Award win for Sheffield mental health team

A team that has been supporting mental health inpatients to remain in their communities has won a prestigious award.
The Community Enhancing Recovery Team (CERT) at Sheffield Health and Social Care NHS Foundation Trust has been named Team of the Year at the RCNi Nurse Awards 2019. The Community Enhancing Recovery Team (CERT) at Sheffield Health and Social Care NHS Foundation Trust has been named Team of the Year at the RCNi Nurse Awards 2019.
The Community Enhancing Recovery Team (CERT) at Sheffield Health and Social Care NHS Foundation Trust has been named Team of the Year at the RCNi Nurse Awards 2019.

The Community Enhancing Recovery Team (CERT) at Sheffield Health and Social Care NHS Foundation Trust has been named Team of the Year at the RCNi Nurse Awards 2019.

The annual award is recognised as the profession’s top accolade for nursing excellence and attracted almost 700 entries this year.

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Leader Debbie Creaser says: “This award is an incredible acknowledgement of all the hard work of the staff and the service users we work with.”

The nurse-led multidisciplinary team provides rehabilitation and recovery services for patients with mental illness who previously lived in locked, out-of-area facilities. It delivers packages of health and social care to people with mental ill-health in their own home, which means they can live close to family and friends.

More than 50 patients have been able to leave locked rehabilitation placements thanks to the team’s support, with most living independently.

Caroline Shuldham, chair of the RCNi editorial advisory board, was one of the judges who praised the team.

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She said: “Debbie and her team have a wide view of health that encompasses key factors such as housing, education and employment.

“They have provided a high quality service to a disenfranchised group of patients, improving their lives considerably. Impressive teamwork has yielded great results.”

The number of out-of-area treatment bed nights has also been reduced by 99 per cent, and there has been a significant reduction in emergency department attendances and hospital admissions. The reductions in out-of-town expenditure now fund the team, which has delivered additional savings of £500,000.