Kent and Medway welcomes Australian mental health leader to learn from pioneering Open Dialogue service

Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust recently welcomed a senior Australian mental health leader to learn from its pioneering Peer-supported Open Dialogue (POD) service, highlighting growing international interest in the trust’s work.

Dr Ann Brennan, Director of Adult and Older Adult Services at Alfred Mental & Addiction Health in Melbourne, visited the trust as her service prepares to review its model of community mental health care later this year.

She spent time with Emma Hogwood, Lead for Peer Support Open Dialogue, and colleagues across the service, including peer workers, clinicians and medical staff, as well as researchers involved in the national ODDESSI programme.

Dr Ann Brennan, Director of Adult and Older Adult Services at Alfred Mental & Addiction Health in Melbourne said: “It is fantastic to in Kent and to see how much the Peer-supported Open Dialogue service has developed.

“What has struck me is the depth of experience the team has built in delivering this approach within a mainstream NHS service.”

Kent and Medway launched its Open Dialogue service in February 2017, becoming one of the first NHS services in the UK to introduce the approach and subsequently the first stand-alone NHS Peer-supported Open Dialogue service.

Almost a decade on, the trust has developed expertise not only in delivering POD, but in training, research and supporting wider learning about relational approaches to mental health care.

The trust has contributed to research examining Open Dialogue alongside usual NHS community mental health treatment, including the national ODDESSI trial, which is examining the approach for adults presenting in crisis to mental health services in England.

Open Dialogue brings together the person, people important to them and professionals in an open conversation about their care. POD combines this approach with peer support, with an emphasis on continuity, social networks, flexibility, shared responsibility and hearing different perspectives.

Emma Hogwood, Lead for Peer Support Open Dialogue for Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust, said: “POD has grown from a service model into a different way of thinking about relationships, power, responsibility and how we organise care.

“We have learned a huge amount over almost 10 years, including what works, what is difficult and what we would do differently. Being able to share that learning with colleagues internationally is a real opportunity.”

The trust’s experience has also informed wider conversations about how mental health services can create greater continuity and collaboration for people and their networks.

The visit provides an opportunity for Kent and Medway to share almost a decade of learning internationally, while continuing to develop its own practice through service delivery, training, research and collaboration.