Evelyn Assey is passionate about people with mental health issues being treated with dignity and respect.

With elections recently completed, Devon Partnership NHS Trust welcomed its new intake of governors and rounded-off the meeting with a visit to the new �27m medium-secure unit development at Langdon Hospital in Dawlish, which is due to open next spring.

Chairman, Mark Taylor, said: “We are expecting to be authorised as a Foundation Trust later this year and our Council of Governors will play a pivotal role in supporting our work, flying the flag for the cause of mental health and, importantly, monitoring the work of the Trust’s Board and advising on its future plans.

“We were pleased to welcome back some of our former ‘shadow’ governors but also delighted to see so many new faces. We have an excellent mix of people who use our services, family members, carers, members of the general public and staff – all of whom are passionate about mental health. We are looking forward to working together and are genuinely excited about what we can do to improve local services further still.”

After the meeting, the newly-elected governors visited Langdon Hospital in Dawlish. Langdon is home to the Trust’s secure service, which provides care and treatment for people with a wide variety of mental health and learning disability needs. The hospital provides services for people from Devon and Cornwall, as well as those from further afield, and will see the opening of a state-of-the-art medium-secure unit early next year.

Commenting on her election as a governor in the Exeter, East and Mid Devon public constituency, Evelyn Assey, of Honiton, said: “I’m delighted to join the Trust’s Council of Governors and I’d like to thank everyone who voted for me.

“Mental health is an issue that is gradually starting to attract the attention that it deserves but we know we can do more to promote awareness and understanding. One in four of us is likely to have a mental health need at some point in our lives and I will be doing all I can to influence the quality of services in the east of the county.

“I am a nurse by profession and have spent much of my career working with the elderly and people with a learning disability.

“I am particularly passionate about making sure that we treat people who have mental health problems with dignity and respect and that we don’t discriminate against them or alienate them from our communities.”

Regular Network Action Groups are held across the county to listen to people’s views about mental health services and to provide updates on the work of the Trust. The next Network Action Groups for Exeter, East and Mid Devon will be held at the Turk’s Head Lodge in Honiton on 10 July from 2-4pm and at St Sidwell’s Community Centre on 28 November from 2-4pm. Please call 0800 0730 741 for more details.

Devon Partnership NHS Trust already has more than 7,000 members.

Anyone interested in becoming a member should call 01392 208700 or visit www.devonpartnership.nhs.uk