Journey to better mental health

February 28, 2023

Transformation will pave the way for new ways of working

The countdown has begun to the completion of our new flagship inpatient facility at Highgate East and purpose-built community mental health centre at Lowther Road. 

These exciting new facilities will re-shape the way that our staff can deliver care to service users. For this issue of "Journey to better mental health" we spoke to Liam Kerr, Population Health Nurse in the Islington Core Team, about his hopes for the future. Liam and his colleagues are currently based in Holloway Road but will move to Lowther Road when it opens at the end of the year.

We started by asking Liam to explain his role.

"As a population health nurse my role involves delivering physical health interventions such as electrocardiograms (ECG) and taking base line blood tests. I also give advice about other physical health conditions. 

"In addition, I assess mental health and take appropriate action such as referring service users to the crisis team and  therapies.  Supporting service users socially with debt advice, foodbank vouchers, housing and benefits is another key part of the role.

"I spend one day a week on triage where referrals are received from GPs, ICOPE and other services. We carefully research the referrals which come in and, where appropriate, allocate to colleagues who have the most expertise for either assessment or intervention.

Our new Highgate East inpatient facility will open in autumn 2023

"We see service users either at home, or in our office for assessment and intervention. When our role is finished we sign post on to either colleagues at C&I or another service if appropriate.

"During a typical week I attend integrated network and primary care network meetings which involve GPs, community matrons from the Whittington Hospital as well as social prescribing representatives from local authorities. I also attend interface meetings with our Rehabilitation and Recovery Team."

How long have you worked at C&I?  I have been with the Trust over 20 years.

What will be the main opportunities and challenges for C&I as it works to transform its facilities and services?  The Transformation Programme will pave the way to a whole new way of working with new and exciting partners.  The challenge will come from managing expectations and ensuring we become more inclusive.

How will the new Highgate East building change the way C&I delivers care to service users? By having services closer together, we can forge stronger relationships with our external partners and deliver better standards of care to those we serve and support.

How will Lowther Road improve our community services?  Having more services under one roof will improve engagement within teams and lead to better outcomes for our service users.

Lowther Road will provide community mental health services in the heart of Islington

Excellent rating for Lowther Road

The building of our new community mental health centre at Lowther Road remains on track. The construction machinery used on site was recently audited for low emissions by Islington Council and received a rating of "Excellent".

Consultation events help inform hospital redevelopment plans

Thank you to all those who took the time to come and talk to us at our first stage consultation events for the redevelopment of our St Pancreas Hospital site held during January and February. The feedback will be used to review and update proposals before our revised designs are taken to our next phase of consultation in the spring.  For more information please visit the consultation website by clicking here.

Get involved

Detailed information about our programme and opportunities to get
involved are available on our website at www.candi.nhs.uk If you have specific questions, please send them to communications@candi.nhs.uk

If you would like to discuss any part of the plans, we are happy to attend one of your regular meetings. Please send an email to the address above to arrange a date.