Pennine Care awarded a gold star

Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust has been awarded the Stage One Triangle of Care (ToC) Award, picking up a gold star accreditation for its work with carers.

Self-assessments were undertaken on 29 services, wards and units, benchmarking them against the six national ToC key standards.

The ToC is a national initiative which was initially developed by carers and staff seeking to improve carer engagement in acute inpatient services. It is based on the principle that care is made better by ensuring there are good working relationships between the service user, the mental health professional and the carer. It has now been extended to cover all mental health and community services. 

Stars are awarded when the ToC standards are implemented within services and are making a positive difference to the experiences of service users, carers and staff.

Sarah Murray, from the Carers Trust, said: “The report was of a good quality and the self-assessments showed good overall action plans moving forward. I would like to  pass on my congratulations to the teams for their hard work and well done to you all for supporting implementation so effectively.”

Stuart Richardson, Mental Health and Specialist Services Director, added: “The award clearly demonstrates the hard work and commitment our staff and services have shown in improving our provision to carers. The Triangle of Care is fundamental to how we continue to support and work with carers across all of our services. 

“I would like to thank Karen Maneely, South Division Adult Service Line Manager, Gemma Mlambo, Acute Services Modern Matron, and Gemma Kirk, RHSD Transformation Lead, for their continued leadership and support in this area of work. 

“I would also like to extend my appreciation to the many carers involved in the assessment process and the ToC work. Well done to everyone involved.”

To gain further stars, the Trust says it will continue the growth of its Triangle of Care work across all community and mental health services.

Pennine Care's ToC work is overseen by a Trustwide steering group and local borough based groups. There is also a four year plan to roll out ToC into all Pennine Care services.