One year ago, news broke that two long-serving counsellors had resigned from their posts at The Hamar Centre, which provides care for patients suffering from life-threatening or life limiting illnesses.
The resignations led the Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust, which runs the centre, to strengthen services by holding a number of workshops to listen to the views of its users, carers and their families.
It was this feedback which has prompted a host of changes, including the launch of two new group therapy sessions and a drop-in session for individuals who have been given a diagnosis or who are undergoing treatments.
Pauline at work in the centre
Hannah Roy, the Hamar Centre’s foundation trust membership and engagement manager, told the Chronicle client’s views were paramount to ensure the centre continued to meet the needs of its users, ranging from 16 years to old age.
She said: “We drew up a satisfaction survey for clients which will be ongoing and which was started in late December. It will be carried on so we can always make sure that we’re still meeting the needs of our current clients.
“The survey showed that a lot of the patients had been with the Hamar Centre for two years or more. They answered questions such as: Were you treated with dignity and respect? What improvements could be made to the service? Of all the people who said there could be improvements, most was to do with parking at the centre and we’re looking to see whether we can make parking easier for patients.”
The survey showed that over a two month period, 96 per cent of the 46 clients who took part rated the services which the centre provides as excellent or good, and said they would recommend it to family and friends.
Over the past year, centre bosses have seen an increase in the number of people accessing its services including individual counselling, group activities such as art therapy sessions and individual therapies such as aromatherapy, reiki and reflexology.
And this month sees the launch of men and women group therapy sessions designed to open up discussion on personal issues in a group environment, led by a qualified registered member of the psychotherapy team.
The group is intended for those who have completed treatment or who are living with an ongoing medical condition and who feel they have some unresolved psychological issues.
The Hamar Centre has two full-time counsellors/therapists, one part-time counsellor and two qualified and registered volunteer counsellors both with supervisors.
Hannah said the current waiting time to see a counsellor was usually less than a fortnight, but if someone comes in distressed that person can be seen straight away providing there is a counsellor free.
“The majority of our patients are being seen within one week, but definitely within two weeks,” said Hannah.
“The Hamar Centre is tailored to clients’ needs so therapy isn’t time limited.
“When we reviewed the service we actually increased the number of counselling hours by creating a new full-time role which replaced the individual counsellors who did a few days a week.
“We also visit clients on the wards if there is someone too ill to come to us, and we’re quite happy to do this.
“We’re a very close knit team and feedback from our current clients is extremely helpful and is used to monitor how our service is doing and what improvements we can make.”
Arts psychotherapist Pauline Forde added that the volunteer staff are also ‘vital’ to the team especially in their role in meeting and greeting the clients.
She stressed that if at any point clients suffer a relapse after receiving counselling, the door is always open for them to return.
The centre is also introducing a regular focus group to ensure the feedback and the development of the centre continues to work effectively.
Anyone who would like to visit the centre, open 9am-5pm Mondays to Fridays, should contact Hannah Roy on 01743 261000 ext 3805, or email hannah.roy@sath.nhs.uk
By Charlotte Hester