Joint drive to offer help for mental health

From left: Catherine Hind, Samaritans Hospital Outreach Team Leader;
Paul Jebb, Assistant Chief Nurse; Jenny Dighton, Director of Samaritans of Lancaster and District; Charlotte Gregory, staff nurse at Royal Lancaster Infirmary. — From left: Catherine Hind, Samaritans Hospital Outreach Team Leader; Paul Jebb, Assistant Chief Nurse; Jenny Dighton, Director of Samaritans of Lancaster and District; Charlotte Gregory, staff nurse at Royal Lancaster Infirmary.

The new leaflet offers patients and their families the chance to open up about any mental health concerns they may  be curious about and provides direct contact details to the Samaritans for any support.

For people who may initially be hesitant to call the Samaritans straight away, the new leaflet offers self-help techniques which can be done independently to  support their mental well-being.

UHMBT and Samaritans of Lancaster and District have been working on an Emotional Support Project, created by Catherine Hind, a Student Mental Health Nurse at the University of Cumbria.

Team Leader. Catherine said: “The outreach project was able to bring everybody  together and is helpful for those who are coming to A&E and struggling with their emotional health. As well as the leaflet, the project offers staff training to develop a higher level of emotional understanding and ways to take appropriate action when faced with emotionally distressed patients.

“We are also helping patients to recognise when they are struggling and that it is okay to seek support.

“Talking and being listened to is definitely pivotal and that is what the Samaritans and the project is about.”

For more information or to download the leaflet, visit https://www.uhmb.nhs.uk/files/5415/1542/4474/Samaritans_UHMBT_Partnership.pdf.