Over 140 delegates attended the CPD certified event at the Leeds Marriott, representing mental health services nationwide. Once again, Professor Keith Rix, Consultant Psychiatrist from Cygnet Hospital Wyke chaired the conference, welcoming Professor Kevin Gournay CBE, Richard Edgeworth, Chris Hart and Christopher Dorries OBE to present on different aspects of care planning as a truly multi-disciplinary process.
The morning opened with a thought provoking talk on “Managing risk in inpatient care; suicide and self harm” by Emeritus Professor Kevin Gournay, CBE from King’s College, London. This was followed by Chris Hart, Nurse Consultant and Principal Lecturer from South West London and St George’s Mental Health Trust / Kingston University who presented on “How predictable is risk and how do we successfully plan to minimise it?”, which was described as an ‘excellent, focused presentation’ with points that will ‘certainly be taken back to the work place’.
Anne-Marie Osborne-Fitzgerald, Clinical Manager at Cygnet Hospital Bierley presented on Cygnet Health Care’s approach to multi-disciplinary care planning with the support of “K”, a service user from our female low secure service. This highlighted the importance of embedding the principles of My Shared Pathway within the care planning process, and one delegate pointed out that a service user “co-presenting on a topic which stressed the importance of service user collaboration was great and made the presentation more meaningful”.
Over the lunch break we were treated to a beautiful musical performance from “K”, accompanied by Katherine Martin, our music therapist. The performance included a mesmerising rendition of ‘Hallelujah’.
Richard Edgeworth, Service Improvement Consultant from South West London and St George’s presented three case studies throughout the day, via DVD examples. These sessions allowed delegates to apply the principles discussed throughout the day to situations they may encounter in the workplace, which covered challenging behaviour in an inpatient setting, suicide and dangerousness in the community.
The last session of the day was a very well received presentation from HM Coroner Christopher Dorries, OBE on “Inquests: How to avoid them and what to expect when you can’t”, described as “extremely informative and delivered in a lively manner – excellent for the end of the day!”
We would like to thank all the speakers for their involvement in another successful Cygnet Health Care event and all delegates who attended – we look forward to seeing you again next year!