Ukrainian mental health delegation visits the NHS in South West London
Earlier this month, South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust was delighted to host a delegation of Ukrainian mental health experts in collaboration with the Department of Health and Social Care.
Led by Ukrainian psychiatrist, Professor Dennis Ougrin, the group included local and national Government leaders, Ukrainian academics and representatives of the Ukrainian First Lady, Olena Zelenska. Ms Zelenska is renowned as a mental health advocate in Ukraine for leading a national programme to combat stigma and improve access to mental health services.
The visit included a tour of the Trust’s Specialist Eating Disorder Services and Children and Young People’s Services at Springfield Hospital in Tooting. This provided an opportunity for the delegation to learn more about how best practice mental healthcare is implemented in different clinical settings, and to hear more about innovations across local services.
As part of the tour, the group visited the NHS’s new ‘Springfield Village’ in Tooting to learn more about the integration of Springfield Hospital with this new community. Designed to break mental health stigma, the village includes brand new mental health facilities, homes, shops and a 32-acre public park.
The group finished the visit by taking part in the Trust’s annual summer street party and seeing some of the recently installed artworks within the new Trinity building.
Trust Chief Executive, Vanessa Ford, said:
“It was an honour to host our friends and colleagues from Ukraine to share our experience and best practice in developing mental health services and breaking stigma. “Our thoughts are with everyone affected by Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine and we are privileged to play a small part in helping colleagues to tackle the resulting mental health challenges. We look forward to developing this relationship and supporting in any way we can.”
Visit lead Professor Ougrin graduated from medical school in Ukraine before coming to the UK. He now works at the Global Mental Health and Youth Resilience Unit within the Wolfson Institute of Population Health at Queen Mary University of London. He also leads a programme of global mental health studies at King’s College London aimed at developing mental health services in Ukraine and low- and middle-income countries.
Commenting on the visit Professor Ougrin said:
“It was fantastic to visit Springfield Hospital to help our partners and friends learn more about local mental health services as they work to support people living through the mental health impacts of the war in Ukraine. It has been brilliant to see the medical community in the UK coming together to lend their support in this way and we look forward to building on this.”
