South West CPNA Conference

Mental Health Nursing,  Nov/Dec 2002  by Reed, Mandy

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The third annual South West CPNA Conference took place at Darlington Hall on 30th September with over 70 delegates enjoying `another well run, stimulating conference'.

The delegates included, for the first time, some of our colleagues from CPHVA attracted by the mix of plenaries and workshops.

The day was chaired by George Coxon, who introduced the morning with a reminder to delegates about the forthcoming change of name for the Association at our AGM in Bournemouth next year.

The first two plenary sessions were from Dr Jo Smith and Dr Steve Onyett. Jo made an impassioned plea for the identification of and development of services aimed at early interventions in first episode psychosis whilst Steve managed to make a talk about leadership and change management both witty and compelling. The third plenary at the end of the day was from service user consultant Roberta Grayley-Wetherell who offered a wealth of useful information for delegates about the meaningful involvement of users in both the planning and evaluation of mental health services.

The two and a half hour workshops covered a range of topics in time honoured CPNA fashion ranging from early emotional development and attachment, through dual diagnosis and risk management within assertive outreach teams to recovery and social inclusion.

The day was kindly sponsored by Eli Lilly who also organised the fifth workshop on medication management.

As ever, much networking took place amongst delegates amidst pleas to return to the beautiful venue of Dartington Hall again next autumn for what will be our fourth event. Evaluations of the day were very positive with the small charge to non-- members proving a useful recruitment tool as in previous years.

The south west co-ordinators and link members will be meeting on 4th November to book a date for next years' conference with early signs of securing sponsorship looking promising. Anyone interested in becoming a link member for the South West is encouraged to contact Jeff Small (01579 344062 h), Ray Dixon (01752 337317 h), George Coxon (01278 691417 h) or Mandy Reed (0117 9030590 w) for more details.

Many thanks to all involved in organising without whom the day would not have been such a success -- Jeff, Ray, George, Mark Jay, Richard Burden, Vic Bridges and Mark Ogden.

Mandy Reed

Copyright Community Psychiatric Nurses Association Nov/Dec 2002
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