I can hardly believe this is my first blog post of November and how quickly October has flown by. It was great to see some of the Halloween activities our patients have been participating in thanks to your support, I was particularly impressed with the pumpkins on Morris Ward. Last week at our Health Way Foundation Charitable Funds Committee meeting we also had a focus on activities the charity has been able to support and it was great to hear from Bex and Lisa about all the summer holiday groups and sessions that were arranged for young people on our Kent Adolescent Mental Health unit. The impact of creative and therapeutic activities that have helped build confidence and skills for these young people has been so positive and I’d like to thank Bex and Lisa for taking the time to share with the Charitable Funds Committee.

On Friday we held our Coproduction Engagement Event for carers as part of the work are doing for the Patient and Carer Race Equality Framework (PCREF). We are early adopters of PCREF which was developed by NHS England to address mental health inequalities in Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities. I am so grateful to all the carers, patients and colleagues who attended the event on Friday to help us develop our framework to support carers. I am looking forward to seeing how this work progresses and will ensure you are kept up to date.

We are also working hard here at NELFT to improve the way we deliver community mental health services for our patients and their loved ones. Our Community Mental Health Transformation Programme across north east London is key to this. This work is truly multi-disciplinary and is happening across all four of the boroughs we work in. You can find out more about the team and the local borough updates in the latest newsletter available here.

As you know, we are working with partners to develop the St George’s Health and Wellbeing Hub in Havering. We are currently in the process of seeking final government approval ahead of starting the work. You can find out more via our latest update here. I am also looking forward to the formal launch event for the Corringham Integrated Medical and Wellbeing Centre on Thursday, where local partners will be coming together to officially open the centre. I am so proud of NELFT and our partners who have worked collaboratively to improve access and environments.

November is Trans Awareness Month and I know our NELFT LGBT+ Network have been busy preparing for the month ahead. One of the events they are hosting is a Trans Awareness Training session for NELFT Allies which is taking place on Thursday.

I know that working in health and care services is very demanding and we also have the pressures of winter, COVID-19 and cost of living increases to deal with, both professionally and personally. Please look after yourselves, the KeepingWell NEL service has lots on offer to support you and you can access it here.