Posted on: 18 July 2022
On Friday 15 July, the Psychiatric Liaison Next Steps Service were joined by The Rt Hon Greg Hands, the Member of Parliament for Chelsea and Fulham. Mr Hands had been invited to South Kensington and Chelsea Mental Health Centre to meet the team, learn more about the service’s achievements, and discuss the mental health challenges facing the local population.
The Psychiatric Liaison Next Steps Service at Chelsea and Westminster (CHW) Hospital is one of five across the Trust that supports frequent attenders at A&E or individuals who have high re-admission rates for mental health problems.
Rt Hon Greg Hands was greeted by a room of Consultants, Nurses, Junior Doctors and Medical Students, as well as Professor Dorothy Griffiths, CNWL Chair. The morning began with an informal discussion on what the team does including the types of referrals they receive, details of the support they provide and the cost-effective results of their work.
This was followed by a presentation from Juliet Brown, High Intensity User Service Lead, who spoke about the team’s partnership with British Red Cross (BRC) and the areas of support BRC provides for patients – social care, hobbies, housing, accessing employment etc.
Vittoria De Meo, Service User and Carer Senior Representative, then delivered a speech describing her contributions to recruitment, training and patient feedback, whilst expressing her gratitude to the team for their work.
Vittoria said: “co-production means working together in equal partnership and for equal benefit. The core values to make this happen are very much embedded in the work I have been sharing with the psychiatric liaison team at CHW Hospital – being human, being inclusive, being transparent and being challenging.”
Having given his time to ask a number of follow-up questions, Mr Hands, described the team as “inspirational” and said: “the pandemic has made all of us more aware of mental health, especially among the isolated and young. Thanks to all those doing this vital work.”
Dr Tom McLaren, Consultant Psychiatrist, who helped arrange the visit said: “We were delighted that Mr Hands could visit our team and learn about the work we do. Our partnership with the Red Cross has been extremely successful and, through our fantastic colleague, Vittoria De Meo, we have a very strong link with patients and carers. Thank you, Greg, for visiting us and please come again soon! Thank you also to Dorothy Griffiths for her continuing guidance and support.”
