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In the community for the community
Better mental health care for Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Haringey and Islington
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See how we are meeting needs identified in our Community Mental Health Summit
Our first Community Mental Health Summit in November had more than 200 attendees
Our transformation of community mental health services in North Central London is being driven by the needs of the people who live in the area, our service users and their carers.
At our first Community Mental Health Summit, held in November, attendees put forward more than 100 suggestions for change, including more holistic care, closer to home, with more staff, increased training and a greater focus on prevention. We examined the feedback and suggestions in detail and broke them down into different themes.
Our full report, which you can see here, lists the themes, shows how we have rated them according to how far we are meeting those needs, and outlines how we are using your suggestions to inform our future planning. It is encouraging that most of the suggestions raised were areas we have been working on, and they are either on track or have started making progress.
However, we are not complacent and we want to check back with people in the community to ensure that the changes are having the desired effect, and see whether any other needs have arisen.
NCL Community Transformation Programme Lead, Darren Summers, said: “It is very important to us that we work with people in the area that we serve to ensure we are delivering the services and the help that they want and need. The summit helped to identify what people want to change and I’m very pleased that we’re going in the right direction. We are determined to keep up the dialogue with service users and the wider community to make sure that continues as the programme develops.”
The summit was open to all. It had to be held online because of COVID restrictions, but we also opened a drop-in session live at St Ann’s hospital for anyone who preferred to attend in person. More than 200 people attended and were divided into online breakout rooms to discuss ideas in small groups, which were facilitated by experts-by-experience.
Complete lists of ideas and comments were published in full - see details here.
We aim to hold another summit to report on the progress of the programme and gather your feedback to inform our plans.
Find out more detail about how we are transforming mental health care in your area on the C&I website and the BEH website.
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Age UK is one of our many partners helping to improve mental healthcare for everyone in our communities, offering a wide range of services and helping find the right pathways for people in need.
The charity is working alongside statutory services, complementing the work that they do, aiming at early intervention and prevention.
Age UK Islington also offers a helpline, advice, activities and support to help people be happy, healthy and socially-connected; as well as services to help them plan for emergencies or end of life. They provide support for adults of all ages (16 yrs+).
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Care coordinating and social prescribing are among many services offered and the charity has recently appointed four new care coordinators to work closely with people who require help, discovering their needs, introducing them to the right services that and working with them to overcome any barriers there may be to accessing care and support.
Age UK Islington's Head of Services, Personalised Care & Support, Michael O’Dwyer, (pictured below), explained that this is part of a combined approach, offering people much more than medical support: “Our care co-ordinators will explore what someone wants to achieve and what issues they’re facing. It may involve referring to the wider support available via Age UK Islington, the core mental health team or support from community organisations. It may be may be helping someone to engage with support that’s available for managing debt, or if they have mobility issues, to find transport options to help them get out and about, or a mindfulness group for techniques to help reduce anxiety."
He said social prescribing has grown significantly in recent years, but Age UK Islington does much more than signpost people to a service. Social prescribers assess whether each service is suitable for their client and meets their individual needs, which could be a disability or a language issue or helping them to build the confidence to seek and engage with help.
Michael said: “'There's nothing worse than sending somebody along to a session and actually they get really discouraged because it wasn't really welcoming, or it wasn't meeting when or where we said it was. If we can pre-empt a lot and ensure it ticks a lot of the boxes and help somebody to engage, it's much better for them and much better for the activity providers.”
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Get in Touch
Website: https://www.ageuk.org.uk/islington/
Phone: 0207 281 6018 Email: gethelp@ageukislington.org.uk
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As part of our programme transforming community mental healthcare across North Central London we are working with Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise organisations to offer holistic services to people in Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Haringey and Islington.
One of our VCSE partners is Hestia, which helps people in crisis across the capital, including victims of modern slavery, women and children who have experienced domestic abuse, young care leavers and older people.
Hestia has recently opened a new service in Camden to offer open access mental health support.
The Sanctuary in Camden is a safe place that is open to any residents who are experiencing a mental health crisis. Service users can turn up, with no appointment needed and access immediate support.
Hestia has launched a new open-access service for residents who are experiencing a mental health crisis. Service users can turn up, with no appointment needed and access immediate support.
Sanctuary, in Camden, is a safe place for people in mental health crisis to access support. Hestia hopes it will reduce the pressure on local emergency departments by offering an alternative space for those who need immediate help.
Staff there will offer short-term support, working with people to reduce their immediate anxiety and stress, creating a personal safety plan to manage their mental health, and signposting them to other services that may be helpful. Additionally, service users can attend Sanctuary as a place to relax, play games and participate in group activities, or as a place to sit alone and destress, with a drink or snack.
A’ishah Abbasi, Area Manager for Hestia’s alternative mental health services said: “As we emerge from the global pandemic, there is a substantial need for accessible mental health support. Yet there is a growing demand, and with mounting waitlists, we are concerned people won't get help in time.
“That's why we are proud to open Hestia's new Camden Crisis Sanctuary to offer an alternative space for people to access free specialist support in the community. The service requires no appointments, and it hopes to reduce the pressure on local emergency departments to allow more contact time with those in crisis."
A'ishah (pictured above) added: “Camden Crisis Sanctuary is open in the evenings, weekends and bank holidays when other services may be closed. We want residents in Camden to know we are available when they need us.”
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Sanctuary is open access and people just turn up any time 5pm -10:30pm, every day, 365 days a year. If you are a professional who wishes to refer someone to Camden Crisis Sanctuary, please download the referral form here.
Contact details:
Camden Crisis Sanctuary, 50-52 Hampstead Road, London NW1 2PY
Email: Camden.Crisissanctuary@hestia.org Phone: 07825 165464
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All in a day’s work - introducing you to people playing key roles in our transformation programme |
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As Head of Nursing for Safe Quality Care, Evri Anagnostara has a major role in the NCL Community Transformation Programme. Evri, who has recently been confirmed in the post but has been doing it since July 2020 on an interim basis, is supporting a number of key initiatives within the Nursing Directorate, including the introduction of DIALOG+.
Here she explains what she wants to achieve in the programme and how she thinks it will help service users, carers and the wider north London community
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“In recent weeks, I have been working with the teams to roll out DIALOG+ which is a major change for the Trust that will revolutionise the way we support everyone who uses our services. I am extremely proud to work with colleagues in our wider community to design services which align to the needs of our population. DIALOG+ as a care planning tool, brings all of us together to work with our service users.
“We have developed a comprehensive training package for staff to use DIALOG+, which is co-produced and includes a variety of modules, including co-production and how to work with people in a trauma informed approach. We are also using technology which will allow our staff to work with people remotely; service users could receive care in their own home, away from hospital sites which can be daunting for some.
“I believe DIALOG+ will have enormous benefits for our service users because it brings together all the principles of co-production and person-centred care in a structured way, giving people total empowerment and autonomy to seek support in areas of their lives that matter most to them.
“As a trained QI Coach, I always want to show how improvement methodology can be used to drive change and improve outcomes for both patients, their family and friends and our staff. I do this by leading our Trust’s Brilliant Basic strategic workstream looking at care planning and risk assessments. Naturally, DIALOG+ has a major part in it, being a care planning model, which will eventually replace our current care planning modules which is solely based on Care Planning Approach (CPA principles).”
Evri is also a Trust-nominated Patient Safety Specialist; she sits on the editorial board of the Mental Health Nursing Journal and is the current chair of the Mental Health Nurses' Association.
Helping experts by experience to shape our services
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Freddy Semanshia is an Expert by Experience (EbE) who has been working with the Patient Experience team at BEH to develop the service user groups and the Trust EbE infrastructure so that there is greater co-production and engagement in our services.
He is also an EbE Coordinator and is on the MaST and DIALOG+ steering groups. He explains why he got involved:
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"When I joined the BEH Patient Experience Team it was an amazing opportunity to have a bigger impact on service users.
"I love my role as EbE Coordinator because I can use my skills and abilities to strategically allocate opportunities for individuals who I know will excel in a particular role.
"The most rewarding part of my work is engaging with service users and management and bridging the gap between the two.
"Encouraging some EbEs to take part in certain roles can be challenging, and so can explaining NHS jargon to them. But the individuals who accept challenging roles really make my role worth doing."
Contact the BEH Patient Experience Team
Phone: 020 8702 4700
Email: beh-tr.involvementandengagement@nhs.net
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