Luton PCT ... Workforce innovation gives food for thought
A surprising large number of local children from some BME communities in Luton were requiring hospital treatment for deformed palettes and gastro-intestinal infection. Realising that continued bottle-feeding, sometimes past school entry age, was causing the problem, local health visitors began health education work.
'It had virtually no impact,' recalls Ian Winstanley, Luton PCT's chief operating officer. 'We were not reaching the mothers and grandmothers we needed to reach in those communities.
'So a white nurse consultant who has worked in Pakistan was asked her to recruit specifically among mothers who did not have English as a first language and who lived in the affected communities. We designed an Open College Network (OCN) course, delivered in the appropriate languages, that helped them understand how the NHS works and which gave them appropriate qualifications and the ability to speak with authority. After another OCN course on weaning and feeding, they took both the messages and practical weaning solutions into their communities.
'These staff are listened to by the community's matriarchs and have delivered phenomenal results. Only when they began working did we realise the scale of the problem. The incidence of deformed pallets has fallen dramatically. The GPs are delighted. Self-referral is high because people feel comfortable with the service.
'There are six staff employed now in this way. They are progressing up the career ladder. We are very proud of them. It's been a wake up call to us: without the right staff, it can be impossible to get services right.'