NHS Trust celebrating following national award-win for creative initiative

An initiative developed by South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust which has helped over 4,000 local people through promoting creative approaches to healthcare has won a national award for its commitment to delivering excellent patient experience.

Creative Minds won the ‘Strengthening the Foundation’ category at the Patient Experience Network National Awards (PENNA) which took place at a special ceremony in Birmingham yesterday (11 March).

Creative Minds was launched in November 2011 in response to service users and carers expressing their desire for more creative approaches to understanding and supporting their health and wellbeing. To date, it has delivered almost 200 creative projects in partnership with over 70 community organisations and groups, benefitting over 4,000 people.

The annual Patient Experience Network National Awards recognise and celebrate the people in the healthcare industry who are leading the way by delivering excellent patient experience and care.

The award win is the latest in recognition for the initiative following its win at the 2014 Health Service Journal (HSJ) awards for ‘Compassionate Patient Care’.

Mark Wisbey, Creative Minds co-ordinator, said: “We’re thrilled that Creative Minds has won yet another prestigious award. We hear so much great feedback from people that have taken part in the initiative about how it’s had a real positive impact on their health and wellbeing. Receiving the same recognition from professionals in the healthcare sector just goes to prove its worth even further.”

Trust chief executive Steven Michael OBE said: “For Creative Minds to be recognised on a national platform is testament to how successful, innovative and effective the initiative is. We’re proud to pioneer taking an alternative approach to helping people recover from their mental health conditions and extremely pleased to see Creative Minds getting the recognition it truly deserves.”

Creative Minds was also runner-up in the ‘Including Social Care to Improve Experience’ and ‘Partnership Working to Improve the Experience’ categories..

To find out more about Creative Minds, and to view films of how it has changed the lives of local people visit www.creativemindsuk.com.