Category Archives: Derian News

Good afternoon everyone,

We have been made aware that the prevalence of COVID infections in Lancashire remains high and therefore we will be continuing with some enhanced precautions for the remainder of this week;

• Mask wearing is required within the main Hospice building at all times unless sat at a workstation (including when Vinten Place or Retail staff are in the main Hospice building).
• Within the dining room 4 at a table is authorised unless a Child or Young person is present therefore please reduce numbers.
• We also ask everyone to please speak to their line manager prior to arranging any external visitors for this week.

Morning all,

It has become apparent that staff have been taking food items from the kitchen without authorisation. Food stock has been ordered and allocated for organisational need and so when items go missing, we are unable to meet the requirements. All food that has been prepared or set out by our catering staff for staff must be paid for. If you have not ordered a lunch or dinner, you may not help yourself to anything, including salads, yoghurts and fruit.

We have increased stock checking recently and can confirm that missing bread, ham, cheese, breakfast cereals, crisps, yoghurts, biscuits, fruit, salads, coleslaws, ice creams have all been unaccounted for; as well as prepared meals of lasagne slices, meatballs, quiche slices to name a few examples over the last few weeks.

If food is required to be prepared for staff or CYP, it must be recorded through the catering department. If evening snacks are required for CYP, you must email me directly to confirm what has been taken so I have an auditable trail of requirements.

There is no excuse for staff taking stock and disciplinary action shall be sought for those who feel entitled to a ‘freebie’.

Luke (Head of Facilities and Infrastructure)

Good morning everybody,

Following my email last week we have decided to continue with some COVID restrictions for a one week period (18^th July – 24^th July 2022).

The below guidance will continue;

• Mask wearing is required within the main Hospice building at all times unless sat at a workstation
• All Vinten Place staff to minimise activity in the main Hospice building
• All visitors to take a lateral flow test prior to arrival
• If you have a visitor planned that cannot easily be rearranged to next week, please speak to Lynn or Luke as this will be reviewed on a case by case basis

I can confirm that you no longer need to do daily lateral flow tests and all Hospice and Vinten Place staff should revert back to bi-weekly testing (Monday and Thursday).

Lateral Flow testing update

Against our COVID-19 Unique Organisation Number only 80 lateral flow tests were registered between the dates of 27/06/2022 and 10/07/2022.

This means either staff are not completing the bi weekly lateral flow tests or have become complacent in not registering them.

Please ensure that you continue to both take your tests and register them as this is still the mandatory instruction from Department and Health and Social Care.

Due to our high levels of engagement in the testing programme we have continued to be able to provide test kits free of charge to all staff and volunteers. I urge people to continue to participate as I would not like to see Derian House having to pay for the kits in the future.

Kind regards,

Ben Leavesley
Head of People and Culture

After a further review due to increases in COVID cases we have made the decision to implement the following control measures:

• The Hospice shall be closed to visitors and non-essential contractors from now until Sunday 17^th July for the requirement of deep cleaning.
• The movement of staff between the main hospice and Vinten Place must be authorised by a Senior Manager.
• Reception post shall be allocated as a single dispatch from reception in the afternoons.
• All Hospice and Vinten Place staff to do daily lateral flow testing and report online
• Mask wearing is required within the main Hospice building at all times unless sat at a workstation

Staff from Vinten Place will be able to order lunch from our kitchen. An order form shall be within the open office to be delivered to catering staff at 11am. Please collect from the external side door. Vinten Place staff breaks can take place in the Seaside room post 12:00 Thursday and Friday

Any queries please let Luke Bateson (Head of Facilities and Infrastructure) know.

Aloha! Derian’s very own summer Lū’au will take place on Thursday 18th August with a Hawaiian Shirt Day!

You’re welcome to come in your finest floral attire – the brighter the better – just make sure you adhere to IPC policies.

Good morning everyone, message from Sue Lally (Volunteer) below:

Sometimes, staff and visitors to the hospice get blocked in on the car park and it’s not always easy to identify the car doing the blocking! We are going to create a list of staff car registration numbers to be kept in Reception and also on your Intranet profiles to make our lives a little easier!

If you’re happy for your car registration to be stored in this way, please could you send Sue your car registration via email on sue.lally@derianhouse.co.uk.

Please could you also include which team you’re on so it will be easier to find you should your car need moving.

Good afternoon everybody,

Unfortunately due to a rise in COVID cases we have been advised by Public Health England to reinstate some COVID restrictions for a one week period (11^th July – 17^th July 2022).

With immediate effect please may we ask all staff to follow the below guidance;

• All Hospice and Vinten Place staff to do daily lateral flow testing and report online
• Mask wearing is required within the main Hospice building at all times unless sat at a workstation
• All Vinten Place staff to minimise activity in the main Hospice building
• All visitors to take a lateral flow test prior to arrival
• If you have a visitor planned, please speak to Luke as this will be reviewed on a case by case basis

Please remember that at present these are temporary measures and unless cases continue to rise we will revert back to business as usual on Monday 18^th July 2022.

If you require more lateral flow test kits, please collect from myself in HR, or there are numerous kits available in the Care Team office pod.

Kind regards,

Ben

Good afternoon everyone,

Our in-house TVs are now all up and running and displaying current information and news which you can also find across our Intranet/social media.

We’ve now got TVs in Danni’s Diner, Reception, the Snug, bedroom corridor, Nurses Station and the Comms & Marketing office. Hopefully you will find this communication tool useful and feel well-informed about the goings on at Derian House.

This is the important bit – PLEASE (and I cannot stress this enough) if you are on your break and catching up on Love Island or using the TV for other things, can you ensure afterwards that the TV goes back on to the Internet app. You can get to this by pressing the home button on the remote and then going to ‘Apps’.

In the address bar, you should see ‘Derian House Digital’. If you can’t, you just need to type in www.derianhouse.digital.

It will obviously be easier if you don’t touch the TVs… but I’ll leave that up to you!

In June, we celebrated #ChildrensHospiceWeek in style with our annual sports day and a range of hospice-wide activities, spent lots of time making memories in the summer sunshine, and our supporters continued to raise vital funds for Derian House with fundraising events like Supercar Showtime and the Morecambe Bay Walk #MonthInAMinute 💚

Month in a Minute – June

Good morning everyone,

Thanks to everyone who took part in filming our Culture and Values video with us; here it is in all of its glory!

Derian Culture & Values – YouTube

Feel free to use this in any of your presentations or share with peers outside of Derian House. We’ll be using it to help with recruitment across social media and our website, and also showcase what a brilliant place Derian House is to work. If you’d like a copy, it currently resides in the Drop Zone for you to copy into your own folders should you need to 🙂

The annual review is now available on our website to send to those who may wish to see it.

We are getting some printed but they won’t be here until next week – should you need a physical copy please visit Comms in the Pink Palace later next week and they’ll be more than happy to give you some.

Derian Publications

3, 2, 1… #PEDALPOWER! 🚲

As part of #ChildrensHospiceWeek, inspirational children’s nurse Francesca Lennon is taking on the ultimate cycling challenge to launch her CHAT UK – Children’s Hospices Across The UK project, which will see her cycle to every children’s hospice in the UK this summer, clocking up a staggering 3,200 miles over 70 days 🙌

Her aim is to raise a huge £500,000 for children’s hospices whilst raising awareness about the vital work they do to support families caring for a seriously ill child ✨

Inspired by Francesca’s challenge, the staff, volunteers and supporters of Derian House have completed a cycling challenge of their own, with 54 people pedalling for one minute on a watt bike, each representing the 54 children’s hospices here in the UK 🏡

Watch on for our #CHW spin session, and a huge thanks to all of you who took part! 💚

Pedal Power #ChildrensHospiceWeek 2022 – YouTube

This week, we’re celebrating Children’s Hospice Week, the only week of the year which is dedicated to children’s hospice and palliative care services across the UK.

From the 20th – 26th June, join us in a multitude of activities as we celebrate the nation’s 54 hospices that care for children and young people whose lives are too short, and make sure to visit our social media for some inspirational stories from our families.

Check ‘What’s on Weekly’ for a full list of the activities that our Wellbeing & Play Team have put on for our families, staff and volunteers this week, and let’s celebrate the Derian way!

Here’s the top stories from this week’s SMT meeting:

• EMIS is set-up and now being tested across many areas of the hospice, with the Crosscare system now officially gone.

• Those who attended the last We are Derian staff forum were asked to come up with ideas for a staff recognition project and will take the ideas back to the next meeting.

• Our new COVID-secure guidance is in place! See David’s email for full details, but in essence – masks are no longer mandatory (with the exception of those providing direct patient care) and rules around social distancing in the dining room and meeting rooms are back to pre-pandemic measures. We will continue with testing, handwashing and using masks respectfully during colds.

• Culture and Values – the new video has been completed (thanks to everyone who got involved) and will be officially launched after the next Board of Trustees meeting at the end of the month. The values logo has also been updated, with a version available featuring all of the word cloud words used by staff to describe our values.

• Birdsong responses are coming in thick and fast – thank you to everyone who has already completed theirs. For everyone else… you have until 24 June to have your say.

• The Amelie campaign is going well, with £17,000 of donations flooding in during May and more coming in every day. The campaign also saw 20 new regular donors signing up to donate.

Have a great week everyone and thanks for doing a brilliant job 🙂

Dear Derian House Colleagues,

After guidance from NHS England we will be making changes to our COVID-Secure rules with immediate effect.

1. MASK WEARING

• Masks are no longer required across the Hospice, retail, warehouse and transportation EXCEPT:-

1. If you are providing direct patient care.
2. If you feeling a little unwell (e.g. but not limited to common cold) but are fit to come to work.

We respect people’s right to continue to wear a mask if they so wish and we will continue to provide masks across the Hospice as normal.

2. HANDWASHING AND SANITISER

• We ask that all staff, volunteers and visitors continue to wash their hands on arrival at the Hospice before entering and regularly throughout.
• We ask that you continue to regularly use the sanitiser provided around the buildings and ask any visitor in your charge to do the same.

3. DINING ROOM

• There will be no maximum numbers around dining tables.
• We will work on adding another table in to Danni’s Diner to increase capacity.

We ask that everyone is mindful when a child, young person or family are in Danni’s Diner and allow them their own table and space.

4. MEETING ROOMS

• Will return to pre-pandemic occupancy, we ask that when meeting with visitors you ensure they are comfortable in the room you are using.

• LFT are no longer required for visitors.
• If visitors are feeling a little unwell (e.g. but not limited to common cold) but are fit to visit then please ask them to wear a mask.
• Health care professionals visiting a CYP should be asked for their COVID test result before they attend to the CYP.

6. LATERAL FLOW TESTS (STAFF)

• These will continue as normal twice a week for ALL staff and volunteers for the foreseeable future, we have plenty of test kits available from HR and please report them through the NHS portal as normal.

7. SCREENS

• Protective screens will remain in reception.
• Andrew will speak to each retail team about their screens.
• Screens which are remove should be safely stored in case we need to replace them in the future.

We will continue to monitor the situation and as always follow NHSE advice and guidance at all times, if you have any questions or concerns then please speak to a member of the SMT or your Line Manager.

Many thanks

David

In less than two weeks (Saturday 25th June), we’ll be heading to the beach for our annual Morecambe Bay Walk, a seven-mile hike from Arnside to the picturesque village of Grange-over-Sands led by Queen’s Guide, Michael Wilson.

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

We’ve got LIMITED TICKETS LEFT for just £10 per person! Snap them up today before they go.

For more information and to by tickets, please visit our website below or speak to Kerry in Fundraising.

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

Children’s Hospice Week kicks off on Monday 20th June, and to officially mark the start of the week-long celebration, children’s nurse Francesca Lennon is cycling to each of the 54 children’s hospices this summer (you’re not being ignorant, she doesn’t work at Derian House!).

To honour her incredible challenge, we’re asking members of staff, volunteers, fundraisers and ambassadors to jump on the watt bike that is kindly being loaned out to us by the Fire Service and cycle for us. We’re aiming to have 54 people do just one minute each to represent the 54 children’s hospices each in the UK.

The bike will be outside of reception on Wednesday 15th, Thursday 16th and Friday 17th June, so if you’d like to help us rack up our minutes on the bike for a video to kickstart #CHW, please email cameron.murray@derianhouse.co.uk – lycra is optional 🙂

In May, Kingswood Homes produced a music video to further promote the #GreatBigHouseGiveaway with their very own parody of ‘Our House’, the Lodgers here at Derian House smashed a curling competition, and we filmed a brand new video that will be used for recruitment – the first glimpse of which you can see below with the best outtakes from our staff and volunteers!

Month in a Minute – May 2022 – YouTube

John Pilling will be running a guided relaxation session this Thursday 9th June at 2pm in the Lodge Lounge. This is open for all staff and volunteers to attend and it’ll be running fortnightly.

Pop along for an afternoon of zen!

God save the Queen!

On Monday 30th May, our Play & Wellbeing Team will be putting on a Jubilee Street Party to celebrate our Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in the Sensory Garden from 2pm on Monday 30th May.

It’ll be the first time since before COVID that we’ve been able to gather all of our staff, volunteers, children and young people for our infamous ‘themed days’, and we can’t wait… there’ll be team, cake and a range of games… the best of British!

Everyone is welcome to dress in red, white and blue colours. The Care Team are to continue wearing work trousers but are able to wear a short-sleeved themed top of clothing adhering to IPC.

We hope you can all join us for a lavish celebration in aid of our Liz!

SATURDAY 14^th

•  Our monthly drop-in group for bereaved families will be hosted in the Conference Room from 10:00am – 12:00pm.

MONDAY 16^th

• Sensory Story Time will take place in the Seaside Room from 1:30 – 3:00pm for Derian families.

• Our ambassador Jason Lowe will be visiting us this afternoon with some donations and a tour of the hospice.

TUESDAY 17^th

• Play Group for Derian families will take place in the Seaside Room from 10:00 – 11:45am this morning.

• Individual sessions of Music Therapy will take place in the Snug from 2:00pm – 6:00pm.

• Filming for the new Culture and Values video kicks off today! Our interviewees already know where and when they need to be, however we will be filming in open spaces and hospice corridors so make sure you’re wearing a smile!

• Our Pets as Therapy dog, Shuna, will be visiting the hospice on a rare Tuesday for filming.

WEDNESDAY 18^th

• Join our music teacher Rachel Toner in from 11am for a sing-a-long in The Snug.

• We are Derian (rescheduled from Wednesday 4^th May) will be held from 2:00pm today in the Seaside Room. If you’d like to suggest anything to discuss, please visit the ‘Staff Forum’ section of the Intranet and anonymously submit your ideas.

• Our children and young people will be in Danni’s Planthouse for a sensory activity this morning.

• David (CEO) has a virtual meeting with GM Hospices Group today.

• We will be continuing the filming of our Culture and Values video today, so our Pets as Therapy dog Tallulah will be visiting with Clare.

• The Derian Voices will be meeting in the Seaside Room from 12:00 – 1:00pm. You’re very welcome to attend, no matter your singing ability!

THURSDAY 19^th

• Our Pets as Therapy dog, Shuna, will be arriving at Derian with her human Linda for their weekly visit.

FRIDAY 20^th 

• Coffee Morning for Derian House families will take place in the Seaside Room from 10:00am.

• David is at St Mary’s Hospice for a meeting of the L&SC Hospices Together Group.

• We’ll be making the final preparations to our new Accrington store ready for its soft opening on Monday.

SATURDAY 21^st

• Our children and young people will be getting their Mary Berry on for baking fun in Danni’s Diner today!

SUNDAY 22^nd

• Happy National Maritime Day! We’ll be doing themed arts and crafts in the Messy PlayZone this morning.

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 murray@derianhouse.co.ukbefore Thursday the week before.

Have a great week everyone J

As you may know, we recently received a huge donation of Shade M Lipsticks, and these are on sale for £7.49 at Reception, in stores and online.

They are now on a 3 for 2 offer, however, we’d also like to give every staff member and volunteer a free lipstick of their choice. Simply pop into reception or nearest store to choose your lipstick!

They are vegan, halal, cruelty free and retailed in the US at $20.

*Dying Matters week activities are in red.

FRIDAY 29^th

• Friday Night Club for our U18’s will take place in the Lodge Lounge/Kitchen from 6:30pm this evening.

SATURDAY 30^th

• Our Derian Dads will be here at the hospice for a Stay & Play session from 10:00am – 12:00pm in the Seaside Room.

SUNDAY 1^st

• Music & Movement will be held in the Messy PlayZone with Claire this afternoon.

MONDAY 2^nd

• Sensory Story Time will take place in the Seaside Room from 1:30 – 3:00pm for Derian families.

• Theme of the day: Supporting Bereavement, led by Wellbeing & Family Support in Clinical Skills from 1:00 – 3:00pm.

TUESDAY 3^rd

• Play Group for Derian families will take place in the Seaside Room from 10:00 – 11:45am this morning.

• Individual sessions of music therapy with Martha will be happening in The Snug between 2:00 – 6:00pm.

• Theme of the day: Let’s talk about dying, led by the Perinatal Team in Clinical Skills from 10:00 – 11:00am and 1:30 – 2:30pm.

WEDNESDAY 4^th

• Join our music teacher Rachel Toner in from 11am for a sing-a-long in The Snug.

• SMT members are involved in Caldicott and SIRO training today.

• Operational Governance will take place this afternoon.

• The Derian Voices will be meeting in the Seaside Room from 12:00 – 1:00pm. You’re very welcome to attend, no matter your singing ability!

• Theme of the day: What to do before you die?, led by Advanced Clinical Practitioners, Clinical Educator & Derian @ Home Team in the Seaside Room from 1:00 – 5:00pm.

THURSDAY 5^th

• Our Pets as Therapy dog, Shuna, will be arriving at Derian with her human Linda for their weekly visit.

• Our weekly wellbeing session for all staff will take place in the Seaside Room from 1:00 – 3:00pm today. Any members of staff who are feeling overwhelmed by the current climate and just need a safe place to voice how they are feeling are welcome to come along.

• Theme of the day: Talking about dying with people who have a learning difficulty, led by Transition and Youth workers in Clinical Skills.

FRIDAY 6^th

• Theme of the day: Talking about dying with children, led by the Family Support Team in Clinical Skills from 1:00 – 3:00pm.

SUNDAY 8^th

• Our annual Forget-me-not service for bereaved families will take place in a marquee at the front of the hospice today.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS

• Please note that the next We are Derian which was due to take place on Wednesday 4^th May will now be held on Wednesday 18^th May. If you’d like to suggest anything to discuss, please visit the ‘Staff Forum’ section of the Intranet and anonymously submit your ideas.

• 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 murray@derianhouse.co.ukbefore Thursday the week before.

Have a great week everyone 🙂

Dear all,

As part of Hospice UK’s Dying Matters week we are planning a week of meetings/presentations/drop in sessions surrounding different aspects of talking openly about death and dying.

The focus of Dying Matters week is that as a society we have become very distanced from death and its presence and discussion within some cultures and societies has almost vanished. Hospice UK believes that talking about death and dying openly and helping people to think about and plan for death and prioritise their wishes and hopes for their lives can only be beneficial.

We would therefore like to host some drop in sessions/discussions/meetings/information sessions/ chats about death and dying each day next week at the hospice. These will be for all staff within Derian, clinical and non-clinical. The hope is that discussing preparation for and  how to talk about death and dying  will enable us as professionals and in our personal lives.

The days are planned out as below. Please come along and join us It would be really lovely to see a mixture of people. Also, there will be tea and cake!

Monday 2nd

Theme of the day: Supporting Bereavement

Team: Wellbeing & Family Support

Subject: Supporting Bereavement

Venue and times : Clinical Skills lab 1pm – 3pm

Tuesday 3rd

Theme of the day: Let’s talk about dying

Team Perinatal Team

Subject: Initiating difficult conversations

Venue and times: Clinical Skills lab   10-11 & 1:30-14:30

Wednesday 4th

Theme of the day: What to do before you die?

Team Advanced Clinical Practitioners& Clinical Educator & Derian @ Home team

Subject Advanced care plans and preparation for an expected death in the community 

Venue and times: Seaside Room 1pm -5pm

Thursday 5th

Theme of the day:

Team:  Transition and Youth workers

Subject: Talking about dying with people who have a learning difficulty

Venue and times: Clinical Skills lab

Friday 6th

Theme of the day: Talking about dying with children

Team:  Family Support Team

Subject: Talking about dying with children

Venue and times: Clinical Skills lab 1pm – 3pm

If you’d like more information, please email kirsty.blackburn@derianhouse.co.uk.

FRIDAY 22^nd

• Friday Night Club for our U18’s will take place in the Lodge Lounge/Kitchen from 6:30pm this evening.

SATURDAY 23^rd

• Happy St. George’s Day! Our children and young people will be celebrating with a range of arts and crafts in Messy Play.

SUNDAY 24^th

• Music & Movement will be held in the Messy PlayZone with Claire this afternoon.

MONDAY 25^th

• Sensory Story Time will take place in the Seaside Room from 1:30 – 3:00pm for Derian families.
• Happy World Penguin Day everyone! Our children and young people will be in the Messy PlayZone this morning doing penguin-themed arts and crafts.

TUESDAY 26^th

• Play Group for Derian families will take place in the Seaside Room from 10:00 – 11:45am this morning.
• Individual sessions of music therapy with Martha will be happening in The Snug between 2:00 – 6:00pm.

WEDNESDAY 27^th

• Join our music teacher Rachel Toner in from 11am for a sing-a-long in The Snug.

• Our Derian Dads will be enjoying a Curry Night in the Seaside Room from 6:30pm this evening.

• The Derian Voices will be meeting in the Seaside Room from 12:00 – 1:00pm. You’re very welcome to attend, no matter your singing ability!

THURSDAY 28^th

• Everyone’s favourite Pets as Therapy dog, Shuna, will be arriving at Derian with her human Linda for their weekly visit.

• Our weekly wellbeing session for all staff will take place in the Seaside Room from 1:00 – 3:00pm today. Any members of staff who are feeling overwhelmed by the current climate and just need a safe place to voice how they are feeling are welcome to come along.

FRIDAY 29^th

• Friday Night Club for our over 18’s will take place in the Lodge Lounge/Kitchen from 6:30pm this evening.
• Join us this afternoon in the Messy PlayZone for a music and movement disco to celebrate International Dance Day.

SATURDAY 30^th

• Treasure Hunt Time! Our in-house children and young people will be taking part in a hunt throughout the hospice this morning.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS

• Please note that the next We are Derian which was due to take place on Wednesday 4^th May will now be held on Wednesday 18^th May. If you’d like to suggest anything to discuss, please visit the ‘Staff Forum’ section of the Intranet and anonymously submit your ideas.

• 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 murray@derianhouse.co.ukbefore Thursday the week before.

Have a great week everyone 🙂

FRIDAY 15^th

• CBBC will be on site from 7:00am – 7:00pm to film scenes for Princess Mirror Belle Season 2. Please read your recent email from Gill Rabbett (Marketing Coordinator) for more information and what to consider if you’re working.

• Ready, set, BAKE! You’ll catch us in Danni’s Diner making chocolatey Easter nests to celebrate Good Friday.

SATURDAY 16^th

• Our lovely labradoodle Tallulah will be visiting us for Pet Therapy with her human Claire.

SUNDAY 17^th

• Happy Easter everyone! Wishing you all an egg-citing day – our children and young people in house will be taking part in lots of festive activities throughout the day, including an egg hunt in Smile Park.

MONDAY 18^th

• Sensory Story Time will take place in the Seaside Room from 1:30 – 3:00pm for Derian families.

TUESDAY 19^th

• We’ve got two new starters joining us today. Ann-Marie Wilburn (Community Fundraiser) and Rebecca Buffin (Accrington Shop Manager) will be in and around the hospice for their inductions.

• Play Group for Derian families will take place in the Seaside Room from 10:00 – 11:45am this morning.

WEDNESDAY 20^th

• Join our music teacher Rachel Toner in from 11am for a sing-a-long in The Snug.

• The Derian Voices will be meeting in the Seaside Room from 12:00 – 1:00pm. You’re very welcome to attend, no matter your singing ability!

THURSDAY 21^st  

• Everyone’s favourite Pets as Therapy dog, Shuna, will be arriving at Derian with her human Linda for their weekly visit.

• Our weekly wellbeing session for all staff will take place in the Seaside Room from 1:00 – 3:00pm today. Any members of staff who are feeling overwhelmed by the current climate and just need a safe place to voice how they are feeling are welcome to come along.

FRIDAY 22^nd

• Friday Night Club for our U18’s will take place in the Lodge Lounge/Kitchen from 6:30pm this evening.

SATURDAY 23^rd

• Happy St. George’s Day! Our children and young people will be celebrating with a range of arts and crafts in Messy Play.

SUNDAY 24^th

• Music & Movement will be held in the Messy PlayZone with Claire this afternoon.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS

• Our shop opening times will vary over the long Easter weekend. Check out our post on Facebook or contact your nearest store for opening times.

• 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 Thursday the week before.

Have a great week everyone 🙂

Due to an overwhelming surge in chocolate egg donations, there will be a pop-up Easter egg tuck shop in Danni’s Diner from 10:00am – 12:00pm tomorrow morning.

• Large Eggs (£1)
• Small Eggs (50p)

There will be a collection bucket and card machine for payment. If you aren’t working tomorrow, you’re very welcome to come up to Vinten Place today (Wednesday 13th).

If you need to grab some Easter eggs for families/children/siblings, also feel free to come upstairs and take any eggs you require. It’s just because there’s such an egg-stravagant amount that we’re selling a lot of them before Easter Sunday to try and rustle up some egg-stra cash.

Spread the word to your colleagues who don’t check the Intranet/their emails! We’d ate (pun intended) for them to miss out!

After the pandemic drove all of our events to a dramatic halt in March 2020, Sunday was the culmination of three years of hard work from the dedicated team at Stars & Cars Events, who put on a phenomenal day for over 4,500 guests at Bolton Arena.

Crowds gathered at Derian House’s biggest fundraising event, expertly organised by our very own Mick and his friend Colin Wilby, to see over 50 film and TV vehicles alongside a whole cohort of characters.

The day’s highlights included animatronic dinosaurs at Jurassic Park, the very impressive Batmobile, and a whopping £600,000 Aston Martin accompanied by James Bond himself!

We were also joined by special guests Ben Batt and Rebecca Atkinson of Shameless fame, Ellie Leach from Coronation Street, and Gladiator Diane ‘Jet’ Youdale, who spent the day nattering to fans and signing photos.

We cannot wait to see what we collectively raised on the day thanks to everyone’s generous donations… if you attended, volunteered or showcased your vehicle at this year’s sold out event – THANK YOU – bring on next year!

We’re extremely excited to announce that the gardens at Derian House have been recognised by producers at BBC as a potential filming location, and to cut a long story short, their hit kids’ tv show ‘Princess Mirror-Belle’ will be on site filming in Smile Park and the Hospice Reception this Friday (Good Friday, 15th April).

You will all receive an email with finer details on Thursday, but please be aware that it won’t affect the running of the hospice on the day and the production team will be very self-sufficient, even down to the portaloo that they’ll be bringing!

Although our children and young people won’t be able to see Princess Mirror-Belle in the flesh due to strict production measures, they have promised that they’ll send us some pictures from the day that we can keep as a memento and post about after the programme has gone out later in the year.

IF YOU ARE WORKING ON FRIDAY: We kindly ask that you park your car at the Vinten Place side if you can. The picture below shows where production will need blocking out on the day.

If you have any questions, please speak to Cameron Murray or Gill Rabbett. They will both be on site on Friday to coordinate the production teams and their vehicles.

Hi Everyone,

Here’s the top stories from this month’s SMT meeting…

• Vantage training for incident reporting has now taken place and we are reviewing the surrounding policies prior to rolling out the system. All comments on the incidence policy are welcome.
• Fleet – You may already be aware that expenses can now be claimed weekly in order to help with the rising fuel costs. Please can we ask everyone to use a Derian pool car when available in order to reduce all staff using their own vehicles.
• Culture and Values sessions that commenced prior to the new year have now finished and Ben will be collating all your feedback and we will be inducting new staff on a quarterly basis to the Culture and Values at Derian.
• Congratulations to Lynn on being appointed as the Clinical Lead for Lancs & South Cumbria Children’s Palliative Care Network which will involve membership of Integrated Care System Board (CYP services).

COVID

• Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) released new guidance with effect from 1^st April 2022 this means that within the Hospice;
  • PCR testing has been removed. Lateral Flow testing (LFT) will continue twice weekly (Monday and Thursday) so please ensure you continue to register your LFT results online using the Derian unique organisation code 99872459.
  • We will be circulating the amount of LFT numbers that have been registered online twice a month. We need to ensure we continue to submit your test results as DHSC do check how many kits we receive and how many results are reported. The DHSC will only continue to provide us all with free kits if the usage reporting is higher.
  • Social Distancing when not wearing PPE remains at 1 metre. This means that we can review how many tables are in the dining room but will be limited to 2 per table. This will be reviewed at each month SMT meeting.
  • Symptoms
    • You may have seen in the news the 9 symptoms of COVID, Flu and respiratory infections. Please be aware when reading any guidance that these symptoms are only a sign of COVID if you also have a high temperature.
    • We have also reviewed our stance on absence management and how some staff have the option to work from home if positive but well enough to work and others do not. In these situations only we will be utilising medical suspension rather than sickness absence and we will be reviewing absence management decisions from the past 12 months in line with this change. If this affects you you will be contacted by HR in due course.
  • There are some changes to PPE and the way in which AGP’s are managed, Lynn will handle this communication to the Care Team directly.
  • There are no changes to mask wearing and no changes to the visitor policy however this will also be reviewed monthly at SMT meeting.

Retail

• Bury and Accrington are under way, which will both be opening shortly.
• All COVID LFT will be removed for the Retail staff excluding one member of the transport team to enable them to still come into the Hospice.

In March, we hosted the annual Derian House Pancake Race on our Lodge driveway, David Hasselhoff aka ‘The Hoff’ sent a special video message to help promote Stars & Cars Events, and we continued to make special memories for our children and young people here at Lancashire and South Cumbria’s children’s hospice #MonthInAMinute 💚

(70) Month in a Minute – March 2022 – YouTube

BEFORE NEXT WEEK… SUNDAY 3^rd

• It’s our first Open Gardens event of the year! Derian supporters will be visiting us throughout the day for a mooch around our outdoor spaces. We’ll have performances from Leyland Morris Men, a special appearance from Emma at eBublio, a scavenger hunt, pirate-themed arts and crafts, and much, much more! Tickets are just £3, with children going free, and can be purchased via this link: Visit a garden in your area – National Garden Scheme (ngs.org.uk)

MONDAY 4^th

• Our new nurse, Natalie Pond, starts at the hospice today.

• Sensory Story Time will take place in the Seaside Room from 1:30 – 3:00pm for Derian families.

• Did someone say Girls Day? Our female lodgers will be enjoying Easter crafts and sensory play fun in the Lodge today!

• It’s Hypoxic Ischaemic Encephalopathy (HIE) Awareness Day today, and Kathryn will be doing some drop-in sessions for teaching throughout the day should anyone want to attend.

TUESDAY 5^th

• Senior Management Team & Health and Safety monthly meeting will take place this morning in the Conference Room.

• Youth Forum will be held this afternoon in the Lodge Dining Room.

• Family Day Care is back for the Easter holidays, and we’ll be hosting a few Derian House families in our Seaside Room from mid-morning to early afternoon.

WEDNESDAY 6^th

• Join our music teacher Rachel Toner in from 11am for a sing-a-long in The Snug.

• Our Derian Voices will be meeting in the Seaside Room from 12:00 – 1:00pm. You’re very welcome to attend, no matter your singing ability!

THURSDAY 7^th

• Everyone’s favourite Pets as Therapy dog, Shuna, will be arriving at Derian with her human Linda for their weekly visit.

• Schoooooool’s Out for the Easter! Our DMD lads will be in the Lodge and Derian at the Movies throughout the day for half term fun.

• Our weekly wellbeing session for all staff will take place in the Seaside Room from 1:00 – 3:00pm today. Any members of staff who are feeling overwhelmed by the current climate and just need a safe place to voice how they are feeling are welcome to come along.

• We’ll be hosting a charity shop lock-in at our Preston store this evening from 6:30pm, for influencers, fashion bloggers and bargain hunters to enjoy a night of shopping, challenges, food and fizz!

SATURDAY 9^th

• Our monthly drop-in bereavement group for Derian families will be held in the Seaside Room from 10:00am – 12:00pm.

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 Thursday the week before.

Have a great week everyone 🙂

Dear Derian House Colleagues,

As the price of fuel continues to be high and after receiving feedback from some colleagues we will be offering an alternative method of claiming any fuel expenses should a Hospice car not be available – details as follow:-

1. Claims can be made weekly, claims forms must be signed by your line Manager and submitted by Friday each week.
2. Payments will then be made the following Tuesday.
3. We will review this process in 3 months as we monitor the current fuel price situation.

If you are still happy to claim monthly then please just continue to submit your monthly claim form as normal.

The fuel cost issue affects Derian House as well so please can I ask that when booking the Hospice vehicles you work with colleagues to maximise their usage and be flexible where you can. The process you should follow regarding the use of vehicles is detailed in our expenses policy and should help you work together for the best cost savings for all.

I appreciate your cooperation and hope this change will help.

Regards

David

MONDAY 28^th

• Sensory Story Time will take place in the Seaside Room from 1:30 – 3:00pm for Derian families.

• Culture & Values sessions will be running throughout the week. Please speak to Jacquie (Executive Assistant) if you haven’t yet attended a session.

TUESDAY 29^th

• Derian Playgroup will take place for our toddlers in the Seaside Room from 10:00am – 12:00pm.

• Programme Lead for Greater Manchester Hospices, Martin Foster, will be setting off from Derian House this morning as he embarks on his ‘100 miles over 4 days’ challenge. He will be visiting ten local hospices on his route to raise awareness and valuable funds. Join us on the driveway at 10:00am to watch the dad-of-two set off!

WEDNESDAY 30^th

• Some of our most generous donors have been invited to Derian House this afternoon for a tour and afternoon tea.

• All care team staff are welcome to attend the monthly drop-in session held in the Lounge from 11:30am – 12:30pm. Please come along and discuss and clinical or professional issues you may have.

• Join our music teacher Rachel Toner in from 11am for a sing-a-long in The Snug.

• Our Derian Voices will be meeting in the Seaside Room from 12:00 – 1:00pm. You’re very welcome to attend, no matter your singing ability!

THURSDAY 31^st

• Everyone’s favourite Pets as Therapy dog, Shuna, will be arriving at Derian with her human Linda for their weekly visit.

• Our weekly wellbeing session for all staff will take place in the Seaside Room from 1:00 – 3:00pm today. Any members of staff who are feeling overwhelmed by the current climate and just need a safe place to voice how they are feeling are welcome to come along.

FRIDAY 1^st

• April Fools! Our children and young people will spend today (up until midday, of course – otherwise you’re the fool!) doing silly arts and crafts and getting up to all sorts of mischief!

SUNDAY 3^rd

• It’s our first Open Gardens event of the year! Derian supporters will be visiting us throughout the day for a mooch around our outdoor spaces. We’ll have performances from Leyland Morris Men, a special appearance from Emma at eBublio, a scavenger hunt, pirate-themed arts and crafts, and much, much more! Tickets are just £3, with children going free, and can be purchased via this link: Visit a garden in your area – National Garden Scheme (ngs.org.uk)

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 Thursday the week before.

Have a great week everyone 🙂

We all have incredible resilience at Derian House which is testimony to our ability to cope. However, sometimes our resolve is tested to such a significant level that cracks appear in our thinking and emotions. Sometimes, no matter how strong we try to be we just can’t seem to drain out some of the emotional sludge that blocks our wellbeing and happiness. This is certainly becoming even more noticeable of late due to the financial and unpredictable global pressures being covered in the media on a daily basis.

With this in mind we have decided to create drop-in sessions for any members of staff who are feeling overwhelmed by the current climate and just need a safe place to voice how they are feeling and to explore coping techniques.

Please see the dates and locations below for the sessions below. We will be running this service from 1pm till 3pm.

Many thanks,

John & Fazila

A new nursing role at Derian House will help young people with life-limiting conditions get the support they need in adult life.

Lee Graham has joined the hospice transition team in supporting young people to adult care services, helping them to access the support they need.

Lee joins Transition Worker Shelly on the project which has been running in partnership with charity LifeNoW for three years. Together, they will support more than 20 young people at Derian House, helping them to reach out to friends in the outside world and ensuring they have links with other support agencies in their local community.

Read more about Lee’s exciting new role and what it will mean for us in our blog post below.

 https://tinyurl.com/2shnsm38