Local NHS stalking project has been shortlisted for a national award

The NHS team behind the scheme has been named as the finalists in the National Positive Practice in MH Awards 2022 in the category of forensic mental health services.

Southern Health has been running the multi-agency stalking project in Hampshire since 2018 and it helps people who have obsessive tendencies or are fixated on another person.

The project is one of only four programmes in the country that is dedicated to tackling the problem of stalking, and they have a psychology-led team alongside a psychiatrist.

The aim of the project is to help change people’s obsessions with others and help them make a positive behavioural change for the better, not just for them but for others.

The team improves psychological well being and aims to prevent unlawful stalking which will impact potential victims.

Dr Kirsty Butcher, Southern Health’s multi-agency stalking project lead, said: ‘The aim of our work is to break the cycle of obsession, fixation and harm. This benefits the patient but, most importantly, protects and benefits the victim and any potential future victims.’

The awards were set up to recognise and celebrate positive practice in mental health, which helps raise the profile of mental health in society and allows people to form a better understanding.

The team collaborates with Hampshire Constabulary, Hampshire and Isle of Wight’s probation teams and Aurora New Dawn, and they have received 615 consultations and have worked with nine talking perpetrators and more than 1,400 professionals have been trained across the health sector.

Stalking is a lot more common than people think and although it is usually obsessive behaviour towards celebrities, it frequently happens close to home, with one in 10 men and one in five women will be stalked in their lifetime, with young people being the main target of the issue.

The highly anticipated, National Positive Practice in MH Awards ceremony, which is supported by Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust, will take place at Ramside Hall in Durham, on October 6 and it is set to be a big event in the calendar.