Arnold Lodge update

Welcome to our newsletter for July

Hi everyone,

We are over the halfway point of 2022 and this month marks the 74th Anniversary of the NHS. Being part of the NHS is a privilege and, although it can be tough at times, we certainly make a very big difference to all the patients and families we care for and encounter.

We are all glad to be out of masks, however, we are seeing a rise in community acquired Covid cases so can I urge everyone to take the necessary precautions, such as regular handwashing and keeping a safe distance where possible and, crucially, continue to undertake at least twice weekly Lateral Flow Tests (LFT).

July is the official start of the summer holidays…. Yay! Self-care is important for us all, so please use your annual leave to spend time with your loved ones and friends, relaxing, having fun and recuperating.

Wishing you all a fantastic month and thanks for all your contributions to the service.

Regards, Natasha Garraway-Charles – General Manager -Arnold Lodge Regional Secure Unit

Therapy Services Win Green Impact Silver Award

We are very pleased to announce that our Therapy Services team at Arnold Lodge achieved a Silver Award Standard in the Nottinghamshire Healthcare Green Impact Awards for 2022. A virtual awards ceremony  takes place on 4th August 2022 presented by our Trust Chair, Paul Devlin. We will receive a certificate and plaque at the event. Congratulations to all involved!

New Peer Support Worker

I’m Adam Stuart Pick, the new Peer Support Worker, working alongside Andrew Gale within the Therapy Services Team. I have lived experience of mental ill health and am hoping to be able to use my experiences to build rapport with patients, helping them to work through whatever they want to, for example, my coping mechanisms, positive habits, my mistakes, lessons learned, things like that.

I’m here to listen, support and encourage and I’m looking forward to getting to know everyone.

Adam

The Peer Support Workers Editorial

Dear Readers, it seems many months since I contributed to the Carers Newsletter.  Well, I guess I can start by saying what an incredible 20 months I have had since starting work at Arnold Lodge.  I feel incredibly blessed to work with the patients at Arnold Lodge every day and it has been wonderful to be a daily part of patient’s recovery journeys.

I am also delighted to say based on the success of Peer Support here at Arnold Lodge and the positive feedback from the Management Team  patient’s and external organisations Peer Support is now growing into our very own little team here at Arnold Lodge.  We also hope you are receiving the same feedback from your loved ones here at Arnold lodge.   I would therefore like to officially introduce Adam to you all as well, who joined us at the end of June 2022.  We are  in the process of recruiting a third Peer Support Worker to join the team here at Arnold Lodge with a bid to improve contact time and increase the range of services we can offer your loved ones here at Arnold Lodge.

One of the most recent updates I would like to share is that several patients reached the finals of the National Service User Awards.  This is something we are extremely proud of as a unit. The work and dedication patients have put into the variety of projects along with all the support from the staff has been outstanding.

Please look out over the coming months for regular updates from our new team and next month you will hear a little about some of the work we are doing with patients as well as a small bio from one of the new members of the team.

If you would like to know anything then please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us at the Hospital. I am also in the process of setting up an email inbox so you can reach us as a team directly. In the meantime, on behalf of the Peer Support Team I wish you all a safe and happy Summer. I hope you are all able to enjoy a moment or two of rest over the summer.

Best Wishes

Andrew – Senior Peer Support Worker

Recovery College Courses

‘How to be an effective Patient Representative’ course is successfully being delivered on the Women’s Service and co-delivered by a patient from Coniston with OTAP Sima Umeria and Peer Support Worker Andrew Gale.

Other courses in the pipeline to be delivered later in the year include:

• Tai Chi course
• Mindfulness
• Green Impact course
• Music based/song writing course
• Drama workshop

Jubilee Celebrations!

Staff and patients enjoyed the lovely weather over the Platinum Jubilee weekend at the beginning of June. We celebrated with a barbecue, games and other activities. Many areas around the unit were colourfully decorated and we were all invited to join in the fun and to wear red, white and blue where we could. Everyone involved thoroughly enjoyed participating in this unique celebration and we would like to thank all those involved in organising and making these events a success.

Summer Solstice – TSD

Last month Summer Solstice took place on 21st June. Several activities took place on the day in the courtyard garden. The patients created sunlight photograms of plants found in the garden using light sensitive paper, took part in a Solstice quiz and planted individual pumpkin seeds whilst enjoying a variety of summer fruits and fruit punch drinks. Patients commented that it was a good opportunity to celebrate the longest day of the year with their peers whilst enjoying the activities in the the summer sunshine.