Princess Royal official opens new Mental Health Hospital in Southport

HER Royal Highness The Princess Royal, Anne, will officially open a ₤21 million state of the art mental health facility in Southport at the start of a visit to Merseyside, on Monday, 26 July 2021. The Princess Royal will be greeted at Hartley Hospital by Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust�s Chairman Beatrice Fraenkel and Chief Executive Joe Rafferty CBE, before touring the new Hospital, which was completed and became fully operational during the Pandemic. Hartley Hospital, off Scarisbrick New Road, Southport, combines local mental health inpatient care and related community services on 1 site in Southport for the 1st time; replacing 2 old, worn out and unfit buildings. The new Hospital has 2 wards, 1 for adults undergoing a mental health crisis and another for older adults needing complex care. All 40 bedrooms are single with en suite bathrooms and patients have access to inner garden courtyards, therapy and activity areas. There is also a short term assessment suite, on site caf�, a family visiting:- room, sacred space, gym, suite of offices and outpatient services. During the visit The Princess Royal will meet:- Doctors, Nurses, Therapists and other health professionals from Mersey Care, including a member of the spiritual and pastoral care team and a service user representative. The visit has been coordinated under strict safety measures.

Chairman of Mersey Care, Beatrice Fraenkel explained:- "Covid19 safety measures mean we were unable to invite the many people who have contributed to bringing Hartley Hospital to completion over recent years, but today's official opening is a tribute to everyone who has been involved."

Chief Executive Joe Rafferty said:- "This is a special day in a long journey which has involved:- service users, carers, staff and partner organisations in designing a world class mental health facility fit for the 21st century. Thanks to support from health and construction partners and importantly our staff, we completed the final phase of the new build in December 2020 and managed to move all remaining inpatient and community mental health services in Southport here despite the enormous challenges of the Pandemic. We're delighted Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal has been able to officially open Hartley Hospital. It�s not only recognition of our significant investment in the health and wellbeing of Sefton, but also all the hard work and commitment that exists across all NHS mental health services."

This is the latest accolade for Mersey Care having just been granted the Honorary Freedom of the Borough by Sefton Council along with several other Trusts for their work during the Pandemic. Hartley Hospital is also shortlisted for 2 national design, building and service user involvement awards..

Extra measures scaled back, but vigilance still required says Sefton's Public Health boss

RESPONDING to the announcement by the Government it is scaling back the extra measures that were put in place to combat the COVID Delta variant, Sefton Council's Director of Public Health Margaret Jones has said people need to remain on their guard.

Margaret Jones said:- "It is clear that despite the Government's lifting of most restrictions last week and the removal of these extra measures, we all need to remain vigilant if we are going to halt the current growth in COVID infections and protect each other. We all need to make sure we get both our vaccination jabs and I thank everyone who has already got theirs. We also all need to continue taking regular rapid tests even though we don't have Coronavirus symptoms. And we all need to continue isolating as soon as we're we're told to through Test and Trace or the NHS app. People can get vaccination jabs at walk in locations across the Borough, free rapid tests are still widely available including from all Sefton Pharmacies, and we are still running drive through and walk through centres for rapid and PCR tests. More information on all of these is available at:- Sefton.Gov.UK/Covid19."

Friday's Government announcement said the package of additional support that has been in place in Sefton and across the Liverpool City Region and other areas will end. However, it said the Government will continue to work closely with local authorities to help them manage Covid19 growth rates in their areas.

Mrs Jones said that she had noticed that many people across Sefton were continuing to show concern for others around them by still wearing masks in indoor spaces and maintaining social distancing.

She added:- "I know that many people were concerned about the withdrawal of most restrictions last week and I think this is reflected by large numbers of people who are carrying on observing them voluntarily in order to keep themselves and those around them safe."

New adoption strategy must mark start of a revolution in adoption thinking

THE UK Government's new adoption strategy, published today, shows it is listening to families and signals a commitment to major change, but it will take strong leadership and scrutiny to deliver that change, according to leading charity Adoption UK. The strategy draws on evidence from Adoption UK's Adoption Barometer, now in its 3rd year. The Barometer, based on a large annual survey of adopters and adopted people, is listed as 1 of the Government's tests for success.

CEO of Adoption UK, Dr Sue Armstrong Brown said:- "There is much to commend in the Government's new adoption strategy. We warmly welcome the emphasis on listening to the voices of adopted people and adopters. The commitment to giving families the support they need, when they need it is an important acknowledgement that adoption is only the beginning of healing for children who have experienced trauma. This must mark a revolution in adoption thinking; from simply bringing families together, to ensuring they can thrive."

The Government's last adoption strategy, which ended in 2019, introduced a new system of Regional Adoption Agencies (RAAs), bringing local authority adoption services together under regional leadership. The intention was to streamline adoption and:- "radically improve adoption support." The new strategy has not proposed any new legislation; rather, it gives RAAs increased responsibilities to improve key parts of the adoption system.

Dr Armstrong Brown continued:- "Much of the success of the strategy relies on the ability of the Regional Adoption Agencies to make big shifts in mindset and practice. Without the backing of new legislation, this is a leap of faith. RAAs will need support, challenge and scrutiny over the coming years in order to deliver the kind of change that will give every adopted child the best chance of a bright future."

The strategy's focus on:- 'support throughout childhood and the transition into adulthood,' is hugely welcome. It highlights the need for improvements to early help, better support for managing contact with birth families and calls for national standards for adoption support services.

Adopters will be disappointed not to see more concrete, ambitious ideas for education. The impact of a child's trauma on their wellbeing in School and their ability to learn is adopters' number 1 concern.

Adoption UK is calling for thorough assessments for every adopted child before they move to their new families, leading to a detailed support plan that considers future as well as current needs, and a duty for adoption agencies to deliver the agreed support. High quality assessment and good forward planning are the key to ensuring families can thrive, and we hope RAAs will take up this challenge.

Princess Royal official opens new Mental Health Hospital in Southport

Extra measures scaled back, but vigilance still required says Sefton's Public Health boss

New adoption strategy must mark start of a revolution in adoption thinking

Total UK cases Covid19 cases in and around Liverpool City Region