News

Dear Derian House Colleagues,

 

It feels like February passed in the blink of an eye with multitudes of storms and the ever changing COVID situation, alongside this we have the sad situation in Eastern Europe. I am sure you join me in hoping the situation resolves itself in Ukraine and our thoughts go to the people of that country.

 

With all of this going on we are still committed to delivering the amazing Derian House care to our families and we continue to receive amazing feedback. Everyone across the charity has their part to play in ensuring we deliver that outstanding care, work in a great environment, support our finances and income, keep everyone safe and look after each other as one Derian Team.

 

As restrictions continue to ease outside of Derian it is important to remember that as a healthcare provider we are still maintaining our current procedures. We have received clear instructions from NHS Test and Trace to maintain our COVID-Secure, testing and visitor policies so please support us in this area. As I said in January we do continue to review these monthly at the Senior Management Team meeting and this approach will continue until the end of March when we will see what rules apply. I remain aware of the limited seating in Danni’s Diner and thank everyone for the continued support in maintaining the seating rules.

 

I intend to do the Keeping in Touch sessions face to face after the Trustees Board meeting at the end of March so for this month below are some February highlights  :-

 

• We have a number of new starters in February across many areas of Derian, check out the Intranet to see who they are and if you see them around the hospice please say hello.
• Family Support and Wellbeing continues to be vital as families cope with the ongoing pandemic and it is great to see lots of activities happening, on the last day of the month we also welcomed our new Counsellor, John to Derian.
• Within the Hospice occupancy keeps moving dynamically as we manage cancellation and rebooking’s, it is however great to see lots of children and young people (old and new) staying with us and receiving outstanding care from our amazing team.
• Our Derian at Home Team and ACP colleagues have been extremely busy in February with sadly a number of RIP’s and other challenging demands and I thank them for their resilience and professionalism.
• The facilities at Derian are large and complex to manage and maintain and the Housekeeping and Estates team have done a brilliant job to keeping everything looking amazing.
• Culture and Values sessions are still on our agenda and Lynn, Ben and I will be schedule 3-4 final sessions in March, if you haven’t been on one yet then watch this space for an invite.
• Finances are always challenging however, fundraising, marketing and communications teams beat our January budget figure so well done everyone. We have also had great news about an increase in our Children’s Hospice Grant for 2022/23 alongside some exciting applications for grants (more to come on that in the coming months)
• Events are back on schedule for 2022, take a look at our website for upcoming plans or speak to the Fundraising Team for more information.
• In 2022 the world of CCG’s (clinical commissioning groups) will be changing, this is a massive shake up of the system and Lynn and I are heavily involved in discussions across Lancashire, South Cumbria and Greater Manchester. We have quite a way to go but we are positive about the engagement so far and also pleased with the recognition of Derian House and the respect it has within the health and social care sector within the region.
• EMIS project is progressing, we have now served notice to Crosscare which will switch off in early June, any questions about this activity please speak to Ruth, Ben, Kirsty or Kelly.
• Keepsake Circle the bereaved family song writing scheme will continue in 2022, families have been contacted and we hope to allocate places at the beginning of March through to the end of 2023.
• Our shops continue to be the face of the charity on the high street with new stores in Accrington and Bury planned within the next few months. We have a new Manager and Assistant Manager in Preston from March and we wish them well. Our Derian Drivers have been doing a brilliant job keeping stock moving and every store is gearing for a busy Spring and Summer.

 

Around and About the Hospice (and beyond)

 

• Reflection Garden, a couple of final elements to be added with two canopies over benches and new pathway covering, the water features are working and once the planting matures it will be amazing.
• Woodland Suite, this facility is now re-open after being closed whilst we completed the Reflection Garden.
• Derian on Holiday, both sites re-opened in the middle of February with their first week being half-term and all 4 lodges full, I believe we have a few weeks left so please tell families if they haven’t already booked.
• Open Gardens, Our next National Garden Scheme Open Gardens will be on the 3^rd April 2022, this was extremely successful in 2021 so please share the date with any family and friends, tickets are available for the NGS website.
• Sensory Garden, The new sails are now installed and I am sure you agree look very colourful, we have made the garden usable again for the Spring and Summer with a full refurbishment happening from September, once we have the plans finally agreed we will share these with you.

 

As you can see we continue to be really busy.

 

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

 

David