Mental health care for young now in Cornwall
CORNWALL’S first child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) unit is finally opening its doors today.
The £11m unit, named Sowenna and run by Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (CFT), is located on the grounds of Bodmin Hospital. It was commissioned by NHS England and NHS Improvement.
The new 14-bed unit means that for the very first time children and adolescents have access to specialist mental health beds in the county, after years of being separated from their families and sent as far as Scotland, Kent and Wales for treatment.
It is reported that one in ten children aged between five to 16 has a mental health condition. Most young people who are experiencing mental health difficulties are treated and supported within the community. However sometimes those with severe mental health problems, often with accompanying high risk, require specialist in-patient care.
Historically, these have only been available in units which are a considerable distance from homes, making visits and support from family and
friends, which play a key element in people’s recovery, especially in the case of children, extremely difficult.
Thanks to fundraising and grants, children and their families will be able to use a minibus, a multipurpose activity barn for team sports and performance arts, parental accommodation to allow families to stay over and make admission less unsettling, a cafe to allow visits with family and friends to happen in a friendly space, therapeutic gardens, and equipment for music, arts and cooking.
A fundraising appeal was launched in September last year, which has seen in excess of £420,000, raised for these items. There were also vital funds from community groups, local councils, Duchy Health Charity, Garfield Weston Foundation, National Lottery and Wooden Spoon.
Sowenna will feature a state-ofthe-art sensory room to host innovative virtual reality (VR) environments that will be offered to young people during periods of emotional distress.
Users will be able to touch, feel, walk or even lie down during their five-minute VR experience, which will be supervised by a clinician at all times.
In-patients will also benefit from a specialist education block within the unit. The Wave Multi-Academy Trust (MAT) which will form part of the specialist team, will be providing a comprehensive education programme tailored to each inpatient’s individual learning requirements while receiving treatment at Sowenna.
Barbara Vann, CFT chairman, said: “Sowenna is the outcome of much hard work by many people but I would like to thank particularly the young people who have acted as our advisors from the very beginning of this journey; they have worked hard to bring their thoughts to fruition.
“We all still have much to do but Sowenna makes an outstanding statement about how much we value our young people and their families.
“I look forward to seeing how the innovative work, virtual reality for example, will develop with our patients in Sowenna.”
The Invictus Trust, a charity started by the family of Ben Cowburn, who took his own life aged 18 in Longreach adult mental health unit, which aims to support young people in Cornwall with poor mental health, has lobbied for eight years for a firstclass in-patient unit for the young people of Cornwall. The Invictus Trust so far has contributed £87,000 to significantly enhance the offer at Sowenna by working with local people and businesses to provide a minibus, equip the on-site cafe and start a virtual reality research project.
Steve Cowburn, Invictus trustee, said: “As a family who lost a vibrant 18-year-old, we are delighted to have contributed to securing this wonderful facility for Cornish young people. However, we have long campaigned for an innovative 13 to 25-year facility and we will continue to make this case, in line with the NHS 10-year plan.”
Now the unit is taking admissions of boys and girls up to the age of 18. Dr Liz Myers, CAMHS consultant psychiatrist for CFT, said: “We are thrilled to now have a local unit for Cornish young people so they can stay close to their homes and communities.”