Welcome to this blog by Cygnet Carer Ambassador Matthew McKenzie. As a carer ambassador, I strongly believe that those in similar roles who representing families and carers within healthcare and mental health services, should have maximum visibility and reach. This ensures that not only service users but also their carers receive the support and information they need.
On the 19th of March, I had the opportunity to visit Cygnet Millbank for a filming session where I shared my thoughts and messages aimed at families and carers with loved ones using Cygnet’s services. This initiative followed Cygnet’s Patient Carer Race Equality Framework event launch, a commendable effort to enhance outcomes for individuals from diverse communities.
During the filming, I was joined by fellow Carer Ambassador Julian de Takets. Together, we explored ways to strengthen the connection between families and carers and the services supporting their loved ones.
In my segment, I spoke about my role in representing, supporting, and advocating for carers. My work involves ensuring that carers’ voices are heard, offering guidance, and contributing to the development of inclusive, culturally competent services that genuinely address carers’ needs.
However, to make a real impact, it is vital that these messages reach the right audiences. Without effective promotion and engagement, our efforts as carer network ambassadors risk being limited in influence.
Families and carers play a fundamental role in supporting their loved ones’ recovery journeys, yet many feel overlooked or uncertain about how to navigate the mental health system. This is why mental health providers must actively promote and support the work of carer ambassadors. By amplifying our reach, healthcare organizations like Cygnet can ensure that carers feel seen, heard, and valued as equal partners in care.
As an ambassador, I see my role as a bridge between carers and mental health services, offering guidance and ensuring they have access to the right resources and support networks.
I look forward to seeing the completed videos off Cygnet’s website and hope that they serve as a valuable resource for families and carers. More broadly, I urge mental health services to not only establish ambassador programs but also to actively promote them, ensuring that Expert by Experience voices are at the heart of shaping and improving care services.
Carers and families deserve recognition, support, and inclusion in the mental health care process. By championing ambassadors and giving them a wider platform, we can create a more informed, connected, and supportive community for all involved.
Welcome back to another blog post by carer activist Matthew McKenzie. I am involved in quite a few things and one of them is being one of the Carer Network Ambassadors for Cygnet. This means we have a keen interest in networking and support families, friends and carers throughout the community.
One way to connect to carers is through carer led events. You see, we are more than just our roles, we are more than carers and just once there should be a space for families, friends can carers to express themselves, take time out for themselves despite the emotional and difficult journeys they face.
So following off the successful event held over at one of the Cygnet sites Churchill hospital.
Carers Annette Davis and Faith Smith set out to host Postive Talents part 2 to give a chance for carers to showcase their talents and have a night out for entertainment to reduce isolation.
The Positive Talents – Part 2 event took place on friday 29th of November 2024. For this event we had an amazing range of performing acts, including poets, singers, dancers, book readings and interests that those with lived experience of caring promoted.
I will not go fully into all the acts as you can watch the video below and fast forward to any of the performances you want to see.
The event included a Raffle section, food and refreshments and a way for carers to network to reduce isolation and stigma.
However the event was worth attending to give carers of London a chance to have space for them with thanks to Laura Sheridan Cygnet Head Carer & Service User Engagement and staff at Cygnet for the excellent hospitality.
Well done to all the carers who performed at the event who were awarded certificates.
We look forward for the next Positive Talents show.
Welcome back to another blog post from Carer activist, author and Cygnet Carer Ambassador Matthew Mckenzie.
Over the years I have been working hard to promote and engage with unpaid carers at Cygnet along with the other Cygnet Carer Ambassador Leslie, Julian and Christine. It was due time to have a relaxing break or at least a stroll around London. With Cygnet carer Lead Laura Sheridan helping to record the day, our group explored around the city
We were on our way to Cygnet’s Annual Social Work Awards 2024 hosted over at Cygnet Churchill hospital over in Lambeth.
This was going to be an excellent and inspiring event, but before we attended, we aimed to take some photos and continue to explore London.
It was not long before we arrived at Churchhill Lambeth hospital. The staff welcomed us as we talked to the social workers up for awards and we also chatted to lord Kamlesh Patel OBE about the importance of unpaid carers.
As the awards got underway, I noticed a good line of speakers who presented the about the importance of Social work and specific campaigns. This included Lord Kamlesh Patel who opened the award ceremony. The set up for the event was hybrid with online and onsite attendees from across different cygnet hospitals.
We also heard from Cygnet Deputy Director of nursing Jo-Ann McAuliffe. Next to speak was Cygnet strategic lead for mental health & prisons Christina Cheney. Christina spoke about the state of the nation when it comes to mental health and social work.
We then heard from Paula Tappenden who is Cygnets Head of Social Work and Safeguarding. Paula spoke about the Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation and her mission to make a difference in ending human trafficking and how Cygnet Social workers could support.
After Lunch and socialising. We got to view the Cygnet Social Work Award ceremony for the following categories
Social Work Assistant of the Year
Social Worker of the year
Leadership in Social work
Well done for all who were nominated and also the winners. All who took part set an example to social workers at the organisation.
After the award ceremony I spoke as a Cygnet Carer network ambassador on the importance of engaging with carers especially using the “Triangle of Care” method and empowerment of lived experience
We had lots of audience engagement, plus support from my fellow Cygnet Carer ambassadors giving their view of carer acknowledgement and empowerment.
Up next to speak was Chloe Cooper-Brown who is Cygnet’s Head of Social Work and Safeguarding Lead on sharing the Risk with discharges and joint working with the Police. Last to speak before our group headed off was hearing from Euan Atkinson who presented on his lived experience at Cygnet.
Socialising day out
Our group of Cygnet carer network ambassadors continued to have a day out as we headed to Waterloo and examined some street art and talked relax at some cafes at Waterloo.
It is important that Cygnet not only help heal the community, but empower the community as we spoke to carer activist Ionie on how Cygnet can help carers continue their networking and reach more carers in the community. I will look forward to interviewing Ionie off my carer activist video series later on.
Welcome back to another of my carer blogs during Carers Week 2024. Lots of carer engagement and awareness events are still taking place as we are midway through Carers Week.
As a Cygnet Carers network ambassador, I was proud to be invited to present on my thoughts for Carers Week and the focus as to why families, friends and carers are important to Cygnet. The event was the “National Carers, Families and Friends Network Event”. This event took place over at Cygnet Churchill on Thursday 13th June 2024.
As I entered the premises the Cygnet staff were friendly and welcoming, I felt relaxed but excited at the same time. Looking at the event agenda, we had some excellent speakers for attendees both professional and families and carers.
David Willmott who is cygnet’s Director of Nursing opened the event. David spoke about Cygnet’s passion to engage with carers, but to get it right we need to consider families and carers as the experts.
With the ideas of cygnet’s Carer lead Laura Sheridan, Cygnet has made lots of progress, but there are still many things to develop.
David spoke how important it is to develop ideas with the audience and introduced who was going to speak.
Matthew McKenzie presents the importance of Carers Week
When David introuced my session to present to the audience, I spoke about the importance of Carers Week 2024. I have been a carer most of my life regarding my two brothers, but things became immensely difficult when my mother became diagnoised with schizophrenia. For many years I cared alone for 3 people and the impact it had on me was horrendous. I still suffer the scars of unpaid caring experience, but with the support of Carers UK and Carers Trust I feel I can cope.
My caring role led to carer activism, a powerful role that helps engage with whole communities and charity organisations. I spoke how busy I was doing Carers Week and even provided a poem or two which you can see below.
Also speaking at the event was Dr Neil Churchill who is NHS England’s Director of People and Communities. Due to the election Dr Neil could not say much, but did speak about his own carer experiences and the importance of the NHS. Dr Neil also mentioned what is currently available for carers under the NHS, but things could change.
Next up to speak was Nisha Cunnane who is Cygnet head of Pharmacy Services. Nisha spent 25 years working in Various phamacy settings, including hospitals and prisons. She is passionate about patient education and empowerment, this includes caregivers as she promotes they have a pivotal role in enhancing the overall well-being of the cared for.
Nisha spoke about Empowering Carers when guiding them through medication management. She spoke about what medication management actually means and their challenges to unpaid caers.
These challenges would be carers being overwhelmed with multiple medical factors and trying to avoid the risk to potential medication errors. Spotting side effects are also very important to caregivers of those with mental illness, but it also helps to tackle communication barriers with healthcare providers.
Nisha also spoke about medication adherence and top tips for carers and families. She answered questions about medication safety and medication side effects and she also pointed out the importance of collaboration and access to information.
We then had a carers story and her focus to engage with other carers. This was Veronica Kamerling and you might have remember her from the series of carer activist interviews I am currently running.
Veronica spoke passionately about caring for her two daughters who both have an eating disorder, verconica also spoke about caring for her brother who was diagnoised with schizophrenia. Due to her lived experience and carer activism, she runs her own organisation “Eating disorders & Carers”. She has been associted with Triangle of Care for many years as Cygnet strives to embed the Triangle of care in their hospitals.
Listening to Veronica drove home the memories and experience of my own caring situation. It reminded me why I try so hard to engage and involve unpaid carers in my network and also Cygnet carer’s network.
Other speakers were Julian De Takats who is a Parent and Carer. He is also a Cygnet Expert by Experience Carer Ambassador and helps provide carer awareness training at many of Cygnet hospital sites. Julian’s talk helped remind why it is so important to involve carers in shaing services.
We also had Juliana Onwumere from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience speaking about their focus on families and carers, especially with the new online course for training carers about Caring for People with Psychosis and Schizophrenia
Unfortunately I could not stay for the full event as I was required as a judge for Harrow Carer’s Awards for 2024. Harrow carers ran their “Carers Family Fun Day” for Carers Week 2024. That is another blog for another day.
However for the National Carers, Families and Friends Network Conference, I felt Cygnet put a lot of work into presenting why they do an amazing amount of energy to set the standard of involving unpaid carers.
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
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.
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.
Welcome to another update of an event for carers. This blog is of the special event produced by carers for unpaid carers. The event was developed by unpaid carers Faith Smith and Annette Davis.
The point of the event was a chance for carers who care for someone unpaid to come together and showcase a talent to link carers together. This was a special event because it was produce by unpaid carers for unpaid carers. Both Annette and Faith felt carers have something to offer that can bring the community together. After viewing an exhibition, both carers felt inspired to develop an event which took some months of planning and organising.
I have known Annette and Faith a very long time and we often collaborate when there is a chance. So with the support of Carer network lead Laura Sheridan at Cygnet, we felt this would be a chance for Carers of London to learn from each other and develop confidence to share their talents.
For the first ever Positive Talents show took place at Cygnet ChurchHill hospital over in Lambeth. The location was very easy to get to, with good transport links.
There was also a good turn out as we got support from unpaid carers wanting to attend to reduce isolation and also carers who wanted to showcase their talents.
Annette and Faith opened the positive talent show with an explanation of to why carers should be given the chance to show off any skills or talents. It is just a matter of being given the chance.
We were then shown a video of a carer performing poetry. The poem was performed by Brenda Onatade who could not be present. However you can see Brenda perform her poetry below.
Next we had a video from Jo Lambert who also could not attend, however Faith gave a great talk about the video which you can see below
You can see Jo Lambert’s video called “Fairy lights of Hope” below
We then had a talk by Annette on Looking after yourself. Her talk was titled LAM “looking after ME”
As being a poet, I wanted to showcase the importance of carers recognising their talents and performed a poem called “What helps me”
I also did a learn and share session for carers to relate to the poem, which you can view below.
There was then a focus on positive wellbeing messages that were shared by the audience of carers. We all shared what was positive for our own health.
.After my poetry performance we then moved onto a comedy routine by another carer called Jo.
The routine helped destigmatize mental ill health as sometimes the only option for difficult challenges is laughter. You can see the comedy section below.
Next was a game of charades, where carers can feel welcome and join in the activities
Then next was refreshments and food along with networking. The food was prepared by Cygnet chief Titilayo
For the 2nd half of the Talent show. We had a presentation from Southwark Wellbeing hub on their focus for Black carers. There is a launch of the Black Carers Project, which I have included the poster below.
Then we have a dance section from carer Jackie Christie, where you can see the performance below
After the lovely dance show, we had another comedy routine, this time performed by Faith Smith, again the video is placed below.
Next was my 2nd poetry performance on the importance of setting a legacy.
The last two performance were led by Annette who did a few song sessions
I felt the event turned out very well since this was the first ever carer talent show. We all shared from each other and felt that we were part of something very big. Thanks for the support from the following carer centres who also helped to promote and connect carers to each other. These being Lambeth carers hub, Sutton Carers and Imago community and a special thanks to Cygnet for hosting the event for carers, plus providing food.
All who took part were awarded certificate, so well done to them.
Given the chance, carers can do some amazing things for the community. Carers can be supported to showcase their skills and talents.
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
Welcome to another blog from carer activist Matthew McKenzie. As a Cygnet carer ambassador, I will usually blog updates of the carer events they do, especially the ones I participate in. I think it is important carers can learn what happens at those events, so they can try attend for future events.
Obviously Cygnet runs other events to promote mental wellbeing, learning experiences and engagement, but I tend to focus on carers, so most blogs will be on carer networking and events. There will be times where I report on other carer events from NHS trusts, which helps on engaging with partners and the caring community.
The event this blog focuses on is the Cygnet Hospital Maidstone event. That took place on the 20th of April 2024. The carer event was the first event I attended from my recent honours recognition ceremony that took place in London over at Tower Bridge, but I will blog about that one much later on.
Cygnet tries very hard to engage with families, friends and carers who loved ones are using their services. So Cygnet hospital Maidstone put on an excellent event to showcase what they do for unpaid carers. As mentioned the event was run on satuday to give carers a chance to attend, since during the week this might not be so easy due to work commitments.
Both Julian and myself was welcomed by the friendly Cygnet staff at the hospital, I checked out the hospital’s carers board and then we proceeded to the board room for the event, which was laid out with carer information, policies and advice.
It was not long before some carers and cygnet staff attended and soon the event was opened by Hospital General Manager Alison McCulloch.
Alison explained the proceedings for the day which was
A set of expert talks A chance to network with attendees Launch and then a tour of the facilites
Cygnet Maidstone is a very large hospital with several wards. They have their own Healthy dietician room, prayer room, A room to learn music and skills, recovery college. Plus they have an indoor physical exercise room and outdoor sports area. There was so many facilities I dont think I can remember them all, but I will explain more later on.
Going back to the “Expert talk” section of the event. The first speaker was Louisa Powell who is also a hospital manager. Lousia explained why she became a mental health nurse due to lived experince of a carer. She is still a carer, but juggles her work to do as much as she can for those going through mental ill health crisis. Louisa cares passionately about the profession and engaging with families and carers.
When then had an explaination of what Cygnet was doing for carers. This was presented by Julian De Takats who is a carer and cygnet carer ambassador. Julian talked about his lived experience as a carer and why it is so important carers know what their mental health service provider was doing for them and their loved ones using the services.
Julian explained the following
What is means to be a carer The importance of identifying carers Cygnets offer to carers being Handbooks, welcome packs, carer passport and consistant contact
Julian also touched on the Carers Trust standards called “The Triangle of Care”. This is something Cygnet has worked very hard to archieve as several cygnet hospitals have gained their first star acceditation
We then has a talk from an addictions expert and how carers can be supported. We were even taken to the addictions centre where he explained many of the resources that help patients come to terms with addictions.
The next presentation was on the Special Wellbeing Team and what they provide at the hospital. This includes healthy eating, physical activity, involvement in developing th care and treatment plan and more.
We next presentation was on consent to share and discharg planning for Patients and their carers. This was presented by Paula Tappenden who is the Head of social work and Safeguarding lead. She explained the process for patients being asked if they are happy to share information with their carers.
Paula also talked about patient rights and how carers can still be involved even if confidentiality becomes a difficult process. Use of best interest meetings can help carers become involved if the patient lacks capacity to involve loved ones. Paula also touched on the importance of the Care Act 2014, which carers should be aware of. The last part of the presentation was on discharge planning and how it should involved carers.
I then presented on carer empowerment and why I feel carers should not only be supported, but empowered to connect. I did not talk much about my carer story, but how people should be encouraged to network with the community and take wellbeing out of the hospital and into the community. Obviously my focus was on carers connecting with each other. Due to many of my carer groups, this is what I am known for. I do not mean carer support groups, but carers learning from each other and learning more about services.
As an author and campaigner, I have written many books to share the knowledge and help raise awareness of mental health carers. The mental health system is complex, under resourced and every changing. It is so important families and carers do not leave things to chance. They should not wait to be offered access to engagement groups and learn to use feedback to help change things. Carers should take every chance to join their local carers centre, national carer support e.g. Carers UK and Carers Trust, plus learn to hold to account especially cygnet hospitals, integrated care boards, local authority carer stategies and keeping an eye on government policies.
I read out 2 of my poems to promote the difficult challenging experience of the carer and the poem on carer networking. Sometimes carers are in such a desperate situation that things cannot be solved, they just want to be listened to and also connect. However the carer situation does not always have to be hopeless, with the use of activism then carers can become empowered and focus their energies for greater change
We then had a networking session, some lovely lunch and a tour of the facilities.
All in all, I enjoyed being a part of the event. As a carer it is empowering to help promote how services can support the family and carer. I expect there will be challenges, but we are all in this together to promote a caring community, with better health and wellbeing for all.
Thanks to the welcoming staff at Cygnet Maidstone hospital.
A brief update of a recent Cygnet Carers, families and friends network event. As a Cygnet carers network ambassador. I often try to engage with families and carers whose loved ones use the services of Cygnet. For those who do not already know, Cygnet Health Care is an independent provider of health and social care services for young people and adults with mental health needs, acquired brain injuries, eating disorders, autism and learning disabilities within the UK.
Cygnet aims to connect to families and carers through there carer network events, triangle of care guidelines and carer offers through strategies and policies.
The carer network event took place at Cygnet Wast Hills over in Birmingham. Cygnet Wast Hills provides support for 21 individuals with autism, learning disabilities and complex needs. The team can also support individuals who may be detained under the Mental Health Act, as well as those who have complex behaviours, or who have significant difficulties with social engagement.
As you can see Cygnet provides the best service it can for patients, but there needs to be a focus on families and friends who are providing unpaid care. So I was glad to play my part in networking with cygnet friends and families.
The journey to the cygnet site although long was pleasant as I enjoyed watching the scenary while travelling. I met up with fellow cygnet carer ambassodor Julian de Takets as we discussed what to present for the event. With great support from Laura who is Cygnet’s carer lead and service improvement manager, I felt we would make an excellent impression for the carers who attended.
The team at Cygnet Wast Hill provided the best decorated experience I have seen for a very long time. They showed their dedication to the carer network event, I am very proud of them and I am sure many carers who attended were also impressed.
I was also happy to see carer information and updates on the service boards around the hospital site.
To open the event was a great experience as I read some of my poems in order for carers to relate to the caring experience. I asked questions at the carers and staff to help raise the awareness of carers.
We then had a presentation from Philip Winterbottom who is Head of Safeguarding at Cygnet Health Care Phil has worked as a nurse and manager for 20 years in various mental health and social care settings. In the last few years, Phil has held dedicated safeguarding roles on a national level.
Next was the networking with carers as we stopped the presentations for lunch. It was great to hear carers feedback and share experiences.
Next up was Kate Mercer who runs a training organisation, ‘Black Belt Advocacy’ that offers support and formal qualifications to independent advocates including a National Advocacy Conference each year. She also acts as a family advocate at Cygnet, supporting families who have a loved one in mental health settings. It is always a welcome sight to see Kate present as many in the audience finds her entertaining.
We then heard from the Occupational therapists Heather Davis & Tracy Lambert. Carers wanted to know what occupational therapists do and how they can support families and carers.
Last but not least to present was Julian De Takats who now has a focus on the triangle of care and setting up carer network events. Julian presented his carer experience and the impact it has had on him over the years. Julian feels the experience provides him the tools to help cygnet reach other carers.
A Caring Mind 