Author: Bridie Finnan

Sefton Council, Sefton Advocacy, NHS South Sefton Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and NHS Southport and Formby CCG have come together this week to celebrate Dementia Action Week, which runs from the 17^th-23^rd May.

The aim of the week is to raise awareness and encourage action around those living with dementia and those people who care for them.

In October 2019, thanks to the work of Sefton’s Dementia Action Alliance (DAA), the borough was officially recognised by The Alzheimer’s Society as ‘working towards becoming dementia friendly’. This status means that Sefton is a place where people with dementia are understood, respected and supported.

Sefton Council, Sefton Advocacy, NHS South Sefton CCG and NHS Southport and Formby CCG are encouraging people this week to understand how they can support those people living with dementia in our community in order to make our borough the most welcoming, understanding and supportive place it can be for those living with dementia.

Dementia Friendly Sefton are a group of organisations and individuals who are determined to maintain and improve Sefton’s ‘Dementia Friendly’ status.

Take a look at how they have been supporting people living with dementia

Dementia Training

Practical Support

Emotional Support

Support for Carers

Support from the CCG

The full video is on our YouTube Channel

Cllr Paul Cummins, Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Chair of Dementia Friendly Sefton said:

“I am so proud to celebrate Dementia Action Week and I take this opportunity to thank the huge number of organisations from across Sefton that help create a place where people with dementia are understood, respected and supported.

“The world can be a confusing and sometimes frightening place for people with dementia, but by making small changes to the way we usually do things, we can make that world much brighter. I encourage everyone in Sefton to take some time to consider how they can become more dementia friendly.”

Justine Shenton, Sefton Advocacy, Sefton Older Persons Forum Coordinator said:

“It is important to raise awareness this Dementia Action Week; both of the condition and how people can help make those people living with dementia more supported and understood.

“I’m proud to be a part of Dementia Friendly Sefton and I know we will continue to work towards making our community a better place for people living with dementia and in doing so, enable them to live the lives they choose to live.”

 

Fiona Taylor, Chief Officer of NHS South Sefton CCG and NHS Southport and Formby CCG, said:

“We are pleased to have been working closely with our partners who provide services and activities for those living with dementia, to increase our support in recent years, enabling them to better plan and deliver valuable services in our communities.

“As CCG’s we have also undergone dementia friendly training in order to fully embrace this important agenda and champion this in our borough.”

“As we start to look forward to a more hopeful future as lockdown restrictions ease, it’s important that we continue to support our partners in helping residents transition back into what will hopefully be a more interactive and sociable local community and helping patients and their carers to truly ‘live well’ with dementia.”

For more information, visit the Alzheimer’s Society website

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A new online resource has been launched this #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek to help children, young people, parents and professionals to make referrals into partnership mental health services in Liverpool and Sefton.

The new platform, available on the Liverpool CAMHS and Sefton CAMHS websites, allows just one referral form linking a wide range of mental health services across Liverpool and Sefton, who work in partnership together.

Previously, the referral process has been long, complicated and difficult to navigate. It is the first-time mental health services have been integrated in this way in the UK.

Alder Hey’s innovation team have worked closely with service users; children and young people & their families and mental health providers to develop the Sefton and Liverpool CAMHS platform that makes accessing the right mental health services much easier.

Lisa Cooper, Director of Community and Mental Health Services at Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust said:

“7 in 10 children and young people who experience mental health conditions in the UK have not had appropriate interventions at a sufficiently early age. Part of the problem can be knowing what is available and accessibility. The new digital platform makes the process so much easier to self-refer and also gives children and young people online support before they see a clinician.

Mental health is just as important as physical health and this past year has had a huge impact on our children and young people. We’ve seen more than double the amount of crisis cases than the previous year. I’m thrilled that with this new platform we are pioneering the future for digitising healthcare and helping some of our most vulnerable children and young people get the help they so desperately need and deserve.”

Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) is a collection of NHS and voluntary sector organisations that provide a range of mental health support for children, young people and their families. As well as offering information, advice and guidance, assessment, diagnosis, treatment and intervention for young people who are experiencing problems with their emotions, behaviour or mental health, these partners also promote ways to develop positive mental health, including building resilience and training. This support covers a range of mental health difficulties including depression, eating disorders, self-harm, abuse, violence or anger, bi-polar, schizophrenia and anxiety among many other difficulties.

Lisa Nolan, Programme Manager for children and young people’s mental health at Liverpool Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) said:

“This is an exciting development which will improve access to mental health support for the population of children and young people and their families.  A true example of co-production and collaboration between the CAMHS Partnerships across Liverpool and Sefton, Alder Hey Innovation team, CCG’s, digital partners and Children, Young People and Families. This digital development will ensure quicker access to information, advice, resources and support for Children and Young People across both Liverpool and Sefton.”

Wendy Hewitt, Children and Safeguarding Lead for NHS South Sefton CCG and NHS Southport and Formby CCG said:

“This is a fantastic new development which will enable GPs and other professionals across Sefton and Liverpool to better support children and young people with mental health conditions. As everything is in one place, we will be able to access and share health information more easily, and quickly refer those children and young people needing mental health support.”

You can access the platform here: www.seftonliverpoolcamhs.com

Partners in Sefton have been awarded £320,000 of new funding to extend their Mental Health Support Team (MHST) programme, to boost early intervention and mental health support for school children and young people in the borough.

The news follows the earlier roll out this spring of two pilot MHSTs working across 40 schools and colleges in Sefton, as part of a national programme to transform children and young people’s mental health services. The announcement of additional funding means that the teams can extend their support across even more educational institutions in Sefton from 2022 autumn term onwards.

MHSTs are led locally by a partnership bringing together Sefton Council and NHS South Sefton Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), NHS Southport and Formby CCG, Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, North West Boroughs Healthcare, schools and voluntary community and faith (VCF) sector colleagues.

These teams aim to provide early intervention of some mental health and emotional wellbeing issues and build on the support already available in schools from local health and care services and community, voluntary and faith sector organisations. They can help support children and young people with issues such as mild to moderate anxiety, offering one to one and group support to pupils and their families, as well as school staff.

They are also helping staff within the 40 schools and colleges to provide a ‘whole school approach’ to mental health and wellbeing, by supporting designated mental health leads at each school to embed a culture of awareness of emotional wellbeing and good mental health, within each school community.

Jackie Lunt, clinical lead for Sefton Schools MHST, said:

“Our Mental Health Support Teams are part of a revolutionary change in how child mental health support is provided.

“Funding an additional team will help us to provide support to many more schools in Sefton, creating educational communities that strengthen our young people’s emotional health and wellbeing.”

“We are so pleased to be providing psychological support for students, families and educators alike. Ultimately, our goal is to help children and young people to get the right help at the right time for their mental health and emotional wellbeing and thrive as well as access all the life chances the education systems can provide.”

Find out more about the Mental Health Support Teams in Sefton, on the Alder Hey website here: https://alderhey.nhs.uk/services/sefton-mental-health-support-team-mhst

You can find out more about MHSTs in schools across England here: www.england.nhs.uk/2021/05/more-than-a-million-children-given-access-to-nhs-mental-health-support-at-school/