Community mental health workers from Trieste and Gorizia in Italy have met with various ELFT employees as part of a three-day trip to London.
In 2023, ELFT colleagues visited Trieste to learn about the city’s model of care provided for service users. The findings from the visit helped ELFT along its own journey to strengthen community mental care offerings, and aided its application to trial a similar approach in Tower Hamlets.
The ‘Trieste Model’ is a community-based 24/7 mental health care system that prioritises the tailored needs of people with mental health challenges. Its aim is to provide support in a non-hospital setting to prevent the need for stricter interventions in the future.
Following the Trust’s visit to Italy and an application to NHS England, Tower Hamlets was selected as one of six national pilot sites across the country to trial a new hub to support those with mental health needs – the ‘Barnsley Street Neighbourhood Mental Health Centre’. The site will go live in early 2025, and more details will be provided in due course.
Trieste and Gorizia colleagues were welcomed at the Trust’s headquarters in Aldgate for an initial introduction to the model of mental healthcare provided by ELFT. This led to discussions about common ground, shared values and differences in the way we support our communities.
In the afternoon, the team visited the Tower Hamlets Recovery College and the Tower Hamlets Together Café. The former supports those with lived experiences of mental health challenges by providing educational workshops that promote mental wellbeing. The latter is a walk-in service for those who would like in-person advice for developing conditions.
After visiting the Barnsley Street Neighbourhood Mental Health Centre, colleagues were shown around two inpatient wards at the Tower Hamlets Centre for Mental Health. Brick Lane and Globe wards provide beds for service users aged 18-65, supporting with their rehabilitation back to day-to-day life.
On day three, the delegation from Italy learned about Newham’s Community Integrated Mental Health Team (North), which works with GP practices, the local authority and voluntary sector organisations to support those in the north of the borough who have a mental health diagnosis.
Colleagues ended their visit by speaking with the People Participation team, to learn about the role of service users and carers in shaping how the Trust is run. The focus of this was the Befriending Service; a weekly check-in to combat loneliness and isolation.
The Trust’s Medical Director, Frank Rohricht, facilitated the visit. He said: “It was a privilege to host colleagues from Trieste and Gorizia over the past three days. We acknowledged our shared goal of improving the mental health of the communities we serve, while sharing good practice.
“I hope colleagues found the visit insightful, and we look forward to welcoming them back when the Barnsley Street Neighbourhood Mental Health Centre is up and running. We have agreed to engage in a mutually supportive, mentoring network with our colleagues from Trieste.”