NHFT Together - Issue 4

Welcome to another new edition of NHFT Together, the quarterly magazine from Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (NHFT) for our service users, colleagues, stakeholders and the wider population of our county.

NHFT is committed to ensuring all our patients and service users receive safe, high-quality care and are treated with respect and dignity at all times. To achieve this, it's important to recognise that everyone has different needs and preferences.

While the day-to-day running of prisons is carried out by the Ministry of Justice, healthcare in prisons is usually managed by external providers and NHFT currently provides healthcare across 14 prisons and other secured sites in England.

For many people experiencing mental health challenges, reaching out for support can be the toughest obstacle to overcome. But whatever the challenge and whenever the time of day, there's always someone on the end of the phone in Northamptonshire who's ready to help.

Sexual health can be a sensitive subject for many people. So while NHFT's sexual health clinics around Northamptonshire do hugely important work to provide advice, education, vaccination, contraception, testing and treatment to those who need it, there will always be people who are more difficult to reach.

Each day across all corners of Northamptonshire, hundreds of adults need urgent clinical help to stay safe at home, perhaps after a fall or a sudden bout of ill health. One NHFT team is here to deliver that help, providing truly responsive care day and night.

Until very recently, little was understood about the condition known as avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder, or ARFID. It was only named in 2013, yet it's a disorder that's affecting children and young people in ever growing numbers.

From prison healthcare to community foot therapy and from mental health crisis care to school nursing, one thing all of NHFT's services have in common is the need to deliver high-quality, safe care that's based on evidence.

The new term for eight seats of Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust's Council of Governors begins on 24 April 2026. 

Leaders from NHFT have joined forces with Northamptonshire's voluntary, community, faith and social enterprise (VCFSE) organisations to forge joint plans for closer working in neighbourhood health.

Pete Spink is public governor for NHFT, representing the Northampton constituency. He is also the chief executive of Space to Talk, a local mental health charity that organises walks and recreational activities, connections to peer support and access to mental health resources.