Empowering

 I was introduced to Cavita through a colleague who recommended her as someone who could support me in refining my professional development needs. I was seeking a transition from clinical Physiotherapy work at band 7 level to middle management roles where I could continue my professional development journey but from a more corporate perspective. The dilemma I was facing stemmed from me having the proven track record as a leader and manager of people within the Army Reserves to an NHS organisation where I had a wealth of clinical leadership to draw on but little in the way of service level leadership and management experience. My aspirations for wanting to make this transition and to diversify away from clinical work was to impact the bigger picture. 

By this I mean to positively impact on more service users and more staff within and even beyond my own organisation. In a clinical role I would be constrained to local impact.I vividly remember my first telephone conversation with Cavita, I remember her zeal for helping others and the knowledge she was able to impart, led to me writing a whole side of A4 paper packed with tasks, reading references and reflection points within a 30 minute conversation. She seemed to be able to quickly gauge where I was at on my current leadership journey and was able to convey tailored advice which made me feel inspired and energised rather than overwhelmed. Especially when trying to decipher a whole side of A4 scrambled note taking.

The difference I felt from working with Cavita was two-fold. She seemed to genuinely care and show an interest in my professional development. I have often wondered why she offered to support me with mentorship given her own busy professional life, especially when all her support has been free of charge. Secondly, she has in her own right achieved so much on a national level within the NHS and comes across as someone who is technically very competent in delivering mentorship to aspiring Leaders. As a result of the professional development work, I have undertaken to date, I am proud to say I was successful at interview and am now in an Operational Lead role for an NHS Trust. I use my background as a Physiotherapist to influence my work in optimising patient flow from acute hospitals into community hospitals and other community services. On a daily basis I engage with system partners spanning multiple acute NHS trusts, social services and CCG. I believe I have had a positive impact on the whole system I work in to ultimately improve the timely access to care for many service users. The total impact is likely to be more than if I had remained in a clinical role. I also have the privilege of engaging with and influencing multiple services and organisations for the betterment of all stakeholders. 

I am indebted to Cavita for acting as a catalyst in my trajectory towards NHS leadership working. The British Army trains its Officers at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst where the motto ‘Serve to Lead’ is imbedded in the hearts and minds of Officers during basic training. This motto remains timeless as Officers progress through their careers. To add to this motto, the more senior the leadership ladder one moves, the more one should do for others. Although not an Army Officer, Cavita clearly demonstrates the selfless commitment to helping others in abundance. In my case, she has helped me to help and serve others on a much larger platform than I previously had been able to within the NHS.

Yours sincerely,

Akshay Patel

Single Point of Contact and Discharge to Assess Bed Therapy (Interim) Operational Lead 

 I was introduced to Cavita through a colleague who recommended her as someone who could support me in refining my professional development needs. I was seeking a transition from clinical Physiotherapy work at band 7 level to middle management roles where I could continue my professional development journey but from a more corporate perspective. The dilemma I was facing stemmed from me having the proven track record as a leader and manager of people within the Army Reserves to an NHS organisation where I had a wealth of clinical leadership to draw on but little in the way of service level leadership and management experience. My aspirations for wanting to make this transition and to diversify away from clinical work was to impact the bigger picture. 

By this I mean to positively impact on more service users and more staff within and even beyond my own organisation. In a clinical role I would be constrained to local impact.I vividly remember my first telephone conversation with Cavita, I remember her zeal for helping others and the knowledge she was able to impart, led to me writing a whole side of A4 paper packed with tasks, reading references and reflection points within a 30 minute conversation. She seemed to be able to quickly gauge where I was at on my current leadership journey and was able to convey tailored advice which made me feel inspired and energised rather than overwhelmed. Especially when trying to decipher a whole side of A4 scrambled note taking.

The difference I felt from working with Cavita was two-fold. She seemed to genuinely care and show an interest in my professional development. I have often wondered why she offered to support me with mentorship given her own busy professional life, especially when all her support has been free of charge. Secondly, she has in her own right achieved so much on a national level within the NHS and comes across as someone who is technically very competent in delivering mentorship to aspiring Leaders. As a result of the professional development work, I have undertaken to date, I am proud to say I was successful at interview and am now in an Operational Lead role for an NHS Trust. I use my background as a Physiotherapist to influence my work in optimising patient flow from acute hospitals into community hospitals and other community services. On a daily basis I engage with system partners spanning multiple acute NHS trusts, social services and CCG. I believe I have had a positive impact on the whole system I work in to ultimately improve the timely access to care for many service users. The total impact is likely to be more than if I had remained in a clinical role. I also have the privilege of engaging with and influencing multiple services and organisations for the betterment of all stakeholders. 

I am indebted to Cavita for acting as a catalyst in my trajectory towards NHS leadership working. The British Army trains its Officers at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst where the motto ‘Serve to Lead’ is imbedded in the hearts and minds of Officers during basic training. This motto remains timeless as Officers progress through their careers. To add to this motto, the more senior the leadership ladder one moves, the more one should do for others. Although not an Army Officer, Cavita clearly demonstrates the selfless commitment to helping others in abundance. In my case, she has helped me to help and serve others on a much larger platform than I previously had been able to within the NHS.

Yours sincerely,

Akshay Patel

Single Point of Contact and Discharge to Assess Bed Therapy (Interim) Operational Lead 

In 2019, Cavita Chapman, Programme Lead for Suicide Prevention, received funding from Health Education England to work on an initiative across Kent, Surrey and Sussex to improve how GP practices help distressed children and young people. It was an ambitious aim to bring about a culture change in primary care for 10 to 25-year olds who self-harm or are thinking of suicide. It took a leap of faith to attempt this. But, Cavita is an ambitious, determined leader, with a passion for improving lives and saving them. Her background as a nurse goes a long way to inform her compassion and commitment, although it is her authentic character that draws people in, empowering them to contribute to improvement for others too.  

Finding the right people to develop this initiative was crucial and again trust played a big part. Cavita is a skilled influencer and gets people on board with integrity and humility. 

Cavita called me up after hearing about my charity – Olly’s Future – which I set up in memory of my son Oliver (Olly to all his friends), who died by suicide on February 14th, 2017, aged 22.  We met for coffee at a café on Worthing Pier almost exactly two years after his passing.  My legacy to Oliver is doctors are much better equipped in helping young people who are thinking of ending their lives. They have so little training in suicide prevention.

Cavita asked me to be the Patients Carer Lead for ‘Practise Hope’ – as the initiative is now known. 

She told me: “I can see you have the spirit to just go off and do the right thing in giving people hope and inspiring them”. So, senior leaders trusted Cavita to lead programmes and she trusted me.  

Practise Hope ran until September 2020, involving 27 GP practices. Olly’s Future took ‘Practise Hope’ to its next level, rolling this out digitally and scaling this up so that it is accessible to GP practices across the UK.  Funding was received to also train students.

From the first meeting with Cavita on Worthing Pier, when she told me ‘in order to change the system, you have to be in the system’, trust has played an enormous part. And it is with trust and the unending love of my dearly cherished son, that I’m able to create a legacy for Oliver which is making a huge impact in helping to save precious young lives from suicide. 

With kind regards  

 Ann Feloy, Founder and Chair of Olly’s future

Charitable organisation: www.ollysfuture.org.uk

Cavita has been a constant source of support, encouragement and significant contributor to my personal development. Watching her influence others in positive ways and being party to the work that she does has made her an excellent example to me, and a clear mentor.

In 2018 I lost a close relative to suicide at the same time that I was made redundant when the company I worked for had a structural review. My husband and I were deeply affected by the loss, and indeed my husband was admitted to hospital for a while to protect him from suicidal urges, and I found myself unable to seek work due to my own mental health and being his carer. In early 2019 I attended a suicide prevention event run by Cavita, and was so impressed with what was presented that I introduced myself to her and asked if there was any way I could assist with this work. I told her a little about myself and my situation, and found that she was an incredibly empathetic listener. We agreed to keep in touch following the event. A few months later I secured a bank position on the Towards Zero Suicides team, and was encouraged by Cavita to look into the Experts by Experience program run by the Trust. My time working with Cavita has been life changing for me. I have developed from having no self-confidence and little self-esteem, believing I had no prospects, to someone who is able to manage a group of part time jobs, and who has spoken at conferences. I support the improvement of mental health services from my lived experience, and even mentor others who are doing the same (often following Cavita's examples of how to lead and support people).

I am regularly present at development programs run by Cavita for staff in the NHS as I undertake evaluation for most of the programs she runs in her newer role at NHSE/I SE EDI team. I see the high levels of positive feedback she gets, and watch her inspire people at every encounter. She is a seemingly endless source of positive energy, which she can present in ways that are friendly and acceptable rather than the shallow way such positivity can sometimes come across. She is an expert at putting people in touch with each other in ways that each party can gain from that relationship, and make improvements in their relative fields. She lifts people, invigorating and inspiring them to work together, sharing best practice and understanding their own power in the NHS systems in which they work.

I feel that Cavita is fully deserving of recognition for the stellar work she does in the areas of people empowerment and suicide prevention. I believe the NHS in the SE England regions is in a much more positive position due to the way she leads staff groups to understand the system, and use their power to improve it.

With regards,

Catherine McGill

Cavita was first introduced to me whilst I was working in Nurse Education and she supported the interviews for Pre-Registration nursing students for Brighton University. Cavita was at that time managing a busy ward in Millview Psychiatric Hospital, and using her knowledge of what make a good nurse to help choose the nurses of the future. 

Cavita continue to move into jobs of more importance and with greater responsibility as her career took off. Cavita always took on any challenge with the same passion. From working front line with patients to her current position as head of Equity and Diversity in NHS England, she remained approachable and focussed on the people she was working with. Cavita particularly helped and supported me in my career with her enthusiasm that was contagious. Cavita embodies all it is to be a great leader and inspire others in their journey to leading NHS staff for the best interests of our patients. Cavita gets to know those that are around her, gaining their confidence by her knowledge and skills. Cavtia inspires positive morale and is able to get the best out of people; she is truly inspirational. 

Cavita is not serving in the British military but she embodies all of the core values that are held close to our hearts of; Self-less Commitment, Loyalty, Discipline, Integrity, Courage and above all else Respect for others. I can think of no-one more deserving to receive an honour or who has had such an influence on the lives of others, for them to also in turn reach out, and help those around them. 

I am about to start as Lead Manager for the Armed Forces Covenant Sussex, and this is as a direct result of the coaching, time and support that Cavita has invested in me selflessly in her own time. I know there will many people with similar stories, and the world is a better place because of the tireless work that Cavita put in to making it that way. 

Kind regards 

Major Andy Stubbs (QARANC) 

I have met Cavita for the first time when she was a manager on the ward back in 2007. Her dedication and compassion towards patient’s experience and improving outcomes was second to none. At the same time she always shown great care towards her team.Despite being extremely busy Cavita would always find the time to spend with patients either for something fun, such a dance during a group activity, or to take care of someone who was particularly struggling. On one occasion, a patient relapsed and had to come back into hospital. She had been neglecting herself and was full of lice. Cavita spent hours with me getting this patient clean and tidy.  she has been a rock to me. She has supported me through personal life challenges but most of all she has supported my career development to achieve things that I never thought possible. Her way of challenging can feel hard sometimes, but without that challenge I would have never achieved my goals. This has made a huge difference to me and to the people I have been able to support through coaching. Particularly all the doctors that have attended eCLiPS, embedded Clinical leadership in practice scheme, the leadership programme she has designed and developed together with Dr Saleema Durgahee.  On another occasion, one of the nurses in the team was diagnosed with cancer. Unfortunately, she wasn’t going to get better as the cancer had spread. Cavita got all her friends together and organised a wonderful party for her in the last few days of her life. Cavita has the incredible skill to motivate and bring people together.

With kind regards

Cristina LaCara)  

  I met Cavita through a NHS leadership programme where she became my mentor to help me develop leadership skills.
Cavita’s role in my leadership development: Having her as a mentor has been one of the pivotal moments in my career growth both as a person and a professional. There are many people who can lead but only a few can inspire and Cavita is one of them. When we deliberated on a few leadership projects for me to take on, she gave me clear guidance and empowered me to think for myself. It was interesting when she motivated me to think about not only how I move towards my goals but most importantly on what stops me from reaching those goals. This was a lightbulb moment for me to look deeply at my aspirations and the barriers I have to overcome.
Cavita’s role in reducing inequalities for women with mental health: My project was reducing inequalities for women of childbearing potential with a mental illness taking valproate, a service improvement project. Valproate has teratogenic effects and prescribing gives rise to patient safety issues. As a novice, Cavita helped me navigate the NHS landscape to push for action from National players in the NHS. She encouraged me to think big so we can make a bigger difference to the women and children affected by the valproate issue. Her key role was promoting equality and diversity so she determined the path that we were going to promote the project as reducing health inequalities. Under Cavita’s mentorship, the project took a trajectory that I did not imagine it would. The project has now been implemented across Surrey heartlands ICCS and Farnham ICS , and we are one of the few Trusts in the country to have taken an initiative to address the Valproate patient safety.  

Cavita’s role in navigating complex NHS landscapes to achieve audacious outcomes:
The Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety (First Do No Harm Review), also known as the Cumberlege Review states,  “The system does not know, so neither do we, just how many women over four decades took sodium valproate“.“A reasonable estimate is approximately 20,000 affected by valproate to date from 1973 when it was first licensed. It is estimated this has cost us £181 billion in the UK in this period”. It was clear that we were taking on something that would make a difference on a big scale. Cavita shed clarity to me on the NHS landscape and what greater good this project will do for our patients. The project was selected as one of the 6 finalists at the HSJ patient safety awards 2021. 

Cavita’s role in promoting  leadership: Her infectious enthusiasm will leave anyone who meets her to do better. Her BAME background gives her an added advantage to mentor people like me from a BAME background too. We both could easily relate to each other’s barriers. This was so important to me and Cavita fully understood my circumstances which enabled me to progress.I have since gone on to win the trainee of the year award across Kent Surrey and Sussex. I have no reservation in saying the enormous role she has played in my achievement.  Cavita has been both a source of inspiration and at the same time a hands-on leader with amazing energy to get things done on the ground. I have seen her tackle tough issues at the very top and move with staff during project meetings with the same ease and confidence.

With kind regards 

Dr Ashma Mohamedashmamohamed@gmail.com

Dr Ashma Mohamed MBBS MRCPsych 

Surrey and Borders NHS Trust