Get involved: Participation

People who use our services and their carers and families have the chance to sign up for training to be involved in recruiting new staff.

The values-based recruitment training is being held to give service users and their families the skills to be involved in interviews and shape the future of NSFT.

We are committed to involving people who use mental health services and their carers or families through the People Participation. 

Sessions are capped at eight people so spaces are limited, and they will be booked on a first come-first served basis.

The training will be via Microsoft Teams and anyone who has difficulties accessing this or needs further support can email people.participation@nsft.nhs.uk.

New training dates can be found below: 

• Wednesday, 4 December, 13:00 — 16:00  
• Wednesday, 15 January, 10:00 — 13:00
• Thursday, 13 February, 13:00 — 16:00 
• Tuesday, 11 March, 10:00 — 13:00

To sign up go to https://forms.office.com/r/HSEfWeW0Sp.

Our Moments Together Group for the over 60’s is in the community and open to older adult service users, carers and supporters to come together and connect with likeminded people in a relaxed and safe environment. 

The group offers a safe space in which service users, carers and supporters can come together, provide support and insight to one another through the sharing of their lived experiences and take part in a weekly wellbeing activity and information session.

For more information please contact PeopleParticipationEastSuf@nsft.nhs.uk. 

The group meet every week on a Thursday afternoon between 13:00 – 15:00 at The Royal Oak Community Hub and Ipswich County Library Café – please view schedule the schedule below: 

The Royal Oak, 175 Felixstowe Road, Ipswich IP3 8EB

• November 28 —  2024
• December 12 —  2024
• January 9 and 23 —  2025
• February 6 and 20 —  2025
• March 6 and 20 —  2025
• April 3 and 17 —  2025
• May 1, 15 and 29 — 2025
• September 4 and 25 —  2025
• October 2, 16 and 30 — 2025

Ipswich County Libary Café, Northgate St, Ipswich IP1 3DE

• November 21 — 2024
• December 5 and 19 — 2024
• January 2, 16 and 30 — 2025
• February 13 and 27 — 2025
• March 13 and 27 — 2025
• April 10 and 24 — 2025
• May 8 and 22 — 2025
• June 5 and 19 — 2025
• July 3, 17 and 31 — 2025
• August 16 and 28 — 2025
• September 11 and 25 — 2025
• October 9 and 23 — 2025

This Working Together Group, which is focused on inpatient care, is a safe space to have your say, share your experiences and ideas and work together to create positive change across NSFT. 

The group is open to: 

• Service users
• Carers
• Family of people who have stayed in inpatient settings
• Staff

When?

The group meets on the third Thursday of the month

Where?

Charing Cross Centre, 19 St John Maddermarket, Norwich NR2 1DN

Contact us

To find out more you can email: 

• People.participation@nsft.nhs.uk 
• bethany.oughton@nsft.nhs.uk 
• Pippa.l.hewitt@nsft.nhs.uk  

We are a friendly group of Early Intervention service users, previous service users, and staff in Norfolk and Waveney. We look at ways of improving the Early Intervention (EI) Service. Service users and staff have worked together to change and achieve things they have felt are important such as: 

• Telling us what they think about the Early Intervention Service.
• Changing the way people are discharged by the team.
• Changing the way letters are written.
• Developing a feedback leaflet.
• Taking part in interviews for new staff.
• Quality Improvement projects.

Feedback from people involved in the Focus Group:

"Having participated in the EI focus group and representing service users in the interview process when recruiting new team members has given me a sense that EI as a service is inclusive and outward looking and takes a systematic view of recovery. I feel valued as a service user and feel that although what I have been through was difficult, there is a light at the end of the tunnel as my experiences of the service and views of it could help shape its future." 

“I just wanted to share my experiences with as many staff as possible to say that the EI Focus group has been a really positive part of my experiences of the Norfolk EI Team and that communicating with those that are new to the service is MASSIVELY important, sign posting service users and their supporting family or friends to useful groups and good quality resources like books, websites and support groups could be the defining factor between a good recovery or a suicide.”

The group meet every third Wednesday of the month, both online via Microsoft Teams and in person, mainly at 7 Unthank Road, Norwich but also at other Early Intervention Service bases.

Anonymity is assured if you wish, and the team are happy to meet with you beforehand.

Contact us for more information or ask your care co-ordinator.

Email: EIFocusGroup@nsft.nhs.uk 

Call Lucy Corrigan: 01603 671901

Call Craig Mackie: 01493 337929

 

Are you, or is a loved one, affected by Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID)? Do you live in Suffolk? If so, we would love to hear from you!

NSFT’s Suffolk ARFID team is establishing a pathway to support under 18s who are impacted by ARFID. We would value the input of young people, families, and carers in developing this pathway, and are also offering peer support groups for parents/carers affected by ARFID. Your expertise by experience will help us shape the Suffolk ARFID pathway, to ensure it best meets the needs of the community it serves.

Getting involved will offer you the opportunity to:

• Share your ideas, expertise, and experience.
• Shape the Suffolk ARFID pathway via co-production.
• Support and connect with other parents/carers with similar lived experience. Share tips, experiences, and understanding with others.

If you’d like to get involved in NSFT’s ARFID co-production and peer support group, or if you’d like to share your ideas or experiences, please email AskSuffolkARFID@nsft.nhs.uk We look forward to collaborating with you.

Additional Information

ARFID is an eating disorder characterised by avoidant or restrictive eating which significantly impacts an individual’s health and wellbeing (e.g. nutritional deficiency, lack of energy, weight loss or impeded growth in children, reliance on nutritional supplements, impaired social functioning). Avoidance or restriction of food for individuals with ARFID is not driven by weight/ shape concerns.

For more information on ARFID, please visit:

• BEAT: The UK's Eating Disorder Charity - Beat (beateatingdisorders.org.uk)
• ARFID Awareness UK: ARFID Awareness UK

The Being Together Group is for adults, with a Learning Disability and/or Autism, carers or others who are interested in our services in Suffolk.

We need you to share ideas and help shape services.

The group meet on the first Tuesday of the month from 10:30 — 11:30 Meetings are held face-to-face in Bury St Edmunds and Ipswich, and also on Teams.

Support with transport can be provided.

Email beingtogether@nsft.nhs.uk for more information.

Join us on a Wednesday morning at 10.30am-noon for a cuppa and a chat.

Just turn up and meet like-minded people in a relaxed, informal chat setting, meeting at a different Ipswich coffee shop each week.

November 2024

• 20 — The Mix Café, James Hehir Building, University Avenue, Ipswich IP3 
• 27 — Fresh Start & Coffee, 29-31 Carr Street, Ipswich IP4 2AD

December 2024

• 4 — Honey & Harvey 4-6 Queen Street, Ipswich IP1 1SS
• 11 — St Lawrence Church Café, Dial Lane, Ipswich IP1 1DJ
• 18 — Christmas Lunch at The Woolpack, 1 Tuddenham Road, Ipswich IP4 2SH 1-4pm 

January 2025

• 8 — Coffeelink Ipswich Waterfront, Neptune Marina, Neptune Quay, Ipswich IP4 1AX
• 15 — BB’s Coffee & Muffins, Sailmakers Shopping Centre, Ipswich IP1 3BE 
• 22 — Cosy Club, Buttermarket Shopping Centre, Ipswich IP1 1DT
• 29 — The Mix Café, James Hehir Building, University Avenue, Ipswich IP3 0FS

For more information please contact Deborah Atkinson - People Participation Co-ordinator PeopleParticipationEastSuf@nsft.nhs.uk 

My name is Jane and I am a Parent infant therapist based in an NHS Community Perinatal team in Norwich.

I am studying for the Postgraduate Diploma in Infant-Parent Psychotherapy.

As part of the training, I need to find a mother and baby to observe.

Please could you help me to find a mother who is in the later stages of pregnancy, who may be interested in taking part in this.

What an observation involves:

I am required to observe a baby awake or asleep, playing, feeding, eating, or interacting with mothers or other family members.

The observation takes place once a week for one hour until the baby’s second birthday.

It’s an opportunity to learn first-hand about the physical and social development of a baby, which forms the foundation of the training to be a parent-infant psychotherapist.

Please let me know if you or someone you know would be interested in this. I am happy to talk to people who may be unsure but would like a bit more information before making a commitment.

Contact Jane

Email: Jane.M.Hughes@nsft.nhs.uk

Telephone: 07879 657685

The sessions are hosted by Carer Leads within NSFT and open to anyone. There is no agenda, it is an opportunity for people to touch base with the members of the Carer Lead Team to share experiences about caring and NSFT. People do not need to attend every session or stay for whole sessions. An alternative or additional way of contacting the Carer Lead Team, especially if people wish to share confidential information, is our dedicated carer email service carersqaservice@nsft.nhs.uk.

The 2024 virtual dates are below.

• Tuesday events will take place at 19:30 — 20:30 on the following dates:
  • 3 December
• Wednesday events will take place at 10:00 — 11:00 on the following dates:
  • 20 November
  • 18 December
• Thursday events will take place at 18:30 — 19:30 on the following dates:
  • 28 November

For more further information on any of the groups, please email:CarersQAservice@nsft.nhs.uk

If you are under the age of 25 with a lived experience of an Eating Disorder, or care for someone under the age of 25 who does, we would like to invite you to join our Young Person and Carer Forum with our Norfolk and Waveney Child and Adolescent Eating Disorder Services.

The forum will bring together staff and those with lived experience to help improve and develop the service.

We value your views and ideas, and are looking for people who are interested in supporting us with suggestions and feedback to enhance our new and existing services.

The forum will work together to consider areas such as:

• Development and Feedback on projects
• Co-producing training materials
• Reviewing and producing service literature

Other ways for people to get involved in participation are:

• Speaking with our service manager and lead clinicians
• Speaking with our People Participation Lead
• Supporting us with staff interviews - Values Based Recruitment (VBR) training is offered to support this process
• Carer feedback events
• Co-facilitating groups e.g. carer support groups.

To find out more about participation, you can visit the teams webpage: www.nsft.nhs.uk/participation 

If you decide to get involved and are currently receiving support from our service, this will not affect the care you or your loved one is receiving.

If you are interested in getting involved, please complete this form.

Alternatively, you can contact us on 01603 421127 and ask for a call back regarding participation or you can email the team at Caeds.participation@nsft.nhs.uk. 

We look forward to hearing from you.

This is a focus group about Care Plans and the DIALOG+. It is open to both service users and carers to join. 

Care plans need to be produced collaboratively and be person centred. This group looks to effect change and improve the experience of service users and carers and to improve co-production and the training staff receive.

You might be keen to share any experience you have of care plans regardless of whether or not you have completed a DIALOG+ questionnaire.

We really value your views and opinions and feedback about your experience of Care Planning. You may have some experience of DIALOG+, or you may be curious about how this approach is used when care planning, and what might be the benefits for you or the person you care for. 

The meetings are held on Microsoft Teams on the second Friday of each month 1:30 - 3pm. Please contact —elizabeth.doolan@nsft.nhs.uk  if you have any enquiries about the focus group If you want to join the focus group, please complete the form below.

Note: by completing this form you give permission for us to hold your contact details for as long as you remain a member of this focus group.

Focus group sign-up form.

We are asking service users and carers with recent experience of our inpatient wards to help us design new wards. This will further improve quality and safety at Hellesdon Hospital in Norwich. 

Find out more about this opportunity.

Would you like to be involved in improving our mental health services for yourself and others? Your voice deserves to be heard!

Particip8! are a group of people with a personal interest in mental health for young people and a passion for improving mental health services.

Whether you’d prefer to be part of a group, have one-to-one sessions, or share your ideas and experience by email, Whatsapp or phone, we would love for you to join us.

You can be involved as little or as much as you would like and with the things that are important to you.

• Using lived experience, we have led on projects such as:
• The language of letters and ensuring these are young person and carer friendly
• Interviewing staff
• Sharing our experience of crisis services
• Art projects
• Development of educational courses and many more.

To find out more, email Sophie.davies@nsft.nhs.uk. You can also text or call 07342 066589 or use Whatsapp.

Particip8! podcasts

Our Particip8! group have made a range of podcasts for the Mental Health and You Podcast. Below are some links directly to episodes available on Spotify and other platforms: 

• Self-esteem and belonging
• Disabilities and mental health
• Social media and mental health
• Living with Anxiety
• Participation at NSFT

Are you under the age of 25?

Are you a parent/carer of a young person under the age of 25?

Do you like designing things?

We are developing a new website to improve mental health services for Children, Families and Young People and we want to hear what is important to you. 

For more information:  Contact Andrea Bland, People Participation Co-ordinator People.Participation@nsft.nhs.uk

Our Veteran's wellbeing support group is designed to stop social isolation and give veterans a sense of belonging, similar to the close bond they had whilst serving. 

These events will be taking place in a non-clinical environment but Veteran's are welcome to discuss any mental health concerns they may have.

Please see below for locations, times and the days of our wellbeing support group:

• Norwich: Monday 11:00 - 13:00, The Matthew Project 70 – 80- Oaks Street Norwich NR3 3AQ, Tel: 07584316272
• Sudbury: Monday 11:00 - 13:00, Sudbury/Toast Café (Winter) or Long Melford Country Park (Summer), Tel: 07584316272
• Bury St Edmunds: Tuesday 11:00 - 13:00, Combat 2 Coffee , Con Club, Guildhall Street, IP33 1PR, Tel: 07584316272
• Ipswich: Wednesday 11:00 - 13:00, Combat 2 Coffee , Whitton Clinic, Meredith Road, IP1 6ED, Tel: 07584316272
• Thetford: Monday 11:00 - 13:00, Steam, Tanner Court, Tanner Street, IP24 2BQ, Tel: 07584316272

You can watch a video, featuring some of our service users, who have used the service and their thoughts on it below.

Listen to their podcast episodes on spotify below: 

• Growing the Veteran's support service
• Leaving the Armed Forces and Mental Health

Background

We are looking at hosting a Women Veterans forum as a social safe space for women to come to and use however they wish. This will be an online coffee and catch up. 

We are developing a Women Veterans only stabilisation group which will consist of sessions around psychoeducation and techniques tailored to what women would feel they would benefit from. The sessions could be looking at PTSD, anxiety, moral injury etc. Is there a specific theme you would like the sessions to cover? The sessions will be every week via MS Teams at a time and day that is suitable for them. 

Co-production groups

We would like to hold two separate co-production groups about the proposals above (we will be asking the same questions in both), then collate the answers and then, finally, have a feedback session before finalising outcomes. The focus will be what the women would like these sessions to look like, what time and day of the week would be best and how they can be publicised. 

• Each group to have 6-8 women veterans
• Two separate groups 
• Two follow-up group meetings

If you know any women veterans’ who would like to take part in the co-production groups please give them my email address they can contact us on vicki.bailey@nsft.nhs.uk. 

Vicki will then make contact and discuss the project, answering any questions you may have.