Category Archives: Derian News
Stop what you’re doing and take this information in – festive baguettes will be back!
From 12pm – 2pm on Friday 17th December, a complimentary Christmas lunch will be served in Danni’s Diner to all of our staff and volunteers working that day. Please don’t choose lunch for that day as the baguettes (complete with all the trimmings!) are free of charge.
For our retail teams, lunches will be delivered by Derian’s elves to each of our stores for staff and volunteers.
There will also be veg/ve alternatives available. Please let Jeff the Chef know in advance of any special dietary requirements and if you’ll be having the meat free alternative.
Health and Safety
- Fire Marshall Training has now been completed – thank you to those who took part and certificates have been issued/SMI records updated.
Flu and COVID
- People are reminded to book their COVID boosters and flu jabs asap – and please don’t forget to let HR know when you’ve had your booster done.
Hospice
- A big thank you to everyone who was involved in the high profile case of the little girl who came to us for end-of-life care from a children’s hospital recently – this was excellent team work and really showed what we are capable of when we all work together.
- We are working with NHS England on our strategy and are in discussions about Derian House being used as an exemplar site (example of best practice) – exciting news!
- A new Hospice Manager, Ruth Islip, has been appointed and will start work in January.
- The Hospice UK conference in Liverpool was a success last week with our poster going down well among delegates – well done everyone.
- **For those in Vinten Place** Please charge your laptop before you come into work on December 8 as we having electrical tests taking place and the power will be on and off all day.
- The electrical vehicle charging points in the car park will be up and running in a couple of weeks once the new software has been installed.
- We have had a really good round of clinical recruitment and now only need 2 more nurses and 3 CSWs to be at the stage of being able to run 10 beds at the hospice.
- The Keepsake Circle, a new song writing project for families with Patron Kiki Deville, is being officially launched on Friday (12 Nov) with albums of the 10 children’s songs being available to buy for £10.
Retail
- We have new shops planned for Bury and Accrington which will be opening soon.
Income
- We have recruited a new PR and Comms Officer, Rebecca Feely, who will be working on writing case studies and new leaflets for families. She will start in January.
- If you want a laugh, have a look at our latest video to encourage more ticket sales in the Great Big House Giveaway – a lesson in “Lancashire” with the builders! WATCH: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ro8x33tNTRA
- The Christmas campaign telling Isabelle’s story will be going out at the start of next week (15 Nov) – anybody wanting to donate should be passed through to finance or fundraising teams.
- Our Christmas events are well underway. Will you join in Deck the Halls and decorate your house for Derian? Do you know anyone who would like to buy a Tree of Love? Or if you want to book FREE tickets for Lights of Love at Blackburn Cathedral on Friday, December 3 then be quick as there are only around 100 left! See derianhouse.co.uk/events for details.
Staff news
- Do you have a bright idea on how we can improve our services for our families? Don’t forget you can make a staff proposal to SMT. This will be the subject of discussion at the next We are Derian staff forum on 17 November.
- The deadline for extra training is approaching. If you would like to take advantage of this special funding then simply find a course you’d like to do and send it to Ben in HR with a short paragraph on why you want to do it (no form filling required – nice and simple!)
We are pleased to open entries for this year’s Julie Atherton Professional Development Grant.
In previous years, we have used this funding to specifically upskill and expand our clinical team however this year the SMT have decided to open the funding up to everyone.
Further details are on the attached poster so please have a read through, consider how you can develop and think big! The deadline for applications are Friday 3rd December and please send completed applications to either Lynn Grayson or myself.
Good luck and don’t be shy to ask any questions.
By popular demand, Rachel Toner will be resuming the Derian Voices choir, beginning on Wednesday 17th November.
The choir will meet each Wednesday in the Seaside Room (unless advised differently) at 12.00 lunchtime. All are welcome, even if you can’t hold a tune!
On the run up to Christmas, come along and join in with some happy, festive songs to put you in the Christmas mood!
Rachel can be contacted on tel. 07815687795 if you would like to chat about the choir or to confirm the group is meeting any particular week (if perhaps you’re not on shift and are coming in specially).
It’s time to jingle and mingle at the Derian House STAFF CHRISTMAS PARTY on Friday 26th November 2021 at Charnock Farm.
Please reply to the all staff email that was sent out on Thursday 14th October to let us know you’ll be there!
The food will be a Christmas market inspired buffet with something to suit everyone but if you have any specific dietary requirements please send details to this email address.
We have a band performing during the evening and a DJ playing afterwards. If you would like to make any song requests, feel free to send those through to this email address too.
Accommodation is available to book at the venue for those concerned about travelling, or anyone wanting to make a night of it! https://www.booking.com/hotel/gb/charnock-farm-motel.en-gb.html
More information will follow in the run-up to the event, but if you have any questions feel free to email or pop in to see us.
We hope you can join us for an evening of Christmas cheer to wrap up the year!
For you to complete…
RSVP
Yes I’m coming! or Sorry I can’t make it
Dietary requirements:
Song suggestion:
… and email to christmasparty@derianhouse.co.uk
Yesterday morning (October 4th), we opened up our brand new holiday lodges at South Lakeland Leisure Village ready for a further 100 Derian House families to enjoy a free week-long holiday on top of the 100 holidays we currently offer at Ribby Hall.
Arlo’s family came along to officially declare the lodges open, made even more poignant due to the highly successful ‘Arlo’s Campaign’ which was sent to thousands of supporters earlier in summer. They were also joined by two couples who each donated £500 towards the campaign, money of which went towards the cost of the new holiday homes which were built by Lakeland Lodges.
If you’d like to arrange going up to the Lakes to see the brilliant new lodges in person, please speak to David and he will be more than happy to help arrange.
We well and truly turned the hospice green on Friday 1st October for our first ever Derian Day!
Lancashire united to celebrate Derian House’s birthday and raise lots of money for us in dozens of different ways. There were cake sales, dress down days, plenty of people rocking our Danni socks and even a 100 mile cycle to each of our shops.
Thanks to everyone for getting involved… we’re already planning next year’s event to make it bigger and better!
In September, our children enjoyed a visit from Sonic the Hedgehog and a specially-adapted Ford UK Gaming Transit, we celebrated Jacob Reddy’s fundraising efforts with a homecoming gig, and 14 teams from Kingswood Homes embarked on a tour of the North West in brilliantly-designed bangers! #MonthInAMinute 💚
Derian Day is just around the corner, so why not dress to impress and get happy feet with our brand new Danni socks!
They’re priced at just £2.99 for children (UK Size 4-7), and £3.99 for adults (UK Size 4-8), and are now available to be purchased in reception. Get them in time for Derian Day this Friday!
In a week from today, Friday 1st October, we’re turning Lancashire GREEN and joining together to celebrate Derian’s birthday.
In turn, we’re hoping to turn the hospice green and get everyone involved in the inaugural #DerianDay fundraiser!
Although we don’t have access to green scrubs, why not wear a green bobble in your hair, or even green socks! For anyone who wears office wear, works in the shops, or participates in Dress Down Friday, green FUNdraising t-shirts are available for you in the fundraising store should you want one. Come up and see someone in Vinten Place and they’ll be more than happy to supply you with one.
Kath will be making green cakes, our children and young people will be doing green arts and crafts… how can YOU go green?! Get your thinking caps on (hopefully they’re green too) and let’s go all out next Friday!
Six members of our dedicated team have recently taken part in some extreme fundraising for Derian House!
Starting with #DiveForDerian, first up to the skies was Matt Mears, our Preston shop manager, who jumped out of a plane in July’s event and raised £493. Following in his footsteps this September was Head of Income, Marketing and Communications Caroline Taylor, and our Finance Assistant Dawn Fraser-Cistaro, who raised £2,005 and £407 respectively. Our Leyland shop manager Lyndsey was also due to jump, but due to bad weather her dive was postponed.
Taking on the Great North Run last weekend were our Wellbeing and Play Team Leader, Katie McNally, and Family Counsellor, Rachel Johnston, who each raised £1,000 and £305.
Last but not least, our Lottery Manager Angela Towers FINALLY reached the summit of Ben Nevis after multiple battles with the weather which called it off in previous months. She managed to raise £711 for Derian House in the process.
Well done guys, you’ve all absolutely smashed it! If you’d like to take on a fundraising challenge for Derian, please speak to our Community Fundraising Team up in Vinten Place.
£711
- Let’s start off with the most exciting bit… CHRISTMAS! The Christmas do will be held on November 26 at Charnock Farm. David will send an email round with further details and We are Derian staff forum will be collecting ideas for decoration and entertainment! This year we will also have a budget for team building Christmas activities for each team – have a think about what your team would like to do.
- There are no changes to the Government guidance on our COVID protocol as a healthcare setting. However, many people have asked about increasing the number of seats in Danni’s Diner during lunch time. Although this won’t be possible under the current guidelines, we are looking at the idea of introducing staggered lunch times to ensure people don’t have to sit on the floor! This is not ideal and we thank you for your continued patience with this matter.
- There will be work commencing to install EV car charging points in our car park in the near future. Stay tuned for more details of when work will begin.
- Upcoming training includes fire marshal training and mental health first aid. Thanks to everyone who completed the first aid training sessions last month.
- Communication between teams received some negative feedback on our most recent Birdsong survey and so there will be a number of sessions being held to engage everyone to feed into a project to understand the issue and come up with solutions.
- Flu vaccines are coming back! We will be able to offer flu vaccines in-house again this year – dates TBC.
- We will be visiting Culture and Values with staff engagement sessions starting next month, revisiting each letter of our DERIAN values. We are aiming for 100% staff attendance rate to ensure everyone’s views are heard.
- Our Christmas carol extravaganza, Lights of Love, will be returning in 2021. It will take place on Friday, 3 December at Blackburn Cathedral. Tickets are free, but must be booked on our website. Staff can reserve tickets for their family and friends now before we advertise to the wider public.
There’s a few more new faces here at the hospice and it’s time to get to know them. Say hello to our fab five!
Katherine Stanley – Trainee Advanced Clinical Practitioner
Katherine is the first of our new Trainee Advanced Clinical Practitioners here at Derian House. She previously worked at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital for six years in A&E, and always knew that she wanted to progress to an ACP role.
She’d previously done a placement at Derian way back when she was a student nurse, and absolutely loved the place. Many of the children she cared for at Alder Hey actually visit us for respite, so she’s looking forward to seeing them and expanding her knowledge by going back to uni and training for her new specialised role.
Katherine is particularly excited about meeting new people, working alongside our families and getting stuck in, as she isn’t one to stand around!
Outside of work, she’s a self-proclaimed nerd and is a big fan of Harry Potter, Dungeons and Dragons and sewing. Her ideal day out would be an escape room, so if you’re ever stuck in a room, let’s hope it’s with Katherine!
Ellie Smith – Community Fundraiser
Ellie has joined the Fundraising Team as our new Community Fundraiser. She previously studied in Events and has always had a passion for planning, so is looking forward to getting involved with all the exciting things the team have planned for the foreseeable future.
Prior to her new role, Ellie worked at Preston Hospital for three years where she managed the clinical oncologists’ rotas, and went for the job at Derian House as she wanted to focus on something that would be more rewarding. She’s always known about Derian due to being a Chorley girl herself, and in previous years has visited our open days, galas and Winter Sparkle events.
In her spare time, Ellie loves spending time with Pippa the Dalmatian (who is very, very cute), and has recently taken up camping thanks to the abroad holiday restrictions, something she has since discovered she absolutely loves! She’s also an adrenaline junkie and has been known to take on numerous wild activities including a sky dive, a walk up the Big One at Blackpool Pleasure Beach, and coming up soon… a sky dine!
Rebecca Hendrickson – Registered Nurse
Rebecca is the first of our two new nurses who recently graduated from the ground-breaking Julie Atherton Scholarship scheme. She previously did a placement at Derian House from December 2019 – January 2020, and is really excited about learning new skills and building relationships with our children and families.
After completing her Masters degree in children’s nursing, Rebecca worked in a respite setting where she cared for children and young people, and jumped at the chance to do the scholarship with Derian House.
She’s mostly looking forward to working with children who all have individual needs, building relationships and enjoying the continuity of seeing them again when they visit us throughout the year.
Outside of work, Rebecca enjoys walks with her three-year-old girl Mila and exploring new places with her family.
Karen Standish – Registered Nurse
Karen previously worked at a special needs school for 12 years before also going back to school and becoming the first scholar of the Julie Atherton Nursing Scholarship here at Derian House in January 2019.
Despite always wanting to go into children’s nursing, a range of things prevented Karen from doing so, such as finances and her busy lifestyle! When the scholarship came up, Karen took the plunge, left her job and decided to do something for her.
She’s always known about Derian as she’s followed us on Facebook for as long as she can remember, and children that she looked after at school visited us for respite. Karen is also interested in the fundraising side of things, and even helped out at the last Winter Sparkle event.
Karen is Mum to Lucy (aged 13) and Jake (aged 9), and when she’s not at work enjoys many a day out with family and friends making memories.
Ian Fairhurst – Estates Support
Ex-navy officer Ian has joined the Estates Team after a few years of working in schools and pupil referral units. After becoming a semi-professional swimmer at the age of 20, Ian joined the navy, where he worked for 10 years before having to bow out due to injury.
After coming back up north and doing numerous jobs, Ian decided it was time for a different challenge, and in particular one in which he could give something back. He’s looking forward to meeting everyone and being hands on in his work here at Derian House.
When he’s not at work, Ian is either working out at the gym or swimming! He’s also Dad to five boys, a cockapoo and a springer spaniel, and interestingly won Sports Personality of the Navy in 2006!
After his mammoth tour of all 51 English cities in just 22 days, Jacob Reddy is returning to Derian to perform for our team today (Tuesday 14th September).
The 16-year-old singer/songwriter raised almost £9,000 during his six-week holidays, busking everywhere from Norwich to Newcastle, and Plymouth to Preston. Along the way, he was surprised by his favourite YouTuber and inspiration behind the tour JaackMaate, and even got a shout-out from his favourite artist Frank Turner at his gig in Manchester on Jacob’s final day.
We can’t wait to welcome Jacob back and celebrate his efforts with a gig in the Conference Room from 12pm. We hope to see as many of you there as possible for coffee, cake and live music!
Educake is a new initiative at Derian House to help all our teams share information face-to-face.
These sessions are not limited to the Clinical Team but are for all teams within Derian. We encourage all teams who have something to contribute to get involved. The sessions will be held every Tuesday & Thursday from 14:00 – 15:00, this will give teams the opportunity to present and to facilitate a Q&A session after.
There is no set format but it is important to make each session fun and engaging. Please email siobhan.mccoy@derianhouse.co.uk for further queries.
The first session tomorrow is going to be led by Luke Bateson and he will be doing an open Q&A on the following topics:
- Roles, responsibilities and legislation for Housekeeping
- Roles, responsibilities and legislation for Building upkeep
- Environmental practices
- Security arrangements
- Health and Safety practices
From tomorrow morning (Friday 10th September), there’ll be plenty of Pringles and Kellogg’s cereals galore in Danni’s Diner for staff and volunteers to get their hands on thanks to a donation.
It’s first come, first served, but there’s literally a van-load so don’t panic buy like it’s March 2020!
Dear Colleague,
Well, where did the summer go?? I really do hope that you managed to grab some time off over the summer to spend with your family and loved ones. I was reminded last night how quickly the nights are drawing in as when we finished our Board meeting via Teams, it was dark!
We had many items for discussion and debate which I will update you on as usual. It was great that we had the Good Governance Institute in attendance who are currently observing all Board and Sub-Committee meetings and will be providing us with a report on our processes and governance procedures.
We commenced the Board sessions with Caroline presenting the story of Jacob Reddy and his amazing fundraising efforts for Derian House! Jacob’s family used Derian House in 2003 and at that time sadly his brother passed away. It reminds us how connected families are with us, no matter how many years pass, and we are grateful to Jacob for his amazing effort busking in every city in the UK! He hoped to raise £2,500 but has currently reached an amazing £8,000 – what an achievement. We are all truly grateful – thank you Jacob!
As society is opening up, we continue to be mindful that we need to maintain more rigid controls on access to our buildings for the safety and wellbeing of our children and young people and of course all of you. COVID remains a focus for the Board and the Senior Management Team (SMT) ensuring we maintain our COVID-Secure processes and procedures but also being aware that teams need to start mixing and getting together more regularly. The senior team is continuing to keep up to date with the latest national advice and when anything significant changes we will let you know.
The restoration of our services continues although we are aware of the staffing pressures within the clinical teams and discussed last night the plans that Lynn and Ben are working on to fill vacancies as soon as possible.
We were delighted to inform you a few weeks ago that the Board approved a 2% salary increase which was backdated to the 1st April 2021. As promised we have kept a keen eye on what has been happening with the NHS pay review, having agreed that we would review our decision once an agreement within the NHS had been made. I am sure you will be aware that the NHS has settled on a 3% increase. The Board has, therefore, approved a further 1% increase which will be awarded to you all, taking your annual pay award to 3%. The extra 1% will be backdated to the 1st April 2021 and will be showing in the September payroll.
The Board was delighted to learn that a number of projects are now coming to fruition with the greenhouse now opened and the new minibus here, in the car park, with just the Derian House name needing to be added!
The Birdsong survey results were presented to the Board at this meeting and although a number of areas have seen improvement, the Board was disappointed in a number of the scores and some of the specific comments. It is clear that we still need to work on a number of issues such as communication, engagement, culture and health and wellbeing. The Board has asked the senior team to urgently address these areas of concern by engaging with you all to understand what we can do collectively to improve your experiences. We ask that you be open with the senior team in their efforts to try and understand and resolve any issues and ensure that Derian House is a ‘Great Place to Work’. This remains a firm commitment by the Board.
The Board would like to thank everyone for their commitment and hard work and thank you for your continued focus and support.
Karen Swindley
Chair of Trustees
Thanks to a massive donation from fulfilmentcrowd based in Buckshaw Village, we have received 4,000 Bear Grylls water bottles to sell in our shops and across our eCommerce platforms.
The 20 oz variety will cost £4.99, with the 32 oz bottles listed at £5.99.
They’ll be available in Reception to purchase from tomorrow morning (Thursday 9th September).
As of tomorrow morning (Wednesday 8th September), the sign-in machines in Reception and Vinten Place will be fully operational.
Please make you sure sign in and out of the building.
A huge ‘congratulations’ are in order for our three newly-qualified ACP’s Emma, Sue and Hayleigh, who graduated with their Masters degrees yesterday from UCLAN.
The trio completed the two-year Masters qualification whilst working full-time at the hospice, juggling busy home lives and in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Emma said: “We are now qualified to assess children and young people at the hospice, whether they are showing new symptoms or if they appear to be unwell or deteriorating. We can then form a diagnosis and prescribe the relevant medication. This not only reduces the need to call GPs into the hospice as often but will hopefully prevent us from having to send children to hospital as we can manage more complex symptoms in-house.”
Lynn Grayson said: “We are always looking to improve the care we offer, and the introduction of this role supports us to establish Derian as a provider of specialist palliative and end of life care for children across Lancashire, South Cumbria and Greater Manchester.
“I am full of admiration and respect for the way that the ACPs have dealt with all the challenges they have faced over the last two years, emerging as strong clinical leaders and role models. We are already seeing the difference their specialist knowledge and skills are making to the level of care we are delivering to children and young who access support from Derian.
“On a personal level, I look forward to seeing how they continue to develop within their role ensuring that the Derian team delivers the highest quality of care to all the children, young people and families who need it.”
In August, we launched our phenomenal #GreatBigHouseGiveaway campaign with Kingswood Homes, watched young Jacob Reddy embark on a massive tour of every English city to busk for Derian, and celebrated the return of live music here at the hospice! #MonthInAMinute 💚
After his mammoth tour of all 51 English cities in just 22 days, Jacob Reddy is returning to Derian to perform for our team on Tuesday 14th September.
The 16-year-old singer/songwriter raised over £7,000 during his six-week holidays, busking everywhere from Norwich to Newcastle, and Plymouth to Preston. Along the way, he was surprised by his favourite YouTuber and inspiration behind the tour JaackMaate, and even got a shout-out from his favourite artist Frank Turner at his gig in Manchester on Jacob’s final day.
We can’t wait to welcome Jacob back and celebrate his efforts with a gig in the Conference Room from 12pm in two weeks’ time. We hope to see as many of you there as possible!
Congratulations to our very own Louise Harrop, who tackled the Yorkshire Three Peaks on a very soggy Sunday! She raised a grand total of £320 in the process. Well done!
We are delighted to let you all know that our brand new 360 ° virtual tour is now up and running on our website. We have been very kindly gifted this £10,000 tour from Tomas and Justinas at VR Pixel who visited the hospice at Halloween to drop off sweet treats for the team, and recognised that we would’ve been struggling in terms of fundraising whilst people weren’t able to come into the building and see Derian House in all its glory.
They have since visited the hospice on numerous occasions and scanned every single one of our rooms alongside drone footage of our grounds, and created this exceptional tool that I’m sure we will be able to use in all instances.
Take the tour here – https://kuula.co/share/collection/7k43F?fs=1&vr=1&sd=1&thumbs=1&margin=10&card=1&info=0&logo=1&logosize=91
We have also asked them to make a video so that all departments can use this however they wish. We felt like it would be a brilliant tool for our fundraisers to show off when they visit schools and corporate groups, the Derian at Home team when they are out and about in the community, and the lottery canvassers when they are showing potential donors the work that Derian does – it’s suitable for everyone! It premiered at the Open Gardens event on Sunday and everyone loved it.
This video is on YouTube via the link below and also in the Drop Zone > Derian House Virtual Tour Video, should you wish to download it.
We opened up the gardens at Derian House for the second time this year on Sunday, allowing our supporters and members of the public the chance to get a real feel for their local children’s hospice and see where their kind donations go.
Despite initially thinking that the day would be a wash-out, we ended up welcoming over 200 people into our grounds throughout the day, where they enjoyed bubble art from Emma at eBublio, a scavenger hunt in Smile Park, and plenty to eat and drink!
The highlight of the day was the lovely Sue Lally officially cutting the ribbon and opening up our brand new Victorian Greenhouse with Gareth’s gardening shears. Thanks to everyone who worked and volunteered on the day to make it a tremendous success.
NHS Test and Trace has made weekly COVID-19 Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and Lateral Flow testing (LFT) available to all hospices in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. This document is your guide of how to effectively utilise the test kits given to you by the Hospice.
Testing is important because;
- It protects our Children, Young people, families, staff and visitors
- Prevents and controls outbreaks by identifying cases early
- Provides reassurance, allowing those who test negative to carry on working
Types of COVID-19 test
If you are working or volunteering in one of our retail units you will not need to change any process currently in place. The following if for onsite staff and volunteers only.
We will be changing our testing model to the incorporate the below two tests for all Hospice staff;
- Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests – which are over 99% effective and pick up positive results at early and late stages of the virus. Completed tests are sent to a lab for processing.
- Rapid lateral flow tests – which are effective at detecting virus in those with high levels of coronavirus in their system. Results are given within 30 minutes and kits do not need to be sent to labs for processing.
All PCR tests must be completed on a Monday.
All Lateral Flow tests must be completed on a Monday and Thursday (this overwrites your previous scheduled days)
Detailed guidance on what to do, when to do it and how to report your results can all be found in the document you received with your first set of tests and also on the quick links section below.
If you are working or volunteering in one of our retail units you will not need to change any process currently in place. The following if for on site staff and volunteers only.
If you have any questions, please contact the HR team.
Derian House has a reputation for doing things bigger than anyone else… and our latest fundraising event is no exception – we are giving away a brand new house worth £250,000!
The Great Big House Giveaway officially launched today and will see one lucky person winning the brand new home for just the price of a £5 ticket.
The house, on the award-winning Green Hills development in Feniscowles, Lancashire, was donated by Kingswood Homes.
Staff at Kingswood Homes got involved with Derian last year and were so taken with the work we do following a tour of the hospice, they decided to support us by giving us a house!
The information we all want to know is… can we enter?
The bad news is that no, we can’t.
The terms and conditions of the competition state that “any employees or trustees of Derian House Children’s Hospice and their immediate families at the time of entry” are not eligible to play.
Immediate families means spouse, parent, child, sibling and their respective spouses regardless of where they reside.
Employees of Kingswood Homes or Sterling Management Centre (who are running the prize draw for us) are also ineligible to enter.
The good news is that non immediate family members CAN enter: so that’s your boyfriends, girlfriends, fiancés, aunties, uncles and cousins for instance! Volunteers of Derian House can also enter.
See video interview with David and Kingswood Homes’ Paul Jones here: https://vimeo.com/581075366
And have a look inside the house here: https://vimeo.com/582166820
We’ll be sharing the prize draw on our social media – please share and help us spread the word!
Here’s a link to the news article for more details: https://www.derianhouse.co.uk/charity-to-give-away-250000-house-in-first-of-its-kind-prize-draw/
Gareth, Jason and our team of volunteers have done a sterling job at putting together the entry for this year’s Community Garden Competition at the Chorley Flower Show, which took place over the weekend.
We are extremely proud to announce that we were given the Silver award from the event judges, with the winners narrowly beating us by one point!
Here’s the wording on our plaque which was read by the event judges and members of the public:
At Derian House we help children and young people, whose lives are too short, to make happy memories in an environment of fun, respect and high quality care.
We provide respite and end-of-life care to more than 400 babies, children and young people across the North West and South Cumbria. During the first coronavirus lockdown, children drew rainbows and put them in windows to show support for key workers.
These homemade rainbows became a sign of hope and a way to show appreciation for the NHS and key workers.
Throughout the pandemic, we offered a lifeline for families caring for a seriously ill child– finding new ways to connect and also taking pressure off the NHS.
In 2021, it will cost us £5 million to run services at Derian House and yet we only receive 12% of the funding we need from the government.
The care and support that we provide is free to families meaning we rely heavily on the generosity of our supporters.
As restrictions continue to ease, particularly relating to self-isolation requirements, there has been some updated guidance issued for Hospices relating to COVID testing.
All Hospice based staff are now asked to complete weekly PCR tests in addition to the twice weekly lateral flow testing we already complete. This testing programme will be introduced here within the next couple of weeks as soon as we have received the supplies of testing kits we need, in the meantime we are putting in place a clear process of how we will manage this and will share this with you as soon as it is finalised.
If you have any questions please ask either myself, Helen H or Ben and we will do our best to answer then but bear with us as we work through the guidance – we may not have all the answers straight away.
Kind Regards,
Lynn Grayson
Clinical Director
For anyone who struggles with the phone lines and transferring a call, please know that you are not alone.
Here is a handy guide so you don’t have to hang up on the person on the receiving end anymore.
It’s also on the Intranet under Departments > General if you wish to print it off for your teams.
Following the success of our last event, we are excited to be opening up our gardens again this August.
On Sunday 8th August we’ll be giving our supporters a second chance to visit our colourful and fun outdoor spaces as well as the opportunity to speak to our passionate volunteers and even meet Shuna!
Since our last event in May, the Seaside Garden has received a pirate themed make-over, work on the new greenhouse has been completed and we’ve also built a brand new outdoor counselling pod, which we’re very excited to show the public.
Since 1927, the National Garden Scheme has been inviting garden owners to open their exceptional gardens to the public, giving people unique access to some of Britain’s most beautiful and memorable gardens while raising money for charity.
We’re looking for volunteers to help out on the day to be garden stewards, help with refreshments and retail in the Seaside Room, and man the reception area on the Lodge drive. If you’d like to get involved, please get in touch with our Marketing Coordinator, Gill, via gill.rabbett@derianhouse.co.uk.
The Senior Management and Care Team met last week to discuss our position about the change in COVID rules whilst putting the wellbeing of our children, young people and their families at the heart of our discussions and decisions.
It has been decided and in line with many other health care settings, that our rules will NOT change around most aspects of our daily operations i.e.
- PPE wearing (Lynn may update on this separately as we receive further guidance)
- Mask wearing will remain and MUST be worn in line with previous rules, this includes Vinten Place
- Handwashing, sanitiser use on arrival and throughout the day must be observed
- Social distancing where possible to continue, all room occupancies will remain the same but may being reviewed
We are reviewing all aspects of our COVID-19 Action Plan especially around CYP using AGP equipment returning and visitors, Line Managers will make you aware of these when ready however, generally there will be no other significant changes.
Luke is currently working on our Risk Assessments to review and refresh where appropriate but I ask for you to be mindful of all current requirements when at work.
Finally, we are currently reviewing our position on unvaccinated staff (who don’t have a medical exemption), we are seeking guidance from PHE, NHSE and our employment advisor and will keep you updated. I would however say that 95% of our staff have been fully vaccinated and I thank everyone who has had the jab for supporting drive to beat COVID.
If you have any questions please ask one of the Senior Management or Senior Care Team who will be happy to help.
Thanks, David
Message from David:
Dear Derian House Colleagues,
I would like to send our congratulations to three staff members who reached a milestone 25th Anniversary of working at Derian House over the past few weeks.
CONGRATULATIONS – JEAN HOLDEN, LYNN TAYLOR AND LISA LORD
As we are now in a position to have a little more freedom we would like to celebrate this achievement by holding a Garden Party and Afternoon Tea at 2pm on the 4th August 2021 in the Seaside Garden and Seaside Room.
Please mark your diary and let’s all celebrate with Jean, Lynn and Lisa, Jacquie will send a message out shortly to ask who will attend so we can make sure we have enough cake.
Many thanks,
DAVID
SMT Roundup
- CQC have confirmed that since our 2019 inspection they are happy with everything we’ve all been doing based from the data and feedback they have received and therefore do not feel the need to inspect at the moment.
- Some postponed training modules are picking back up soon including Fire Marshal training and First Aid. Luke will be rolling those out in the coming months.
- EMIS – we have a strong internal roadmap in development to ensure all staff are both confident and competent with the system. We are currently ensuring our super users are happy with various aspects of the system before we commence with further actions.
- Derian Day (Friday 1st October) – This is the first annual fundraising event ‘Derian Day’, think Macmillan tea morning ……. But bigger. We can’t wait to have our shops and Hospice staff and volunteers involved!
- The Big House Giveaway – If you haven’t heard already, we’re giving away a Kingswood Homes house in Blackburn! The campaign will be over a year whilst the house is built and goes live on the 3rd August 2021.
- National Garden Scheme Open Day – we are planning our second NGS open day on the 8th of August.
- Blackburn Shop opens on Monday (19th July 2021) with a press launch scheduled for the next day. Good luck to all the new Blackburn team.
- COVID – what changes are coming?
- As an SMT we decided that we will maintain mask wearing rules as they currently stand.
- We will be reviewing visitor guidance to allow professional visits (CCG,NHSE etc.) and some Non-professional visits (Corporate and community donors and interested parties in recruiting roles).
- Following the confirmation of isolation guidance, from the 16th August we will be reviewing how we manage COVID absence within the absence management procedures and the remuneration framework for isolation periods. More details will follow closer to the announcements for August.
- Please remember that guidance is changing regularly so we may adjust our plans in line with new advice.
It’s coming home!
To celebrate, sausage and bacon (veggie options as well) sandwiches will be available on Monday morning for everyone in the hospice to help either celebrate or commiserate.
If you are in then please enjoy – let’s hope we are celebrating.