Specialist NHS intensive care unit runner-up at national awards
A specialist mental health service provided by South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust has been named runner-up at the national PICU Team of the Year 2009 awards.
The awards were hosted by the National Association of Psychiatric Intensive Care Units (NAPICU), which aims to recognise excellence within PICU services.
NAPICU is committed to the development of psychiatric intensive care and low secure services primarily in the UK and aims to advance the care and treatment of those people who require Psychiatric Intensive Care and low secure units in acute services by promoting and sharing good practice and providing education and training.
At this year’s awards the Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), which cares for people from Calderdale, Kirklees and Wakefield, was recognised for the care provided, team working and service improvement.
The Fieldhead unit opened in August last year for people who are in a very disturbed phase of a serious mental health disorder and are often compulsorily detained for their own safety in secure conditions.
People are treated at the psychiatric intensive care unit as they are too unwell to be safely and therapeutically managed and treated in an open ward. Staff at the PICU ensure that the best care is provided in the most appropriate environment.
The Fieldhead team was one of three across the country to be shortlisted for the NAPICU Team of the Year and after delivering a presentation about their work at a special conference at the University of Warwick on the 10th September the NAPICU board named them as runners-up. Clinical manager Karen Batty said, "We’ve taken an innovative approach and consistently developed and improved the service, keeping the people who receive treatment at the facility at the heart of everything we do." Gillian Green, the Trust’s assistant director for adult services added, “It is fantastic that the team’s hard work and dedication have been recognised and they thoroughly deserve the accolade. The unit has been open for just one year and the award is a tribute to all the staff who work on the unit."