We want to make a positive difference in people’s lives, and are proud that our inspectors have rated our caring as ‘good’. We are committed to bringing our values to life in the way we care for people in our services. We try to do that in a number of ways:
Our Trust strategy outlines our clinical ambition, which is that our services will:
- Be based on the best clinical evidence
- Be designed in consultation with our colleagues and people who use our services.
Our clinical model will:
- Be person centred, seek to prevent ill health and support our patients beyond periods of acute illness
- Involve people who use our services in designing their care and treatment, to meet personal goals throughout their lives
- Provide care at home or in the community where possible, through a partnership approach to promote individual and community resilience
- Ensure any admission to hospital is within Derbyshire where possible and kept to the shortest effective period of time
- Be compassionate and take account of trauma informed practice.
Care Programme Approach
For many of our service users, we follow the Care Programme Approach (CPA). This approach makes sure that you get a package of care, covering both your health and social care needs. You get a care plan which is overseen by a care co-ordinator.
To make sure we use the Care Programme Approach effectively, we have established a set of standards that we will follow. We call these our Core Care Standards, and they are underpinned by a set of principles called our Core Care Principles. Learn more about these:
Everyone has the right to receive high quality care that is safe, effective and respects their privacy and dignity.
Same-sex accommodation
We are committed to providing every patient with same-sex accommodation, because it helps to safeguard their privacy and dignity when they are often at their most vulnerable.
People who are admitted to any of our hospitals will only share the room where they sleep with members of the same sex, and same-sex toilets and bathrooms will be close to their bed area. Sharing with members of the opposite sex will only happen in exceptional circumstances, based on clinical need – for example, when someone needs specialist therapies or equipment such as Electro Convulsive Therapy (ECT) or when they choose to share (for instance in our day hospitals.)
Mixed-sex accommodation has been virtually eliminated in our Trust. See our declaration of compliance. What does this mean for patients?
Other than in the circumstances set out above, patients admitted to Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust can expect to find the following:
Same-sex accommodation means:
- The room where your bed is will only have patients of the same sex as you
- Your toilet and bathroom will be just for your gender, and will be close to your bed area.
It is possible that there will be both men and women patients on the ward, but they will not share sleeping areas. Patients may have to cross a ward corridor to reach their bathroom, but will not have to walk through opposite-sex areas.
Communal spaces may be shared, such as day rooms or dining rooms.
It is possible that visitors of the opposite gender will go into the bedrooms, and this may include patients visiting each other.
It is almost certain that both male and female nurses, doctors and other staff will go into the bedroom area.
If help is needed to use the toilet or take a bath (for example, a hoist or special bath is required) then you may be taken to a “unisex” bathroom used by both men and women. If that happens, a member of staff will always accompany you, and other patients will not be in the bathroom at the same time.
The NHS will not turn patients away because a “right-sex” bed is not immediately available.
We are committed to ensuring that the confidential information of the people we serve remains safe at all times. Learn more about how we do this on our data security page.
We are committed to ensuring that we play our part in preventing the spread of infection.
We design our buildings with infection control principles central to the role they will play, and ensure we equip our staff to meet the highest standards.
We have a strong record of keeping our staff up to date, through regular training and practice development, and we use the latest knowledge and research when we plan our approach.
We respond quickly when we identify a possible infection in those in our care, and then work proactively to ensure the minimum impact to those who use our services.
Read more about our track record on infection control in our latest annual report.
Staff, service users and visitors are not allowed to smoke tobacco on our sites – including on our wards, grounds and vehicles and during home visits. This is in line with national NICE guidance.
We ask that, if you have a home visit from one of our doctors or nurses, you consider and respect the impact smoking has on their health and provide a smoke-free room for the visit. As smoke can stay in the air for some time, even with a window open, we also ask that you do not smoke for up to one hour before an appointment.
Why has the Trust gone smoke-free?
- Smoking is the main cause of premature death in the UK, claiming the lives of around 100,000 people every year. Smoking also contributes to many preventable illnesses and hospital admissions for heart attacks, strokes, breathing problems and cancers. In Derbyshire, smoking remains the most preventable cause of premature death, ill health and health inequality
- Research shows that breathing in someone else’s cigarette smoke (passive smoking or second-hand smoking) can increase your risk of cancer and other health problems
- People with severe mental health problems such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are three times more likely to be nicotine dependent than others. As a result, they on average tend to die earlier than the general population
- For people with a mental health condition, the smoke in cigarettes and cigars reduces the effectiveness of some types of medication – meaning larger doses are required to reach a similar therapeutic effect compared to that of a non-smoker
- National guidance recommends that all hospital sites should be free from smoke.
Learn more by watching our short video.
What support will be available to me?
We understand that becoming a smoke-free Trust will have an impact on some of the people who use our services. To help people who do smoke to stop smoking for a period of time, or quit for good, our staff will be there to support you every step of the way. They will also identify a stop-smoking care plan which includes alternatives that works best for the individual.
- We are providing training to our doctors and nurses so they are equipped to offer personalised advice and support to smokers on stopping smoking and nicotine withdrawal.
- A full package of support is also available to anyone admitted onto one of the Trust’s mental health inpatient wards. This includes a range of nicotine replacement therapies (NRT), such as patches, gum, lozenges and inhalators, to help you cope with any cravings.
- We also want all patients on our mental health wards to benefit from extra activities to assist with their recovery. This will be possible because our nurses will have more time to spend with patients rather than going on ‘smoke-runs’.
Do you allow e-cigarettes in your hospitals?
We are continually listening to feedback from service users, carers and staff, and looking for new and innovative ways to help people to stop smoking. We are considering all alternatives that are currently marketed in place of cigarettes, in order to support this approach.
On our campus (hospital) sites, we are currently trialling the use of a form of disposable e-cigarettes, called 'e-burns'. These do not need charging and are therefore safer than many e-cigarettes. They can be used with NRT.
Service users on our Campus sites who smoke will be given one e-burn when they are admitted, equivalent to 30-35 cigarettes. A member of staff will explain where e-burns can be used. Service users will be able to purchase more e-burns if needed, while being supported through other forms of NRT. The e-burns are not for sale for carers at this point – only service users. The price of each e-burn is £2.50; in comparison, one packet of 20 cigarettes costs approximately £9.50.
We do not currently allow the use of other forms of e-cigarettes.
Learn more about our commitment to equality and diversity on our equality and diversity page.
Our core care standards
Learn more about our Core Care Standards and our Core Care Principles.
