Our Consultant Nurse for Mental Health, Ian Noonan, is the Lead Trainer for Making Every Contact Count (MECC) for Mental Health for the North of England, and he’s also a Fellow of the Royal Society for Public Health. 

Ian has trained a number of trainers across West Yorkshire, and now has the opportunity to deliver training to any colleague at CHFT who has a patient-facing role.

This is open to healthcare support workers, therapy support workers, nursing associates, allied health professionals, nurses, midwives, pharmacists and doctors. It has been developed and validated specifically for non-mental health professionals in order that they can integrate very brief mental health conversations and interventions into their everyday practice. 

Designed by the Royal Society for Public Health in collaboration with Health Education England and stakeholders across the North of England, this mental health promotion training seeks to develop knowledge, skills and confidence to integrate relevant messages and interventions into routine practice. It is a one-day training, supported by some e-learning materials and a journal to help people remember the techniques. There is also an app that learners can download, which links to local services and advise. 

Following the study day, participants will be able to:

• Identify what is meant by mental health, mental wellbeing and mental illness, including recognised definitions, models and frameworks.

• Define the MECC approach and explore how this can be applied for mental health in health and care settings.

• Develop skills and confidence to engage with service users about their mental health and wellbeing.

• Develop skills to support service users to understand distressing feelings and experiences.

• Develop awareness of local support services and how to effectively signpost service users to the appropriate service.

• Develop confidence to understand and implement appropriate signposting pathways.

At the end of the programme all participants will receive a certificate of attendance with continuous professional development (CPD) points.

The training is free and all are welcome, but please only sign-up if you can be released for the day as we would not want to block places that others might be able to access. 

You can choose from one of the following study days:

• 5th January 2024 9am to 5pm. Large Training Room, Learning Centre, Calderdale Royal Hospital
• 19th January 2024 9am to 5pm. Forum 1A&B, Learning Centre, Huddersfield Royal Infirmary
• 23rd February 2024 9am to 5pm. Forum 1A&B, Learning Centre, Huddersfield Royal Infirmary

Please email ian.noonan@cht.nhs.uk to book a place. Please remember to state which date you would like to attend. 

Please see the flyer below for more information.