History of the trust

Stephen:
My name is Stephen Firn. I have worked in the NHS since 1981, much of that time as a nurse. Since 2002 I have been Chief Executive of Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust. We offer a wide range of health and social care services for people who live in the South East London boroughs of Bexley, Bromley and Greenwich.. These include mental health and learning disability services, and we have recently been delighted to welcome forensic mental health services in Kent Prisons and local community health services to the trust.

Bexley Community Health Services joined us in July 2010 and Greenwich Community Health Services in April 2011. Both services have brought with them highly skilled professionals who provide a host of physical health services to adults and children in the community. These range from health visitors and community midwives working with the very young, to district nurses and therapists meeting the physical health needs of older people. As many of our patients use a range of services, this enables closer working and means we can provide more integrated care.
Our purpose is to improve the lives of local people using our services by providing the best quality health and social care.

Everyone who works for Oxleas is passionate about this and our record is outstanding. We have always been rated by the Care Quality Commission (and previously the Healthcare Commission) as providing excellent or good quality services. This has been achieved by clinicians and managers working together to meet patients’ needs and by having a strong emphasis on patient and carer involvement.

We believe that it is not just what we do, but the way we do things that is important.  We have a clear set of values which informs the way we treat patients and carers. Amongst these is the central value that we always try to view things through the eyes of our patients and carers.

Charlene:
Hello, my name is Charlene Francois. I am a qualified nurse and midwife working as the Assistant Director and Clinical Lead for Bexley Community Health Services. Joining Oxleas has been very positive for us as it enables us to work closely with our colleagues in mental health and  learning disability services -  especially around the needs of children and older adults.

Our services in Bexley are organised into four areas. These are:

• Universal children services which deliver services across health visiting, school nursing , safeguarding, youth advisory and sexual health.
• Long term conditions and therapies encompass a range of services including podiatry, community rehabilitation, speech and language and specialist nurses.
• Adult Community Nursing Services cover district nursing, tissue viability, virtual wards, respiratory specialist nursing, twilight and night nursing.
• Out of hospital services designed to provide primary care for people whose conditions do not require hospital treatment.

In April 2011 we  were joined by Greenwich Community Health Services. In addition to the services outlined above, they also bring with them:

• Dentistry
• Community Pediatricians
• Rehabilitation services for neurology
• Residential Intermediate Care Services

A virtual admissions avoidance team who link with London Ambulance Service and other partners to prevent unnecessary hospital admissions.

This will further allow Oxleas to integrate primary health services across the boroughs of Greenwich and Bexley to better serve our patients, their families and carers.
 
Kezia:
Hello, I’m Dr Kezia Lange. I’m a consultant psychiatrist working in Greenwich in the community.

Our aim at Oxleas is to help people using our services to recover: to support them in getting the best out of their lives and, wherever possible, to return to work and a normal routine.  This requires not only medical and psychological input, but often a broad range of other therapies and opportunities. We aim to tailor treatment packages to the needs of the individual patient and offer as much choice as possible.

What has impressed me most working as a doctor in Oxleas is the range of information available to both patients and staff, the emphasis on clinical standards and excellence, and keeping up with advances in treatments. Staff are not isolated, but work in teams and share and provide expertise which benefits those using our services. Increasingly, care is delivered by teams which have specialist knowledge and experience.

We aim to provide most of our services in the community, often in people’s homes if that is required. We have some of the best facilities in the country, with the majority of inpatients receiving care in their own room with en suite facilities.

Stephen:
The quality of our services is principally due to the quality of our staff. People using our services are supported and helped by nurses, doctors, psychologists, social workers and a range of other therapists.

It is vitally important we have sufficient staff, with the right skills and understanding attitudes; staff who feel properly supported and trained to deliver the best possible care. I am particularly proud therefore that in successive staff surveys our colleagues have rated Oxleas amongst the best in the country for the training they receive; their job satisfaction; and recommending the trust as a place to work.

As well as ensuring people receive the best possible treatment and care, we have a commitment to supporting  people to live as independent and fulfilling lives as possible. This can mean helping people to gain employment, through learning new skills, training and volunteering; buliding up a social network through activities and befriending schemes; and increasing leisure and exercise opportunities.

Danny:
My name is Danny and I’ve used Oxleas’ services for about ten years.

In that time the trust has given me the opportunity to do lots of different activities that have helped me to get better.

Things that helped at first were playing football and basketball, and going to the gym. These meant I was able to cope with my medication and get back into a normal routine.

I’ve also worked with Focal Point Training to learn new skills like gardening, carpentry and bricklaying. These have enabled me to move on with my life and start making plans for the future. At the moment I’m doing GCSE English at a local college. Going to college makes me feel really good. When I’ve finished the English I plan to do a Maths GCSE. Over the next year I will also be doing a City and Guilds diploma in horticulture, including brick and slab laying.

Four years ago I felt confident enough to move back into the community and now I am supported in my own home by a care worker and a community psychiatric nurse.

Stephen:
Over the last 25 the NHS has improved in ways I could not have imagined when I joined the NHS. And community health services joining Oxleas has given us a fantastic opportunity to end the artificial divide between physical and mental health needs and to develop first class community services for the people of Bexley and Greenwich. Our services are now provided by highly skilled staff in modern facilities in the community close to people’s homes.  Many more treatments are available to help people recover and there is support to help people stay well and live independent lives.

As you have seen, help is available if you have a mental health problem or a learning disability, or care for someone who has. Don’t be afraid to speak to your GP who will be able to advise you. Or if you are seeking a rewarding and fulfilling career, with high levels of training and job satisfaction, then get in touch with us.