Matt
Blog
Hi, my name is Matt. I’m a qualified mental health nurse, currently working within Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW).
Having lost my way a little in my teens, but having a stable family to fall back on, I really wanted to help people facing hardship. I trained as a probation officer, then worked as a Project Worker for a homeless service called the Wallich working with people with co-presenting substance misuse and mental health issues. I loved this role but saw how difficult it was for homeless people to engage with mental health services. I decided to apply to become a mental health nurse to try to do something about this.
After graduating as a mental health nurse, I worked on a ward before moving into the community visiting people in their own homes to support them to stay well and out of hospital. Whilst in these roles, I kept asking questions like, “Why do we do things like this?”, and “How would this process feel to the people who use our service?” I became increasingly interested in leadership and service improvement work and became the Integrated Manager of a community mental health team (CMHT). I found this post enjoyable but challenging. I really enjoyed being imaginative and finding ways to improve the service but learnt that changing a service that was working at such a fast, relentless pace, was difficult. You can’t just stop, redesign and relaunch services in the NHS.
I then gained a permanent role, setting-up and managing a new service for young people experiencing a first episode of psychosis. This was an amazing role. We were able to design a well-functioning service where staff members are nurtured to develop and where staff were empowered to identify issues and solve problems as the ‘experts ‘of their area. I saw how, when staff members are treated with respect and dignity, they naturally take pride in caring for patients!
I am currently the Mental Health Leadership and Succession Programme Manager for HEIW, which includes finding ways to develop confident, compassionate leaders, who show nurture and develop confident, compassionate mental health and social care staff members across Wales! Like you perhaps? I understand that through doing, I continue to work to improve the care delivered to the people who need our services, including people from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Dean and Chapter of Westminster