Implementation of Trauma-informed Care Within Psychiatric Services: Challenges and Opportunities

This article is based on the talk by Professor Tim Kendall at RCPsychIC 2019.  Professor Tim Kendall is NHS England’s National Clinical Director for Mental Health. He has been Director of the National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health at the Royal College of Psychiatrists for 15 years and Visiting Professor at University College London for the last eight years.

• The NHS Long Term Plan published on 7 January 2019 has committed to a ringfenced local investment fund worth £2.3 billion a year by 2023/23, and is likely to be the most significant additional injection of money into mental health the UK has seen.   
• Ambitions of the plan are to address underfunding in community teams through pilots to achieve a 4-week waiting time, and for community teams to provide trauma-informed care and psychological therapies. 
• Areas of focus in the community will be eating disorders, personality disorder, and people with psychoses and very complex problems. The Centre for Early Child Development Blackpool leads trauma-informed care within perinatal community-based services. 
• The Children and Young People Secure Estate (CYPSE) is a national partnership agreement that aims to improve approaches to and delivery of health services within custodial establishments such as secure children’s homes, secure training centres, and young offender institutions.  
• Children in these environments all have some form of trauma and have multiple needs. They exhibit high-risk behaviours, are often subjects of domestic violence and abuse, and struggle to progress within the traditional regime. 
• The Framework for Integrated Care project, known as SECURE STAIRS, will ensure that frontline staff is trained to have skills to support the children, including knowledge of attachment and human development. Once a child is in an emotionally secure setting, they will then receive therapy. 
• All institutions currently involved in providing secure care for children are involved at various stages of development and are linked through a national network. 

Read more : 

Why we need Trauma-informed services in psychiatry. 

Why is it Important to Teach Medical Students and Junior Doctors How to Ask Patients About Experiences of Abuse or Trauma?