In the midst of winter, an invincible summer

Since I wrote my blog earlier this week, we've all been made aware that the terrible situation in Ukraine has escalated. We watch the shocking and distressing news with horror - our thoughts and hearts are with all who are in Ukraine, and everyone else affected by this. We will do all we can to support our Ukrainian colleagues in Pennine Care.

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I’m sure you will have picked up in the news that all remaining covid restrictions ended yesterday. I know many of us are keen to get “back to normal”, especially as most people experience mild symptoms.  

But it’s important to remember that covid remains a significant risk for vulnerable people, including many of our patients. We need to be cautious, continue wearing personal protective equipment and follow existing infection prevention and control guidelines until we’re advised otherwise.

We’ve been told to expect further guidance soon which (I hope) will set out what things will look like going forwards. It’s possible that staff based in non-clinical buildings may not have to wear personal protective equipment, but this is not yet confirmed. So, until it is, we should all continue to socially distance and follow infection, prevention and control guidelines in the workplace. And as soon as we hear anything, we’ll let you know.

With the easing of all restrictions outside of care settings, it does feel as if a line is being drawn under the pandemic and, barring new variants, we’re about to head into a solid recovery phase. But it is important that in thinking how we do this, we take note of the impact that the pandemic has had on our services and the people who work in them and use them.

To this end, this week I had a look at the quarterly Pulse survey results, which provide insight into how people are feeling at the moment. On a positive note, the survey highlighted that more people have had a health and wellbeing conversation with their manager. It’s great to see this being taken seriously, and you are living our values of kindness and compassion by supporting each other.

However, a small but significant number of you said you are feeling stressed and demotivated. But by far the word that stood out the most about how you are feeling was the word ‘coping’. In some respects, it is positive that you are coping, but the word for me conjures up images of people having to dig deep, to draw on all your reserves and with a dogged determination to keep going against the odds.

I don’t know how you are all doing this. I know how exhausted and down people are feeling after two years of working under immense pressure and in such a strange situation. But hats off to you. You may feel that you are only coping, but the evidence of everything you are doing is writ large in the achievements and progress that is being made.

This was really evident in the Trust management board meeting last week, at which we heard lots of stories about positive changes and improvements which felt really energising and uplifting.  The meeting was jam packed with examples of the fantastic work you are all doing and there was a definite sense of hope in hearing about people’s achievements. That doesn’t mean our challenges will magically disappear, but it did make me feel awe and pride in the sheer grit and tenacity of Pennine Care people.    

The weather this week feels like a good metaphor for this. After a week of storms battering the UK, the sun has finally been making an appearance and it feels like there is a touch of spring in the air. That doesn’t mean there won’t be more bad weather, but there is hope of a slightly brighter future not too far ahead. So, I wanted to do a shout out to some of the brilliant work that is bringing a chink of sunshine through the clouds…

We’ve successfully recruited to several new roles as part of the community mental health transformation, including 28 senior mental health practitioners to support the new primary care networks and all posts in our new Trust-wide personality disorder pathway.

 

There’s been a fantastic response to our new trainee associate psychological practitioner roles and we’ve appointed two pharmacists to support our community mental health teams.

 

While these new roles are exciting, we’re also planning several focused pieces of work to support services that face ongoing staffing issues.

 

Our information technology colleagues have rolled out Office 365 to 3,600 users, and successfully upgraded our Paris electronic patient system. A huge thankyou to everyone involved, especially those who worked over the weekend. They’ve also successfully bid for £650k to buy new devices and a further £250k to allow us to plan how new technologies can benefit us in the future.

 

It was great to hear about our new mental health joint response pilot in Oldham and Tameside. Since launching on 31 January 2022, over 100 patients have quickly received the right support at the right time. The scheme has led to a reduction in the number of patients taken to A&E or one of our section 136 suites.

 

Thanks to this early success, the service is being rolled out in Bury on Monday. The evidence will be evaluated at the end of March, and we hope to permanently provide this service across all five boroughs.

 

Our child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) in Rochdale have been ranked in the top three in the country by the Children’s Commissioner. This is amazing given the challenges that we know services for children and young people are under as a result of the pandemic.

 

And it was brilliant to hear that we have improved our rating in the organisational strategy improvement matrix (a self-assessment tool to measure improvement), moving from ‘building’ to ‘refining’ out improvement infrastructure and approach. I am really pleased about this one, as it shows more and more people are getting involved in improvement work which given the pressure on core services, is a complete testament to your hard work and commitment to making things better.

 

These are just some of the highlights I wanted to share from last week, but I know there are many more examples of outstanding work across the Trust. I see this every week when I read our Together We Can update, which never fails to inspire me. 

 

Although you are finding things hard and having to dig deep to keep going, you really are making a huge difference and we are making progress towards a better future.

I’d like to end with a quote by French philosopher, author, and journalist, Albert Camus. I have never read anything by this author (far too intellectual for me!), but I fell in love with this quote many years ago and feel it really sums up the fighting spirit, grit, and determination of our Pennine Care people:

“In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer. And that makes me happy. For it says that no matter how hard the world pushes against me, within me, there’s something stronger – something better, pushing right back.”

From all of the examples I have heard about over the last few weeks, I know that even in the most difficult scenarios, you are keeping that invincible summer within you: confident in the knowledge you are making a real difference to the lives of everyone in our communities.

Best wishes,
Claire

You can follow me on Twitter @ClaireMolloy2

The Arc is Long

Claire Molloy (top) and
Rossella Nicosia (bottom)

Well, it’s been an eventful couple of weeks.

We’ve had the Government’s decision to scrap mandatory covid vaccinations for NHS staff. I know an immense amount of work has been undertaken by managers and our HR team leading up to this U-turn, and it’s been one of the most difficult times for everyone, creating anxiety and concern in colleagues. So I share the frustration people must be feeling.

It’s positive and such a relief that the NHS won’t lose any more staff when we have colossal staffing difficulties anyway, but we must keep promoting the huge benefits of the vaccine and encouraging staff to make that personal choice themselves. It’ll be a tragedy if that message is undermined.

My successor has also been confirmed as Anthony Hassall, who will pick up the reins in April when I retire. I wasn’t involved in the process and don’t know Anthony, but as you’ll know from her guest blog yesterday, Evelyn has worked with him for a couple of years. It’s clear from her experience of working with him that Anthony is a real champion on the equality, diversity and inclusion agenda, which is so positive. As you know, this is a big focus for our organisation, so it’s good to have someone who can continue to steer this forward with absolute commitment.

And on that note, its LGBT+ History month and I’m delighted that Rossella Nicosia, our Step 3 manager at Bury Healthy Minds has written a guest blog.

The month focuses on the celebration and recognition of LGBT+ people and culture, both past and present, who were the agents of change rather than just victims of prejudice.

This year’s national theme is Politics in Art: 'The Arc is Long'. It’s inspired by a Martin Luther King quote: ‘The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.’ So, although it is taking a long time, we are curving/moving towards social justice and fairness. 

Our LGBT+ staff network was the first of our networks to be established almost five years ago, and they have done some great work to support colleagues and help us in our ambitions to reduce prejudice and intolerance. I’m also proud that we published our transgender and non-binary statement last June to publicly demonstrate our support for our LGBT+ colleagues, and our zero-tolerance approach to discrimination, victimisation or harassment on the basis of a person’s gender identity.

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Rossella Nicosia – Step 3 manager, Bury Healthy Minds

Rosella Nicosia

LGBT+ History month is a great opportunity to learn about the journey that has led our community to where we are today. 

When I joined Pennine in April 2021, I was very reassured by the fact that there is an explicit commitment to equity of access for patients and to the inclusivity of all patients and colleagues, an ethos that is very close to my heart. Continuous learning supports that aim and helps us develop more in-depth cultural competence. 

In writing this guest blog I don’t mind sharing that I feel somewhat anxious about being visible, and anxiety is a familiar feeling when joining a platform to talk about a subject matter that is such a big part of my life and of my me.

So why the anxiety? Friends and family will tell you that I am forever talking about LGBTQIA+ culture, issues that impact our lives, and getting really excited about queer representation in mainstream media.

The main reason is that visibility has not always meant something positive for our communities, and for many it still doesn’t.

Growing up, I quickly learnt that visibility was often not a safe option for LGBTQIA+ people. We were often not depicted positively, and history lessons did not include any of our pioneering people, such as Marsha P Johnson or Alan Turing (definitely look them up if you’re not familiar with them) or any of our milestones.

Moving to the UK at the age of 14, I felt hopeful that I would finally learn more about our community, past and present. As a young LGBTQIA+ person I was really longing to see that my peers and community did exist. Years later I would learn that Section 28 was (and at times still is) responsible for a lot of the silences in our school years.

As you’ve probably noticed, history has always been one of my favorite subjects, back when I was in Sicily every subject had an element of history built in, even in maths we would get some historical insight to the learning.

So naturally, in a new space I gravitate towards its story, and when I started working in an LGBT charity, I soon became aware of all the things I didn’t know, and I became invested in our community’s history. I saw this as a key part of developing my cultural competence within the role I held. The opportunities to learn were all there, and so varied.

A favorite of mine was ‘Out North West’, a magazine that the charity printed regularly. One of the walls in the building had every single cover framed and hung up. Each cover reflecting the social issues that our community was navigating at the time. From sexual health articles amid the AIDS pandemic of the 80s and early 90s, to naming issues like rainbow racism, the lack of inclusive spaces for LGBTQIA+ disabled people, the first Manchester Pride in 1990, barriers to healthcare, the gender recognition act in 2004 and of course dozens of stories celebrating our community and culture. It was a window to our lives. 

Whilst the magazine is no longer being printed, the need to keep on learning about our history, and our community to better understand our context is very much present.

LGBT+ history month can be a good opportunity to gain some insight as to why some people may choose not to be visible (being out and/or visible is and will always be the person’s choice), and to understand the context in which many of our friends, family members, patients and colleagues have lived and often continue to live in.

Our commitment to inclusivity is a commitment to a journey of education, in which we continually become aware of the barriers and discrimination that impact the diverse facets of society. Learning about the history of different communities is part of that journey of development. 

So, whilst we may see people march loud and proud across the globe during parades, that queer joy comes with a history that is important to shine light on. As allies to the LGBTQIA+ community, but also as part of the community, we can show solidarity by actively learning about the journey that led people to where they are now. This insight will help us to understand how we can write history today, using our privilege to enable meaningful social change.

I am proud to see that our Trust is committed to creating opportunities for learning and development for equity of access for all communities. In addition to the resources available on the intranet, the LGBT+ staff network will be hosting two learning events over the next couple of weeks which will give people the opportunity for meaningful learning, discussions, and reflections. It would be great to see colleagues from across our organisation attend these events in support of this important month.

Here's to writing history together. 

A new relationship

Evelyn Asante-Mensah

I remember getting the job at Pennine Care so clearly. 

It was five years ago, but the feelings
of elation and excitement, along with a healthy dollop of anxious trepidation, will always stay with me. I felt a huge weight of responsibility and expectation on my shoulders, but also excitement
at landing such a privileged role. The passion to add value and make a difference burned brightly. I’d always had a big interest in mental health and learning disability services, and I was in awe of the work that you did.

If I were to use the analogy of a new relationship; I went from admiring you from afar, to the exhilaration of the first dates, then getting to know you and all your wonderful traits, followed by the growth of understanding, respect and love. Yes, there have been some bumps along the way and it’s not all been plain sailing, but that has only strengthened my commitment. Perfect doesn’t exist and who wants that anyway.

And sitting alongside me throughout this time has been Claire Molloy, our chief executive.

The job of the chair is multifaceted, but the one element in every successful chair is an effective relationship with their chief exec. It must be based on mutual respect and trust. The demands on the chief exec are extraordinary and I can hopefully make life less lonely at the top for them by acting as a sounding board, mentor and advocate.

That’s why this role is so important to me, but not just to me of course; to you, the board, our partners and the people we serve.

We’ve been so fortunate to have Claire lead us these last five years (it’s estimated that the average chief exec lasts only around three years, so how great that we got an extra two). Claire has transformed and improved so much in so many different ways, and will soon be handing the baton over to Anthony Hassall.

Anthony Hassall
our incoming chief executive

Most of you won’t yet know him, but our new chief exec Anthony Hassall is a ‘known quantity’ to me, as I have worked with him in my role as chair of the North West Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Assembly since the beginning of the covid pandemic. His equality, diversity and inclusion work has been tremendous, hugely influential and something he’s totally committed to. 

Anthony is known and admired for his strong integrity, alongside positive team building skills and collaborative approach. Our values will never change and that’s why we placed a huge emphasis on values-based leadership throughout the whole recruitment process.  It’s something I’ll never be prepared to compromise on.

Anthony will also bring something else, which I think we help us immensely; an important final jigsaw piece that we were perhaps missing. He has a regional and national presence in the NHS and social care system, and impressive networks, which will really add value.

Our direction of travel will stay the same, but we can’t underestimate the benefits of the great work we are doing being seen in the system. We need that external understanding and recognition.

I know Anthony wants to spend time getting to you know you when he joins, and importantly let you get to know him. We’re really lucky that he’s able to join us at the start of April, when Claire retires as chief exec, so we can have a seamless handover.

Anthony knows, especially through his current role as chief people officer for NHS England North West, that almost everything in leadership comes back to people and relationships. He’ll no doubt have many of the same ‘start of a relationship’ feelings as I did five years ago. But wow, what an exceptional and awe-inspiring group of people to be starting it with.

Best wishes

Evelyn

New Year same old, but hello tiger

New year, same old pandemic.

There’s normally something uplifting about this time of year, even though the weather tends to be awful, something enticing and exciting about the potential a new calendar year represents.

The arrival of this new year however feels sombre and deflating as we find ourselves entering another year of living with the pandemic. Two years of this has left many people drained and wary of the future, especially when we thought the vaccine and lockdowns last year would suffice to ‘send covid packing’, so it’s understandable that this feels a strange one. I am sure, like lots of you, it felt odd saying ‘Happy’ New Year when 2022 has started with so much challenge.  

And this is especially true for our services, as they have yet again come under the most intense pressure leading up to Christmas and during the festive period, and this has continued into the New Year. Things have been so incredibly tough, particularly for our inpatient and CAMHS services.

We’ve had five wards closed because of covid, with seven more wards under observation, which has caused significant issues with patient flow. But I know that many services are really feeling the pinch, with unprecedented numbers of staff being off ill or having to self-isolate with covid.

Teams have had to work tirelessly on an hour-by-hour, day-by-day basis to make sure our services are staffed appropriately. I know this has been really stressful.

Omicron has proved even more impactful than previous variants, resulting in absences of well over 10%, a previously unheard-of percentage, as we again face huge patient demand. Covid is currently up close and personal in my family with daughter and granddaughter all being ill with it, and now my clinically vulnerable husband testing positive two days ago. Thank goodness for the vaccine, as so far he hasn’t been very ill and I am touching wood this continues.

I know we still have staff who for whatever reason haven’t felt able to have the vaccine, but please, get it if you can. There are still people dying of covid and I find it heart-breaking that we seem to have stopped telling their stories in the media and become somewhat blasé about people losing their lives. That somehow, because the vast majority of these individuals are unvaccinated, we can’t be compassionate in the same way.

I hope I am wrong on this, but whatever the reason, we should all continue to try and understand people’s reasons, to try and address them with empathy and appreciation, and encourage people where possible to have the vaccine. It is literally a life saver.

Although it has been a difficult start to 2022, there does appear to be a chink of light. The information I am getting from a regional perspective does indicate that case rates are starting to decrease, and that although the operational picture is still tight and difficult, it is now stable. The next two weeks will no doubt be arduous, but we have to hope that we are past the worst.

The Queen’s new year honours list provides an opportunity to highlight people who have made a significant contribution over the previous year, and whilst I can’t award titles, I do want to do my own honours to acknowledge how hard you’ve had to work leading up to and over the Christmas and new year period.

More like a shout-out than a fancy honour, but nevertheless I want to recognise and thank all our leaders and service managers who have worked so hard over the last few weeks to keep services going; kudos and appreciation to the medical leadership which has been truly amazing over the last few weeks and all those in our inpatient services who have worked under extreme pressure.

Thank you to everyone who worked over the bank holidays, particularly the night staff on New Year’s Eve which I know was extraordinarily challenging. Also, our liaison mental health teams who have had to manage very high A&E attendances with 136 suites closed.

A big shout out to the team in Stockport who have worked collaboratively with Stepping Hill Hospital over the last year or so and supported the department to move from a CQC rating of inadequate to good. Absolutely amazing.

And to all the many individuals and teams who have worked together to try and unpick bed blockages to speed up safe patient discharges, you deserve so much gratitude and applause. So, thank you, I know it has been a very tough start to the New Year and that I haven’t been able to mention everyone, but a massive big thank you and doffing of my hat to you all.

Even though it’s been a tremendously hard start to 2022, please try and hold onto the hope that hearing about people’s efforts and commitment as above inspires. We may not feel motivated enough to make the New Year resolutions for change that we normally do, but I do hope that looking after your wellbeing and looking out for others is the one resolution we can all aspire to.

In previous blogs I have talked about the Chinese New Year which starts at the beginning of February, and the animal that year symbolises, and for 2022 it’s a Tiger!  So, whilst we will undoubtedly still continue to feel some of the Tiger’s negative attributes of being short-tempered, unpredictable and anxious, I hope we can on balance find a way of nourishing and releasing our inner ‘Tiggers’ and the positive qualities of being kind, adventurous, brave and enthusiastic.

Best wishes

Claire

You can follow me on Twitter @ClaireMolloy2

Learning from listening

I watched the film ‘The Colour Room’ the other day, the true story of factory girl Clarice Cliff who became a celebrated and famous ceramic artist.

Clarice was a young working-class woman in the 1920s, who left school at 13 destined for a life of menial ‘paintress’ work in the Staffordshire potteries, but instead set her sights on becoming a ‘modeller’. This was a more skilled role, that only men at the time did, and Clarice had to fight to get her ideas heard: facing sexism, sneers and obstacles.  

She eventually managed to take her Art Deco ceramic pottery line, called ‘Bizarre’, to the annual trade fair, where the industry placed orders for the year. But it tanked, with the buyers pointing out that women wouldn’t buy Clarice’s cheap, cheerful and contemporary pottery, and the lack of any sales sent the pottery company close to bankruptcy.

But Clarice realised that all the buyers were men and were making decisions about what women wanted on their behalf. Although she faced an uphill struggle, she wasn’t deterred and found a way of talking directly to women about what they wanted and did her own market research.

And after finding a way to sell direct to women she eventually sold more than 8.5 million pieces all over the world. Her ‘cheap and cheerful’ pottery are now collector pieces and coveted the world over, including by me!

Clarice’s creative skills were matched by her flair for business, but most of all, her story highlights the importance of hearing directly from the people you are trying to reach.  The male buyers in the 1920s were not going to be in the best place to know what tea services women wanted unless they talked to them, and in the male dominated world of the period, that simply didn’t happen. It is obvious that the best way to understand people is to listen to them. We learn from listening.

This is something we’ve been giving thought to as well. Our board recently had a really productive development session with Ben Woffenden, head of patient and carer experience and engagement, about patient stories and how we can weave them into a wide range of areas and activities across our organisation to support our work. As well as supporting people who tell their stories, we need to have the chance to really reflect on what we’ve heard and make the sharing meaningful.

What does the story tell us? Do we need to change anything as a result? How should it influence what we do? So, with Ben’s leadership, we are developing our approach across the organisation, including the use of patient stories at board.

We had a really powerful patient story at the board meeting this Wednesday. It was the first one since before the pandemic and a reminder of how much we’d missed the patient voice in these meetings. Those of you who attended the AGM last month will have experienced the immense impact of hearing a patient story first-hand. They move, inspire and affect us. Whether it’s empathy, sadness, hope or motivation, the patient story can help us see things.

At the board meeting, the patient spoke movingly about the panic attacks, terrible thoughts, shame and sorrow that his obsessive compulsive disorder caused, which affected every aspect of his life. At the point of giving up any hope of being able to manage the disorder, he was referred to our democratic therapeutic community (DTC) specialist service which he said ‘changed his life’.

He spoke so eloquently about being able to open up to others in the DTC group who, for the first time in his life, really understood how he felt. He now works with both our DTC and patient advice and liaison (PALS) services and feels he has ‘found his purpose, in helping others find their voices’. 

It was wonderful to hear such a thoughtful and intelligent young man talk about the respect and kindness in the DTC group, but his story also highlighted issues around referral and access. One story can flag up challenges that many may face.  

And it’s not just patient and carer stories that are important to hear. We need to hear staff stories to help build an open culture where everyone feels able to speak up. They create a more positive and productive workplace and lead to solutions we won’t find if we just ignore one another.

Our six staff networks have an important part to play in shaping our culture and behaviours through the feedback, ideas, advice and knowledge they can bring. We’ve launched a new women’s network and also multi-faith network group, helping to ensure a really diverse range of views are fed up to our board. We’ve also just appointed an exec sponsor for each network to support this work.

Jaco Nel has sadly had to step down as chair of the positive ability network group due to ill health, and I want to take this opportunity to publicly thank Jaco for the amazing job he has done in helping to establish, support and lead this thriving network.

The base of every successful organisation today depends mainly on two things. The first is transparency, and the second is listening to everyone's experiences and opinions. We only have to look at Yorkshire Cricket Club to see the consequences of not doing this, in terms of both reputation and financially.

The appalling racism scandal has engulfed cricket, and now, as the cricket world stands amidst the ruins of its reputation, it faces a watershed moment. It should have been a watershed moment 10 years ago, when Azeem Rafiq started reporting this and was labelled a troublemaker and ignored. He has now shared his story with the world, and it is time for the world to listen. And then more importantly, to act.

Let’s all keep speaking up and listening – and sharing our stories.

Best wishes

Claire

You can follow me on Twitter @ClaireMolloy2

It's not us and them, we are them

Claire Molloy (top) and
Chantal Basson (bottom)

We are continuing our series of guest blogs with a wonderful contribution from Dr Chantal Basson, lead consultant clinical child psychologist.

In her guest blog Chantal talks openly about the challenges she has faced as a child, student and adult: from Burnley to the Middle East and soon to the Caribbean. 

She also covers her passion about the job, the CAMHS name change and the humbling and inspirational impact of working with incredible colleagues and brave families.

Dr Chantal Basson, lead consultant clinical child psychologist

I came into CAMHS as a psychologist for children and families affected by learning disabilities. I’ve been really lucky to have had a really rich career in Pennine Care and am grateful for all of the opportunities that this has brought my way. In particular, Sara Barnes and Jason Smith really helped me pave my way.

I feel particularly privileged due to having started out in very poor areas of Burnley and Stockport. Life changed dramatically when my dad secured a job in the Middle East when I was four. Suddenly, I was on the beach every day and learning to water ski! When I was six I became partially deaf through illness and learnt to adapt to a new sense of balance and hearing.

Mental health services are close to my heart as, having experienced some intergenerational trauma in my family and as a university student and young adult, I accessed mental health services to help me understand some of my experiences and internal struggles.

I am passionate about working with children in CAMHS, because I know that the earlier we help families and children with their emotional wellbeing and mental health, the better their outcomes. I feel that my own experiences have made me want to champion child mental health, but also to work on the stigma of mental health: that it’s not us and them, and that we are them.

I hear so many inspiring stories from colleagues about their own experience of services, and yet I feel that this is an area that is still not spoken about enough. We know that more staff than ever are accessing our wellbeing services, and I am so relieved to hear this. I’ve also accessed some wellbeing sessions from the resilience hub, and have found them enormously helpful in getting through the difficult time that the pandemic has brought for all of us.

Changing our name will help our families, communities and partner agencies understand who we are and what we do, as well as being aligned with our Greater Manchester partners. And while we are changing our name, we aren’t changing our enthusiasm and passion. Our services are filled with the most incredible staff that I’ve had the privilege to work with and I gain my inspiration from them every day.

I’ve been lucky to grow with Pennine Care for the last 15 years and, in that time, I’ve worked with some incredible families.

One that comes to mind is a family where a young person had experienced an asthma attack at age 14, and who had developed a severe brain injury. Working with the parent in their time of severe grief was one of the most humbling and rewarding pieces of work I’ve done in my career.

Another time, I worked with a parent who found it really hard to access services for her son with a moderate learning disability. We never managed to make it to a comfortable place and, although she attended appointments, it was really hard for us to make progress together. I still see her in Tesco from time to time. It was still an enormous privilege and each family I have worked with has a small area in my memory where I keep hold of them. The bravery and perseverance of so many individuals I’ve worked with is incredible.

During my time in CAMHS, my hobbies and family have also grown.

I’m passionate about wellbeing and try to look after myself, as well as others in our services. With a love of all things outdoors, my husband and I were avid rock climbers and snow-boarders when I came into CAMHS, but since then we’ve taken up kite surfing, paragliding (given up because it’s terrifying) and scuba diving. Our daughters (2½  and 6) now climb, and I’m looking forward to getting them scuba diving when they’re old enough.

I am soon to be off on my own new journey and adventure, living and working in the Caribbean. I’ll be working with children and families who experience a variety of mental health difficulties, but some of which is the result of intergenerational trauma and difficulties rooted in the history of slavery.

With the amount of investment in and transformation across our systems, I am really hopeful about the future of CAMHS and hope to leave a little of my ideas in the planning for this.

Thank you.

Life and plans, retirement and journeys, soul and roles

 “Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.” 

I’ve said before that this line from John Lennon is one of my favourite quotes. With our world being turned upside down by covid, it feels more poignant than ever. 

After the excitement of agreeing our five year plan in early 2020, who would have envisaged that we would then spend so many long, hard months grappling with this pandemic rather than taking forward our big ambitions.

It’s given us all perspective on what’s important in life and it’s certainly made me reflect deeply on the future and my life going forward.

Sometimes we have to take a deep breath and make decisions that are right for us personally, even if it impacts on others. There’s never an ‘ideal time’ to step away in a job like this, as there’s always more to do.

A continuous improvement mind-set means we could just keep going and going. But I do think it is the right time for me to step down now.

It has been an emotionally draining and difficult decision to retire after nearly 30 years in the NHS, but steering Pennine Care forward into the next chapter of its journey is a longer term job that will better suit someone able to throw themselves completely into that challenge for the next few years.

I will treasure my time with the NHS and this organisation, and the memories and amazing people I’ve worked with will stay in my heart forever. As they say, I’m going to try not to cry when it’s over in six months, but smile because it happened. 

In the truest sense of the John Lennon quote, my NHS journey was never planned. I did science A levels and went to University doing a science degree (microbiology and pharmacology), with the notion I would probably end up either doing research into new treatments or as a pathologist (for the older readers, I watched a lot of Quincy when I was younger!).

But I met my husband in my first year and, even though he had been told he couldn’t have children as a result of cancer treatment, we found out at the start of my second year he could! So I dropped out of university when I was pregnant with my daughter at the tender age of 19.

I then started a series of jobs to literally pay the rent and survive, eventually going back to university as a mature student to do something completely different - business studies.

When I graduated and was looking for jobs, the NHS appealed as it brought together my interest in science with my degree in business studies - even though the NHS is far from the sort of business most of my friends ended up in.

But most importantly, I was looking for an organisation that valued diversity and wouldn’t discriminate against a 30 year old graduate with two kids. The NHS is such an inclusive institution compared to some others, and I felt intuitively that it was the right place for me.

I secured a place on the NHS management training scheme and over three decades have been fortunate to work in a wide range of different organisations and places: acute, primary, community and, of course, mental health and learning disability services. When I finally got into mental health and learning disability services I felt like I had really found my ‘home’. And home is where the heart is as they say.

I’ve always tried to take jobs that are challenging, where I could make a positive contribution, and where there was personal learning, but most of all, where you have fun. We spend a lot of time in work, so it’s been hugely important for me to enjoy my job. And I have been incredible lucky that in the main, I have.

I’ve been put at risk seven times in my career (the not so enjoyable bit), but although painful at the time, I wouldn’t ever have been a CEO if this hadn’t happened. And for this I am so thankful, as it has definitely been one of the most enjoyable and rewarding roles I have done.

There has been such a lot of other change during my thirty years. We’ve had 12 different health secretaries over my NHS career (the first being Virginia Bottomley for those who remember her), and I’ve worked for eight different bosses. I’ve been so lucky they have all been inspiring and brilliant people. And my last job, here with you, has absolutely been one of the most rewarding.

Having been chief exec at two previous organisations before I came to Pennine Care, I felt I was able to bring the confidence and clarity that you personally get from learning and making mistakes. I hope I was able to make a better fist of being a CEO in this organisation as a result of this. Mistakes definitely have the power to turn us into something better than we were before. That’s how we grow.

I hope that the work I’ve led here around about our culture and values has been seen as positive and inclusive, as you are the culture and these are your values. The chief exec may set the tone and direction of travel, but can never do it alone. Lots of people contributed to this, and you will continue to live and breathe these values long after I retire.  No one can whistle a symphony. It takes a whole orchestra to play it.

I’m not skipping off into the sunset yet; there’s lots to do over the next six months, for example recalibrating our five year plan as the pandemic has understandably impacted on this. We want to be aspirational, but we definitely need one foot in the reality of where the last 18 months have left us.

So I want to be able to retire knowing I’ve done as much as I can to ‘bake in’ our philosophy, style, and direction of travel, and not start to wind down or defer any decisions. It’s important that your next chief exec can pick up a strategy that we’ve committed to and we’re already on our journey.

And in terms of my successor, we’re going to look for a permanent position straight away. Evelyn our chair is leading this and if there’s a gap between me going and the new person starting, then Clare Parker my deputy – who has been with me since the start of my journey here – would stand in as a very able interim chief exec in the meantime.

It’s all about the team and, although I know we’ve had some other leadership changes recently, there are many other talented and committed members to keep steering our ship forward.

I love the quote “Be defined by your soul, not your role”. It has been a privilege to use my role as chief exec to lead this organisation, but what I hope you have seen more than anything is, regardless of whatever role we hold, that we all have the capacity for kindness, compassion and to make a difference.

Best wishes

Claire

Loss, legacy, love and looking back as well as forward

Claire Molloy (top) and
Sara Barnes (bottom)

I’m delighted that Sara Barnes has written a guest blog for this week. After three decades in the NHS, Sara has just retired and is sharing some of the changes, challenges and joys over 32 years of unstinting commitment.

Sara began her career as a mental health nurse, before moving into management and then senior leadership roles in mental health services. She has been with our Trust since its formation and has always led with gentle humility, big-hearted kindness and insightful compassion. She has inspired everyone to be caring and respectful, and for that reason, has always had the great admiration of colleagues. 

Thank you for bringing out the best in us Sara. We wish you a wonderful retirement. Enjoy all of the exciting adventures ahead of you.

Sara Barnes

Retiring from the NHS after 32 years as a nurse and a leader, and losing my mum so close together, has made me think a lot about legacy and reflect on my own journey.

My mum was a child and family social worker and she taught me, through her actions and her words, that it’s ok to make mistakes (especially if you have someone to pick you up and cheer you on), to always do the right thing even if it feels the hardest option, to make the most of what you have, and to fiercely and passionately do what you can to help those without a voice be heard. 

I’m really proud of the imprint she has left on so many children and families lives over her career, as well as of course enriching our own family’s lives with her tenacity, her love and her laughter. I hold firm to these beliefs and can see them in my two daughters as they set off on their own very different careers.

Young Sara and her mum

One of my really strong memories of my adolescence was of my mum taking on the role of animal rescuer in her social work team. I recall many after-school trips to houses where an often sick or neglected dog or cat was placed on my knee in the car for us to take home, restore to health and either keep or rehome. Of course, this would not happen nowadays, but I loved having this small window into her work world and met many inspirational families who through poverty, domestic violence, mental health or physical health needs could no longer care for their pets and had made the brave decision to give them up. 

Little wonder then that I followed mum into a caring profession. 

After wanting to be a vet from the age of two, I realised after dramatically failing my A levels that I really wasn’t very good at science and should probably rethink my choice of career; something that felt devastating at the time but I now realise led me onto a more fulfilling path.

Unsure of what I wanted to do, I was fortunate enough to find a course that combined a degree in psychology with mental health nurse training.  From the outset, what got me up in the mornings was being a nurse, but doing both really enriched my learning and was a wonderful experience. 

During my training I also worked as an agency nurse, mainly in elderly mentally infirm nursing homes, and had my first experiences of seeing incredibly compassionate care, but also very poor quality and harmful care that I vehemently challenged. Sadly I’m not sure there was the regulation and governance in place for my challenges to make a real difference, but the feeling of determination to always champion high quality and safe care remains with me to this day.

Once I qualified I knew I wanted to move back to Manchester, having lived in London during my training, and so I worked at The Priory in Altrincham for a while until I found a role in Stockport CAMHS.

I recall very clearly the first time I stepped into the Stockport CAMHS service to take up my D grade staff nurse role. I knew I had found where I belonged. It felt then (and still does today) a privilege to be able to spend time with young people and their families, to hear their stories of adversity and survival and to provide care and support to help them achieve their goals. I couldn’t believe my luck getting a job as a nurse and spending my days being with young people.

I remained in Stockport CAMHS for many years as both a clinician and a manager and I’m really proud to have been a part of the exciting transformation journey that CAMHS underwent to reach more young people, reduce waiting times, implement care pathways and engage young people and families as partners in their care.

During this time, I met many amazing young people and their families and worked with very committed and compassionate colleagues; as I changed job roles, taking me further from the frontline delivery of services, their experiences and voices stayed with me keeping me grounded and connected to the core purpose of our work.

In 2006, Stockport was the last borough to come into Pennine Care and this allowed all of the different CAMHS teams to come together in a directorate to share experiences and learning, foster creativity and, most importantly, have a strong sense of togetherness and community. It also inspired me to seek a role where I could make a difference through system leadership and, whilst it was a wrench, I left Stockport CAMHS and took on first a CAMHS Trust wide role and then a wider leadership role including additional services and boroughs.  

Over the next few years there were some pivotal points of change both for me personally and for the way mental health services were delivered.  Greater Manchester devolution allowed us an opportunity to do things at scale and feel part of something bigger and better connected across health and social care; but more importantly, it allowed Pennine Care to recognise, celebrate and share the amazing care being delivered, despite the longstanding lack of resources and ever-increasing demands.

This meant we led the way in the development of a number of care pathways across Greater Manchester and made our case to bring in resources to redress the resource gap and achieve our own ambitions for our services.

The Manchester Arena attack in 2017 tested the resilience and connectedness of the system, and I can proudly say everyone came together to do the right thing and the Manchester Resilience Hub was born. It has gone from strength to strength, offering care and support to those affected by this and other traumatic events, including most recently focusing on the impact of covid on health and care professionals.

There are so many people I am grateful to that I can’t do justice to them all in these few words. I do want to thank all the people - both staff and service users - that have inspired, challenged, humbled and touched me over the years with their resilience, courage, hope and can-do attitude in the face of adversity and challenge. 

I also want to thank all the people who believed in me, let me be myself and most importantly believed me when I said they could do anything they wanted to.

The last two years during covid have been the hardest, but also the most inspirational and proud years of my career. I have seen people dig deep and come to work day after day, not knowing what they would face and having the wellbeing of their family and friends constantly on their minds. I’ve seen people adjusting their lives significantly to bring their work into their homes and families, and I’ve had the opportunity to work with lots of different people and see that integrity, respect and compassion form the backbone of Pennine Care.

During this time, I’ve also seen my mum courageously battle Lewy Body dementia and receive compassionate high quality care from those very services that I have been so proud to lead.

I approach retirement with sadness at so many endings, but anticipation and excitement about what will come next, and knowing I have an interesting, fulfilling and varied career to look back on with pride, gratitude and laughter, and have many people and achievements etched in my memory.

I’ve included a photograph of me in what I consider my natural state out in the countryside with my dogs, and I am looking forward to spending more time with my dogs and with my family making more memories.

Black History Month: the beauty of diversity, hearing the pain, looking in the mirror

Claire Molloy (top) and
Amraze Khan (bottom)

It’s Black History Month and this year the theme is ‘Proud to be’. 

It’s so important show our support and foster an understanding of Black History. We also need to recognise that the fight for equality continues, as well as celebrate Black experiences and achievements.

I’m therefore delighted that Amraze Khan our new head of equality, diversity and inclusion has written a guest blog for this week.

Amraze Khan

I sit here listening to a song by Kerala Settle, from the magnificent musical, The Greatest Showman. I remain so attuned to what she is saying. She screams from the top of her lungs, “This is me” and I agree with every single lyric, nodding along passionately. Being proud of who you are is the key theme of this year’s Black History Month. 

We have so much beautiful diversity in our society, in our communities and across our population, yet there are still moments where people are not celebrated and championed for who they are.

Black History Month remains a pivotal event to ensure we recognise, understand and educate ourselves on the contributions of people from the Black community on British history. In an ideal world we would not have to celebrate Black History, but many things, including the murder of George Floyd, has shown us that racial injustices are still prevalent in our society and we must proactively become anti-racist to route this behaviour out. 

Obviously you’ll see that I am not from the Black community. I do not have and do not proclaim to have endured the experiences that our Black colleagues, peers, friends and service users have experienced. But I’ve heard the pain Black people have gone through.

I’ve seen the impact it has on people’s lives and I stand shoulder to shoulder with our Black communities and workforce as a proud ally to make a difference. To tell every single person affected that I will listen, that I care, that I want to know how we can make things better for you, how we can ensure you have equitable access to our services, and to ensure the colour of a person’s skin does not determine your experience of working at Pennine Care. 

As an Asian man myself, I know I hold my own privileges. And when I say that out loud, some people have asked me, why that is the case, because after all, I’m part of the BAME community.

The phrase BAME is a danger itself. It provides the view that we all have the same experiences - that because we are part of marginalised groups, the inequalities experienced are all the same and that is not true whatsoever. Each community badged in the phrase ‘BAME’ have their own challenges and battles they come across and I know my Black colleagues, friends and service users face a more difficult experience than many of us.

Data suggests that Black people are four times more likely to be detained under the Mental Health Act than White people. Black women are still four times more likely than white women to die in pregnancy or childbirth in the UK, and women from Asian ethnic backgrounds face twice the risk. Black people were eight times more likely than White people to be stopped and searched by Police in 2018/19. Black students remain the lowest group in achieving a first or second class degree from a Higher Education Institute, 17% lower than their White counterparts.

The numbers are truly shocking. The stories I’ve heard are just as heartbreaking.

I’ve heard from Black peers and colleagues, the instances when people cross the road when they see them walking because they are stereotyped a particular way. Or a colleague mentioned to me fairly recently that she tells her children not to wear hoodies because of how they are perceived. Yet some of us from other communities would not batter an eye lid in wearing hoodies.

These are some things I’ve heard about and seen myself. And you might be thinking, ‘So what Amraze?’ You may have heard these figures before and have been alarmed. But what have you done personally yourself to make a difference?

I want you to hold that mirror up and really challenge yourself and see what part you are playing in this. We all hold privileges. Simply saying you are not racist, is not good enough. You must proactively be anti-racist, to challenge yourself, your colleagues, your family members and friends to break down behaviours and attitudes. Let’s all use our platforms to educate people, to champion diversity and embrace difference. 

So during this Black History Month why not learn more about the work, compassion, determination or the loving qualities of amazing Black leaders and role models?

We’re undertaking a range of activities which we hope you can take part in and also have a Race Equality Network to allow our diverse workforce come together, to discuss ideas, innovations and to engage, advise and scrutinise our work to embed improvements.

This is me.