Specialist mental health suite in Calderdale recognised for continuing excellence

A treatment suite for people with serious mental health problems in Calderdale has been recognised for its continuing excellence after an external review.

The Calderdale ECT treatment suite, which is run by South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, provides electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) treatment for people with severe mental health problems. ECT can be used as treatment for severe depression which has not responded to other therapies. It is also useful in treating some other severe mental health conditions.

The service received notification from the ECT Accreditation Service (ECTAS) as it has demonstrated that it has met all the current revised standards. As the service has maintained the accreditation with excellence for more than six years, they now have received the accreditation with continuing excellence.

The ECTAS is run by the Royal College of Psychiatrists and it sets out to assure and improve the quality of the administration of ECT across the country. As well as providing a quality assured service for people who need to use it, becoming accredited by ECTAS also allows the achievements of staff to be recognised and for services to receive detailed advice and support to improve.

Speaking about the accreditation Lois Sykes, Lead ECT nurse, said, “Receiving the accreditation for continuing excellence is a major achievement and shows the hard work and dedication of our staff to maintain high standards over the years.

“Gaining the accreditation is not a quick process – there are almost 300 standards that the clinic has to meet. Along with assessing the treatment process, equipment used and staff training, service users are also asked to give feedback. This allows us as a clinic to recognise what we do well and how to improve to make sure we’re providing the best services possible.”