Stakeholder Newsletter - May 2026

Welcome to our stakeholder newsletter from Trish Bennett MBE, Chief Executive Officer

Welcome to our latest stakeholder newsletter, where we are pleased to share updates and initiatives from across the Trust with your teams, communities and stakeholders.

In this edition, we are delighted to celebrate recognition for some of our innovative teams, including a very special achievement for our Infant Feeding Service in Sefton, part of our 0–19 children’s services. The team has been awarded UNICEF Baby Friendly Gold status in recognition of the outstanding support they provide to families and the strength of partnership working across the borough.

I would also like to congratulate our Medicines Management team on winning the prestigious HSJ award for Improving Medicines and Pharmacy through Digital. You can read more about both achievements below, and I want to extend my personal thanks and congratulations to everyone involved for their dedication and excellent work.

This month I wanted to let you know that I had the privilege of shadowing the Specialist Child Health Inclusion Nurses for a day. It was inspiring to see first-hand how they support travelling communities and newly arrived asylum seekers, helping families navigate the challenges they face and access the support available. It was a truly uplifting experience, and I am also very grateful to the families who so openly shared their experiences.

Finally, if you have any queries or would like more information about any of the items in this newsletter, please let us know by emailing our communications team: communications@merseycare.nhs.uk

Our Services

Adult weight management support launched in Knowsley

The Life Rooms has been awarded the contract to deliver the Healthy Knowsley Service for adults and pregnant women, a service commissioned by Knowsley Council. The service will provide tailored support for residents looking to achieve and maintain a healthy weight, strengthening the offer of health and wellbeing support in Knowsley. Read more here.

A decade of The Life Rooms

The Life Rooms has celebrated 10 years of their innovative social model of health with open days in Walton and Southport. A report has been published that captures outcomes from the last decade, as well as staff and service user stories. Read the report here.

New animation for Men’s Health Week

To mark Men’s Health Week (15 to 21 June) we’ve produced a new animation to raise awareness of eating disorders in men and the resources that are available to help those who are struggling.

Stigma and societal expectations play a significant role. Many men feel pressure or prefer to “just get on with it,” which can delay seeking help. As a result, problems can go unnoticed for long periods, making recovery more challenging.

New LGBTQ+ suicide awareness training from ZSA

The Zero Suicide Alliance (ZSA), in partnership with Liverpool City Council, has launched a new LGBTQ+ Suicide Awareness Training course designed to help people feel more confident supporting LGBTQ+ individuals who may be struggling with their mental health.

The free online training brings together lived experience, community voices and clinical insight to highlight the unique factors that can affect suicide risk within LGBTQ+ communities, and offers practical guidance on how to have supportive, compassionate conversations. More information on the ZSA website.

SEND support for families

Mersey Care has a dedicated online portal bringing together practical, emotional and wellbeing support for children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), alongside guidance for parents and carers. The webpage signposts a wide range of trusted local and national resources. 

Prospectus for schools

An updated Mental Health Support Team prospectus is now available. It’s a helpful resource for anyone in Halton, Knowsley, St Helens and Warrington, working with children and young people or supporting school partnerships. Take a look online and share with your networks.

Mood Clinic marks first birthday

Our specialist Mood Clinic, designed for patients who have difficult to treat mood disorders across Cheshire and Merseyside, has marked its first birthday by hosting a guided tour for service users and carers who supported its development.

Mersey Care’s Mood Clinic, which is based at Knowsley Resource and Recovery Centre in Whiston, has received over 180 referrals since being launched in spring 2025. It helps people who have experienced problems with their mood but have struggled with the usual treatments from their GP or community mental health team. More information in the news section of this website.

Online Autism Passport

We have an Online Autism Passport to empower autistic individuals and enhance support across services. Find out more about the passport on our website or download a copy.

A young mum, a strong future – Family Nurse Partnership

Our Family Nurse Partnership (FNP) in Liverpool is making a real difference to young parents and their children, starting in pregnancy and continuing through the crucial early years. Our latest feature shares Mollie’s story – highlighting how consistent, trusted support from a family nurse, helped her build confidence, develop positive routines and give her baby the best possible start in life.

FNP works with first time mums in Liverpool aged 19 and under (up to 25 if they have experienced the care system), offering intensive, personalised support that improves outcomes for both parent and child. The programme plays a vital role in early intervention, helping to reduce health inequalities and support long term wellbeing.

If your role brings you into contact with children, young parents or families, please consider whether Family Nurse Partnership could help and make a referral where appropriate. Early referral can make a life changing difference.

Our Achievements

Sefton service achieves UNICEF Gold

Sefton’s Infant Feeding Service, part of our 0 to 19 children’s services, has achieved UNICEF Baby Friendly Gold status, recognising outstanding support for families and strong partnership working across the borough.

The award follows a rigorous national assessment, which praised the service for its “excellent package of support for local families,” strong leadership and clear focus on reducing health inequalities. More information is on the news section of this website.

You can read about the success of this programme and the impact of it on local mum, and midwife, Beth, (pictured) who said, “The support I received made such a difference – it gave me confidence when I needed it most and helped me continue feeding my baby.”

Medicines Management team win HSJ award

Congratulations to our Medicines Management team for winning the prestigious HSJ award for Improving Medicines and Pharmacy through Digital. The team won the award for demonstrating a “system wide approach to medicines optimisation, underpinned by strong strategic intent and effective use of data to prioritise clinical activity.”

The judges added that the benefits of their approach, “were grounded in operational reality and aligned with NHS delivery constraints, marking this out as a high impact, scalable and strategically mature programme.”

This year’s awards, which were held in Birmingham, attracted 468 entries, with 201 shortlisted finalists competing across 25 categories. The winners were chosen following a two stage judging process, with stage one running over five weeks and stage two, virtual judging, accounting for approximately 177 hours. In total, 98 judges took part in the process.

Mersey Care shortlisted for two further HSJ Patient Safety Awards

The Trust has also been shortlisted for two HSJ Patient Safety Awards in the Developing a Positive Safety Culture and Advancing Patient Safety with Data and Analytics categories.

Both entries recognise our Trust wide Safeguarding Duty Hub, which provides a single point of access for expert advice, supervision and learning, while capturing insight from practice to identify emerging risks for children, adults and families.

Through our Safeguarding Performance and Impact Network (SPIN), this insight shapes training and practice across seven local authority areas, supporting earlier identification of concerns, more confident decision making and safer, more consistent care. Since its launch, the Hub has supported thousands of safeguarding concerns and is helping to build a culture where staff feel supported to act, escalate and learn.

Our Research

New study aims to improve borderline personality disorder treatment

Mersey Care has launched a study to examine whether Quetiapine, a commonly prescribed medication for schizophrenia and major depressive disorder, can also help treat borderline personality disorder (BPD).

Working with the University of Liverpool, Liverpool Clinical Trials Centre (LCTC) and other partners, the new QUEST study, funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), aims to provide clearer evidence on potential treatments for BPD. Find our more information in the Research section of the website.

New Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) Conference – book your place

Now is your chance to register for the Liverpool City Region (LCR) Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) Conference in Liverpool on 25 June. Organised by Liverpool John Moores University in partnership with the Mental Health Research for Innovation Centre (M-RIC), the  conference will explore ACEs research and includes engaging speakers, panel discussions and arts activities. Sign up now.  

Get Involved

Two Birthdays: One Big Tea

The annual NHS Big Tea returns this July to celebrate 78 years of the NHS and this year is extra special for Mersey Care as we also mark our 25th anniversary. Please join us on or around 5 July (the NHS’s official birthday) to celebrate both milestones and the people who make our NHS so special, with a cup of tea and a slice of cake - or why not host a ‘Big Birthday Bake Off’.

We can also provide everything you need to make your celebration a success, including posters, bunting and other party materials. All funds raised will enable Mersey Cares to bring to life projects to support people accessing Mersey Care mental health and community services.

Find out more and get involved on the Mersey Cares website and there’s also more information on how the charity supports service users, patients and staff with their fundraising.

Mersey Cares funds new Zero Suicide Alliance 'Supporting a Stranger' Suicide Awareness Training

Mersey Cares has supported the Zero Suicide Alliance’s latest training course, ‘Supporting a Stranger’, which offers practical advice on how to help someone in a public place who’s showing signs of distress.

Made possible thanks to generous donations and fundraising, the training focusses on a single, powerful scenario from the ZSA’s flagship Suicide Awareness Training.

Based on a real experience, the course shows how an everyday moment in a public place can become a life‑changing intervention when someone notices the signs of distress and chooses to reach out.

See the sunrise over Snowdonia and support Mersey Cares

Imagine watching a spectacular sunrise over Snowdonia on a warm summer morning. This August, we’re giving you the chance to do just that by teaming up with Global Adventures for our unforgettable Snowdon at Night fundraising challenge on 1 August 2026.

You’ll hike up Snowdon, the highest peak in Wales, in the early hours, reaching the summit just in time to see the sun rise, before enjoying epic views on the journey back down. This nine mile, bucket list challenge is led by experienced mountain guides who will support you every step of the way, there’s a celebratory breakfast to finish and it’s a great event for individuals and teams.

You can get further information and register for the event on the Mersey Cares website, while there’s also everything you need to know about other fundraising events coming up this year.

Halton summer of self care

Our Mental Health Support Team in Halton is offering free workshops for parents, carers and young people to help families across Halton support young people’s wellbeing.

The sessions will focus on topics such as understanding and talking about mental health, managing big emotions and preparing for the move to high school. Spaces are limited, so register early. More information is available elsewhere on this website.

Parent Infant Observation Training

Our BABS (Building Bonds and Attachment Service) is offering health visitors and early childhood specialists across Cheshire and Merseyside, the opportunity to understand parent infant mental health, parent infant observation skills, gain confidence and strengthen attachment understanding. You will understand how, as professionals, we can support families together to build bonds and break difficult cycles.

Sessions are being held on 26 June, 1 July and 24 September, and you can register and find out more details via our events calendar.

MC Magazine

The Spring 2026 edition of MC Magazine is available but there have been changes to how we share stories about our services, people and communities. We are moving away from producing a printed magazine and our new approach will be digital. This decision reflects our changing media landscape, rising demand for timely digital content and the evolving needs of our stakeholders, partners and communities.

Our commitment to high quality stories that share our message remains the same. Our focus on features will expand and reach wider audiences more regularly and more effectively on our website and will be promoted across our social media channels.

The Spring issue includes:

• Mossley Hill - perspectives from staff working in the new state of the art hospital and its impact on patient experience and recovery
• Sustainability and the Green Plan - how Mersey Care is reducing its carbon footprint across clinical and corporate services
• The Life Rooms - how a comedy course has improved confidence, connection and wellbeing
• Nutrition and lifestyle - increasing fibre intake, including a recipe shared by a service user
• Understanding stress - recognising when it becomes harmful and how to manage it effectively
• Breastfeeding support - guidance for when challenges arise
• Creative wellbeing - how origami is supporting both staff and service users through Mersey Cares Charity and our Wellbeing Hub
• Cyber security - practical advice for parents and young people on strengthening digital resilience
• Recovery through movement - the role of physical activity in trauma recovery
• Healthy ageing - promoting independence and activity in later life
• Organ donation - a powerful personal story connected to a Mersey Care member of staff.