Friday 7 August 2026
During their visit, Sir Jim and Sir Ciarán were shown around our crisis assessment suite. They met the staff who deliver specialist urgent mental health support for adults experiencing a mental health crisis.
They also met colleagues working in our listening service, who provide a safe space for people to talk, alongside confidential emotional support, information and advice.
This is all part of our 24/7 urgent care model and our ongoing work to strengthen and improve mental health emergency pathways.
Following the tour, Sir Jim and Sir Ciarán heard from colleagues and partners across our organisation:
- Alison Smith, our chief executive, and Liz Romaniak, our finance director
- Ranjeet Shah, group medical director for Durham Tees Valley, Emma Howitt, chief executive of Teesside Mind and Andrew Granville one of our service managers in adult mental health, highlighted the power of partnership work in transforming mental health support across our communities.
- Himanshu Garg, group medical director, and Brian Cranna, care group director of operations shared learning from the Yor Community Mental Health Hub in York that is supporting the NHS ambition to shift care closer to home, moving from hospital-based services to more community-focused models of support.
- James Graham, general manager for Durham and Tees Valley community children and young people’s services, talked about the new Getting Help service in Teesside. The service is already demonstrating how investment in community support is helping to improve early access to care and puts prevention at the heart of what we do.
- Stephen Davison, consultant practitioner, and Sian Savage, programme lead for mental health and learning disability integration, from our learning disability services showcased their innovative approach to supporting people to live well in their local communities. This includes intensive support and crisis response services designed to reduce avoidable hospital admissions and improve outcomes.
- Shaun McKenna, general manager for urgent care in Durham and Tees Valley and Ali Coak, associate director of therapies for adult mental health and mental health services for older people in Durham and Tees Valley, shared how our community and urgent care transformation programmes have reduced waiting times, created a more joined up approach to care, improved access and created better experiences and outcomes for local people.
We were proud to show Sir Jim and Sir Ciarán some of the fantastic work taking place across our trust.
Together with our partners, we remain committed to transforming mental health services and delivering care that is accessible, compassionate and focused on the needs of the communities we serve.
