DiMH 2021 CONFERENCE KEYNOTE


How modern inpatient settings can improve


Speaking at the Design in Mental Health 2021 conference at the Coventry Building Society Arena in Coventry in late August, Jane Ray, head of Hospital Inspections (Mental Health and Community Services) at the Care Quality Commission (CQC), gave an interesting insight into the Commission’s role in the mental health arena, and discussed some of its current work to improve the service-user and staff environment, taking account of patients’ and clinical teams’ views on what matters most to them. Sharing the stage was expert-by-experience, Kenita Watson, who recounted her difficult and painful experience as an inpatient, including being ‘sectioned’, and how such episodes had often left her feeling stripped of her privacy, dignity, and any sense of control.


Jane Ray and Kenita Watson’s joint first morning keynote address followed three separate opening conference presentations on ‘Collaborative Working’, ‘Experience Shaping Design’, and ‘Innovative Environments’ – each with a different chair, and was thus the event’s first opportunity for the DiMHN’s Chair, Philip Ross, to welcome guests. He said: “It’s really exciting to be here in person at last, and I’ve already enjoyed seeing everybody looking at the new offerings from different manufacturers on the exhibition floor. A big welcome to Design in Mental Health 2021. “I now,” he continued, “have the privilege of introducing the CQC’s Jane Ray, and expert-by-experience, Kenita Watson.” He added: “When I first started thinking about how to introduce this session, my first thought was: ‘It’s the CQC – three letters that probably cause a lot of fear and trepidation for many NHS Trusts’. Within a very short time, however, I realised that, actually, Jane was there to do one thing – to keep an eye out for the patient, as if each was a family member or friend, or


potentially ourselves. The CQC’s job is about ensuring the optimal care, and ultimately holding us all in the industry accountable to high standards. So, without further ado, I’m going to hand over to Jane and Kenita.”


Jane Ray began: “I’m delighted to be here; isn’t it fantastic to actually be out in person again? Certainly, for me, this is my first public speaking engagement in person in the past 18 months, so it’s lovely to see everybody, and great just to travel, and to feel a bit more normal again.”


Thanks from exhibitors


Welcoming delegates, DiMHN Chair, Philip Ross, said: “When I first started thinking about how to introduce this session, my first thought was: ‘It’s the CQC – three letters that probably cause a lot of fear and trepidation for many NHS Trusts’.”


Jane Ray then explained that, before the conference began, she and Kenita Watson had had a quick look around the exhibition as it opened, and spoken to a number of exhibitors. She said: “Many said ‘thank you’ to us, and we asked them why? They replied that they get a lot of business on the back of CPC inspections when healthcare facilities are told they need to improve. Anyway, I’m glad we’re making some design companies’ and manufacturers’ day, but – as Philip explained – my team at the CQC’s role is all about ensuring that the care that mentally unwell people receive is the best it can possibly be.”


The CQC’s Jane Ray (right), and expert-by-experience, Kenita Watson, gave a thought-provoking keynote, which emphasised that while inpatient mental health settings are seeing improvements, some ‘therapeutic’ facilities are still not fit-for-purpose.


THE NETWORK | OCTOBER 2021


Jane Ray said she was especially pleased to be presenting alongside service- user, Kenita Watson, because for the CQC team, the most important thing was ‘hearing from people who use services, and their experiences, and what it means to them’. She said: “That way we can actually make things better for such people.” She continued, by way of context on the CQC and its role: “We’re the independent regulator of health and social care in England, but why is it so important that the environment that people receive care in is as good as it can be? When I looked into this, while it’s clear that CQC has identified the importance of getting the


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