In your Spring 2024 edition
- Welcome from Phill Mantay, Acting Chief Executive
- Mental health teams collaborate for art exhibition
- Devon’s Peer Support Charter Award a first for England
- Wildlife cameras at Langdon Hospital
- Celebrating Devon Partnership NHS Trust’s first Clinical Associate Psychologists
- Dawlish Football Club welcomes our international nurses
- Bristol Dementia Wellbeing Service collaborates with The Football Association
- Mental health pilot supporting rough sleepers extended
- Living the life you want to lead
- New team supports young people transitioning out of CAMHS
- Reducing Healthcare Inequalities for Children and Young People
- Visit by Regional Chief Nurse Sue Doheny
- Learning Disability and Autism unit update
Hello and welcome to the Spring edition of Mental Health Matters. I hope you find it an interesting read.
As we look back on 2023/24, we can reflect on another very busy year for all of our services. Once again, our staff have performed admirably and we are incredibly proud of the work they do every day to support people with mental health, learning disability and neurodiversity needs. I am also grateful to people with lived experience, carers and other partners for the support that they to provide to our organisation.
While the year ahead will no doubt present its challenges, I feel confident that we will also see many developments and improvements along the way, too.
Thank you for taking an interest in our organisation.
Phill Mantay,
Acting Chief Executive
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The Devon Mental Health Alliance and our Eastern Rehabilitation Community Team collaborated to put together an art and poetry exhibition at this year's Exeter Phoenix Bloom Festival.
All the work displayed was created by service users, their families, carers and supporting staff members. The project aims to give artists a unique opportunity to share their magnificent talents with the Exeter community.
Our Peer Support Team was recently recognised with not only the first Lived Experience Charter Award for Devon, but also the first for workforce development in a Community Mental Health Team (CMHT) in England. The awards, commissioned by NHS England and delivered by Career Matters, recognise excellence in developing workforces where lived experience is strongly represented. Emily Clayton and Emma Flint from our Peer Support Team chose Exeter Community Mental Health Teams as the basis for their evidence, where four peer support workers work across two areas. Emma said: “It means so much to be assessed by peers across England who are also working hard to embed lived experience in services. We have many teams in Devon with amazing peer support professionals. It’s great to have our work recognised at a national level, and to be the first CMHT in England is something really special.”
 Pictured: Emma and Emily with their award.
Our DPT Charity has provided funding for the installation of two wildlife cameras on the extensive grounds at Langdon Hospital in Dawlish. The aim of the cameras is to help bring a glimpse of wildlife to patients and staff who have already been involved with an existing hedgerow improvement project on the grounds. It will also bring views of the local wildlife to others who may not get outside that often.
Alex Watkins, Technical Instructor, said: “We are blessed at Langdon to have acres of outdoor space. Our patients have seen many different types of wildlife here, including deer, badgers and many different types of bird, so we are quietly confident we can expect to capture some of these over the course of the coming seasons.”
You can view footage on our YouTube channel @DPTNHS
 Pictured: A badger at Langdon Hospital caught by the new cameras.
Congratulations to our first cohort of Clinical Associate Psychologists (CAPs).
The innovative new role aims to bridge the gap between assistant and clinical psychologists to provide high quality, evidence-based psychological support within the community. Not only are CAPs crucial in bridging that gap, but they also have a vital role in widening access to psychologically informed care to those with complex needs.
The 12 trailblazers spent 18 months completing their Masters level apprenticeship while working in our adult Community Mental Health Teams. Their hard work and success were celebrated at a graduation ceremony with Exeter University where they were awarded a Master of Science in Clinical Associate in Psychology (Mental Health in Adults).
You can find out more about the CAP apprenticeship in these videos from Dean and Amethyst:
 Pictured: Our new CAP graduates celebrate
Three of our international nurses, from Nigeria, have been welcomed at Dawlish United Football Club. Bethel, Caleb and Ben are nurses at Langdon Hospital and are big football fans who have wanted to play since they arrived in Devon. Within their first week, they went to watch Exeter City play, as well as watching Nigeria play in the final of the AFCON.
Bethel said: "I saw a post on the staff intranet saying Dawlish FC were needing more players. We got in touch and have been welcomed with open arms! Our team mates and the management at Dawlish United have been so welcoming. We travel with the team to play around Devon and it’s been a great experience blending in to the local community."
 Pictured: Bethel, Caleb and Ben
The Bristol Dementia Wellbeing Service, in collaboration with the local charity Alive Activities, recently spent time with members of the England men's football team in advance of the 'Alzheimer’s Society International' event. They provided Kyle Walker, Ivan Toney and Jarrad Branthwaite with the opportunity to experience some of the physical challenges faced by people living with dementia by wearing a dementia ‘empathy suit’. These are wearable devices that simulate the physical and sensory impairments associated with older age, such as limited mobility, hearing and sight loss and confusion. The Bristol service has purchased two of the suits as part of a training programme for care homes.
 Pictured: Sharon Parson talks to England footballer Ivan Toney.
Rough sleepers in Devon will have better access to mental health support thanks to an innovative project which sees mental health, primary care, social care, housing services and the VCSE sector working together. A pilot project has now been extended, led jointly by our organisation and Livewell Southwest. Devon previously had no dedicated mental health support for people sleeping rough, but the area has higher than average numbers of people identified as rough sleepers in an England-wide study in 2021.
The project is focused on removing barriers to services that rough sleepers, or those at risk of rough sleeping, face by upskilling outreach practitioners, ensuring a multi-agency response and embedding new ways of working. Rowan Burrows, Specialist Change Practitioner for the Improving Access to Mental Health Services for Rough Sleepers Project, said: “It is a much bigger and more complex problem than we originally thought but what we have discovered is that there are a lot of amazing staff out there who are working so hard to support this group of people and that there is a real willingness to want to come together and drive change.”
Our physical and mental health are inextricably linked and when both are affecting us we may find ourselves struggling to cope, feeling alone, stressed or afraid of how our lives can improve. You may be living with a long-term health condition that is impacting how you are feeling and preventing you from living the life you want to lead.
The dedicated Talking Health Team at TALKWORKS can help you to manage the emotional difficulties that often go hand in hand with experiencing a long-term physical health condition. The team are experienced clinicians who can provide a range of tools, techniques and coping strategies to help you get your life back on track. The service currently has short waiting times and a range of flexible appointments, including early morning and evening sessions which can be delivered face to face, over the phone or via video call.
You do not need a referral from a GP to access TALKWORKS. You can refer yourself online or call the service on 0300 555 3344.
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Young people with complex needs who are preparing to transition from children’s services to adult services are being supported by a new team. The Complex Emotional Needs Transitions Team has been created to support young people up to six months before they turn 18, and in the six months after, to help identify what ongoing support or services they might need.
Ama Wheeler, who is leading the new team, said: “It’s really exciting to be a part of this team and to help bridge the gap in service provision for this particular group of people. Work will be centred on the needs of each young person when they come to us, this could mean supporting them on a one-to-one basis with things like relationships, independence and social skills, helping to build their resilience.”
In November 2023, our South West Provider Collaborative (SWPC) was selected as the winner in the category of 'Reducing Healthcare Inequalities for Children and Young People' at the Health Service Journal (HSJ) Awards, recognising an outstanding contribution to healthcare.
The project was recognised by the judges as a targeted approach that has undoubtedly changed lives. They were impressed with the use of resources to transform patient pathways in our region, as well as the improvement in access to appropriate care for children and young people.
Dr Jason Fee, SWPC Medical Director said “This really is fantastic news! Being selected as a winner in a year when the competition was so tough, with an unprecedented volume of entries from so many other equally deserving entries was a huge boost for our team.”
 Pictured: The winners with their award.
Photo credit: Health Service Journal (HSJ)
Sue Doheny, Regional Chief Nursing Officer, enjoyed a visit to our organisation in May. Sue met with the senior nursing team and visited some of our teams including the First Response Service, which provides support to people in a crisis or urgent need.
Joel Cutter, Deputy Director of Nursing and Practice, said: "It was a really positive meeting with Sue, sharing our challenges and opportunities with a focus on our safety priorities, collaboration and continuous learning.”
 Pictured: Melanie Walker, Sue Doheny, Chris Burford, Clare McAdam, Emma Gillard and Joel Cutter
Work is well under way on the construction of a new 10-bed unit to support adults with a mental health need and a learning disability or autism. The £20m development, on our Langdon Hospital site in Dawlish, is part of a regional service delivered through two locations, with the other unit being built in Bristol. The new unit will be completed in 2025. In line with the NHS Long Term Plan, our goal is to continue to move away from an over-reliance on inpatient care in all areas of our work. However, where inpatient treatment is the most clinically appropriate form of support, we want people to have access to high-quality care in a modern, therapeutic environment – with a focus on recovery and moving towards independent living. People with lived experience are closely involved with this exciting project at every stage.
 Pictured: Work under way at the new 10-bed unit for adults with a mental health problem and a learning disability or autism.
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