At Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust we’re enabling our secure inpatients to undertake qualifications that can, and do lead to sustainable employment.
Our inpatients at Guild Lodge in Preston have new opportunities open to them - the possibility of achieving qualifications that could lead to sustainable employment. Thirty five of our current inpatients have signed up to engage in functional skills qualifications in maths, English and digital literacy as part of our education and learning pathway and in partnership with Lancashire Adult Education College, courses are now underway at Guild Lodge, to help people achieve qualifications during their recovery journey with us.
The four-year partnership has seen 79 of our former inpatients with severe mental illness achieve qualifications from Lancashire Adult Education College while at Guild Lodge, providing the very best care to help prepare people for life in the community.
Highlighting how partnership working can really make a positive difference to people’s lives, Partnership Development Manager Kevin O’Hara said:
“It’s fantastic to see how far this has progressed since we worked in collaboration to do the first assessment and four of our inpatients achieved a digital skills qualification four years ago. It’s empowering patients and giving them skills as they recover with us, and alongside our long-standing partnership with the Integrated Care Board commissioned Individual Placement and Support (IPS) Service, it’s so exciting to see our former service users to go on and succeed in their chosen career from the partnerships established on our education and learning pathway.”
Providing the very best care to our patients includes supporting people back into employment as part of their recovery journey and our partnership with the IPS Service provides patients with an opportunity to get back into work. Since April, the IPS Service has supported an amazing 287 people treated by our community mental health teams across the area into securing work, with 54 of those people returning to their previous employment. Since the partnership began in 2020, 976 people have found long term sustainable work.
One of them is our Trainee Nursing Associate Abi Dickson was supported to follow her dream by the IPS Service two years ago and secured a healthcare assistant role at our young people’s mental health hospital The Cove, assisted by an Employment Specialist who worked with her employers. He assisted with her on-boarding at the Trust and secured reasonable adjustments.
Abi began her new role with us back in August 2023, with a gradual transition into full-time hours with a Personal Safety Plan in place, which proved helpful when she experienced early signs of a potential relapse. With the vital support of her clinical team and adjustments to her care outside of work back then, Abi successfully navigated this challenge. In November 2023, Abi applied for and secured a place on our NHS Nursing Apprenticeship, starting in March 2024, allowing her to continue working at The Cove while pursuing her degree.
Abi said:
“When I got a lot better, getting back into employment was something I wanted for me. I didn’t know if I was going to be able to hold down a full-time job or even be in a position to have job interviews because I had been out of work or volunteering for well over a year. My Employment Specialist Grant really took the time to develop a good working relationship with me and helped me explore what kind a work I would like to do and what experience I already had.
“After some time applying for roles, I got an interview for what was my dream job at The Cove. Now two years later I’m a Trainee Nursing Associate. I will be forever grateful for the support I have received from the IPS to work here at LSCFT. Hand on heart I love what I do.”
Here at the Trust, we enable our patients on their recovery journeys and prepare people to grow, learn and achieve their goals in the community. Everyone has mental health and there should be no stigma or shame around receiving mental health care, whether in the community or as an inpatient.
