We are currently experiencing disruption with some of our Phlebotomy (blood test) services in Barking and Dagenham and Havering. As such, this will affect our services on the 19 July.at Cranham Health Centre and Thames View Health Centre.

Thousands more school children and young people in Kent could benefit from the innovative mental health support team’s initiative that is being rolled-out nationally to help support young people’s emotional wellbeing and mental health in schools.

The Brighter Futures, Healthy Families 0-19 Service have worked in partnership with Dilkes Academy to develop a universal healthy lifestyle programme for primary school aged children. As part of this, representatives from education, public health, and NELFT attended the launch of the 'physical activity' mission at Dilkes Academy on Monday 8 July and joined children, parents and school staff in their ‘Mount Everest Expedition’.

NELFT was recognised on the NIHR league table amongst other London Trusts, for offering pioneering studies for record numbers of NHS patients that are being enrolled for clinical trials.

Last Saturday (6 July) saw colleagues from across NELFT come together to celebrate the annual Pride in London parade, marching side-by-side with our LGBT+ colleagues and allies to celebrate pride and diversity in London.

Health Information Week 2019 starts on Monday 1 July and our Aubrey Keep Library and Knowledge services team are marking the week with a series of events

One of our Pressure Ulcer groups, who have been working together on a number of 'Stop The Pressure' pressure ulcer prevention campaigns, have been shortlisted for the 'Innovation in Chronic Wound Management' award at the 2019 Nursing Times Awards

Last Saturday (15 June) saw the annual Essex Pride celebration and Team NELFT were there to celebrate, along with raising awareness of our services in Essex and our current job opportunities

This weekend saw the annual Pride in London parade, a celebration of diverse culture in London. In our latest NELFT talks blog, Carolyn Doyle reflects on the wonderful colourful life the NHS encompasses.

This week I was lucky enough to be invited to talk with a group of non-executive directors from trusts across the country as part of NHS Improvement and NHS England's Aspirant Chairs Programme. As well as an opportunity to support colleagues across the NHS who would like to become chairs in the future, it was also a chance to reflect on my own journey.

September 1999 saw Nicola Ellsmore join the NHS as a trainee physiotherapist. Now, almost 20 years on and working as a stroke and neurology manager, Nicola gives us an insight into a day in the life of her role and why she chose this career.

This year sees the learning disability branch of nursing celebrate 100 years. As we celebrate this milestone Stephanie Dawe, our chief nurse, talks about the importance of maintaining this workforce through student placements, as well as applauding and showing our own appreciation to all learning disability nurses currently working within NELFT.

In our recent NELFT Talks blog Dr Ranjot Bhogal, a chartered clinical psychologist working with our Redbridge Talking Therapies service, shares her story of her families' experiences with mental illness. Dr Bhogal also shares her views on the similarities and differences in the presentation of mental ill-health within the Eastern and Western communities.

For Dying Matters week Carolyn Doyle, senior programme lead for the Waltham Forest End of Life Care service, kindly shares her story of how she supported her friend Nell, who was dying from bowel cancer, through "end of life".

If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this blog, or you would like to get in touch with one of our end of life care teams, please contact your local team using the details in the blog

Following my last blog post discussing our NELFT staff networks and the support we have put in place for our staff, I thought it only fitting to write about our staff reward and recognition scheme and our end of year staff celebration.

As part of Eating Disorders Awareness Week, one of our patients has bravely shared her story on living with Anorexia Nervosa with us. 

If you would like to talk to our team about any of the issues raised in this interview, please visit https://www.nelft.nhs.uk/services-kent-medway-eating-disorders or call us on 0300 300 1980