Chocolate speculation

• AS NHS trusts are totally open to scrutiny as you would expect of a leading local health provider, it’s with regret that we read your report (Anger over ‘choccies for votes’, December 10), which was short on fact and long on speculation.
Proper and balanced reporting of the facts would have shown:
• the trust have been awarded the top grade of “excellent” from the Care Quality Commission for both our quality of care and our financial management, as direct result of the efforts, care and attention of our staff;
• to celebrate this, and to thank each member of staff for their part in this achievement, we gave every member of staff a token box of four individual Belgian chocolates, along with a letter of thanks;
• these were sent out in late November, at a cost of £1.50 per staff member using our internal post to eliminate postage costs.
The staff survey referred to in your article is an independent national survey of all NHS staff. The survey forms were distributed to all NHS trusts in October 2009 and 60 per cent of staff responded quickly. Reminders were sent out to those who were slower to respond in mid-November and were sent separately.
It is, however, possible that some of the remaining 40 per cent of staff across our 50 sites who had not yet returned their survey could have coincidentally received the chocolates (which were distributed at the end of November) at the same time as one of the survey communications.
It is important for you to appreciate that the staff survey is undertaken by an independent organisation and that all responses to the survey are anonymous, and all completed forms returned to the independent organisation which operates the survey. We encourage all staff to complete this form in order to ensure we hear the honest views of as many staff as possible.
When we receive the staff survey results from the research agency in March 2010, we will set up a working group to prioritise the recommendations drawn from the survey and act on these.
Changes made as a result of previous surveys include setting up an in-house HR department, employing a nurse consultant to help staff with
de-escalation and difficult situations and providing a range of free exercise classes for staff.
I wish to reiterate how proud we are of our staff and the work they have put in to enable us to be one of 38 trusts (out of 392 nationwide) to achieve this accolade.
Our chief executive Wendy Wallace has been heartened to receive quite a number of personal emails of thanks in response to the chocolates we sent out.
IAN STONEHAM
Director of Corporate and Business Development
Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust

Unhappy picture

• I READ your article (Anger over ‘choccies for votes’, December 10).
I am a mental health service user and an artist. In September 2009 I was invited to have an exhibition in the Highgate Mental Health Centre Gallery in Dartmouth Park Hill.
The gallery and unit are part of the newly organised Camden and Islington Mental Health Trust.
I paid for all the publicity of the event, I paid for food for a private view on September 9, I paid for framing, for printing of leaflets, I even paid for taxis to transport my work to and from the venue. I sent out invites to dozens of friends and paid for all my own postage. 
I helped organise and steward the private view, when four paintings were reserved. I was told to instruct the purchasers to make out their cheques to the North Central London NHS Charitable Fund. This they did.
I have not yet had any payments from this charity and it is now over three months later.
I have spent time and energy chasing up the payments. I have now received a letter to say an organiser is leaving and someone else is dealing with the payments of the sold paintings.
It would appear that the trust is just stalling for time .
I contacted the Highgate Mental Health Centre for the umpteenth time and was told two cheques were being withheld. I went to the Highgate Mental Health Centre and retrieved these cheques, which I destroyed.
I am outraged that the trust can afford to send out 2,000 boxes of posh chocolates to voters and yet not even bother to let me know where the money is for the sales of my paintings.
I am one of the many vulnerable people for whom this service was set up for and my whole experience with them has been counter-productive.
LESLEY STEVAS
Address supplied

Sweetener

• I THINK Wendy Wallace is not the right person to run any organisation, let alone the Camden and Islington Mental Health Trust. Four chocolates for £1.50 – they must have seen her coming!
In times of plenty, a little gift to staff might be appropriate (but not with a survey when it cannot be other than construed as a sweetener). In these times of austerity the chocolate gift is plain daft – and quite wrong.
LESTER MAY
NW1