Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

Congratulations to i-Rock in Hastings

A mental health project which supports young people in Hastings has come 2nd at a national awards ceremony.

i-Rock, a drop-in service for young people aged 14-25 in Hastings, was shortlisted as a finalist in the ‘Redesign of Care in Mental Health’ category at the Healthcare Transformation Awards. The awards celebrated hard work and innovation in local healthcare and was supported by NHS England.

The service is part of the East Sussex Better Together (ESBT) programme which won the 'Fostering commissioner and provider collaboration award' at the awards ceremony.

This is a great success for i-Rock to receive this recognition and we congratulate them for all of their hard work in the 12 months that the service has been running.

For further information and updates follow i-Rock on Twitter @HastingsiRock or visit the i-Rock webpage.

Last updated on 11 July 2017.

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New Community Mental Health Liaison Service comes to West Sussex!

The new Community Mental Health Liaison Service (CMHLS) will replace the current primary mental health service (PMHS) in West Sussex and build on the existing expertise of the professional network currently working with children and young people with mild to moderate mental health conditions. Advice, risk screening and information sharing are key components of the new service. 

The team will consist of Mental Health Practitioners located across West Sussex who are employed by Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. The service will operate Monday-Friday, 9-6pm and a consultation telephone line will be in operation between the hours of 12-5pm, Monday-Friday for professionals to call when seeking advice about a young person’s mental health.

Please note. This is not a service which can be accessed by parents or carers.

Who will the new service work with?

• GPs
• Staff in schools and colleges
• Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS)
• Third sector partners
• Integrated Prevention and Earliest Help Service
• Public Health Nurses
• Paediatricians
• Adult Mental Health Services (AMHS)

How can a professional access the Community Mental Health Liaison service?

• Telephone consultation line - 0300 304 0304 (12-5pm, Monday-Friday)
• Contact with the Community Mental Health Practitioner allocated to your area
• Via pre-arranged consultations and bookable Consultation Clinics 
• Early Help Family Support Network forums

To find out more about the service, go to: www.sussexpartnership.nhs.uk/community-mental-health-liaison-service

Last updated on 05 April 2017.

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Support for eating disorders across the county

Next week (February 27-March 5) marks the start of National Eating Disorder Week across the country. Eating disorders can devastate lives, affecting not just the person suffering, but the whole family.

A new service launched by Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust late last year is there to support and treat families affected by eating disorders no matter where they live in the county. The team of specialist clinicians has expertise in treating young people for both the physical and mental health effects of an eating disorder. The service treats the whole family with care that is based on the latest research and evidence meaning they can help young people who are very unwell to be treated at home rather than in hospital.

The service sees people within 28 days of referral and in urgent cases, within five days. Whilst young people and families can refer directly to the service they always advise to talk to your GP first.

Before the pan-Sussex service was launched on 1 October last year therewere three separate teams covering East Sussex, West Sussex and Brighton and Hove. The new single team offers specialist support, with shorter waiting times and an equal service across the three areas.  The service was jointly commissioned by all the Sussex clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) and designed with young people and their families.

The team is based at Chalkhill on the Princess Royal Hospital site in Haywards Heath but work across the county. It includes nurses and senior support workers, family therapists, psychiatrists, psychologists, dieticians and paediatricians.

Senior Support Worker Karen Allen said: “The new service has made the referral process much easier for us, and for families, especially as young people can now refer themselves to us. We’re able to see people in a more timely way and get them the support they need quickly, which is so important in helping them to recover.

“Feedback from families has been overwhelmingly positive. They’re telling us that they can’t believe how quickly we’re able to respond and the level of expertise within the team that’s available to them. It’s great to know that the new service is making a real difference to local families.”

For more details about eating disorders, including how to get help visit: http://www.sussexpartnership.nhs.uk/eatingdisorder

For more information about National Eating Disorder Awareness Week visit: https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org 

What to do if you’re worried someone you know has an eating disorder. Ask these questions:

• Does food dominate their life?
• Have they lost control over how much they eat?
• Do they ever make themselves sick because they feel uncomfortably full?
• Have they recently lost more than 6.4kg over three months?
• Do they believe themselves to be fat when they’re not?
• Are they eating excessively large quantities of food or restricting how much and/or the types of food they eat?
• Are they going to extremes to lose weight?
• Answering ‘yes’ to two or more of these behaviours in your child is a possible indicator of an eating disorder.

Last updated on 03 March 2017.

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