1. In January, HRH The Princess Royal was
welcomed by Hft and Bradford Teaching
Hospitals to celebrate the success of
our supported employment initiative –
Project SEARCH.
The Princess learnt about the employment training and
mentoring that we provide over the course of an academic
school year for people with learning disabilities. The most
recent graduates have been gaining experience in a number
of different roles including portering, maintenance, and A&E
at the hospital.
HRH was introduced to some of our current and former
interns, supporters and family members and listened to their
positive experiences of Project Search, which has a 70%
employment rate after graduation.
The Princess gave an address to over 150 guests
emphasising the importance of supported employment
as a way of helping the people we support to improve
their self-esteem, learn new skills and realise their potential,
while earning a wage.
Andrew Horner, Regional Manager – Bradford, said:
“We are delighted that the Princess, who is a dedicated
Hft Patron with a longstanding interest in improving the
lives of people with learning disabilities, was able to join
our celebratory reception.”
Fusion belongs to you!
It’s a great way to share your news and stories.
Tell us your news at communication@hft.org.uk
SHRPPA project :
The
latest
Project SEARCH
is given the Royal nod
Partnership Forum
First national meeting of 2015
Diversity placements
reap rewards
Read more on page 2
March 2015, Issue 19
Newsletter for Hft employees
Find out more on page 3
Read more on page 3
The Princess Royal with Aneesa, a person we support from Bradford

2. from Robert Longley-Cook
Update
2
March 2015, Issue 19
seconds
As we reach the end of the financial year, our budgeting
process brings the financial challenges of the next
year into sharp focus. When we combine this with a
general election, I’m very mindful of the changes a new
Government may bring around social care funding and
policy and how we can prepare for these.
As many of you will be aware, restructuring is underway in
a number of our services to introduce a Registered Cluster
Manager role. This will respond to new requirements from the
Care Quality Commission (CQC) and help address some of
our financial pressures. Service redesign is unavoidable in the
current climate and inevitably causes significant disruption and
unease amongst teams, but it is essential to ensure we have
the best organisational structures in place to deliver Fusion
effectively across our services.
The importance of working collaboratively with partners
will be critical moving forward. In January we welcomed HRH
The Princess Royal to Bradford to mark our involvement as
a key partner in Project SEARCH. Our support from HRH is
much valued and provides the opportunity to celebrate some
of our successes. On that note, it’s not long until we launch the
2015 Fusion Awards. More than ever I want to keep recognising
all of the good work that is taking place across our services so
let’s see if we can beat the 131 nominations we received from
staff last year.
Robert
with Stephen Shepherd
Stephen Shepherd is a Support
Worker from London, a Partnership
Forum Representative and leader
of Choir Unlimited.
On life before Hft: I’ve had many different
jobs, including labouring, painting and security,
but I spent most of my life working in grounds
maintenance before joining Hft. I’ve volunteered
ever since leaving school, and have taught
sports to disabled adults.
On life outside of Hft: I enjoy the simple
things in life. I value any quality time I spend
with my wife, daughter and my wider family.
Music is one of my greatest passions; I sing,
write lyrics and perform whenever I have the
chance – it’s a real thrill.
On Pride: I’m a proud parent, but I’m also
very pleased that I started Choir Unlimited.
It’s an inclusive community choir for the
people we support and others with a learning
disability. We perform to lots of different
audiences, and it’s a great way for the people
we support to make friends and work together
– it’s a fulfilling achievement.
On the ideal dinner guest: Lord Andrew
Lloyd Webber. He has written the scores for
many of the world’s most successful musicals
and it would be interesting and educational
to spend time with someone who has been
so influential.
Sea View Manor, a supported living service in Kent, was
recently awarded £400 after hosting a series of successful
diversity placements with trainee Police Officers.
The Chief Constables Property Fund is given out to local
charities, and Hft was selected because of the valuable
experiences it provides officers who want to gain an
understanding of learning disabilities in the community.
The service has been
hosting these placements
for nearly four years, and
since September, six
officers have completed
two or four day
assignments shadowing
support workers.
In January, after the award
announcement, Kent Police
visited Sea View Manor
where they presented the
cheque to residents Tim, John,
Jerry and Support Worker, Nicky Bonfield.
Nicky said: “These diversity placements have been very
beneficial to the Police as well as our service, and this is
a greatly appreciated surprise. It’s wonderful that the
Police are invested in supporting different communities,
and have enjoyed their time at Sea View Manor. We hope
this positive relationship with the Police continues.”
Diversity placements
reap rewards
Trainee Police Officer John
Woodward and Ben, a person
we support

3. 3
The SHRPPA
project is moving
forward into 2015
The National Partnership
Forum meeting took place
at Head Office in January.
This Forum is made up of members of
elected staff from all over the organisation
who reflect the views of their colleagues –
to help inform decision making regionally,
locally and nationally.
Remember that Partnership Forum
representatives are there to make sure that
your voice is heard.
If you don’t know who your Partnership
Forum rep is, you can find out from your
line manager or via the Partnership Forum
page on The Hub.
During the January meeting the
Forum discussed the current financial
position of Hft, the restructuring of some
operational elected teams and the
implementation of SHRPPA.
Michelle Ewing, Partnership Forum Lead
said: “It was a productive meeting, and
we hope that the breadth of skills and
expertise across the Forum will lead to
even better partnership working, greater
communication and informed decision
making across Hft throughout the next
financial year and beyond.”
Meeting notes are available on the
Partnership Forum section on The Hub.
Update from the Partnership Forum
The Fusion
Awards
are coming...
The SHRPPA Project is
making good progress and
over the next few months the
team will support the chosen
provider to set up the system
for Hft.
The coming changes will see SHRPPA
payroll and some HR functions being
implemented during May and June. So it’s
really not long until we start to see some
of the benefits this new system will bring!
Until that time the team will be building and
testing the new system to ensure it is set up
correctly and meets everyone’s needs.
The next big step will be to roll out the
system for Operations and HR – starting
with the pilot site in August.
We’re running a pilot so that we can all be
confident that when the system is rolled out
into each Division, it will be in good working
order and will allow you to be up and running
from day one after training.
The South West has been selected as the
pilot site due to the diversity of services it
provides. Once this has been successfully
piloted, the project team will then roll the
system out to all other areas, Division by
Division with the aim of completing this
process by the end of 2015.
Look out for more updates on the
project soon!
Members of the Partnership Forum
Meeting with Robert Longley-Cook
Last year, we celebrated
the first ever Fusion Awards
– and we are delighted to
announce that the Fusion
Awards will return later
this year.
All around the country, you are doing
remarkable things that demonstrate
how each segment of the Fusion Model
helps the people we support to live
more fulfilled lives.
We want to highlight the work you do
which goes above and beyond your day
job to bring the Fusion Model to life.
Check out the Fusion Awards section
on The Hub which explains what we
are looking for, and keep an eye out
for details about how you can apply or
nominate for this years awards shortly.
You can also watch videos of the 2014
winners and nominees, and see photo-
graphs of last year’s event.
You have the chance to show the whole
organisation the creative ways in which
you are supporting people – good luck
with your nomination!

4. 4
FUSION is printed on recycled paper
March 2015, Issue 19
The Family Carer Support Service (FCSS) is working on a
brand new resource to help families and individuals navigate
the Care Act 2014.
The Care Act will come into force in April 2015, and the
‘Guide to the Care Act for family carers’ will be helpful to staff
too as the new law will affect the ways in which we support
people and their family carers.
The Care Act has a stronger emphasis on
personalisation than any previous law, and family
carers are given ‘parity of esteem’ – they are treated
equally in law to the person they support.
Rhianon Gale, FCSS Manager, said: “We know
that many family carers don’t get the support they need and are
entitled to; it is important that as staff, we take every opportunity
to let family carers and individuals know what their strengthened
rights are and how to get support to help them and their relative
to live fulfilled lives.”
Staff and family carers are welcome to contact the FCSS
about the Care Act or any other issue on 0117 906 1751.
The team will provide further updates once the ‘Guide to the
Care Act for family carers’ is published.
Spotlight on:
The FCSS
The Gloucestershire Domiciliary
Care Agency (DCA) was rated
overall as ‘Good’ by the Care
Quality Commission (CQC) with
an ‘Outstanding’ rating in the
Caring category.
The CQC report highly praises the
commitment of staff in providing
personalised support to individuals.
David Hansen, Divisional Director for
Central West said: “Hft is extremely
proud of the recent CQC report for
our services in Morton-in-Marsh,
which highlights the professionalism
of the team, led by Judy Guest, who
deliver great services to the people
we support there.”
Here are a few comments taken
from the report:
We won the Technology Award and were
commended in the ‘Personalisation’
category of the ‘Lancashire’s Got Talent’
Awards! The event was to celebrate
excellence and good practice in these fields
along with innovation, community, wellbeing
and partnership working.
As these accolades are awarded by
commissioners, Sarah Weston, Innovation
Manager, was keen to stress how important
they are:
She said: “This recognition reflects that
Lancashire County Council understand
how PT can really enhance the lives of the
people we support and how impressed they
were by some of the work we have delivered
in the Lancashire area and the innovative
solutions that our team have put in place.
It’s fantastic to see the hard work of the PT
team recognised in this way.”
“The culture of this service put people at
the centre of everything that was done”
“People told us with pride about the
paid work they were doing, the new
skills they had learned and the
important relationships they had
with other people”
“Staff spoke about people in a positive
and respectful way. They showed pride
and joy in people’s achievements and
were fully supportive of helping people
achieve what was important to them”
Great CQC
results in
Worcestershire
The results are in and we want to offer a big congratulations to
everyone in the Worcestershire area and particularly those staff
providing support to people in their own homes in Morton-in-Marsh.
Personalised technology (PT)
was given the thumbs-up by
Lancashire County Council
recently when we were recognised
by their commissioning services.
PT scoop
innovation award
Vince Scaife, PT Co-ordinator, collecting
awards from Lancashire County Council