Local NHS Trust first to try new training package

South West Yorkshire Mental Health Trust, which provides mental health and learning disability services to people in Calderdale, Kirklees and Wakefield, has been selected as one of just three organisations that will trial a new national training package for NHS mental health staff.

The package is designed to help staff develop their skills and support them in their delivery of the refocused care programme approach, which is the process of assessing and delivering care to people who use NHS mental health services. This has recently been reviewed to make sure that every person receiving treatment, care and support from secondary mental health services is given high quality care.

The trial will involve staff from across the organisation attending training days in February 2009. Those participants will then take part in a comprehensive evaluation process to assess the quality of the training.

The process of trialling the new training package is being run by the University of Lincoln and the Department of Health. The aim of the trial is to approve the new training package so that it can be rolled out to NHS mental health trusts nationally.

The Trust’s Learning & Development Manager Jackie Davis said, ‘This is a unique opportunity for the Trust and its partners to be involved at the outset of a highly influential project that will eventually impact on mental health trusts across the country. It also gives us the chance to shape the content of the new CPA training package.’