Stakeholder Bulletin

July 2024

Your adult community mental health services across south west London are changing.

A message from our Chief Executive

It is hard to believe we are already half-way through the year! We have achieved so much together already, and we know there is more to do as we continue our work to improve the care we provide to the 1.2m people we serve in South West London.

From bringing down waiting times, to addressing health inequalities, breaking mental health stigma and working to become an anti-racist organisation, we come into the second half of the year with renewed enthusiasm and determination to tackle these challenges.

It was fantastic to see these efforts brought to life at May’s inaugural South West London Mental Health Conference. Nearly 200 people from across our communities came together to discuss these topics as part of our system’s new mental health strategy, which has an ambition to make South West London the best place to live for emotional wellbeing. We are excited to drive this forward with patients, carers and partners in the years ahead - thank you to everyone who joined us on the day.

Community care is central to the support we provide and I am delighted we were able to mark the transformation of our adult community services last month, delivering on the pledges set out in NHS Long Term Plan.

Thanks to a detailed programme of co-production with patients, carers and partners over four years, the help we provide outside our hospitals now goes further by supporting both social and wellbeing needs. Thank you to everyone who has supported this work across our communities. We are not stopping here - our commitment to work even more closely with our communities will continue to go from strength to strength.

Remember you can keep up to speed with everything happening across our Trust via our ‘new look’ website including key information on how to access our Talking Therapy services and urgent care if you or someone you know needs support in a crisis.

Vanessa Ford
Chief Executive

Get involved

Join us this week at the 2024 Summer Street Party!

It's that time of the year – the Trust Summer Street Party is back. This year we are celebrating 30 years of the Trust, as well as the amazing work of our staff and communities.

New mental health strategy builds momentum at inaugural NHS conference

Thank you to everyone who joined us in May for our inagural mental health conference exploring how we can bring our local system's new mental health strategy to life.

100th Mental Health First Aid Champion trained

We are thrilled to announce that we have trained our 100^th Mental Health First Aid Champion through our innovative community training programme.

'Prescribed exercise improves mental health - I will explain how!'

To mark to the 'movement' theme of May's Mental Health Awareness Week, we caught up with clinical exercise therapist, Lasse Eini, to find out more about his role and how exercise supports our mental health and wellbeing.

Raising awareness of Borderline Personality Disorder

To mark Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) Awareness Month in May, we heard from our teams providing specialist care for those with complex emotional needs.

Celebration marks transformation of community services

Staff, partners, and patients from across South West London came together in June for a special event to mark the transformation of adult community mental health services.

Find a moment for movement in Springfield Park

To celebrate Mental Health Awareness Week's movement theme we are invited our communities to find a 'moment for movement' in Springfield Park with the help of our new park map and guide.

Involvement Team awarded Silver Lived Experience Charter status

We are delighted to announce that our Involvement Team has been awarded the Silver Lived Experience Charter Award for their commitment to supporting and recruiting people with lived experience.

Challenges for Charity

Sign-up for the London to Brighton cycle ride or the Vitality London 10k and help raise money for our Trust charity!

Celebrating Learning Disability Week

In June staff from our learning disability services who took the time to tell us about their roles and the important work they do.

Better Care Together

Between 2024-2025, we will be moving away from Care Programme Approach in line with guidance from NHS England to ensure everyone receives the same flexible, responsive and personalised approach.

Sutton employment service awarded ‘Good’ Quality Kite Mark

The Sutton Individual Placement Support (IPS) service has been awarded the ‘Good’ Quality Kite Mark by IPS Grow for their efforts helping people find paid employment as part of their recovery.

Chief Operating Officer announces decision to move on

South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust’s (SWLSTG’s) Chief Operating Officer, Jen Allan, has announced her decision to move on from her role after four years.

Trust pilots innovative method for medication monitoring

A point-of-care testing device which enables clinicians to perform rapid and convenient testing of clozapine levels is being piloted at South West London and St George’s.