The MPFT Podcast

Reciprocal mentoring is a two way process where those paired together both gain as a mentoring pair through formal-and-informal group and one-to-one sessions. As part of MPFT’s journey to ensuring equity for all, members of the Trust Board took part in a reciprocal mentoring programme with colleagues from different ethnic minority backgroundsto hear about their experiences and gain a greater understanding of the challenges they face in their professional and personal lives.

This episode of The MPFT Podcast features a conversation between Saky Kaur (Health Visitor) and Claire Bailey (Managing Director for Children and Families Care Group) where they both share their experiences of being paired together, what their mentoring sessions involved, what they’ve taken from the programme, and how their experience along with the rest of the cohort is now supporting the delivery of key Trust initiatives such as our Anti-Racist Statement and Framework.  

Welcome to this latest edition of The MPFT Podcast!

For this episode, Naomi Martin from the MPFT communications team is joined by  Victoria Campbell, or Vicky, who’s doing amazing work as a Respiratory Nurse Consultant and one of only a few national Respiratory Champions in the UK.

She’s helping to change the game for people with lung conditions, not just in Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Tent, but all across the country. Whether you’re living with a lung condition, a carer for someone with a lung condition, or just curious about how change happens in the NHS, this episode is for you.

In this episode Kristy, a Specialist Health Visitor in perinatal mental health talks to Darren, a dad who will share his experiences and struggles which have led him to now work with and support other men, helping them to build resilience.

To speak to a Health Visitor please call 0808 178 0611

In this latest episode with our 0-19 Service, Caroline, Kristy and Laura talk about Infant Mental Health and Wellbeing.

Good infant mental health enables infants to feel safe andsecure and it establishes the foundations for children’s ongoing social and emotional development.

If you would like to talk to a Health Visitor please callthe Hub on 0808 178 0611 or text 07520 615 722. Our Hub is open Monday to Friday 9am-5pm but not bank holidays.

Welcome to this latest edition of the new look MPFT Podcast!

For this episode we're focusing on the opening of our new mental health crisis care facility at St George's Hospital in Stafford.

Mark Fletcher from the MPFT communications team is joined on this chat by Shelley Evans, MPFT Service Lead for Mental Health Urgent Care Services in South Staffordshire.

Operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week, the specialised facility will offer urgent assessment and support to individuals experiencing a mental health crisis who have come into contact with emergency services.

It serves as an alternative to emergency departments for people facing urgent but non-life-threatening mental health needs, supporting MPFT’s health and care partners in the West Midlands.

We’re back with another edition of the new look MPFT Podcast and for this episode we’re focusing on the brilliant work of our Governors.

Governors are volunteer representatives who play a crucial role in the governance of NHS Foundation Trusts such as MPFT, and serve as an invaluable link between our members, the public, our Board and the wider Trust.

Our Chair Jackie Small sat down with our Lead Governor Alan Jasper to talk about the role of Governor, the difference it makes and the value of volunteering to serve as an MPFT Governor.

We’ve relaunched the MPFT Podcast and have a fresh new look!

In this latest MPFT Podcast episode with the Families' Health and Wellbeing 0-19 Service, we hear from Health Visitors Caroline, Kristy and Carolyn talking about Baby Blues - a common experience for many new parents in the first few weeks after giving birth resulting in low mood and tearfulness.

Joint working can often be key to providing comprehensive and effective mental health care to people in need. The Social Care In-Reach team works closely with health colleagues and external agencies to ensure holistic care for patients, and their unique position allows them to bridge gaps between medical treatment, social support, and community resources.

Charlie Thorpe and Naomi Babbs talk about how the service, provided by MPFT in partnership with Staffordshire County Council is making a difference.

In this latest MPFT Podcast episode with the Families' Health and Wellbeing 0-19 Service, Caroline talks to Sadie, a children’s respiratory consultant nurse about asthma. The episode covers what asthma is, the symptoms, how it is treated, the importance of Personal Asthma Action Plans and ‘Count it out’ methods.

In this episode Gemma and Tori discuss why returning to school after a long break can be a challenging time for many children and young people.

While there are often many things that they might be looking forward to, such as catching up with their friends or returning to a favourite subject, there can also be a great deal of anxiety and worry around starting a new school term or year.

They talk about strategies to help your child or young person to overcome this and have a positive return to school.

In this episode of the podcast we hear from Leanne Borley and Jordan Perrins. Both of them work for the Mental Health Support Team in South Staffordshire. The team work closely with identified mental health leads within schools supporting children and young people with emerging, mild, or moderate mental health difficulties that may be affecting their day to day life.

Jordan talks about the mental health difficulties he experienced as a young person, and the work he now does supporting children in South Staffordshire.

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In this episode Kristy, Carolyn and Caroline talk about 5 Ways to Wellbeing.

Our mental health is important and evidence suggests there are ways that we can look after it which can help to improve our mental health and wellbeing. Trying these things could help you feel more positive, cope better with life’s up and downs, and get the most out of life.

These 5 Ways to Wellbeing are simple things that we can all try to fit into our everyday lives and give ourselves a boost.

March is when the NHS Staff Survey results are published, and we are delighted to announce MPFT scorded above average in all nine of the key elements of the 2023 NHS Staff Survey, surpassing our previous year's results despite another difficult year for NHS services.

In this episode we are joined by two colleagues from our Organisational Development Team (Lisa Whitehouse and Abbie Charlesworth) who discuss the highlights in our results, and also the importance of the survey results in shaping and improving the health and social care services we provide.

Our Safeguarding Team offer an introduction to the White Ribbon campaign, and discuss the recent announcement of MPFT becoming White Ribbon accredited.

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Unemployment rates are often high for people with mental health issues and the road to a new job can feel overwhelming.

Within Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin, MPFT is working with specialist mental health employment support service Enable to support people to find work suited to their interests and skills. We chat with Neil Woodhouse, an Early Intervention Support Worker with MPFT, and Matt Morris, Senior Employment Specialist with Enable to explore this further.

Mike Cooper and Jade Clarke are MPFT Mental Health Nurses who work with local authorities, housing associations, and voluntary and community organisations in Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin to offer mental health support to people who are sleeping rough or experiencing homelessness.

They talk about the support they provide to some of the most vulnerable people in society, what motivates them, and the difference it is making.

Speaking up to raise a concern about anything that gets in the way of good patient care is vital in ensuring lessons are learned and services can continuously improve.

To mark Speak Up Month, which takes place throughout October each year, we chat with Kath Chambers, one of MPFT’s Freedom to Speak Up Guardians about the role and process of speaking up, and why she’s so committed to ensuring this is business as usual across the NHS.

In this podcast episode, we have the pleasure of chatting with Beth Barnett, an Occupational Therapist at MPFT.

Listen to Beth open up about her career journey, and share the driving force behind her choice to become an Occupational Therapist, and highlight her favourite aspects of the role.

In this episode we chat with two of our staff about the work that they have been doing to keep inpatients active during a hospital stay to support with their recovery.

The fun, inventive approaches that they and others across the Trust have taken to support our patients has led to MPFT being one of just a handful of NHS trusts in the Midlands to receive the Recondition the Nation Platinum Award.

Join Carol and Stacey in this episode of the Parents Podcast Series where they talk about breastfeeding when returning to work.

It can be a daunting prospect thinking about returning to work while breastfeeding. Carol and Stacey discuss your rights as a breastfeeding employee and top tips on how to practically manage your return.

In this episode of our podcast, we hear from Nicola Ball (Specialist Nurse Practitioner) who works in CAMHS, Lichfield.

Nicola talks about the therapeutic benefits of being outside in green spaces, and the development of a garden for children and young people at Holly Lodge in Lichfield.

In this episode Carol and Caroline talk about reducing the risks of accidental poisoning in children.

From kitchen cleaner to medicines and things lurking in your garden shed, keeping them away from children is so important. We all wish we had eyes in the back of our heads but being more aware of where we store things in our homes should help us to reduce those risks.

Mindfulness is about being aware of the present moment, sensations and thoughts. Becoming more aware of the present moment can help us enjoy the world around us more and understand ourselves a little better.

In this episode, health visitor Carol shares how mindfulness can be enjoyed in every day experiences and invites you to join her on a short guided meditation concentrating on your breathing, to help you focus on the here and now.

Sleep is so important, but busy thoughts can whizz around our heads, making it difficult to settle.

Join Health Visitor Carol as she invites you to follow a guided meditation to help quiet your mind in readiness for sleep.

She uses a visualisation technique where you will imagine walking along a beautiful beach, keying into your senses, before finding a comfortable spot to rest, relax and sleep.

In this latest episode of The MPFT Podcast we hear from Leanne Macpherson (Head of programmes at the Community Foundation for Staffordshire).

Leanne describes the Community Foundation's role in approving grant applications to organisations seeking to provide community-based projects that help support people in Staffordshire with mental health illness. This work is part of the Community Mental Health Transformation programme in Staffordshire.

Join Carol (a health visitor within the 0-19 service) as she talks you through a physical activity to help shake off feelings of tension or stress from the body.

This can be a useful technique to share with children; they too might benefit from shaking off feelings of tension or worry. Or you could decide to do this activity together with your child just for the fun of it!

In this episode Health Visitors Carol and Caroline talk about crying babies and the ICON messages that help people who care for babies cope with crying.

Babies start to cry more from about 2 weeks old and starts to get less each week after 8 weeks old and whether there is a reason or not it can be frustrating, upsetting and extremely stressful. They share advice to help with crying and what to do when the crying gets too much.

In this episode of The MPFT Podcast, Lyse Edwards (Head of Operations for the Children and Families Care Group) talks with Gill Phillips (developer of Whose Shoes, a game for co-production) and Rachel Crook (one of the Professional Lead Nurses in the Care Group) about the Whose Shoes Game, and how the Care Group are hoping to use it to shape services.

They share details of two upcoming workshops where Whose Shoes will be in use:

1. to help develop perinatal services on Wednesday 3 May
2. to explore how we better join up care for children and young people on Wednesday 24 May 2023 to which parents and professionals are invited

In this episode Health Visitors Caroline and Leanne talk about bed sharing or co-sleeping with baby. They share evidence-based advice so that parents can make informed decisions about their choices, but also highlight when it is considered dangerous.

In this episode of The MPFT Podcast, we hear from service uses and carers discuss why involvement is important and how it has benefitted them.

In this episode of The MPFT Podcast, we hear Lisa Healings from VAST and Garry Jones from Support Staffordshire, discussing how Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) organisations are working to co-deliver the Community Mental Health Transformation.

In this episode of The MPFT Podcast we hear from Chris Sands (Chief Financial Officer) and Alex Brett (Chief People Officer) describing Project Synergy: what it is, and why it came into being.

In this episode of The MPFT Podcast, we hear Matt Evans, Dr Angela Smith, Nicola Mayo, and Karen Wareham discussing the work taking place for older adults as part of the Community Mental Health Transformation.

In this episode of The MPFT Podcast we hear from Neil Carr (Chief Executive) discussing the recruitment and retention difficulties facing the whole of the NHS, and what MPFT in particular is doing to solve these problems.

In this episode of The MPFT Podcast we hear from Charlotte Woodcock (Operational Lead for the Staying Well Service). Charlotte describes what the process and appointments will be like for anyone referred into the service.

Safewards is a national model of care implemented on all of our inpatient mental health wards. This episode features Steve Martin (Associate Chief Nurse) and Gary Firkins (Escalation Management Intervention Service Lead) discussing the principles behind Safewards, how it is deployed in practice, and the positive effects it has.

In this episode of The MPFT Podcast, we hear from Fiona Moore, Kirstyn Marshall and Veronica Emlyn. They discuss Involvement and the important role it plays within the Community Mental Health Transformation.

In this episode of The MPFT Podcast, we hear from Angie Upton, Dr Sarah Lunt, and Jane Munton-Davies. They discuss what Midlands Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust have achieved in the first year of the Community Mental Health Transformation and what we’re hoping to achieve in year 2.

In this episode of The MPFT Podcast, we hear from Deborah Hargreaves and Michaela Kemp discussing the work taking place for young adults as part of the community mental health transformation.

Mark Fletcher is joined by two members of the Staying Well Service to discuss why the service is in place, who it can serve, and what those people referred into the service can expect.

In this episode of The MPFT Podcast, we hear from Dr Murray Campbell and Dr Waheed Abbasi discussing Primary Care Networks and the changes happening within primary care to support the community mental health transformation.

In this episode Kay Stevenson and Karen Dawson discuss the work that has taken place to complete Phase 1 of the integration of musculoskeletal services in Staffordshire.

In this episode of The MPFT Podcast we hear from Martyn Perry and David Hewitt discussing how digital systems are helping deliver the Community Mental Health Transformation programme, and how those changes benefit local populations.

In this episode Lisa Williams, Rachel Wooliscroft, Leanne MacPherson and Ben Hollands discuss the Community Mental Health Fund for Adults in Staffordshire. They consider how the fund will benefit service users and information about the eligibility criteria.