Your suggestions and ideas are so important in helping us to shape the care we provide and one of the ways we do that is through our service user and carer forums. We want to make these even better and would really appreciate your feedback to help us to do so. Please click here to view the full poster for more details, then scan the QR code on your smartphone to let us know what you think.

If you don't have a smartphone, don't worry, as you can fill in the survey online here: https://forms.gle/ifYnq7EuT8W4moePA

An Expert by Experience (EbE) is a service user or carer who is willing to use their lived experience as a form of expertise to help improve services across the partnership. This can be done on either a paid or voluntary basis by joining our involvement registers. Click here to view the full poster.

If you are a service user or carer across Barnet, Enfield or Haringey and would like to find out more, please contact beh-tr.involvementandengagement@nhs.net or call 02087023007.

If you are a service user or carer across Camden or Islington and would like to find out more, please fill in this online form https://forms.office.com/r/cL5S3aRjYK to register your interest or call 07833 200188.

South Asian Heritage Month 2023 takes place every year from 18 July to 17 August. This year, in line with the month’s theme “Stories to Tell”, we have been raising the profile of our service users and carers with a South Asian Heritage background. 

South Asian Heritage Month 2023 takes place every year from 18 July to 17 August. This year, in line with the month’s theme “Stories to Tell”, we have been raising the profile of our service users and carers with a South Asian Heritage background.

One member of staff, Selina Aktar, a peer worker and expert-by-experience, organised a lunch with colleagues to raise awareness of South Asian Culture. The team made South Asian food, Selina shared some stories from her family history and played some traditional Bengali games. Below, she explains why South Asian Culture is important to her.

"Celebrating my culture is very important to me, mostly because my parents, like many others of their generation made many sacrifices. They did that so we, the first generation of Bengalis, could have a better life in England."

I remember travelling to Bangladesh for my summer holidays from the age of 3 to 11 years when I saw cows, chicken, and goats for the first time. My paternal grandfather was a farmer and proudly showed me what his family had accomplished and used to say ‘Amar Shonar Bangla’ (My golden Bengal)

DIALOG+ is a holistic care planning tool, which helps a service user and healthcare professional work together to co-produce a bespoke, tailored care plan. It's very simple to use and asks you to rate your satisfaction and needs for care on the following 11 questions:

1. Your mental health
2. Your physical health
3. Your job situation
4. Your accommodation
5. Your leisure activities
6. Your partner/family
7. Your friendships
8. Your personal safety
9. Your medication
10. The practical help you receive
11. Consultations with mental health professionals

Watch the video below to find out how DIALOG/+ is making a difference:

How DIALOG and DIALOG+ can help support recovery from a mental health illness - YouTube       

How do I get a DIALOG+ assessment if I have not yet been offered one? 

If you have not yet been offered a DIALOG+ assessment, please speak to your key worker or a member of staff from the service where you are receiving your care. 

We celebrated the 75th birthday of our NHS in July with various events across our Partnership. To mark this huge milestone, our Communications Team also produced a magazine which looks back on the last 75 years and shares the stories of some of our long-serving staff. Click here to read the magazine.

C&I Consultant Psychiatrist Professor, Gill Livingston, gave a warm, informative and engaging interview live on BBC Radio London earlier in the year. She outlined the latest research in this area and explained what people can do to reduce their risk of developing dementia. Listen to Monday’s interview here on the BBC iPlayer. Scroll to 3 minutes and 43 seconds on the orange bar to find it.

In May, we launched the Tobacco Dependence Service across the Partnership with the aim of providing treatment to service users who smoke and wish to quit, or those who need to abstain temporarily from smoking whilst in Trust buildings or grounds. The Tobacco Dependence Service will deliver personalised bedside counselling, behavioural change, and pharmacotherapy support.

Please ask your Trust contact if you would like to be referred to the service.