News & Updates
Service Users Co-Production in Observation and Therapeutic Engagement Project in Forensics Directorate
20 March 2024
By Emma Furlong, Sexual Safety Lead and QI Coach A combined workgroup of services users (SU) and staff from the Forensic Directorate worked closely together on the Observations and Therapeutic Engagement QI Project. Over the ensuing months, significant improvement has been achieved in staff completing observations and competencies, which fosters clear and effective communication between staff… Read More
Patient safety – adopting a learning and improving approach
5 February 2024
By Auzewell Chitewe, Associate Director of Quality Improvement Over the past year, the Director of Patient Safety, the Risk and Governance Team, the Legal team, nursing and medical leaders, adult mental health services in Bedfordshire & Luton, as well as the Associate Director of Quality Improvement, have been deploying quality improvement (QI) methods to enhance… Read More
Improving observation practice and therapeutic engagement across inpatient wards at ELFT – The opportunity of using Quality Improvement at Scale
5 February 2024
Providing a safe and therapeutically engaging environment is one of the core components that support service users’ recovery on inpatient mental health wards. Although observations of service users by staff are important in helping achieve this, without meaningful interaction they can be reduced to a form of surveillance which can hinder recovery. Observations should be… Read More
A Collection of Illustrations about the Observation and Therapeutic Engagement Works in Shoreditch Ward
8 December 2023
By seven Shoreditch Ward service users and compiled by Brenda Abrah (Specialist Occupational Therapist), Bekezela Ndiweni (Clinical Nurse Manager) and William Diaz (Improvement Advisor) In this 5-minute read, explore seven Service Users’ (SU) thoughts and feelings, depicted through illustrations, around the observation and therapeutic engagement work on Shoreditch Ward in the Forensic directorate. The team… Read More
Using the Broset Violence Checklist to assess the risk of violence on Galaxy ward
8 December 2023
Written by Racheal Kafero, Clinical Nurse Manager on Galaxy ward, and Matthew Oultram, Improvement Advisor The Broset Violence checklist (BVC) is a structured risk assessment tool used by clinicians to assess the risk of violence. The BVC is part of the Safety Culture Bundle which was introduced at ELFT following a successful programme of work… Read More
Service Users Reflect on Therapeutic Engagement & Observations Work in Tower Hamlets
29 November 2023
By Sarah McAllister (Senior Improvement Advisor) and three service users from Tower Hamlets In Tower Hamlets, quality improvement (QI) work is changing the landscape of therapeutic engagement and observations. Service users and carers are at the heart of this journey. In this 3-minute read, three service users share their perspectives on why this work is… Read More
Evergreen Inpatient Unit, Luton and Bedfordshire CAMHS – Working Together to Understand the Problem and Develop Change Ideas
31 August 2023
By Sean Dumbell (Modern Matron) We are a new ward and therefore the process of arriving at our change ideas was a little different to elsewhere. Unlike other areas, we didn’t really have much data that could give us insight into the culture around observations within our team. We put out a staff survey that… Read More
Relaying our way towards safer observations – a standard operating procedure for Tower Hamlet’s board relay
31 August 2023
By Mitchell Modja (Clinical Nurse Manager, Rosebank ward), Dadai Dandato (Borough Lead Nurse, Tower Hamlets) and Sarah McAllister (Senior Improvement Advisor) See how Tower Hamlets Rosebank ward have used a board relay to improve therapeutic engagement and achieve zero missed observations in 7 months… What is the problem? Following a serious incident, Tower Hamlets joined… Read More
Twilight Testing: Empowering Engagement with Life Skills Recovery Workers Shift Innovations
30 August 2023
By Chloe Preston (Improvement Advisor) As part of the Trust-wide inpatient quality and safety programme, three wards in Bedford and Luton have been testing different shift patterns for their Life Skills Recovery Workers (LSRWs). Ward staff recognised that many of their incidents occur in the afternoon and evening, when there are fewer activities for service… Read More
Reviewing, Reflecting, and Re-Focusing – We Updated our Aim and Driver Diagram
29 August 2023
By Rebecca Lingard (Borough Lead Nurse City and Hackney) and Linnea Miklaucich (Improvement Advisor) During a sunny afternoon in July, all the wards in City and Hackney came together for a “re-energising” workshop of the therapeutic engagement project. We had recognised that the work had started to slow down and wanted an opportunity to take… Read More
Improving Therapeutic Engagement Using Personalised Activity Boxes
29 August 2023
By Happy Khatun, Activities Manager at Sally Sherman Ward In this video, Activities Manager Happy Khatun shares work from Sally Sherman Ward to improve therapeutic engagement using life histories and personalised activity boxes. Sally Sherman is a 19-bed ward that provides care for older adults with cognitive impairment who require specialist nursing care to support… Read More
