In 2023, Cygnet became the first independent provider of health and social care services to be accredited by the Carers Trust Triangle of Care programme.
Now, Cygnet Hospital Hexham and Cygnet Fountains have become the first independent providers of mental health services to both receive and retain this recognition. Once again they have achieved the one-star accreditation, meaning staff have successfully demonstrated their commitment to making a difference to the lives of carers.
Serena Birtwistle, hospital manager for Cygnet Fountains, explained: “I am so amazingly proud of all the effort and dedication that the whole team have made and continue to make in ensuring family and carers are made to feel welcome, involved and that their voices are heard and their experiences are understood.
“Carer involvement is often essential to the positive experiences of service users in our care, any admission to any hospital is extremely anxiety provoking both for the service user and family members, but if we can encourage early involvement and engagement, we can hugely reduce these anxieties and offer faith and assurance from our service.”
The Triangle of Care is an alliance between carers, service users and health professionals. It aims to promote safety and recovery and to sustain wellbeing in mental health by including and supporting carers.
Anthony Saiger, Hospital Manager at Cygnet Hospital Hexham, a 27-bed mental health hospital for women, added: “It is an absolute privilege to have retained our one star accreditation with the Triangle of Care.
“As Mental Health professionals we look after people during their times of relapse or struggle, however carers look after people all day, every day, and often go unnoticed.
“For us it is an honour to support the carers who support our service users and guide wherever we can to make their journey as easy as we possibly can.”
The Triangle of Care was initially developed to improve mental health acute services by adopting these six principles:
- Carers and the essential role they play are identified at first contact or as soon as possible thereafter.
- Staff are ‘carer aware’ and trained in carer engagement strategies.
- Policy and practice protocols regarding confidentiality and sharing information, are in place.
- Defined post(s) responsible for carers are in place.
- A carer introduction to the service and staff is available, with a relevant range of information across the care pathway.
- A range of carer support services are available.
In their submission response for both Cygnet Fountains and Cygnet Hospital Hexham, Triangle of Care assessors noted there was strong evidence that carers were invited to be involved in all aspects of care planning (where consent has been given) through daily notes which are regularly updated. They were also impressed with how carers are invited to attend ward rounds in person and views sought via appropriate methods of communication in line with carer’s needs and preferences.
They were also impressed that 100% of staff are trained on carer awareness and all carer handbooks and welcome packs are co-produced, with carer input. Assessors praised how the hospitals work with external carer organisations and signpost carers for support when necessary.
Cygnet Group Service Improvement Manager Laura Sheridan commended the work and effort being done at the two hospitals to improve the lives of carers.
She said: “This achievement is a testament to the hard work and dedication of the entire teams. Cygnet Fountains and Cygnet Hospital Hexham stand out as two of four Cygnet hospitals to be the first to achieve this accreditation last year.
“Furthermore, Cygnet is proud to be the first independent provider to receive and retain this recognition. This is an amazing milestone.”