PPN NW Newsletter
Friday 24th January 2024
Welcome to the latest edition of the Psychological Professions Network North West newsletter. We aim to bring you the latest updates about our work to join up psychological professionals, associated stakeholders, carers and experts by experience in the region.
Children’s Wellbeing Practitioner National Forum
PPN NW’s Psychological Practitioner Community of Practice Co-Chairs Kirsty McNeilis ( Specialist Lecturer, Lead Tutor and Unit Lead – CYWP), Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust and Chloe Booth, Children and Young People’s Well-Being Practitioner (CYWP), Alder Hey Children’s Hospital NHS Foundation Trust are speaking at the Children’s Wellbeing Practitioner National Forum.
With national perspectives and on-the-ground case studies, this all encompassing online, CPD conference will explore in detail the role of the CWP and share outcomes from services across the country, enabling you to benchmark your own service and identify strategies to progress your therapeutic provision.
It is Free to attend for NHS and Public Sector professionals (note, there is a fee for non-attendance without cancellation)
My Voice Matters - mental health research planning
On Thursday 8 February 2024, two young people led an event with research teams from Pennine Care; Manchester Metropolitan University, Made by Mortals, 42nd Street, Mindset Revolution and the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration Greater Manchester (ARC-GM), to plan better ways to engage young people in mental health research.
The event captured feedback on three key questions:
What would put off young people attending events to talk about mental health research?
What should future events about young people's mental health research look like?
What should researchers do differently to engage young people in conversations about research?
More events are planned for 2025 including the "My Voice Matters in Research" Online Event for those passionate about amplifying diverse young voices in mental health research.
This event is planned for 4th February 2025, 5.30pm to 6.30pm on MS Teams. To book please email paula.galvan@nhs.net
An in-person event is also planned at the Grand Hall, Whitworth Gallery, Oxford Road, Manchester, M15 6ER on 24th February, 5.00pm to 7.00pm.
You can also book your place by emailing paula.galvan@nhs.net or by using Eventbrite
Webinar Series: Transforming mental health care across England with the Mental Health Implementation Network
The Mental Health Implementation Network is a UK-wide programme which aims to drive changes in mental health practice by bringing together experts by experiences, local communities, health providers, commissioners and national stakeholders.
The network is developing a 2025 webinar series sharing best practices to inform wider implementation efforts in mental health care.
The first webinar will be on Alcohol Assertive Outreach Treatment and is planned for Wednesday 26 February, 14:00 - 17:00.
Webinar - Improving the usability of mental health EPRs to help prevent and reduce unwarranted avoidable harms
Hosted by Dr Ian Davidson, GIRFT National Clinical Lead for Adult Crisis & Acute Care Mental Health, this webinar will discuss how we can make the best use of mental health services Electronic Patient Records (EPRs) to help prevent and reduce unwarranted avoidable harms.
EPRs for mental health services each have their own strengths and weaknesses.
This webinar aims to show how you can use your EPR as a clinical decision aid tool and how to make best use of this resource to deliver safer and more effective mental health services. Also for discussion is the importance of ensuring data is accessible, at the right time, in a way that is practically usable.
Webinar - Transforming Children & Young People's Mental Health Services
Public Policy Exchange will be hosting a webinar on Transforming Children & Young People's Mental Health Services: Prospects for improvement under a new Labour government which will take place on Thursday, March 13th 2025 between 9:30 AM — 1:00 PM.
The Programme includes the following topics:
Understand trends in mental health among children and young people in the UK, drivers of change, and the current state of support services
Learn about and assess the new Labour government’s plans to improve access to mental health support for children and young people
Develop comprehensive multi-agency strategies to improve mental health support for children and young people
Assess the role that youth hubs and schools can play in supporting children and young people with mental health challenges
Evaluate the impact of social media on mental health, the role that existing legislation can play in making the online world a healthier place for children and young people, and how internet companies can be better regulated
Exchange views on how additional investment in mental health staff in the NHS can best be directed towards supporting those children and young people with the most acute mental health support needs
Evaluate the wider determinants of poor mental health and the policy changes needed to address these
Register for this briefing please here. Note there is a cost to attend this webinar.
How to improve dementia pathways: resources for Integrated Care Systems
The NHS England Dementia Policy Team is hosting this webinar about how Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) can “bring together the NHS, local authorities, and other partners such as charities, to innovate, collaborate, and deliver optimal pathways of dementia care.”
Taking place on the 30th of January, topics will include an overview of dementia diagnosis rates, the King’s Fund report on The role of ICSs in improving dementia diagnosis, and more.
Rapid review into allied health professionals experiences in mental health published
A team from Anglia Ruskin University has conducted a rapid literature review on safety incident reports in adult inpatient mental health, learning disability and autism services in England with identifiable learning for Allied Health Professionals (AHPs).
They found that understanding and recognition of AHP roles is lacking at all levels of healthcare organisations and that AHPs can be marginalised in multidisciplinary team, presenting risks to patients and missed opportunities for quality improvement.
Reflective Practice Groups
Trainee Educational Psychologist’s Initiative for Cultural Change (TEPICC) are facilitating reflective practice groups for black and/or global majority doctoral applicants on the following dates:, 5th, 19th and 27th February 2025.
Time to Talk Day – 6th February 2025
Time to Talk Day is the nation’s biggest mental health conversation. It’s a day for friends, families, communities and workplaces to come together to talk, listen and change lives. Time to Talk Day is taking place 6 February 2025 and is run by Mind and Rethink Mental Illness, in partnership with Co-op and delivered by See Me with SAMH (Scottish Action for Mental Health), Inspire and Time to Change Wales. We want everyone to feel comfortable talking about mental health. Explore this site for ideas on how to take part in Time to Talk Day, from organising an event in your local library or hosting a lunch and learn session, to simply sharing information on social media or texting a friend.
Holocaust Memorial Day
Monday 27th January marks Holocaust Memorial Day.
The Holocaust Memorial Trust encourages remembrance in a world scarred by prejudice and systematic, targeted persecution.
The Holocaust is central to Holocaust Memorial Day and we remember the 6 million Jews murdered during the Holocaust. We also commemorate the millions more people murdered through the Nazi persecution of other groups and in the more recent genocides recognised by the UK government, and the genocide in Darfur.
Together we bear witness for communities who suffered attempted annihilation, and honour the survivors and all those whose lives were changed beyond recognition.
Learn more about Holocaust Memorial Day here.
Adult mental health outcomes of adolescent depression and co-occurring alcohol use disorder: a longitudinal cohort study
Depression and alcohol use disorder (AUD) are frequently co-occurring in adolescence, which often goes undetected in routine care. The aim of this study was to explore the risk for adult depression, anxiety disorders, suicidality, and AUD in adolescents with concurrent depression and AUD.
Digital lifestyle interventions in mental healthcare
Using physical health apps to promote healthy lifestyles in youth mental healthcare: A nationwide perspective-gathering exercise of over 400 service users.
In this research paper:
Over 400 young people with mental illness from 27 sites across the U.K. undertook a perspectives gathering exercise on their preferred uses of mHealth for promoting cardiometabolic health.
Lifestyle self-monitoring features and online instructional videos were among the most popular uses of physical health apps.
Sharing health data with clinical teams emerged as one of the least desirable features for physical health apps in youth mental healthcare.
The demand for combining physical and mental health data emphasized an interest in personalized, integrated health insights among young people with mental illness.
NICE Guideline Committee recruitment – Obsessive-compulsive disorder and body dysmorphic disorder: treatment
NICE is seeking to appoint a Topic Adviser to its guideline committee for the obsessive-compulsive disorder and body dysmorphic disorder guideline update.
The Topic Adviser will work in collaboration with NICE staff, the Chair and the Committee to develop a guideline update on behalf of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).
If you would like to apply, there are more details on the NICE website. The deadline for applications is 27/01/2025.
We would appreciate it if you could circulate this information widely in your organisation and to any other people or organisations who may be interested in this topic.
If you have any queries about Committee membership or the recruitment process, please contact Daniel.davies@nice.org.uk.
LSCFT Clinical Lead and Senior Clinical Psychologist vacancies
There are 3 vacancies in TTad in LSCFT with specific foci around interventions, supervision and LTC.
Trainee PWP vacancies
There are 3 trainee PWP roles at Lancashire Women's Centre.
You can find more information regarding these roles or apply here
Are you a member of one of our Communities of Practice?
By receiving this email you are a confirmed member of the PPN NW; however, have you considered joining one of our Communities of Practice (CoP)? Please see links below for information on how to join one of our CoPs:
PPN NW Mailing List Review
The Psychological Professions Network depends on the engagement of its members. To do this we need to ensure we have an accurate and up to date register and mailing list to enable us to keep you regularly updated with events, policy changes, projects and more.
Due to an error on our website registration form, a number of people who have created PPN NW accounts have automatically been opted out of communications and, therefore, are not receiving professional updates or event opportunities – effectively negating any benefit of being a member! We are therefore in the process of opting all of these members back into communications. Please do email us if you wish to remain opted out of communications.
What are we asking you to do?
Being a member of our PPN NW Mailing List allows us to invite you to bespoke Community of Practice events and workshops, receive our newsletter.
We will not share your information with any third parties or send you any promotional emails that are not connected to delivering psychological health and wellbeing within an NHS-commission space.
Please email the PPN NW at england.ppn.northwest@nhs.net if you wish to be removed from the PPN NW Mailing List.
You can update your own details, for both Membership and Communications Preferences, at any time by visiting the website here, this includes your profile with your most recent job title, professional role, banding and ICB etc.
Share Your News!
Please email the PPN-NW team at england.ppn.northwest@nhs.net if you have an update from your work or local network that you would like featured in one of our upcoming newsletters. We want to boost important events and developments from around our region, so let us know what’s going on where you are!
Interested in joining the PPN?
Anyone can join the Psychological Professions Network! Whether you are a member of one of the psychological professions, another professional of any discipline, an aspiring psychological professional, or a member of the public, you can sign up and join us for free.
