Open Day at The Beacon

The Open Day at the Beacon was very well attended, with representation from many different voluntary sector organisations mingling with statutory mental heath services, exchanging information and experiences. Below are a few photos from the event. More photos and a fuller report will follow.

Live It Well website and Mental Health Matters

Rethink Carers Group

The Main Room

Speakup CIC

Casa Support

Commissioner Paul Absolon with Dawn Milakovic (Rethink Carers Group) Amanda Godley (SpeakupCIC) and Terry Balby (Richmond Fellowship)

mcch

KCA

Wellbeing for older adults

• Do you often feel anxious or panicky?
• Do you often feel low in mood or energy
• Do you feel alone and isolated
• Do you find it hard to relax
• Do you find the past upsetting and difficult to let go of?

Help may be available if you answered yes to any of these questions. KCA (NHS psychological therapy providers) offer a FREE eight week wellbeing programme, which runs once a week for two hours and focuses on common problems faced in later life. Techniques used include CBT and Mindfulness. The programme begins on 3 April.

For more information and to book a place, contact Peter Klein via email or on 01843 293844

SpeakUpCIC advisory group

SpeakUpCIC are setting up a group to advise them about campaigning against the stigma and discrimination towards people who have experienced mental health distress. They invite individuals and/or organisations with an interest in this subject to come and take part in this group. Individuals or organisations who are able to bring new and exciting ideas that may be achievable in partnership with SpeakUpCIC in helping reduce stigma and discrimination will be welcome. They hope that from this campaign group ideas will be gleaned from which a bid for funds to Time to Change will be written in order to raise the resources to undertake the project.

Contact Amanda Godley via email or on 01843 609359

Open Day at The Beacon 27 March

The Beacon in Ramsgate is the home of the Thanet Community Mental Health Team. On Tuesday 27 March they are holding an Open Day, to enable Beacon-based staff to meet and mingle with local voluntary, charitable and non-statutory providers of care and support to those with mental health problems and needs - including service user and carer organisations. The intended outcome is increased referrals from The Beacon to non-statutory providers, increased use of Personal Budgets, and greater community connections!

Amongst those attending will be representatives from the Live It Well website, Rethink, Mental Health Matters and Time to Change.

Tuesday 27 March, 10am to 2pm at

The Beacon
Manston Road
Ramsgate
CT12 6NT

Service user and carer involvement - 15 Steps Challenge

We all know that first impressions count and when walking on to a hospital ward the first “15 Steps” will give you an impression of what is happening on the ward. The NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement are developing the 15 Steps Challenge, a tool to support ward walk arounds, looking at productive wards from the patient perspective. The programme identifies simple things like protecting meal times, protecting drug rounds and preventing interruptions at staff handovers.

The Strategic Health Authority (SHA) are working with mental health trusts across the south of England in developing this tool for mental health, as it was originally developed for Acute Trusts. The Kent & Medway Partnership Trust (KMPT) have adapted this tool slightly to fit in with the productive mental health ward and will be part of the SHA’s work, but in the meantime will use the tool developed.

The process will be that a team of people consisting of non-executive directors, carers and services users, directors, service managers etc. will visit one to two wards every month to audit against the 15 steps criteria (no more that 4 people will be in any team). A programme will be produced and co-ordinated through the Compliance and Risk Management Team who will also work in getting teams together. A briefing session will then be delivered by the Deputy Director of Nursing to the teams.

The dates for the team briefings aimed at a more in-depth explanation of the process are 11th April in Canterbury at 2pm for 90 minutes &10th April at West Malling at 2pm for 90 minutes.

Anyone interested in getting involved in the team visits should contact Janet Lloyd, PPCI Manager Kent & Medway Partnership Trust, via email or on 01227 812034

Are you a mental health service user or carer?

Would you like to ask a question or raise an issue about Kent & Medway Partnership Trust (KMPT) services with senior management?


Andy Oldfield, Assistant Director for East Kent Community Services

Cathy Nyemeck, Service Manager for Canterbury, Coastal & Swale Recovery Services

Michelle Webb, Service Manager for Canterbury, Coastal & Swale Access Services

will be available to talk to you on 30th May 2012, from 2.30pm - 4:30pm

at

Main Hall, St Martin’s Hospital,
Littlebourne Road, Canterbury, CT1 1AZ

Richmond Fellowship program, March

Here is the Richmond Fellowship day service program of events in Thanet for March, plus news from the groups. Apologies for the late posting of this item.

SpeakupCIC peer support activities for March

Here is the peer support activities diary for March, run by Speakup CIC.