North West NHS trusts come together to connect around their commitment to the Triangle of Care
Mental Health trusts from across the North West come together on Friday 4 August to connect around their commitment to the Triangle of Care - Carers Included: A guide to best practice in Mental Health Care in England.
The Triangle of Care is a national initiative that NHS trusts sign up to, to improve how they involve and support unpaid carers.
This week’s meeting was the first North West regional meeting since 2018 and was hosted by GMMH alongside guests from Mersey Care, Pennine Care, Cheshire and Wirral Partnership, Lancashire and Cumbria and Cygnet Health.
The meeting allowed the Trusts to review the ways they engage with carers, family/friends of the people they support, share areas of best practice and offer peer support around any challenges they may face. The meeting was also attended virtually by Sharon Spurling, Triangle of Care Programme Lead for Carers Trust, who gave an update on National progress as well as plans to build on their work.
Neil Grace, GMMH’s Lead for Service User and Carer Engagement, presented on the work he has been leading on at GMMH for the last 7 years, particularly recent developments such as the roll out of our Carers Standard Operating Procedure and the development of a Carer Training Programme for services based on real carer experience.
Catherine de Zwaan, Patient and Carer Experience Team Manager for Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Great to meet together with other Carer Leads, to share learning and best practice, hear what other Trusts are doing, and support one another. When carers are properly supported, everybody wins.”
Cathy Walsh, Associate Director of Patient & Carer Experience for Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Fabulous event meeting like minded people. Very useful in exploring how to use the Triangle of Care to support carers, families and friends. Thankyou for hosting a meaningful, thought provoking and sharing event.”
Rob Frowen from Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust, said: "Jenna and myself found the meeting extremely valuable. And thanks to everyone present It was absorbing, fast-flowing and so informative. I never stopped making notes as there were so many highly useful tips and ideas that we will now be able to share within our respective trusts. Bring on the next Triangle of Care meeting, please!"
Tracy Collard, Service User & Carer Engagement Coordinator for Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust, said: “It was great to share all the amazing work our trusts are doing for carers. This group will be influential in developing services for carers across all of the trusts in the North West who are involved in the Triangle of Care.”
The Triangle of Care was developed to support mental health services and other secondary care services to ensure they are including and supporting carers appropriately.
You can read more on the Triangle of Care here: The Triangle of Care | Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS FT (gmmh.nhs.uk) ‘
