This week our team of Sheffield mental health workers have been awarded an accreditation by the Royal College of Psychiatrists. Despite COVID-19 the team have worked hard to achieve the accreditation and they are one of the first teams working with older adults in the country to gain the accolade.

The accreditation programme works with staff to assure and improve the quality of community mental health services for people with mental health problems and their carers.

It is given to teams who take part in a comprehensive process of review which looks for good practice and high-quality care; and helps to identify and address areas for improvement. People with first-hand experience of using community mental health services have been encouraged to get involved in all stages of the development process.

For older adults in Sheffield who are under the care of this team they can be reassured that they are receiving top quality care from staff who are committed and passionate about working with older adults. 

The Older Adult Community Mental Health Team are based at Edmund Road close to Sheffield City Centre. They work with people over the age of 65 years with difficulties such as depression, anxiety, psychosis, as well as people of any age with a diagnosis of dementia. 

The team are multi-disciplinary and that means they have a range of people working together to treat older people in Sheffield, including psychologists, nurses, support workers, psychiatrists, occupational therapists and admin.

Speaking about the accreditation Dr Shonagh Scott, Joint Head Older Adult & Neurological Conditions Psychology Service said; ‘Following 19 months of incredibly hard work from the whole of the team, we have been successful in achieving accreditation with the Royal College of Psychiatrists. I must pay tribute to our fabulous team who, at the heart of this, strive to give the very best care to older people in Sheffield. This has been a whole team effort, and everyone has contributed towards making this a success despite how demanding the past year has been for us all.

‘We are looking forward to continuing to give older people and their families and carers in Sheffield good quality help and support with their mental health.’