Trust’s Mental Health Professional Lead wins GOLD at the Social Worker of the Year Awards

Our Trust’s professional lead for Approved Mental Health Professionals (AMHP), Kirsten Bingham, recently attended the Social Worker of the Year Awards ceremony in London and was delighted to have been recognised with the Gold award for National AMHP of the Year 2023.  

The Social Worker of the Year Awards is the only major national awards event for social work in England, with hundreds of entries each year to share positive stories of outstanding social work, creative and compassionate practitioners and outstanding practice. 

On receiving this highly regarded accolade Kirsten said, “It’s an honour to have been recognised with this award for a role that I love. I value relationship-based practice, collaborative working, and a strong focus upon delivering a strength’s based and preventative service, which always has the person at the heart of decision making. The breadth of the role is far greater than widely thought and can create opportunities to provide support and guidance before people experience a mental health crisis and whilst it is a great responsibility to make, at times, difficult decisions, these decisions can make a significant difference to the lives of people and their families”. 

Gold award winners are also privileged to be invited to attend a parliamentary reception at the House of Commons, hosted by members of the Department of Health and Social Care. This event is where the next year’s awards are officially launched by representatives from the Department of Health and Social Care and the Department for Education and Social Work England. The previous year’s winners of the Gold award are invited to join, along with award sponsors. 

Kirsten Bingham has worked as an Approved Mental Health Professional (AMHP) for the last 16 years, having previously worked within residential and nursing care settings. Kirsten has a true desire to enhance and develop the services as well as the AMHP role itself.  

Following the win Paul Johnson, Clinical Director at our Trust said, “This is a great achievement for Kirsten who is a fantastic ambassador for Approved Mental Health Practitioners, for social workers and for the Trust. Well done Kirsten.” 

Our Trust is commissioned by Hull City Council to provide the resources to deliver the statutory duties of the AMHP function on behalf of the council, who retain the statutory responsibility. The AMHP service sits within the Mental Health Services provided by our Trust. 

Tracy Meyerhoff, the Director of Adult Social Care at Hull City Council said: “Kirsten was the missing link we needed to stabilise, improve and grow our AMPH service. She leads with passion and integrity, while upholding strong, social work values. I’m pleased and proud to see her win this award”.