28 Clitheroe Advertiser &Times, Thursday, May 21st, 2009 1 'i, E misast Lancashire ' l!' K * . © : i I 'f


THOUSANDS of peo­ ple suffering from painful back or limb


V problems in Burnley, Pendle and the Ribble Valley are benefiting' from a major commu­


nity health initiative. And most of - \tlie


patients seen by NHS East Lancashire's team at local health centres have been spared a trip to hospital and treated in their own vicinity. The Musculo-skeletal


t s


service - known as MSK to the public - has seen more than 15,000 patients since it was set up under the guidance of two local GPs. It is currently seeing an


average of 200 people each week, with the average waiting period now down to about a month. In its four years of oper­


ation, the MSK service has expanded and been


pain barriei


able to treat 75 per cent of! all patients at local health centres rather than at hds-i; pital sites.,


- ' • ■ The triple aim of Drs


Richard ■ Freeman and Tony Mitchell was:-' ■ ^ • To massively, reduce


the waiting time for those suffering' from .often- painfulconditions. ■ ; " O To .'treat as many


patients as possible in their own locality, and O To ease the workload


on busy ' hospital orthopaedic departments and for local GPs too. : : When tbe service was


set up in 2005, the commu­ nity-based physiotherapy service yias put under pres­ sure by the extra cases processed by the MSK ini­ tiative, in addition to an : increase in GP referrals. But after NHS East


Lancashire pumped an extra £500,000 into expanding the physio serv­ ice, waiting times have


■


been reduced dramatically. The majority of patients are now being seen within six weeks, despite further increases in referrals to the physiotherapy service. ■


. 'The service is delivered from three main centres at Accrington Pals Health Centre for Hyndburn and Ribble Valley patients; S t ' Peter's Centre in Burnley; and at Bacup Health Cen­ tre for Rossendale patients, with additional capacity at Yarnspinners Health Centre in Nelson for Pendle patients.; ■ TheMSKservice's Clin­ ical Director is Dr Richard Freeman, who is a special-: ist GP who formerly prac- • ticed in Whalley and with the Castle Medical Group in Clitheroe before gaining his MSc degree in MSK and Osteopathic Medicine, taking on his joint leading role at Accrington. The initial success of the community-based team in


the Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale area was mas­ terminded by former Padi- ham GP Dr Tony Mitchell, who specialised in orthopaedic problems and helped to set up the much appreciated service.


- Now, Dr Mitchell is the MSK's Education and Training Director and is expanding the scope of the service to take in GP edu­ cation through workshops and forums, with place­ ments for medical students and physiotherapists, as well as a GP Registrar post. . ■But apart from the


increased numbers being dealt with, the team is especially proud about the quality of the service being delivered. ' Dr Mitchell said:


"Patients really appreciate the time we spend with them. We allocate 45 min­ utes for an assessment and fully explore a patient's


PAIN RELIEF: Dr Tony Mitchell and Dr Richard Freeman. (S)


condition. We give them ample listening time and hear what they have to say in full. Dr Freeman added:


"That was ahyays part of our vision - giving the patient quality time in which to discuss all aspects of their condition and


what they feel about it. Our feedback tells us this is really appreciated and it helps us make the right decisions." In all, the team compris­


es 16 people, ranging from GP specialists, physiother- ■ apists and podiatrists to a chronic pain management


nurse. On the GP special­ ist team are Dr Graham Sellens, who fits in the work around surgery time at his Haslingden practice, and Dr Simon Morris, who is from the Ribble Valley and who acts as team doc­ tor to Lancashire County Cricket Club.


Top dog' Lynn is a home front hero


LYNN Crane has two big pas­ sions in her life - and she's a 'top dog'in both of them. ■ At work, she's responsible for making sure that NHS patients in East Lancashire live an easier and more fulfilling life on the home front. In her leisure time, she's a top


dog in the canine world, as an accredited breeder of Cavalier King Charles Spaniels and as a steward at the internationally- renowned Crufts Dog Show. ' At this year's show, held at


the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham. Lynn acted as a steward for The Kennel Club of Great Britain, making sure that the event ran smoothly. ■': Back in East Lancashire,


Lynn's everyday task at work is to make sure that patients wish-; ing to stay in their own homes, rather than be in hospital, have the wherewithal and the neces-


. sary household equipment to do so.


Lynn, who lives in Lane


Head, Burnley, works for the ; area's primary care health trust, NHS East Lancashire, and is in ' charge of the community equip­ ment service, which serves home-based patients through- • out Hyndburn, " Burnley,- Rossendale, Pendle and the Ribble Valley. Each month, around 6,000 -;


pieces of equipment - ranging from special beds and mattress- ■ es to walking frames and cook­ ing aids - go out from the PCT's state-of-the-art warehouse on Altham Industrial Estate. As Lynn says: '-'For patients


I f : ; ■ -:'v


THEY'RE known as 'Mo and Maureen' and together they make a great double act in neighbourhood nurs­ ing.


Maureen Bradley and


Maureen Duerden-known by all as “Mo” - have clocked up nearly 90 years in 'the caring profession' and have been together in community nursing for the; lastSO. Nowadays, they job


share as Modern Matrons in charge of a team of 20 district nurses, who look after patients in; their homes from Sabden and Padiham, through a major part of Burnley and on to Cliviger. But as Maureen admits:


; • • ■ - r : ' : , A T WORK; Lynn.Crane withsome of the equipment supplied to patients, (s)


wanting to remain in their own . help them achieve tlieir goal.': same day. Urgent needs are siip- homes, it’s vital lhat.they have; Behind the scene's,"there's a" plied the next day and standard the right equipment to make - strong and dedicated ;team of everyday tasks and living possi- people working hard at'our ble.


. ^ "Our districtnurse colleagues run the service."


play a crucial role in making The centre is fully comput- this ;happ,en but both the : erised so that front-line staff can patient and the nurse need the order equipment direct. If it's an


requests are dealt with within four working'days, providing the equipment is in stock.


everyday aids and equipment to - emergency, it's delivered the : She began as a trainee.nuree at


Lynn; who Has just been awarded a long-service award for her 42 years with the NHS.


I t 's all very fulfilling for


•AT L E IS U R E : Lynn Crane with one of her Cavalier ■ King Charles Spaniels. (S) , ;


Reedley Hall, before going on to Manager responsible for supply" become a Staff Nurse at Burn- ing the vital equipment that ley General. She ultimately gives proper meaning to the became a Sister at Reedyford = NHS aim of 'Care Closer To before motring on to qualify as a . Home,' or in this case actually


health visitor in both Burnley in the home. . ■, andPendle.


■ Lynrisays: "Ican't think of


Nearly 20 years ago, she used ■ anything else I would have pre- her experience to move into ferred to do for my employment


. management and is now Service - if.I yvere tq do-all again." 0


. you get into people's homes and you have time to spend with the patient and their family. I think that's what makes it so rewarding for our front-line staff." Maureen, who was born


"It's a big area but I'm more enthusiastic now than I've ever been. I love the job. There's nothing like the contact you have with the whole family. . . .i "As a community nurse,


at Bank Hall Hospital, Burnley, and lived.in the.


Turf Moor area before moving to Manchester Road, has been in the car­ ing profession for 48 years now. She started out as a cadet nurse at Burnley General under the watchful eye of Matron Miss Culpan


and her deputy Miss Schofield, still alive and well and living in Burnley.


• Maureen retired when she was 62 but was keen to return part-time as a thor­ oughly Modern Matron a


. couple of years ago. She has two children and four grand-daughters but finds: time to do her job, preside


■ in court as a JP and per­ form her duties as a


. Eucharistic Minister, tak­ ing the Sacrament to the housebound sick in Burn­


ley- Did she need any special , ■ ;


training? "No. You simply use the skills you've gath-. ered over a lifetime in dis­ trict nursing. You learn to • accept and respect people, no matter what."


; Both Maureen and Mo -


have seen many changes but both look for the posi­ tives in the process. Mau­ reen says: "I've always liked change and always gone alongwith it. You've got to


MODERN MATRONS: The two Maureens - Duerden and Bradley. (S)


move on ...it 's exciting and community and neighbour- I like it." Mo Duerden, who hood nursing, and most of it has spent 42 years in nurs- for the better. We look after ing, adds: "Things have those wth long-term condi- moved on tremendously in tions and more complex


needs in a much more embracing way nowadays. "The emphasis is on


allowing people to stay in their own homes and not to


JUST A MO: Maureen Bradley, then aged 21, with babe in arms. (S)


have to go into hospital.


: We've developed far more clinical skills and offer a high standardof care in the


•homa That's important for everyone concerned." It all seems a long way


since Mo’s early days work­ ing in a pill factory in Bum- ley at the age of 15. But she says: "I always wanted to


be a nurse to look after peo­ ple, but I couldn't be a cadet until I was 16 when I went to Burnley General. "After years as a staff


nurse, she transferred 'tem­ porarily' to community nursing. Thirty years on, she's still there as 'half a Mo' in her job-share role with 'the other Maureen.'


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Clitheroe Advertiser &Times, Thursday, May 21st, 2009 29 NHS East Lancashire Bell’ learns the repes!


BELINDA Taylor's friends always called her “Bell”. It seemed appropriate and had a good ring to'it. ; Now, it's become even more apposite, since she took up


the practice of bell ringing at a local church. • It's a far cry from her daily routine as NHS East Lan­


O


cashire's service manager for patients with complex needs and long-term conditions. But she readily admits: "It's a great way to change gear,


though I still see it as a service to the community." Belinda, as her mother calls her, does her 'change ringing'


with the team of bell ringers at Rishton's St Peter's and Paul's Church. She plays her part in weddings, funerals, and public occa­ sions, having got into the whole thing ringing in the Millenni­


um. And she reveals: "Research has indicated that bell ringing


is right up there in the top three 'favourite sounds' of people in this country. Apparently, the popping of champagne corks is the most popular sound, with the sound of waves on a beach at number two, followed by the sound of church bells beingrun.


"People will have their own views but it certainly seems to be appreciated locally and I enjoy doing it with my fellow bell ringers." It's a far cry from her


work for Hyndburn and Rossendale area's com­ munity health provider arm of NHS East Lan­ cashire. But 'Bell' gets great satisfaction form helping to co-ordinate district nurses. Commu­ nity Matrons, the heart failure team, Macmillan Nurses, palliative care services and the oxygen and pulmonary rehabili­ tation service.


;•


■ She says: "It all seems to fit together for me, though our bell ring- ■ ing team could do with some more members. They can always give us a ring!"


^ ' T - m


BELL RINGER: Belinda Taylor practising her bell ringing. (S) Half a Mo... and the other half, too! East Lcirudshlts . c z a h i


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