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NEWSLETTER JULY 2009

Dates for the diary   Friends of FOCUS May meetings :  A reminder that Dr. Sheppard, Locum Psychiatrist has kindly agreed to give a talk at our meeting on the 14th July. The meeting will be held at the Poplars Day Centre at 7.30pm .    Please note that we have now changed the format of our August meeting as Judy Mantle has kindly offered to tell us about the workshop she will be presenting at the first ever International Hearing Voices Convention at Mastricht hosted by the Hearing Voices Network in September. That meeting is on the 11th August at the usual time of 7.30pm at the Poplars day Centre . Members attending will be bringing along beverages, cheese and snacks to provide a light supper to accompany the talk. As ever all Members are most welcome to attend what will be a most interesting presentation.   FOCUS Funday with St.Pauls FC : a further reminder that the Charity will be holding another Funday in association with St. Pauls Football Club on the 12th September this year. Anyone wishing to offer help with the day can contact me in the first instance either by telephone 851124/07797755295 or on email : antonskinner@googlemail.com. Any Members wishing to offer bottles for our bottle stall or books for our bookstall are asked to contact me at the same email address and I will arrange to collect the items at a convenient time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 News :

 

Partnership Programme : The programme was launched on the 11^th June with Peter Gilbert and Sarah Carr leading the opening day and a half session. The initial feedback from the Programme is excellent with a full turn out of the combined team of services users and providers. A wide range of issues and topics were covered within the introduction and under Peter and Sarah’s skilled facilitation Team Members felt able to share aspects of their journeys through the mental health system. Whilst this is only the beginning of the journey everyone was pleased with the excellent first steps of honesty and trust taken in sharing experiences and discussing issues together and our thanks go to the whole team, users, providers and facilitators for giving this bold venture their full commitment.

 

Already issues are being highlighted for early attention and a system of progressing interim changes will be discussed with the team and with senior managers of the Mental Health Service.   

 

Carer Support Services: Sam Bolam presented the findings of the research project to the FOCUS Committee and the Friends of FOCUS meeting in June. The full report based on interviews with 28 carers and meetings with the Friends of FOCUS and various staff within the Mental health Service, is published in full on our website : www.jerseyfocus.com. In brief the report contained a number of important messages about the varied quality of GP [ primary ] care, issues arising from the provision of secondary care and the expressed need of carers for a better support network to be made available to them, not only in terms of a support worker but also contact with other carers who have, or are, experiencing similar problems [ very much how Jersey Schizophrenia Fellowship used to work when Marion Harrison and others first formed the local charity]. The research also revealed that there were very real problems for those from ethnic minorities within the community accessing services for those cared for.

 

A number of issues arising from the report will now be progressed. There is an issue about access to secondary care having to go through the A&E Department that will be reviewed with the Adult Mental Health Service. Concern regarding this pathway to inpatient care has been raised in the past at the Friends of FOCUS meetings, the 1 in 4 Groups and most recently in the first session of the partnership programme. The issues concerning the variable quality of GP care/ expertise in mental illness will be pursued through the New Directions initiatives with Health and Social Services. The most important decision taken by the Committee with respect to the report is that the Charity should create a new post to address the issues of carer support and access to services for ethnic minorities. We are aware that at the present time funding for such a post is unlikely to be secured from Health and Social Services due to the financial constraints being experienced so the Charity will pursue fundraising through other means to assist with costs of the post which in the interim will be financed through our general reserves. 

 

Citizen Advocacy and befriending Services: As reported in the June newsletter Sam Bolam has now completed her research into the local situation. Thirty two private and States managed residential and nursing homes were given the opportunity to participate. From data supplied by the 21 homes that replied 107 residents were identified as having no significant visitors so it seems a reasonable assumption to make that the overall figures are likely to be in excess of 150 residents. 

 

The Committee, having considered the findings of the report endorsed the recommendation that a meeting should be convened of all the main agencies concerned with care of the elderly to discuss the findings. Whilst the issues extend beyond those of mental health and the resources called for to meet the needs of such a large group of individuals is beyond the remit and resources of our comparatively small charity we feel that FOCUS could provide the advocacy element of any new service established if a co-operative of agencies is willing to set up a befriending service.

 

Nearly New Shop : A further reminder that there is always a need for [ clean !] clothing, tapes, videos, dvd’s, books and bric-a,brac which all sell well within the shop. The Shop continues to do well despite the growth of other charity shops in the area but we are totally dependant on new stock coming through from people’s generous donations and we are running low on goods coming in at present.

 

Treasurers Report  : D onations received this month are as follows: £155 from Highlands College , £20 from the La Rocque Guild and £1500 from the Parish of St Helier. Thank you for these donations they are gratefully received and needed so much.

Finally thank you to Zillah and her team for their ongoing hard work at the Nearly New shop.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NEWSLETTER January 2009

IMPORTANT FORTHCOMING EVENT

 

Our next Friends of FOCUS meeting will be held at the Poplars Day Centre on Tuesday 10^th February at 7.30pm.  Sam Bolam, former mental health development officer with Public Health Department, is coming to talk about the research work which the Charity is about to undertake with carers to establish what additional services might help them to undertake their role. We would like as many carers as possible to attend so that we might use the meeting as the first focus group exploring the needs of carers locally. If you would like to attend but need transport please contact me either at tel: 851124 or 07797755295 or email : antonskinner@googlemail.com   and I will arrange for you to be collected.

NEWS :  I am pleased to report that our Patient Advocate, Tricia Winchester, has been able to begin her reintroduction to work again after her recent surgery on a broken leg and ankle. Tricia will be on crutches for some while yet but will be building up to full-time duties again over the coming weeks. Currently she is undertaking weekly sessions both within Orchard House and the Continuing Care Service and can be contacted for advice or to make an appointment on 07797716447.

 

We are saddened to learn of the recent death of Beatrice " Bice" Challinor nee Mattatia, one of the original supporters of the Jersey Association of Mental Health and the charity shop and a life member of Jersey FOCUS on mental health.  Our thoughts and condolences go to her family. 3. FOCUS Funday with St.Pauls FC : please note that the Charity will be holding another Funday in association with St. Pauls Football Club on the 12th September this year. Anyone wishing to offer help with the day can contact me in the first instance.   PROJECTS: 1 Partnership Programme : Members will recall the Programme seeks to bring together up to ten service users and ten service providers to work as a single team reviewing services and how Users can become meaningfully engaged in helping to shape their design and development. As reported last month Peter Gilbert, a great supporter of our work, is putting together a team of UK specialists to help us to deliver the Programme originally devised when Lorraine Lewis with us. The original proposed format for the programme  will be retained with the team of service users and providers meeting for a full day each month over the period of a year to review service users participation in all current local services and to compare this with other models of best practice and service design currently in operation elsewhere in the United Kingdom. At the conclusion of the programme the team will produce a report detailing recommendations  for the future participation of service users in the monitoring, evaluation and planning of mental health services locally and quite possibly making recommendations for changes to existing services. If you are one of the original applicants I shall be writing to you as details of the programme and the scheduling are firmed up over the coming weeks. At present we are aiming for a start to the programme in May/June. Any original applicant(s) wishing to discuss the likely format  or any aspects of the programme are invited to contact me on the telephone numbers given and I shall be pleased to arrange a meeting at your convenience. In concluding this item I would also like to congratulate Peter on his recent appointment as Chair of the National Development Team, a not-for-profit organisation advising on issues right across the vulnerable adult groups, in terms of policy, research and organisational development. 2. Citizen Advocacy and befriending Services : as reported in the last newsletter the Charity has been alerted to a possible gap in services for older people, including those suffering from some form of mental illness, living in care settings such as hospitals, nursing and residential homes. In the UK citizen advocacy and befriending schemes have been developed as a resource to assist older people who may have no family or close friends visiting them in their care settings and therefore able to represent their interests and wishes in the matter of their care arrangements. I have now met with the Jersey Carer Federation to discuss this issue and the members present, who represent various care homes in the Island, confirmed that there did appear to be a need for such a service as each could identify a number of people in their homes who had no significant outside contact with friends or family. The Federation has agreed to help with a survey that we will undertake within all local care settings for the elderly to establish the number of elderly residents who fall within this category. Once this information has been collected and collated I will call a meeting of all relevant agencies to present the findings and establish a plan of action.    3. Carer Support : Sam Bolam, who is to undertake the research into our carer’s needs, has now met with the Health and Social Services Ethics Committee to gain approval for the format and content of the research exercise to be undertaken. We will now move on to identify as many local carers as possible to take part in the research exercise. If you are a carer and are prepared to either be interviewed individually by Sam or take part in a forum with other carers  I would be grateful if you could notify me in the first instance on either the telephone number given above or via my email address. Treasurers Report  :  a fantastic past few months with donations received as follows: £400 from Parish of St. Lawrence, three anonymous donations of £1,312.50, £3000 and £400, a belated 70th birthday present donation from Joe Pinto of £25 added to the fabulous amount of donations received from him in lieu of presents as detailed last year and lastly £400 form Maureen Le Brun’s ’Wonder team’ for sale of wonders throughout 2008. Many thanks go to all for these donations but particularly a very special thank you to Maureen and her team who work tirelessly to produce exquisite wonders throughout the whole year. An awful lot of hard work and dedication goes into this from all those involved! And lastly a thank you to all the volunteers down at the nearly new shop who have been working really hard as always. Just a quick reminder, membership subscriptions are now due for 2009 and I have enclosed a membership form for completion. Subscriptions are voluntary, but please send a completed form back anyway so I can check your details are correct on our database. Items of interest below: NEWSLETTER December 2008 1. Advocacy : Unfortunately Tricia Winchester will be out of action for some weeks having badly broken her leg and ankle during a recent trip to England. During her period of her convalescence all requests for advocacy should be redirected to myself, as Director and I will do my best to provide a service in her absence. I am sure all Members will want to join me in wishing Tricia a swift recovery and we look forward to her rejoining us again early in the new year. PROJECTS: It has been another eventful year for the Charity and we were sad to see the departure of Lorraine Lewis who returned to England for family reasons. As reported we do not intend to seek a replacement for Lorraine in the user involvement post as this was specifically designed around her unique skills ad experience. However the work begun with Lorraine around the proposed partnership project will form one of the following three major pieces of work the Charity will be undertaking in the new year: 1 Partnership Programme : Members will recall the Programme seeks to bring together up to ten service users and ten service providers to work as a single team reviewing services and how Users can become meaningfully engaged in helping to shape their design and development.  Before Lorraine’s departure applications had been received from both service users and providers and we apologize to all those who applied for the delay in starting the programme. Currently Peter Gilbert, a great supporter of our work, is helping the Charity to set up a link with a UK Centre that could help us to deliver the Programme. Peter, who was born in Jersey and is well known to many of our Members for the help he has given us over the years, is Professor of Social Work and Spirituality at Staffordshire University and the NIMHE National Lead on Spirituality and Mental Health. We hope through Peter’s links with universities and various academic bodies to find a team able to deliver the Programme over the period of a year. It is envisaged that the User/Provider team would meet for a day each month over the period of year at the conclusion of which the team would produce a report with a set of recommendations for future development of services and user involvement in that process. 2.Citizen Advocacy : as reported in the last newsletter the Charity has been alerted to a possible gap in services for older people with mental illness living in care settings such as hospitals, nursing and residential homes. In the UK citizen advocacy schemes have been developed as a resource to assist older people who may have no family or close friends visiting them in their care settings and able to represent their interests and wishes in the matter of their care arrangements.  It has been agreed that we should investigate the local need for an advocacy and befriending service in partnership with the Jersey Alzheimers Association. If a need is identified then we would need to examine options for developing a local service using trained volunteers supported by a patient advocate. 3. Carer Support :   as previously reported there is a review being undertaken under the stewardship of the Assistant Health Minister looking at the needs of the Island’s many carers. However there has always been a belief that the needs and challenges faced by those caring for adults with enduring mental illness is unique for a number of reasons. Chief among these are the problems surrounding confidentiality and data protection issues which often leave carers feeling that they are somehow ’kept out of the loop’ rather than supported as part of a care team and treatment plan for their loved one.   One way of addressing this issue is for the Charity to appoint someone specifically employed to support carers and to advocate on their behalf with the various services providing care. It is thought that such a resource would be particularly helpful to carers on the threshold of discovering that their loved one has a serious mental illness or psychological problem and who require information, advice and support as to how they might best provide care and access appropriate services. In order to test out that such a resource does reflect the needs of a significant number of carers the Charity will undertake a piece of research with local carers to explore their particular problems and needs. If you are a carer and would be willing to take part in this research can you please contact me either on telephone 851124 or via email at antonskinner@googlemail.com . The Charity is fortunate to have been able to secure the services of Sam Bolam, formerly the Health Promotion Officer Community Development / Public Involvement for the Public Health Department, to help to undertake both pieces of research in the fields of citizen advocacy and carer support. In the current challenging financial climate it is essential that any body wishing to develop new services is first able to demonstrate a strong case for the need supported by local research data. As we all know even if the case is clearly proven the challenges are only just beginning given the current financial constraints. However if the need for new services is strongly demonstrated the Charity will do all within its power to try to develop the resources required. So 2009 is likely to be another challenging year for the Charity but one we look forward with a strong and continuing commitment to our guiding aims and objectives. In closing I would like to thank the Committee for their continuing support and guidance throughout the year and our small staff team for all their hard work in 2009 – Julie, Karen and the staff team at Camelot, Tricia our Patient Advocate, Lynsey our Treasurer, Luisa and Enmanuel who help to look after Winchester Street and of course Zillah and her dedicated Team of Volunteers at the Nearly New Shop whose tireless efforts have provided such an important source of income for the Charity’s work over the years. As I have reported throughout the past two years Zillah and her Team would welcome additional volunteers to help to run the Shop. If you can provide even one or two hours a week to help the team please call in at the Shop where your offer of help will be most appreciated ! Treasurers Report    we have received a fabulous sum of £1,569.50 in sponsorship for Peter Le Feuvre’s Jersey Marathon run which he completed in a fantastic style, thank you to all who sponsored him and to Peter himself for doing the run! We have also received a further donation of £500 from the St.Martin’s Bonfire Committee who continue to support us – Thank

Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year to all our Members.

 

 

Newsletter October 2008

Annual General Report 2008

Annual Service level agreement with Health and Social Services

Itex Around the Island Walk - 21 June 2008

Health Information on giving up smoking

Flag day (see newsletter)

Piano recital (see newsletter) 

NEWSLETTER OCTOBER 2008

FORTHCOMING EVENTS

Cliff Le Clercq, renowned local Psychotherapist [and current candidate for political office], will be giving a talk on his work at our next Friends of FOCUS meeting which is to be held at the Poplars Day Centre on Tuesday 14th October at 7.30pm. Everyone is most welcome to attend. This talk has been held over from last monthís meeting which unfortunately Mr. Le Clerk was unable to attend as originally scheduled.

We are also pleased to confirm that Dr. Leigh-Howarth, one of the Islandís new Consultant Psychiatrists, as agreed to give a talk on his work at the next Friends of FOCUS meeting to be held at the Poplars Day Centre on Tuesday 11th November at 7.30pm. Everyone is most welcome to attend these monthly informal meetings.

NEWS:

1. User Involvement Co-ordinator Post: It is with great regret that we have to report that Lorraine Lewis, our User Involvement Co-ordinator, has tendered her resignation. It is with great sadness that Lorraine decided that she had no option but to return to England for family reasons. We thank Lorraine for all her hard work and efforts to help us to develop user involvement locally and we wish her all good fortune in all her future endeavors. 

For the moment the Refocus Project will be put on hold for the moment but we would like to thank not only Lorraine but also Steph de la Cour who worked so hard to establish this innovative resource. The Adult Mental Health Service and the Charity remain committed to looking at means by which we might deliver the Partnership Programme, which Lorraine helped to develop during her time with us. Members / readers who have applied to join the Partnership Team will be contacted once we have determined a way forward and are thanked for their patience.

There are no immediate plans to recruit to the vacated post for which there was no specific funding other than a grant of £20,000 given last year by the Association of Jersey Charities towards the costs of the project. 

2. The Jersey FOCUS on mental health Annual General Meeting: was held on the 29th September at the Welcome Centre, St Thomas Church and we were delighted to welcome the Minister for Health and Social Services, Senator Shenton and his wife who attended to learn more about the work of the Charity. The current Committee was re-elected un-apposed. Anyone wishing to have a copy of the AGM report and a set of accounts for the 2007/2008 are asked to contact Anton Skinner on telephone 851124 or via email: antonskinner@googlemail.com and we will be delighted to either send a hard copy or to email the documents to you.

3. Edward Bailhache, gifted multi-instrumentalist and 2006 PWC Jersey Musician of the Year, gave a wonderful piano recital on behalf of Jersey FOCUS on mental health at the Jersey Arts Centre at 8.00pm on Saturday 13th September. Edward performed the programme, including works by Bach, Beethoven, Liszt, Ravel, Rachmaninoff and Bartok, with great skill and natural charm to a full house. A delightful evening, which was thoroughly enjoyed by all those who attended, was made complete by a unique encore of Postman Pat delivered with great gusto in a bewildering array of piano styles!  The recital, which was sponsored by Baker Platt, raised £3822 for the Charity. Our sincere thanks go to Edward for all his hard work in preparing for the concert and to all those who came along to support the event.

4. 10 Winchester Street: As reported in last monthís newsletter The Committee decided to review future plans for this unit with senior staff of the Mental Health Service to determine the best use of the accommodation in the long term. Concerns focused on the possible risks posed to residents due to the fact that we could not afford to staff the unit and had to rely solely on the good services of our housekeepers Luisa and Enmanuel Fernandes to oversee the operation. 

We are pleased to report that following discussions with Ian Dyer, manager of the Mental Health Services Directorate and Jim Ward, Manager of the Community Support Service, it has been agreed that the latter Service will allocate support duties to two of their professional staff team who will visit the Unit on a daily basis to help to support the residents living there. This is in effect the same level of support provided by the Mental Health Service to their own community homes so the Charity is very happy to agree to these new arrangements, which were put into effect at the beginning of this month.

5. Advocacy:  The Patients Advocateís annual report will be presented to the Committee at its next full meeting and thereafter will be posted in full on our website: www.jerseyfocus. Com. 

 

6.  Adult Mental Health Joint Steering Group:  In 2000 Jerseyís Adult Mental Health Services in line with significant stake holders introduced the Adult Mental health Joint Steering Group whose aim was to support the development of services for people with adult mental health needs. The group was evolved over time and the most recent membership has identified a need to review the constitution and membership of the group. 

One of the reasons for this is the change in service structure with the reintegration of the Mental Health Directorate, which includes Adult Mental Health, Old Age Psychiatry, Psychological and Therapy Services, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services and Alcohol and Drug Services. With this in mind it has been proposed that the membership reflects these changes and the task of the newly proposed Secretariat will be to review and update the current constitution and to develop an action plan for future pieces of work.  The Charity, which currently has two representatives on the current Steering Group will join other stakeholders at an initial workshop on the 14th November.

TREASURERS REPORT

Jersey FOCUS on Mental Health

Annual Report June 2007-June 2008

Introduction

The Charity has enjoyed another good year of progress. Finances remain in good order and we have been able to develop new services whilst continuing to upgrade our properties and explore service gaps with a view to possible future development. We continue to work closely with our statutory partners both at a practical level through our service level agreement but also at a strategic level with participation in the current development of strategies arising from the major review of how health and social services should be delivered locally.

The Committee is grateful to all our Members and our partners in the public and private sector who have supported the Charity in all its endeavours over the past year.

Financial Overview

The Charity remains financially stable with a small reserve and annual operating costs largely covered by a combination of rental and residential income and the annual service level with Health and Social Services. We will continue to hold our residential fees for Camelot in line with actual costs of running the Home and fees will therefore be reviewed annually. The rents for our bedsit accommodation and flats remain below current market levels, at £95 per week and £130 per week respectively, but provide sufficient income to cover building and maintenance costs for the properties concerned.

Currently the only service provision not covered within fees, rentals or the current annual service level agreement is that of the Refocus Project and the post of User Involvement Co-ordinator. The Refocus Project is low cost as we have use of the premises, the top floor of Astral House, rent-free from Health and Social Services and we received a grant of £20,000 from the Association of Jersey Charities in 2007 towards the cost of the User Involvement Co-ordinator Post. Eventually we hope this post, once successfully established, can be included within future service level agreements with Health and Social Service.

Personnel :

There have been no significant changes of staff within the last financial year and the charity retains a small pool of established posts to support its service provision. As a very small staff team services can be put under pressure by any significant staff illness or absence but we have managed to keep essential services running.

The annual inspection of Camelot earlier this year highlighted a possible shortfall in staffing in comparison with national guidelines for staff cover and we will be examining options for addressing this shortfall in the coming weeks.

Residential Services

Camelot : Camelot has undergone a number of changes during the past financial year. The remodelling of the kitchen and lounge area was completed and the new arrangement has proved very successful in encouraging residents to enjoy the lounge area. All residents’ bedrooms have been refurnished and the exterior of the building has been repainted. Minor repainting works in the interior are in progress and new safety rails are about to be erected in the garden area. The building is now in excellent order and we are indebted to the Parishes of St Saviour and St Helier whose Flowers in Bloom Teams worked together to help create a herb garden and to plant new shrubs in our front and rear gardens.

We have now increased our residential capacity to eight having redeployed the former staff flat for residential accommodation. We have retained full bed occupancy for most of the year and have a settled community of residents. We remain indebted to our small team of dedicated staff, led by Julie Crisp and her deputy Karen McCormick, for their hard work and dedication.

10 Winchester Street : this unit has continued to provide semi-independent living arrangements for up to five adults who enjoy single bedrooms but share bathroom lounge and kitchen facilities. The Unit in general remains in excellent condition and the property continues to well supervised by our wardens, Enmanuel and Luisa Fernandes, who provide oversight of the premises and support to the residents.

As reported last year it has been necessary to examine long term options for the use of these premises. Our main concern is the level of risk presented by having no permanent care staff on the premises to support residents. Unfortunately it is not financially viable to employ care staff at a bedsit unit and so we are looking at what options are available to us to continue the use of the premises for adults with enduring mental health problems but with full-time support staff availability. In this regard we are entering discussion with the Adult Mental Health Service to review how through partnership we may identify a satisfactory way forward.

Oakville : Oakville continues to offer three nicely proportioned self-contained flats which are always in demand as a resource for service users capable of managing their lives independently within the community. We continue to enjoy high occupancy rates with any vacancies being swiftly filled.

Bedsits attached to the Nearly New Shop : the two bedsits above the shop continue to be occupied by two male service users who benefit from the contact with the team of volunteers who run the Nearly New Shop.

Nearly New Shop : Zillah Bendellow and her small team of dedicated helpers continues to manage our shop which provides such a valuable income for the charity annually. Despite being a relatively small group of dedicated volunteers the team manage to keep the shop open throughout the week and the charity owes a great deal to their loyal dedication and tireless efforts. Our thanks also to one of a flat residents, Eddie, who painted both the exterior and interior of the shop as his contribution to the work of the charity.

Advocacy Services : Patricia Winchester has enjoyed another busy but successful year developing our advocacy services for adults with mental health problems. The inpatient service continues to be the cornerstone of our advocacy service but during the year Patricia has developed constructive working relationships with the A&E Liaison Team and old age psychiatry. There is now a referral based advocacy clinic provided within Chez Marguerite once a week as part of a new commitment by the Advocate to improve access to advocacy for those adults who come into contact with the Acute Community Mental Health team.

A number of training sessions have also been provided for managers and staff at Clinique Pinel about the role and availability of advocacy for patients on Cedar, Lavender and Beech Wards. Advocacy is made available on request either by patients or by staff on their behalf.

As a result of working more closely with Clinique Pinel a need has been identified for citizen advocacy input for those suffering from dementia. ’Citizen Advocacy’ Schemes developed in England are provided by trained volunteers who befriend individual clients and assist them in expressing their needs, concerns and preferences. The charity will investigate the need for a similar service locally with local service providers and relevant charities during the course of the coming months.

The Advocate’s full annual report will be published on our website www.jerseyfocus.com in October 2007.

Mental Health Tribunal Training : In November 2007 the charity sponsored a one day training course which was provided in Jersey by UK professionals who have extensive practical experience of working with mental health tribunals. All tribunal panel members, medical and social work professionals, legal representatives , mental health service managers and administrators were invited to attend. The feedback from those who attended was excellent. The objectives of ensuring a greater understanding of the principles and process and the need to revise local practice in some areas were all achieved. The mental Health Directorate has now decided to fund a repeat of the course early in the new year for those staff previously unable to attend.

Carer Services : The Charity continues to support the Carer’s Group which meets monthly on the first Tuesday of every month at the Poplars Day Centre at Overdale at 7.30 in the evening. The Group, which was renamed the Friends of FOCUS in 2007, widened its remit to include anyone with an interest in the work of the charity or mental health issues generally.

During the year the Group received presentations from a number of senior local professionals in the field of psychiatry and psychology. The Group will continue to arrange a programme of speakers throughout the coming year and everyone is most welcome to come along to these informal but informative evenings.

The Carer’s Helpline : continues to be provided on a twenty four hour basis providing advice and support to both carers and also individuals in need of advice on options for the treatment of their particular mental health problems. The has been a noticeable increase in the number of adults with mental health problems using the helpline during the course of the last year. The helpline has been particularly successful in persuading adults with a variety of mental health difficulties to access the appropriate services.

Service Developments :

Education Initiative : as reported at the last Annual General Meeting as part of our commitment to the provision of information on mental health and mental illness we were pleased to collaborate in 2007 on a local education initiative with the Health and Social Services Health Promotion Service. The project involved adapting the Samaritans package helping young people to be aware of and maintain their mental health and wellbeing. In collaboration with Senior Health Promotion Officer Martin Knight we were able to include a section within these two lifeskills sessions in which three local people talk about their mental illness or condition, how it arose, how it manifests itself and what treatments are used to address and control it.

The aim of this section of the sessions, which are used to work with older secondary school students, is to provide some insight into the existence of mental illness and psychological conditions which they may encounter or experience in adulthood. The interviews with the three local people provides an insight into three common forms of mental illness / psychological condition illustrating how each can be addressed and controlled with the right forms of treatment and intervention. The interviews also help with our commitment to de-stigmatising mental illness as it demonstrates clearly that those suffering are just ordinary people who happen to be managing a particular illness or condition.

The lifeskill sessions, which were successfully piloted in Le Roquier School during 2007, have now been sent out to all secondary schools within the island to be used as resource within the schools lifeskills programme.

User Involvement Co-ordinator : As reported in the pervious chairman’s report the Committee last year appointed Ms Lorraine Lewis to the new post of User Involvement Co-ordinator to undertake the following tasks :

• help service users to integrate effectively into the community 
• help them to maximise their potential to both manage their particular illness and enjoy a good quality of life 
• empower them to have a real stake in evaluating and feeding back on current services and influencing service development

During the first year of development Lorraine has developed the brief for the partnership programme and has established a new resource to help people with enduring illness to re-orient themselves to the work environment, the Refocus Project.

The Partnership Programme : The project involves bringing together ten service users and ten service providers drawn from the various services within Health and Social Services to work as a combined team. The ’Programme’ is to be delivered over a time scale of 12 months, with one Partnership Training day being held each month. Each partnership day would be specifically dedicated to one issue for discussion, evaluation, and formulation of recommendations i.e.:

• Reviewing in-patient provision; accessibility, effectiveness, discharge process.
• Review of day service provision.
• Access to community services.
• Alternatives to hospital admission.
• Crisis and Care Planning
• Self management and self advocacy.
• Designing user centered services.

At the conclusion of the programme a jointly owned discussion document outlining recommendations for service development would be produced for consideration. The programme is to be supported by the Centre for Excellence in Mutidisciplinary work in Mental Health, Birmingham University. Applications from both service users and providers have now been received and discussions are taking place as to how best the programme can be delivered.

The Refocus Project : the User Involvement Co-ordinator created this low cost community recycling project to help service users to regain a sense of self-value and to re-orient themselves to a working environment. The Project recycles, revamps and reconstructs recovered and donated furniture, home wares and clothing for resale. It is sited on the top floor of Astral House and owed much of its early success to Steph de la Cour who helped Lorraine to establish and run the project. Although it has been slow to get off the ground in terms of client numbers it has shown itself to have significant potential in helping some adults to rebuild their self-confidence and feelings of self-worth and we hope that in time it can become a fixture in the local resources available to help service users to work towards employment in the community.

Website : the charity continues to provide a website which can be accessed at www.jerseyfocus.com and which provides not only information about our charity and other key local services but also a wide range of links to sites of specialist interest and national expertise on all forms of mental illness

Strategic Developments : Our Director represents the Charity on a number of strategic workshops and forums currently taking place within the Island. These include:

Mental Health Steering Group: Carers Subgroup : It was agreed that a meeting should be called of professionals, carers and user representatives to discuss the issues highlighted and to determine how a better service can be provided to carers.

Carers Strategy Development Workshop: WeI will take part in the first of the workshops scheduled by the Health and Social Services Committee and the Jersey Association of Carers. Its stated aims are:- ’ to raise awareness of carers and recognise the needs arising from their caring roles and responsibilities. It will also strengthen multi-agency support to allow carers to achieve a balance between caring and living normal lives.

New Directions: Partnership working for the future of long term care in Jersey: 9^th July 2008. : as part of the New Directions Strategy looking at how health and social services can best be provided to the residents of the Island in the future. Anton SkinnerI was invited to the above workshop which looked at a range of issues affecting the delivery of long term care in Jersey.

Health for Life – Workshop held on the 18^th July: this is part of the development of a health strategy for the island to help improve the population physical and mental health and generally promote a healthier society. Driven by the Public Health Service the strategy will be developed by a number of action groups including one on mental health. The work will take place over the coming months using a new planning and implementation tool based on Health Needs Assessment developed by Nice described as follows: ’ a systematic method of reviewing the health issues facing a population, leading to agreed priorities and resource allocation that will improve health and reduce inequalities’.

Fund Raising: The charity held a Family Funday in September 2007, in association with St Paul’s Football Club, which was very well attended. It is hoped to hold a Family Funday every two years with the next scheduled for September 2000. Our president kindly donated the proceeds of his Winterreise concert to us and Maureen Le Brun continued to organize coffee mornings and flag days as well as overseeing our fundraising efforts generally.

Donations: Donations over £200 are listed in Note 8 to these accounts. Some have been mentioned above but all donations great and small were very gratefully received.

Summary : It has been another good year for the Charity in which we have improved existing services, initiated new services for service users and are exploring with partners and colleagues options for the future development of mental health services locally. We have remained aremained a small but we hope well-targeted charity which continues to strive to improve the services on offer not only to service users but also their family friends and carers. I would like to express my thanks to our director Anton Skinner and to all of our employees who have worked so hard and effectively for us over the year and to our small but very dedicated committee.

Annual service level agreement 2008

We are pleased to report that Health and Social Services have renewed the service level agreement with Jersey FOCUS on mental health for 2008 at the 2007 level plus a cost of living enhancement of 2.5%.

Itex Around the Island Walk -21 June2008

We are pleased to report that we have been chosen as one of the minor beneficiaries of this year’s Itex Around the Island Walk which takes on the 21st June. We have been asked to provide a minimum of 6 volunteers to assist in the marshalling of the walk [ probably manning a checkpoint ] so anyone wishing to help will they please contact me, Anton Skinner on 851124 or email me at antonskinner@googlemail.com

Can smoking affect mental health ?

Smoking does not just affect physical health. Studies have shown that daily smokingcan make you more likely to experience further episodes of depression and anxiety.

Although smokers generally say they feel more relaxed and less stressed after a cigarette it is this temporary relief that is the problem.

The only time a smoker’s stress and mood levels are similar to that of a non smoker’s is just after smoking a cigarette. At any other time smoker’s stress levels are much higher, probably due to the effects of nicotine leaving the system. This creates a ’yo-yo’ effect on mood which can negatively affect long term mental health.

The only way to escape this vicious circle is to quit smoking and to allow your mood to stabilise. Studies show that smoker’s report that anxiety and stress levels fall significantly after quitting.

Can stopping smoking have a negative impact on mental health?

Nicotine is a highly addictive drug and when you stop smoking you may experience withdrawal symptoms including low mood, irritability, anxiety, difficulty concentrating, restlessness and sleep disturbance. Not everyone experiences such symptoms and they usually last only about 2 – 4 weeks.

If you experience mental health problems it is important to be aware of these possible withdrawal symptoms and to let your doctor or health professional know you are trying to quit so you can both monitor any changes in your mood or how you feel .It is important to remember the significant benefits of stopping smoking compared to the serious dangers of continuing to smoke. Smoking is not an effective way to keep your mental health stable.

Should I be concerned about stopping smoking if I am taking medication?

Smoking can speed up the metabolism of some drugs. If you are currently prescribed medication it is again advisable to discuss with your doctor your intention to stop smoking. In some cases he/she may alter the dosage of your medication.This is particularly important if you are prescribed the drug Clozaril (Clozapine).

If you are prescribed Clozaril (Clozapine) and plan to stop smoking

Clozapine is a medication that can be used for the treatment of Schizophrenia. If you are prescribed this drug it is essential that you discuss with your doctor or mental health nurse your intention to stop smoking or to cut down as smoking can have an effect on the amount of Clozapine you need to stay well.

Stopping smoking can sometimes increase the amount of Clozapine in your body which can lead to more side effects from your medication than usual.

If you stop smoking you may need less Clozapine to stay well.

So if you are thinking of stopping or cutting down it is important that you let your nurse or Doctor know. They will arrange for you to have a blood test to check your Clozapine levels and to continue to monitor your treatment while you are cutting down or giving up to make sure you have the right dose. It is just as important that you tell your nurse or Doctor if you start smoking again as this can also affect your dose.

For free confidential help to stop smoking contact Help2Quit on 0800 735 1155

Or visit the website at www.health.gov.je.

SERVICE DEVELOPMENTS : USER INVOLVEMENT CO-ORDINATOR :

as reported last month we are very pleased to announce the appointment of Lorraine Lewis as our User Involvement Co-ordinator. Lorraine who has lived in the Island for four years has a distinguished professional background in the UK including having worked as an advocacyco-ordinator, service-user trainer for MIND, development consultant overseeing two projects in the East Midlands developing user groups andas Director of Training (client partnership) Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health Trust. During this last appointment before coming to Jersey Lorraine won the Community Care and Pavillion –Trainer of the Year Award (User Involvement).

The 3 main projects which Lorraine will be developing during the first phase of development are

• A project that provides younger people [18-40 years] with a purpose to come together,an opportunity to meet and support each other, whilst gaining/further developing a range of skills - activities and focus of the group to be agreed with the service users involved.
  
  
• Encouraging service users to become actively involved in the running and development of the Nearly New Shop by a) developing a craft based project where users skills recycling and revamping clothing and home wares for sale in the shop, b) work directly with customers in the shop together with our volunteers and c) establishing an e-bay shop.
  
  
• A programme for partnership working with the Mental Health Services which will bring ten service users and ten service providers together as a combined team working over the period of one year [dedicating one day a month to the project] to examine all areas of current provision and then to produce a collaborative report and set of recommendations for future service user involvement in the process of service design and evaluation as well as changes to current service delivery.

You can access full details of the job description for the new post plus detailed descriptions of all of these projects on our website: www.jerseyfocus.com in the service user section.

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Further Content In This Section

NEWSLETTER April 2008