A project worker with AMH everyBODY has clinched this year’s coveted ICE Award for the unstinting enthusiasm and sheer hard work she brings to her role every single day.

Deborah McCready only took up her role within Action Mental Health in 2018 but since her arrival she has been vital in helping to raise the profile of the specialist eating disorder service among the general public.

Receiving her award during a recent ceremony from Robert Mowbray, vice chair of the board of Action Mental Health, Deborah expressed shock and delight after being informed of her win by her manager, Colin Loughran.

Deborah, who is based in Portadown, had been nominated by AMH’s Communications team which had called upon Deborah on numerous occasions within the past year to help drive and steer communications campaigns on eating disorders and related issues.

AMH everyBODY, which operates within the Southern Health and Social Care Trust (SHSCT) area, introduced a vital and effective new model of support for people experiencing eating disorders and their families and carers in partnership with the trust.

The Chairman’s ICE award recognises individuals’ contribution to Innovation, Creativity and Excellence within the organisation and are presented twice a year to celebrate individual achievement. Recipients are presented with an ICE award and also win an extra day’s leave.

The awards were conceived in recognition that AMH’s people are “the organisation’s most important resource in achieving its mission and advancing its vision”, according to chairman Peter Fitzsimmons.

Reacting to the news, Deborah said: “Oh my goodness, I was like a deer in headlights shocked. I thought I was meeting Colin for a catch-up but little did I know! I can think of so many people deserving of it though, especially the Comms team. So much of the work I’ve gotten to do has been a team effort with yourselves, so thank you all too!”

Her manager Colin Loughran, Service Manager for AMH Craigavon and Banbridge, paid tribute to Deborah’s zeal for her job.

“Since taking up her post with AMH everyBODY Deborah has really owned and advanced all her duties, bringing vital support to greater and increasing numbers of individuals and families. Deborah has played a central role in elevating AMH everyBODY as the preferred provider status in the Southern Health and Social Care Trust area, being pivotal to the comprehensive rebranding process which led to its relaunch last September. That rebrand was critical in re-establishling AMH’s eating disorder service as a competent option, nurturing confidence from AMH funders and the general public.”

In the nomination, Deborah was highlighted for her expertise, warm and giving personal manner, and the empathy with which she deals with vulnerable clients and their loved ones.

In delivering the remit of her post, she was also noted for her skill in equipping people with better self-support skills, while informing and reinforcing healthy lifestyle behaviours to keep people safe and to allay their fears during times of distress.

In assisting the Communications team, Deborah has routinely gone well beyond the expectation of her job description on many occasions to ensure that the service provided is comprehensive and complete.

Key to her nomination was also Deborah’s development of a monthly carers’ support group which has been pivotal to clients and their families, and also, her key role in AMH’s collaboration with Queen’s University’s Mental Health Week campaign. As a speaker in the high profile event, she shared her insight and expertise on her specialist subject before a host of academic panelists.

“In short, Deborah was singled out for the honour of the ICE award for consistently going above and beyond for her clients and for Action Mental Health,” added Communications Manager, Tricia Browne.

A Review of Mental Health Policies in Northern Ireland

By Professor Siobhan O’ Neill, Professor Deirdre Heenan and Dr Jennifer Betts

Supported by Action Mental Health

 As Ulster University launched a new review of Northern Ireland’s mental health policies, it has been revealed that waiting lists for services in Northern Ireland are now 24 times greater than in England and Wales combined.

Brand new figures set out in the policy review by Ulster University

‘Making Parity a Reality’  

showed that as of March 2019 approximately 120,000 people of all ages in Northern Ireland were waiting over a year for access to health services.

The UU policy review, launched in conjunction with Action Mental Health, is a call to action for a ten year mental health strategy in Northern Ireland – the only UK region without one. It comes in the face of rising suicide rates and a system delivered in a fragmented and piecemeal manner.

The figures, obtained by the University, cast a damning light on health services here in Northern Ireland in comparison to similar statistics for England and Wales combined, where approximately only 5000 people were waiting for over 12 months.

‘Making Parity a Reality’ was unveiled at Stormont on Friday, June 21, at an event featuring special guest, Gary Lightbody of internationally renowned and multi-award winning rock band, Snow Patrol.

Last November the Co Down born singer, who has suffered from depression in the past, hit out at politicians over the impact on mental health services of the absence of a functioning devolved government at Stormont.

Other speakers addressing invited guests of health practitioners, academics, departmental officials, campaigners and local political representatives included policy review lead author, Professors Deirdre Heenan, Ulster University; Action Mental Health Chief Executive, David Babington; Dr Gerry Lynch, Consultant Psychiatrist at the Northern Health Trust and Chair of the Northern Ireland division of the Royal College of Psychiatrists; and Professor Nicola Rooney, chair of the British Psychological Society branch for Northern Ireland. The event was sponsored by the Ulster Unionist Party’s spokesperson for Mental Health, Robbie Butler, MLA for Lagan Valley alongside Nichola Mallon, MLA from the SDLP and the Alliance Party MLA Chris Lyttle.

Report author, Professor of Mental Health Sciences at Ulster University, Professor Siobhan O’Neill said: “The evidence suggests that in NI there is an urgent and compelling need for a fully costed, mental health strategy as current provision is fragmented, under-funded and overstretched. We need a long-term commitment to address the changes required.”

Commenting on the latest figures for waiting times in Northern Ireland, Professor Deirdre Heenan, Ulster University, said: “Waiting times for services here have become even worse relative to Wales and England – largely because both regions have made progress in reducing their long waits, whereas Northern Ireland has not. The impact of this extensive waiting on a patient’s mental health and well-being, and on their families, can be only negative, indeed a recent report by the Children’s Commissioner explained how vulnerable young people talked about their mental health deteriorating, for some to a crisis point, as a direct result of the delay in being able to access services.’

“As of March there were 120,000 waiters over a year in Northern Ireland, compared to 5000 across England and Wales combined. That equates to 1 in 16 people in Northern Ireland being on waiting lists for more than a year, compared to, at most, 1 in 750 in Wales and 1 in 48,000 in England.

“A patient on the waiting list in Northern Ireland is at least 36 times more likely to have been waiting for more than a year compared to Wales, and more than a thousand times more likely to have been waiting over a year than a patient in England. This is simply not acceptable. For too long mental health services have been an afterthought in Northern Ireland. If the health service is to become more efficient, it is vital that physical health and mental health are integrated.”

The launch of Making Parity a Reality heard calls for a fully costed, ten year mental health strategy with clear targets, aligned to other health strategies, with spending, as a percentage of the overall Northern Ireland health budget doubled to at least 12%, on par with spending in England.

Campaigners are also calling for the Protect Life Two suicide prevention strategy to be urgently implemented, to help reverse Northern Ireland’s suicide rate and for better crises services. The rate of suicide here outstrips all the other UK regions, indeed in 2017 it was more than double the rate of England, standing at 18.5 per 100,000 people compared to 9.2 per 100,000 in England.

Action Mental Health Chief Executive David Babington welcomed the new review, stating: “Northern Ireland’s policy makers need to be ambitious as the mediocre approach that’s been delivered up to now is not good enough. Mental health has for too long been the Cinderella service of the NHS and despite an increased focus and awareness in the area of mental health, as championed by the likes of Action Mental Health, many key challenges remain.

“There are a number of systemic barriers that limit the mental health sector in providing consistent high-quality care, from inconsistent variable commissioning of services, increasing demand and inadequate funding, to the lack of integration with other services. Northern Ireland urgently needs a joined-up approach.”

Dr Gerry Lynch, chair of the Royal College of Psychiatrists NI and a Board member of Action Mental Health said:  “We would like to see parity for Mental Health made real by the commissioning of services currently unavailable or under provided in Northern Ireland, as well as access to crisis services and a targeted increase in trained staff.

“Funding must be put in place in any plan and we need access to data in order to judge progress. This further contribution by Ulster University to the public discussion on mental health is most welcome and we are delighted to support this launch.”

Making Parity a Reality calls for a more holistic approach to health services, with a greater focus on prevention and early intervention to reduce the long term impact for people experiencing mental health problems and their families, and to reduce the costs for the NHS and emergency services.

The review calls for Northern Ireland’s high waiting lists to be presented in relation to their impact on mental health and for a new emphasis on creating mentally healthy communities. Urging politicians and policy makers for greater innovation within Northern Ireland’s devolved administration, the review calls for strategic leadership roles for people with lived experience of mental ill-health.

Clients at Action Mental Health Promote have been treating the cast and crew of a major national TV show to delicious treats during their hard-earned break time.

Presenter Nick Knowles and his DIY SOS Big Build team arrived in Bangor last week to kit-out a home for a local family with special health needs, and washed down their coffee at break-time with delicious traybakes made by the clients from AMH Promote.

AMH Promote provides opportunities for adults with a learning disability to be socially active and develop new skills in a supportive and engaging environment.

Nick Knowles and his team were fittingly attired in their trademark ‘purple shirts’ – the same branding colours of Action Mental Health – with the project marking the SOS show’s first ever Big Build in Northern Ireland.

The show was filming the transformation of the McCreight family house in Bangor, home to Mandy and Davey and their teenage children Ben and Kara.

Clients were star struck meeting the familiar TV face of Nick Knowles and his team, including DIY SOS build manager Mark Millar, a native of Bangor who was ‘over the moon’ to be back on home turf.

The gang from Promote were filmed handing over the traybakes, so hopefully they’ll make the finally editing cut and appear on the popular show when the episode appears on our screens in the autumn. The clients had to explain to Nick exactly what a traybake was after he said he hadn’t heard the term for the delicacies loved by the sweet-toothed Northern Ireland community.

AMH Promote Service Manager Niaobh Adams said clients were delighted to meet the DIY SOS team. “There was great excitement among the clients, getting to meet with Nick Knowles and the Purple Shirt team, especially since purple is our colour here at Action Mental Health.
“They all worked very hard in the kitchen, making a variety of tray bakes to make the cast and crew’s break time all the more enjoyable.  It was a great day for everyone at AMH Promote.”

The public can taste the tray bakes that the DIY SOS crew sampled during Promote’s regular coffee mornings that take place on the last Thursday of each month, the next one taking place on June 27.

We’re supporting a campaign spearheaded by MenCap and the Law Centre to make the Personal Independence Payment process better for people with disabilities. We especially want to gather responses from as many mental health service users as possible.

If you have claimed PIP, or supported someone who has, we want to hear from you. What went well? What didn’t go well? How would you improve the process?

Complete the anonymous survey www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/PIPexperience

PIP Poster

This week’s Northern Ireland Alcohol Awareness Week poses a question to those of us who enjoy a tipple: “How Risking Is Your Drinking?”

Some 38% of men and 16% of women are now drinking above recommended limits – 14 units for both men and women – with 1.1m people in the UK being alcohol dependent, according to a recent report from the World Health Organisation (WHO). Its Global Status on Alcohol report found that people who drink to alter their mood – or to change their mental state – are ‘dicing with danger’.

“Sufficient evidence now exists to assume alcohol’s contributory role in depression,” the report stated.

Other studies corroborate the findings, illustrating that up to 12m adults in the UK drink to help them relax or overcome feelings of depression. However, drinking to mask anxiety, lift a depressed mood or to help cope with general unease has the opposite effect: once the alcohol wears off the physical hangover is very often accompanied by anxiety or low mood.

Drinking can also affect your judgement and might open people to decisions and actions they may regret later. Alcohol is estimated to be a factor, not only in 16% of road deaths, but 48% of suicides and 49% of self-harm presentations to A&E.

Dr Andrew McCulloch, Chief Executive of the Mental Health Foundation, in his forward to its report, Cheers? Understanding the relationship between alcohol and mental health, written by Dr Deborah Cornah, states: “The reasons we drink and the consequences of excessive drinking are intimately linked with our mental health, and this holds the key to dealing with growing worries about alcohol misuse.”

Evidence shows:

• significant connections between reported alcohol use and depressive symptoms
• people report using alcohol to help them sleep
• people drink more when experiencing moderate to high levels of shyness or fear
• anxious people use drinking ‘to cope’ and are more likely to avoid social situations where alcohol is not available
• as many as 65% of suicides have been linked to excessive drinking
• 70% of men who take their own lives have drunk alcohol before doing so
• almost a third of suicides amongst young people occur while the person is intoxicated
• anxiety and depressive symptoms are more common in heavy drinkers
• heavy drinking is more common in those with anxiety and depression
• there is a significant relationship between job stress and alcohol consumption
• many GPs believe that alcohol is a cause of mental health problems.

To counter these potential pitfalls, adults – men and women both – should restrict themselves to the recommended 14 units per week, which amounts to six pints of lager, or a bottle and a half of wine spread over three or more days, with a few days being completely alcohol free.

Adhering to healthy limits on your drinking will not only improve your health, you’ll also save hundreds of calories, considering 18 glasses (three bottles) of wine,  at 175ml per glass, is equivalent to 2880 calories – or three portions of fish and chips. The same number of pints of beer is worth 3240 calories!

If you’re uncertain about the levels of alcohol you are drinking why not test yourself at www.alcoholandyouni.com/audit

For further information, help and advice visit: www.drugsandalcoholni.info