…….. Managing The Challenge, winner of the Innovations in Parkinson’s Disease Award 

The Northern Ireland Healthcare Awards  took place last week at the Europa Hotel in Belfast. As always, the glittering gala gave healthcare professionals here the opportunity to highlight their own work and to be applauded by their peers for their achievements.

“Managing the Challenge” is a licensed self management course, funded by the Western Health and Social Services Trust, managed and delivered by Action Mental Health (AMH) and supported by the Long Term Conditions Alliance Northern Ireland (LTCANI).

Martina Blake, the Self Management Co-ordinator accepted the award for Innovations in Parkinson’s Disease.  On presenting the award the judges said,

“The applications to this category were of an excellent calibre and all demonstrated positive impact for patients with Parkinson’s disease. The winner was selected as it is a new approach to multi-disciplinary care for patients with chronic disease including Parkinson’s disease. Martina demonstrated a patient centred approach and encourages empowerment of the patient in living with, and managing, their disease. Patient feedback was excellent and one of the course trainers is a patient with PD who became a trainer after her very positive experience with the programme. The PD nurses in the Western Trust are now planning to become trainers which will further benefit the patients in the Western Trust. Our hope in awarding this project is that the benefits of this service will be recognised province wide and as a result we will see other Trusts embrace this forward thinking method and enable equality of care for all patients with PD.”

Among the attendees were members of the Health Committee, the Chief Medical Officer, Dr Michael McBride, the Chief Pharmaceutical Officer, Dr Norman Morrow and the Minister for Health, Edwin Poots, who presented Dr Morrow with a Lifetime Achievement Award.

Addressing those gathered, Mr Poots said:

 ‘You should be proud of the excellent service you provide for the people of Northern Ireland, whether or not you have received an award. I hope that you will all have been inspired to continue your good work. These awards recognise and celebrate the high standard of healthcare carried out in the province and also to encourage innovation and the translation of evidence into practice to improve the quality and safety of patient care.’

AMH New Horizons Foyle (based in Springtown) have been awarded funds through the Big Lottery and Arts Council for Northern Ireland to create a piece of art made from… books!

The funding which was made available through the “Culture for All” grants scheme is a unique opportunity for people from all over Northern Ireland to contribute a book for inclusion in the “What’s Your Story?” sofa.

The donated books will all share a link; how each book reflects our cultural heritage through the generations.

Books can be anything you remember from childhood, school or adult life and the diverse range will undoubtedly be an eclectic mix which will make it all the more interesting.

To make this happen, AMH need books, lots of books – all shapes and sizes. Everyone has books at home that just sit on a shelf or in a cupboard. Ideally the books will be beyond readable use, or alternatively something which you select because it is significant to you and you wish to have it included.

Collection points are being finalised locally and across Northern Ireland and will be made available via our website and social media channels such as Facebook and Twitter. So far collection points include:

Derry Journal office

Derry City Council offices

Eason in Foyleside

Disability Action in Derry

The Londonderry Sentinel office in the waterside

If you wish to host a collection point then they can contact Service Manager Mickie Harkin via email [email protected] for further details.

The final art piece, which has a target date of August for completion, will then be displayed in a prominent location to celebrate the City of Culture. Funding has also been secured to ensure that the piece is able to travel to several different locations outside of the City area.

The Law Society Choir, the Pro Bonos, Christmas Carol Service helped raise £2005 for Action Mental Health, the Presidents chosen charity of the year.

Mr Joe Rice, director of the Choir joined the President, Michael Robinson and Gavin McConvey, Fundraising Manager for Action Mental Health for the cheque presentation.

Many thanks to everyone involved.

SES – Supporting people with disabilities and health conditions in Northern Ireland and helping them get back into employment.

SES Supported Employment Solutions partnership is made up of seven disability organisations, with AMH as one of the lead partners, from across N Ireland who have come together to deliver the Work Connect and Workable (NI) Programmes across the Region

SES Aims to offer a Supported Employment approach in the delivery of programs to assist people with disabilities and health conditions to enter and stay in employment.

For more information please check out their new website http://www.sesni.org.uk/

Work Connect and Workable (NI) Programs are funded by the Department for Employment and Learning