A major milestone has been reached in the construction of a brand new mental health inpatient facility in Highgate with a “topping-out” ceremony in October. The 78-bed facility will replace the ageing inpatient wards at St Pancras Hospital and provide an environment that supports the recovery of service users.

When it opens, in October 2023, Highgate East will form a campus with Highgate Mental Health Centre, improving the way that clinical cover is organised and how facilities are managed. The facility will offer all single en suite rooms, outdoor space from each ward, therapy spaces, plus a sports hall and café which will be open to the public as part of a move to destigmatise mental health and ensure a more inclusive approach. See more here.

Just before the topping out at Highgate East, we celebrated the official ground-breaking of Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust’s (C&I) new community mental health facility at 1 Lowther Road in Islington.

The redevelopment, being built by UK construction company Kier, is another huge step forward in C&I’s St Pancras Transformation Programme. Once opened at the end of 2023, Lowther Road will provide a modern, welcoming space in the heart of the community. Read more here.

Developments in the building of our new hospital at Highgate, and the latest proposals for our St Pancras site were outlined at the C&I Annual Members' Meeting on 27 October, 2022.

Guest speakers at the online meeting included our development partners and Experts-by-Experience, who have been involved in planning the new hospital facilities. You can watch a recording in full here.

Peter Molyneux has been appointed Interim Chair of BEH and C&I from 1 November, following Pippa Aitken stepping down as Interim Joint Chair. We  thank Pippa for all that she has done at C&I and during her time as Interim Joint Chair. 

We welcome Peter to our Partnership. Since April 2018, he has been Chair of Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and will remain Chair there, as well as taking up the role here. He is a Board member of the Mental Health Network and the England Liaison for the International Initiative for Mental Health Leadership.

Many of you will already know Jo Scott, a familiar, warm and friendly, face at C&I. She has recently become our Patient and Carer Experience and Engagement Lead

Jo’s role is to help ensure the Trust enables, supports and develops effective patient/service user and carer engagement and that we understand and learn from your, and others', experiences of our services. She will be working with the service user and carer forums and the Service User Alliance. If you would like to find out more about the forums, please contact her by email: engagement.experience@candi.nhs.uk or phone: 07833 200188

I was delighted to present certificates to nine service users and volunteers who are members of our Nubian Users Forum.

They have all successfully completed a two-day Food Hygiene course, and the resulting qualification will give them a great advantage in gaining employment in the catering or hospitality industry. This was funded by the Trust, and I want to thank the NUF organiser, Clover Crumbie for organising this, and her commitment to helping members.

A horticultural therapy group, called Gardening for Health, set up for service users by the Eagle Recovery Project working with Better Lives, Islington’s drug and alcohol recovery service, has won a major national award.

It has been named “Psychiatric Team of the Year: Outstanding Commitment to Sustainability/Green Care” in The Royal College of Psychiatrists awards, in recognition of its outstanding contribution to mental health.

The project was set up in early 2021 to create a space where clients could do something focussed and productive, allowing them to connect with their surroundings in a way that would be beneficial for their mental and physical health.

One of our Experts-by-Experience, Anthony Muckell featured in a BBC programme which highlighted the success of our Veterans' Service, OpCOURAGE.

Anthony, a former Royal Marine who served in the Gulf, spoke very movingly about his own challenges in the past.

Anthony told the BBC how he attempted suicide, spent time in hospital and then prison. He lost his job and became homeless. After using our Op Courage Veterans’ Service he has changed his life completely and is now volunteering with us, co-producing services and helping others.

Anthony's interview was broadcast on BBC One, London region, at 10am on Sunday 6 November. You can watch the interview in full on the BBC iPlayer here.

I am very proud of our research, and one project we were involved in recently made national headlines. 

The study found that problem drinking is linked to increased risk of suicide and self-harm. The report's senior author Dr Alexandra Pitman (pictured), works with UCL Psychiatry and Camden & Islington NHS Foundation Trust. She said: “Gaining an understanding of the circumstances that lead to binge drinking and dependence, whilst using a motivational interviewing approach may help identify how harmful drinking patterns might be shifted to the benefit of the patient, thereby reducing risk.”

This month's newsletter from our Community Mental Health Transformation Programme includes a recruitment round-up, a focus on the Expert-by-Experience role and information about our Islington service manager, Victoria Roberts.

Islington Carers Hub is hosting a Carers Wellbeing Day on Thursday 24 November: for a day of "Calm, Wellbeing and Friendship" for Islington carers. It's an opportunity for Islington unpaid carers to take a breather from caring, chat to other carers over a free lunch, receive some pampering and discover some techniques to help when life is challenging. There will be lots of opportunity to speak to local providers providing - cost of living support, dementia activities, employment and training opportunities.

See the flyer with the full programme here.

I urge you to consider joining our Dance4Joy group as this is a good way to meet people, and enjoy physical movement. No experience of dance is necessary.

The sessions are held on Mondays, 2pm – 3pm at St Paul's Church, Camden Square, London, NW1 9XG. Camden Square is just off Camden Road. Nearest stations are Camden Town (Northern Line), Camden Road (North London Overground), Kentish Town (Northern line & Thameslink), and Caledonian Road (Piccadilly line). Buses 29, 253, 390, 393 stop nearby. 

If you get a bit lost on your first visit, please phone David on 07763 334128. If you arrive after the session is underway, you may need to ring the bell on the right of the door. It’s loud: you will be heard! Reserve your place by ringing David on the number above or emailing davidvital@talktalk.net.