NHS Trust appoints new Divisional Director for mental health and learning disability services
Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust, the main provider of mental health and learning disability services across the two counties, has launched a new role to improve outcomes for patients.
The first of its kind role - Divisional Director of Nursing and AHPs for Mental Health and Learning Disabilities is responsible for all nursing and Allied Health professionals across mental health and learning disability services at the Trust.
Matt Thomas, the newly appointed Director, says, “My priorities are going to be patient safety, quality of care, and patient experience across the mental health pathway”.
“I want to focus on continuous improvement for services and look at what we can do innovatively to change the way that we do things to improve patient safety and staff experience”.
A mental health nurse by background, Matt has worked in a number of roles in the West Midlands over 17 years, from staff nurse to matron, and more recently a service manager for a medium and low secure forensic hospital and a community forensic mental health service.
With a two-pronged approach, the role aims to increase the quality of patients’ experience, and provide clinical support and leadership to staff.
“Part of my role is tapping into staff's innovation, trying to create some time and capacity to be able to push some of their ideas and make them real.
Our frontline staff are best placed to tell us what works and what doesn’t, and I really want to help with unblocking barriers to see how we can make the patient experience better in reality.
I’ve had a really warm and friendly welcome to the Trust, and I think that says a lot about the culture and the values of the organisation, which fit really well with my own values and what’s important to me – I’m really pleased to be here!”, says Matt.