My work experience with Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust - by Harrison Dickens

Our guest blogger Harrison tells us about his experiences working for LCH...

Hello, my name is Harrison Dickens. I came to LCH for my work experience, and I spent most of the week working with Ian and his team at the IT helpdesk, and it was very interesting. On Thursday, I came down to the Comms team and learned about community talk and the intranet Elsie. Both the IT team and the Comms team made me feel very welcome, and I have enjoyed being a part of the teams.

On my first day, I was introduced to the IT team by Ian, and they all made me feel very welcome. I had a document of tasks that I needed to complete throughout the week, and most have been enjoyable. But even though there was on gruelling task, it still made me think that a job in IT is what I’d like to achieve. The atmosphere in the room was relaxed, and everyone was very friendly. I spent Tuesday working with Paul, and seeing what an IT helpdesk employee does. I loved it, as he allowed me to help him fix problems with laptops and log a call for an engineer to come and fix! I reset someone’s password for them, and used phonetic alphabet to reset someone’s Toughbook. I watched (and took part in) the Toughbook training, and it was interesting to see how the NHS Toughbook project comes to use.

Thursday was fun, as I met the Comms team and saw Emma and met Chloe. It was interesting to watch the Elsie training, as it is what the LCH use so I got a better understanding of what they use on Elsie. After that, I helped Sarah do the community talk. She showed me how she makes the community talk, and I was tasked with making it. Once I had done that, I went to a membership event with Emma and Chloe. It was interesting to see what the members enjoyed about the event, and to see the questions they had for the event.

Overall, I really enjoyed my time working here, if only for a week. Thank you everyone, for being so welcoming :D

Membership...focus on men's health

Stephen's Story
Read Stephen's story on why he became a members and some of the issues that affect men's healh today...

"I joined Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust after I saw an advertisement on a Leeds bus telling me that I could participate in, and help to shape, our NHS. This was appealing as I had spent the majority of my working life in or connected with the NHS and although it remains dear to my heart, sometimes it fails to reach the standards required. I believed that in the right environment I could contribute by using the experience I had gained from being both an employee and a patient to help overcome the challenges that the NHS faces now and in the future.

Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust has provided me with the forum that I sought offering me a platform as well as practical involvement so that I have played a part in shaping what is to come. It also helps me to keep up to date with how the NHS is changing.

Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust has also provided a pathway for wider involvement, working with the NHS Leadership Academy, Clinical Commissioning Groups, the CQC Action Team, the Open University pre-registration Nursing Programme and the opportunity to become an ‘Expert by Experience’ (a member of the CQC inspectorate).

Here are fourteen of the major issues (in no particular order} that I believe inform men’s approach to physical and emotional health:

• With the increase in female doctors, some men are too shy to discuss or be examined for ‘personal’ ailments
• Being ill does not correlate with male icons such as sports film and rock stars
• Some men feel that they are expected to be strong (illness being regarded as a weakness)
• Most health campaigns are targeted at women
• Poor previous experience of healthcare may be influential to some
• Most nurses are women
• Continuous contact between men and their GPs is easily broken after childhood (even children are most often taken to doctor’s by mother)
• Statutory Sick Pay is too low
• Women are entitled to more free prescriptions
• The media constantly publicise that the NHS is under strain
• Fear of discrimination at work
• Closing local services
• Difficulty in making a GP appointment
• Some men like to feel that they are in control of their lives, sometimes the NHS usurps this."

Find out more about being a member and our 'What's Up Man' campaign focusing on men's health here.

Work Experience with LCH NHS Trust

My name is Caleb Dodd and I go to Carr Manor Community School. From the 27th to the 31st of January I was extremely lucky to be given the opportunity to undergo work experience with the Communications department at Stockdale House.

During Rob’s Blog on Monday morning I was given a special mention from Rob Webster, the Chief Executive, this was followed by a warm welcoming from the whole Stockdale House team. Immediately I felt comfortable in the working environment here.

I completed lots of tasks over the week. Some were interesting and enjoyable, some were arduous and repetitive. That was one of the things I picked up in my time here; some things however boring have to be done. Another thing I was shocked about upon arrival was the amount of work that is done around here. On Monday morning I was reassured by Gillian Neild, Communications, PR and Marketing Manager, that it would be impossible to finish all the jobs on my schedule. My daunting schedule would seem straightforward to some of the people here as they do twice the amount!

Although the working atmosphere was relaxed, there were times where I’d look up from my desk and see a room full of people relentlessly typing away, working. The professional environment suited me. I enjoyed the feeling of being a part of a team operation on a massive scale.

I did things like writing press releases, writing for Community Talk (the weekly staff e-bulletin), social media research, updating the calendar, packing boxes of NHS branded gifts, graphic design work, writing this blog post and attending a aunch event. A fantastic variation in challenges.

The H.A.L.P. (Homeless Accommodation Leeds Pathway) event was very interesting. I learnt so much about this new program. It was a pleasure to be in the presence of people who are making such an impact on homelessness.

The week was a massive learning curve for me. I was given an insight into communications that I hadn’t had before. I got to be a part of a huge organisation even if only briefly. I thoroughly enjoyed my time here.

Member Monday...focus on men's health

'Kevin's Story'

Kevin has been a member of the trust since November 2012. Here's his story and reasons why he decided to become a member...

"I have always been interested in maintaining my health, and that of my family. Over the years I have tried to lead a healthy lifestyle (at some periods with more success than at others!) and am currently being treated for a couple of long-term (but not life-threatening) 'disorders'.

I believe that it is important to take responsibility for your own health rather than abdicating responsibility to others, but to be able to do that you need information and guidance. My scientific background has convinced me that any actions I, or others, take on maintaining my health should be based on sound science and should not be influenced by commercial or political considerations. Now I am semi-retired, I have the time available to become more active in pursuing these interests, and that is why I joined the LCH Trust.

I am also particularly attracted by the LCH emphasis on prevention - it is far better (and cheaper) to prevent an illness occurring than to treat it once it has appeared, and I don't think that the NHS in general puts enough resource into prevention. My self-appointed task within the trust will be to ensure that all the campaigns and advice that are promulgated by the Trust are based on sound science (as I am sure the vast majority will be). I will also been keen to encourage the Trust to make sure that the latest treatment or prevention therapies discovered are quickly incorporated into current advice.

With regard to men's health particularly, I think that prostate health is a major, and complex, issue - new information is becoming available all the time. It is important that we (and medical people) keep up-to-date with these discoveries.

Another issue, which is not just related to men's health (although men are worse at this than women), is that of regular health monitoring. Catching "disorders" in the early stages can have a dramatic effect on the eventual outcome, so it important to monitor your health on a regular basis - when you get a reminder from your medical practice that a check up is due, act on it, don't bin it. You service your car......

I am looking forward to working with the LCH to improve the long-term health of Leeds over the coming years."

My Shiny Teeth and Me!

Earlier this week we visited a Leeds primary school to learn more about the free Tooth Brushing Scheme currently taking place across the city.

Our Oral Health Improvement Team are working in 8 schools to teach children how to brush their teeth properly and make sure they are doing it on a daily basis. The children meet in small groups in the morning and after lunch and brush their teeth togather with guidance from the school dental nurse.

Every 3 months, they are given their own toothbrush and each child receives 2 tubes of toothpaste every year. They learn how much toothpaste to use, the correct way to brush their teeth and how long for with the help of this funky song...

The children really enjoyed telling us all about what they had learnt and seemed to understand the importance of dental hygiene whilst still having fun!

The scheme is currently in place in 8 schools and 8 children's centres across Leeds with a further 6 to follow once training is complete. It is a free scheme funded by public health.

Membership...focus on men's health

Colin's Story

Read about Colin's experience of medical care and why he is involved in our 'What's Up Man' campaign...

"I do like the idea of the 'Whats's Up Man' campaign as my personal experience of getting medical care has had dramatic differences from kind thoughtful NHS staff and medical professionals who naturally treat people with equality and respect, to some medical professionals who treat you as though you do not matter or exist, sadly the latter was the majority of my experience, part of the negative experience; is not being informed about test results, arriving on time for appointments and being kept waiting long periods of time with no-one to explain why you have not been seen at your agreed time?

In my employment, working within the community I have spoken to many men who have had similar experiences but do not want to cause upset by complaining.

Like all men I simply 'put up and say nowt'. As I do not want to cause offence by complaining or asking questions. I/We don’t want to cause a fuss.

I think we need to learn how to ask why we are kept waiting or when do I get to know the results of tests let the professionals know we are human beings and we need to be coaxed and encouraged not ignored.

Hopefully this campaign may help to improve the health and wellbeing of men."

Read more about What's Up Man and how to become a member here.

I'm half the man I used to be!

The hardest thing about losing weight was deciding to do it, not deciding that I should (which was obvious), but deciding that it was going to actually happen. I was cautious to start with, I saw the nurse at my local GP practice regularly and took advice from the Leeds Weight Management service around nutrition and confirmation that the approach I was taking was sensible and safe for me. "Eat less, exercise more" seems obvious but there's a lot of rubbish written in online forums around maintaining as large a calorie deficit as I was so having a service in the city where I was able to talk to experts and have my mind put at rest was great.

The first thing I learned about food was that I had no idea what a portion size was. Even if I was eating healthy food I was eating enough for several people, I weighed and logged everything for months and when I realised how high in calories some foods are I started researching substitutes. I worked out how to do a cooked breakfast for under 400 calories, I used mashed carrot and swede instead of mashed potato, anything that would keep me below the calorie target. The second thing was how much flavour counts, if you're eating a calorie restricted diet then bland food is a killer so I made sure every mouthful was a pleasant experience.

Exercise was the hardest part to start though, getting out of breath walking round the supermarket meant I was starting from an absolutely abysmal level of fitness. I started with walking slowly on the flat on a treadmill three times a week but made sure every workout was harder than the last. It might only have been very slightly but those little tiny increments added up and in the second half of the year I'd started jogging, something that I couldn't have done in January if my life depended on it.

All of it came down to the initial decision though, actually making the decision that losing weight was not a goal but rather something that was simply going to happen gave me the right mindset to pull it off. It wasn't a matter of focusing on "if", just "how".

Blog post written by Gareth Davies, Weight Management Service user.

For help and advice about losing weight safely, contact our weight management team on 0113 843 2396.