Published on: 23rd June 2015
A back to basics redesign of a young persons’ mental health service has been recognised for the quality of care it provides by being shortlisted for a national award.
Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust's (LPFT) North East Lincolnshire Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (NEL CAMHS) has been named as a finalist in this year's prestigious Nursing Times Awards.
The team has been shortlisted for its entry, 'Innovative CAMHS redesign structure' in the annual awards ceremony which showcases superb transformations that are shaping and improving nurse-led care within the NHS.
The NEL CAMHS team, based in Grimsby, provide specialist services for children and young people up to the age of 18, including treatment for anxiety, eating disorders and self-harming to name but a few.
The shortlisting panel were impressed with the team’s introduction of a 24 hour, seven days a week crisis service, which has reduced the number of inpatient admissions for young people in the last 12 months.
The team consists of therapists, psychologists, and nurse specialists who are able to provide a full range of support to children, young people and their families in a non-stigmatising environment, which is particularly important in the context of mental health.
Dr Tracey Urquhart, Clinical Psychologist at NEL CAMHS said she was really pleased for the staff that their hard work and dedication has been recognised after narrowly missing out on being shortlisted last year.
We had a complete service redesign in NEL CAMHS about two years ago – and we've gone right back to basics, providing high quality, structured care pathways and evidenced-based practises for our patients.
We have good feedback from service users, including a patient participation group, and we even have a parents of patients participation group. All of this we evidenced in our submission to the judges.
Tracey added that good staff morale and excellent links with the local community in general are sure to have helped their cause.
Staff here are happy and we have a good relationship with all the outside agencies including police and accident and emergency staff, who are always complimentary of the service. Getting shortlisted is a real achievement and a great boost for all the staff involved.
The team must now travel to the capital to present their entry to a panel of judges in a bid to win the final award.
They must give a 10 minute presentation identifying three reasons why they should be chosen, followed by a further 15 minutes of questions.
They'll find out if they've been successful at the awards ceremony on November 12th.
