Publish date: 3 October 2024
The innovative partnership between mental health, ambulance, police and social enterprise in the South West has been Highly Commended at a national patient safety award event recently.
The Integrated Access Partnership (IAP) of Avon & Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust, Avon & Somerset Police, South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust, and BrisDoc Healthcare Services, was shortlisted for the Seni Lewis Award at the HSJ Patient Safety Awards.
The Seni Lewis is so named to recognise Olaseni Lewis, a 23-year-old British man, who died on 3 September 2010 at Bethlem Royal Hospital in London after he was subjected to prolonged physical restraint by police. Lewis had voluntarily sought care following the onset of acute mental health issues.
More than 400 entries were received for this year's HSJ Patient Safety Awards, which took place on Monday 16 September, with 206 organisations, projects and individuals making it through to the final shortlist. These nominations went through two rounds of rigorous judging, overseen by an impressive panel of highly influential and respected figures within the healthcare community.
The IAP provides an integrated ‘front door’ to urgent and emergency mental health care for people in crisis, who make contact through 999 and 111 services. The team provide both remote and face-to-face mental health triage, assessment and care for patients, as well as clinical support and advice to emergency service professionals, including the police. This response also includes the mental health link officer role, with a police officer working alongside the integrated team to support the right response and that care is dispatched. This level of integrated response across professions is unique and means individuals only need to tell their story once before accessing emergency, mental and physical health services. This is particularly important for people living with multiple health conditions and acute needs and supports reducing delays to receiving the right care quickly.
Dominic Hardisty, Chief Executive at Avon & Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership, said: “We were so honoured to have been highly commended for the Seni Lewis Award, and we know it will mean a huge amount to our colleagues involved in this partnership as well as the wider community within our workplace. Professional awards such as this are always a real boost to staff morale and an incentive to continue our efforts to improve the services we deliver and the overall patient experience.
The news comes just a week after the Assistant Chief Constable for Avon and Somerset Police wrote to Dominic Hardisty, Chief Executive at AWP, to thank him for AWP’s support in successfully collaborating on Right Care, Right Person – a key element of the Integrated Access Partnership.
Since 17 June this year, there has been a 30% reduction in concern for safety related calls to the police, with this resulting in police officers attending 22 fewer incidents each day. What this means in practice, is that officers can increase their focus on their core responsibilities to the public, including responding to crime and mitigating any real and immediate threat to life.
The full list of winners and finalists for the 2024 HSJ Patient Safety Awards can be found at https://awards.patientsafetycongress.co.uk/winners-2024.
