Ex-Armed Forces (Veterans) Mental Health Partnership receives 'highly commended' in National Awards | Our News

Ex-Armed Forces (Veterans) Mental Health Partnership receives 'highly commended' in National Awards

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Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust along with the volunteer organisation, Veterans Contact Point, Nuneaton, has received Highly Commended Recognition awards in the National Positive Practice Mental Health Awards 2015 for its work within veteran’s mental health services. 

The awards ceremony took place on Wednesday 14 October in Newcastle upon Tyne. The Annual Awards are a celebration of excellence, and the dissemination of positive practice for all mental health services to review and learn from.  
The Partnership Trust ex-Armed Forces Project was shortlisted from over 400 entries for two award categories; Specialist Services, and Partnership Working.

Lynne Davidson, Early Intervention Team Manager/Ex-Armed Forces Project Lead at Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust, said: “There has been a great deal of interest and support given to this project.

“Veterans, like all our service users, need to have confidence in our recognising and understanding of their issues. By involving veterans in the project the pathway is improving their experience of the services they receive.

“By identifying the veterans and ensuring we work in collaboration with them and the many organisations available to ex-Forces, in particular the local charity Veterans Contact Point, we are now able to work in a more joined up way for this service user group. We carried out a number of case studies with veterans to ensure we were aware of their mental health needs. As well as this we focused on those areas identified as needing to be changed, and we have put together a solid mix of different sustainable initiatives. 

"Receiving these national awards affirms the hard work and dedication of everyone involved. Their resourcefulness and relentless enthusiasm is a key to mental health recovery in many cases”.

Dr Dan Barnard, Consultant Clinical Psychologist, and Clinical Lead for the Ex Armed Services project has also recently received further recognition for his work with Veterans by becoming the National Clinical Lead for Mental Health Care and Military Veterans for the Positive Practice Mental Health Collaborative Organisation. This group has almost 70 organisations behind it, all signed up from across the country, working together to share latest research and new initiatives to support positive mental health care.

Dr Barnard made the comment regarding this new opportunity: “I feel underqualified but very honoured to be given this role as National Lead for Veterans Mental Health. 

 "I’ll be able to see first-hand some of the great work from across the country, as well as offer support and guidance to others. I can seek out backing from senior bodies and groups to help keep the spotlight on veterans and our obligations to ensure they are not disadvantaged in accessing the care and treatment they may need post-discharge from HM Forces.” 

As further indication of the initiatives the Partnership Trust provides, Phil Marriott and Dr Dan Barnard received for a second year running, another Highly Commended Recognition Award in the National Positive Practice Mental Health Awards, for the series of ‘Don’t Panic’ self-help guides in the Digital Technology/Social Media category.

 Don’t Panic is a series of audio self-help guides designed to provide people with easily accessible information about common mental health difficulties. They are based on Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) principles, an approach that has been shown to be effective by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE).

These guides are available to download free of charge visit by visiting www.covwarkpt.nhs.uk/dont_panic 

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