The Psychological Professions Network (PPN) in the North West celebrated the 10th year of its formation in Manchester on 24th May 2023. We were delighted to be joined by network members and supporters, past and present, to take a look back at our achievements and consider the vision and priorities for the coming year and the next 10 years.
View the conference slides and materials here.
The event was of particular significance personally, as it marked my stepping down as PPN programme manager to retire after 38 years of working in mental health and psychological therapies within the NHS. During the course of my career I have witnessed a number of ‘transformations’ - the closure of the old Victorian asylums, the establishment of multi-disciplinary community care teams; acceptance of innovative evidence based bio-psycho-social approaches to the treatment and management of severe and enduring mental health conditions and, in the past decade, recognition of the importance of parity of esteem for mental health across health and care, and the key role of psychological approaches and psychological professionals in leading innovation and influencing system change within the NHS. Each one of these key transformational stages has required professional leadership to be confident, supported to challenge established assumptions, enabled to promote dialogue, find solutions and support organisational change.
The development and support of leadership and promotion of innovation across the psychological professions workforce lies at the very heart of the vision for the Psychological Professions Network. The projects and initiatives showcased at the celebration event, illustrated the rich contribution that the PPN has made to develop the psychological professions workforce and to influence wider health and care, such as the ground braking work described by Laura Golding on the implementation of multi-professional Swartz Rounds and the hugely entertaining presentation by Pete Carruthers on the use of drama as a method by which to build empathy and understanding.
It was always going to be a challenge to capture everything that the network has achieved throughout the past 10 years, but the showcase video that bought together a number of members and partners of the network, to reflect upon the work and influence of the network, captured the depth and breadth of the vision and impact. View the video here.
In the past year the network has focussed on the development of expert by experience (EBE) involvement and the introduction of leadership placements for final year trainee clinical psychologists. The presentation co-produced by Leanne Bird and the EBE Steering Group demonstrated how these two initiatives have come together to provide a rich learning opportunity for everyone involved and the development of innovative tool kit for enabling teams to think about how they develop co-production with EBEs. The toolkit can be found here.
We were delighted to be joined by Chris Cutts, Regional Chief People Officer & Director of Workforce and OD and Adrian Whittington, National Clinical Lead for the Psychological Professions at NHS England. Chris has been a keen advocate and champion of the PPN in the northwest and made a compelling case for why continued growth of leadership within the psychological professions workforce, supported by the PPN will be essential to delivery of the NHS long term plan. This was supported by the expectation outlined by Adrian for continued growth and development of the psychological professions over the coming decade and the need for the workforce to be at the leading edge of influencing the implementation of these developments.
For those of you that attended the event I hope that you enjoyed the day and were inspired to get involved in the PPN over the coming 10 years.
