Our Services
Trish Bennett appointed Chief Executive Officer Designate
Mersey Care has appointed Trish Bennett, currently Deputy CEO, Chief Nurse and Chief Operating Officer, as new Chief Executive Officer Designate following a national recruitment process.
Trish has enjoyed a variety of roles since joining Mersey Care in 2016. Her appointment is subject to approval by the Trust’s Council of Governors. She will be succeeding Prof Joe Rafferty CBE, who had previously announced his intention to retire after 12 years in charge at the end of October. More information about her appointment can be found on our website.
Joe’s Blog on the importance of integration within the NHS
Retiring Chief Executive Officer, Prof Joe Rafferty CBE, has written his latest blog on integration being a way for the NHS and highlights several services within Mersey Care which are already excelling in partnership work across the Trust.
“Integration remains a massively over used word, but I’d argue that it’s an obvious route for the NHS and organisations should be working more closely together to help put patients front and centre with more focus on preventative treatment and avoidable hospital admissions.” You can read the full blog on our website.
Warrington Recovery Team grow green fingers
Our Warrington Recovery Team has launched a community garden and allotment project in collaboration with Warrington Borough Council, who kindly provided the land.
The project, facilitated by Occupational Therapists, Beccy Brown and Tracey Emery, will learn, with service users, about nature, horticulture, growing fruit, veg, herbs and flowers and will incorporate this knowledge into learning about healthy eating and cooking. More information is available on our website.
‘Living with Dementia’ campaign launched
We’ve launched a new campaign which aims to inform Merseyside residents about what life is really like ‘Living with Dementia’ to try to persuade those affected to ask for an early memory assessment.
Dr Sarah Butchard, Consultant Clinical Psychologist and Psychology Lead for Mersey Care’s older people’s services, and Tommy Dunne BEM, who was diagnosed with dementia in 2012, talk about their experiences in two videos below that aim to encourage those who may be worried about their health to visit their GP. Please visit our website for more information.
Talking Therapies’ university and young people’s champion
NHS Talking Therapies has appointed university and young people’s champions to collaborate with education settings, to meet young people in their spaces, to advocate for young people’s mental health, to promote Talking Therapies, and to make sure professionals and young people know how to access the service. They also attend promotional events to liaise and link with other young people, hear their experiences of the service and to gather their feedback.
M-RIC: Celebrating our achievements one year on
Mersey Care and the University of Liverpool celebrated its first anniversary since the launch of a new groundbreaking partnership, the Mental Health Research for Innovation Centre (M-RIC). To mark a year since the official announcement in May 2023, we have put together a gallery showing 12 key highlights over the past 12 months. Read more...
Prof Chris Whitty visits M-RIC as part of University of Liverpool visit
Chief Medical Officer Prof Chris Whitty heard first hand about the work of M-RIC on a recent visit to Liverpool when he visited the Civic Health Innovation Labs to find out about the work taking place there to tackle both local and global health challenges.
M-RIC researchers and the Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement Team provided him with an engaging overview of our research plans and progress. Read more about his visit here.
BABS proving successful across the region
Our Building Attachment and Bonds Service, which now stretches across Halton, Knowsley, Sefton, St Helens and Warrington, is continuing to help parents with struggles and issues after birth, supporting them at a crucial time which may affect the parent infant bond, relationships and mental health.
The infographic gives an insight into the impact the service has on parents across Cheshire and Merseyside during April.
Our achievements
Dental Service earns ‘Perfect 10’ score from British Dental Association
Mersey Care's Dental Service has earned a 'Perfect 10' score from the British Dental Association (BDA) as part of their Good Practice Scheme, for a further three years, in its 10 clinics across Liverpool, Sefton and Knowsley.
As part of Mersey Care's application for renewal to the BDA Good Practice Scheme, all of Mersey Care's 10 sites were assessed independently and required to provide a portfolio of evidence to be submitted against a selection of Good Practice Scheme requirements which were then reviewed by a BDA Good Practice Assessor. More information can be found on our website.
Mental health nurse wins senior leadership award
Mersey Care's mental health nurse and academic Dr Oladayo Bifarin has been awarded a coveted place on the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Senior Research Leadership Programme for nursing.
Oladayo, who is the Research Effectiveness Lead for Mersey Care and a Senior Lecturer in Mental Health Nursing at Liverpool John Moores University, is one of just 25 nurses and midwives from around the country to secure a place on the fully funded three year programme. More information is on our website.
Ian nominated for Sefton Parent Carer Forum Award
Ian Matthia, Support Time Recovery Worker with our Autism Spectrum Condition Services, has been nominated for a Sefton Parent Carer Forum Award and has been recognised for being a positive example of inclusion and understanding.
“The experience for many families with a child or young person with SEND can often be negative, with many challenges to access the right support at the right time,” explained the Sefton Parent Carer Forum.
“We decided to host our inaugural SEND Awards as part of our parent carer conference in March 2024 to celebrate some of the positive experiences our members have had. We had over 250 nominations for 184 nominees, ranging from social workers, hospital volunteers, health workers, teachers, schools and more. We’d like to recognise Ian and thank him for being a positive example of inclusion and understanding.”
Design in Mental Health Awards success
Congratulations to our patient safety partnership with Safehinge, which won Innovation of the Year, while our Estates and Facilities Team was highly commended as team of the year at the Design in Mental Health Awards.
Get Involved
Join the Big Tea Party 2024 to celebrate 76 years of the NHS
The annual NHS Big Tea event is back for 2024 and we’re inviting people to register to help us raise funds for Mersey Cares, the dedicated charity of Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust.
Whether you get together at home, school, in the office, or in your local community, there are so many ways to raise money at an NHS Big Tea. Parties can be held on 5 July (the birthday of the NHS) or any day that week.
Hosting an event is a great way to bring communities together around a shared love of the NHS whilst raising money to fund projects that tackle health inequalities, challenge stigma and enable us to do more to support people and services across Merseyside and Cheshire.
Find out more and register to receive your FREE fundraising pack: Join the NHS Big Tea Party 2024! :: Mersey Care Charity (merseycares.org)
Congratulations to our Mersey Cares sky divers
During Mental Health Awareness Week, three brave Mersey Care staff took to the skies for our first Mersey Cares charity skydive, raising over £1,200 for the charity – with one other staff member rescheduled for later this month due to a turn in the weather.
“The day was truly amazing,” said trainee Estates Manager, Naomi Lloyd, who was first to sign up to the challenge. “Being up in the air was the best part, you go into a zone and the free falling feeling was truly something out of this world!
“The fact we were able to do this on behalf of Mersey Cares and raise funds whilst doing so made it even more worthwhile. I’m proud to say I completed it on behalf of the Trust I work for in support of their great services.”
If you’d like to help fundraise for Mersey Cares, you can check out the charity’s upcoming challenges here: Register to a Fundraising Event :: Mersey Care Charity (merseycares.org)
MC Magazine - coming soon
Coming soon: MC Magazine’s summer issue featuring:
- Schizophrenia - an expert asks why are we scared?
- It seems yoga is better for men and weights for women - are we getting exercise all wrong?
- Met the young people bonding with skunks and millipedes
- Dip into the world of wild swimming and hear inspiring success stories from Mersey Care’s Pain Management Clinic.
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