Category Archives: Event reviews

Reviews of events I have been to

South West Cygnet Carers, Families and Friends Network Event – Cygnet Kewstoke

Welcome back to another update of carer engagement at Cygnet’s Carers, Families and Friends network event.

As one of the carer ambassadors for cygnet, I find these events an excellent way of engaging and networking with staff and carers whose loved ones use the services of Cygnet. There is always a great line up of speakers and I enjoy hearing questions and experiences of staff and carers.

We have done many carer network events so far and it was time to visit Cygnet Kewstoke based over at Weston-Super-Mare.

The journey was pleasant getting to the Premier Inn hotel where staff were friendly and the room was super relaxing were I felt prepared for the next day. Julian another carer ambassador along with myself went exploring the area for a while to see what the community is like.

Apart from the rain, I certainly enjoyed walking around to explore. It was not long until we headed back to the hotel to prepare for the big event tomorrow.

It was not long before we headed to Kewstoke which sits on a massive site. The area is far from the noise of city where you are surrounded by peace and nature. You can see how massive the site is by the picture I took from the car.

Once inside the hospital, we noticed the staff eagerly waiting to see how the event would progress. I was glad to see a good turnout including carers.

The event was opened by David Wilmott who is cygnet’s Director of Nursing. He has a passion to include families and carers as we heard from David why such events are so important. Cygnet was working hard on the triangle of care and want their hospitals and sites to make a difference for families and carers. Its about following the guidelines of the triangle of care and applying it to Cygnet services.

Next to speak was Laura Sheridan who is the group service improvement manager she has done amazing work bringing carer ambassadors together and she has an excellent focus on connecting to the community. Its not only about families and carers, its all about community in the end. We want better health and mental wellbeing for the community, but we have to listen and in order to listen we need to connect.

Laura spoke about more initiatives that Cygnet was working hard to archieve. We then heard from Josh who is the hospital manager for cygnet kewstoke.

As the first speaker I spoke about the importance of carer empowerment. Health services cannot always lay down rules and policies. Families and carers must be empowered to give views, ideas and opinions, but before that they must be empowered to do so. I have always thought the those who connect to others tend to cope better as carers. Carer empowerment is not an easy task, in fact carer networking is a lot easier to focus on, but if a carer chooses they can learn from each other, form groups and work along with health care services.

One form of carer empowerment is through creativity. I use poems to connect to carers and sometimes professionals. You dont have to read a whole book to understand the mental health carer’s experience. A good poem can lead to solidarity where there should be a common interest, a common experience and a a place where we belong and feel invited.

Speaking about my journey as carer ambassador I felt supported as staff and carer engaged and feedback to questions I raised at the event. I ended my talk with a poem aimed at carers, which is quite a dark be realistic poem on the need to care for someone with mental ill health. The poem is not meant to frighten carers, but does appeal to urgency regarding the task a carer will have to take up.

Still there is hope, that hope is down to how professionals engage with the carer. The hope is making sure the carer understands what services are provided, but also the carer needs to be empowered.

YOU BETTER LEARN

You better learn
There is not much time
You just don’t want to be left behind

You better learn
Just do it fast
Provide that care and better do it fast

You better learn
When they fall sick
The pain of failure will hit you like a brick

You better learn
About the system
It might not work, so develop all that wisdom

You better learn
Just look around
Prepare to complain and refuse to back down

You better learn
Beware of the cost
The person you care for life could be at loss

You better learn
Just don’t sit there
I am warning you and trying to be clear

You better learn
Just learn from me
Unpaid carers can so suffer easily

You better learn
Take up the fight
A little learning can help with foresight

You better learn
Just better learn
Just keeping on learning
Learning and Learning

  • Dr Sharon Collins and Josh Jones presents

We then had a focus on Psychology and Occupational therapy. This was presented by Dr Sharon Collins who is Head of Psychology and also Josh Jones who is Head of Occupational therapy. Both presenters are regional leads.

The presentation outline was on what are these two fields and how can they assist the patient and family. Dr Sharon mentioned that psychologists are actively involved in studying and understanding mental processes, brain functions and behaviour. Psychology is not Psychiatry, which is a branch of medicine.

Dr Sharon spoke about the role psychologists play and what they offer which is listed below.

Aimed at Service users/patients
Assessments
Psychometrics
Individual therapy
Group Therapy

Aimed at Staff
Reflective Practice
Additional support
Supervision

Dr Sharon also spoke about the types of therapies

CBT – Cognitive behaviour therapy
DBT – dialectical behavioural therapy
EMDR – Eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing
Psychodynamic
CFT – Compassion focussed therapy
MBT – Mentalisation based therapy
BFT – behavioural family therapy

There was lots for families and carers to learn about the mental health profession. We then had a talk from Josh Jones on occupational therapy. Josh explained and example of Occupational therapy in that it is not just about doing things, it is enabling the person to be themselves and find meanding and purpose in life.

We were presented with the toolkits of Occupational therapy on individual therapy techniques

Activity Analysis
Coping Strategies
Sensory Integration
Cognitive Stimulation
Emptional Regulation
Social Skills
Self-Care
Leisure Activities

  • Lesley Mellor the next carer amabassador presented

There are four carer ambassadors at Cygnet who are all very talented with their lived experience backgrounds. Lesley Mellor was next to present on her journey as a carer. Lesley is the founder and chair of the Dorset Parent Council. This is a charity aimed at parent carers of young people with special educational needs.

Lesley understand a common experience of carers, this is down to trying to understanding about the conditions of their loved ones. She understands carers can feel isolated with the cared for’s condition. With Carers Week 2024 fast approaching Lesley will be launching the Cygnet Carers Peer group and Cygnet staff carer network. We then had more updates from Laura on cygnet services for carers.

We then had a lunch break and a chance to network with carers and cygnet staff before we heard from Kate Mercer who provides advocacy for carers at cygnet. Kate Mercer ran an interactive discussion session on the importance of human rights and why it is so important to offer carers the choice of advocacy

The last to present was the third Cygnet carer amabassador Julian Dr Takats. Julian spoke about the importance of the carer network, his journey as a carer and an explanation of what Carer Ambassadors do in their role.

All in all I enjoyed being part of the event. I will never forget how I felt welcomed by the staff at Cygnet, there is much work to do and even more to understand. We need ideas, views and opinions from families and carers whose loved ones use Cygnet services. I want carers to feel empowered and more.

Mental Health Awareness week 2024

It is mental health awareness week 2024. The theme for this year is “Movement: moving for our mental health.”.

The charity Mental Health Foundation has been running Mental Health Awareness Week for 20 years and it continues to grow stronger in raising awareness.

Please watch my video on the importance of Mental Health Awareness week.

To help promote and celebrate mental health awareness week 2024

1. Sign-up for an active challenge event!
2. Wear a green ribbon to show everyone that you care about mental health.
3. Learn about mental health by attend events online or locally.

Mental Health is every ones business and we must recognise and support our own mental wellbeing

Cygnet Annual Nursing conference and awards 2024

Welcome to an update of the Cygnet Annual Nursing Conference and awards ceremony that took place over at the National Conference Centre.

Just to let you know the perspective of the Nursing conference is from a carer’s perspective. I will not always repeat what took place, but might review its importance or my understanding of the event.

The Cygnet Nursing Conference took place on the 9th of May 2024 from 10:00 am till 4:30 pm, so the event was packed with updates, keynote speakers, Breakout Sessions and Awards along with certificate graduations.

You can also watch the video promotion of the event below.

I would just like to mention that in my carer engagement role, I have never been to a nursing conference before, so I was not sure what to expect. I was worried a lot of things would go over my head or there would be too much Jargon. This is important if involved patient and carers from expert by experience are attending professional events.

The evening before carer ambassadors and expert by experience were treated to a lovely meal at the Premier Inn hotel over in Birmingham.

I had not seen a few Cygnet carer ambassadors for a while, so it was great to connect and hear updates. With support from Cygnet Carer lead Laura Sheridan I was made to feel welcome. In fact we all were welcomed by David Wilmott who is Cygnet’s Director of Nursing. David has a strong nursing background and has a focus and passion for making nursing a special career for Cygnet staff.

I have to admit I did not pay too much attention to the Conference agenda beforehand, but to my surprise, it turned out some of the Keynote speakers were at premier inn meal. I had a chat with Stephen Jones who is the Head of nursing practice for mental health at the Royal College of Nursing. Did you know I am involved in a few RCN projects?

I also had a chat to Jane Murkin who is the Deputy Director of Safety and Improvement at NHS England.

It was great to see two professionals passionate about the nursing profession and I was interested to hear what they were going to say.

On the day of the conference the weather was pleasant and so was the atmosphere of the conference. Everyone was friendly and welcoming as they looked forward to the agenda. It was not long before we had welcome and introductions from David Wilmott who thanked those in attendance and mentioned how important it is to congratulate each other. David mentioned that it takes a lot to not only help others who are vulnerable, but also to help each other and ourselves.

We then had a welcome from Dr Tony Romero who is the CEO of Cygnet. Tony showed his support for those in attendance as he prepared staff for a special day.

Next to present from a video message was Prof Deborah Sturdy who is the Chief Nurse for Adult Social care at the Department of Health and Social Care. She also thanked those in attendance, but made note that we must join networks with people and their communities.

Stephen Jones presents

It was not long before we had our first Keynote speaker. This was Stephen Jones who I met the day before and had an interesting discussion about carer involvement.

Stephen spoke about Psychosocial Interventions in Mental Health Nursing. Interventions along with coproduction and codesign are the things I am involved in at the RCN. Stephen spoke about these very things and how these programmes are developed at the Royal College of Nursing.

Stephen spoke about those who promote these programmes at the RCN and the work they do.

He also mentioned why Mental Health Nursing is so important regarding psychosocial interventions. Stephen stressed that Psychosocial interventions are not a replacement for structured psychological therapy, medication or other evidence-based treatments, but work with and inform these treatments to provide a conprehensive approach to mental health care.

Stephen made his presentation easy to understand as he broke down the roles of mental health nursing. Stephen also spoke about the The Nursing and Midwifery Council, which is the regulator for nursing and midwifery professions in the UK. The NMC maintains a register of all nurses, midwives and specialist community public health nurses and nursing associates eligible to practise within the UK.

Jane Murkin NHS – Keynote Speaker

We then heard from Jane Murkin who is the deputy director of Safety and Improvement in Nursing at NHS England

Jane spoke about her reflection on nursing and delivering the best outcomes for people. She also promoted that we should consider our roles and responsibility when it comes to improving services. Jane touched on some of NHS England’s improvement approach and impact. Plus she finished up by providing an overview of the national strategic nursing priorities.

It was refreshing to hear Jane mention the importance of families, carers and patients being involved to help change systems of service delivery.

Rebecca Burgess-Dawson Presents

The third keynote speaker was Rebecca who is the National clinical lead at South West Yorkshire Parnership NHS Foundation trust.

Her presentatation was a passionate talk about mental health nursing and its overview. She challenged the audience to think closely on what mental health nursing is percived to be and why she feels cygnet has carefully thought about its identity and service when it comes to mental health nursing.

We then had a coffee break with a chance to network which then led onto how Quality Improvement helped services at one of Cygnet sites. This was presented by Rosie Hodgson-Whittle who is the Interim Hospital Manager at Cygnet Appletree.

Rosie talked about the implementation of the 7Cs Tool which aid and improve services regarding patient observations, collaboration and identifying not only the problems, but also the solutions.

Cygnet Nursing strategy

It was then back to David Wilmott who introduced Laura Sheridan and Raf Hamza on the co-production of Cygnets Nursing strategy. We heard from Raf Hamza on why lived experience should be included in developments on such strategies.

Next was more networking and lunch, where I took the time to speak to some staff and catch up with keynote speakers. I glanced through the Cygnet annual nursing conference booklet and felt the design, feel and presentation was inviting. It was easy to understand and had a professional feel to it.

Ellie Gordon presents

After lunch we heard from more keynote speakers. The first being Ellie Gordon who is the Senior Nurse for Learning disability at NHS England. Ellie talked about the importance of education and the inclusion of Nursing Associates.

Oxleas presents on Embedding Relational Security – See Think Act.

I have close links with Oxleas due to my carer forums and groups. So it was a delight to see Oxleas support the Cygnet Nursing Conference.

We got to hear from Naidoo Armoordon who is the Head of Nursing at Oxleas.

Naidoo was joined by Emma Hopkins who is the practice development nurse in the Accute & Crisis Directorate. Oxleas wanted to Showcase the transformative power of ( See Think Act ) relational secutiy knowledge and how this can be applied through a trauma informed lens.

This would be done through strong leadership within the acute inpatient setting and help enchance staff and patient well-being with a culture of excellence at Oxleas Wards.

Naidoo spoke about why such tools are needed especially when nurses face difficult challenges on the wards. As you can see from the chart below.

Emma provided a case study of a patient and how those tools produce better outcomes.

Nursing in the United states

This section was presentated by Karen Johnson who is the Chief Clinical Officer and Senior Vice Presendent in Behavioural Health at UHS. Karen was joined by Valerie Devereaux who is the Vice President of Nursing and Behavioural Health at UHS.

Cygnet is a subsidiary of Universal Health Services, which is based in the states. UHS owns and operates 400 facilities across 39 US states including Washington D.C, Puerto Rico and of course the UK. These sites include

Acute Care Hospitals
Ambulatory Surgery Centers
Behavioral Health Facilities
Freestanding Emergency Departments

Karen spoke about the state of US health care, which included the length of stay within inpatient facilities and residential facilities. She focused on the importance of the US 2024 National Suicide Strategy and the focus on

Community-Based Suicide Prevention
Treatment and Crisis Services
Surveilance, Quality Improvement and Research
Health Equity in Suicide Prevention

It was interesting to hear what the Nursing Trends and challenges are in the US as there seems to be similar challenges over in the states as well as in the UK.

Breakout sessions

Next we had a choice of 4 Breakout sessions where I attened 2 of those sessions

Caring for a person with Diabetes
Intervention and escalation of an unwell person
Role of engagement when performing observations
Support and engagement in social care

I was interested in the session regarding diabetes, since my mother suffered greatly with the illness.

I remember the difficult challanges of trying to care not only for her mental health, but how her physical health was in a serious situation.

Cygnet Nursing awards

This section of the conference was one of the events I was looking forward to. I wanted to see what the nursing staff were celebrated for and how they were celebrated. You get to hear the works Cygnet Nursing staff carry out during such awards.

I was not disappointed as I watched David present awards. I heard how Julie won her award for the work she does with carers at the Cygnet Hexham site

I also observed not only the nursing awards. but also graduation certificates which was presented by Mandy ianchard who is Cygnet’s Head of Learning & Development.

Overall I enjoyed the day and felt I was not only watching the conference, but was also a part of it.

Thank you Cygnet

Cygnet Hospital Colchester carer event

Welcome to another update of the series of exciting Carer network events from Cygnet. Cygnet healthcare are a private provide of mental health services. I am one of the carer network ambassadors for cygnet where I engage, network and involve those whose loved ones use the services of cygnet.

This time I was over at Cygnet Colchester to help promote Cygnets focus for unpaid carers.

This Carers network event took place on the 26th of April 2024. The carers event had a great line up of speakers and presenters who wanted to educate and raise carer awareness with those who attended. We had a number of carers and professionals who attended and engaged with the presentations.

You can also watch a video promotion of the event off my YouTube channel

As usual I was interested in the hospital layout on what was on offer for carers and noticed the carers board. It is so important hospitals have a board display for carers and also a board of staff contacts. This is so carers know what is on offer.

We were greated by carers lead Paul Metcalfe. Paul who told us about the work he does to support carers. He also mentioned how it is his responsibility that staff at the site are carer aware. Paul was excited that the carer event will promote for carer awareness to the Cygnet staff on site.

It was not long before the event started, which is where David Wilmott who is Cygnet’s Director of Nursing opened the event. David presented how carers are so important to Cygnet and that Cygnet strives to do their best to make sure carers are aware of the support on offer. David requested that carers do feedback on what is useful. Cygnet does not want to second guess what carers want, even if carers complain then any information is good feedback.

Laura Sheredan who leads on Carers for Cygnet also updated what is on offer for carers. These include online feedback sessions, carers passport, carer packs and so much more. Laura did not want to spoil what else is available for carers as some updates would be presented throughout the day.

After a quick update from Laura and David, I helped open the event and presented my philosophy on why carer networking is so important. I left the Carers right section for the other Cygnet Care Ambassador Julian De Takats who was due to present later on at the event.

As someone who seeks a connection with carers, I know how difficult it is to be isolated, undervalued and lost in the system. Carers actually learn from each other, but they need the platform, confidence and voice to network. It takes time to do all of this, I should know since I have been promoting carer empowerment for many years.

I spoke about why I promote carer awareness and how I do this via my poetry books, online media, carer groups and even on national TV. Carers need to connect and learn from each other so they can avoid isolation. There are many carers around the country all wondering what it is like to be counted at a carers event. Cygnet does a lot of carer event hosting, so I will be looking forward to meeting more carers and how professionals present what is on offer for carers.

I also spoke about the importance of carer activism. It is not enough to provide a carers assessment, support group and a cup of tea. Carers should be counted and be given the confidence to lead. Far too often carers are told what is or what is not available for them. If you have lived experience then it is still experience that can other can learn from. I was delighted to see carers at the event who ran their own carers group and sought to engage with providers and services. I do understand being a carer activist is not everyones cup of tea, but because there are very few activists there is lots of potential if more carers want to be heard.

One last note on carer activism, it does not mean being an angry carer and looking for the nearest shopping window to smash, it is a way of direct engagement. Known who is responsible and running a campaign that never tires. Carers UK and Carers trust have many events that promotes activism, especially carers rights day. Make sure to become a member at those charities and get involved.

Next to speak at the Colchester carers event was Jasmine Damant. It is so important that there is an opportunity to learn more about the roles that support patients and their families. Jasmine spoke about the importance of Occupational therapy. The presentation was educational and interactive as the audience were encouraged to respond to questions and give their views.

Taken from the Royal College of Occupational therapy.

“Occupational therapists see beyond diagnoses and limitations to hopes and aspirations. They look at relationships between the activities you do every day – your occupations – alongside the challenges you face and your environment.”

Jasmine easily broke down the tasks of what Occupational therapists do and how their work can benefit not only the patient but also the carer.

Continuing the focus on learning about health professional roles we had Dr Rajesh Rama Lyer present. Dr Rajesh is the medical director for cygnet Colchester. He spoke about how medicine is important and why it is used.

Dr Rajest stressed there are always ways to include the families and carers in decisions even if there were challenges.

We then had another quick update from Laura who spoke about what was on offer for carers including being part of the cygnet carers network.

After a quick Lunch and more networking. I spoke to some carers about how they found the event so far. I also heard from their own stories of caring and why they decided to provide care. Each story I learnt so much from their lived experiences.

As mentioned earlier on in my blog. I touched on Carers rights day. It is so important that carers know about their carers rights. So we were very fortunate to hear about Carer advocacy and carer rights from Jane Perks. Jane is one of the team providing carer advocacy for Cygnet.

Jane from Black Belt Advocacy spoke about how advocacy can help carers navigate the complex maze of mental health services, especially if their are challenges that carers need help deciding what to do. If options are not presented to carers then there is a risk of people being neglected and this in turn affect the quality of services.

It would be unrealistic to say that only adults provide mental health care, when many children or young adults are also doing this role. We were foruntate to have Andy McGowan who is Policy and Practice Manager at Carers Trust present about young carers.

Again Andy’s presentation was interactive where the audience was asked a few questions about young carers and the roles they play. It was sad to hear that many young carers do not know about their role as a carer and this leads to them not understanding their carers rights. Young carers are also prone to missing out on their futures due to lack of support in education. Young carers can also miss out on social activities and sacrificing so much that their own mental and physical wellbeing are at risk.

This is one of the reasons why Cygnet are signing up to the Young Carers Covenant. The Young Carers Covenant is a UK-wide commitment to young carers and young adult carers. It sets out ten key outcomes that young carers from across the UK have said are key to improving their lives.

Below is are the ten outcomes Cygnet will seek to improve when encountering young carers.

  • Are identified at the earliest opportunity
  • Are able to thrive in education
  • Can access and succeedin employment/training opportunities
  • Have time for themselves
  • Are safe and secure
  • Can access support for themselves and their family
  • Feel they have choices in their lives
  • Have good physical and mental health
  • Can access and benefit from the rights they have
  • Live free from poverty

Last but not least was carer Julian de Takat who spoke about why he had became a Carers Ambassador for cygnet. Julian admitted how he used to be an angry carer, but chose to channel his energies to reaching out to others.
It was both a credit to Laura supporting Julian in the role and Julian promoting that carers should try to work with health professionals.

Julian promoted what carer ambassadors have done for cygnet and what is on offer for carers whose loved ones are using those services. There are many more things on offer for carers and more exciting events to come. I would like to say thanks to Cygnet Colchester for being so welcoming and hosting such an excellent carers event

Cancer Experience of Care Recognition Event – 2024

Welcome to another blog post from carer activist Matthew McKenzie. Did you know I am a stakeholder member of NHS England’s “Cancer Improvement Collaborative (CiC)” cohort 5? We had our Cancer Experience of Care Improvement Collaborative event, which was held over at Coin Street Neighbourhood Centre on the 5th of March.

The event was to recognise the work carried out by participants who were part of the cohort, these being the Cancer Alliances in England.

CiC Cohort 5 focus is on improving experience of cancer care for patients with a pre-existing condition (mental health, learning disability, autism and dementia) and their families and unpaid carers.

As a carer of lived experience, I was included in welcoming attendees and helping to promote the event. The recognition event was well attended and facilities were excellent. To start off with the event, we had a welcome Carl Shaw (Learning Disability & Autism Adviser NHS England) and Anna Rarity (Cancer Experience of Care Programme Manager of the National Cancer Programme) gave an Introduction to the Cancer Improvement Collaborative, which was easy to follow.

We were provided with a welcome pack which included the agenda for the day, which also included the commonly used Acronyms of the cancer programme.

We then had an introduction of the National Cancer Programme from Jodie Moffat who is the Deputy Director, Policy and Strategy of the NHS Cancer Programme.

Throughout the day there were several Project team presentations from the following

South East London Cancer Alliance
East Midlands Cancer Alliance
Humber & North Yorkshire Cancer Alliance
March Primary Care Network
Birmingham & Solihull ICB
Blackpool Teaching hospitals
North East & North Cumbria
Bristol, North Somerset & South Gloucestershire ICB
Coventry & Warwickshire

Highlights of the event was watching the carer story to show NHS England’s commitment to carers. Since I focus on unpaid carers, it was good to hear the impact of caring and how the carer managed their role as a cancer caregiver.

Another highlight was on recognising the archievements of Claire Marshall (Experience of Care Lead, Experience & Partnerships Team, People & Communities at NHS England) as she is moving on to another role.

I noticed some of the presentations allowed those with a learning disability or mental health to co-present and be part of the recognition. As the focus should allow those who use the services to co-produce and co-present the successes.

There was also a chance to network with others at the event during Lunch. I noticed some attendees were given different coloured badges to show if they were ok to chat or socialise. We cannot assume everyone is in the best mood to talk as they could be going through painful and stigmatising experiences.

The lunch provided was very good, which included vegan food. I also caught up with a few attendees and representatives from cancer alliances.

There was also a special presentation from the Quality Improvement Team from Great Ormond Street Hospital – Caitlin McGovern and Nuwanthi Yapa Mahathanthila. They presented on how Quality improvement proceeded at the hospital

The last update was from Dr Neil Churchill OBE who is the director for people and communities at NHS England. Neil spoke about the importance of the Cancer Improvement programme, raising awareness and including people’s experiences.

All in all, I found the CiC Recognition event an important way to update those involved in cancer improvement. It is important we include those who go though lived experience of cancer, but especially include those who take that extra step to use their experience to improve cancer care. That being both patient and those providing care.

I would also like to say “Well done” to Marsh Primary Care Network – Kent and Medway  on winning the Great Idea Award for their project “Improving Cancer Awareness for Care Home Staff”

The importance of Young Carers Action Day #YoungCarersActionDay

Welcome fellow unpaid carers and carer activists. Did you know at the time of this blog post that it is Young Carers Action Day 2024?

Young Carers Action Day or YCAD 2024 takes place on the 13th of March each year. The carers awareness day is lead by Carers Trust and supported by many organisations across the country

The purpose of the day is to raise public awareness of the challenges faced by young people because of their caring role, and to campaign for greater support for young carers and their needs.

The theme for Young Carers Action Day 2024 is ‘Make Time for Young Carers‘. The theme looks at fair futures for young carers which will be focussing on why caring should not be a barrier to learning.

It is not good news if you are a young carer. Stats say that 1 in 3 young carers struggle to balance caring with our education, this can have a big impact on whether they can get on at school, go to university, or get a job or an apprenticeship.

The impact on young carers can be tremendous. If someone is providing unpaid care, they will struggle to do schoolwork and even when at school the young carer will be tired. All this will impact on the carers school performance, which will have a knock on affect for further education.

It is not just about education, young carers can be isolated and stigmatised, especially if caring for someone with mental illness. Young carers are often bullied and excluded, by only doing what is expected of a caring community.

So what can you do to help make a difference for Young Carers Action Day?

Tips

  • You can raise awareness by using social media, just like my blog post.
  • As a carer activist you can appeal to the UK Government for more help to be given to young carers.
  • Network partners of Carers Trust can get a resource pack promoting YCAD
  • Schools should listen to carer centres on best practice in identifying and supporting young carers, offering free tools and resources
  • Young carers, make yourselves known to us, as well as your school/college, employer and your GP.

Every young carer should have the chance to develop their own futures. Young Carers Action Day aims to create a future where young carers do not have to struggle so much.

Forensic Carers Conference 2024

Welcome to another quick blog by carer activist Matthew McKenzie. I run many carer groups aimed at those caring for someone with mental ill health, most of the groups are voluntary, but there are a few that are co-run with NHS trusts for partnership working and carer empowerment.

I do a lot of carer engagement at West London NHS trust and was delighted to participate in the Forensic Carers Conference held at Conway Hall. The conference was a showcase of what is happening for those who care for someone using Forensice services, it was also to allow carers to promote their lived experience and raise their profile. We also heard from various researchers both national and international.

The event was funded by North London Forensic Consortium. The North London Forensic Consortium consists of the following NHS trusts:

Barnet, Enfield & Haringey Mental Health NHS Trust
Central and North West London Foundation Trust
East London Foundation Trust
North East London Foundation Trust
West London Trust

The North London Forensic Consortium’s core aim was to reduce the number of people who were cared for out of area and create the services their population.

  • Forensic Carers Conference throughout the day

The conference was very well attended and was opened by David Cochrane who is Head of Forensic Social Work at West London NHS trust high secure unit being Broadmoor.

We then had opening remarks from Leanne McGee who is the Chief Operating Officer for High Secure & Forensic services. Next I read one of my carer poems from my book “The mental health carer poetry book”.

I spent a good 10 minutes getting feedback from the audience on what the poem could mean to them and why families and carers would be anxious of the mental health of their loved ones.

We then had a presentation from Dr Sara Rowart from the University of Ghent (Belgium). Dr Sara presentated on “Family perspectives in forensic care trajectories in Belgium”. This then led onto a discussion of learning and comparison of forensic services in the England.

After the coffee break, we heard from Dr Ruth Naughton-Doe (University of York). She and her team presented on “What Support is Provided to families of detained patients, what do families want and what are the challenges?”. We also got to watch a video on the work the team has done so far.

You can also view the research paper of the work in the link below.

https://bmcpsychiatry.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12888-024-05602-9

The Forensic Carers conference was useful for getting feedback from carers, professionals and researchers. So there were several feedback and discussion sessions.

We then heard from sibling link CiC who run peer support groups for adults; one for those who are caring for, affected by or worried about their sibling who is experiencing mental ill health. We heard from co-founders Tash Warburton and Bex King who both presented on “Sibling Link: Support through Connection”.

You can view their website from the link below.

Sibling Link

Next we had Raf speaking about expert by experience from Cygnet, unfortunately Laura Sheridan who oversees the Cygnet Carers Network was not able to be in attendance.

I help closed the event with a Joint poem from another Carer who attends my carer forensic group over at West London. My thoughts of the Forensic Carers event are that it was excellent and I am impressed they managed to make the event hybrid so others can join online to even contribute.

I will wait to see how the other NHS trusts promote their carer forensic events

Happy 35th anniversary Cygnet – The journey continues

It has been an incredible time since I have become involved as one of the carer network ambassodor to cygnet. Since the triangle of care was launched many years ago, several organisations have taken up the chance to reach and engage with families and carers. I have watched closely the work NHS organisations have done to make a difference and improve people’s lives.

One thing I have noted is that most organisations work very hard to implement a practice of identifying carers, but from what I have seen and been involved with at Cygnet, they have done so much to make the triangle of care a success. Ever since I have been involved at Cygnet, they have reworked many policies to be in line with the Triangle of care vision.

There have been several carer network events at many of Cygnet’s hospitals including Sites in Harrow, Bury Hospital, Maidstone Hospital, Cygnet Hospital over in Bierley, Churchhill on Lambeth site, Tauton and many more sites. From each carer network event I learn more from those who attend and I can see how Cygnet works so hard to improve people’s lives.

With the guidence and support of Laura Sheridan who is Cygnet’s lead for Triangle of care. She has brought together carers to promote the importance of networking in a peer environment. We all contributed to the development of Cygnet’s carers strategy. With the highest level of co-production there was also a development and successful launch of Cygnet’s Carers charter, amendments to Cygnets Social care Admission policy and involvement on the Carer, Family & Friend survey.

With the guidence and support of Laura Sheridan who is Cygnet’s lead for Triangle of care. She has brought together carers to promote the importance of networking in a peer environment. We all contributed to the development of Cygnet’s carers strategy. With the highest level of co-production there was also a development and successful launch of Cygnet’s Carers charter, amendments to Cygnets Social care Admission policy and involvement on the Carer, Family & Friend survey.

There have been numerous promotions and platforms to promote the networks voice as members helped in developing online courses via the Cygnet Masterclass carer course. I have also been given the chance to share my lived carer experience through filming.

The carer network has worked so hard to develop links to families and carers who use Cygnet services. We strive to make a difference in people’s lives and with the support of the network, carers can feel counted.

I wish Cygnet a happy 35th Anniversary and I look forward to joining Cygnet on it’s Journey into improving lives.

Black History Month 2023 – Crawley Musuem

As of this blog post from Matthew McKenzie, it is Black History Month 2023. Previously I had written my thoughts about what Black History month means to me. Black history is what defines me and what makes me work so hard to promote wellbeing and promote community. I want people to connect and I value community. I have seen what happens when distrust, discrimination, stigma and blame hits community groups.

Still, sitting around writing about things is not enough. You have to get out there and support the community. You have help promote the values of what brings us together and share ideals. So for this blog, I was delighted to help support Black History Month over in West Sussex. Crawley Musuem held an Exhibition of Black history month with community group “DIVERSE Crawley”.

As a reminder, Black History month has been celebrated in the UK since 1987. The celebration presents an opportunity for everyone to reflect on the past and think about how to improve things for the future. The month-long spotlight allows discussions to go past those of racism and slavery and look more to black leaders, many of who’s legacies touch daily lives.

I was there supporting Carers Support West Sussex who do so much for unpaid carers. With approximately 30,000 registered carers supported by Carers West Sussex. Their charity runs Support Groups and a Carer Response Line. They also assist carers in accessing necessary equipment and funding for their well-being. Additionally, Carers Support West Sussex offers counselling, call back services, and well-being support, with teams stationed in major hospitals. As soon as I arrived Adeelah Khan who is the Carer Engagement Co-ordinator greeted me. I also met their mental health carer engagement to Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation.

The Black History month event opened with African drumming session while the host Marilyn Le Feuvre who is the DIVERSE Crawley Co-Founder and Chair, made sure attendees where welcomed and looked after.

African Druming Session to Start Black History Month Exhibition

It was not long before crowds formed and the Lord Lieutenant of West Sussex Lady Emma Barnard arrived. She was also joined by High Sheriff of West Sussex – Andy Bliss and Crawley Mayor – Cllr Jilly Hart. We were then taken up to the exhibition on the first floor where we heard speeches from each of the attendees.

Their speeches struck an accord with me, I am not sure what Crawly does, but their community seems very close and connected. They all spoke about what Black History means to them and the importance of such an exhibition and event.

After the speeches it was not long before Lady Emma Barnard cut the ribbon to Launch the exibition

We were then given a tour of each exhibit including the impact black people have made to the NHS. The importance of Windrush and the struggles black people faced on arrival. We also heard about the positive things about Black History on what bring people together and sharing culture.

I was honoured to see my poem as part of the exhibition at the musuem and I even actually read the poem for the audience.

This was again thanks to Carers Support West Sussex who spoke about what they do for the community and how they feel unpaid carers are part of the community.

We learnt of African fashion and got to hear various African songs from the young and old. I took the time to place the audio below.

Ugandan National Anthem

Next we heard another poem about the impact of Windrush, which was wonderfully read out by Irma Stuart-Tei who is co-founder and Deputy Chair of DIVERSE Crawley.

Then we were given more details about black history including the case of Kris Karba, Stephan Lawrence and the importance of Black Lives Matter. The talk was supported by Crawley campaign against racism who spoke how together we can all contribute to tackling racism and discrimination.

There were talks about why Black women are three to four times more likely to die from pregnancy-related. The importance of diverse barbie dolls. There was so much presented, that I could not possibly cover them all. There were futher presentations downstairs followed by African and Carribean food.

All in all, I felt this day was the highlight of several weeks as I have been occupied by so many things. I was impressed on how much work and effort placed into the event. Again, I am not sure how Crawley community does it. They work together tirelessly to promote what community is all about. Please check out my video compliation of the event.

Looking forward to more things from Carers Support West Sussex and some other carer centres around the country. I also left my book with the carers centre regarding “Race, Caring and Mental Health”. The book promotes ideals of NHS England – Patient Carer Race Equality Framework.

Bringing the Lambeth community together for health and wellbeing.

Welcome back to another blog by carer activist Matthew McKenzie. I run many groups aimed at those caring for someone unpaid. They could be caring for someone suffering mental illness or caring for someone affected by cancer. One of the groups I run is the Joint Southwark & Lambeth mental health carers forum.

So I was delighted to attend a fun filled community event over in Lambeth.

The weather was perfect for the health event. The event focused on the Lambeth community and beyond. It was a way to bring the community together.

We all have something in common, just as we all have importance in health and wellbeing. So it was a fun afternoon where everyone could come together and learn what the borough of Lambeth if providing for the community.

The event was called “Thriving Vassall and Coldharbour Health Day”. It took place over at Wyck Gardens on the 21 July 2023 from 3pm to 7pm.

When I attended the wellbeing festival, the first thing I noticed was how everyone was enjoying themselves. There was no fussing or fighting, people were relaxing, enjoying the music, learning about health and eating the food provided.

I met up and chatted with Karen Hooper who is a carer and does so much to promote community links in Lambeth.

I then spoke to stall holders at Age UK Lambeth, Disability UK Lambeth, Kooth stall, SHARP Gallery and more.

The Wellbeing Festival provided fun for all the family. Workshops and activities to help attendees stay fit and healthy. It was great to see a focus on young people’s mental health from the Kooth stall.

We also had stalls from South London & Maudsley regarding mental wellbeing services.

Involvement and providing feedback on health services is so important. So it was great to see Lambeth Healthwatch giving advice and information at their stall.

I noticed there was Jewellery Making and Face painting for children attending as it is great for young people to get creative. There was also a bouncy castle.

There were other Stall holders including Lambeth Childhood, Active Lambeth, Primary Care Network engagement (especially from the social perscribers). We also had stall information from Moasaic Club House, Certitude, Loughborough Farm, Buzwakk Recording Studio, Big Kid Foundation, Repowering London and Lambeth Libraries.

We also had some great singing performances on the day.

With so much bringing the community together, I enjoyed my visit to the Health and Wellbeing day, everyone was friendly and many wanted to chat about their services to help the community.

A big thank you to the main organisers Anthea, at Thriving Vassall & Coldhabour (Fiveways), Surjit from Ecosystem Coldharbour and Kamika from Chips and to everyone who came to the event.