A different perspective with SLaM NHS Foundation Trust
Skills for Health has been championing employers using a variety of approaches to workforce development, involving a wide range of stakeholders. One employer which has taken an innovative approach to working with service users is South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM).
Their training programme – Service Users in Training and Education (SUITE) – enables mental health service users to influence the Trust’s education and training provision, and has been running since 2000.
SLaM is one of the few NHS Trusts to employ service users as trainers, using them to assist with the development, delivery and evaluation of in-house training sessions for clinical staff. SUITE also designs short and long term training courses for service users to give them the training skills and confidence to get involved or to complement the skills they already have.
The programme challenges staff to review their working practices, and to see mental health service provision from a different perspective. Over the years, the Trust has developed increasingly creative ways of delivering the programmes which range from 1-5 days in length. Service user participation helps to reduce stigma of mental health generally, underpinning the core offering of the Trust. By taking part in SUITE many service users have gone on to find part time and full time work as a result.
To find out more about the SUITE programme, contact:
SUITEadmin@slam.nhs.uk
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