Local nurse tickled pink after winning prize for charity work

11 December 2006

A nursing assistant from a local hospital won a day of pampering for her outstanding charity work.

Linda Owens, nursing assistant at Cheadle Royal Hospital, an independent mental health hospital run by Affinity Healthcare, was nominated by her colleague, bank staff nurse Jenny Smith, as part of a competition run by the Wilmslow Express to find exceptional people who deserve to be pampered.

Linda said: “Jenny saw the advert for the competition and wrote a four-page letter about my fundraising. Apparently loads of people wrote in but my story was the one that stood out.”

For many years, Linda, who works on the Eating Disorders Unit at the hospital, has dedicated her time to charity fundraising.

“I feel particularly passionate about breast cancer as it affects so many people in so many ways. I’ve taken part in the Race for Life with colleagues in the past. We’ve also had ‘pink’ days on the ward where staff and patients dressed up in the colour and had a ‘pink’ raffle. One year the raffle went on for four hours and we raised over £800! We also had a three-legged race around the hospital to raise money for a staff member who had been diagnosed with breast cancer.

“This year we had a wacky fashion show and sold DVDs of the event and raised over £1,000. It’s dead easy to do fundraising on this ward as the staff and patients are brilliant and very cooperative. They go out of their way to donate money and over the years we’ve raised thousands and thousands of pounds for breast cancer and other charities,” Linda continued.

“I felt really honoured when I found out I had been nominated and won! It’s great that someone has actually taken time out of their schedule to showcase not only mine but the ward’s efforts to raise money for such good causes. I really enjoyed my day of pampering. It was jam-packed with treatments such as pedicures, manicures, facials, massages plus a makeover followed by a tasty lunch! I felt very relaxed afterwards!” Linda added.

Linda’s day of pampering took place on Thursday 8 December at Hoopers Department Store, Wilmslow.

ENDS

For more information contact Emily Fozard and Yvonne Reay on 0113 306 0000

Notes to Editors:

Affinity Healthcare has 200 years of experience and expertise in mental health and runs Middleton St George Hospital near Darlington and Cheadle Royal Hospital in Cheshire. Most of its patients are from the NHS, and Affinity works closely with the NHS in providing and developing high quality, specialist mental health services.

Services include:

• Psychiatric Intensive Care (gender specific)
• Rehabilitation and Recovery Services
• Drugs & Alcohol Detoxification
• Eating Disorders Service
• Mental Health Service for Healthcare and other Professionals
• Female Secure Complex Care
• Young People's Service
• Primary Care Therapy Services

www.affinityhealth.co.uk

Independent mental health hospital provides high quality services to patients

4 January 2007

Staff and services were praised as an independent hospital leads the way in providing high quality mental health services.

Cheadle Royal Hospital, an independent mental health hospital run by Affinity Healthcare, has met all standards required by the Healthcare Commission, following its inspection last September.

The inspection, conducted in conjunction with the Mental Health Act Commission, concluded that Cheadle Royal “is providing a service, which met the needs of its patients within an environment that was clean, well-maintained and comfortable. Equipment and facilities were of a good standard overall and staff were helpful, professional and courteous at all times during the inspection.”

The hospital was assessed under six categories: safety, clinical and cost effectiveness, governance, patient focus, accessible and responsive care and care environment and amenities and met all standards in each category.

Hospital Director Ian McComiskie said: “We strive to provide high quality care of proven benefit to our patients and society. We are consistently improving year on year. These inspections help us identify areas in need of improvement which we can focus on, enabling us to enhance the services we offer our patients. We value all our patients and staff and endeavour to lead the way in developing and providing mental health services in the North West. It’s thanks to our staff that we are making this happen.”

The Healthcare Commission launched a new web service available to patients and the public which will provide access to information on the performance of healthcare providers in the independent sector.

Ends

For more information contact Emily Fozard or Yvonne Reay on 0113 306 0000

Notes to Editors:

Affinity Healthcare has 200 years of experience and expertise in mental health and runs Middleton St George Hospital near Darlington and Cheadle Royal Hospital in Cheshire. Most of its patients are from the NHS, and Affinity works closely with the NHS in providing and developing high quality, specialist mental health services.

Services include:

• Psychiatric Intensive Care (gender specific)
• Rehabilitation and Recovery Services
• Drugs & Alcohol Detoxification
• Eating Disorders Service
• Mental Health Service for Healthcare and other Professionals
• Female Secure Complex Care
• Young People's Service
• Primary Care Therapy Services

www.affinityhealth.co.uk

Manchester-based mental health experts back calls for more dedicated services for young people.

16 January 2007

Manchester-based mental health experts Affinity Healthcare have responded to calls this week for an increase in dedicated mental health inpatient beds for young people.

Children’s commissioner Professor Al Aynsley-Green has highlighted major gaps in mental health services within the UK for young people, emphasising that national targets around the availability of inpatient beds for young people are not being met.

Affinity’s Dr David Kingsley, Consultant Adolescent Psychiatrist and head of Cheadle Royal Hospital’s Young Persons’ Service, agrees that vulnerable young people should not be inappropriately placed on adult psychiatric wards but says that his organisation is leading the way in developing new specialist mental health inpatient care for young people.

Affinity Healthcare, which runs Cheadle Royal Hospital in South Manchester, has been running a dedicated Young Persons’ Unit at Cheadle Royal Hospital since 2004 and now provides almost half of the NHS-funded inpatient adolescent beds within the city.

“Young people who are suffering from disorders such as schizophrenia or mania, depression or anorexia nervosa, are still being inappropriately placed on adult psychiatric wards or paediatric wards” said Dr Kingsley.

“This is a major problem, as adult wards are not geared up to provide the evidence-based treatments, such as individual psychological therapies and family therapy, that these young people need. There is often no educational provision, and adult wards are not staffed by clinicians with specialist experience of working with young people and families.”

“Moreover, adult psychiatric wards can be frightening places, where young people may be exposed to violent and disturbed adults. Some adult patients may actually pose a risk to young people.”

“Other young people with mental health problems may be admitted to paediatric wards, alongside ill babies and children with asthma. This again is entirely inappropriate,” said Dr Kingsley.

The National Service Framework, published in 2004, highlighted that “some young people are being cared for inappropriately in adult psychiatric beds”. It went on to say that “inpatient psychiatric units for adolescents…” [should be] “provided to ensure that the developmental needs of [this] age range are met”.

“NHS adolescent inpatient services do exist,” said Dr Kingsley, “But they are often over-stretched. However, where NHS beds are scarce, the independent sector has stepped in to fill the gap in partnership with the NHS.”

“In Manchester, for example, after many years of inadequate inpatient provision, since its opening in 2004, the independently provided Orchard Young Persons’ Unit at Cheadle Royal Hospital has provided almost half of the NHS-funded inpatient adolescent beds within the city”.

“The NHS now commissions Orchard Unit to provide the inpatient beds for all 16 and 17 year olds who need mental health admissions across the city, avoiding inappropriate admissions to adult or paediatric wards. The unit also takes young people aged 13 - 18 from other areas in the North West and further afield, where inpatient adolescent beds are scarce and the local NHS is prepared to fund a placement at the Cheadle service”.

“However, some areas in the North West are still placing under 18s in adult beds contrary to national guidelines because local NHS commissioners will not fund placements in a specialist adolescent service such as ours,” warned Dr Kingsley.

In addition, Affinity plans to open a new secure unit for young people with more severe mental health problems at Cheadle Royal in April 2007. ‘The Meadows’ will be the first low secure adolescent unit in the North West and will mean that patients and their families who currently have travel to the North East or Midlands for the nearest such unit, can access a service much closer to home.

ENDS

Further information:

Emily Fozard or Yvonne Reay on 0113 3060000 or 07775576499

Notes to editors

Affinity Healthcare has 200 years of experience and expertise in mental health. It is a growing provider of mental health services and is the parent company of Cheadle Royal Hospital in Cheshire and Middleton St. George Hospital & Care Homes in County Durham.

Most of its patients are from the NHS, and Affinity works closely with the NHS in providing and developing high quality, specialist mental health services.

To find out more visit www.affinityhealth.co.uk

• Services include:
• Psychiatric Intensive Care (gender specific)
• Rehabilitation and Recovery Services
• Drugs & Alcohol Detoxification
• Eating Disorders Service
• Mental Health Service for Healthcare and other Professionals
• Female Secure Complex Care
• Young People's Service
• Primary Care Therapy Services

Local hospital appoints leading consultant in mental health

1 February 2007

A local hospital has assigned a leading psychiatrist and associate medical director to strengthen its forensic unit.

Middleton St George Hospital near Darlington, an independent mental health hospital run by Affinity Healthcare, has employed Dr Sikandar Kamlana as Lead Consultant Psychiatrist / Psychotherapist to help develop services for men and women at the hospital.

Dr Kamlana heads a multidisciplinary team of psychiatrists, associate specialists, psychologists, nursing staff, occupational therapists and art and recreational therapists.

The hospital provides services for people with severe mental health problems who often have behavioural disturbances or a history of aggression or self harm, and are sometimes treatment resistive.

“I try to see patients twice a week on a one-to-one basis. I also visit referral agencies outside the hospital, along with senior nursing staff to assess patients to establish if they are suitable for admission to the unit,” Dr Kamlana said.

He continues: “I believe in an integrated and multidisciplinary approach, I follow the Care Programme Approach (CPA) where I use clinical assessment tools to put together individual care packages for patients, such as psychotherapy, occupational therapy, recreational therapy or pharmacotherapy. Throughout treatment I report back to the referral agencies to update them on the patient’s progress.”

Dr Kamlana began his medical career in 1970 and has since built up an excellent reputation in the psychiatry profession both in the UK and overseas. Dr Kamlana previously worked for the NHS at West Cumberland Hospital in Cumbria and University Hospital North Tees. This is his first job in an independent hospital.

He has experience and qualifications in psychotherapy, hypnotherapy, psychopharmacology and psychological medicine and is a member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. He has published 50 papers on psychiatric management conditions, which are available nationally and internationally and has also played an active role as clinical lead and lead clinician in the development of teaching programmes and psychiatric services. He has also participated in national and international psychiatric conferences over the years.

As well as a leading specialist in psychiatry, Dr Kamlana is honorary clinical lecturer at Newcastle University and college assessor and college examiner for the Royal College of Psychiatrists. He has also served as college tutor and PPD tutor for Durham University. He is a second opinion doctor, a medical advisor for the National Assessment Authority, a fellow at the Royal Society of Medicine, member of the Mental Health Review Tribunal, appraiser and a fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists.

He continues: “I’m looking forward to developing the hospital. I’m currently in the process of putting together an in-house training programme for junior doctors at the hospital.”

The Open Rehabilitation unit at Middleton St George Hospital has been selected for the AIMS project (Accreditation for Acute in-patient services) in conjunction with the Royal College of Psychiatry, Royal College of Occupational Therapy and Royal College of Nursing. It is one of 16 Units in the UK, chosen to participate in the project, which begins in December.

Dr Kamlana is married with two children. His son is a doctor and his daughter is a pharmacist. He lives with his wife in the local area.

ENDS

For more information contact Emily Fozard or Yvonne Reay on 0113 306 0000.

Mental health experts back calls for single-sex wards

1 February 2007

Women on female-only wards are much more likely to recover quicker, according to Manchester-based mental health experts.

Doctors and health professionals at Cheadle Royal Hospital, run by Affinity Healthcare, have provided single-sex mental health accommodation since 2003.

The Government this week has been accused of failing to meet a promise to scrap mixed-sex wards in NHS Hospitals.

Cheadle Royal Hospital director Ian McComiskie said: “Our experience shows that treating and caring for women and men in gender specific units accelerates their recovery. They feel less intimidated, safer and calmer and are more likely to respond to their treatment programme.

Here at Affinity we believe that mental health care is about caring for the individual, ensuring they feel safe and secure. This cannot be done in a ward environment where they feel intimidated and threatened. It is vital, therefore, that mental health services provide dedicated single-sex accommodation for adults.

ENDS

For more information contact Emily Fozard or Yvonne Reay on 0113 306 0000

Notes to Editors:

Affinity Healthcare has 200 years of experience and expertise in mental health and runs Middleton St George Hospital near Darlington and Cheadle Royal Hospital in Cheshire. Most of its patients are from the NHS, and Affinity works closely with the NHS in providing and developing high quality, specialist mental health services.

Services include:

• Psychiatric Intensive Care (gender specific)
• Rehabilitation and Recovery Services
• Drugs & Alcohol Detoxification
• Eating Disorders Service
• Mental Health Service for Healthcare and other Professionals
• Female Secure Complex Care
• Young People's Service
• Primary Care Therapy Services

www.affinityhealth.co.uk

Cheadle Royal Hospital launches ‘The Meadows’ - the first low secure mental health unit for adolescents in the North West

27 March 2007

Cheadle Royal Hospital in Cheshire is opening a new state-of-the-art mental health unit specifically for young people, as part of ongoing developments at the site.

Affinity Healthcare, which operates the hospital, has recognised the need for services dedicated to young people with severe mental health problems and has commissioned a Low Secure Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) at its Cheadle site.

The new unit for young people aged 13 to 18 will be named ‘The Meadows’ and will be the only service of its kind in the North West, offering both low secure and psychiatric intensive care for NHS patients. The unit will make a huge difference to North West young people and their families who would previously have had to travel to Wolverhampton or Middlesbrough to access a similar service. However, as such services are in demand nationally, it is also expected that referrals will come from throughout the UK and possibly also from Ireland.

Gaps in children’s mental health service

Children’s commissioner Professor Al Aynsley-Green highlighted recently that there are still major gaps in inpatient mental health services within the UK for young people, emphasising that national targets around the availability of inpatient beds for young people are not being met. He particularly drew attention to the inappropriateness of placing 16 and 17 year olds on adult wards.

Consultant Adolescent Psychiatrist, Dr David Kingsley, said: “Here at Affinity we have recognised how important it is to provide adolescent-specific mental health services. When young people develop severe mental health difficulties it causes them and their families, great distress. They deserve to be able to access the specialist services that they need, provided by adolescent-trained mental health staff and teachers, in a well-equipped and homely environment which is as close to their home locality as possible.”

Dr Kingsley continued: “As we all know, adolescence is a difficult enough time for young people who are working out their identity and finding their place in the world. However, their problems are intensified if they have a mental health problem, so it’s vital that they get the appropriate treatment. Over recent years mental health services for young people have improved considerably, but there are still some important gaps, especially for young people with the most severe mental health difficulties that may place them at serious risk to themselves or others.”

Affinity Healthcare believes that many young people suffering from problems such as severe self-harming behaviour, anxiety, depression, eating disorders, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia are still being inappropriately placed on adult psychiatric wards or paediatric wards at other hospitals.

Dr Kingsley added: “This is a major problem, as adult wards are not geared up to provide the evidence-based treatments, such as individual psychological therapies and family therapy that these young people need. There is often no educational provision and adult wards are not staffed by clinicians with specialist experience of working with young people and families.

“Moreover, adult psychiatric wards can be frightening places, where young people may be exposed to violent and disturbed adults. Some adult patients may actually pose a significant risk to young people.”

Expanding young people’s services at Affinity Healthcare

The Meadows will be the first service of its kind in the North West. It will provide 12 beds for patients between the ages of 13 and 18 and will be staffed by a specialist multidisciplinary team, led by consultants Dr David Kingsley and Dr Louise Ementon-Shaw.

Patients admitted to the PICU will include young people with severe mental health difficulties who present challenging behaviours which seriously compromise their well-being and/or that of others around them and who require a period of treatment rehabilitation within a secure environment. It will complement the hospital’s existing open adolescent unit, the ‘Orchard’ Unit, providing continuous care across the two units.

Hospital Director, Ian McComiskie, said: “We’re pleased to be able to expand our range of services and at the same time give a boost to the local economy. The Meadows will provide a full low secure treatment pathway for young people and will complement our existing young people’s services on the campus. Our experience shows that treating and caring for young people in specialist adolescent specific units accelerates their recovery. They feel less intimidated, safer and calmer and are more likely to respond to their treatment programme.

“NHS adolescent inpatient services do exist,” said Ian, “But they are often over-stretched. However, where NHS beds are scarce, the independent sector has stepped in to fill the gap in partnership with the NHS.

“In Manchester, for example, after many years of inadequate inpatient provision, the Orchard Young People’s Unit at Cheadle Royal Hospital has provided almost half of the NHS-funded inpatient open adolescent beds within the city since 2004.

“The NHS now commissions placements on Orchard to provide inpatient beds for 16 and 17 year olds who need mental health admissions across the city, avoiding inappropriate admissions to adult or paediatric wards. The unit also takes young people aged 13 - 18 from other areas in the North West and further afield, where inpatient adolescent beds are scarce and the local NHS is prepared to fund a placement at the Cheadle service”.

“However, some areas in the North West are still placing under 18s in adult beds contrary to national guidelines because local NHS commissioners will not fund placements in a specialist adolescent service such as ours,” warned Ian.

ENDS

Further information:

Emily Fozard or Yvonne Reay on 0113 3060000 or 07775576499

Notes to Editors:

Affinity Healthcare has 200 years of experience and expertise in mental health and runs Middleton St George Hospital near Darlington and Cheadle Royal Hospital in Cheshire. Most of its patients are from the NHS, and Affinity works closely with the NHS in providing and developing high quality, specialist mental health services.

Services include:

• Psychiatric Intensive Care (gender specific)
• Rehabilitation and Recovery Services
• Drugs & Alcohol Detoxification
• Eating Disorders Service
• Mental Health Service for Healthcare and other Professionals
• Female Secure Complex Care
• Young People's Service
• Primary Care Therapy Services

www.affinityhealth.co.uk

Nick bounces back from depression with hospital art exhibition

3 April 2007

Fresh back from a family holiday, you would normally be on top of the world. But for Nick Bellamy, of Stalybridge, nr Manchester, it was the lowest point of his life - 16 months ago

He didn’t know it then, but he was suffering from a form of mental illness - bi polar disorder (or manic depression as it is commonly called).

On hitting rock bottom, Nick was referred to Cheadle Royal Hospital in Manchester to be assessed. Run by Affinity Healthcare, Cheadle Royal Hospital specialises in treating NHS patients who are mentally ill.

His dramatic recovery has led him to start painting again - something which he had lost sight of over the years of depression. Working in the design industry, Nick had always had a creative flair, but never had the confidence and drive to take it further.

“I’ve now taken up painting quite seriously, and am planning to take up Italian and Yoga - all things I wouldn’t ever have had the confidence to do. My treatment at Cheadle Royal has fundamentally changed me,” he remarked.

Wanting to give something positive back to the organisation which treated him, Nick has put together a series of paintings entitled ‘Mood Changes’ and Nick is displaying the paintings at Cheadle Royal Hospital this month.

He has also created a book describing his illness, treatment and the thinking behind the artwork. These will also be available to view at the hospital.

“I hope my paintings, which are very abstract in composition, will give all viewers a sense of my journey towards positivity, creativity and a sense of self-worth, which I must admit is a fantastic feeling. I want my art to mean different things to different people - maybe even change some people’s moods for the better,” said Nick.

“I came out of it completely revitalised and I couldn’t have done it without the staff at Cheadle Royal and the medical regime they put me on,” said Nick.

ENDS

Further information:

Yvonne Reay or Emily Fozard on 0113 3060000 or 07775576488