Mersey Care's services recognised in annual HSJ Patient Safety Awards

Mersey Care's Mental Health Triage and Response Team being presented with the Seni Lewis award was the highlight of a successful night for the Trust at the annual HSJ Patient Safety Awards.

The new team, formed in October 2023 to support the increasing demand on services for patients detained under Section 136 (Mental Health Act 1983), fought off stiff competition to win the Seni Lewis Award, while our Patient Safety Team was shortlisted for Team of the Year and the HOPE(S) model was highly commended for Learning Disabilties Initiative of the year.

An incredible 415 entries were received for this year's Awards evening, with 206 organisations, projects and individuals making it to the final shortlist, having gone through two rounds of rigorous judging, overseen by an impressive panel of highly influential and respected figures within the healthcare community.

The Seni Lewis Award, created in memory of Olaseni Lewis who died in 2010 following restraint from the police, recognises the collaborative work between health services and the police. The judges commented that Mersey Care's approach has the potential to inspire positive transformation in mental health care far beyond its own setting.

HSJ Editor Alastair McLellan said: "Once again, it’s been so heartening to see such a huge level of entries, submitted by hard-working and dedicated teams who, in these ongoing times of budget uncertainty and workforce shortages, are striving to deliver improved patient care and to ensure patient safety, education and wellbeing is at the heart of decision making at all levels."

The Mental Health Triage and Response Team is pivotal to the Trust's response to the implementation of Right Care, Right Person across Cheshire and Merseyside and in reducing unnecessary accident and emergency attendances for patients detained under Section 136.

The Team has operationalised mental health based places of safety, ensuring that qualified mental health practitioners and support staff are available 24/7 in our suites, and the suites are available to take patients immediately, if there are no physical health concerns.

Having Street Car Triage as part of the service has been vital in ensuring a co-ordinated approach to supporting patients on Section 136, promoting least restrictive practices. Patients are now being cared for in a mental health setting, supported by trained mental health staff.

From feedback, patient experience is much improved and the transition out of places of safety is robust, ensuring that patients are referred on as needed. Recent evidence indicates that police are being released just over two hours (on average) when a patient is taken to a Mersey Care place of safety. 

The HSJ awards is the largest annual benchmarking and recognition programme for the health sector. For more than 40 years, the awards have been celebrating healthcare excellence through huge political, technological and financial challenges within the sector.