Stakeholder Newsletter - January 2026

Our Services

New urgent response pathway helps ease NHS winter pressures

A new urgent response pathway, in partnership with the North West Ambulance Service (NWAS), has played a major role in helping health services within Cheshire and Merseyside handle the challenging demand for services this winter.

The Urgent Community Response NWAS Pathway, run by Mersey Care alongside NWAS, has helped triage over 1,500 calls to the Trust’s single point of contact since being launched on 12 November 2025, significantly reducing the impact of those numbers attending hospitals and A&E departments during the busiest time for healthcare in the calendar. More information in the news section of our website.

During the busiest winter period, between 22 December 2025 and 4 January 2026, Mersey Care’s Urgent Treatment and Walk-in Centres also helped ease the pressure on A&E departments (see below).

Mersey Care In the news

Lee McMenemy, our Divisional Director for community services, took part in a round table discussion for BBC Radio Merseyside to mark NHS Day and spoke about how we are contributing to relieving the winter pressures on emergency departments across Cheshire and Merseyside and the benefits of community services. You can listen to Lee’s interview here.

The Trust also supported a three page pull out in the Mail on Sunday (see above) on how to live better with Dementia, which you can read here.

Mersey Care attends Parliament

Clinical Director Dr Jennifer Kilcoyne provided information to MPs attending the latest Health and Social Care Committee in Parliament about our HOPE(S) programme, which aims to reduce long term segregation in secure care and has supported 174 vulnerable people and trained 4000 staff nationally. You can watch Dr Kilcoyne’s contribution here.

Mersey Care strengthens links to Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

Mersey Care and Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust Boards have recently agreed to renew our focus and enrich our partnership, recognising the real benefits this collaborative approach is already delivering for our staff, service users, patients, and carers.

The two Trusts have a long and successful history of working together to improve care for our communities including in perinatal mental health, secure and specialist services, rehabilitation, crisis pathways and support for people with complex needs. More information can be found here.

St Helens Community Appointment Day

A new Community Appointment Day is being held on 18 February 2026 for patients in the Musculoskeletal (MSK) Service across St Helens. It provides the opportunity for patients to visit a community venue and talk about their needs with MSK clinicians, physiotherapists, allied health professionals, charities, voluntary groups and other community services.

The aim is to offer a more holistic approach to care, supporting patients with both their MSK conditions and any wider needs they may have.

By running the day differently from a usual clinic schedule, the team hopes to remove some of the usual constraints and provide extra help for people living with long term conditions.

For more details about the service, visit the St Helens Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy Service on our website. More information about the Community Appointment Day, can be found by emailing gill.dickson@merseycare.nhs.uk.

New vaccine to provide protection against Chickenpox for children

Children will now be offered protection against Chickenpox with a new vaccine for measles, mumps, rubella and chickenpox or varicella (MMRV) being included in the NHS routine childhood vaccine schedule from 12 months old.

The first dose of the vaccine will be given at a child’s routine 12 month appointment and replaces the MMR vaccine. The second dose will be given at a new 18 month appointment for children born on or before 31 July 2024, with those born before this date getting their scheduled dose at their three years, four month scheduled appointment. More information is available on our website.

Professionals - Please Help Shape Perinatal Care Referrals

We want to make the Specialist Perinatal Service referral process as smooth and effective as possible - and your professional feedback is key to making that happen.

If you’ve referred a patient recently, please take a few minutes to share your experience by filling in our Referrer Feedback Form:

• Who do you usually contact?
• How confident are you in the referral criteria?
• What works well - and what could be better?

Your insights will help us improve outcomes for families and professionals..

We’re listening, please share your thoughts on perinatal referrals. Find out more about Perinatal and Maternal Mental Health Services here.

Video released to help those ready to access Talking Therapies

A new video which aims to prepare people before they access NHS Talking Therapies has been released and explains how to make the most of the sessions and begin their journey towards improving their mental wellbeing.

The new video, produced by NHS Cheshire and Merseyside, 'Readiness for Therapy' has been developed to help those attending sessions understand what therapy involves, what they can do to get the best from their sessions, and how to prepare for the changes ahead. More information on our website.

Our Achievements

The Life Rooms in Ashworth Hospital received national recognition

Creative work developed through The Life Rooms’ arts and music programme in Ashworth Hospital has received national recognition from the Koestler Awards, with 17 pieces awarded across music, visual art and spoken word. The awards recognise the quality of work produced through structured creative sessions and the expertise of the staff who support them alongside clinical care.

Seventeen pieces were recognised this year with certificates, with special honours going to:

• ‘Take Flight’ an original piece of music, which received the ‘Platinum’ award. The piece was developed by a patient attending sessions provided in partnership with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic 
• ‘The Life Rooms Graffiti Mural’ which received a ‘Gold’ award. The mural was developed by a small group of patients working alongside a professional graffiti artist
• ‘Beach House’, ‘Perseverance’ and ‘Demo #1’ all received ‘Bronze’ awards.  These original pieces of music, song and spoken word were developed through regular music sessions, and some of them shared during The Life Rooms ‘Showcase’ events.

Established in 1962, the Koestler Awards are the UK’s largest and longest running arts awards for people in a range of settings, including those in secure hospitals.  They cover a wide range of disciplines and are judged by professionals from the creative industries, providing independent recognition of artistic merit.

Specialist Perinatal Service wins regional award

Cheshire and Merseyside's Specialist Perinatal Service, run in partnership between Mersey Care and Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (CWP), has been named Psychiatric Team of the year at the prestigious Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCPsych) North West Awards 2025.

The service received the award for its outstanding work supporting parents, babies and families through pregnancy and the postnatal period. More information on the news pages of our website.

CQC recognises community mental health services

Our community mental health services have been given an official ‘good’ rating by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), which at the time of the inspections were the only service of its type nationally to achieve such a positive review. 

The ‘good’ rating was received despite the acute nature of the services and the system wide pressures faced by the community mental health teams by working collaboratively and flexibly and sharing best practice both across the trust and with external partners.

Estates and Facilities Team shortlisted for HSJ Partnership Award

Our Estates and Facilities Team, in collaboration with our partner Lexica, has been shortlisted for the Health Service Journal’s Partnership Awards Environmental Sustainability Project of the Year award.

The nomination is in recognition of our refreshed Green Plan which aims to accelerate progress towards net zero and offers a replicable and scalable model for other NHS organisations wanting to embed sustainability into operations while delivering on national net zero commitments. The winners will be announced on19 March 2026.

Our Research

NHS mental health app directory offers online support for children and young people

A new digital platform has been launched in Cheshire and Merseyside to help guide children and young people towards safe, effective and trusted mental health apps online.

The platform has been published by Mental Health Research for Innovation Centre (M-RIC), a partnership between Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust and the University of Liverpool. It has been designed using input from children and young people through workshops and surveys and features apps supporting low mood, anxiety, sleep problems, eating disorders, support for neurodivergence and more. Further information on our website.

New study explores anti-inflammatory medications for psychosis

The Mental Health Research for Innovation Centre (M-RIC) and Mersey Care have launched a new feasibility study which aims to design a trial to explore immune problems in people with schizophrenia.

The Neuroimmune Profiling for Psychosis feasibility study aims to examine the problem that current drug treatments for psychosis do not work in approximately 30% of patients. It is not yet understood why this is the case, but it appears that some patients’ non-responsiveness to medication may be associated with their levels of inflammation. More information on the M-RIC website.

M-RIC team co-author piece on ‘overdiagnosis’ of mental health conditions 

Prof Dan Joyce, M-RIC Co-Director and Dr Oladayo Bifarin, Mersey Care’s Research Effectiveness Lead, have co-authored a piece exploring the dialogue around ‘overdiagnosis’ of conditions such as depression, anxiety, autism and ADHD. The co-authored piece also highlights how we can build a mental health system that supports people’s long-term needs.

Count Me In featured in the British Medical Journal

Congratulations to Mersey Care’s Research Effectiveness Lead Dr Oladayo Bifarin and the Count Me In team who have had a new paper published in The British Medical Journal (BMJ). It explores how Count Me In, our new way of widening research participation, aims to make mental health research more accessible and representative of the communities we serve.  

Get Involved

Make a difference by signing up to a Mersey Cares' fundraising challenge

If you’re looking for a new challenge in 2026 and would also like to make a difference to people across our communities, a Mersey Cares’ fundraiser can help make a real impact. Our charity works to support Mersey Care services with the extras that fall outside of NHS budgets that make such a difference to service users, patients and staff.

Last year we funded garden transformations, resources to support people living with dementia and their families, healthy eating courses to build confidence and an art project for children accessing services, plus so much more thanks to our amazing supporters.

We have a range of exciting fundraisers on offer including our annual Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge, Mersey Tunnel 10k, a skydive to support Mental Health Awareness Week – as well as challenges to support our work with the Zero Suicide Alliance. Please take a look and choose your challenge:

Want to know more about how your support makes a difference? Please read our Impact Report

Register for our Quality Account Consultation Event

Our Trust wide engagement event has been arranged for Friday, 13 March 2026 between 11am and 1pm and will be held on Microsoft Teams to enable patients, service users, carers, Mersey Care staff and stakeholders to influence the development of our Quality Accounts for 2025/26.

The session will:

• Update progress against the priorities identified in the Quality Account 2025/26
• Clarify current guidance for producing a Quality Account 2026/27
• Discuss proposed priorities for the Quality Account 2026/27 and an opportunity to highlight any other areas for consideration.

Anyone interested in attending should contact Events Manager Christy Ryder on: Christy.ryder@merseycare.nhs.uk  

Invitation to our Patient and Public Engagement Meetings

Employability tips to support people with mental health conditions

Individual Placement Support (IPS) employment services at The Life Rooms support people with mental health conditions to achieve meaningful full or part time employment and working with them through their journey back into work. The IPS service have shared some tips for helping people find work and improve their applications, like the 3 essential tips for improving your CV.

MC Magazine 

Available now: MC Magazine winter issue

Read real life stories:

• Music as medicine – how the power of music can benefit health
• Winter well – ways to stay healthy in the coldest season
• Unforgivable – how a Mersey Care psychologist’s work inspired a BBC drama
• Protein packing – a dietitian explains if it’s health or hype
• Perinatal mental health – a mum describes how support changed her life
• Benefits of volunteering – why it’s good for you to volunteer your time
• Falls prevention – a new campaign by Longmoor House to keep patients safe.

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