Trust earns international award
Work done by Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust has earned international recognition.
The Upskilling the Workforce in Psychological Practice Skills project is improving psychological skills in the NHS across the West Midlands.
The project received the Excellence Award at the 2014 International Congress on Clinical and Counselling Psychology, which took place in December.
Work is co-ordinated by the Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust on behalf of Health Education West Midlands.
As part of earning the award, Pavlo Kanellakis, the Chief Investigator of the research project, has been invited to deliver a keynote speech on the action research applied by the project at the 2015 International Congress on Clinical and Counselling Psychology.
Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust project lead, Sarah Crowther said: “Mental health research is often the Cinderella of research funding and the award was given to the Mental Health Institute at Health Education West Midlands Local Education and Training Committee for supporting the dissemination of psychological knowledge and encourage long term approaches in cultivating applied research.
“It was acknowledged that the broad sharing of psychological knowledge is key and it aligns with the objectives of the congress of helping to share and disseminate as broadly as possible the emerging evidence base.
“At the same time, it was appreciated how the project has used a sophisticated approach by having several people with lived mental health experiences as a client and/or carer included in the research at all levels, including the most senior level.”
Dr Teresa Hewitt-Moran, Mental Health Institute LETC lead said: “The Mental Health Institute are delighted that the work we are leading with Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust has achieved this recognition.
“The MHI LETC is driven by provider trust priorities, and addressing the psychological skill set across the entire specialist workforce is necessary to ensure the workforce are equipped to deliver services that will meet the needs of patients and carers in the future.”