WaMH in PC's blog

A grant of up to £3,000 aimed at improving the detection of mental health problems and access to mental health support has been opened to applications from practice nurses across the UK.

The funding comes courtesy of the Charlie Waller Memorial Trust (CWMT) which is offering its Ted Fort Project Grant to fund a practice nurse to undertake a project to investigate and improve an aspect of mental health within their health practice.

The funding is available for a year and can be used to help nurses improve their approach to mental health problems and cover backfill and study leave support.

Outside of these requirements there are no other restrictions and no requirement for applicants to have pre-existing mental health training.

The grant also comes with available support and mentorship for projects which will run from 1st April 2013 to 1st April 2014.

The application deadline is 1st March 2013 with full details and the application form available on the Ted Fort Project Grant for Practice Managers Document.

If you have any enquiries about whether or not to make an application or what to include please initially contact Dr Maryanne Freer via email at Maryanne.freer@pcpartners.org or on 07960 718 764.

Subsequently, if you have an enquiry or problems with your application please contact Mrs B Sutton at the CWMT Office on 01635 869 754 or via email at admin@cwmt.org.

The Charlie Waller Memorial Trust was founded by Charlie's family shortly after he committed suicide at the age of 28 in 1997.

Charlie was suffereing from depression at the time and through the Trust his parents, family and friends have worked to increase awareness of the symptoms and dangers of depression and remove the stigma attached to mental illness.

We're offering two half-day Practical Dementia events aimed at helping medical professionals and carers improve the lives of those with and affected by dementia across Wales.

These latest events follow the similar successful events on the same subject which we delivered earlier this year and each 3-hour course will cost £30 per delegate.

These practical courses will take place in Cardiff and Wrexham in Spring next year and are specifically aimed at the following mental heath practitioners and roles:

• GPs,
• CPNs (Community Psychiatric Nurses),
• Practice Nurses
• Consultant Psychiatrists
• Health Board Officials
• The Care Home Sector
• The Alzheimer’s Society

The first event will take place in South Wales at the Novotel Hotel in Cardiff on 7th March 2013 from 2pm until 5pm.

While the second event for North Wales will be held at the Ramada Plaza in Wrexham on 18th April 2013 from 2pm until 5pm.

Please note that each course concentrates on practice and not theory in relation to dementia and the proposed agenda for each event will cover the following issues:     

• Memory clinics and the interface with Primary Care
• Social Care – Interface Issues
• Vascular Dementia
• Dementia from a Carers Perspective – Interaction with Primary Care

To register for either event please contact our Project Manager Lesley Hills via email at lhills@rcgp.org.uk or for a registration form call 029 2050 4516.  

One of the nation's leading mental health research organisations is looking for thousands of volunteers from across Wales to help it improve our understanding of mental health and illness.

You can find out more about the National Centre for Mental Health's (NCMH) volunteering intiative through the following link NCMH Take Part or by watching the short video below.

The organisation was established in April 2011 and is Wales’ first biomedical research centre bringing together world-leading researchers, healthcare professionals, patients and carers to improve diagnosis, treatment and support for people affected by mental health illness.

If you've ever been diagnosed with any of the following disorders then the NCMH would love to hear from you as taking part only involves completing a questionnaire, taking part in a 20 to 30 minute interview and providing a blood sample:

• Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
• Autism spectrum disorders (ASD), e.g. autism, Asperger’s syndrome and pervasive developmental disorder
• Mood disorders and/or psychosis, e.g. bipolar disorder, schizophrenia
• Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• Dementia, e.g. Alzheimer’s disease.

For further information please contact NCMH on 029 2074 4392 or via email at info@ncmh.info.