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This leaflet is for anyone who lives in the Gateshead area and is accessing or has accessed services provided by Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust. The forum aims to help make services better and share information.

Gateshead Service User Forum supports people who live in the Gateshead area who have accessed, or are currently accessing, services provided by Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust (CNTW). CNTW is a provider of mental health and disability services in the North of England.

We are supported to run by people connected with Gateshead mental health services, this may be workers or people with lived mental health experience.

Sometimes we share information from CNTW services, maybe they are looking to improve how they work and they want help from people with lived experience. We also invite community services who give the bigger picture on how they can help you.

Finally, we can talk about something that is important to you.

The Forum aims to help make services better and share information.

  • We want service users to work with us to help shape and improve Gateshead adult mental health services. This is known as co-production.
  • As you are the people with lived experience, experts who can offer invaluable insight needed to make sure things are done right, we really need your input.
  • We also want to provide you with community information. We are aware that you may need to use external services or organisations, so we want to try and bring current information to you about these things.

Longer term, we aim to support service users to take on key roles in the group. We work alongside people who show interest, help them gain this experience and put something current on their CV (if they want).

Please contact us for further details of times of our meetings.

We can provide you with an information leaflet from CNTW Patient and Carer Involvement on ‘Getting Started with Microsoft Teams’ and we can support you in using it. This could include trialling it with ourselves before you attend a meeting.

This is not a complete list, we will add to the list as questions are asked.

Question: I used mental health services over five years ago, but I would like to come along as I am interested given my own experiences. Can I still attend?
Answer: We are keen to have anyone along who has some form of lived experience of mental ill health. We appreciate that people are ‘always on that journey’ and grow within themselves based on their experiences and can highlight things from a different pair of eyes at different times, just like someone who is in the midst of their journey can highlight things too, so everyone is welcome.

Question: Do I need to tell you that I want to attend? What happens if I change my mind on the day? Will that stop me from coming?
Answer: We understand the nature of mental health, and indeed that ‘life happens’ without even putting how you feel on the day in the equation! You might well feel all fired up to come along and share ideas, and nerves or how you feel gets the better of you, it is fine! What we do ask is that you try and let us know via email that you’re still interested.

Question: I’d like to attend but I am nervous about saying anything. Does this matter? Can I still come
Answer: The answer to this is ‘of course!’ We understand for some that they prefer to listen and find out things, or that they may worry they are going to be ‘put on the spot’ and asked for personal information about their own path in front of people. We will not do that at all. This is a safe place for you to attend and take from us what you need.

Question: I am worried that you might tell people I was there. Will this happen?
Answer: We will not do this. We will not publish the names of people who attend on the minutes.

Question: Do I need to attend each meeting?
Answer: The simple answer is no, of course not. We provide different things at each meeting, so some people might find some sessions more useful to their circumstances, others may not. This is fine!

Question: Can I still share my ideas even if I do not attend?
Answer: Yes, sometimes there will be some emails going out to our mailing list asking for your thoughts on a piece of work that we have done. You can keep involved in that way, or if there is something you want to ask us to explore, get in touch with your ideas and we can see what we can do to help.

Question: How can I keep up to date with what is happening in the Forum?
Answer: Add our email address to your email address book, so the email does not get lost in a ‘junk’ folder. Also, make sure that you are on our mailing list, and if you change email address, let us know.

Telephone: 0191 223 2001

Email: GHeadServiceUserForum@cntw.nhs.uk

Leave a message via the email or telephone number and we will get back to you between Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.

Organisation address: Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust, Dryden Education Centre, Evistones Road, Gateshead, NE9 5UR.

If you want to make a comment, suggestion, compliment or complaint you can:

We are always looking at ways to improve services. Your feedback allows us to monitor the quality of our services and act upon issues that you bring to our attention.  

You can provide feedback in the following ways:

  • the quickest way for you to do this is to complete our short online survey at www.cntw.nhs.uk/yourvoice
  • complete a Your Voice survey, available on wards, reception areas or from staff 
  • other options for sharing your feedback and experience www.cntw.nhs.uk/yourfeedback

Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS)
PALS provide confidential advice and support, helping you to sort out any concerns that you may have about any aspect of your or your loved one's care.

We act independently when handling patient and family concerns, liaising with staff, managers and, where appropriate, relevant organisations, to negotiate prompt solutions. If necessary, we can also refer patients and families to specific local or national-based support agencies.

North of Tyne
Telephone: 0800 032 0202
Email: pals@nhct.nhs.uk
Post: FREEPOST PALS

South of Tyne
Telephone: 0800 328 4397
Text: 07825 061 035
Email: pals@cntw.nhs.uk
Post: Patient Advice and Liaison Service, Garden Lodge, Hopewood Park, Ryhope, Sunderland, SR2 0NB

9.00am – 4.30pm, Monday to Friday
An answerphone is available at all times for you to leave a message. A member of the PALS team will aim to return your call as soon as possible.

Further information about the content, reference sources or production of this leaflet can be obtained from the Patient Information Centre. If you would like to tell us what you think about this leaflet please get in touch.

This information can be made available in a range of formats on request (Braille, audio, larger print, easy read, BSL or other languages). Please contact the Patient Information Centre on 0191 246 7288.

Published by the Patient Information Centre
2025 Copyright: Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust
Ref: PIC/875/0625 June 2025 V2

Website: www.cntw.nhs.uk
Telephone: 0191 246 7288

Review date 2028