An acute hospital trust in London has appointed a head mental health nurse for the first time in its history.
Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, which runs hospitals across North London, also recently appointed two mental health matrons to improve care for patients with mental health needs.
“Everyone has a responsibility when it comes to the mental health of our patients”
Charlene Hales
Experienced mental health nurse Charlene Hales was appointed to the head of nursing for mental health post in September to improve “organisational knowledge” of how to care for this patient group.
This includes improving the understanding among clinicians of the duty of care owed to these patients, and Ms Hales said she hoped she could work towards parity of esteem between physical and mental health at the trust.
Ms Hales will also be tasked with improving staff training and clinical practice in respect of patients with mental health needs, as well as leading on a strategic mental health plan for the trust.
The London hospital trust also recently appointed two mental health matrons for Barnet and Royal Free hospitals, Dellah Katsande and Ruby Fitzhenry respectively.
The approach needed to mental health care at the trust varied between its hospitals, noted Ms Hales.
She said: “At Barnet Hospital we have a much older cohort of patients and the mental health requirements associated with that are different to those at the Royal Free Hospital.
“It’s important to gain an understanding of the mental health needs of all patients, including at Chase Farm Hospital and satellite sites.
“Part of mine and the team’s role is to understand the needs of each site, and implement different approaches to suit the patients that present there.”
Ms Hales said that improving electronic patient records, training and collaboration with the clinical psychiatry teams would help improve care for patients in the acute trust.
“While we will take the lead, everyone has a responsibility when it comes to the mental health of our patients, and it is just about making sure staff prioritise it as much as physical health,” she added.
She referred to a 2020 Care Quality Commission (CQC) report which called for improvements to mental health care needs in acute hospital trusts.
“The CQC cited that patients are not getting the right help at the right time which can lead to symptoms worsening and people needing care for a prolonged period of time,” continued Ms Hales.
“Soon I’ll bring a report which will recommend new or different approaches to how we support our patients with their mental health.”
