New 24/7 specialist mental health support service now available

about changes made in response to reported errors, near misses and incidents (17% of you said that this does not take place, the remainder said that they were not sure).

The people team will soon be meeting with the healthcare group leads to discuss developing the action plans to improve your services and experience of people working in your team.

We will be sharing regular updates from our Making it better. Together. initiative throughout the year as changes are implemented in healthcare groups and across PAHT.

This has previously included initiatives to improve our culture and further support staff health and wellbeing by: Introducing an employee assistance programme that provides expert advice and compassionate guidance 24/7 Holding a number of mental health awareness support events and training 28 mental health first aiders Organising our Event in a Tent three day programme which had a strong health and wellbeing focus, where many of you took the opportunity to attend our health and wellbeing marketplace and seminars on menopause, stress, and mental health Introducing the improvement partnership through Quality First, to ensure you have a valuable method of involvement and development at PAHT, so that you feel supported and motivated to make the changes you would like to see Introducing new training for managers and leaders in creating cultures free from bias and bullying Expanding and improving our recognition schemes to share the successes and achievements of even more colleagues The survey helps to shape our services, the experiences of our people, and our organisation as a whole, which in turn supports us to provide high quality care for our patients. We look forward to continuing to work with you this year on improving PAHT for our patients and our people.

4 Our patients can now benefit from 24/7 specialist mental health support. Provided by Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (EPUT), the psychiatric liaison one hour response service is available for patients who attend our emergency department (ED) or are an inpatient with urgent mental health needs. A team of 20 people, including two psychiatrists, a psychologist, nursing liaison colleagues and administrators will offer the service around the clock, based at our hospital. Our people began referring into the service on Monday, 20 January. Andy Morris, chief medical officer, said:

This is a fantastic development in the services available for our patients who are experiencing a mental health crisis, whether attending our emergency department or while an inpatient on our wards.

It is a real benefit for our patients to be able to access the specialist care and advice of the mental health teams from Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust at any time of the day, 365 days of the year. Andy Brogan, executive chief operating officer and deputy CEO of Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust, said: I am delighted to have launched our brand new psychiatric liaison support service. We know that mental ill health can affect anyone at any time. This new service will ensure that support is available to people who are presenting at The Princess Alexandra Hospital in a mental health crisis.

Mental health is a key issue for Essex and improving and enhancing services to better support people is very much one of our key strategic aims.