Our services recognised as examples of national best practice
We are proud to share that the Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCPsych) has highlighted the work of two of our services as examples of national best practice in its latest update on the Culture of Care programme. This recognition reflects our valuable contribution and ongoing progress towards this pioneering programme.
Over 200 wards are involved, across every provider of NHS-funded mental health inpatient care in England, including four of our services: Junction 17, John Denmark Unit, Andersen Ward, and Gardener Unit.
The Culture of Care programme is a national initiative designed to improve the culture of inpatient mental health, learning disability and autism wards. Its purpose is to make these environments safe, therapeutic and equitable for patients, while also providing fulfilling workplaces for staff.
This programme is underpinned by a commitment to lived experience leadership, co-production and collaboration, and guided by the 12 NHS England Culture of Care standards to promote quality and equality through approaches that are trauma-informed, autism-informed and anti-racist.
RCPsych are the lead facilitators for the Ward-based Quality Improvement portion of the Culture of Care programme and lead on the organisational support and executive coaching. As the UK’s professional medical body for psychiatry, RCPsych supports psychiatrists throughout their careers and sets national standards for mental health care.
The latest update from RCPsych includes a spotlight on the Gardener Unit’s work to improve outcomes by involving young people, families, and staff in care decisions. The team have successfully embedded the ethos of the Culture of Care programme – which centres around positive risk-taking, creative ideation and collaboration – into everyday practice. One example of this is the creation of a participation group which is empowering young people to share their views because they know they will be heard.
Following the re-introduction of family visits to the ward, one parent shared:
“I found it immensely comforting to see where my son spends his time and the facilities available. Visiting the ward gives me a better understanding of what he has been doing which helps me feel closer to him. He was proud to show me his room, and this gave me a renewed sense of connection with him.”
The John Denmark Unit, one of only four Deaf Mental Health inpatient services in the country, has been recognised for transforming their approach through proactive and creative participation in the programme.
Within the Culture of Care programme every ward involved has bi-weekly coaching sessions with a Quality Improvement coach from RCPsych, supported by our QI Project Manager, Leah Norton, the team then review any test of changes they are currently working on and seek any advice they need on quality improvement. A recent session demonstrated the value of co-production, with lived experience peers and carers actively shaping ideas such as, training with doctors about engaging with carers.
The Culture of Care Programme has given the John Denmark Unit a platform to raise important issues and has enabled conversations at a Trust-wide level, including plans for a Deaf staff member to meet with the Board to help them understand the importance of Deaf accessibility, Deaf culture and the wider Deaf experience. This is part of a wider objective to ensure appropriate and accessible resources, as well as access to qualified BSL interpreters for both Deaf staff and service users.
Alongside this, the John Denmark Unit has begun working on anti-racist practices, commenced a working group to focus on this and is collaborating with the Patient and Carer Race Equality Framework (PCREF) lead, Oyinkansola Ogunleye (Honey), to strengthen cultural competence. Initially viewed as a potential challenge, the programme has now become integral to the ward’s culture, empowering staff, and service users to influence meaningful, systemic change.
This recognition by RCPsych is an incredible achievement and reflects our dedication to inclusivity, our service users, and our values at GMMH. A huge well done to our services that are adopting the Culture of Care principles to deliver compassionate care and are consistently striving to improve patient outcomes.
You can read more here under ‘Ward Stories’ on the RCPsych page.
As the Culture of Care programme continues to progress we will be sharing more insights from participating services, which will be invaluable to the shaping of care across GMMH and the NHS nationally.
