Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust is delighted to announce that the High Intensity Use Service in Wolverhampton has been shortlisted for ‘Mental Health Innovation of the Year’ at the HSJ Awards, in recognition of the service’s outstanding contribution to healthcare.
The service has made the shortlist after the awards received more than 1350 entries from across the country, demonstrating the levels of innovation and care taking place across the NHS.
The team at the HIUS have been recognised for the support they provide to people who attend the Emergency Department (ED) at Wolverhampton’s New Cross Hospital by supporting and empowering them to access services and healthcare so they can build healthier and happier lives.
HIUS work collaboratively with local health and social care colleagues to help patients who have complex, sometimes multiple, health difficulties, and to promote a positive way forward for them. The service combines outreach work in the community with the clinical leadership of a specialist mental health nurse. This unique combination allows the team to address the wider social, clinical and non-clinical needs of patients.
The team work with individuals to overcome issues in their life for example loneliness, bereavements, relationship breakdown, or trauma, often combined with the challenge of social and economic deprivation. The approach is supportive at its heart and patients are never told not to attend ED. Individuals who have been supported by the HIUS are going on to thrive in their communities, from being able to start employment and volunteering, to having more confidence to pursue interests and better relationships.
The service has shown a significant reduction in the number of ED attendances for those supported by HIUS, contributing to reducing pressures on emergency and urgent care.
The impact the service continues to make can be seen in the feedback from a patient who simply said: “Before you helped me I was just existing, now I'm living.”
Marsha Foster, Chief Executive at Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust said: “I am incredibly proud of everyone at the High Intensity Use Service for being shortlisted for this prestigious award. They go above and beyond every day to help people in our community live happier and healthier lives and they represent how our Trust is a force for good across the Black Country.”
Denise Fawcett, operational manager for the High Intensity Use Service, added: “We are delighted to be shortlisted for the Mental Health Innovation of the Year award. It will be a huge boost for our dedicated clinical lead Melanie Lamb and outreach caseworker Andy Timms who do so much to support some of the most marginalised and vulnerable people in our communities. Being recognised as finalists is an exceptional achievement especially in a year when the competition was so tough with an unprecedented volume of entries.”
HSJ editor Alastair McLellan, added: “It always gives me great pleasure to congratulate our finalists at this stage of the judging process and this year is no exception as we acknowledge the High Intensity Use Service at Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust for being shortlisted in the category of Mental Health Innovation of the Year.
“However, it’s always important to remember that the HSJ Awards are not just a celebration of success stories but also a platform to shape the future of the NHS.”
The 2024 awards judging panel was once again made up of a diverse range of influential and respected figures within the healthcare community, including; Stephen Powis, National Medical Director, NHS England, Rosa Waddingham, Chief Nurse, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire ICB and Matthew Style, Director General, Secondary Care and Integration Department of Health & Social Care, as well as a range of Chief Executives from NHS Trusts across the UK
The winners will be announced in November. The full list of nominees for the 2024 HSJ awards can be found at https://awards.hsj.co.uk/ alongside details of the Awards partners at https://awards.hsj.co.uk/partners.