20 May 2021

On the week commencing May 10 2021, Angie and Tony Russell from Positive Practice in Mental Health (PPiMH) Collaborative visited CNWL.

PPiMH are a patient-led collaborative that identify and share positive mental health practice on a national scale. They are made up of over 75 organisations, including NHS Trusts, Clinical Commissioning Groups, Police Forces, third sector providers, frontline charities and patient groups.  They work in depth with a number of trusts across England, including CNWL, to support service improvement. They also organise a range of award ceremonies including:

  • The National Mental Health Awards
  • The National Children and Young People’s Mental Health (CYPMH) Awards
  • The National Older People’s Mental Health (OPMH) Awards

Find out more about them on the PPiMH webpage.

Angie and Tony were invited to visit a wide range of our services across all five London boroughs. They spent their first two days at our Community Mental Health Services (CMHS) in Hillingdon.

Sue Barrett, CMHS Manager at Riverside, said: “Angie and Tony reflected on how challenging and demanding things were across CMH services in Hillingdon. They are keen to support us with our much-needed transformation of services.”

Sue went on to say: “They couldn’t have been more complimentary of the staff they met, noting their passion, resilience and continued positivity in the face of difficult circumstances. They were very impressed with our staff and said that the senior management team should be very proud… which we are!”

Later in the week, they visited numerous other services including:

  • The step-down services in Harrow and Westminster
  • Ashford Place in Brent and The Sangat Advice Centre in Harrow – Two of CNWL’s newly launched VCSE partnerships for adults and older adults
  • St Charles Hospital to discuss the Black Asian and Minority Ethnic substance misuse service and One Community’s Beautiful People project on Shannon Ward

When asked about their visit, Angie and Tony said: “we couldn’t help but come away from CNWL feeling truly humbled and inspired by the work of the staff we met. Their professionalism and dedication during these difficult times is absolutely outstanding and we are very proud to have CNWL within the PPIMH Collaborative Family.”

They would also like to remind everyone that nominations are now open for The National Mental Health Awards 2021. You can nominate someone at this link. The closing date to submit a nomination is Friday 18 June.