We were delighted to welcome Professor Subodh Dave, Dean of the Royal College of Psychiatrists and consultant at Derbyshire Healthcare Foundation Trust, to the Chai Centre last week.
Professor Dave is widely recognised for his passion for co-production and patient involvement in quality improvement, as well as his leadership in psychiatry education. His visit provided an opportunity for interesting and thought-provoking discussions on how we can continue to improve mental health care and tackle health inequalities across our communities.
During his time at the Chai Centre, Professor Dave met with Chris Oliver, Chief Executive, Gareth Thomas, Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Medical Officer, Abigail Harrison, Chief Digital and Infrastructure Officer and colleagues including Lucinda McArthur, non-Executive Director, Amy Devine, Director of Operations, Hasan Sidat, Senior Operational Manager for Community Roots & HARRI, Shaesta Saleem, Talking Therapies PWP, Farah Lunat, Research Operations Manager and Kelly Jones, Trust Transformation and Improvement Lead.
The visit began with a tour of the Chai Centre, showcasing its vital role in supporting local communities. Professor Dave explored the gym, café, sensory and nursery rooms, clinic spaces, community kitchen, garden, office spaces and dance studio.
Hasan highlighted the success of the HARRI Bus, which has reached over 15,000 local people, delivering thousands of health checks and signposting individuals to further support. This sparked conversations about reducing the mortality gap in deprived areas, the importance of community partnerships, and how data-driven strategies can help us prioritise resources where they are needed most.
Gareth and Abigail shared insights into our health inequalities strategy, emphasising how partnership working can bring health to the high street. Professor Dave shared some of his recent work including creating mental health maps in Wales, the creation of a new appraisal tool for psychiatrists and his ideas to launch a pilot scheme for veteran care.
The latter part of the morning included a presentation on the Trust’s priorities and transformation work, acknowledging that economic deprivation in Lancashire and South Cumbria is twice the national average.
Throughout the morning the theme of working together with our communities was clear. Shaesta spoke passionately about her own experiences of health inequalities and her work to make mental health support accessible for all. She shared how she engages communities to break down stigma around anxiety and depression. Her efforts are already making an impact by increasing awareness and confidence in Talking Therapies.
Farah reinforced the importance of embedding research into all aspects of clinical service delivery. She shared examples of past, current and future project plans aimed at tackling health inequalities and improving outcomes.
Professor Dave’s visit was a fantastic opportunity to showcase the Chai Centre’s role in promoting holistic care and wellbeing and to reaffirm our commitment to co-production, research and partnership working as we strive to reduce health inequalities across our region.
