27 November 2023

“The team is really cemented and comfortable with each other. It’s just day to day now because we are one big family.”

The Turn Furlong Recovering Independence Bed Unit team recently celebrated their first birthday having had a busy yet incredibly successful year working as one team with NHFT providing clinical staff and West Northamptonshire Council providing social care staff at the Northampton site.

The residential rehabilitation centre was formally a specialist care centre and delivers short-term care for people who are not quite ready to return home after a hospital stay.

Combining WNC social care and NHFT clinical teams as a joint workforce was a new concept but has been fully embraced by both teams and the 51-bed unit is continuously occupied with patients, with 336 admissions between Nov 22 to Oct 23 and 328 discharges.

Turn Furlong’s joint leadership team had a vision to build a great overall team culture. This has been achieved with the team now working incredibly well together and even hosting social events including a summer fete and having meals out together.

Because of the unique staffing model, an MDT meeting takes place once a week, which is a holistic discussion with health and social care teams all in one room. This way of working is incredibly effective and allows individual care plans to be looked at and reviewed. In addition, the changes has enabled a supported discharge of people back into the community with Reablement WEST, where they benefit from further rehabilitation from the team and therapists in their own familiar surroundings.

An important team development activity that has taken place over the past year is staff training. Training that teams are taking part in has included wound and pressure care, stoma care, mental capacity act (MCA), delirium, and falls training. The team of reablement support workers from WNC have been upskilled as well.

All the training that the team has undertaken has meant that as well as the day-to-day efficiencies and camaraderie, when there have been emergencies in the unit – the team has handled them well through working and learning from each other. Friendships have formed and there is a sense that you can ask anyone anything.

“We adapt, and we are good at embracing change, and keeping this going with the enthusiasm to improve.”

A great example of how the RIBU provides the right care at the right time was recently with a patient who had a recent dementia diagnosis. They had been discharged, but after they returned home it became apparent that being at home was not going to be sustainable as they needed more support.

The patient was assessed and then referred to the RIBU where an individualised care plan was promptly arranged.

The RIBU provides rehabilitation with a personalised care plan that is goal-led for individuals. For this patient, their main goal was to get home and be able to use the stairs safely. With this in mind, and having on-site therapy team members, daily physio was introduced as well as carrying out stairs assessments and focussing on functional activities with the Occupational Therapist. Ensuring the patient walked to get breakfast and lunch and to sit in the lounge and walk around the garden were other everyday activities that were carried out as part of the rehabilitation plan.

As a result of the quick assessment and the subsequent rehabilitation plan, the patient progressed from being immobile to walking with a walking stick in less than 35 days.

If the patient had not been able to have the personalised rehabilitation care that the RIBU offered, the alternative would have been a care package at home which would have taken longer to achieve the patient’s goals and there would have been no rehabilitation input.

Recent implementations and innovations

• The team has been working with local GPs to look at Venous thrombosis assessment and the team is looking at what they can do in terms of VTE assessment and protocol to prevent this from happening.
• What patients eat and drink is also being continuously reviewed and working with the kitchen to develop menus with more protein to encourage tissue healing in them is one such innovation. There has also been a hydration drive – with hydration stations set up to keep this at the top of the staff members’ minds.
• New mattresses have been introduced to help with pressure ulcers and wooden floors have replaced carpets in patients’ bedrooms which are much more efficient to clean. There is also lots of new equipment on site such as, floor beds and falls alarms, lifting equipment. Both teams have worked together to identify what is needed and to train each other on how to use it when it arrives.
• Running a 51-bedroom facility is busy, and so volunteers from NHFT have been introduced to help with capacity and further help patients with dementia by reminiscing about their lives and walking in the garden. These activities make a huge difference to patients and using volunteers helps the team a great deal.
• Champions have been introduced in specific areas such as end of life and Infection Prevention Control - with staff taking on an extra responsibility by volunteering to do this.
• There has also been engagement and fundraising with the local Northamptonshire Health Charity and plans to connect with local schools.

23 November 2023

Born 2 Perform, Britain’s Got Talent Golden Buzzer winners, will help celebrate the achievements of disabled people in West Northamptonshire during the International Day of People with Disabilities (IDPWD) on 1 December.  

Alongside delivering a captivating performance, Born to Perform will also be talking about living with a disability at the event scheduled to take place between 1pm and 3pm at Sport4Fitness, Fernie Fields Sports & Social Club, Fernie Field, Moulton, Northampton NN3 7BD. 

Organised by the West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) Disable Person’s Forum, the information filled virtual event will be hosted by our very own Paul Meadows who represents his Sends4Dads charity and will see himself and people within the community share their personal stories of living with disabilities.  

There will be a selection of partners such as Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service (NFRS) offering free home safety checks, and WNC will be there providing Cost of Living advice. Representatives from Adapt Ability, Northamptonshire’s Childrens Trust, Moulton Leisure Centre and Saints Wheelchair Rugby Team will also be among the many promotional stand holders. 

I am delighted to announce that WNC is marking IPDWD for the fourth consecutive year. People with disabilities are integral members of our diverse communities and contribute significantly to the richness of our lives. I encourage everyone to take part in the celebrations, taking the opportunity to engage with and reflect on the experiences of disabled people.Cllr David Smith, WNC's Cabinet Member for Community Safety and Engagement, and Regulatory Services

Highlights from the event will be available to watch later via the Council's YouTube channel

23 November 2023

West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) shows its onward commitment to tackling youth vaping and smoking, as it welcomes the Government’s current consultation on creating a smokefree generation.

WNC share the concerns of many other organisations and authorities on the impacts of vaping for children and young people and how proposals, and further enforcement can help to tackle this rising issue.

Over the last six months WNC’s trading standards team has seized 5,000 illegal vapes that contravene the regulations for the maximum permitted quantity. 32 underage test purchase attempts have also been made resulting in 17 sales to a volunteer under the age of 18 years old, showing the extent of work already underway to tackle this issue.

Services across the Council are working collaboratively to prevent vapes and cigarettes from being sold to young people illegally and address the significant health concerns these pose to young people. I would urge all residents to consider responding to the Government’s consultation regarding the sale of the vapes and ensure their views are taken into account.Cllr David Smith, Cabinet Member for Community Safety, Engagement and Regulatory Services at WNC

Working together with local partner organisations, plans are underway to drive forward, how together the Council can tackle youth vaping by ensuring the voices of children and young people are heard to help shape next steps and implement sustainable solutions in line with the outcomes of the Government consultation. Developing a multi-agency approach the Council will deliver a ‘summit’ in February to drive these conversations forward.

Work is already underway as WNC is working closely with schools to provide them with information to teachers and parents, as well as developing guidance to best support children and young people vaping.

This is a huge priority for us as a Council as well as the Tobacco Control Alliance for Northamptonshire – we know this is a huge issue that we need to tackle and we are committed to doing this, working closely with teams across WNC, key partners as well as hearing from children and young people themselves.

Like other areas nationally, we are seeing vaping as a rising issue amongst our young people and this is a huge concern. I strongly encourage all residents to take part in the consultation. It is really important to share your thoughts and views to help shape next steps on this important issue.

Cllr Matt Golby, Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health at WNC

The Government consultation is live until 11.59pm on 6 December 2023 and encourages all residents to get involved and have their say on the proposed action to protect future generations from the harms of smoking, as well as on proposals to crack down on youth vaping and ensure the law is enforced. To take part in the consultation please visit: Creating a smokefree generation and tackling youth vaping: your views - Department of Health and Social Care (dhsc.gov.uk)

22 November 2023

West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) are pleased to be working with a wide range of partners including our community and voluntary organisations to support over 88 welcoming spaces for our residents this winter period.

Following the success of our warm spaces initiative last year, which saw over 64,000 visits to 47 grant funded spaces, together with partners, WNC are relaunching the initiative ahead of this winter to provide friendly and safe places for residents across West Northants.

Rebranding the initiative as welcoming spaces emphasises the importance of social connectedness and encourages residents to utilise these spaces to meet and socialise with new people, find out about what support is on offer as well as access a friendly, warm space in their local neighbourhood.

Working with many community partners helps to make welcoming spaces local to all residents across West Northants, as part of the Council’s aim to tackle social isolation and prevent loneliness in communities. Alongside providing a place for people to meet and socialise, some welcoming spaces will have information about support services available to residents providing information on topics such as the financial support available or signposting to mental health services, with others offering gardening groups, knitting together or simply a place for a hot drink and a chat.

The centres are open to everyone and include libraries, community centres, community hubs and other places offering a warm welcome and free to use for anyone struggling to heat their home. Some venues will also offer hot drinks, activities, and other services such as free Wi-Fi.

We know from last year’s usage that these spaces are very much needed for residents – whether it’s to get out the house, have someone to talk to, stay warm or access some of the social activities on offer.  

We know that the winter months can be a challenging time for many – whether it’s due to financial worries, struggling with household bills, or feeling lonely – that's why we’re keen to be supporting a similar initiative this year.

I really encourage residents to go along to their local welcoming space and join in with this initiative as it continues to build on the impact of last year.

Cllr Matt Golby, Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health at WNC

The Council has created a map of venues across the Daventry, Northampton, South Northamptonshire areas as well as a number of others further afield in the county that are providing free spaces that you can go to during the colder months.

To learn more and find your nearest Welcoming Space, please visit the Welcoming Spaces webpage on the Cost of Living Hub.