Vanessa Ford

Chief Executive

I am proud to be the Chief Executive at SWLStG. As Chief Executive I am ultimately responsible for the mental health care that we provide to our communities and the experiences of our members of staff. My absolute focus is to put our patients and local communities at the heart of everything that we do. I started my career at SWLStG 20 years ago where I trained to be a mental health nurse. Over the years I have worked in a number of nursing leadership roles at Devon Partnership NHS Trust and West London Mental Health NHS Trust. I came back to SWLStG in 2016 as Director of Nursing and in August 2019 became the Chief Executive.

I am proud to be a Registered Mental Health Nurse and member of the Royal College of Nursing.

I am the NHS Place based lead for Merton, which means that I lead a team of NHS, local authority and voluntary sector partners to join up the health and care services we provide and develop and strengthen Merton’s health and care together partnership.

I am also Senior Responsible Officer for South West London Digital. I am passionate about the positive impact digital transformation can have on the care and treatment of patients and increasing patient choice.

Ask me about: Long walks, my trusty Brompton bike, and my beloved dog!

I pledge: to ensure that being inclusive and equitable is at the heart of our Trust

Amy Scammell

Acting Director of Strategy and Commercial Development

Amy is currently the Acting Director of Strategy and Commercial Development.

Amy joined the Trust in 2015 as the Deputy Director of Strategy and Commercial Planning before moving into the Director role in 2018. Amy has worked in south London for several years. Prior to joining the Trust Amy’s most recent role was as a Divisional Director for Community Services at St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust focusing on business development, performance and service improvement. Amy’s previous roles include work with Wandsworth PCT around performance and research and as a Senior Research Capability Fellow at London South Bank University. With a background in evaluation and research, Amy brings an interest in service redesign, development and transformation to the Director of Strategy and Commercial Development role.

Sarah

Staff Nurse and Preceptee Mentor

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We asked Sarah about her experiences working as a mental health nurse here at the Trust:

How long have you been working in mental health?

I have worked as a RMN within the Trust for just over a year but I have previous experience working with those within mental health as a HCA in an acute CAMHS inpatient unit whilst I was a student nurse.

Did you work in any other area before working in mental health?

I have worked as a support worker previously with children and adults with learning difficulties.

Why are you passionate about it?

I am passionate about working to support others and teaching which has always been an interest of mine.

What is one of the best things about working in mental health?

I love the hands on work and learning something new everyday working with patients aswell as alongside my colleagues

What is the one misconception you think is out there about mental health?

People with mental health problems can snap out of it or change if they tried hard enough.