A day of learning, sharing and connecting
Open Mental Health colleagues came together earlier in July to reflect on the last four years of working as an alliance.
It was an opportunity to not only celebrate what has been achieved so far to improve mental health care for adults across Somerset but more importantly what still needs to be done.
Beccy Wardle, Associate Director for ICB Partnerships at Rethink Mental Illness, said:
“The OMH Together conference was an amazing opportunity for staff, volunteers and experts by experience working across Open Mental Health to come together to reflect on what has been achieved, share learning and challenges, and look towards the future. There was a real sense of pride running through the day and a feeling that we are greater than the sum of our parts. We have much more that we want to do, to ensure that people in Somerset always get the support they need when they need it, but we also have much to celebrate.”
Part of the day saw our amazing experts by experience share their individual experiences of mental health and how being part of Open Mental Health has allowed them to shape the care offer across Somerset.
S.H, EbE Leader added:
“To be fair, the mental health services in the past had not helped me. My co-production journey with the start of Open Mental Health was my recovery journey. It’s kind of crazy, who suddenly thought to ask the people who use the services to approve them – because they’re a genius. This is exactly what the alliance needs and it’s exactly what it does well.”
Co-producing our services with experts by experience is integral to our work and ensures that Open Mental Health continues to offer and build a mental health care system that works for those who need it most across Somerset.
Thank you to all our colleagues that attended the event in Frome on the day. We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did!
If you’re an adult living in Somerset and are experiencing difficulties with your mental health, we are here to help. You can call our team at Mindline Somerset anytime, day or night locally on 01823 276 892 or freephone 0800 138 1692.