Sharing a little sunshine
This page is dedicated to hosting all of our inspiring, ‘real life’ stories from our colleagues and partners across the Partnership and how they’re working together to create a more caring, healthier, safer Edinburgh.
As restrictions continue to lift we’re delighted to share Thrive Edinburgh: Physical Activity and Greenspace Collective.
Funded through Thrive Edinburgh they have been working together with Edinburgh Leisure, SAMH, Edinburgh and the Lothians Greenspace Trust and Cyrenians with one common aim – to use the power of physical activity and greenspaces to help people across Edinburgh with mental health conditions to recover, say well and live fulfilling lives.
The Physical Activity and Greenspace Collective have placed their venues, services and activity groups on an interactive map. This includes information on how to make referrals and opening times.
This is a great initiative and we hope our Edinburgh citizens love it as much as we do.
How one support group for unpaid carers provides help
Case study from mypowerofattorney.org.uk
VOCAL (Voice of Carers Across Lothian) is a Scottish charity, based in Edinburgh and Midlothian, that provides support to unpaid carers through individual support, information, training and access to services. They support carers ‘whether defined by kinship, partnership, friendship, affection or obligation’.
The VOCAL team has extensive expertise in helping carers secure Power of Attorney on behalf of those who wish this to be arranged or for whom it is needed – whether this follows a recent diagnosis of illness such as dementia or cancer, or perhaps involves a parent wishing to empower their children should they as parents become incapacitated in future and unable to make decisions for themselves.
Peter Horn is an experienced Carer Support Practitioner with VOCAL and is frequently the first point of contact for friends and family members seeking help in drawing up Power of Attorney. VOCAL often receives referrals from area hospitals, GPs and psychiatrists.
Peter explains just a few of the situations where it is important that Power of Attorney is authorised:
“In the past, we’ve been contacted after a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s or dementia, where the illness has taken hold and progressed to the point where the person will likely become unable to make decisions for themselves.
We try to provide as much support as possible. Often the friend, carer or family member contacting us is reeling from the shock of discovering that they have no automatic legal rights to direct the welfare or financial affairs of their loved one.
Many people believe, mistakenly, that they automatically have rights for their partner or next of kin. However, only when Power of Attorney has been granted and registered with the Office of the Public Guardian (Scotland) is this the case. Being a named executor of a person’s will doesn’t confer these rights either because Power of Attorney is a living document that holds sway during the person’s lifetime and no longer applies should they pass away.
Power of Attorney is for people of all ages since it ensures that your instructions governing your personal welfare or financial affairs, or both, are followed through by a named ‘Attorney’ or ‘Attorneys ‘– those individuals whom you trust and have nominated to carry out your wishes in the event that you become incapacitated. We often suggest appointing more than one ‘Attorney’”.
The VOCAL team offers insight into other situations that can require Power for Attorney. For example, the family of a young person who has suffered a head injury in a car or motorbike accident or traumatic accident at work, or the parent of an adult with autism. The team also assists in fast-tracking developments for patients in palliative care for whom an expedited Power of Attorney has become critical. In many of these cases, discussions have never taken place regarding the type of care the person might want or whom they would wish to act on their behalf.
Though many Powers of Attorney are drawn up by solicitors, medical practitioners are also legally empowered to authorise Power of Attorney.
The team at VOCAL has a specialist volunteer – with extensive expertise in helping next of kin secure Power of Attorney – who can offer a phone or in-person consultation service free of charge to some carers, drawing on VOCAL’s portfolio of proprietary Power of Attorney guidance documents. They can also involve family doctors or GPs who are empowered to legally authorise Power of Attorney and generally charge a fee for this service.
The services of VOCAL’s specialist volunteer can be retained on a paid-for basis should circumstances dictate a fast-tracked Power of Attorney as the preferred option. For example, for patients in end-of-life palliative care who need the process to be expedited as a matter of urgency. In such cases, VOCAL’s volunteer will make in-person visits to reaffirm that the person commissioning the Power of Attorney has capacity to do so, that their wishes and instructions are captured accurately, and that their nominated Attorneys are accurately recorded within the document.
All Powers of Attorney must then be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian (Scotland) for which a fee of £81 applies, though this charge can be waived for certain groups on low or modest incomes or in receipt of some forms of benefit.
Peter continues: “As a charity, we’re more than happy to provide multi-layered support to unpaid carers in Edinburgh and Midlothian. And we’ve never been so busy due to our number of referrals steadily climbing. Perhaps it was the lockdown affecting people’s mental health or focusing minds that any one of us could become incapacitated whether by Covid-19 or some unforeseen accident at work or on the roads.
“We feel it’s important to stress that Power of Attorney isn’t just for older people – and it doesn’t need to be a difficult or expensive process. Preparing your Power of Attorney, ahead of time, reflects good advance planning because it ensures that your wishes and instructions will be respected should something untoward take place and you can’t make these decisions for yourself. You can choose to authorise Power of Attorney purely for your welfare, or your finances, or both. Power of Attorney is a living document that relates to your lifetime, and only comes into force should something happen to you.”
Peter and the team at VOCAL counsel taking time to decide carefully who to choose as your ‘Attorney’ and, ideally, choose more than one ‘Attorney’ and not simply nominate your partner.
More details from www.mypowerofattorney.org.uk, and social channels @StartTalkingPoA (Twitter) and StartTalkingPoA (Facebook).
We’ve been shortlisted for the BMJ Awards 2021
We’re thrilled to announce that our Choices Service, as part of the Edinburgh Health and Social Care Partnership, has been shortlisted for the Woman’s Health team of the year award.
The BMJ Awards recognise and celebrate the extraordinary innovative work of health care teams across the UK, and each year they continue to highlight the best teamwork the NHS has to offer.
Our colleagues, like many health care teams across the country have and continue to face immense pressures and increased demands for their expertise in response to COVID-19. But even in the most difficult circumstances, exceptional projects and people are going above and beyond to improve the lives of patients living in their community. We can’t thank you enough for your dedication and hard work.
With all that said, this really does showcase the calibre of colleagues we have working across the Edinburgh Health and Social Care Partnership and the incredible work they do every day when caring for the people of Edinburgh.
The Primary Care Pharmacy team have worked together on a video to help give you an insight into what a day in a life looks like for them.
Watch their video to understand more about what they do to help build a more caring, healthier and safer Edinburgh.
We welcomed Mr Kevin Stewart, MSP to our Liberton Hospital to talk about our Hospital at Home services throughout the city of Edinburgh. Hospital at Home provides short term hospital level care for older people in their own homes. It’s a great service which means patients can be treated in the comfort of their own home, without having to be admitted to hospital.
Pictured with our Liberton Hospital Patient; Ms Billie Flynn, Dr Carolyn Armstrong, Dr Penny Cartwright, Mr Jean-Marc Renwick and Mr Kevin Stewart MSP
We’ve been celebrating Pride Month by asking our colleagues what Pride means to them. Senior care and support worker John Ovens got in touch to share his story.
Growing up in a small town in the North East of Scotland in the late 80s and early 90s, the only real image I had of the LGBT community was the ‘Don’t Die of Ignorance’ tomb stone advert that was on the telly, warning you that you could get AIDS if you had unprotected sex.
I can’t remember any positive role models on telly at that time, if there were it would be the stereotypical camp person, but they would get called fairies or freaks.
I felt lost in this world where I knew what I was but could not tell the family as I knew what they thought about gay people. Even in my first job in a nursing home I was called offensive names and was the butt of jokes. This was a hard time in my life – I was not really sure where to go or what to do. I wondered if it would be better if I was not here, then that way there would be no shame on the family if I did come out to them. In the end, I knew inside I was stronger and I deserved to be here.
When I did come out to my Mum it was not the best experience. I can remember my mum telling me ‘do not say anything to your dad as it would kill him, or you brothers and sister as you won’t get to see your nieces or nephews again.’ This broke my heart. Homosexuality among men was illegal in Scotland until 1980, and there was still so much stigma and misunderstanding.
I would take myself up to Aberdeen to HMV so I could buy a copy of the Gay Times. I read positive stories and the problem pages, and that along with more famous people coming out made me feel like I wasn’t alone which really helped.
Moving to Edinburgh in 2002 was a major life event: I started to feel I could be myself.
My first Pride was ‘WOW!’. I felt proud to be who I am: not having to hide in the shadows and being part of something bigger. I have attended too many Prides now to mention, and each one I get a sense of self-worth, seeing teenagers be themselves and loving who they are.
I have attended San Francisco Pride and that was amazing – seeing a whole new part of my community, breaking down barriers, and it was also just nice walking along the Castro district reading about Harvey Milk. I loved seeing all the rainbow flags and knowing that they fly there all year and not just for one month.
Pride should be a safe environment where you can be yourself, without having to worry or look over your shoulder just in case. Even this year many countries are rolling back the rights of LGBTQIA+ people. It is still illegal to be gay in 69 countries in the world, and in some the punishment is death by public stoning. In the UK, LGBTQIA+ people still face discrimination and hatred. Just this week, murals in Manchester’s Gay Village were vandalised.
I hear people say we do not need Pride anymore, why is there not a straight Pride etc. I say we still need to educate people that love is love no matter of sexuality and that love holds not boundaries.
To end on a positive note, it is so nice to see Pride getting better each year country-wide and more towns and cities having their own take on Pride and making it more visible. I’ve loved seeing all the Pride flags around Edinburgh: Lothian buses’ rainbow made me smile, seeing that Scotrail has a rainbow train, the Bank of Scotland in the new St James quarter having the Pride flag on digital window display, the rainbow flag flying from City Chambers. Together we can make a change!
If people would like to find out more about the history of Pride, I would recommend the film ‘Pride’ which is based on a true story.
At the Edinburgh health and social care partnership, we believe love has no boundaries. We’ve been celebrating Pride Month by asking our colleagues, what pride means to them.
Growing up in the 80s and 90s it was really difficult being gay and looking for support. There was no internet so limited ways of meeting people. There were no buses or trains with pride colours, instead you hid your personality. At school it was one of the major reasons for getting bullied or attacked, even at such a young age when you don’t know yourself if you are gay or what it means to be gay. There was no education around it.
It wasn’t until I reached the age when I could go to bars that I met with other people like me and was able to connect with other LBGTQ+. Pride is about all of this, the social, emotional, psychological and mental ways being LGBTQ+ affects you. People say sometimes that being gay is more popular and people are more accepting which is true today but not when I grew up. So pride is also about helping others who had bad experiences growing up, to be there as support and encourage people to be proud of who they are and be able to celebrate their uniqueness and individuality.
So now because of Stonewall and all the brave people that fought for our justice and equality, everyone can be proud and I can be happy to be gay at work or at home or with friends. This is something I didn’t have a few years ago but I can enjoy hopefully for the rest of my life. – Daniel Curran, Community Staff Nurse
Ferrylee residents and colleagues took part in the ‘Captain Tom Challenge’ along with 100 other care homes.
They came out in full force will handmade t-shirts for the special occasion to support part takers. They took full advantage of the weather too and set up a health bar to make smoothies, herbal teas and other healthy snacks.
Three residents raised a staggering £1000 – congratulations team!
Our colleague, Rashpal Nottay, took part in the 300k step challenge in 30 days to raise money for the Maggie’s Centre Edinburgh and Diabetes UK. Take a look at her story.
A group of colleagues from the ATEC24 Telecare Monitoring and Response team have decided take a sponsored hike up Ben Nevis in aid of Alzheimer’s Scotland on 28 June.
As you can see from the picture, they have been out training in all weathers! It’s wonderful that they are putting so much time and effort into raising awareness about dementia, which is something that affects so many people.
Good luck team!
Our colleague John Ovens shared with us his inspiring story to shave his head and beard to raise money for Maggies Centre.
Maggie’s Centre is a charity that provides emotional, psychological and practical support to those who are affected by cancer and is close to John’s heart after his partner was diagnosed with cancer.
Before John took the leap of faith to shave his head and beard he said,
“I feel proud to be able to have the choice to have my head and beard shaved to support such a worthy cause. I’m pretty sure my partner and family will be happy to see the beard go too – then they can stop calling me ‘Greengrass’ from Heartbeat!”
Maggie’s Centre has not only supported John’s partner, but also himself. He often visits the centre on his way home from work as it’s a welcoming and safe place for him to unwind.
Well done John!
