Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust’s (CWP) Mental Health Out of Area Team (MHOAT) were highly commended in two categories at the Positive Practice in Mental Health awards. The award ceremony, held in Southend on Sea, seeks to celebrate and honour the very best care that mental health services have to offer.
The team are at the forefront of tackling one of the top issues facing mental health nationally. Their primary aim is to reduce the number of people being cared for out of area and ensuring that people can be provided care as close to home as possible. For their efforts, the team were highly commended in the “Complex Mental Health Needs” and “System Wide Commissioning” categories.
At the time of their submission, the team had successfully brought back 27 people from out of area to care being provided back near their homes in Cheshire and Wirral.
CWP director of operations, Suzanne Edwards, said: “On behalf of the Trust – I am very proud to see this recognition nationally for our innovative and dynamic team. As a trust, we are committed to help to improve the lives of everyone in our communities. A huge part of this is ensuring that people can receive care as close to their homes and families as possible when they are unwell and require treatment.”
The teams core principle is to ensure individuals are not away from their home and families for any longer than necessary. A mixture of experts form the team, with nurses, occupational therapists, clinical psychologists and doctors working together to ensure the best results for local people. The team is clinically led, data driven and constantly striving for improvement, acting on the feedback of those that experience their care.
Their success would not be possible without valued partners and the team is proud to work alongside other local healthcare providers to ensure the best outcomes. This includes links with local community mental health teams, but also teams across the Cheshire and Merseyside region.
Suzanne continued: “As well as congratulating the team on their current success – I would also like to wish them well for the future. The work that they do is vital to local people and we must continue our endeavour to ensure that we provide our community with the best care, in the right place, at the right time with the right person. Huge congratulations for all that you have achieved so far and what you are aiming to achieve in the future.”
