PROFESSIONAL I Inspirational

‘Today isn’t the end; it’s the beginning’: a conference for mental health support workers in South London

Peter Bradley, Editor, British Journal of Healthcare Assistants

South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLAM) is one of the foremost mental health trusts in the UK, with an international reputation for excellence in this challenging area (see Box 1). On 29 March 2023, SLAM held a conference for its healthcare support workers (HCSWs), in the beautiful Ortus (Latin for ‘sunrise, daybreak, dawn’) building on its Maudsley site in Camberwell, south London. It was also streamed live around the trust. Welcome At 10am, one of the organisers of the day, Olisa Skyers, opened proceedings by welcoming everybody. She said it was the first conference in the trust, although at lunch an old hand told me there had been one in 2019 at the Bethlem Royal Hospital site. ‘Today is about you,’ she said, ‘and how important you are.’

SLAM deputy chief nurse, Simon Sherring, told the audience of about 40 support workers that he had begun his career as an auxiliary nurse, the support worker of the day: ‘I have done the work you do. I know how important you are to this institution: a massive thank you to you from us all.’

The HCSW perspective Next up were two HCSWs, Roz Hilditch and Melanie Burke, talking about ‘my journey’. Hilditch began as an HCSW in June 2021, on the Bethlem site, specialising in child and youth mental health (CYMH). She has completed her Care Certificate, is part of the HCSW engagement group, and has applied to do the nursing associate (NA) course. ‘Every day is different,’ Hilditch said, ‘I enjoy working with young people, helping them to help themselves.’ Among challenges of the job, she identified the blame culture, and time constraints. The induction process could be improved,

Elizabeth Cox (right) and Jazmine Nairne spoke about education and development at the 29 March healthcare support worker event held at the Maudsley Hospital, south London.

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Box 1. South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLAM) South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLAM) says: ‘We provide the widest range of NHS mental health services in the UK. We serve a local population of 1.3 million people in south London, as well as specialist services for children and adults across the UK and beyond. Each year we provide inpatient care for over 5000 people, and treat more than 40 000 patients in the community in Lambeth, Southwark, Lewisham and Croydon.’ SLAM consists of four hospitals: ● Bethlem Royal Hospital, Bromley ● Lambeth Hospital, Clapham ● Lewisham Hospital (Ladywell Unit),

Lewisham High Street ● Maudsley Hospital, Camberwell. SLAM reaches 100 community sites and includes 300 clinical teams. Source: https://slam.nhs.uk/about

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March 2023 Vol 17 No 3 British Journal of Healthcare Assistants