meets more frequently and therefore Kim has already shared monthly dates for the rest of the year.

There may have been other items discussed, if you feel that I have missed something critical then please do let me know.

As you all know, we are on a journey of change at Derian House, a collective journey that involves everyone.  I think some are still unclear as to what this journey is.  This journey is our 3 ear plan which incorporates the change and transition as we aim to be the very best employer, provide excellent in our services, and become sustainable.

I am personally disappointed that we have not made as much progress as I’d have hoped to at this point and have asked that the ongoing difficulties that we have with culture, which spans many years,  are discussed fully at the trustee meeting on the 29^th February.  I have also cc’d our Trustees in to this email for openness and transparency.

If anyone wishes to have a chat with me personally please do let me know.

Thanks everyone and have a great week.

Let’s do this…..together, it’s not easy but as one we will be the Derian we aspire to be.

Good Afternoon Everyone

Please see the We Are Derian dates for your diaries.  All meetings will be held in the Seaside Room.

19 March – 2:30pm

16 April – 2:30pm

15 May – 2pm

18 June – 2pm

17 July – 2pm

14 August – 2pm

17 September – 2pm

23 October – 2pm

20 November – 2pm

17 December – 2pm

Thanks

Kim

MONDAY 19^th

• Join us in the Messy PlayZone this morning for messy string painting arty fun.

• It’s movie time! What will we decide to watch in Derian at the Movies this afternoon?

TUESDAY 20^th

• Weekly Derian Playgroup will take place this morning in the Seaside Room for our families, babies and toddlers.

• Our staff forum, We Are Derian, will take place in the Seaside Room from 3:00pm – 4:00pm. All staff are welcome to attend.

• Let’s get our bodies moving, it’s time for Music and Movement with Claire (Wellbeing & Play Worker).

• Today is Love Your Pet Day, so it’s only right we give a special shout-out to our paw-mazing Pet Therapy dogs Shuna and Tallulah, and the 51 pooches taking part in our Top Dog challenge! (Which has so far raised more than £7,000!)

WEDNESDAY 21^st

• We’ll be spending the morning making bird feeders in the Messy PlayZone with Caroline (Wellbeing & Play Worker).

• Rachel (Music Teacher) will host her hourly session of singing in the Snug from 11:00am – 12:00pm.

• Our in-house children and young people will be enjoying fun and splashes in the hydrotherapy pool this afternoon.

THURSDAY 22^nd

• Join Tina (Wellbeing & Play Coordinator) for salt dough creations in the Messy PlayZone this morning.

• Sensory Story Time with Caroline will take place in the House Lounge this morning.

• John (Family Counsellor)’s fortnightly wellbeing session for all staff will be held in the Cinema from 4:00pm today. Take half an hour out of your day to relax and unwind on a therapeutic journey.

FRIDAY 23^rd

• Twit twoo! We’ll be making twig owl crafts in the Messy PlayZone this morning.

• Join Claire for a therapeutic TACPAC session in the Sensory Room this afternoon.

• Friday Night Club for our Lodgers will be held in the Lodge from 7:00pm this evening.

SATURDAY 24^th

• Our monthly group for bereaved mums will be held in the Seaside Room from 10:00am – 12:00pm today.

• There’ll be plenty of LEGO fun being had as we create masterpieces with Arron (Wellbeing & Play Worker) in the Messy PlayZone this morning.

• Youth Family Drop-In for our Lodgers and their families will take place from 1:30pm – 3:00pm.

SUNDAY 25^th  

• What will we whisk up in Danni’s Diner as we bake some tasty treats to take home?

ANY OTHER BUSINESS

• If you would like to share with the rest of Derian what your department is up to in the next 7 days, please send an email to cameron.murray@derianhouse.co.uk before Friday the week before.

Have a great week everyone! J

Good morning Team Derian,

My apologies for the lack of a weekly update email last week, events overtook me… however this week its early and you’re in for a bumper edition !  Here we go…..

1. Footballers from Oldham FC came to visit the hospice last Friday along with club mascot Chaddy the owl to pay a special visit to “T” who is currently staying with us. The team will presented T with a special award – goal of the month – after he scored a blinder that made fans go wild when he was the team mascot last month.  It was a lovely afternoon.

2. We received an update from makers of The Little Things documentary this week when the team’s new editor Max came for a tour of the hospice. After shooting more than 200 hours of footage at the hospice over three months of the summer, the team is now busy editing and have given us a completion date of June in order to show the film at this summer’s film festivals where they hope it will get picked up by a distributor.

3. Our Chorley shop will be closing its doors to the public in March and we’re currently in talks to secure new town centre premises.  We will provide more information as it unfolds.

4. Our 2024/2025 budget has been drafted and was considered by Trustees at the Finance and Investment Sub Committee meeting on Friday.  The budget – which is a deficit budget – was approved at that stage and will now go to the full trustee meeting on the 29^th  Thanks to all departments – especially Finance – for their hard work in pulling it together.

5. There is no further information regarding statutory funding, we’re doing all we can to ensure we are at the table when decision are made across L&SC and GM.

6. Our care team recruitment drive continues at pace and we have now advertised the Child and Family Advocate and Engagement Lead. This brand new role will be crucial in ensuring our children and family’s views, wishes and feedback are right at the heart of all decision making at Derian.  If anyone is interested to find out more, feel free to speak to me about the role.

7. On Monday we enjoyed a visit from the wonderful Alfie Boe, this created a real positive joy around the hospice and I am delighted to share that Alfie is keen to be a Patron.  I missed his visit and so he’s got to come back!

8. Catherine’s interview with the Nursing Times has now been published, it’s a great article and the link is here… https://www.nursingtimes.net/news/community-news/hospice-nursing-a-privilege-and-honour-says-chief-nurse-13-02-2024/

9. We’ve been busy this week interviewing candidates for our new administrator role, we’re looking forward to welcoming someone to the team very soon.

• On Monday we had a large group of students from Uclan, Bolton and Edge Hill, we had a great morning and fabulous feedback from attendees.

• We have been shortlisted for an award through Nursing Times nomination, this is really great news although embargoed until today, well done all.

• The Quality, Safety and Improvement subcommittee of the board met earlier this week.  We were delighted to share with them a demo of Care Database, and we’re keen to develop the reporting requirements and dashboards that they require.  Also at the meeting we explored our current challenges regarding staffing levels and the processes we are using for determining the occupancy levels and the needs of the children that access the in house offer over the coming months.  A further discussion is taking place at the next trustee meeting.

• I’m gutted I missed sharing the love this week as we celebrated pancake day and valentines, well done everyone on having fun and creating a wonderful environment for all, the photos (and videos) are brilliant!

• Catherine has had some progressive meetings with ICB medicine management to discuss ACPs prescribing in the community, this is a great step forward.

• Continuing on our CQC readiness theme Anthony has scheduled a number of CQC briefings which he and Catherine will lead over the coming months, so watch out for the invite.

• We are welcoming Gillian Viragh on Monday.  Gillian is joining us as our new HR Administrator, so please say hello and give her a real warm Derian welcome.

• We’ve had some lovely feedback from sunflower “A”s family.  This is a really important part of our offer at Derian, thanks you to everyone who made their experience the best it possibly could be.

• Don’t forget, we have We Are Derian on Tuesday afternoon in the Seaside room, make sure you get along if you can, it’s your chance to chat openly about all things Derian.

To all staff,

Fire up the engines!

Stars & Cars is back for 2024! Europe’s largest collection of Movie & TV replica vehicles are re-assembling to raise money for the hospice.

Being held on April 14th at Bolton Arena in Horwich, Stars & Cars will bring a selection of film characters, props, celebrities and of course our favourite iconic Movie & TV vehicles to the North West of England. Alongside the chance to meet the seventh Doctor Who – Sylvester McCoy – this year’s event will bring together the largest display of Batmobiles ever seen in one place in the UK!

To make this event a success we are looking for volunteer support with the following:

• Option a) 9am to 5pm – duties include marshalling cars, customer queue management, checking tickets, closing down works of moving barriers & tables
• Option b) 9am to 1pm – duties include marshalling cars, customer queue management, checking tickets
• Option c) 1pm to 5pm – duties include marshalling cars, customer queue management, checking tickets, closing down works of moving barriers & tables

Due to the sheer size of the operation we are unable to have any flexibility in the shift times and roles will be assigned on the day.

The team will make sure you are fed and watered throughout the day.

If you are interested in helping Mick on Sunday 14^th April please drop me an email with the option that you can do!!!

Good afternoon everyone,

Be prepared to spread the love this Wednesday 14^th February, as we celebrate Valentine’s Day in true Derian style – with our annual tradition of wearing red, pink, or love heart t-shirts!

If you’re working directly with CYP, please adhere to IPC rules when choosing your outfit.

MONDAY 12^th

• Happy Half Term Week everyone! We’ve got plenty of activities throughout the week as we welcome an abundance of our families behind our doors for lots of memory making.

• Broadway legend Alfie Boe visited us at the hospice for a tour of our facilities this morning, and has pledged to support us in a much greater capacity when he moves back ‘up North’ later this year. A huge thanks to everyone who made him feel so welcome – he was astounded by the work that we do.

• We welcomed students from across the North West for the first Student Day of the year this morning, which allows those working towards a career in healthcare an insight into life here at Derian House.

• It’s movie time! What will we decide to watch in Derian at the Movies this afternoon?

TUESDAY 13^th  

• The Quality, Safety & Improvement Sub-Committee is taking place from 10:00am – 12:00pm. Please say hello to our trustees if you see them around.

• It’s one of our favourite days of the year – Pancake Day (that soon crêped up on us) – and we’ll be celebrating with our annual Derian House Pancake Race on the Lodge driveway this afternoon, after making them in the Diner this morning.

• We’ll have a few of our families in for Family Day Care from 10:00am – 3:00pm, where they’ll be based in the Seaside Room and take part in a range of activities throughout the day. Expect flipping brilliant pancake fun!

• Individual and group sessions of music therapy with Martha will take place in the Snug from 2:00pm.

WEDNESDAY 14^th

• Let’s share the love as we celebrate Valentine’s Day here at the hospice, with card and gift making – featuring some snazzy chocolate truffles which we’ll be putting together in the Messy PlayZone.

• Rachel (Music Teacher) will host her hourly session of singing in the Snug from 11:00am – 12:00pm.

• Our in-house children and young people will be enjoying fun and splashes in the hydrotherapy pool this afternoon.

• The Derian Dads peer support group will have their monthly meetup in the Seaside Room from 7:30pm – 9:00pm this evening.

THURSDAY 15^th

• The Leadership and Management Team are having their monthly meeting in the Conference Room from 10:00am – 11:30am today.

• Our School’s Out lads will be with us today in the Seaside Room, taking part in a range of arts and crafts activities and having fun with friends.

• To celebrate World Hippo Day, we’ll be doing themed crafts in the Messy PlayZone this morning.

• Eyes down looking – it’s prize bingo time! Join us in the Messy PlayZone this afternoon for one of our favourite activities.

• Caroline (Wellbeing & Play Worker) will be facilitating swimming lessons in the hydrotherapy pool this afternoon.

• The weekly Thursday huddle will be held in the Care Team office from 9:30am today. A member of staff from each team is encouraged to pop along and give a brief overview of what your teams are up to.

FRIDAY 16^th  

• Snuggle down for a session of Sensory Story Time, which will take place in the House Lounge this morning.

• Friday Night Club for our Lodgers will be held in the Lodge from 7:00pm this evening.

SATURDAY 17^th/ SUNDAY 18^th

• Our Lodgers will be back at the hospice for one of our Social Weekends, where they’ll be taking part in a whole host of activities over the next couple of days.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS

• If you would like to share with the rest of Derian what your department is up to in the next 7 days, please send an email to cameron.murray@derianhouse.co.uk before Friday the week before.

Have a great week everyone! J

Hi there,

Dave the IT guy here! You may have seen me around Derian in the last couple of months.

Hope your Wednesday is going well!

This is an email to let you all know that Abbey is now acting as the primary IT support for Derian.

Any new IT queries and issues should be addressed directly to support@abbeyict.com, or called in on 01254 272000, option 1.

You will also be seeing more of my colleagues and I onsite from time to time, so feel free to approach us if you see us!

MONDAY 5^th

• To commemorate Children’s Mental Health Week, we’ll be making feelings faces artwork in the Messy PlayZone this morning.

• Catherine (Chief Nurse) will be interviewed by the Nursing Times this morning for a piece about our nursing recruitment campaign.

• It’s movie time! What will we decide to watch in Derian at the Movies this afternoon?

TUESDAY 6^th  

• We’ll be celebrating Waitangi Day (New Zealand’s national day) by partaking in themed arts and crafts in the Messy PlayZone this morning, followed by Maori tribal tattoo designing and fried bread making this afternoon.

• Derian Playgroup for our babies and toddlers will take place in the Seaside Room from 10:00am – 11:30pm.

• A CQC preparation meeting will take place this afternoon – a fortnightly meeting which will ensure Derian House showcases itself well in the case of a possible CQC visit.

• Individual and group sessions of music therapy with Martha will take place in the Snug from 2:00pm.

WEDNESDAY 7^th  

• Join us in the Messy PlayZone as we make heart-themed mobiles this morning.

• Karen (CEO) will be attending a Great Manchester Hospices meeting in Rochdale today.

• Our Preston shop will be welcoming a group of volunteers from NatWest for the day – the team have previously worked in our gardens, but want to help in our shops to gain an understanding of charity retail and how it helps support the hospice.

• Rachel (Music Teacher) will host her hourly session of singing in the Snug from 11:00am – 12:00pm.

• Our in-house children and young people will be enjoying fun and splashes in the hydrotherapy pool this afternoon.

• Our Derian Dads Bereavement Group will meet in the Seaside Room this evening from 7:00pm – 9:30pm.

THURSDAY 8^th

• We got the spirit, you got to hear it, under the sea! We’ll be doing sea-themed arts and crafts to celebrate Under the Sea Day.

• Pet therapy pooch Shuna will be here at the hospice for her fortnightly visit – she may even tell us all about how she’s been getting on in her Top Dog challenge!

• Catherine will be supporting student development at the University of Cumbria today.

• The weekly Thursday huddle will be held in the Care Team office from 9:30am today. A member of staff from each team is encouraged to pop along and give a brief overview of what your teams are up to.

• The editor of The Little Things documentary, Max, will be visiting the hospice for a tour.

• It’s time for a fishy-themed story as we enter a virtual aquarium under the lights of the Sensory Room.

• John (Family Counsellor)’s wellbeing sessions are back, with half an hour of guided relaxation for all staff taking place in the Cinema from 4:00pm.

FRIDAY 9^th

• Our in-house children and young people will be taking part in milk painting in the Messy PlayZone this morning.

• The Finance & Income Sub-Committee will take place from 10:00am – 12:00pm. Please say hello to our Trustees if you see them.

• Let’s get our bodies moving, it’s music and movement time in the Sensory Room this afternoon.

SATURDAY 10^th

• Family Stay & Play – for Derian children and their families – will be held in the Conference Room from 1:30pm – 3:00pm.

• Kung hei fat choi! We’ll be celebrating Chinese New Year with food tasting, dragon dancing and themed arts and crafts throughout the day.

SUNDAY 11^th

• Snuggle down for stories in the House Lounge this afternoon as we have a super relaxing Sunday!

ANY OTHER BUSINESS

• If you would like to share with the rest of Derian what your department is up to in the next 7 days, please send an email to cameron.murray@derianhouse.co.uk before Friday the week before.

Have a great week everyone! J

Get ready to paint the Bay green once again as Derian House’s longest-running fundraising event returns for another year of sea, sand (and hopefully – a suntan!) 

Join us on Saturday 18th May for the Morecambe Bay Walk, and stride with the tide over seven miles from Arnside to the picturesque village of Grange-over-Sands, led by the King’s Guide, Michael Wilson 

Expect various weather conditions and maybe even a 50-metre wade through water up to 2ft in depth! 

All we ask in return is that you raise a minimum of £50 via JustGiving, or you can pay the upfront cost of £50 – whichever option suits you best

For more information and to register, please fill out the form via our website below, email Kerry in Fundraising, or pop across to Vinten Place for a chat

 https://www.derianhouse.co.uk/events/morecambe-bay-walk/

1. Over in fundraising, February sees the start of our Derian’s Top Dog fundraiser in which a record-number of pups (51!) are taking part this year to take on 100km of walkies over the course of the month (and seeing as it’s a leap year they get an extra day). Our Dive for Derian skydives are also back – with so many people signing up to chuck themselves out of a plane to raise money for our children this summer that we’ve had to put on an extra date already. Great work guys! It’s been great to see so many staff and families get involved.

2. Derian is coming to TikTok… keep your eyes peeled as we launch ourselves onto the platform and show the world what an awesome job we do. This week’s video will focus on our nurse recruitment.

3. Speaking of which, our nurse recruitment drive is in full flow with our video running on Facebook and the job advertised on NHS jobs. Catherine will also be doing an interview with Nursing Times on Monday to help spread the word further. It would be great if you could all share our video on Facebook. If someone you have recommended gets one of the jobs you will receive a £30 shopping voucher as a thank you. Here is is: https://fb.watch/pXdD253HXE/
4. The Keepsake Circle: Chapter 3 was officially launched at a very moving event on Sunday at which some of our bereaved families attended and listened to their child’s special song performed live by our Patron Kiki Deville and song-writing partner Angus Powell. You can listen to the album here:
   (Spotify): https://open.spotify.com/artist/2PBaGhRlJZP71eNMs6bH9i?si=MnEYSv6EQP-6ufY8CyIUbg (Apple Music): https://music.apple.com/gb/artist/the-keepsake-circle/1612316980
5. We received some lovely feedback from one of our families who received a stamp of their child’s initials in our Say my Child’s Name campaign this week: “I have just sorted out a mummy Valentine card for my daughter which will be ‘signed’ with the stamp. She had also been ill so was great to send a get well mummy card to her. Such a wonderful gesture from Derian House. Many thanks, a grateful grandma.”

A very happy birthday to Denise, John Pilling and Lynsey Johnston, have a wonderful day.

And finally we are in February !  Congratulations to anyone who completed Dry January….good effort to those of you who tried….now let the wine flow…

Have a great weekend everyone, and thanks so much for all your hard work and commitment.

Our three newest recruits have now settled into life here at Derian House. Still don’t know much about them? We’ve got you covered – find out more by scrolling down 🙂

Anthony Mohammed – Head of Quality, Governance & Compliance

Starting with us back in the beginning of December, Anthony has probably by now got round to meeting the majority of you. He joins us after working in the interim market for 11 years, and most recently a role with a fully integrated care provider which took him to the Isle of Man.

With a career spanning dozens of sectors including mental health services, maternity, cancer, and specialising in patient quality and safety, Anthony is excited to start his first permanent role in over a decade here at the North West’s children’s hospice.

The change was brought on by family circumstances (mainly due to Premier Inn being his permanent residence!), and Anthony can now spend more time at home, rather than out of a suitcase.

He’s already got stuck into everything ‘CQC’ and ‘risk’, and will be starting to roll out sessions to staff in the coming months. Where he’s worked before has given him a hoard of experience which is very welcomed by us here at the hospice.

Outside of work, Anthony enjoys walking – and tries to do up to 20 miles a week – and as a self-proclaimed nerd, he tends to do a lot of political and historical reading.

FUN FACT – David Attenborough once stood on his foot!

Sarah Conway – Chorley Shop Assistant

Sarah is the latest member of staff to join our retail network right here in Chorley, and with a vast experience within the sector, is geared up and ready for the job!

She’s worked in huge supermarkets and small businesses, including a short period of time where she even ran her own business after the pandemic. Sarah loves merchandising and creating shop displays, and nothing gives her a bigger buzz at work than something selling from a display that she’s put together.

Our shop assistant is excited to put her skills towards keeping Derian House retail at its very best, and she couldn’t be happier to get to do it for such a good cause.

When she’s not at the shop, Sarah enjoys socialising with friends and visiting family.

FUN FACT – Sarah’s other half is none other than our eCommerce Manager, Tony!

Jeff Melling – Catering Manager

Jeff is a man who doesn’t need much of an introduction to many of you! After a couple of operations, he left the hospice after many years at the helm of catering back in early 2022, but is now back where he belongs and more ready than ever to ensure the Good Ship Kitchen is ran super smoothly.

From his famous Christmas dinners to his brilliant baking, we’re more than happy to see Jeff back where he belongs.

FUN FACT – Jeff’s Mastermind subject would be ‘World’s Strongest Man’.

In January, we launched The Keepsake Circle: Chapter Three at a special concert held at the Dunkenhalgh Hotel, our children and young people (and staff!) had fun in the snow, and we asked nurses from across the region to come and join our incredible team #MonthInAMinute 💚