16 April 2026

It’s amazing how quickly time flies! Our Commonwealth Professional Fellowship visit with colleagues from Tanzania and the Gambia is coming to an end.

Four visiting health professionals spent time with teams across CNWL, giving them a valuable insight into CNWL's well‑developed mental health infrastructure and how we deliver community focused care, sharing their own experiences and swapping ideas (plus survival tips for London travel).

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Before they head home, they’ll be giving a final presentation at the Gordon Hospital on Friday 24 April, sharing reflections on mental health services in their home countries and what they’ve taken from their time with us.

Along the way, there’s been plenty of learning, plenty of warmth (despite the weather), and lots of new friendships. Our visitors were particularly struck by the way our services work together - from community teams and crisis care to addiction services and inpatient care - and by the emphasis we place on staff wellbeing.

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Some soundbites:

“I loved the Wellbeing on Wheels (WOW) bus service. I love the way the Trust cares about the mental wellbeing of the workers.”

“Despite the cold weather, I received warmth through smiles, warm welcomes, kindness, receptiveness to teach and teamwork in service provision.”

“It’s interesting and commendable to see how community mental health teams, home treatment teams, inpatient service, Mental Health Crisis Assessment Service (MHCAS), Addiction Recovery Community (ARC) and other services all work in harmony with one another for effective service provision.”

“It has proven how effective functioning of different components of the mental health service delivery complement each other for desired goals of recovery and maintenance of mental wellbeing of the patients and their family.”

We’re also hoping to organise a social send‑off in central London on Friday 24 April. If you’d like to join, get in touch with Chris Bumstead at c.bumstead@nhs.net.

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Commonwealth Professional Fellowship Programme

For the third year running, CNWL has been selected to host colleagues from our International Healthcare Partnerships, as part of the Commonwealth Professional Fellowship Programme.

It is hoped that by hosting colleagues from different countries, they can also develop a “south-south” collaboration to address their common issues as low-income countries with minimal resources. We also have a lot to learn from our visitors in terms of understanding the culture of African countries, attitudes towards mental illness and how to manage with a lot less.

Read more on this page.