The event was hosted by David Wilmott, Director of Nursing and Laura Sheridan, Group Service Improvement Manager and was held on Carers Week, which took place from 5-11th June across the UK.
Earlier in the week, Jo-Ann McAuliffe, Deputy Nursing Director, and Laura Sheridan, Group Service Improvement Manager, proudly launched our new Cygnet Carer, Family & Friend Strategy 2023 – 2025.
Laura Sheridan, Group Service Improvement Manager, said, “It was fantastic to hold this event at the end of Carers Week. We heard from some really brilliant speakers from across Cygnet and beyond.
“It was a great opportunity to talk to carers and to show them our new Carers Strategy for 2023 – 2025. Thanks to everyone who helped make the event happen and who made time to attend.”
The first presentation of the day was from Matthew McKenzie, Carer & Author. Matthew recently joined Cygnet as an Expert by Experience Carer Ambassador. He spoke about his experiences as a carer. You can read more from Matthew here.
Alan Worthington MBE, The founder of the ‘Triangle of Care’ gave a presentation via a Zoom recording. He spoke about his journey and how based on his Carer Support experiences, he was able to set out the ‘Triangle of Care’ (2010) resource. This became the policy document for achieving better carer- professional engagement and has been adopted by many mental health providers.
The Royal College of Psychiatrists’ Kelly Rodriguez, Programme Manager and Maisie Webster, Deputy Programme Manager for Quality Network for Psychiatric Intensive Care Units (QNPICU) then presented. They spoke about the role of carer representatives and how they involve carers within services.
We then heard from Lesley Mellor, who has also joined Cygnet as an Expert by Experience Carer Ambassador. She spoke about her experiences as a parent carer at Cygnet, how the Cygnet Carers Network has developed and the value that it brings.
Ali Curtis, CAMHS Nursing Lead at Cygnet and Dr Sebastien Thompson, National Psychology Lead for CAMHS at Cygnet talked about involving families and carers within CAHMS. This included what they do at CAHMS services and the benefits that involving carers have brought to their services.