AQuA Lived Experience Affiliate Starts Nursing Training

The Advancing Quality Alliance (AQuA) is delighted to share news that Carl O’Loughlin, one of our Lived Experience Affiliates, will be taking his first step into nursing as he begins his training to become a Mental Health nurse at the University of Chester in February 2018.

Carl O'Loughlin, Lived Experience Affiliate

Carl, who started his career training to be a Chartered Accountant, has worked alongside our staff and members for a number of years, to help design our programmes and offers, and ensure patient experience is at the heart of our work. To support him during his studies, Carl has also been awarded one of the prestigious Margaret Parkinson Scholarship’s from the Royal College of Nursing Foundation.

Speaking on the news, Carl said:

“I am absolutely delighted to have been offered a place to begin my Mental Health Nursing degree. I am passionate about mental health care and I want to use my own personal lived experience of severe mental illness to try and make a difference to others suffering similar problems.

“My 'lived experience' roles at the Advancing Quality Alliance, Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and CLARCH North West Coast have provided me with invaluable experience and have certainly been the driving force behind me wanting to become a mental health nurse.

“I am also extremely proud and honoured to have been awarded a Margaret Parkinson Scholarship from the Royal College of Nursing Foundation which will support me throughout the 3 years of the course.”

Paul Greenwood, Mental Health Improvement Advisor, said:

“We’re really pleased for Carl and wish him all the best as he takes his first step into nursing. It is a pleasure to work alongside him as part of our Lived Experience Panel as he brings such a wealth of experience to our work, both from his previous career as an accountant and through his own personal experience of mental health.

“We’re delighted that the work with us inspired him to take this decision, and I know he’ll have a lot to offer when he qualifies in the years to come.”

Carl will continue to work with us through the Lived Experience Panel throughout his training. To find out more about the panel, please visit our website, or contact Paul.Greenwood@srft.nhs.uk.

AQuA Staff become Dementia Friends

AQuA Staff with Dementia Friends pledge cards.

The Advancing Quality Alliance (AQuA) was delighted to welcome volunteers from the Alzheimer’s Society, to deliver a series of Dementia Friends Information Sessions to increase staff awareness of the disease.

Taking place ahead of Dementia Awareness Week 2016, these sessions form part of the Alzheimer’s Society national campaign to create dementia-friendly communities and confront misconceptions. Leading the training was Sheelagh Machin, one of AQuA’s Lived Experience Affiliates and volunteer for the Alzheimer’s Society.

During the sessions, staff took part in talks and discussions about the disease to help understand the condition better, and dispel some of the stigma and myths associated with dementia. Staff were also encouraged to become Dementia Friends by pledging to raise awareness amongst friends, family and other colleagues.

Sheelagh also spoke about her own personal experience of caring for both of her parents who were diagnosed with dementia.

AQuA Director Elizabeth Bradbury said: “Our session was an hour well spent. We really connected with the topic of dementia, and what this means for each one of us personally, particularly with many staff touching on their own experiences of the condition.”

“It also gave us the chance to think about our professional roles supporting dementia, and reflect on the implications for some of our work with AQuA members.”

With 35 staff now trained as Dementia Friends, all staff thoroughly enjoyed taking part in the training and learning more about dementia.  AQuA also welcomed the chance to take our first step towards becoming a dementia friendly organisation.