PPN NW Newsletter
Thursday 21st August 2025
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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.
A&E mental health initiative in GMMH
A collaborative initiative to improve the experience for people attending A&E with mental health needs has been shortlisted for two prestigious Nursing Times Awards 2025.
Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust (GMMH) and Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (WWL) launched a nurse-led, collaborative A&E mental health initiative at Wigan’s Royal Albert Edward Infirmary. The project introduced a Digital Mental Health Referral Form replacing handwritten notes. It auto-populates patient data, sends referrals instantly, and integrates with electronic records, significantly speeding up triage-to-assessment transitions.
Alongside this a dedicated space, the Makerfield Suite, was created within A&E where the Mental Health Liaison Team (MHLT) delivers calm, timely assessments and action plans. As a result, referral times fell from 68 to 4 minutes, and assessments dropped from 148 to 49 minutes, streamlining care for mental health patients.
One year of Guild parkrun
Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust celebrated the first anniversary of Guild parkrun, the UK's first secure parkrun event at a mental health facility. The run is held at Guild Lodge in Whittingham and the event promotes physical and mental wellness, reduces stigma, and fosters community among patients and staff. Nearly 100 participants have collectively covered 1,420,000 metres, achieving 49 personal bests. The initiative has positively impacted patients' moods and provided opportunities to challenge negative thoughts.
When asked about the event one patient said “People talk about the runner’s high but it’s more than that. Running has boosted my self-esteem, made me healthier, given me a sense of achievement and allowed me to make friends with people I wouldn’t have ordinarily met.”
Staying Safe from Suicide - Best Practice Guidance for Safety Assessment, Formulation and Management
The webinar from this vital topic took place on 24th June 2025.
The slides and recording are now available and are relevant to everyone working as a practitioner in mental health.
You can find the webinar here on the Talking Therapies Futures Platform, or on the Staying Safe from Suicide Futures platform here.
Note, you will need to register with Futures NHS Collaboration Platform in order to access.
Consultation Update - Clinical Associate in Psychology (CAP) Funding for level 7 CAPs places 2026-29
NHS England (NHSE) and the Department of Health and Social Care have secured a commitment for the continued funding of Level 7 apprenticeships in five professions in health and social care until 2029, and Clinical Associate in Psychology (CAP) is an eligible apprenticeship.
The funding will be delivered through a Level 7 Apprenticeship Mitigation Fund that employers will be able to apply for.
Eligibility criteria
To receive funding, employers must confirm:
•Sufficient placement and education provider capacity exists in the system
•Apprenticeships complement wider clinical expansion plans for the local system
•Apprentices are aged 22 years and over
•If apprentices are care leavers, they are not under 25
•They can accept payment through the Education Funding Agreement
•They will share start data with NHSE in financial monitoring returns.
If you have any questions or require further information, please contact england.nhsapprenticeships@nhs.net
Education and Training Tariffs 2025 - 2026
DHSC have published the 2025/6 tariff guidance document, intended to provide further information in support of the education and training (ET) tariff payment process for the 2025 to 2026 financial year, including:
details about the introduction of the ET tariff payment mechanism
confirmation of NHS England’s continued responsibilities for ET tariff development
powers and requirements with regards to the application of the ET tariffs in 2025 to 2026
confirmation of the changes to the ET tariffs that are being introduced in 2025
further information relating to the ET tariffs for 2025 to 2026, including prices and scope
links to further guidance that supports and supplements the information contained in this tariff guidance document
New website launched: Unlock Wellbeing for Young People
The spotlight on Adolescent Mood Problems (LAMP) research group from the Department of Psychology at the University of Bath has launched a new website to support young people’s mental health through digital single-session interventions. Unlockwellbeing.org.uk includes free evidence-based self-help resources on behavioural activation, improving sleep, body neutrality, and more, alongside resources for parents and professionals.
You can find out more about the LAMP research programme on their website.
The mental health of asylum seekers and refugees in the UK – a new report
The Mental Health Foundation has released an updated report on the mental health of asylum seekers and refugees in the UK, covering data up to April 2025. Building on last year’s report, it offers evidence-based recommendations to better address their mental health needs. Asylum seekers and refugees face multiple challenges—such as poverty, inadequate housing, social isolation, and discrimination—that increase mental health inequalities. The report recommends trauma-informed care by immigration and healthcare staff, along with preventative mental health programs.
Walking and Talking
This article is from the Healthcare Counselling and Psychotherapy Journal, October 2024.
An NHS Talking Therapies service piloted walk-and-talk counselling during the pandemic.
It was so successful that it’s now permanently available and a core offer of the counselling part of the service, as Simon Davies explains here.
CAT Supervisor Training Workshop
Title: CAT Supervisor Training Workshop
Date: Thursday 4th & Friday 5th December 2025
Time: 09:30 - 17:00
Venue: The Studio, 51 Lever Street, Manchester M1 1FN
Brief Summary: A two-day in-person workshop led by Mark Evans and Glenys Parry (with remote pre-and post-training sessions led by Dawn Bennett). This training is particularly designed for CAT Practitioners or CAT Psychotherapists thinking of training in supervision in order to become an ACAT Accredited Supervisor. It fulfils Module 2 of the ACAT Supervisor Training pathway. The workshop is also a valuable opportunity for experienced CAT supervisors to look more intensively at their practice as part of their own CPD.
Fees: ACAT
member: £295.00 Non-ACAT member: £305.00. The fee includes lunch and refreshments on 4th and 5th December. You or your employer can request to be invoiced (this incurs an additional £20 fee).
Please check the Catalyse website for further info and booking.
More than just a Breath of Fresh Air! Exploring Nature’s Role in Enhancing Wellbeing – free BPS event
There is a free BPS event which looks to help people to develop and integrate Nature Connectedness into means of enhancing their own self-care and, where relevant, into professional life by providing more ideas and approaches for them to draw on.
The session, led by Catherine Dooley and Stuart Whomsley, will include brief presentations on the theory and research base of Nature Reconnection.
Principal Psychologist role currently available within MHTR in forensic community services
Lots of scope for autonomy, flexible working, in a well staffed team that has admin support and operational support. Closing date 31st August 2025.
For more information please contact Tanya Peterson (Psychology) or Juliette Hargreaves (Service Manager).
Psychologically informed
Welcome to this week’s Psychologically informed, a space where PPN NW members can share something psychologically related that stirred them in some ways.
This week Hilary Tetlow, Expert By Experience, speaks to a poem written in 1920.
My recommendation is The War Poems of Wilfred Owen, in particular the poem S.I.W.
I first read this when I was a teenager during allocution at school. This was one of the poems I spoke to win the school's gold badge and it holds several meanings for me, particularly this year. Though the poem describes World War One, comparisons can be drawn to World War Two.
We have just had the commemorations of VJ day, 80 years on from the end of the Japanese War. My uncle, who I never met, served as a Chindit in Burma and was killed during the this time, aged around 27 – 30. Relatives in Canada and America have spoken about how he had planned to visit them before the war, but he never got there. This makes me think what might have been had there not been a war, and think of the many lives disturbed by modern day wars in Ukraine, Gaza, Africa and Sudan.
The difference is that during the Second World War people rarely spoke about what they had experienced. Now, with news and information so readily available, we see, hear and understand everything that goes on.
It makes me understand the many different forms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), how important the psychological professions are from childhood through to old age, and how critical they are to those who need their help. This reinforces my commitment to help those in psychological professions to achieve the best they can for the service users they help.
You can read S.I.W by Wilfred Owen here.
If you would like to submit a piece to include in ‘Psychologically Informed’ please email england.ppn.northwest@nhs.net. It can be about any work of your choosing, ideally no longer than 300 words.
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.
