We have introduced a new service to support young people as they move from childrens’ services into adult mental health care.

The 18-25 Transitions Pathway, provided by the Haringey Transitions Team, supports young people as they transfer from Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) before they enter adult mental health care. This month, the team set up problem-solving booths at St Ann’s hospital, bringing people together to have conversations that they might not usually have, and helping each other work through problems. The patient-staff dynamic was shifted so that the young people were offering advice to clinicians.

Staff across the Partnership between Barnet, Enfield, Haringey Mental Health Trust and Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust are looking at new ways of providing services to the communities we serve, shaping those services to suit the varying needs of an increasingly diverse population, through community-led innovation and listening to the people we are trying to help. Young people have a lot to offer and are not listened to enough. 

Since the beginning of June, we have been rolling out engagement sessions for DIALOG+, a holistic care planning tool, which supports a guided conversation between a healthcare professional and a service user.

Our DIALOG+ team hosted the first in a series of engagement sessions with service users and carers across the five boroughs. The session in Haringey was facilitated by staff with lived experience and offered service users and carers the chance to ask questions and share their experiences of using DIALOG+

There are more events planned across Barnet, Enfield, Camden, and Islington during the coming months. Dates will be announced in a future newsletter.

If you have any questions about DIALOG+ please contact: beh-tr.dialogbeh@nhs.net

Peer practitioners are working in Community Mental Health Teams, sharing their lived experience of mental health challenges to help others.
Peer support workers join a service user’s care team to support their wellbeing and provide inspiration for their recovery.

Hazel is a Peer Practitioner working in our Enfield Integrated Core Mental Health Team. She has been working closely with Nicole, a service user. 

They started working together earlier this year at a time when significant events in Nicole’s personal life were causing emotional distress and housing insecurity. Hazel worked closely with Nicole to understand the issues she was facing and helped to develop a plan to support her. We spoke to Hazel about her experience of supporting Nicole as a peer practitioner:

"I used my own lived experience to inform my approach with Nicole. We talked through the difficulties she was experiencing and how challenging times can be reframed as learning experiences.

We identified positive coping mechanisms that are tailored to Nicole that she can draw upon when she starts feeling low. These coping mechanisms form part of a comprehensive crisis plan that identifies warning signs that signal Nicole might be becoming unwell. This includes list of numbers to call and things to do to keep herself safe during times of crisis. We also developed some strategies to stay well on a daily basis.”

After the support provided by Hazel, Nicole is doing well in independent accommodation, she has a good relationship with her family, a job she enjoys, and is continually working on building positive friendships.

Peer support has been shown to be very effective with Mental Health service users. Peer practitioners can help people stay in treatment and promote self confidence. To find out more about Peer Practitioner roles please click here.

As part of our community transformation programme we are working closely with the voluntary sector to provide more joined up and holistic care for our service users and carers.

We work closely with Healthwatch Islington, who are the independent champion for people who use health and social care services in Islington. They make sure that those running services put people at the heart of care. They have been working with us in partnership to make local health services more accessible, better signposted, and can meet the needs of the diverse population across the borough. 

Click the link below to find out how they are strengthening the links between Core Team practitioners and community services.

The Recovery College is embarking on several workstreams to explore how it works to provide free courses to our community and how to improve what it does. It can’t do this alone. Your opinions and ideas are important!

On Monday 2 October it is hosting an afternoon of co-production conversations to explore what matters most to Camden and Islington staff, students and the community we serve. You can help to shape the way The Recovery College works and how it provides their wellbeing offerings. Lunch will also be provided.

Limited places, sign up:  https://tinyurl.com/yc4k832c

Click here to view the poster. Feel free to share and print.

We are taking exciting new steps in joint working to improve the care we offer across our five boroughs in North London.

Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Mental Health NHS Trust and Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust are working together as North London Mental Health Partnership (NLMHP) and you will see this on our letters to you and other documents in the future. We have also developed a new NLMHP Strategy, co-produced with service users, carers, partners and staff. It describes how we want to meet the needs of the growing populations we serve, so that everyone receives high-quality services, wherever you live, when you need them.

We believe that coming together as one new organisation is better for our service users, carers, staff and local communities. We can achieve more together than we can by continuing to work as two separate Trusts and we are now applying formally to make this change from Autumn 2024. We will keep you updated via our website and will also be letting you know how you can get involved to help shape how our services can be improved as we come together as one new organisation.

Please be assured that there are no plans to change the locations where we provide services or the team that currently supports you, but we believe that coming together as one organisation will help to improve the quality of care you receive.

In the meantime, if you have any questions about any of this, please email NLMHP.nextstepsqueries@nhs.net

There are lots of activities in and around our five boroughs, led by local council partners and community groups, to help support positive wellbeing and good mental health. Here’s a selection of some regular activities, online sessions or extra support currently available:

1. Haringey Walks and Tottenham Talking have collaborated to develop a Men's Walking Group. Come along to meet new people and spend time outdoors! The group meets every Friday outside Chestnuts Community Centre in Haringey from 11-12. Click here for more details.

2. Age UK Islington invite you to join a regular chat & a cuppa at much loved Islington cafe - The Breakfast Club, 31 Camden Passage, 2-4pm, final Tuesday of the month. Booking is required and can be done here. 

3. Would you like to work towards getting physically healthier? Shape Up Islington is a free weight-loss class designed by Arsenal Football Club. Sign-up for a free weight loss course available from Arsenal in the Community (criteria apply). It's a series of 12 sessions with a mixture of help to change long term habits and fun & effective physical activity in a group environment. Click here for more details

4. Mind in Enfield and Barnet are celebrating World Mental Health Day and 25 years of service with a day of lunch and activities. Click here for more information or contact Martine on: 075357 43667 or martinedrake@mindeb.org.uk

5. Have you recently received eye surgery services or are you going through the process now? The NHS in North Central London (NCL) is seeking feedback on proposed changes to where some patients have planned eye surgery. There will be an engagement event in Enfield on Monday 25 September. Click here for more.