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Letter to service users and carers
April 2024
Dear All,
I hope you are all keeping well and enjoying the lighter evenings although it has been quite chilly of late! I’m delighted to share some really positive updates with you this month, especially for those of you who are Arsenal fans!
First, though, we continue to make great progress on our plans to become a new Trust on 1 October, joining together Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Mental Health NHS Trust and Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust. One of the things we need to show before this can happen, is how this will benefit you, our service users and carers. We want to thank all of you who have given us feedback on what those improvements should look like. We will shortly be sending our proposals to NHS England, an important milestone as we move towards becoming one Trust.
This month, a number of you will have celebrated Easter, Eid al-Fitr, Vaisakhi, and Passover with your loved ones. I hope they were happy occasions and wish you prosperity and health for the year ahead.
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Lowther Road will create the best possible environment for mental health recovery
Arsenal Academy Manager and former club captain, Per Mertesacker, joined staff and service users to celebrate the opening of our new, state-of-the-art integrated community mental health centre this month.
The new centre, at 1 Lowther Road in Islington, provides a modern, welcoming space in the heart of the community offering joined-up mental and physical health services and an enhanced working environment for staff. A community café on the ground floor will make Lowther Road a place which everyone can use and enjoy.
Our Islington team already has close links with the Arsenal in the Community project which delivers sport, social and education programmes to over 5,000 individuals each week including many with mental health diagnoses. The opening of the new community centre at Lowther Road – less than a mile from the Emirates Stadium – will further strengthen those bonds and enable even more effective community working.
Per enjoyed chatting to staff and service users alike on the day and took a keen interest in their work and recovery journeys. Mental Health is a cause close to his heart, as he spent a year after leaving school working in a mental health hospital in his native Germany.
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MHCAS - we have moved
Our Mental Health Crisis Assessment Service (MHCAS) plays a vital role in supporting individuals in urgent mental health crisis as an alternative to attending an Emergency Department.
Set up in just three weeks at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, our MHCAS has moved to a beautiful, new, permanent home on our Highgate West Campus.
The new address is: K block, Highgate West Mental Health Centre, Dartmouth Park Hill, London N19 5NX.
The referral process and telephone number will not change and we encourage all professionals to call ahead if they are sending someone to the service.
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Make a Difference, Become a Member!
Are you interested in how mental health services are delivered in your local community?
Become a Member of Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust in order to:
•Show your support for mental health and wellbeing
•Keep informed about key developments, news and events
•Opportunities to get involved and have your say on how we run services
•Vote and/or stand in Council of Governors elections
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For more information, please speak to your Trust contact, email us at membership@candi.nhs.uk, or scan the QR code on the right.
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New dates announced for Enfield Service User and Carer forum
Enfield Forum is a local, friendly and welcoming group of service users, carers, NHS staff and community organisations who have an interest in mental health services.
Meetings take place monthly in each borough and last for an hour and half. They are open to anyone who wishes to come, you can just turn up!
Click here for dates for 2024, a map to the venue, and transport tips
If you would like to ask a question directly to one of the organisers, please email shamaya.robinson@nhs.net
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Carers Active April
Throughout April, Carers UK have been running a campaign around supporting unpaid carers to be physically active and raising awareness of the benefits of physical activity for carers and the barriers they may face.
Carers are anyone who cares, unpaid, for a friend or family member who due to illness, disability, a mental health problem or an addiction requires support.
We know it can be hard to think about doing physical activity on top of a caring role, or to get out and about, so Carers UK have a Carers Active Hub with recorded online video sessions you can do at home and don’t require any equipment. It also has activity ideas and advice. https://www.carersuk.org/help-and-advice/your-health-and-wellbeing/carers-active-hub/.
There are regular activities taking place in our local Carers Centres/Hubs:
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Please also get in touch with your Trust contact if you ever feel in need of greater support. We are here to care for you. Please take look after yourself and support those around you when possible.
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Dr Vincent Kirchner
Chief Medical Officer
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