Jan
5
Written by:
David Williams
05/01/2011 13:50
Dear all I just wanted to let you know that this will be my last blog update on this site. I have a new role working elsewhere in NHS West Midlands. I will be supporting the management of NHS performance across the region.
The end of 2010 and a change in role for me provided a great opportunity for some reflection. Over 2010 we have established this site, we expect it will continue as a repository of offender health and social care information.
Within the West Midlands we also significantly improved our provision of places of safety. A colleague who spent some of Christmas out on a night patrol in Birmingham, witnessed at first hand the need to take a member of the public to a place of safety for a mental health assessment. He reported back that the process worked very well, the member of public got the care and treatment they needed and the police were very pleased with the real difference the NHS facility makes to their work.
For everyone continuing in offender health there will be some key challenges ahead, budgets of health and social care providers and custody/criminal justice partners will all reduce over the coming year(s).
If I could leave everyone with one piece of advice from my 5 years doing this role, I would say. Ask your self what can you do to ensure you are doing your job to the best of your abilities?
Very few people are amazing at what they do, I am certainly not! But if we can all seek to do the best we possibly can then we should continue to make a big difference to the health and well-being of people in contact with the criminal justice system.
I will retain an oversight of offender health performance, so for some we will continue have contact, but it will be in a different way.
Good luck and thanks for a very enjoyable and challenging 5 years. 
David