Publish date: 7 October 2020
This year’s virtual NHS Providers annual conference and exhibition showcased Avonmore Ward and CAMHS Alliance’s virtual parents’ group, in recognition of their innovative and pioneering contribution to healthcare.
Highlighting success
Avonmore Ward in Hammersmith & Fulham was the first to care for people with acute mental illness and tested positive for Covid-19 in the UK.
Three days before the country was put into lockdown, the Ward opened with a new team comprising of colleagues from across the Trust, many of whom had never worked together or even met before, to care for patients’ mental and physical needs.
Dr Roopak Khara, who led the ward, said:
“Avonmore has been a beacon of possibility in an otherwise unsettling global pandemic which has affected us all. Overnight, my role as a psychiatrist changed to help lead a new team, who came together to change our physical ward and usual sphere of competency, to support patients with serious mental illness who had contracted Covid-19. “
“It is a privilege to showcase our work at the NHS Providers Conference as an example of how a passionate team of NHS staff can adapt to help bridge the disparity between physical and mental health of some of the most vulnerable members of our society.”
CAMHS Alliance provides short-term interventions to young people and their families in crisis, and aims to prevent hospital admission.
During the initial phase of the Covid pandemic, the team saw that the burden of care was falling disproportionally on parents , without the usual professional and personal support structures in place. An online parent support group was co-produced, and proved to be a helpful resource for parents who needed it the most.
CAMHS specialist, Elizabeth Scully, said:
“We are excited that our online parent support group has been selected for this conference. Both the parents and the team felt we discovered an innovative, accessible and powerful forum for mutual support and solidarity, at a time of crisis. We are all keen to share our experience, in the hope that others will be inspired to initiate similar forums, so that more families and services can experience the benefits.”