News

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 1^st 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 1^st 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!

Calling all budding models! We’ve recently received our exciting new stock of Derian clothing, which consists of four different styles of Pop art inspired Danni t-shirts and university society hoodies.

In order to be on a similar wavelength to Boohoo.com and Pretty Little Thing, we’re hoping to do a photoshoot in the gardens next week to promote the sales of our range across social platforms and the Derian House website.

Have you ever wanted to do some (tasteful) modelling? We’d love our staff to be involved in the promotion and model the clothing range. We’re hoping to get these photos done on Monday 23rd and Tuesday 24th August, so if you’re interested please email cameron.murray@derianhouse.co.uk or text the Comms phone on 07865 902049.

The Bank of England will be holding staff nominations for its next charity partner in September. Bank of England employees will be asked to nominate causes close to their heart and Together for Short Lives would love your help with securing a nomination for them on behalf of children’s hospices across the UK.

An employee nomination is the only way to be included in the running for their charity of the year partnership, which always supports a national cause. Following nominations, charities are shortlisted and all Bank of England staff then have the opportunity to vote for the charity they want to support. The two shortlisted charities with the highest number of votes become their charitable partners for a 12-month period. This year long partnership holds an estimated value £100,000. With thousands of hospice staff and volunteers and hundreds of thousands of supporters between us all, we are a huge collective force if we work together – and we need your help!

A vote for Together for Short Lives is a vote for Derian House, and they’d be so grateful if you could reach out to any of your contacts in your network who may work for the Bank of England or anyone who knows their staff, to encourage nominations and votes for Together for Short Lives. It’s an internal process so they’re relying on our networks and contacts as opposed to generating support through public social media campaigns at this stage. That would change if our umbrella charity was to get through to the employee vote!

Thank you.

*on behalf of Lynn Grayson*

Hello everyone,

You told us (in staff temperature checks and at the We are Derian forum) that you wanted better communication between departments.

As part of this, we will now be providing a round-up after each SMT meeting of the most important/interesting points talked about!

SMT Roundup – August

• A big thank you to all the team for your engagement with the PCR testing programme that we’ve had to roll-out quickly
• There’s going to be a focus on working in the ‘new normal’ with a return of more face to face meetings starting with Keeping in Touch in September
• Culture & Values sessions will also return in September to review for Year 4 led by David, Lynn and Ben with a focus on well-being and communication
• Staff support drop-in sessions are going to start soon led by Dawn and Sue, these will be an opportunity to discuss any work related issue so look-out for details of the first meeting to follow soon
• September will be a busy month as we also welcome new starters across all the teams at Derian
• The expansion of our retail network is continuing, Andrew will share more details soon
• The Great Big House Giveaway is going really well with almost £30k raised already
• The strategy for the next 3 years has now been completed to ensure we meet all of our strategic aims and will be cascaded to teams in the next couple of weeks
  • Provide Outstanding Care
  • A Great Place to Work
  • Champion the voice of our families, staff and volunteers.
  • Lead the way in children’s & young people’s hospice care and wellbeing
  • Be Innovative and Creative
  • Have sustainable financial plans.
• EMIS project is ongoing and is progressing well with work behind the scenes at the moment.
• We currently have a couple of issues with the CCTV system but these are being addressed as a matter of urgency. There has been a new CCTV camera fitted to cover the Woodland Counselling pod in readiness for this being opened.

And finally

• Planning has begun for a big Derian Christmas party, keep a look out for a ‘Save the Date’ announcement coming soon (I’m now waiting for the comments from the Clinical team for mentioning Christmas in August!!)

Hope this information is useful – feel free to let me know if you have any suggestions on how we can further improve communications between departments.

Exciting news – Derian House has been registered to ‘Concerts for Carers’, a website which works alongside the NHS and affiliated charities to offer free gig tickets for carers.

You simply pay a small administration fee (which you can choose to be refunded should you be unsuccessful in the ballot, or donate to Concerts for Carers) for the concerts you wish to attend, and then wait to hear if you are successful.

Register by scanning in your work ID card, create an account and you’re good to go!

https://www.concertsforcarers.org.uk/

Euxfest is returning this August Bank Holiday, and we’re looking for willing volunteers to take part in this massive weekend fundraiser that raises loads of money for Derian House!

If you’re interested in pulling a pint or selling raffle tickets on any of the days (Friday 27th August, Saturday 28th August, Sunday 29th August), then please contact Fran. Even if you dedicate just a couple of hours, you’ll then be free to enjoy the rest of the festival which will consist of plenty of beer and live music – what’s not to love after 18 months locked away!

For those who have not seen the updated guidance, from Monday 16 August people who are double jabbed or aged under 18 will no longer be legally required to self-isolate if they are identified as a close contact of a positive COVID-19 case.

Given this change in guidance we have made the decision at this point to implement a number of changes in the way we manage isolation periods and can confirm the following;

• If you are symptomatic and awaiting results of a PCR test, we will continue to pay for your isolation period whilst you await results.

• If you are COVID positive, this will be managed in the same way as any other sickness absence reason. If you are entitled to Company sick pay, you will receive this, if you are not, you will receive SSP.

• If you are not symptomatic but have been told to take a PCR test by NHS test and Trace due to close contact you do not need to self-isolate whilst you await your results (Support team only, Care Team see below)

• If you are identified as a close contact and are not vaccinated (due to guidance from your GP) you will be asked by NHS Test and Trace to self-isolate. Under these circumstances please speak to HR.
• If you are identified as a close contact and are not vaccinated (due to personal choice) you will be asked by NHS Test and Trace to self-isolate. Under these circumstances, you will not receive full pay for your isolation period. You will be paid SSP only and the responsibility will be yours to claim any available grants.

Care Team Only

The guidance also states that if you are a double vaccinated Health Care Worker that has a close contact and notified by NHS Test and Trace, you must have a PCR immediately. If the PCR results return negative, you can return to work however you must take a Lateral Flow Test every day for 10 days (extra kits can be received from HR). You must also have a risk assessment carried out by a designated person in the workplace before you return to work. If your PCR returns positive, you must follow the isolation guidance.

Further details surrounding the changes to self-isolation periods can be found here; https://www.gov.uk/government/news/self-isolation-removed-for-double-jabbed-close-contacts-from-16-august

I am conscious this is significant change so if you have any further questions please do not hesitate to contact me.

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/

https://vimeo.com/581122098 

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.

Now that our Blackburn team have all started and our newest store is doing brilliantly, it’s time to introduce you to the shop staff who’ll be greeting the good people of Blackburn and contributing towards the exciting developments in our growing retail network.

Steph Todd – Shop Manager

Our Blackburn Shop Manager Steph is mum to a whirlwind future footballer and ex punk band member! (She says that they were terrible but fairly famous in Eastern Europe!)

Steph has worked in retail management for over a decade in a whole host of different businesses, and she’s joined us as she’d recently been searching for a job to fulfil her need to help people. Luckily for her, she found Derian House!

Steph is mostly looking forward to starting a new challenge in charity retail, and plans on making as big of a splash in the fundraising pot as she can muster! She likes to think of herself as a fun boss and enjoys looking silly, so feel free to volunteer her for embarrassing things (we reckon a shift in the Danni mascot should suffice!).

Tony Smalley – Assistant Manager

Tony is the Assistant Manager in our Blackburn store, and after having worked at Morrison’s supermarket for 25 years, he wanted to push himself to go into a more personally rewarding career.

What strikes him the most about Derian is everyone’s passion and team ethos to do the best job possible, and he’s excited to bring that same commitment and retail experience to our Blackburn store.

Outside of work, Tony enjoys watching films and going on days out when possible. He also likes going to the theatre, and he’s seen some great shows in Manchester and the West End.

Karen Radford – Shop Assistant

The first of our two shop assistants, Karen has worked in retail for the majority of her life, racking up an impressive 23 years at Debenham’s before the Blackburn store she worked at was one of 130 to close its’ doors for the final time last summer.

She’s really excited about working as part of a smaller, close-nit team and raising as much money for Derian House as possible. ‘I’m looking forward to life after Debenham’s’, she went on to say.

Cath Prince – Shop Assistant

Cath has also worked in retail for a large part of her life, with 20 years working for a helpline that dealt with a range of issues including domestic violence, refuge accommodation, homelessness, substance abuse and mental health.

She’s always been aware of Derian House as her nephew used to use our services, and as soon as she saw the role advertised she felt a connection and really wanted it.

Cath is really looking forward to working in a front-facing role once again and meeting new people. She’s experienced in both team and lone working, so is passionate about getting stuck in and making a difference.

When she’s not at work, Cath loves photography and eventually wants to do a course in it, aswell as walking her dogs and spending time with family.

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

We’ve recently welcomed two new staff members in the form of Jessica Fagan (Clinical Support Worker) and Kerry Salmon (Community Fundraiser). Get to know them below!

Jessica Fagan (Clinical Support Worker)

Jessica joined us two weeks ago as a Clinical Support Worker, but this wasn’t her first time at Derian. She’s worked in the community with many of our children for over eight years and has made numerous visits to the hospice with our youngsters who receive respite, including Bradley.

When the job cropped up here, Jess jumped at the chance to apply as she’d heard great things about working at Derian and wanted to work as part of a wider team after years of being a lone worker. It’s going to be a totally different environment for her and she can’t wait to get involved.

Outside of work, Jessica is a self-proclaimed socialite and loves being around people and generally having a good time! She goes to the gym when she can, so if you see her in active-wear when she’s finished a shift, she’s forcing herself to go!

Kerry Salmon (Community Fundraiser)

Kerry started in the Income, Comms and Marketing Team on Monday after racking up a huge 13 years at Leyland Morrison’s. From the age of 16, Kerry has only ever had that one job, so handing in her notice and starting this new chapter has been really surreal for her.

After spending her years mainly as an in-store florist and Community Champion, Kerry thought it was time to push herself and get a fulfilling role of which she could be proud of and make a difference. ‘If I’m happier in myself at work and doing something I enjoy, hopefully I’ll take that home’, she said.

Kerry has always known of Derian as she’s a born-and-bred Chorley lass, and says her personality will be perfect for building relationships with our community and spreading the word about our hospice. She can’t wait to get stuck in and work her socks off to raise the money we need to keep our does open each year.

Outside of work (and in), Kerry loves a cup of tea… she says it fixes everything! She went on to list dressing gowns, ‘pink stuff’ and stationary as things she likes and what makes her a girly girl, but be warned… she can sink a pint quicker than the average male!

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 25^th 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 4^th  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 1^st 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 3^rd 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 (19^th July 2021) with a press launch scheduled for the next day. Good luck to all the new Blackburn team.

• COVID – what changes are coming?

1. As an SMT we decided that we will maintain mask wearing rules as they currently stand.
2. 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).
3. Following the confirmation of isolation guidance, from the 16^th 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.

Thanks to one of our new Corporate supporters – Leaders in Care – we have an all-inclusive Frederick’s ice cream van arriving at the hospice today at 2pm!

Please don’t fill up on lunch and save room for ice cream – the Leaders in Care team have pledged to support us with various fundraising activities during the rest of the year and will be visiting us to discuss their plans.

Feel free to indulge in some frozen creamy goodness thanks to their generosity!

We are delighted to show below the plans for the new Reflection Garden.

If you are interested in seeing more detailed plans then please let Luke or David know and they would be happy to share these with you. We are now waiting for an update on the start date from the Garden Architect and as soon as we have this we will share the dates with you.

Afternoon all,

For those who missed the face-to-face sessions, David’s Keeping in Touch video is available to watch in Derian Data (Q:) > Drop Zone (3 Months), titled ‘Keeping in Touch – JUNE 2021).