A message from our Chief Executive

Photo of Vanessa Ford smiling

As we mark Mental Health Awareness Week, I want to take the opportunity to thank our partners, communities and colleagues across South West London for the vital role you play in supporting mental health and wellbeing.

Mental health problems are common – around one in four people in South West London will experience a mental health issue each year – yet too many people still feel unsure about where to turn for help. This week, and every week, we want to change that.

That is why we are highlighting our Know who to turn to campaign, which brings together clear, practical information about the wide range of mental health support available across South West London. Whether someone needs urgent help, ongoing treatment, or advice to support their wellbeing in the community, it is essential that they know help is available – and how to access it.

At South West London and St George’s, we provide care for people with a wide range of needs, from anxiety and depression to more complex mental health conditions. We are also committed to working beyond traditional boundaries alongside voluntary, community and faith partners, local authorities and the NHS, to support prevention, early intervention and recovery.

A strong example of this partnership approach is the upcoming South West London Mental Health and Health Inequalities Conference, which next Tuesday will bring together people with lived experience, carers, community organisations, clinicians and system leaders from across South West London. The conference is an opportunity to share learning, challenge inequality, racial discrimination and build collective momentum around improving access, experience and outcomes in mental health care. By working together in this way, we can better understand what matters most to our communities and continue to shape services that are inclusive, preventative and rooted in local need.

This approach reflects our local priorities: quality care, better outcomes, reducing inequalities, being a great place to work and sustainability. It also aligns with the national shift from treatment to prevention, and from hospital to community – a shift that relies on strong partnership working.

Over the past year, we have seen the impact that collaboration can have; from Recovery Cafés providing out‑of‑hours support, to Talking Therapies and Integrated Recovery Hubs reaching out into our communities, to initiatives like the amazing South London Listens Be Well Hubs tackling inequalities and improving access. None of this is possible without the commitment of our partners and communities.

I encourage you all to help us share the Know who to turn to message widely. By using the campaign toolkit and signposting people to trusted support, you can help ensure that no one in South West London feels alone, uncertain, or unable to get the help they need.

Thank you for your continued support for mental health services in South West London.

Vanessa Ford MBE
Chief Executive
South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust

CEO message July 2025

As we move into the heart of summer, I want to take a moment to reflect on some of the inspiring work happening across mental health, both at our Trust and the wider South West London system.  a woman smiling

In May we saw our South West London Mental Health Conference bring together 120 service users, community leaders, clinicians, and partners for a powerful day of conversation, collaboration, and action. It was fantastic to hear so many diverse voices shaping the future of mental health care. My thanks to everyone who made the event such a success - your passion and insight are helping to drive meaningful change. Look forward to seeing you at the 2026 conference!  

Looking ahead, we are excited to welcome our communities into Springfield Park, which will formally open in July. This landmark green space is a core part of the wider regeneration of our Springfield Village site - blending nature, wellbeing, and mental health recovery in a truly innovative way. I was also delighted to be at the groundbreaking at Barnes Hospital in June, this £15m redevelopment will modernise mental health community services, and bring them together with a new school and housing, to break the stigma of mental ill-health. 

We continue to prioritise timely, high-quality care across all our services. Our work to safely reduce long lengths of stay in our adult inpatient wards, is already delivering positive outcomes for patients, with new models of care and community support helping people return home sooner and more safely. 

Last but by no means least, I’m proud to share the launch of our Health Inequalities Strategic Plan, setting out bold and practical steps to tackle disparities in access, experience, and outcomes, particularly for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities. In Tooting, for example, we’ve undertaken community mental health first aid training through our local Mushkil Aasaan Family Hub - an important step in strengthening resilience and understanding around mental health at grassroots level.  We know we still have so much to do in this most important space.

Thank you for your continued support.

Vanessa Ford
Chief Executive, SWLSTG

 

CEO message January 2025

As we step into spring, we are celebrating some exciting developments in South West London. Last month, construction began on the £110m redevelopment of Tolworth Hospital – a huge moment for our patients, carers, staff and all our stakeholders who have worked so hard to bring this vision to life. Thank you to everyone who has supported us on this journey.

As part of our Better Environments Programme, this will see a second centre of excellence for inpatient mental healthcare open from late 2027, following on from Springfield Hospital’s £150m transformation. We also look forward this year to the opening of the new Richmond Royal Wellbeing Centre, and the start of construction on the new Barnes Hospital, together representing a further £17m investment.

Vanessa CEO

And this is just one small part of the work happening to make our Trust a great place to receive care and to work. I am really proud that, through the national NHS staff survey, 91% of my colleagues report that their role makes a difference to our patients – the highest rate in the country – with more staff saying we are compassionate, focused on learning and inclusive.

We know there is more to do to become a truly inclusive, anti-racist organisation and to work against racial prejudice. I am delighted that we have now signed UNISON’s anti-racism charter making clear our commitments to our programme of initiatives and actions to deliver this alongside our new anti-racism values into behaviours framework.

I am also really pleased that we have seen better experiences of mental healthcare in the community. The Care Quality Commission’s Community Me ntal Health Survey 2024 showed improvements year-on-year in dignity respect, care and compassion patients experience, how open we are to patients’ views, involvement with families and carers, and better conversations and education around medication.

This will continue to be a focus through our Better Care Programme’s work to empower more people to recover and stay well in the community and ensure no one stays in hospital longer than they need to through purposeful, recovery-focused, high-quality care.

Great people deliver great care, and we know there is always more to do to support our colleagues. As part of a focus on reducing instances of poor behaviour towards our staff we have launched a new kindness campaign to ensure respect always goes both ways. Just as we care deeply for our patients, our teams deserve to be treated with care and kindness too.

Treating each other with kindness is particularly important during times of change. We know change can be challenging and as we move towards a new chapter for the NHS more broadly, we remain focused on supporting our people to deliver effective, compassionate care as we navigate the future together.

Next, we look ahead to Mental Health Awareness Week in May, and this year’s campaign theme of ‘community’. I am delighted that we will once again be marking this by staging the South West London Mental Health Conference following a successful launch in 2024. Together with our Integrated Care System, the event will bring together patients, leaders, clinicians, carers, partners and our local community for a series of workshops and interactive discussions – find out more about how you can get involved.

Beyond this we look forward to an exciting programme of events this spring and into summer through our Better Communities Programme. This includes the launch of the next phase of our ambitious mental health training programme, the official opening event for the new Springfield Park and a series of fundraising events for our Trust charity – look out for more information in the coming months!  

Thank you, as always, for your continued support. 


 

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