This webinar will discuss the importance of establishing community based acute and crisis services as alternatives to In-patient Units. It will focus on the need to provide a more recovery-based approach to people undergoing repeated readmissions
Course Content
Presenter
Benna Waites is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist and Joint Head of Psychology, Counselling and Arts Therapies for Aneurin Bevan University Health Board. The Professional Head role covers around 100 staff working across Mental Health and Learning Disability, Child and Family Psychology Services, and Physical Health services including cancer and chronic pain. She has contributed to and chaired a range of national and international conferences, and has interviewed at the Hay Festival.
Benna works one day a week in ABCi and has been involved in the development of the award-winning Leading People course, designed to help leaders manage themselves and their relationships in the workplace better and in a way that promotes staff engagement, well-being and compassionate care. She is also co-author to the British Psychological Society’s guidelines on the disclosure of non-recent sexual abuse and has lectured on this subject across the UK. She is passionate about developing more compassionate, trauma informed mental health services. Prior to working in ABUHB she worked in Powys for ten years, was seconded to the Welsh Government to develop Eating Disorder services and worked in London for ten years in a range of mental and physical health settings. She undertook her training in Manchester and Oxford.
MSc BA (Hons), Housing Manager, Mental Health and Learning Disabilities
After graduating University in 1998 Joanne spent 8 years within the private sector before moving on to the Public sector in 2006 where she worked as a Senior Housing Strategy officer for Torfaen County Borough Council. Here Joanne lead on key strategic priorities including, empty properties, private landlord forums and the development of affordable and specialist housing. Joanne Joined Anuerin Bevan Health board in 2014 as a programme officer for the newly formed ‘in one place’ collaboration which brought housing, health and social care together to provide innovative solutions to identified gaps in housing provision. Joanne spent two years within complex clinical commissioning before taking up her current role as Divisional Housing Manager for Mental Health and disabilities.
A key element of her role includes working in partnership with Local Authority colleagues and Housing Associations to identify current and future housing demand for individuals with a mental health and learning disability across Gwent. Joanne was a member of the project group that help to set up the first crisis support house within Gwent and took over as the project lead in April 2022. Joanne sees the development of Ty Cynnal as a crucial project in developing alternative models to hospital admission, with the overall aim to improve outcomes and experiences for those experiencing a mental health crisis in Gwent.
