Mental Health Drug & Alcohol News€¦ · ommissions Patient Safety Program training for leaders and advisors in mental health services. The purpose of the program is to support Local

Mental Health Drug & Alcohol

27 May 2019 News

April Falls Month Events Page 3

www.nslhd.health.nsw.gov.au

Facebook: www.facebook.com/NSLHD.MHDA

Drug & Alcohol Parent Forum Page 5

2019 NSLHD Quality & Improvement Award Winners - Ryde Acute Team Physical Health Clinic—Page 3

Living Well Forum Page 4

http://www.nslhd.health.nsw.gov.au

http://www.facebook.com/NSLHD.MHDA/

Director’s Report

Page 1 | NSLHD Mental Health Drug & Alcohol News | 27 May 2019

The 2019 NSLHD Quality and Improvement Awards celebrated excellence in practice of health professionals and teams across the District. The work of MHDA Services was recognised across two categories. Congratulations to the Ryde Acute Team who were the winners of the Focus on Health Prevention and Promotion Award for their outstanding contribution to improving the physical health outcomes of consumers in their services. Page 3 showcases this work and the worthwhile outcomes

that the Clinic has supported consumers in achieving. Congratulations also to the Greenwich Hospital Older People’s Mental Health Service who were recognised in the Excellence in Supporting the Mental Health of Patients and Consumers Award for their work in preventing falls and improving outcomes. A commendation to the Specialist Rehabilitation Service who were finalists in this category for their service evaluation. Both winning projects draw attention to the importance of physical health care as intrinsic to mental health wellbeing, and the focus on prevention strategies in supporting ongoing wellbeing, autonomy and independence of people. 12 May was International Nurses Day where we formally acknowledge the compassion, professionalism and round-the-clock dedication of nurses caring for people in our mental health services. As part of these celebrations, we held the International Nurses Day Awards recognising excellence in practice and care across our mental health services. Our award winners will be showcased in the next edition of the newsletter. Congratulations to all award recipients and we thank you for your ongoing commitment, work and leadership in our services. Northern Sydney hosted the Mental Health Commission of NSW’s Living Well Strategic Plan Mid-Term Review. Northern Sydney Local Health District along with the Sydney North Primary Health Network, consumers, family members and carers, and our partners in the community managed and private sectors participated in an all day forum. The forum showcased some initiatives supporting the implementation of the Living Well Strategic Plan, whilst also exploring areas and opportunities for development. The Commission also chose to visit the Ryde Consumer Network who had celebrated their 25th year in operation this year. We look forward to hearing the Commission’s findings from

the Mid-Term Review and utilising these in our ongoing development of services. With our services’ efforts in working towards eliminating seclusion, we have seen the lowest rates of seclusion across the District in the last quarter. Between January to March, our acute unit seclusion rate was down to 1.6 episodes per 1,000 bed days with 17 seclusion episodes in total across the whole District. We acknowledge that we still have some work to do in eliminating seclusion practices in the District, and at the same time, recognise the ongoing commitment, good care practices, and teamwork that is required to drive this practice change by all our teams. As we further our work in this space, we remain focused and committed to creating safety in our services and supporting comprehensive and meaningful care. A number of our staff attended the Clinical Excellence

Commission’s Patient Safety Program training for leaders and advisors in mental health services. The purpose of the program is to support Local Health Districts to create organisational conditions that enable clinical teams to continually improve the safety of mental health service delivery. Along with the dedication and expertise of consumers, families and carers, and commitment and work of our teams, opportunities such as these allow us to drive forward the quality and innovative work that is required such as to eliminate seclusion and restraint in our services.

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Above: Mahitha Ramakrishna and Alice Lance at

the Patient Safety Program Advisors Training

Page 12| NSLHD Mental Health Drug & Alcohol News | 27 May 2019

2019 NSLHD Quality & Improvement Awards

It is with great pleasure to announce that our Ryde Acute Team have won the NSLHD Quality Improvement Award for category Health Prevention and Promotion for our Physical Health Clinic. A huge thank you to all including our dedicated and talented nurses, wonderful medical team, amazing case managers and our incredibly supportive administrative team! All have contributed to this fabulous initiative and have done an incredible job! A special thank you of course to Ruffita Oey who has been instrumental in coordinating the clinic. Ruffita’s expertise and commitment to the project has been outstanding! The Physical Health Clinic was established 12-18 months ago. Over the last 12 months, 47 mental health consumers have been registered to attend the physical health clinic, 50% of consumers completed annual blood test, 33% of consumers attended monthly to the physical health clinic, and 32% attended irregularly. From the past year alone, the project has detected 63% of consumers to have demonstrated various physical health issues which include, but are not limited to obesity/weight gain (44%), high prolactin level (15%), high risk of developing or already developed type II diabetes (5%), and other potential co-morbidity such as liver diseases due to untreated pre-existing condition e.g. hepatitis C. The introduction of the Physical Health Clinic, in conjunction with the collaboration of the exercise physiologist and Centre for Cardiometabolic Health in Psychosis

(ccCHIP), has provided the groundwork for consumers and families to adopt healthier lifestyle changes. Over the last 12 months, the project has identified at least some improvement in physical health outcomes in at least 26% of mental health consumers. Twelve consumers have demonstrated a slow yet steady healthy weight reduction (ranging from 2kg to 10kg), BMI and weight circumferences. On top of this, the project has successfully identified early warning signs of physical health co-morbidity in at least 18% of consumers. As a consequence, medications and treatment plans were reviewed and greater open dialogue around physical health care was established when developing treatment plan. The observed changes in physical health appear to be due to greater open dialogue with consumers and families, changing attitudes and proactivity of medical officers, registered nurses and case managers, the enduring commitment from clinical management to support systematic clinical change, the presence of an onsite exercise physiologist and collaboration with local stakeholders such as Ryde Hospital Rehabilitation Gym, Ryde Hospital Diabetes Service and ccCHIP.

Sheila Nicholson

Above: Back row: Adrian Bradshaw, Phy Vann, Kirsty Greenup, Jessie

Logan, Julia Van Bruinnessen, Don Smith, Yelka Saric, Lin Wu, Joe Bajuk, Duncan

Loasby. Front row: Tracey Hiscox, Runa Arun Antony, Ruffita Oey, Beema Yussouf

Above: Ruffita Oey


April Falls Month

MHDA does April Falls Day and Month really well each year with a bright orange themed celebration across our hospitals and our community teams. This year, the theme was Frailty –do you know the signs. This theme was very relevant to both hospital and community as this can be an issue across many adult populations, inclusive of younger MHDA consumers and people with serious and persistent mental illness who can have issues with frailty at an earlier age. All facilities had orange falls prevention promotion displays in their foyers and/or units using the colourful orange balloons, flyers and posters. Inservice education, poster and quiz competitions with prizes were some of the activities across MHDA. All MHDA inpatient units were invited to enter the annual April Falls Month Competition which rewards a service who was able to demonstrate cost effective ways to reduce falls with a cash prize of $1000 to spend on falls prevention equipment.

Three MHDA inpatient services entered the competition. The quality of the entries reflected the amazing work to prevent falls. It was notable that the prize winning entries also had been part of the Leading Better Value Care (LBVC) falls initiative and had maintained their activities beyond the completion of the project. There were joint winners announced for the MHDA April Falls Month Competition this year. Congratulations to Lavender House at Macquarie Hospital who were awarded for their work with intentional rounding and post falls huddles which are very useful for longer stay consumers. Congratulations also to the Riverglen Older People’s Acute Inpatient Unit at Greenwich Hospital for their work on an enhanced post-fall huddle and checklist.

MHDA community teams across NSLHD were provided with orange goodies and resources for their staff and consumers. Community teams displayed the orange t-shirts, provided education sessions and distributed lots of information to their consumers and staff during the month. The April Falls Month Community Competition winner was Ryde Community Mental Health Centre.

Andrew Clement

Above: Northern Beaches Older People’s Mental Health

Team

Above: Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Mental Health Inpatient Unit

Team

Above: Mandy Meehan, Ryde Community

Mental Health Centre


Living Well Forum The Living Well Forum took place at the Concourse Chatswood on the 8th May as part of consultation for the Living Well Mid-Term Review. One of the highlights from the Living Well Forum was the collaboration and togetherness we demonstrated as an audience in wanting to improve Mental Health Services for our consumers. The Forum was filled with discussions on what we currently do that works well and not so well in Mental Health. We acknowledge that mental health services can be improved and it is forums such as this that allow us to talk openly, share ideas, listen and think critically about our work and how it can support consumers. The day started with a reflection on what it means to be living well. The activities throughout the forum explored priorities to be addressed in mental health system reform and possible solutions to improve mental health services for consumers, family and carers. The Mental Health Commission facilitated the day with participants coming from government, non-government organisations and importantly consumers and carers who have lived experience. The audience found the Mental Health system is a complex one, consumers and even workers are sometimes not confident in accessing services. There were various presentations showcasing Mental Health Programs including the Specialist Rehabilitation Service’s ‘Hearing Voices Recovery Support Group’, Connected Mobs, Karrikin Youth Service, Skillness, Community Care Northern Beaches ‘Seasons Program’ and the Avalon Youth Hub. A timeline snapshot of the day was shown in pictures

something that we could take home with us. Our

work is like a living document it never ends, to come

together on this platform means we are sharing and

critically thinking about how to support people with

Mental Health.

Chheng Hoang & Lorraine Ingram

Living Well Visit to Ryde Consumer Network

Ryde Consumer Services hosted a visit on Thursday 9th May from the NSW Mental Health Commission as part of the mid-term review of the Living Well Plan. The Commissioner Catherine Lourey and two of the staff working on the review, Matt and Victoria met with eight people with lived experience, including the peer worker, representatives from the registered volunteers and participants of the various groups facilitated by the Ryde Consumer Services, and Karen Barfoot (Manager, NSR Recovery Services). Michael Appleton, the founder of the Ryde and Northern Sydney Consumer Networks back in 1993 provided highlights from the history of the Network and how things have changed over the years. People shared their experiences, history and roles within the group. People stressed the importance of having volunteer roles available as it provides a sense purpose and enables broader participation. Participants shared the value of the various activities that the Ryde Consumer Services facilitate, particularly the Saturday day trips, games day, picnic days, forums and movie days. The common experiences and sharing of recovery strategies was highly valued. The group identified the main priorities for mental health services which included reviewing State guidelines for payment of non-employed peer workers, the value of the workplace wellness plan for identification of early warning signs, support network and plans for periods of un-wellness, the importance of social connectedness within mental health including weekend social activities to reduce social isolation, and the need for increase of clinical FTE in the community mental health teams and resources (such as vehicles) to enable them to do their job efficiently.

Paula Hanlon

Above: Animation developed from the Specialist

Rehabilitation Service’s Lets Talk About Voices Presentation


Drug & Alcohol Parent Forum Fiona Lo

Hornsby and Ku-ring-gai Community Drug Action Team (CDAT) has worked with Asquith Boys (ABHS) and Asquith Girls High Schools (AGHS) over two school terms to develop an opportunity for parents and carers to gain relevant drug and alcohol resources in the local community and current information from experts in the field about adolescence, drugs and alcohol. There were three working sessions plus many emails flying amongst the team to develop the evening program at ABHS with CDAT, other interested health professionals and local school counsellors involved. Fiona Lo (NSLHD Child & Youth Mental Health Service) and Sylvia Tiet (Australian Drug Foundation) were driving forces behind the project. Victoria Kean (Trauma Specialist) and Dr Robert Fullerton (Clinical Lead Sydney North Health Network) provided an engaging presentation for over 30 people in attendance from both schools. Topics discussed included adolescent development and the social, emotional and neurodevelopmental changes that occur during this period, as well as the implications these have for behavioural choices made by young people. They advised how to respond to young people when parents observe drug experimentation and the stages of change that occur. Lively discussion occurred during the presentation and some senior students proved helpful in explaining some of the current language and technological terms that young people use today, particularly in reference to drugs and alcohol.

Following the presentation, a panel of specialists responded to parent questions about drugs in general, adolescents and ways to support young people when confronted with decisions about drugs. Jane Retalic (Nurse Manager Child & Youth Mental Health Services) and Jessica Taylor (Mission Australia) joined Robert Fullerton and Victoria Kean. Parent feedback was very positive via emails and verbal reports, which were congratulatory for the evening and their appreciation of it. CDAT will soon meet and discuss the proposal of a second, follow up forum later this year. All attendees received a USB with local resources they can access and up to date information about a range of different drugs to increase their understanding of them. Thank you to Dorothy Wakelin and Jessica Cheok (Asquith Boys High School) for making this event a success.

World Hand Hygiene Day Rochelle Barker

World Hand Hygiene Day on May 5 calls on everyone to be inspired by the global movement to achieve universal health coverage. The MHDA Infection Control Department and Link Nurses hosted an awareness raising event at Macquarie Hospital’s Day Program for World Hand Hygiene Day on May 9. An incredible cake with the message ‘Clean hands, save lives’, marked the occasion. The clinicians were invited to an afternoon tea and an interactive inservice. Several hand hygiene stations were set up with activities, such as pin the procedure on the hand, and quizzes based on transmission based precautions. Bacterial burden carried on hands was highlighted through an activity where UV torch light identified ‘contamination’ on hands to demonstrate transmission of bacteria and the importance of hand hygiene. Congratulations to Lizz Whitlam who took out the prize for the jelly bean guessing competition. Above: Ivy Leung, Lisa Choy, Jyoti Basnet, Rochelle Barker,

Anna Liu, Gai Duncan, Claire Chuang

Above: Jane Retalic, Dr Robert Fullerton, Jessica Taylor, Victoria Kean


Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Youth Mental Health Forum

230 students in years 10 to 12 from 24 schools came together on 9 April for the 8th annual Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Mental Health Youth Forum. This year’s theme was about the connection of the mind, body and mental health and feeling comfortable in our own skin. The theme raises the importance of look after our physical wellbeing as it can also have an impact on our overall mental health. The theme of the day was incorporated into all the presentations and activities.

The Mental Health Youth Forum is an initiative hosted by Matt Kean, Member for Hornsby and Minister for Innovation

and Better Regulation, at Macquarie University and the Centre for Emotional Health. Matt Kean officially opened the

event and shared with the audience why he is so passionate about the subject of mental health. The day was

organised by local youth organisations that form the youth interagencies across the area. This year, Ryde and Lane

Cove Interagency also participated in the in organising of the forum which was led by the Rotary Club of Wahroonga

alongside Mission Australia.

The day was facilitated by Burn Bright who challenged students and staff to consider stigma around mental health.

Alexandra Lonnergan from Centre for Emotional Health delivered the opening presentation on ‘Introduction to mental

health, body image and what is normal?’ This was followed by Angelica Lainis and Michael Wells sharing their personal

lived experiences with the audience. Jasmine Fardouly, from the Centre for Emotional Health presented on ‘Social

Media, Body Image and Teenage Health and Wellbeing’. Ross Banyi, HSIE teacher from Pennant Hills High School

presented on the school’s mental health website. Lastly, Cherise Ricciardo (Ku-ring-gai Council) and Andrew Marselos

(Ryde City Council) shared with the teachers the workings of the inter-agency and their roles in the community.

Students had the opportunity to ask questions to the panel which included Dr Nicole Gouda (GP), Senior Constable

Stefanie Murray (Police), Associate Professor Viviana Wuthrich (Clinical Psychologist, Centre for Emotional Health),

Angelica Lainis, Michael Wells, and Anthony Rigney (Youth Clinical Psychologist, KYDS). The last session of the forum is

the ‘Take it Back’ segment where students have an opportunity to workshop how they can apply their learning from

the day. At the end, each school had 15 seconds to present their project ideas is always a highly entertaining and

inspiring way to end the day.

This year’s forum would not have been a

success without the continuing

commitment of the working party from

services/agencies including: Mission

Australia, Rotary Club of Wahroonga,

Ability Options, Taldumande Youth

Services, Relationship Australia, NSW

Police, StreetWork, headspace, Centre for

Emotional Health, Local Councils

(Hornsby, Ku-ring-gai, Ryde and Lane

Cove), KYDS, and also NSLHD Child &

Youth Mental Health Service, Health

Promotion, and Youth Health.

Fiona Lo

Above: The Youth Mental Health Forum Panel


NSLHD Mental Health Line (MHL) has successfully tested an electronic referral form created to help General Practitioners (GPs) refer consumers and improve the efficiency of the process for both GPs and MHL clinicians. GPs were experiencing delays trying to make referrals over the phone during busy times and faxing was not the best way for the MHL to receive comprehensive referrals. The new method is considered more secure for sensitive personal information. A key focus for the team at NSLHD MHL was developing a secure system that would also capture the right information to correctly triage a referral. The new GP Electronic Referral Form works by collecting the basic and most relevant information of the person being referred to NSLHD Mental Health Services. The tool is based on an interactive PDF that is linked to an icon placed on the doctor’s computer desktop. The icon links to Argus software which communicates to the Cerner software at NSLHD Mental Health Services. The GP Electronic Referral Form is a secure system where the information is encrypted and only decoded by the MHL Service upon being received at the MHL email inbox. This means no third party can see details of consumers being referred. It is also uniquely linked to the generic email address recipient that the MHL has created to collect the new form. GPs can complete the form in less than six minutes and it is instantly directed to the MHL Service. GPs receive a confirmation of receipt and the form carries the GP’s identification so it can be easily tracked. This initiative means GPs will no longer experience delays and frustrations waiting on the phone or faxing when making a referral to the MHL service. When the form is received by

the MHL clinicians, they conduct further assessments with the person being referred. This includes completing a brief mental health assessment, a risk assessment, and deciding on the Crisis Triage Rating Scale (CTRS) and Urgency of Response (UoR) of the Mental Health Triage (MH Triage). The handover to the MHL service is completed by an action plan and MH Triage plan that go to Emergency Services, Community Mental Health teams or to private health providers. Discussions started in July 2016 with Sydney North Primary Health Network (SNPHN) to develop a solution that worked for everyone, and the process was successfully tested in April this year. It will now be promoted to all GPs associated with SNPHN. After sharing this new referral pathway at the NSW Ministry of Health MHL Monthly Coordinators Meeting, it has attracted a lot of interest from other Local Health Districts, who are keen to share this efficient and safe referral process with local GPs. NSLHD MHL are proud to have developed an updated referral process that improves communications, is secure, saves GPs time and effort and can be accessed at no cost. It’s a further guarantee of the safety and wellbeing of our consumers in the community. NSLHD MHDA and MHL acknowledges all the work, ideas, cooperation, and enthusiasm for this project from all the stakeholders involved in this project such as Alison White, Helen Purdy, Leonie Brown, Craig Parson, David Meadows, Mark Joyce, Neela Bhole, Dr Owen Samuels, Helen Wainwright, Jarod Hamilton, Andrea Taylor and eHealth employees.

Mental Health Line GP Electronic Referral Form Alec Gisbert

The implementation of a state-wide Mental Health Patient Safety Program led by the Clinical Excellence Commission was launched in April this year. The purpose of the program is to help create the organisational conditions that enable clinical teams to continually improve the safety of mental health service delivery. On the 29th of April 2019, three MHDA staff members (Mahitha Ramakrishna, Alice Lance and Melanie Perry) were privileged to attend the program for three days. The aim of the program is to build improvement capability in mental health services. The program centred around leadership, coaching and improvement capability and the participants will be working with teams to teach and implement the new tools they have learned.

Mental Health Patient Safety Program Melanie Perry

MHDA Work Health & Safety Audit


What does the audit mean for you? Safety improvement continues across MHDA. It is making a difference, and it is making MHDA a safer place. This includes preparations being made for the Work Health and Safety (WHS) Audit which will take place across MHDA from 9th to 13th March 2020. An audit team of three WHS Consultants will visit MHDA departments and units. They will review documents that evidence the application of the WHS system. The auditors will also ask questions of managers and staff. Those questions relate to knowledge about the WHS systems, and to involvement that people have had in WHS activities. This will likely include questions about hazard reporting, risk assessments, using the Hazard Management Register (HMR), consultation, ChemAlert requirements, manual handling, where to find WHS information, and others.

Preparations Information will be provided to managers and staff so people can be prepared for the audit. Managers will be completing the WHS Audit Checklist in each department. They will also be discussing audit preparation in regular team meetings each month. Topics could include hazards, risks, incidents, manual handling, training, risk assessments, actions, and importantly knowledge required by staff. All staff will receive a copy of the WHS Audit questions. Ask your manager if you have not received a copy of the questions by the end of May 2019. A small MHDA team will begin a review of the WHS audit tool to identify requirements, potential gaps, and to begin gathering evidence. In some ways the process is like accreditation.

The Audit The audit process is about checking compliance with the criteria listed for each element in the audit tool. There is no score or percentage. Elements are either compliant or not compliant. The elements and the criteria are based on the requirements of WHS legislation. The WHS Audit Tool is made up of 26 sections and a total of 182 elements. Each element has a risk level that has been predetermined by the Ministry of Health. Audit results will be shown as red, yellow or green to reflect compliant (green), or non-compliant (red or yellow). Recommendations are usually made for non-compliant elements, as well as some compliant elements. Audit results A feedback meeting will be held on the final day of the audit. The auditors will provide a summary that will include areas of excellence, areas of compliance and non-compliance, and recommendations. A final report will be forwarded to the MHDA Executive a few weeks after the audit. This will be explained at the audit opening meeting. Non-compliances that are identified during the audit will be highlighted in a summary report table. Details of evidence found together with recommendations will be shown in the final audit report. What’s coming in the next few weeks? The WHS Audit Checklist, WHS obligations and responsibilities document, the signed WHS Policy, and training needs analysis documents will be provided in the next few weeks. Also included will be training dates, and flyers, for WHS training for managers, WHS update for managers, dates for manual handling training, and a session on the use of chemical Safety Data Sheets. I will also be attending the MHDA Executive meetings to provide support, information, and to answer questions. Final words We are what we continue to do, excellence then, is not an act, it’s a habit. Aristotle I will see you along the way or at one of the team or Executive meetings.

John Davey

Above: WHS Audit Meeting

Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Service Improvement


The 2018 People Matters Survey highlighted some opportunities for improvement for Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Mental Health Services. We want to thank the staff for the feedback they provided and to let you know we are working on improving. As part of a wider strategy the following initiatives have been implemented so far: Executive Rounding and Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Mental Health Service Employee of the Month. Executive Rounding In the last 3 months, all inpatient and community sites have been visited by two members of the Executive to find out what is working well, what is not working well and what we can do to help improve. This has been modelled off the great work Hornsby General Hospital has implemented and will be ongoing. The aim is to provide meaningful support and changes to help staff do their job. HKHMHS Employee of the Month In January 2019, HKMHS introduced Employee of the Month. This monthly award is a way to publically acknowledge and recognise our great staff. Anyone can nominate a staff member through the monthly survey monkey link that is emailed out to all staff. Winners receive a gift voucher and certificate. Here is a snapshot of our winners so far with our Service Director – Leanne Frizzel. Congratulations to everyone and keep nominating!

Melanie Perry

Above: January Winner:

Nicole Melidonis

Above: February Winner:

Rebecca Mitchell

Above: March Winner: Tracey

Donahue

Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Acute Care Team Redesign


The Acute Care Team (ACT) is one of five community services at Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Mental Health Service (HKMHS).

In May 2018, the team embarked on a clinical redesign project to improve consumer outcomes. The clinical redesign

project focused on the ACT model of care with the goal of having mental health consumers’ care integrated across all

mental health community services. The aim of the project is to have less fragmentation and increased alignment of

processes to improve the patient journey. The project is currently at solution implementation stage. Here is a

summary of the status of the project.

Solution 1 – Revised model of care with a split of the team to crisis and case management roles This intervention commenced in October 2018. A new model of care has been completed in consultation with key stakeholders. In addition to this, the team will undergo a restructure process through Workforce Services. As of May 2019 the restructure document has been completed and is awaiting sign off with the District and official staff consultation will then commence. We are aiming for the new model to be implemented by June/July 2019.

Solution 2 – Acute Care Team packages Identified packages or pathways have been completed for staff and consumers: clozapine pathway; new admission pathway; short term brief intervention pathway; medium term /brief intervention pathway; step down care pathway community appointments. The pathways have an a timeline to assist in improving flow through the service. These pathways have been incorporated into the staff orientation manual. The pathways will go live once the model of care is endorsed.

Solution 3 – Consumer information brochures These brochures have been designed and developed by the Acute Care Team staff and provide consumers with information about the service and the timeline for the pathway they are on. Consumer peer workers have also provided input. Information packs (that include the brochure) have been given to new consumers to the service since February 2019. In addition to this carer packs have also been developed.

Solution 4 - Staff wellness program To improve the positive consumer experience it became evident we needed to also look after our staff working with high risk consumers. The Acute Care Team started 10 minute meditation sessions twice a week in March, 2019. On average we have 5 staff attend each session. Group external clinical supervision is also included, bi monthly sessions also commenced in March and although not mandatory staff have been rostered to attend. Three additional education sessions are also allocated per year starting with consumer customer service for crisis teams which commenced in May 2019.

Solution 5 – Introduction of interagency forums Consumers also identified the lack of relevant recovery focussed groups. An introduction of interagency forums with non-government organisations will be the last intervention and implementation is aimed for October 2019.

Melanie Perry


Compliments

Feedback to Dr. Tania Leung, Coral Tree Family Service, CYMHS, from a parent of their service regarding their care and support:

“When I read your letter I had to write to you again with additional thanks. It is so comprehensive and detailed, much much more than I had hoped for. Thank you. Please go on your leave knowing you did a real kindness for our family that is much appreciated, and please know I see you as a truly wonderful practitioner showing the best face for the profession!”

Feedback to Monique Van Leeuwen, NSLHD Eating Disorders Coordinator, and Kelley Yates, Service Director North Shore Ryde for their compassionate care for a client:

“The sincerity, passion by these women are amazing. Their thoughtfulness and care for [person] is beyond my expectations and when I started my enquiries, especially with the Butterfly Foundation I never thought I would end up with such compassionate people.” Feedback to Dr. Barry Jones, Clinical Director CYMHS, on the value of his psychotherapy group from a client and

their family: “I would like to thank you for [person]’s opportunity to participate in the group. I consider the group extremely helpful for [person]’s capacity to develop insight into the thinking behind what she was feeling… [Person] has told me the most important part of the group for her was learning to take another’s perspective. She said that learning how to break situations and difficulties down was helpful. [Person] stated she would recommend the group to other people in similar situations... We were/are so lucky to have had you be the consultant on duty when [person] was in PECC that third time. I am not sure [person] would be in the same place without your knowledge, kindness, persistence and compassion. Thank you for all your help.” Feedback to Emma McKeown and the Got-It Program for their

worthwhile work with parents and teachers: “Thank you for the Got It! Program – it is wonderful such programs exist. You were all excellent, warm, and understanding.” (Parent) “The group gives parents and kids the tools to talk about and deal with big emotions and resulting behaviours. Great insights for parenting and managing your own emotions about your children.” (Parent) “Felt both sessions were very helpful and well run. Resource book is great. Thank you! Can we do more sessions please!!” (Parent) “I would recommend this to any parent. Lots of helpful tips.” (Parent) “These issues often pop up in the classroom. I will use the 5 steps to negotiate problems. I will definitely be trying to use the emotion coaching strategy in the classroom and on the playground.” (Teacher)

Documents

Mental Health Drug & Alcohol News€¦ · ommissions Patient Safety Program training for leaders and advisors in mental health services. The purpose of the program is to support Local