South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust becomes pilot for PCREF
We delighted to be a national pilot site in the development of our PCREF approach at the trust. Over the next two years, we are evolving our partnership working to bring together Black communities, Black service users and their carers with SLaM staff to reimagine our mental health services. This will be a challenging and necessary journey to transforming our services so that they are anti-racist and deliver equity for Black citizens.
Dr Jacqui Dyer MBE is NHS England’s Mental Health Equalities Advisor and leads on the PCREF work nationally. Locally she and Zoë Reed, our Director of Organisation and Community, have strategic leadership of the PCREF Programme. Jacqui says:
“I am delighted that SLaM is working in partnership with racialised communities, in a range of coproduction activities, to reimagine, then transform and deliver services that better meet needs of citizens from Black communities. This has to be from a place of trust and confidence because when people need to use these services they are at their most vulnerable. It is a reflection of SLaM’s commitment, to be better than before, that they are embarking on this journey. Particularly with Black communities that historically have not had a good experience therefore the mistrust of services runs deep. In this moment the whole leadership, workforce and communities are determined to improve the experience for Black communities in a sustained way. This is what it means to advance mental health equalities and I am happy to be involved”.
Our programme locally reflects the National PCREF Programme and comprises four main areas which are all being developed in partnership and in a transparent and accountable way:
- Improved implementation of statutory and regulatory duties, which impact racial disparity, as a minimum baseline requirement
- Implementation of national organisational competencies, identified nationally; implementation to be determined locally
- Identification and implementation of Trust-level determined organisational competencies
- Implementation of the national patient and carer rated experience tool
David Bradley, Chief Executive of SLaM, said:
“Equity in mental health services has never been so important. I am pleased SLaM is a national pilot site for the development of PCREF. Together with our partners we will improve mental health services for people from the Black community to ensure our service users and carers have equity in access and positive experiences and outcomes".
With the firm backing of our senior leadership, governance structures in place to drive change, the commitment from our communities through the Independent Advisory Groups (IAGs) supported through our ‘Host organisations’, Lambeth Black Thrive and Croydon BME Forum, and the invaluable contribution of Black service users and their carers and Communities sharing their insights, we are confident that we are on the right path. We welcome more members of the Black communities in Lambeth, Southwark, Croydon and Lewisham to join us on this transformational journey - join us at our upcoming events, see more here.
