Unllais Llandudno conference review
In Retrospect: The Unllais Spring Conference by Lee Watmough
Across the road just outside the front of Venue Cymru you'll find a relatively untouched beach, with the ocean stretching long across the horizon. The turbines from a local wind farm can be seen in the waters out to sea. You could describe the view as “refreshing” and “inspiring”. These words I would use in talking about my first experience of this years event in Llandudno – for its opening first impression alone.
Inside Venue Cymru, walking through the building gives the feel of something modern and progressive, something which we would hope services are heading in the direction of. We soon find where we need to check in and grab our information packs for the day's event, while people are walking up the stairs to congregate in one of the main arenas. We follow suit and head on up to find our seats. It was a long trip up from Newtown, and although we could have really done with some refreshments to prepare, the decision to sit down and listen to the first speaker was by far the best choice.
Opening the conference is comedian/actor/musician/writer Boyd Clack, who has taken on the role as the main speaker. Although born in Canada, he spent his childhood growing up in Tonyrefail in the Rhondda. The past two years he's been a patron for the charity 'New Horizons', while also being involved in talking about mental health with the BBC, sharing his experience about the impact mental health has had on his life. At one time he worked as a psychiatric nurse, for hospitals in S. Wales, Jersey, Channel Islands and Australia. This is a person who has had a very rich life experience and it didn't take long to be drawn in and engrossed by what he had to share.
Starting right from the beginning from when he was born, Boyd went into vivid detail about a life plagued with tragedy. Telling it so in a way which would have you laughing hysterically one moment with his unique sense of humour, then almost in tears the next at how hard it must have been for him. One thing is clear – this is someone who has witnessed the extremes of mental distress on multiple occasions and remarkably lived to tell the tale. The way in which he shared such an intimate part of himself was very beautiful, and although Boyd doesn't see himself as a strong individual, it takes a lot of courage to bare ones soul with such honesty and humility, up in front of a large group of strangers no less. It clearly made a large impact on all the people and the appreciation he got at the end was wonderful to hear. Personally, I could have listened to him for hours. The only thing I would have liked to have seen, was more time for the Q & A session afterwards. Regardless, there was no better introduction for going into the first workshop.
There was a choice of 10 workshops to participate in, with the opportunity to attend one in the morning and one in the afternoon. My first choices were 'Primary Care' and the 'Care Programme Approach (CPA)'. I made my way quickly to the room where Clinical Nurse Specialist, Catherine Jones, would talk about initiatives to have more of a presence in GP services for those experiencing mental distress.
What I got out of the first workshop was that clearly this is a step in the right direction. Having someone with more awareness and knowledge of mental health, which patients could see, is preferable over someone who is only limited in this area. It did however highlight concerns and problems about how General Practitioners initially treat those who do have difficulties, and bearing in mind how significant mental health is now in contemporary society, it would only make sense to have equal presence in practising surgeries - sooner rather than later.
After a lovely lunch where people had the opportunity to sit and eat with Boyd, we came back to the arena for the second speaker of the day.
Our second speaker for the day was Mrs. Mary Burrows, who has taken on the role of Chief Executive at Betsi Cadwaladr.
Mary is someone who has worked in health services not only in the UK, but also Saudi Arabia and her own country – the United States. She has previously worked in Pathology services and then went into Quality and Safety Management. While she is clearly a person of academia, she also shares some lived experience with family members being mentally ill.
As sincere as Mary was in her talk, explaining how much we all have to come together – not just professionals, services users too – if we are ever to make that big of a difference, there was also a bit too much about it that was self-centred. We understood the role she has taken on and how challenging it will be – yet this is why she gets the big pay check and the beautiful view from her home. What do service users really get for putting the hard work in, like they have been doing so for so long? Again with the Q & A session being too short, there was little time to explore ways in which we could work together. It would have been better to have a forum to explore this more.
After the talk, we went to our second workshop of the day.
Joanne Cottier, CP Lead Coordinator of Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board and Sandra Loxton, CPA Manager, Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, North East Wales, were up to the challenge of explaining what the CPA is and what it's aim is really for.
It became clear straight away how complicated this approach actually is, and how hard it must be for professionals working in CMHTs to try and figure out what it's actual purpose is – or if they do understand, in what way are they suppose to go about doing it. On giving my own feedback of a poor experience to do with the CPA, I strongly felt that there needed to be much more training, yet not only that – a way to make sure that employers and employees actually understand it! In theory, the CPA is a wonderful idea for having people take charge and manage their own care. All that's missing is the right way to, dare I say, approach it.
After a long day with much to ponder on, it was time for the final farewell back in the Arena. It was brief, yet that's all it needed to be.
I'm thankful for the day in a way that words fail to describe. I thank all involved and especially to Boyd – may he find the courage to speak up more and give the world what it could do well to listen to.
http://www.powysmentalhealth.org.uk/en/powys_mental_health_news/unllais-llandudno-conference-review_2010_06_28.php
Across the road just outside the front of Venue Cymru you'll find a relatively untouched beach, with the ocean stretching long across the horizon. The turbines from a local wind farm can be seen in the waters out to sea. You could describe the view as “refreshing” and “inspiring”. These words I would use in talking about my first experience of this years event in Llandudno – for its opening first impression alone.
Inside Venue Cymru, walking through the building gives the feel of something modern and progressive, something which we would hope services are heading in the direction of. We soon find where we need to check in and grab our information packs for the day's event, while people are walking up the stairs to congregate in one of the main arenas. We follow suit and head on up to find our seats. It was a long trip up from Newtown, and although we could have really done with some refreshments to prepare, the decision to sit down and listen to the first speaker was by far the best choice.
Opening the conference is comedian/actor/musician/writer Boyd Clack, who has taken on the role as the main speaker. Although born in Canada, he spent his childhood growing up in Tonyrefail in the Rhondda. The past two years he's been a patron for the charity 'New Horizons', while also being involved in talking about mental health with the BBC, sharing his experience about the impact mental health has had on his life. At one time he worked as a psychiatric nurse, for hospitals in S. Wales, Jersey, Channel Islands and Australia. This is a person who has had a very rich life experience and it didn't take long to be drawn in and engrossed by what he had to share.
Starting right from the beginning from when he was born, Boyd went into vivid detail about a life plagued with tragedy. Telling it so in a way which would have you laughing hysterically one moment with his unique sense of humour, then almost in tears the next at how hard it must have been for him. One thing is clear – this is someone who has witnessed the extremes of mental distress on multiple occasions and remarkably lived to tell the tale. The way in which he shared such an intimate part of himself was very beautiful, and although Boyd doesn't see himself as a strong individual, it takes a lot of courage to bare ones soul with such honesty and humility, up in front of a large group of strangers no less. It clearly made a large impact on all the people and the appreciation he got at the end was wonderful to hear. Personally, I could have listened to him for hours. The only thing I would have liked to have seen, was more time for the Q & A session afterwards. Regardless, there was no better introduction for going into the first workshop.
There was a choice of 10 workshops to participate in, with the opportunity to attend one in the morning and one in the afternoon. My first choices were 'Primary Care' and the 'Care Programme Approach (CPA)'. I made my way quickly to the room where Clinical Nurse Specialist, Catherine Jones, would talk about initiatives to have more of a presence in GP services for those experiencing mental distress.
What I got out of the first workshop was that clearly this is a step in the right direction. Having someone with more awareness and knowledge of mental health, which patients could see, is preferable over someone who is only limited in this area. It did however highlight concerns and problems about how General Practitioners initially treat those who do have difficulties, and bearing in mind how significant mental health is now in contemporary society, it would only make sense to have equal presence in practising surgeries - sooner rather than later.
After a lovely lunch where people had the opportunity to sit and eat with Boyd, we came back to the arena for the second speaker of the day.
Our second speaker for the day was Mrs. Mary Burrows, who has taken on the role of Chief Executive at Betsi Cadwaladr.
Mary is someone who has worked in health services not only in the UK, but also Saudi Arabia and her own country – the United States. She has previously worked in Pathology services and then went into Quality and Safety Management. While she is clearly a person of academia, she also shares some lived experience with family members being mentally ill.
As sincere as Mary was in her talk, explaining how much we all have to come together – not just professionals, services users too – if we are ever to make that big of a difference, there was also a bit too much about it that was self-centred. We understood the role she has taken on and how challenging it will be – yet this is why she gets the big pay check and the beautiful view from her home. What do service users really get for putting the hard work in, like they have been doing so for so long? Again with the Q & A session being too short, there was little time to explore ways in which we could work together. It would have been better to have a forum to explore this more.
After the talk, we went to our second workshop of the day.
Joanne Cottier, CP Lead Coordinator of Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board and Sandra Loxton, CPA Manager, Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, North East Wales, were up to the challenge of explaining what the CPA is and what it's aim is really for.
It became clear straight away how complicated this approach actually is, and how hard it must be for professionals working in CMHTs to try and figure out what it's actual purpose is – or if they do understand, in what way are they suppose to go about doing it. On giving my own feedback of a poor experience to do with the CPA, I strongly felt that there needed to be much more training, yet not only that – a way to make sure that employers and employees actually understand it! In theory, the CPA is a wonderful idea for having people take charge and manage their own care. All that's missing is the right way to, dare I say, approach it.
After a long day with much to ponder on, it was time for the final farewell back in the Arena. It was brief, yet that's all it needed to be.
I'm thankful for the day in a way that words fail to describe. I thank all involved and especially to Boyd – may he find the courage to speak up more and give the world what it could do well to listen to.
http://www.powysmentalhealth.org.uk/en/powys_mental_health_news/unllais-llandudno-conference-review_2010_06_28.php
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