National Voices CEO Jeremy Taylor’s visit to the Trust

Tsana Rawson, QI Clinical Fellow writes about the visit of National Voices CEO to the Trust. 

Jeremy Taylor, CEO of National Voices

In November we welcomed Jeremy Taylor, Chief Executive of National Voices who are the leading coalition of health and social care charities in the UK. We were delighted to showcase some of the amazing work we have done at ELFT to improve patient outcomes, better integrate care and also to continuously improve the patient and carer experience of our services.

Some of the innovative work we presented at the start of his visit included:

• A project with the DLR to improve social mobility through increased confidence using London transport.
• The introduction of peer support workers to provide expert-by-experience advice on our inpatient units.
• The involvement of service users and carers in the recruitment, induction and training of staff.

We also highlighted a number of QI projects aligned with our two key themes, reducing harm and improving patient experience.

During this session shared a wonderful lunch, provided by Lee House; a programme to support mental health patients move from supported mental health services to mainstream employment, training and education.

ELFT is a large organisation providing many different services. We thought it was important to give Jeremy a taster of some of the services we provide. First stop was the John Howard Centre where he was met by a lively group of service users to talk about their life and experience of living within secure services. Jeremy asked some really challenging questions to reveal how patients felt staff engaged with them and the things they liked and disliked about their care. I was extremely proud and moved to hear the patients’ stories and that they felt that staff really cared for them. It was uplifting to hear that despite having spent many years at the JHC they were hopeful for the future.

Next stop, Rosebank Ward which is a female PICU (psychiatric intensive care unit). Jeremy experienced first-hand the calming effect of the ward’s sensory room; an incredible space used by patients to relax, think, talk with staff and dance (check out the disco ball!). Jeremy was given the opportunity to meet with Rebecca Lingard (modern matron) and a long standing service user to talk about Rosebank’s unique approach to recovery and the role of the Hope wall in providing messages of love and support. This was a wonderful way to end a truly inspirational visit.

Jeremy was very impressed by the visit and expressed his thanks and gratitude to the Trust service users and staff he met for their time and insights.