North Kirklees service users invited to have their say at special events
The South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust is holding a new round of dialogue groups for people who use mental health services in North Kirklees to give them the opportunity to have their say on issues that affect them.
The dialogue group will give service users the chance to speak face-to-face with managers of local mental health, meet other carers who want to influence services, raise issues and get answers to their questions.
The Trust’s deputy chief executive Alex Farrell said, "The people who use our services are the experts in understanding their care needs, and can tell how we can change and improve things. This feedback is invaluable and I would encourage local service users to take advantage of this opportunity to ensure their voice is heard and help improve health services.”
The next service user dialogue group in North Kirklees will be held as part of the Trust’s wellbeing month on the 7th October. The group will run from 1.15pm- 3.30pm at The Seminar rooms, Dewsbury Health Centre. The group will then be held every other month on the first Thursday of the month.
Dialogue groups help people who currently use Trust services and their carers have open and honest two-way discussions with our staff across Calderdale, Kirklees and Wakefield.
The groups give individuals the opportunity to tell the Trust how they are affected by what happens in services and share their experiences. The aim is to promote mutual understanding and trust between staff and service users and carers.
The groups also encourage people who can not attend the meetings, for whatever reason, to contribute via service user representatives, for example people can ask somebody from our inclusion team to raise issues at the group on their behalf.
There is usually an agenda or theme at each meeting but people are welcome to raise other issues. Topics that have been discussed at previous meetings include inpatient services, child protection issues and benefits. To find out more about a dialogue group running in your area call 01484 343372 or email inclusion@swyt.nhs.uk.