Publish date: 2 January 2025
November's Employee of the Month winner is Samantha Needham, Liaison and Diversion Service - North Mersey, nominated by Will Swain for the value of enthusiasm
Sam is one of the support practitioners within Mersey Care’s liaison and diversion service. Following finishing a late shift, Sam noticed a vulnerable service user sitting outside Liverpool lime street station. Sam was aware that this highly vulnerable gentleman, who had significant cognitive difficulties, was awaiting specialist accommodation, and thought it was unusual that he would be off the ward on his own. Sam stopped with the service user and asked if he was okay, soon realising that he was confused and disorientated.
After making some telephone calls, Sam was able to identify the ward that the service user had come from and confirmed with staff that he was indeed missing. Ward staff arranged a taxi, and instead of continuing her journey home after her shift, Sam stayed with the service user until a taxi arrived, keeping him company and ensuring his safe return to the ward. She was even able to hand over to the ward team that he was reporting some pain from a toenail and obtained positive feedback for the ward about the care he has received.
Sam is always a positive and enthusiastic colleague who goes above and beyond for everyone that she works with, but this act of compassion and support really highlighted her enthusiasm for the vulnerable people we work with and was deserving of recognition.
November's Team of the Month winner is Musculoskeletal Service (MSK) St Helens, nominated by Joanne Barnfield for the value of continuous improvement
The MSK service developed and delivered a Community MSK Appointment Day. This was held at a local leisure centre. Patients from the MSK service were invited to attend. They had an initial conversation with a physiotherapist who listened to their needs, established what mattered most to the person and what they wanted to achieve from their visit. The individual was then offered a full MSK assessment (if determined from the initial conversation), rehabilitation advice as required and an opportunity to talk with other services such as mental health, citizens advice, St Helens Wellbeing, getting active at their display stands in the information village section of the event. At the end they were invited to discuss if their needs had been met and whether any follow up was required. Delivering care this way reduced complexity of access to services for patients and provided a one stop shop between healthcare, voluntary organisations and wellbeing for our people.
Feedback included the following:
- “The first time I’ve felt truly listened to”
- “Was able to talk about all my problems. Feel more positive about the future now”
- “A worthwhile event, very well organised”
The clinicians felt this was an effective way to move away from traditional models of care, delivery collaborating with other services such as mental wellbeing, voluntary sector etc - truly embracing whole person-centred care