We are The Christie magazine March 2025 Staff edition

Staff edition: stories

Welcome to Behnaz, our new honorary chaplain The chaplaincy team at The Christie are delighted to welcome Behnaz Farhadi as an honorary chaplain.

Celebrating success: nurses earn master’s degrees We’re proud to celebrate the achievements of four nurses who have completed their master’s degrees, thanks to funding from The Christie. Nicola Doherty, matron for inpatient medical wards, clinical support and specialist surgery; Sharan Ingram, matron for quality and standards; Fiona

Brennan, specialist nutrition nurse; and Alice Capron, ward manager for Ward 11, all graduated last year from The University of Manchester. Nicola’s dissertation explored whether active

Behnaz Faradi and Bishop Mark Davies

Honorary chaplains work voluntarily but are expected to have the same qualifications as paid chaplains. According to NHS guidelines, they are not supposed to replace the work of paid Chaplains, but rather extend the core provision already in place. In Behnaz’s case, she is providing invaluable support to patients on Wards 11 and 12 (currently 14 and 15), and also trialling ‘Haven of Hope’ sessions. These sessions facilitate face-to-face reflection and sharing for patients, carers and staff. As Behnaz is a Church of England curate (trainee priest) she needed to be endorsed and licensed by Manchester Diocese, as well as the Trust, so it was a great pleasure to welcome Bishop Mark Davies to a special service of welcome and commissioning recently. The service was also attended by family, friends and colleagues, and by Giselle Rusted, Chair of Greater Manchester Chaplaincy Collaborative. Behnaz has already been getting extremely positive feedback from those she supports, and we’re so glad to have her on board. Read more about our honorary chaplains on pages 10-11.

Nic, Fiona, Sharan and Alice at graduation

engagement in online social communities supports post-traumatic growth in people living with cancer. Sharan developed a universal approach to standardised bedside handover, which has been implemented as a quality improvement project across our inpatient wards. Fiona investigated the experiences of people living with cancer and dementia, identifying ways to better meet their complex care needs. Alice examined barriers to end-of-life care in acute oncology wards, aiming to improve the experiences of patients, families and healthcare staff. Reflecting on their hard work, they said: “The last three years of studying whilst also working have been the hardest, but most enjoyable of our careers.”

Welcome to our new Freedom to Speak Up Guardian

A familiar face to many across the Trust, Fiona Jenkinson, has now taken up the position as our Freedom to Speak Up (FTSU) Guardian. Alongside her roles as a nurse on the Palatine ward and a chaplain in our spiritual care team, Fiona will also be the full-time FTSU Guardian – acting as an independent, confidential adviser. The FTSU Guardian offers support for concerns and encourages a positive

Open sessions: violence, aggression and racist behaviour towards staff Thank you to everyone who attended the sessions led by the Quality and Standards team to support and

Our new FTSU Guardian, Fiona Jenkinson

culture that promotes change and improvement for patients and staff. Fiona believes her 25 years in a clinical role will help her to support colleagues effectively. “Having a clinical background gives me an understanding of how the hospital works and of the pressures that our

The first of three open sessions in the auditorium

explore the Trust’s stance on tackling violence, aggression and racist behaviour towards staff. Important issues and experiences were raised and we thank those who shared their stories. This is a large and complex project to create a more robust policy, which aims to support staff who face this behaviour at work. There are also plans for a visual campaign, amplifying the message that this type of behaviour is not tolerated at The Christie. Three concepts were shown at the open sessions and colleagues were invited to vote on their preferred direction. Results will be shared in due course. Information from the sessions are available on HIVE. If you have any concerns about the issues raised, please contact one of the panel or your line manager. We remind you that further support is available on HIVE in the staff health and wellbeing section.

staff sometimes face. My experience in frontline teams and with patient contact helps me empathise with colleagues and what they may want to speak up about. I want to connect as far as possible to ensure that ultimately, we deliver the best patient care possible,” said Fiona. “The scope of the Guardian, listening to and

"My experience in frontline teams and with patient contact helps me empathise with colleagues and what they may want to speak up about"

helping so many people, really resonates with my values. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime role,” she added. We'd also like to thank Jane Kimberley, who did a fantastic job during her time as our interim Guardian. At The Christie, we are committed to achieving the highest possible standards of service and care. Staff can play their part by raising concerns. For more details please visit Freedom to Speak Up section on HIVE .

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