Trustwide News
Become a Mersey Care member
Do you want a say in the development of health services across Cheshire and Merseyside? Why not join 13,000 other Mersey Care members and become influential in decisions made that may affect health care in your area.
Our members help us build and maintain effective links with the communities we serve, which makes sure there’s direct involvement of stakeholders in our corporate governance and decision making processes.
If you’re aged 14 or over and want to join us, please complete an online application form or call 0151 471 2303 and we’ll send you an application in the post.
If you have any questions or would like any further information about becoming a member or a governor, please contact the Corporate Affairs Team by emailing: ft
Winter plan makes an impact
Mersey Care built a robust winter/resilience plan which went into delivery mode during October 2023, to keep patients well in the community and take pressure off the wider health and care system. Despite the Christmas and New Year period being challenging, there was very little disruption to patients and overall, it was an incredibly positive outcome under such difficult conditions.
Our ambition is to save more than 45,000 bed days through the successful delivery of the winter/resilience plan, and we’re on track to increase system impact by up to 15 per cent compared to last year. Please see the infographic for highlights.
Invitation to Quality Account consultation event
Mersey Care has arranged for an online engagement event to provide an opportunity for patients, service users, carers, members of staff, key stakeholders and interested members of the public to find out more about the Trust’s priorities and performance.
More information about how to register for the event, being held on Zoom on Tuesday, 27 February 2024 between 9.30am to 12.30pm, is on the graphic.
NHS England visit Mossley Hill site to monitor progress
NHS England's Director of Estates, Simon Corben, braved winter conditions to recently visit the new Mossley Hill mental health facility to hear an update on how work is progressing on the new build.
The site is still around 18 months away from completion but will become a state of the art 80 bed unit, built to the latest, high standards, which once opened will mark the end of dormitory wards in NHS inpatient mental health care in Liverpool.
“I’m pleased to see this impressive site well under way," said Mr Corben. "It marks a major investment in modern mental health care by Mersey Care for residents of Liverpool, and a positive step towards eradicating dormitory wards in mental health facilities.” More information about the visit and the site can be found on our website while a video of the site's progress can be found below.
Digital Inclusion sessions
The Life Rooms’ digital health team is holding a series of digital inclusion sessions to help reduce digital exclusion and health inequality barriers that exist across the Liverpool and Sefton areas.
They are working with Informatics Merseyside, Liverpool City Region and Lloyds Bank to make free devices available to people who need them. This is a new initiative for adults to attend digital skills training and receive a FREE package, including a tablet device and six month internet connectivity. Please see below for further information:
The Life Rooms finds innovative approach to data systems
Mersey Care has become the first NHS Trust in the UK to find a system to successfully share information between the RiO electronic health record and social prescribing software Elemental.
For a 12 month period between 2022 and 2023, The Life Rooms piloted an innovative social model of health across St Helens, Knowsley, Halton, and Warrington. They worked with key clinical and community teams on both a social prescribing and learning offer, with the aim to provide preventative and easy access support to community members.
The pilot successfully trialled this partnership between clinical and social prescribing systems to improve the speed and effectiveness of the referral process, as well as improve service user experience and care.
Key findings from the pilot can be found on the Life Rooms’ website.
Physical Health News
Community nursing in the news
Two Mersey Care nurses have been awarded the prestigious Queen’s Nurse title in recognition of their efforts to high standards of patient care within their communities across Cheshire and Merseyside.
Denise Davies, Specialist Community Public Health Nurse in school nursing based in Bootle, Sefton, and Hannah Molyneux, Safeguarding Adults Nurse based in Huyton, Liverpool, received the honour from community nursing charity The Queen’s Nursing Institute (QNI), during a ceremony in London.
Hannah received her award for showing ‘commitment to high standards of patient care and continually improving practice,’ while the judges thought Denise showed ‘commitment to high standards of patient care within school health.’
Hannah was interviewed on BBC Radio Merseyside to discuss her award and her role as an adult community safeguarding nurse. Further information about the two awards can be found on our website.
Mersey Care community nursing services EMIS web migration
Following discussions with system partners, Mersey Care is now in a position to standardise clinical systems across community physical services, beginning this month (February 2024).
Several patient service across St Helens and Knowsley will transfer from using RIO as their Electronic Patient Record to EMIS Web, starting with Knowsley District Nursing and Community Matron services on 19 February 2024.
Services will migrate onto the existing Mersey Care ‘Integrated Community Nursing’ EMIS Web org CBD 23955. Data sharing will be in place under the current GP and Community Services Data Sharing Agreement v2.2 which will be updated later this year to include all planned changes for the system harmonisation onto EMIS Web.
Using ‘All records’ in EMIS Web will continue to provide access to the full community shared record which will become more enriched as services migrate. Once live,
eCorrespondence from these services will be sent directly to GP practices via EMIS Workflow instead of Docman.
This is a planned migration of EMIS across both nursing and therapy services within Knowsley, the remaining teams are in the process of planning their go live date and updates will be provided when this happens. Please contact
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National recognition for BABS best practice model
Our Building Attachment and Bonds Service (BABS, parent infant mental health) has been reported nationally as a model of ‘best practice’ in the Parent Infant Foundation national webinars and guidance documents. (link to document in folder).
This is great national recognition for the BABS teams, our partner local authorities, integrated care boards and most importantly, our vulnerable families who drive BABS services and benefit in the short and long term and for generations to come.
Mental Health News
Addictions team achieve unique Hepatitis C landmark
Mersey Care’s community addictions team has achieved a unique landmark by becoming the only NHS Trust in the UK to eliminate Hepatitis C from their service users and maintained elimination for more than six months.
The team, based at Brook Place in Liverpool, has now been free of Hepatitis C within their service users for the last eight months. It’s a virus which can cause serious and potentially life-threatening damage to the liver and is particularly common among more deprived communities, including those who have a history of substance abuse.
They reached such a consistency by testing almost everyone registered with the service, no matter what risks they have been exposed to, and regularly reviewing their risk status and date of their last test. More information can be found on the Trust’s website.
Mental health and wellbeing webinars to start in February
Mersey Care is launching a series of webinars, starting with ‘Parenting for anxiety’ on 24 February, related to mental health and wellbeing. Each monthly session will be delivered via Zoom from 4pm to 4.45pm and more information, including how to register for them, can be found in the graphic below:
Pioneering Mental Health Triage Response Team
In response to increased demand on Mersey Care’s Section 136 suites, to reduce inpatient admissions, avoid delays and help speed up mental health processes, the Mental Health Triage Response Team was set up at the end of October 2023.
The team also acts as an extension to our triage car service, and supports our response to Right Care Right Person. The team has responsibility for the Section 136 process at accident and emergency departments and custody suites. It also makes sure that all four of our places of safety are always staffed, with support workers permanently based there. They’ve also taken responsibility for managing our crisis phone line for professionals, giving bespoke advice and guidance to partner organisations.
This dedicated, innovative team is pioneering - other organisations who provide mental health services, usually extend existing teams such as crisis resolution and home treatment. The team produces safety plans, reviews any existing medications, arranges appointments with clinicians and looks at alternatives to hospital admission. This committed team of invested individuals also provide the ‘softer touch’ by offering warm food, toiletries, newspapers, and reassurance to carers and loved ones.
Feedback to the team, in such a short time of being set up, has been overwhelming, from police, who no longer need to spend so long with patients while they’re waiting to be assessed, other partner agencies, staff, but most importantly, service users and their carers. This is backed up by extremely positive outcome data.
Further information about the team can found by contacting: Stuart
Talking Therapies – help us help you
Mersey Care is encouraging anyone struggling with feelings of depression, or anxiety (such as excessive worry, panic attacks, social anxiety, post traumatic stress, or obsessions and compulsions), to seek help through our NHS Talking Therapy services.
These are effective, confidential and free treatments delivered by trained clinicians, online, on the phone, or in person. More information on NHS Talking Therapies can be found via the Trust website.
MC Magazine - out now
The winter edition of our MC Magazine is out now! Packed with stories on autism, alcohol addiction, baby loss, our buildings, winter health and so much more.
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