Current opportunities for you to get involved

If you’re 13-16 years old and would like to be involved in improving our schools service for young people then we would love to hear from you.

As part of our offer in schools, The Mental Health Support Team has developed four sessions to look at the way in which may negatively think about ourselves.

We all experience that inner bully from time to time that tells us negative things and, if left unattended, these voices can begin to limit our life and how we see the world.

To help this, we would like to share with you some work on Compassion Focused Therapy and Mindfulness techniques to see whether you think this would be helpful for other young people in schools.

Join us

If you are interested, please join us on Wednesday 13 December, 18:30 — 19:30 on Microsoft Teams.

To find out more please contact Sophie.davies@nsft.nhs.uk or you text, Whatsapp or call 07342 066589.

People who use our services and their carers and families have the chance to sign up for training to be involved in recruiting new staff.

The values-based recruitment training is being held to give service users and their families the skills to be involved in interviews and shape the future of NSFT.

We are committed to involving people who use mental health services and their carers or families through the People Participation. 

Sessions are capped at eight people so spaces are limited, and they will be booked on a first come-first served basis.

The training will be via Microsoft Teams and anyone who has difficulties accessing this or needs further support can email people.participation@nsft.nhs.uk.

New training dates can be found below: 

• Monday, 4 December, 10:00 — 13:00
• Tuesday, 19 December, 13:00 — 16:00

To sign up go to https://forms.office.com/r/HSEfWeW0Sp.

Have you received support from our Under 18s Eating Disorder Service or cared for someone who has?

Do you want to use your lived experience to help us improve and develop our service?

We want to hear from you!

The forum will bring together staff and those with lived experience to consider:

• Development and feedback on projects
• Co-producing training materials
• Reviewing and producing service literature

If you decide to get involved this will not affect the care you or your loved one is receiving. If you would like to find out more, please complete an expression of interest form nsft.uk/EDForum.  

Alternatively, please contact us on 01603 421127 and ask for a call back regarding participation, or you can email us  at Caeds.participation@nsft.nhs.uk

Do you support someone With Personality Disorder or Complex Emotional and Relational Needs?

If yes, please consider joining us on our Workshop for Carers, Family and Friends Personality Disorder and Complex Emotional and Relational Needs. 

This is a 6-part online workshop, on Zoom, that runs over 6 consecutive weeks. (Future dates currently being arranged.) The workshop has been designed for family, friends, and partners (18+), who are supporting other adults (18+) with, or awaiting assessment for, Personality Disorder / Complex Emotional & Relational Needs, in Norfolk or Suffolk.

The workshop has been developed in collaboration with carers and people with lived experience throughout. We aim to bring people together to support and learn from one another in an inclusive atmosphere, explore topics and skills of interest, and offer a space for meaningful conversations about the experience of caring for someone.

Topics we will cover include:

• Exploring personality, personality disorder and complex emotional & relational needs
• Supporting someone experiencing difficult emotions
• Validation and containment
• Recovery, discovery, and management
• Walking the middle path
• Boundaries
• Advocacy
• Sharing resources, ideas, and advice
• Looking after ourselves in the short and long term
• And much more…

Emotive subjects often come up in these workshops, so please bear this in mind. Although we aim to support each other, this is not a crisis or emergency service for urgent issues.

If you are interested, please email KUFtraining@nsft.nhs.uk with your name, contact details, the reason you wish to join, and confirming you and your person are over 18.

We want you to know that you are valued and appreciated for the support you give. These socials are an opportunity for you to meet others in a similar situation and to access support and information in a friendly and safe environment.

Meet online via zoom:

• Tuesdays: 19:30 - 20:30
• Wednesdays: 13:00 - 14:30
• Friday: 10:30 - 12:00

Join the meetings here. 

Meeting ID: 860 6791 0795
Password: 4t4nSx

For more further information on any of the groups, please email:CarersQAservice@nsft.nhs.uk

Are you under the age of 25?

Are you a parent/carer of a young person under the age of 25?

Do you like designing things?

We are developing a new website to improve mental health services for Children, Families and Young People and we want to hear what is important to you. 

Our Website Working Together Group meets the third Monday of the month 6-7pm via Microsoft Teams.

Upcoming dates:

• 18 December 2023
• 15 January 2024
• 19 February 2024
• 18 March 2024

To join the next meeting please click on the date you want to join.

For more information:  Contact Andrea Bland, People Participation Co-ordinator People.Participation@nsft.nhs.uk

If you can’t make the date or have no internet access, please get in contact and we can make other arrangements.

The project aims to ensure we have those who have experience of our services 
working alongside us to monitor our improvements.

This Evidence Assurance Group has been set up to ensure our services are making the improvements needed and that those improvements are sustainable. We value the involvement of those who access our service and their supporters, and is important that together we work together to get things right. We know that the unique perspective of service users and their supporters will drive the improvement in quality that will be beneficial for all.

The EAG will be a supportive, multi-stakeholder, group which will check, challenge and discuss progress with services.

Each EAG session will be focused on a specific service. The expectation will be that each service will present a summary of the improvement undertaken, supported by evidence that demonstrates the progress made.

Services will also be expected to be able to explain how there is a focus on outcomes, as well as service user and staff experience. 

Services will be able to report progress and challenges. The group can then support in terms of testing this progress and completeness/sustainability of the proposed actions and mitigations to any improvement work. 

To ensure we have diverse representation within the Evidence Assurance Group we will ask interested individuals to attend a maximum of six meetings in total.

Names and contact details of those supporting the project: 

• Robyn Ward - Senior People Participation lead 
• Jodie Butcher - Senior People Participation Lead

The group will meet fortnightly.

Expenses: 

You can claim £10 an hour attending meetings. Meetings will mostly be held online but travel expenses and refreshments costs will be covered if they are held face to face. Please remember to check how payment may affect your tax or benefits. You can choose not to claim the involvement payment and take part voluntarily.

How to express your interest in the role

We are seeking individuals who from a variety of backgrounds (e.g. age, gender, ethnicity, geographical location) and a range of lived experiences to join the project. We are inviting people with lived experience of accessing or supporting someone to access, Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation Trust, within the last five years to collaborate with us. 

When you are completing the expression of interest form it would be helpful if you could briefly tell us what attracts you to the role.

Your answer could also include any skills you have gained professionally, through voluntary work, and through experience of mental health challenges (your lived experience, or in those you care for).

Please let us know if you have any questions, would like support completing the form or would prefer to send us a video or audio response to the questions on the form.

You can complete the form here.

We will look at the expression of interest forms to ensure that people with a range of experiences are recruited to join the Project. Individuals who may be suitable for the role will be contacted for an informal (online) conversation soon afterwards. 

If you would like further information or have any queries, please email:
People.Participation@nsft.nhs.uk

Join us on a Wednesday morning at 10.30am-noon for a cuppa and a chat.

Just turn up and meet like-minded people in a relaxed, informal chat setting, meeting at a different Ipswich coffee shop each week.

December 2023

• 6 - BB’s Coffee & Muffins Sailmakers Shopping Centre, Ipswich IP1 3BE
• 13 - St Lawrence Centre Dial Lane, Ipswich IP1 1DU
• 20 - Christmas Lunch at The Cosy Club Buttermarket Shopping Centre, St Stephen’s Lane, Ipswich IP1 1DT at 1-3pm
• 27 - Coffeelink Ipswich Waterfront Neptune Marina, Neptune Quay, Ipswich IP4 1AX

January 2024

• 3 - Cosy Club Buttermarket Shopping Centre, St Stephens Lane, Ipswich IP1 1DT
• 10 - Moments Coffee Shop Town Hall Cornhill, Ipswich IP1 1DH
• 17 - Coffee Cell Combat2Coffee 8 Northgate Street, Ipswich IP1 3BZ
• 24 - Bon Bon 19 Buttermarket, Ipswich IP1 1BQ 
• 31 - Geek Retreat 41a Upper Brook Street, Ipswich IP4 1DU

February 2024

• 7 - Honey & Harvey 4-6 Queen Street, Ipswich IP1 1SS 
• 14 - St Lawrence Centre Café Dial Lane, Ipswich IP1 1DJ
• 21 - The Mix James Hehir Building, University Avenue, Ipswich IP3 0FS 
• 28 - Coffee Cell Combat2Coffee 8 Northgate Street, Ipswich IP1 1EA

March 2024

• 6 - Christchurch Mansion Tea Room Christchurch Park Ipswich IP4 2EE
• 13 - Hullabaloo Café 14 St Peter’s Street, Ipswich IP1 1XB
• 20 - Issacs on the Quay 7 Wherry Quay, Ipswich IP4 1AS
• 27 - Geek Retreat 41A Upper Brook Street, Ipswich IP4 1DU

April 2024

• 3 - The Hold 131 Fore Street, Ipswich IP4 1LN
• 10 - The New Wolsey Theatre Café Civic Drive, Ipswich IP1 2AS 
• 17 - Coffee Cell Combat2Coffee 8 Northgate Street, Ipswich IP1 1EA
• 24 - Applaud Coffee 19 St Peter’s Street, Ipswich IP1 1XF 

For more information please contact Debbie Atkinson - People Participation Co-ordinator PeopleParticipationEastSuf@nsft.nhs.uk 

The Being Together Group is for adults, with a Learning Disability and/or Autism, carers or others who are interested in our services in Suffolk.

The group meet on Zoom, on the fourth Friday of each month, 11-12.

Join the group on Zoom to find out about how you can get involved in improving our services, talk to others and share your ideas.

Email Margaret.Tanner@nsft.nhs.uk for the Zoom link.

Help share the group with this poster: Being Together group promotional poster [pdf] 392KB

We are asking service users and carers with recent experience of our inpatient wards to help us design new wards. This will further improve quality and safety at Hellesdon Hospital in Norwich. 

Find out more about this opportunity.

Our Veteran's wellbeing support group is designed to stop social isolation and give veterans a sense of belonging, similar to the close bond they had whilst serving. 

These events will be taking place in a non-clinical environment but Veteran's are welcome to discuss any mental health concerns they may have.

Please see below for locations, times and the days of our wellbeing support group:

• Norwich: Monday 11:00 - 13:00, The Matthew Project 70 – 80- Oaks Street Norwich NR3 3AQ, Tel: 07584316272
• Sudbury: Monday 11:00 - 13:00, Sudbury/Toast Café (Winter) or Long Melford Country Park (Summer), Tel: 07584316272
• Bury St Edmunds: Tuesday 11:00 - 13:00, Combat 2 Coffee , Con Club, Guildhall Street, IP33 1PR, Tel: 07584316272
• Ipswich: Wednesday 11:00 - 13:00, Combat 2 Coffee , Whitton Clinic, Meredith Road, IP1 6ED, Tel: 07584316272
• Thetford: Monday 11:00 - 13:00, Steam, Tanner Court, Tanner Street, IP24 2BQ, Tel: 07584316272

You can watch a video, featuring some of our service users, who have used the service and their thoughts on it below.

NSFT's online forum for women who have served in the military has new dates and times for the autumn/winter season.

The forum is open to women who are serving in the British Armed Forces and about to leave the military, Reservists, and Veterans. It has been developed so that women can share life experiences and build a support network.

Michelle Firmin, senior armed forces and veteran’s practitioner in the Veterans Integrated Service (VIS), decided to set up the forum after working for the Ministry of Defence, where she witnessed a number of the difficulties women can face when returning to civilian life after serving in the armed forces."

The meeting time has recently been changed to evening to make it easier for people to attend.

Topics of discussion may be about concerns and frustrations experienced in transitioning from the military to civilian life which may include experiences that occurred during service that have remained unresolved; work in civilian life, family life and building friendships; and specific women’s health concerns such as, fertility, family planning, menopause, childcare and general concerns about getting older.

Michelle said: “It's important to acknowledge the high levels of anxiety that may be suffered by people transitioning out of the military, that can be triggered by the need to find new employment, meet like-minded people, be part of a community and make new friends.”

The forum meets on the fourth Tuesday of the month, 7-8pm

Dates:

• 28 November
• 19 December (early due to Christmas)
• 23 January
• 27 February
• 26 March

To attend, email nsftvis@nsft.nhs.uk for a Microsoft Teams invitation to join.

Would you like to be involved in improving our mental health services for yourself and others? Your voice deserves to be heard!

Particip8! are a group of people with a personal interest in mental health for young people and a passion for improving mental health services.

Whether you’d prefer to be part of a group, have one-to-one sessions, or share your ideas and experience by email, Whatsapp or phone, we would love for you to join us.

You can be involved as little or as much as you would like and with the things that are important to you.

• Using lived experience, we have led on projects such as:
• The language of letters and ensuring these are young person and carer friendly
• Interviewing staff
• Sharing our experience of crisis services
• Art projects
• Development of educational courses and many more.

To find out more, email Sophie.davies@nsft.nhs.uk. You can also text or call 07342 066589 or use Whatsapp.

Gemma, the People Participation Coordinator with our Trust’s Quality Improvement (QI) Team is inviting people with experience of using our services to join our improvement projects.

Gemma says "We want to make sure that every single QI project has service user and carer involvement as the only way to make successful changes and for services to evolve is to ensure their voices are heard and views taken into account."

If you would like to get involved please email Gemma for more information at QI.Team@nsft.nhs.uk.

An NSFT project aiming to reduce mental health inequalities for refugees and asylum seekers across Norfolk and Waveney wants to hear from those directly impacted to be the voice of lived experience and to ensure that our ideas best meet the needs of those using our services and their loved ones.

How can you help?

We are inviting refugees and asylum seekers based in Norfolk or Waveney to join the project as pivotal Experts by Experience (EbyE). We would be looking for individuals who would be willing to share their stories, experiences, and ideas to steer the project in the best direction and help us make the most meaningful changes.

As a project team member, we would be looking for you to join a monthly meeting held virtually over Microsoft Teams, where you will be working with a team of people from a range of different services and backgrounds. We always endeavour to create an environment where you can feel comfortable and confident in presenting your own views and sharing ideas to shape the outcomes of the project.

If joining the team isn’t for you, there are still other ways to share your experiences, such as one to one interviews and surveys conducted by our project team.

Want to join?

If you are interested in this opportunity of joining this project, want more information, or just want an informal chat with our People Participation Coordinator, Gemma Harris, please email QI.Team@nsft.nhs.uk and tell us how you would like to be involved.

Want a better understanding of Quality Improvement?

Join our Recovery College course – ‘Understanding Quality Improvement and how to be involved’ by visiting https://www.nsft.nhs.uk/timetable for more information and details on how to enrol.

Safewards is an evidence based package of actions and behaviours that inpatient wards across Norfolk and Suffolk can apply to help support safety and experience for all. As part of our plans for 2023 we want to implement Safewards in our wards and will be running a supporting programme over the next few months. We are hoping to create a small coordinating project group and are looking for 2 people who have lived experience of receiving care from inpatient services or people who have supported others who have received care from our inpatient services, who could join online discussions as well as attend face to face collaboration sessions at Diss Business Hub.

The anticipated meeting schedule will be an online video call once every two weeks for 1 hour, and a half day face to face session at Diss Business Hub once every two months.

If anyone is interested in participating or would like any more information about the projects and what support is available please contact Michael Lozano (Interim Director of Quality at NSFT) on Michael.Lozano@nsft.nhs.uk

or Gemma Harris (People Participation Coordinator) on Gemma.Harris@nsft.nhs.uk

Safety Culture has many opportunities to make a difference for our communities and staff. We are looking for people who access our services or have supported someone to access our services to join a coordinating group. The group will be responsible for looking at evidence for improving Safety Culture across Norfolk and Suffolk and helping to create communications and tools that staff and teams can use.

The anticipated meeting schedule will be an online video call once every three weeks for approximately 1 hour.

If anyone is interested in participating or would like any more information about the projects and what support is available please contact Michael Lozano (Interim Director of Quality at NSFT) on Michael.Lozano@nsft.nhs.uk

or Gemma Harris (People Participation Coordinator) on Gemma.Harris@nsft.nhs.uk

Have you used the DIALOG scale with your mental health professional and planned goals and actions with them? Or has the person you care for/support done this and you are aware of their goals and actions?

The Care Planning team are currently looking for service user and carers/family of service users who would like to participate in a focus group to improve training and co-production for NSFT DIALOG+ staff training. Sharing your views with us and help us to improve the training we provide for NSFT staff.

There are a few ways to be involved:

• Attend the monthly focus group and share your experience and views as often as you can
• Joining training and co- production meetings – (optional)
• Get involved by sharing views in short videos – (optional)
• Participation with staff training online (and at training venues to be confirmed) – (optional)
• You can give as much or as little of your time as you like
• If you change your mind and want to opt out that is okay

What are the aims:

• We aim to be a respectful group of people who can share experiences in a space which is safe to do so.
• We aim to improve the quality of training for staff by sharing your experiences and views.
• The experience and views you share will help to improve the quality-of-care planning and improve goal setting and make goals more person centred and be meaningful and purposeful for what services user’s want to achieve.
• Your experience will be invaluable for ongoing training of staff in DIALOG+, and co-production of the training.

About you:

• You are a current service user/ or have been, who either has a My Recovery Plan which includes completing a DIALOG scale or you have completed a DIALOG scale with a mental health care professional, and you have planned goals and actions with them.
• You are a carer/supporter of a service user who you are aware has completed a DIALOG scale and has planned goals and actions with their mental health care professional.
• You feel comfortable sharing your own views and experience and representing the views of others within the group setting.
• You approach engagement with others in an empathetic, compassionate and supportive way.
• You have time to carry out this activity.

What can you expect from us:

• Elizabeth Doolan, Care Program Approach Practitioner, will organise and attend each meeting and will be available to support the group.
• Meetings will be held monthly on Microsoft Teams or Zoom; you are not expected to attend all meetings.
• We will discuss your views and experience of your involvement in care planning process using DIALOG. With your participation we can discuss how to implement your views and experience into the training we provide to staff.
• If access to a computer or internet is an issue for you, we are happy to discuss ways to overcome this barrier
• This is a voluntary role.

If you decide you would like to participate in training sessions and share your lived experience and views, you will be paid for time/ travel. Elizabeth will provide you with the claim’s forms and information regarding payments. What to do next If you are interested in participating in this opportunity, please tell us a bit about you by filling in this form. We will contact you when the group begins.

*Please note that by completing this form you are consenting for us to hold your details for as long as necessary for the project and for us to contact you using the email and phone number you have given. If you have any questions, please contact elizabeth.doolan@nsft.nhs.uk.

Staff Support Services at Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation Trust (NSFT) are developing an anti-racism training package aimed at supporting staff wellbeing. The aim of the project is to pilot a training package on one of our Norfolk based male only acute wards, Glaven Ward. The project and training package will be spread over a six-month period, and the impact on staff wellbeing will be monitored.

A holistic approach will be taken involving staff, service users, their carers and team leadership.

How can you help?

The project team are currently looking for adult men who have received Mental Health care from our acute wards or carers and supporters of men that have received Mental Health care on our acute wards, to  join the project and get involved in the discussions and idea generation for the training.

To be involved in the project you will need to listen to the opinions and ideas of others actively and positively in an empathetic, compassionate, and supportive way, which reflects our Trust values of respectfully, positively and together.

What to expect?

Project team member role: To be involved in the project team, we would like participants to join a fortnightly Microsoft Teams meeting, which will be up to 1 hour, on a Friday morning where they can be comfortable in sharing ideas and feedback to shape the outcomes of the project.

You will regularly be working with a team of people with a range of skills, experiences, and backgrounds, and we want you to feel comfortable and confident in voicing your own views and representing the thoughts of others within a group setting.

Project feedback role: This may involve completing a short survey either on paper, electronically, or via a conversation with one of our project team members. We may also ask you to be part of a small group workshop to share your experiences and ideas for this project.

How will we support you?

You will need access to a computer to attend fortnightly Microsoft Teams meetings. If computer access is an issue for you, we are happy to talk to you about ways of overcoming that barrier.

You will also need to be able to have time to read documents before meetings.

This is a voluntary role, but expenses would be paid for attendance at the Microsoft Teams meetings.

One to one support with our Quality Improvement People Participation Coordinator to help you in your role will also be available.

If you are interested in participating or would like more information, please contact:

Anjum Piracha – Project Lead  Anjum.piracha@nsft.nhs.uk or Gemma Harris – People Participation Coordinator  Gemma.Harris@nsft.nhs.uk.

Attend our Recovery College course to explore how you can use the Quality Improvement methodology, skills, knowledge, and tools in everyday life to support your recovery and personal growth journey. Learn how Quality Improvement is used in healthcare settings, how to be involved in Quality Improvement projects in NSFT and how using your lived and learned experience of receiving or supporting someone with treatment and services from NSFT can improve quality of care.

The course covers:

• What ‘quality’ means to you and what quality looks like in mental healthcare services.​
• Explore why Lived experience is important in Quality Improvement.​
• ​Introduction to the Quality Improvement approach used in mental healthcare​.
• Use a ‘real life’ example to understand;​ how to create SMART aims/goals, how to measure improvement​, how to create change ideas and test these.​
• Consider what the benefits and challenges might be for people with lived experience participating in Quality Improvement projects.​
• Explore what it is like to be involved in Quality Improvement projects and how you can join a project and/or support improvement work at NSFT.

Course Duration: 3 hours and 30 minutes including short breaks on Microsoft Teams

To find out more information or book your place follow this link Browse our Recovery College courses and begin your personal recovery journey | Norfolk and Suffolk NHS (nsft.nhs.uk)

Outcome Measures – Get involved in our next Quality Improvement Collaborative

The Trust is about to embark on its next collaborative that is focusing on improving the use of outcome measures, such as DIALOG+, as part of our care process.

Why is this collaborative needed?

The purpose of this six-month collaborative is to provide an environment for teams to fully understand and make the most of the benefits that are offered when using outcome measures.

By increasing the use of outcome measures, we will be able to enhance the conversations and formulation that support a bespoke and personalised journey to recovery for our service users.

National guidance is encouraging us to use outcome measures in our care processes. We need to have embedded one of the three outcome measures by the end of March 2024, and for us this is DIALOG+. We want to use this opportunity to get ahead of the game and become familiar with this tool now so we can share what we have learned with the rest of the Trust.

What is DIALOG+

DIALOG+ is a tool that ‘quantifies’ a service user’s reported outcomes and experiences. 

Starting as a simple questionnaire, DIALOG+ identifies which aspects of life (such as friendships, work, medication, safety etc.) each service user feels are most important to their wellbeing.

The answers provided offer a framework that can be used to help shape relevant conversations you can have with a service user about their recovery, by focusing on personal goals and the elements of their lives they deem to be most important.

What do our service users think of it?

• “The questions…made me look and reflect on my life…I’d never addressed some of the issues that I came across in DIALOG+.”
• “You start improving yourself because you’re aware of it now…It made me realise what   I needed to do.”
• “DIALOG+ was more structured, more professional, more focused… Constructive things were being done about certain issues.”

How can you help?

We are looking for Service users and carers to join the collaborative as pivotal Experts by Experience (EbyE). We would be looking for individuals who would be willing to share their stories, experiences, and ideas to steer the project in the best direction and subsequently help us make the most meaningful changes. By joining this collaborative, you will help introduce change ideas that can really make a difference to how DIALOG+ is used within NSFT.

• We are inviting people who are currently using, have used, or supported someone to use, any of our mental health services.
• We want you to join our project team as an active participant and have your voice heard as an Expert by Experience.
• As a project team member, you would join a monthly meeting which will sometimes be held in person and other times will be held virtually over Microsoft Teams, where we hope you would feel comfortable in sharing ideas  to shape the outcomes of the project.

You will regularly be working with a team of people from a range of different services and backgrounds, and we endeavour to create an environment where you can feel comfortable and confident in presenting your own views.

If joining the team isn’t for you, there are still other ways to share your experiences, such as one to one interviews and surveys conducted by our project team.

Next steps

If you are interested in this opportunity of joining this six-month collaborative, please email QI.Team@nsft.nhs.uk and tell us how you would like to be involved.

Or you can have an informal chat directly with our People Participation Coordinator, Gemma Harris. Please contact Gemma.Harris@nsft.nhs.uk

Alternatively, if you want a better understanding of outcome measures and what is expected of the Trust, please contact Justine.Brown@nsft.nhs.uk.

We look forward to hearing and working with you!

Want a better understanding of Quality Improvement?

Join our Recovery College course – ‘Understanding Quality Improvement and how to be involved’ by visiting https://www.nsft.nhs.uk/timetable for more information and details on how to enrol.

An NSFT Quality Improvement project aiming to reduce mental health inequalities for Black men wants to hear from those directly impacted to be the voice of lived experience and to ensure that our ideas best meet the needs of our service users and their loved ones.

How can you help?

We are inviting Black men who have used mental health services as well as family and carers who have supported Black men with their mental health to join the project.  As pivotal Experts by Experience (EbyE), we would be looking for individuals who would be willing to share their stories, experiences, and ideas to steer the project in the best direction and help us make the most meaningful changes.

As a project team member, we would be looking for you to join a monthly meeting held virtually over Microsoft Teams, where you will be working with a team of people from a range of different services and backgrounds. We always endeavour to create an environment where you can feel comfortable and confident in presenting your own views and sharing ideas to shape the outcomes of the project.

If joining the team isn’t for you, there are still other ways to share your experiences, such as one to one interviews and surveys conducted by our project team.

Want to join?

If you are interested in this opportunity of joining this project, want more information, or just want an informal chat with our People Participation Coordinator, Gemma Harris, please email QI.Team@nsft.nhs.uk and tell us how you would like to be involved.

We look forward to hearing and working with you!

Want a better understanding of Quality Improvement?

Join our Recovery College course – ‘Understanding Quality Improvement and how to be involved’ by visiting https://www.nsft.nhs.uk/timetable for more information and details on how to enrol.

Led by The Royal College of Psychiatrists, the Advancing Mental Health Equalities (AMHE) project runs until September 2024.

The purpose of this project is to reduce health inequalities so that everyone can get equal access to mental healthcare and improved esperiences. Achieved by working with staff and service users from across the Trust, as well as community groups and partner agencies.

We are one of 17 organisations from across the country taking part. We meet with those other organisations to share ideas, learning and best practice.

Dr Uju Ugochukwu, Consultant Psychiatrist and Medical Director for Quality leads our project team. The team are identifying the barriers preventing certain communities from accessing local mental health services by using Quality Improvement methodologies.

The project team have the task of identifying three separate populations to focus on. The team have established their first two communities of focus, being:

• Black men,
• Refugees and forced migrants.

With one more group to decide on, we have almost completed a key aspect of the first phase of the four-step plan set out by Royal College of Psychiatrists:

1. Identify the inequalities
2. Design new ways of doing things
3. Test those ideas
4. Deliver improvements. 

Each of the groups need a project team working together with the overarching project. 

How can you help

We are looking for enthusiastic volunteers from each of our chosen communities who have experienced receiving care from us, or anyone who has supported someone from one of these communities to receive care us in the last five years.

You will need to actively and positively listen to those with experience of our services and approach connecting with others in an empathetic, compassionate and supportive way, that reflects our Trust values of Respectfully, Positively and Together.

What to expect

We would like our volunteers to join a fortnightly Microsoft Teams meeting where they can be comfortable in sharing ideas and feedback to shape the outcomes of the project.

You will regularly work with a team of people from a range of different services and backgrounds and we want you to feel comfortable and confident in presenting your own views and representing the views of others within a group setting. 

If joining the team isn’t for you, there are other ways to share your experiences such as workshops, one to one interviews and surveys conducted by our Research department (please see 'Next steps' to get involved).

How will we support you

You will need access to a computer to attend fortnightly Microsoft Teams meetings. If computer access is an issue for you, we are happy to talk to you about ways of overcoming that barrier.

You will also need to be able to have time to read documents before meetings.

This is a voluntary role, but expenses would be paid for attendance at the Microsoft Teams meetings and any travel costs incurred.

We will be able to offer you training in Quality Improvement skills and practices.

One to one support with our Quality Improvement People Participation Coordinator to help you in your role will also be available.

Next steps

If you are interested in this opportunity please email QI.Team@nsft.nhs.uk and tell us how and why you would like to be involved. You can use this email if you have any questions as well.

If you are interested in helping our Research Department by attending workshops, one-to-one interviews, or completing surveys, please contact researchinfo@nsft.nhs.uk and tell us how involved you would like to be or if you have any questions. Note that your involvement can be confidential if you prefer, and the research team will support you fully through the process.

We look forward to working with you.