Powys voices count at the top

   

We are often asked how people can use their own experiences to influence change – whether that be in the way mental health services are provided in Powys or indeed the laws which govern how people experiencing mental distress are treated in Wales and even the UK as a whole.

Recently, two perfect examples of exactly how this is happening came to light, and we thought it would be useful to share these with a wider audience. Hopefully the experiences of these two Powys residents will not only influence future change, but also inspire others to come forward and volunteer to contribute. The more voices we hear the better!

Our role in the mental health team at PAVO is to ensure that these voices are well and truly heard by people in the position to do something with what they hear. Powys Teaching Health Board fund PAVO to do this participation work and my colleague Freda Lacey, Participation Officer in our team, has played a pivotal role in this work.

So, to the two local people concerned, Jan and Rhydian. Freda updated me about their two ground-breaking roles:

“Jan Rogers and Rhydian Parry gained membership on two key executive committees linked to Welsh and English government movements for change.

Jan is the only Welsh member reviewing the Mental Health Code of Practice in England. This work is being led by the Department of Health and backed by the Minister for Health, Norman Lamb.

Rhydian is the youngest Welsh speaking member of the prestigious National Mental Health Partnership Board, implementing the Mental Health (Wales) Measure. This engagement work is endorsed by Mark Drakeford, Minister for Health and Social Care.

The changes being proposed will have wide reaching impact for other citizens across both countries.”

Jan Rogers - Newtown

Jan has been a trustee at Ponthafren Association for many years and has won awards for her extensive volunteering contribution. Her work as a member of the Expert Reference Group reviewing the Mental Health Code of Practice has enabled her to meet with people directly affected by the “Winterbourne View” which is an underlying part of the review. In helping shape the new code of practice, which will be published shortly, Jan has voiced her views on the following areas:

• Restraint. 
• “Sectioning” by the Police and how detention takes place. 
• How the Mental Health Act could work better with the Mental Health Capacity Act around deprivation of liberty issues. 

Dr. Nicola Guy, Department of Health, said:
“I was really interested and impressed by Jan’s contributions in the meetings and very grateful that she was prepared to be so open about her experiences. Her cross border insights have been particularly useful as a Powys resident, who sometimes has had to receive services in Shropshire.”

Rhydian Parry - Brecon

Rhydian recently wrote about his experience volunteering with Powys Patients Council – Life on the ward: the patient’s voice. He underwent a rigorous selection process to be chosen as one of only four individuals (with lived experience of mental distress) to sit on both the National Mental Health Partnership Board, and the Local Mental Health Partnership Board in Powys. You can read more about the process of his selection last Autumn in Freda’s post Citizen Power, Active Participation.

The National Mental Health Partnership Board is responsible for implementing the “Together for Mental Health” strategy across Wales. It is multi-agency, multi-disciplinary and involves a range of public bodies and voluntary sector services, for instance, housing, education, health and social care. Its aim is to drive an holistic strategy for mental health for the citizens of Wales over the next three years.

Siân Richards, Strategy Lead for Mental Health and Vulnerable Groups Division of the Welsh Government said:
“We are delighted to have Rhydian as a crucial member of the Board, particularly with his unique insights as a young person having to transition into adult mental health services, his Welsh speaking skills, and his experiences of being detained and restrained under the Mental Health Act. He clearly has a strong desire to represent the voice of people who are in receipt of mental health services and his contribution to the Board is invaluable”.

Carol Shillabeer, Chair of the Powys Partnership Board, said:
“It is really valuable to have Rhydian and the other individual representatives on our local partnership board as their insights, guidance and critiques are helping us drive changes in Powys Mental Health Services which ensure that “service users and carers” are at the very heart of the services we commission.”

Some of the immediate results of Jan and Rhydian’s active participation:

• PAVO has been invited to help ensure that Jan and others are invited to be part of the Welsh Mental Health Code of Practice Review that Minister Mark Drakeford has recently announced. 
• Rhydian is being invited to participate in key National and Regional Police initiatives looking at how people are handled by the Police whilst experiencing mental distress. 

Want to know more about these initiatives and citizen engagement? Just ask your question below, or contact Freda by emailing Freda.Lacey@pavo.org.uk or call 01597 822191.

National Mental Health Partnership Board update

In early November Freda updated us in her post Citizen Power, Active Participation about the process for selecting representatives for the National Mental Health Partnership Board – along with details of the National Forum for Service Users & Carers and the local groups that feed into this board, and representation on those.

 

As stated on the Welsh Government website, the National Mental Health Partnership Board (NPB) will “oversee the delivery and implementation of Together for Mental Health – A Strategy for Mental Health and Wellbeing in Wales and its Delivery Plan; guiding and monitoring progress, and facilitating co-ordination of the cross-cutting approach required across Welsh Government, Statutory agencies, the Third and Independent Sectors.”

Together for Mental Health is the Welsh Government 10 year strategy for improving the lives of people using mental health services, their carers and their families. At the Shaping Services Together conference, which took place on 19 September in Llandrindod Wells, we were introduced to several members of the NPB, see photo below.

We have now received further updates from David Crepaz-Keay, Mental Health National Forum for Service Users & Carers and Sian Richards, Strategy Lead, Mental Health & Vulnerable Groups Division, Welsh Government. 

Let’s start with David:

“Back in the spring the Wales Alliance for Mental Health was asked by 
Welsh Government to oversee the process to identify two service users and two carers to become members of the National Mental Health Partnership Board (NPB) in time for the December meeting. I’m proud to report that we have achieved this.

Junaid Iqbal, Jane Treharne-Davies, Carina Edwards and Rhydian Parry have become members of the NPB; we also have a team of skilled deputies to support them in these roles and to step onto the board when needed. Alan Meudell, Julie Murray, Tracy Elliott and Steve Hails have been selected deputies. All eight people will become members of the Forum and met the other Forum members at the Forum meeting in Swansea (in late November).

The eight people were chosen following an open recruitment process by a panel of Forum members following interviews (in mid November). The process has been a long and challenging one and has only been made possible by the hard work of a few and the good will and support of many.

We now have Forum members from Betsi Cadwaladr, Hywel Dda, Cardiff and Vale, Powys and ABMU. We have also completed selection of the ten national members of the Forum, but this will be revisited once all Local Partnership Board service user and carer members are in place as we already have a number of vacancies.”

And over to Sian:

"I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for the roles that you have played in establishing service user and carer arrangements for the National Mental Health Partnership Board.

The importance of strong service user and carer engagement at both an individual care level and strategically in the planning and monitoring of services is one of the underpinning goals of Together for Mental Health. The need for a national forum bringing together service users and carers who are active across Wales and the establishment of an open and transparent mechanism to appoint service users and carers on to the new National Partnership Board were clear recommendations from last year’s service user conferences. Earlier in the year Welsh Government asked the Wales Alliance for Mental Health to co-ordinate the process to respond to these requirements. David took on the lead role and has done absolutely sterling work to get us to a position this week where the recruitment process is now complete for the Partnership Board and we had over 40 people from across Wales attending our National Forum meeting in late November.

Every one of you has had a key role in this process and I would very much like to thank you for the energy and enthusiasm that you have shown in helping us to deliver this, and for the time commitment that you have been prepared to put in to it, often at short notice and on top of many other demands.

I think that we are now in a very exciting place in terms of the development of this approach in Wales and it would not have happened without your input.

Many, many thanks and I look forward to meeting with many of you over the coming months.”

Rhydian Parry, one of four people recruited from across Wales to the NPB, is from Powys, as is one of the reserves, Steve Hails. Congratulations to them!

5 of the 9 representatives from Powys attended the first Powys Mental Health Planning and Development partnership as new members of the group on December 5th 2013. 

Over to Freda:

“Wow, what a week it's been! I was really in awe yesterday as we sat around the table at the first Powys Local Partnership Board meeting where we had individuals in contact with services around the table. Laura and I were speaking afterwards and we felt it was the best Local Partnership Board meeting we'd attended. The atmosphere and energy in the room was very different, it really felt like we were coming together, management were listening and your contribution was really valued.”

We’ll keep you updated about how the National Mental Health Partnership Board and National Forum for Service Users & Carers are going. Meanwhile, if you have any questions just get in touch with us or leave a comment below. You can email pamhinfo@pavo.org.uk