Heroic individuals and organisations working within our Mental Health Community

Attendees, including the Leaders of both Medway & Kent County Council, applauded alongside senior representatives from every NHS organisation in Kent & Medway. Community and voluntary groups, as well as the individuals who had done the work, joined in the celebrations at Revelations in Ashford. 

32 people and organisations were winners at the prestigious Healthwatch Recognition Awards amongst them were:  
East Kent Mind and a Team working around Lived Experience supported by the ICB/KMPT and EK360. 

We have put together profiles of these projects. They are built into a resource on Mental Health support covering: 

• Guidance around Mental Health Crisis 

• x2 Healthwatch heroes: Mental Health  

• Links to further information 

We shared data with the Mental Health Voice (MHV) Network (part of the Kent Medway Voice collective we work with) has influenced the experience of the Mental Health community of Crisis Care. We supported a consultation around Health Based Places of Safety (HBPOS). Across this month MHV held it’s Local Mental Health Network meetings and we were able to work with them to support the NHS in speaking to the service providers. 

The shape of Crisis care is extremely important to the mental health community and SpeakUpCIC hosted two forums to allow for direct sharing with NHS Kent and Medway. 

The consultation on HBPOS ended on the 18th April and NHS Kent and Medway will now bring  people’s experiences together to help shape changes in Crisis care services and improve how Section 136 is included by the NHS as a form of response to mental health crisis.