Local NHS trust services praised for being 'rare jewels'

A new report has recognised 2 infant bonding services at North West Boroughs Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, as being:- 'rare jewels.' Halton and Warrington's Baby and Infant Bonding Support (BIBS) and Knowsley's Building Attachment and Bonds Service (BABS), are amongst the few areas in the UK to have teams doing such valuable work. A wealth of evidence shows that serious, persistent difficulties in early relationships; if not addressed; can have effects on babies' brain development, and lifelong physical and mental health. The charity Parent Infant Partnership UK has found that there are only 27 specialised parent-infant relationship teams in the whole of the UK, meaning that most babies live in an area where there is no support.

The Trust however, is doing valuable work to provide specialist support to families where babies' emotional wellbeing and mental health is most at risk. The report describes how services for children under 2 are not only incredibly important, but also require practitioners to have specialist skills in how to work with babies and their families. In Halton and Warrington, the Baby and Infant Bonding Support (BIBS) offers specialist therapeutic support to parents who are experiencing difficulties bonding or developing their relationship with their baby.

The Trust  national award winning Building Attachment and Bonds Service (BABS) in Knowsley, helps parents and infants to build the best possible bond and attachment relationship. Dr Lisa Marsland, Consultant Clinical Psychologist and Strategic Service Lead for the service, was in Parliament to support the release of the report alongside Parent Infant Partnership UK.

The full report was launched, in Parliament, on Monday, 10 June 219, by Minister Jackie Doyle Price and MPs Tim Loughton MP (Conservative), and Paul Williams MP (Labour) along with calls for specialised parent infant relationship teams available to support all families who need them by 2030.

Dr Karen Bateson, Head of Clinical Strategy and Development at Parent Infant Partnership UK said:- "It is now widely recognised that what happens in the 1st 1001 days of a child's life, from conception to age 2, is key to enabling that child to thrive. During this period of rapid brain growth, babies are shaped by their environment, particularly their relationship with their parents. Healthy brain development depends upon babies having secure, responsive relationships with their parents or caregivers."

Simon Barber, Chief Executive at North West Boroughs Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, said:- "I'm incredibly proud that both of our parent infant mental health services have been cited in the Rare Jewels report that was launched in Parliament, for the fantastic work they do. We are one of only a few trusts across the UK that offers such services to families in the community. They are working with some of the most vulnerable families in the UK who desperately need these services, which will help them break through their difficulties and build on the most important thing in their lives; their relationship with their baby."

To view the Rare Jewels report; specialised parent infant relationship teams in the UK, visit:- PIPUK.Org.UK. For more information on our Baby and Infant Bonding Support (BABS) in Halton and Warrington, visit:- NWBH.NHS.UK. For more information on the Building Attachment and Bonds Service (BABS) in Knowsley, visit:- NWBH.NHS.UK.

North West Ambulance Service Supports Thousands of Patients to Improve Their Health and Wellbeing

NORTH West Ambulance Service (NWAS) is celebrating the success of a health and wellbeing initiative which has reached thousands of patients across the North West in the last 18 months. In October 2017, NWAS launched a campaign to raise awareness of essential health services and share useful wellbeing information with patients using its Patient Transport Service (PTS), which takes people to and from routine appointments.

PTS makes over 1.5 million journeys each year across the North West, so an opportunity was spotted to make use of the time transporting patients by sharing health prevention and promotion advice, making the most of every patient contact. Since the initiative began, PTS crews have handed out almost 200,000 health leaflets covering a range of topics, from information about the seasonal flu vaccine to health checks that can save your life.

Throughout the scheme, NWAS consulted widely with patients to make sure the information was relevant and useful for them. The scheme saw collaborations with Age UK and the Mental Health Foundation to produce information about tips to boost mental wellbeing and how to live healthily and happily for longer.

Additionally, PTS crews supported 10 different health partners to spread the word about their local initiatives, including a new Urgent Treatment Centre in St Helens, the launch of a wellbeing directory in Fylde and Wyre and a joint partnership with the:- Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership to distribute 6,000 winter wellbeing booklets across Greater Manchester.

Nathan Hearn, PTS Contract Delivery Manger, said:-  "The nature of our service means we spend time with many different patients every day. We recognised we could make even better use of that time by helping to share important health messages and information about locally available services. Thanks to this initiative to transform patient care, PTS patients now have access to more information about health issues and local services. NWAS will continue to provide health advice and information to share with patients so they are supported to stay well."

The health leaflet scheme was part of the NWAS 'Transforming Patient Care' programme which has included a number of developments to improve patient care by supporting them as early on in their NHS experience as possible. For more information about the ambulance service visit:- NWAS.NHS.UK.

Southport Lifeboat has become the 1st Probationary Declared Facility for Provision of Inshore Search and Rescue in the UK

THE Southport Offshore Rescue Trust (SORT) have announced that they are to be recognised by the UK Coastguard as a Probationary Declared Facility for Provision of Inshore Search and Rescue. This will mean that they will become the 1st Independent Rescue Boat Organisation to gain this status.

Lifeboat Coxswain and Trustee Director Nick Porter said:- "We are all delighted that Southport Lifeboat has met the required standard to become a probationary declared facility. We are committed to providing the best service we possibly can for our area, so we've put an awful lot of time and effort into obtaining this status. For many years we have been working to this point where we have the framework and training to back up having two of the best lifeboats available. In April we were audited against the rescue boat code and I'm delighted to say we ticked every box. All of our volunteers and supporters should be proud that we have become the 1st independent lifeboat to gain this achievement. Whilst we are now in a probationary period for the next year, it means that we have proved to Her Majesty's Coastguard that we are able to safely and competently carry out search and rescue operations similar to how we have done for many years now. I'm confident that together with the Coastguard we can continue to improve our capabilities and achieve full declared facility status."

There are 2 different levels of Search and Rescue facilities under the jurisdiction of HM Coastguard, with organisations either being a Declared Facility or an Additional Facility.

The Coastguard is able to call upon and co-ordinate the activities of both declared and additional SAR facilities, however additional facilities are not available to any set availability or capability so are usually used to back up declared facilities such as the lifeboat stations operated by the RNLI.

There are more than 60 lifeboat stations in the United Kingdom that are not part of the RNLI and therefore considered as an independent rescue boat organisation. Historically, declared facility arrangements had been built on loose local practice.

For over 30 years the Southport Lifeboat, like all other independent rescue boats, had been operating under this historical agreement which did not provide a structure or consistency between the different organisations.

Over the next 12 months HM Coastguard will monitor the activities of the Southport Offshore Rescue Trust on call outs and through training exercises to ensure the required standards are maintained.

Nick said:- "The new station will see everything that we have been working towards finally brought together under one roof. We already have the tools, training and paperwork to ensure we can fulfil our agreement with the Coastguard, it'll be great when we finally move in so we can celebrate our achievements with all of our supporters."

This is an amazing achievement and something the Region should be celebrating. To learn more about SORT, who are an independent charity that provides a 24 hour lifesaving service around the Merseyside coastline, please visit:- Southport-Lifeboat.Org.UK and also please remember that they are self funded. They do not get cash in from Council or the RNLI, so every penny you donate goes to keeping this vital service operational.