I am delighted to be sharing this update from KMPT following my first 100 days as CEO. It continues to be a privilege leading KMPT, and over the last few months, I’ve spent a significant amount of time listening to our people, patients and partners about what I can do to make every day a better day for our patients.
I have also spent time with colleagues at Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust and Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust, gaining valuable insight from others working in the same field and sharing updates on our priorities here in Kent and Medway.
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I haven’t been surprised by anything I’ve heard, which gives me confidence that the six priorities I set out in November 2023 when I published my 100 day plan are the right ones, and we will continue to focus on these in 2024. These are: Mental Health Together, dementia, patient flow, recruitment and retention, reducing violence and aggression and our identity and culture.
We have made some great strides in these areas, which will be transformational for KMPT and the way we deliver our services. Some highlights I wanted to share with you include:
- launching the new, Mental Health Together trailblazer service in Thanet last month;
- working with partners to support the launch of Safe Havens, which are critical to the management of patient flow and provide a much-needed service for patients who do not require our services alone to respond to their needs;
- taking a bold, new approach to improving equality, diversity and inclusion within the Trust;
- engaging with over half of our workforce on ways we can improve EDI, violence and aggression and our brand together; and
- for the first time ever, we have partnered with the Kent and Medway Medical School on research to ensure underrepresented groups shape our brand approach and future services.
Turning to wider improvements and changes, our new state-of-the-art Ruby Ward for older adults with ill mental health has now been built in Maidstone and will open next month. This new ward means that we will no longer have any dormitory style wards, which are an outdated practice in mental health. As well as enabling us to deliver improved patient care, it will also bring Kent in line with national standards - providing our patients with single rooms, minimising risks and creating improved environments in which they are cared for. We are hosting an official opening on 8 March and have a limited number of places available, so please do get in touch if you would like to join us.
Do please share your thoughts or feedback on our services. You can reach me via sheilastenson@nhs.net and, if you can, join us at our next in person Board meeting taking place on 28 March – full details can be found here. Below are further service updates I am delighted to be able to share with you.
With best wishes
 Sheila Stenson, Chief Executive
Mental Health Together launches in Thanet
The Thanet trailblazer for the new model of community care was launched on 15 January. Mental Health Together is a new service, developed with people who have relevant lived experience, and brings together a wide range of partners to provide a truly joined-up service.
It means organisations including charity partners, Porchlight and Shaw Trust, as well as Invicta Health, will be working collaboratively with NHS services to improve the way someone is supported with their mental health needs. Building upon the learning from the Thanet area, Mental Health Together will roll out across the rest of Kent and Medway over the coming months. Read more here.
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How DIALOG+ is improving care
DIALOG+ was adopted by KMPT in November 2023. This is the start of the Trust's work to have a focus on being able to measure patient outcomes. It is a measuring tool, designed to radically improve the way we communicate with our patients. The approach, a series of eight measures, starts with a key question: ‘How satisfied are you with life?’ before assessing several life and treatment areas.
Studies have shown that used just four times over 12 months, those who took DIALOG+ had improved quality of life, treatment satisfaction and had fewer unmet needs. To date 207 staff have been trained in DIALOG+ and 26 patients have already been taken through the DIALOG+ approach. Find out more and hear from Jenna, one of our mental health and wellbeing practitioners who carries out DIALOG+ every day within her working role.
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New Service User Network live across Kent and Medway
If you or someone you know is looking for help with emotional difficulties then the SUN (Service User Network) might be able to help. SUN is a community network of peer-support groups and is designed to support people who are experiencing difficulties with complex emotions often associated with Personality Disorder, but a diagnosis isn’t needed to attend.
The new service has now been launched across Kent and Medway and is a free and confidential group, accessed through self-referral. You can attend the sessions if you live in Kent or Medway and are aged 18 or over. Visit here to find out more, see group locations and to self-refer.
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Reshaping our identity and making KMPT a more inclusive place to work
Our new strategy is designed to help us deliver more for the people we care for, the people who work for us and the partners we work with. To do all of this we need to create the right internal culture and behaviours, and do more to help partners and the public know who we are and what we do.
Over recent months, we have been running extensive engagement with our people, patients and partners to understand what people’s perceptions are of us, and specifically, what we can do to make KMPT a more diverse and inclusive and equitable place to work and be cared for.
There are different parts to this work. KMPT’s EDI approach is being led by Sylvia Stevenson, an external EDI expert. It includes an in depth and far reaching cultural assessment of KMPT, as well as a programme of educating and empowering colleagues on how to become allies - not supporters - of marginalised and underrepresented groups.
Staff are also being encouraged to step into culturally safe spaces, to be brave and have uncomfortable debates about diversity and inclusion – known as ZOUD (zone of uncomfortable debate) moments. You can find out more here.
Research studies update
KMPT is supporting an innovative research project on sleep and the early detection of psychosis, which has been awarded £1.7 million by health research charity, Wellcome Trust. The new study, ‘Sleep and Circadian Health Disturbances in Psychosis and Depression’ is being led by Director of Research at Kent and Medway Medical School (KMMS), Professor Sukhwinder Shergill, who is also KMPT’s Director of Research and Innovation. It was selected from worldwide bids to be part of the coveted research programme scheme.
By better understanding the complex relationship between sleep and mental health, the investigation aims to provide new approaches to predict, treat, and intervene, and ultimately improve the quality of life for people with anxiety, depression and psychosis. Read more. We have a number of ongoing research studies and are always looking for people to join them/our research community
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Award winning Trust
We are delighted to have been selected by The Purpose Coalition as the winner of the Good Health and Wellbeing Award at its 2023 Awards. This prestigious award highlights our commitment to meeting the purpose goals which are the leading framework to measure and track the work of organisations to break down barriers to opportunity.
Our workforce team has recently been awarded the NHS England National Preceptorship Interim Quality Mark, recognising our excellent standards in supporting newly registered nurses. Alongside this, we recently achieved the NHS Pastoral Care Quality Award recognising our ongoing commitment to providing high quality pastoral care to internationally educated nurses and occupational therapists, during their recruitment process and throughout their employment.
A KMPT carer advocate was awarded a British Empire Medal (BEM) in the King’s New Year Honours in recognition for his services to carers and NHS trusts across the UK. Activist, author, poet and former carer Matthew McKenzie was nominated by Carers UK, where he is Carer Ambassador, Matthew cared for his mother for many years and continues to support his two brothers who live with autism. The charity commended him on his active volunteer work and exceptional commitment to improving the lives of unpaid carers.
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CAPs join KMPT
Congratulations to our first cohort of Clinical Associate Psychologists (CAPs) who recently celebrated their graduation from the University of Kent at Canterbury Cathedral. The clinical associate psychologist role is an innovative, new role that bridges the gap in psychological professions between assistant and qualified psychologists, and provides an alternative route into applied clinical psychology professions.
Our CAPs completed a master of science in clinical associate psychology alongside a level 7 apprenticeship during their 18-month placement within a KMPT team, and are now trained to deliver evidence-based treatments, both individually or as a group.
The colleagues graduating this year worked across KMPT in all areas of adult mental health care including our community mental health teams, learning disability service, acute services and liaison psychiatry teams. Following their graduation, we are delighted that our new CAPs are now working across KMPT and using their clinical skills to support our service users. Read the full story here.
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