ICS nominated for two awards | News and events

Two healthcare projects led by Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Integrated Care System (ICS) partners have been shortlisted for awards at this year’s national NHS Parliamentary Awards.

The two nominations, put forward by East of England MPs, include The Mental Health Joint Response Car initiative in the category of Excellence in Mental Health Care Award and valued colleague Courtenay Schaffer for the NHS Rising Star Award.

The NHS Parliamentary Awards calls on MPs around the country to find and nominate those individuals or teams working for the NHS, who they think have made the biggest improvements to health and care services in their constituencies, across ten categories. 

Rising Star Award nominee, Courtenay Schaffer, began her NHS career as a Junior Administrator, has diligently worked over the past five years to become Executive Assistant to the Chief Nursing Officer, Carol Anderson. Courtenay has worked tirelessly in her roles and is unfaltering in her commitment to the organisation.

Carol Anderson, Chief Nursing Officer for Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Integrated Care System said: “Courtenay constantly goes above and beyond what is expected and takes every opportunity she can to learn about the NHS and importantly about how to make it better for patients and staff. She is a very valued member of the team and ensures that everyone is heard and often speaks up on behalf of others.”

Also nominated, The Mental Health Joint Response Car initiative, is put forward for The Excellence in Mental Health Care Award category. A successful initiative that provides mental health help and support when the police are called out to people in crisis. It is funded by NHS Cambridgeshire & Peterborough, part of the Integrated Care System and provides expert mental health staff from Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust who attend callouts alongside police officers from Cambridgeshire Constabulary in two specialist response cars.

The success of the scheme is due to having a trained mental health specialist on hand that can help calm a situation and, in many cases, can avoid police using their powers to detain people, or unnecessary conveying to hospital. The scheme also significantly decreases the amount of time police officers spend at each incident allowing vital resource to be allocated elsewhere.

Detective Inspector Dan Cooper, Cambridgeshire Constabulary said: “It’s fantastic news that the mental health car has been nominated for this award.

“The scheme helps to get specialist care to those in mental health crisis as soon as possible. As well as this, it frees up vital police resource and helps to take pressure off local NHS.

“With so many hours of officers’ time taken up dealing with incidents which involve mental health, and demand for our services at an all-time high, this is an excellent scheme that benefits everyone.”

Jamie Secker, Service Manager for CPFT, said: “To have been shortlisted in the awards is a tribute to the entire team. It’s a great example of how mental health practitioners and the police – together with our commissioners – are working in partnership to improve the care and treatment of those in mental health crisis.

“Many incidents that police get called out to involve someone with a mental health issue, so to have our staff working alongside frontline officers has been a very welcome move. Our staff can offer instant expert support to someone who is experiencing a mental health crisis. Having a nurse who knows what to do often puts people at ease when they’re feeling at their most vulnerable.

“We recognise that police officers are stretched, so if we’re able to speed up some of the processes and take on some of the referral paperwork, it frees them up to do other important tasks.

“We’re really proud of this partnership, and the feedback we’ve had from the people we’ve been called out to has been really encouraging.”

Louis Kamfer, Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Strategic Commissioning at NHS Cambridgeshire & Peterborough said: “We are delighted that we have been nominated for two different NHS Parliamentary Awards. The Mental Health Joint Response Car initiative is a great example of partnership working across health and policing in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough that is making a real difference in our communities.

"It is also great to see our colleague Courtenay Schaffer being nominated for the Rising Star Award – she is an incredible asset to our organisation, and a true example of a rising star within the NHS. Both nominations are worthy winners, and we wish them the best of luck at the ceremony in July.”   

Both nominations will now go head-to-head with other winners from across the country for a national award, presented at a special ceremony in Westminster, London on the 5 July.