Newsletter

Day in the life of a Peer support worker

Hello my name’s Amy Lloyd and I’m a Perinatal Peer Support Worker for the MIMHS North team. Our role is unique as we use our own personal experiences of mental health to empower women, offer hope and promote recovery to our clients.

A typical day will start with the daily Red board or MDT meeting with our multidisciplinary team. These meetings are where we discuss clients who may require extra support, touch in with our team and discuss clients in our caseload and discuss and allocate new referrals to the appropriate clinicians.

After our meeting we would then contact our own clients who have peer support. This could be via telephone or face to face. However due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have slightly adapted to new ways of working to ensure our clients are still provided with the best available support. This now includes contact with clients via life size. The work we do with clients is to help build confidence and ease anxiety with getting out the house. We use our time with clients for going out for walks, a trip to the shops and attending groups in the community. We also provide a listening ear and share our experiences. We use different interventions’ such as the WRAP (Wellness Recovery Action Plan) and the goal setting and rating scale with our clients.

We would then update patient records and if needed, we would liaise with the lead HCP if we felt something urgently needed discussing.

Sometimes our days can involve giving presentations, facilitating groups, supporting with interviews, attending clinical network meetings, attending supervision and reflective practice, medical student teaching and attending business meetings. Our role is diverse, individual and rewarding to be a part of.

MBU Donations - A big Thank You

Dartford Deeds Not Words Foundation very kindly and generously donates to Rosewood MBU throughout the whole year, providing us with gifts for mums, babies and siblings at Christmas time, Easter and Mothers day. They also send us arts and craft supplies which then go into the siblings packs that the mums on the ward make. These are sent to their children at home who they dearly miss.

Virtual Groups at a glance

The Mother and Infant Mental Health Service (MIMHS) have been running a number of virtual groups via Lifesize for our patients. Please ask your HCP for more details.

Peer Support Led Virtual Tea Break

Wednesdays 1.30pm to 2.30pm

This group provides an opportunity for patients to speak to the Peer Support Team who all have lived experience of mental health problems and connect with other mums under the MIMHS service.

DPAC: Dad’s, Partners and Carers

First Thursday of the month from 6.30pm to 7.30pm

This new group has been designed specifically for dads, partners and carers of a mum who is under MIMHS. This is a warm and friendly group and provides the opportunity to chat virtually with others to share experiences, listen to others and meet your support team.

MIMHS Anxiety Management

North Kent group Fridays, 10am till 11.30am
West Kent group Thursdays 11.30am till 12.30pm
Both groups run for 6 weeks

A group for people who are experiencing anxiety symptoms and is a recovery based group using CBT principles and reflective space along with peer support.

West Kent Virtual Baby Group

Date TBC

The West Kent Baby Group has been designed to provide an opportunity for parents to develop a better understanding of their baby, recognise cues, promote bonding and attachment and improve their confidence with parenting.

How to get involved

We are currently setting up online forums to get the views and input of those with lived experience of perinatal mental health, their family members and friends, on how we can develop the service and the care we provide. If you would like to get involved please contact Helen Crook, Perinatal Long Term Plan Lead at helen.crook1@nhs.net

PNMH Services Online Seminar

KMPT Perinatal Mental Health Service (PNMH) attended a South East PNMH Data and Access Target Webinar/Workshop on 13th January 2021.

All the PNMH services were asked to complete an identical slide and feedback in 5 minute allocated slots. KMPT were also asked to provide a 15 minute presentation based on their slide on the MIMHS service and the progress they have made. Some of the highlights from the MIMHS presentation included:

• An excellent Commissioner/Provider relationship, with a lead commissioner dedicated to supporting PMH for the whole ICS area.
• A dedicated Performance, Quality & Admin
• Manager role to improve the planning, monitoring and reporting on trajectory status and requirements through robust data collection systems. This has helped to offer strong link to CCG quality and intelligence lead.
• Support from Health Education England providing opportunities for additional specialist staff training.
• Co-production throughout service development, e.g. an FAQ’s document to all those receiving care from the service.
• Successfully maintaining as far as possible ‘business as usual’ during Covid-19.
• We share learning at local and national events, and learn from others.

Feedback

MIMHS and the MBU would very much appreciate your feedback regarding your contact with us.

You can use the following QR code to provide feedback:

If you are unable to use the QR code you can visit the following link to access our feedback survey

Or if you would prefer to discuss your experiences please contact the service on 01622 722321 or speak with your care coordinator