HPFT colleague successful in securing one of eight national HOPE(S) Specialist Practitioner roles
15 Mar 22
Craig Wiseman, Modern Matron for Dove Ward has been successful in securing a secondment as one of only eight national HOPE(S) Specialist Practitioner roles in England.
The HOPE(S) model is a human rights based approach to working with individuals in segregation developed from research and clinical practice. The clinical model developed by Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust reduces the use of long-term segregation (LTS) sometimes experienced by autistic adults, adults with a learning disability and children and young people. NHS England and NHS Improvement are funding the roll-out of this model across services in England.
The HOPE(S) clinical model has a positive approach to supporting people in long-term segregation. The model describes:
- It encourages teams to Harness the system through key attachments and partnerships
- Create Opportunities for positive behaviours, meaningful and physical activities
- Identify Protective and preventative risk and clinical management strategies
- Build interventions to Enhance the coping skills of both staff and people in services
- Whilst engaging in these tasks clinical teams and the System needs to be managed and developed to provide support throughout all stages of the approach.
Craig’s role as a Specialist Practitioner involves working with a small team across England who will be supporting and providing guidance for teams and NHS Trusts specifically in the East of England that are facing challenges around the use of long-term segregation and restrictive practice. This can involve looking at the volume of LTS frameworks organisations have in place, re-integration challenges, support for staff, educating about human rights and how staff and organisations are able to manage risk and maintain these rights for the service user, with the attitude that the person will be proactively re-integrated with at the earliest and safest opportunity.
“I applied for this role as I have always had a passion for reducing restrictive practice and maintaining the human rights of people with learning disabilities. Over the last three years our learning disability inpatient services have worked hard to reduce the use of restrictive practice using the principles of the HOPE(S) model. Our Assessment and Treatment unit reduced the use of seclusion by 60% across 2019 and 2020, promoting a much more proactive hands-off approach to managing and supporting our service user with their behaviours of concern.
“I have been part of the Restraint Reduction Network for the past five years and have met some incredible people with lived experiences including Ajibola Lewis, mother of Seni Lewis, a young gentleman who died under restraint from police within a London mental health unit. Ajibola has pushed for change and has been the main driver in the development of the Use of Force Act 2018 in mental health units. There have been many others and they have inspired me alongside the passion from HPFT to be part of something new and positive in reducing restrictive practice.
“I am not blind to the fact that there are occasions where restrictive practices such as restraint and long-term segregation is needed to maintain safety, but how do we maintain the human rights of the people we care for when we use this practice.
“One quote that has always stuck with me from The Restraint Reduction Network Conference in 2019 is “Beneath every behaviour is a feeling, beneath every feeling is a need and when we meet that need rather than focus on the behaviour we begin to deal with the cause and not the symptom”.”
Whilst Craig is seconded to Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust, he will keep close contact with HPFT. Returning for the quarterly Restrictive Practice Committee meetings, Craig will provide learning, reflection and guidance based on the professional experiences he will gain as a HOPE(S) Specialist Practitioner. This will allow Craig to share the most up to date legislation and national trends of Restrictive Practice Reduction.
Jacky Vincent, Director of Quality and Safety (Chief Nurse) said:
“I’m really pleased for Craig and his achievement. This is a significant step to support on our ongoing development in ensuring the least restrictive practice, and in particular Long Term Segregation (LTS). With Craig’s learning, knowledge, skill and experience through his secondment, we will be able to continue to develop our practice and service user experience, providing safe and effective care.”