Former mental health nurse Dr Patricia Tumelty is taking over as executive director of Mind Jersey, as James Le Feuvre steps down after eight-and-a-half years at the charity.
And with increasing concerns over the potential damage to Islanders’ mental health that the lockdown and coronavirus pandemic may have caused, Dr Tumelty said the Island needed to take the opportunity to make long-lasting improvements to the services it provides.
Dr Tumelty said: ‘I am up for the challenge. It is currently a difficult time but it has shone a light on people who are already struggling with issues.
‘What I want to do is look at all services and map out what needs to be addressed.
‘The Island has had to battle the curve of the virus and that is what we are going to have to do with mental health, and we will have to go through stages.
‘We have a real opportunity to make the Island’s mental health services better than they have ever been. There is no guide on how to tackle this as we haven’t been in this situation before.’
Putting in networks for people who have become vulnerable during the crisis is one area the new director wants to target.
She added: ‘There have been people who haven’t been able to see anyone, have been isolated and haven’t had a network in place. It is June now, if we have put a couple of networks in place for people by October, that for me is success.’
Mr Le Feuvre decided to step down from the charity before the pandemic.
He said: ‘The first thing we did was go back to the people we already deal with, to see how they were doing and how we could help them.
‘Then we spoke with others who had come to us for help, and now we have been able to start one-to-one meetings again with social distancing. We brought in 20 to 25 mental health first aiders we had trained up to answer calls and speak to people.
‘The outcome of this isn’t going to be known just yet, but as people emerge there are going to be a number of things that will need tackling.
‘Some will find it difficult going back to normal life.Children may not want to go back, some will have suffered from not being able to go to school.
‘These are all big areas that will need addressing.’
Mr Le Feuvre has overseen a number of changes in the mental health landscape during his tenure, with the discussion on the topic now at the forefront of many government strategies.
He added: ‘I think things have changed massively and attitudes towards mental health have changed, not just here but across the world.
‘People can now talk about it and get help. I think there is still a little way to go with some phrases that are used, but it has really changed. We have implemented a number of things for children and young people, which wasn’t part of my remit when I began.
‘One of the things we have brought to the Island, is the mental health first aider in work places.
‘We have about 500 volunteers across a range of work places and that is something that has been brilliant.’
