Oxford's best performing trade union, supporting worker at oxford city council, fusion leisure, and
working in partnership with NHS and University branches across oxford for the benefit of all members and a greater UNISON for all.
For over 40 years Sobell House has been providing palliative care in Oxford. Having worked as a Nursing Assistant at Sobell House I have directly experienced the importance of this hospice.
Sobell House provides care to patients at home, at the day centre and in the hospice along with compassionate support for families and loved ones. Sobell House offers many services including art, music and complementary therapies. Having witnessed how having a massage and a glass of wine can really boost the mood of the patients at Sobell House I decided that I wanted to do my part to help allow these services to continue and grow.
Therefore I'll be taking part in Light the Night Oxford, a 10 mile walk at nighttime around the sights of Oxford.
Thanks for taking time to read my story and I hope you'll be able to support me in raising money for one of the best places I've ever worked at.
If you would like to support Lewis's Light the Night Oxford page please CLICK HERE
As some of you may already be aware, as the result of a burst water main on the Euston Road there was a major a flood at UNISON Centre over the weekend.
The building has been closed to staff since Monday 10 June and the earliest date it may re-open is Wednesday 19 June (although even this is not guaranteed).
The 020 7121 5623telephone number is not currently working.
UNISON Centre departments have not received any post since 7 June.
If members need to contact There for You they should do so by email to thereforyou@unison.co.uk and send any documents as attachments to the email in order for the team to be able to see them now
The UNISON Welfare casework team is currently only able to provide a limited service however are still assessing emergency grant applications at the current time.
In many ways, mental health is just like physical health: everybody has it and we need to take care of it.
Good mental health means being generally able to think, feel and react in the ways that you need and want to live your life. But if you go through a period of poor mental health you might find the ways you're frequently thinking, feeling or reacting become difficult, or even impossible, to cope with. This can feel just as bad as a physical illness, or even worse.
Mental health problems affect around one in four people in any given year. They range from common problems, such as depression and anxiety, to rarer problems such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
I now know that if I felt there was something wrong, it's because there was, but I didn't understand mental health fully... it's a spectrum and you should feel able to decide where and when you [are] on that spectrum.
Am I the only one who feels this way?
Experiencing a mental health problem is often upsetting, confusing and frightening – particularly at first. If you become unwell, you may feel that it's a sign of weakness, or that you are 'losing your mind'.
These fears are often reinforced by the negative (and often unrealistic) way that people experiencing mental health problems are shown on TV, in films and by the media. This may stop you from talking about your problems, or seeking help. This, in turn, is likely to increase your distress and sense of isolation.
However, in reality, mental health problems are a common human experience.
Most people know someone who has experienced a mental health problem. They can happen to all kinds of people from all walks of life. And it's likely that, when you find a combination of self-care, treatment and support that works for you, you will get better.
It wasn't until I had a breakdown that I felt my condition was 'serious enough' to qualify as an issue. I could have got help much earlier but I didn't because of this – it's never too early to seek advice.
Lawyers for NHS England have issued a warning that publicly raising concerns about the impact on patients of their proposal to contract out Oxford's PET-CT scanning service could result in a defamation claim.
We say we have the right and the duty to speak out and to report well-founded concerns.
The Oxford NUJ has invited three speakers from the worlds of cancer care, defamation law and journalism to address the urgent issues raised by NHS England's warning.
How can we work together to prevent threats and intimidation from closing down informed debate about the future of vital public services? Is a change in the law required?
Speakers:
Tamsin Allen @tamsinallen1, a Partner at Bindmans solicitors who specialises in defamation and representing whistleblowers. She has recently acted for Christopher Wylie, the Cambridge Analytica whistleblower.
Professor Adrian Harris, A consultant medical oncologist at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust who continues to raise concerns over the impact that contracting out the PET-CT services will have on the quality and safety of patient care
Seamus Dooley @Seamusdo, the Deputy General Secretary of the National Union of Journalists , who has spent his career as a journalist and NUJ official defending the independence of the press and public service journalism
Join the discussion; Register to attend at Eventbrite
Is Mental Health important in the workplace? Tom explores all things related to workplace mental health, including mental health in school workplaces, in this insightful video. Tom helps employers figure out mental health at work. He reviews workplaces, trains managers and writes plans.
Since 2012 he has interviewed more than 130 people, surveyed thousands and worked across the UK with corporations, civil service, charities, the public sector, schools and small business. Tom has worked with national mental health charities Mind and Time to Change and consults widely across the UK. He lives in Norfolk and is mildly obsessed with cricket and camping.
He runs Bamboo Mental Health, an organisation dedicated to improving how employers support their people on mental health. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx
Acas Senior Adviser Abigail Hirshman talks about the Acas strategy for positive mental health at work.
The Government's Department of Health advises that one in four of us will experience mental ill health at some point in our lives. It is therefore important that employers and their staff take steps to promote positive mental health and support those experiencing mental ill health
For more information on Mental health in the workplace and to book a place on our training program.
http://www.acas.org.uk/mentalhealth
