A PSYCHOLOGIST working for Cambridgeshire County Council has reached the finals of the NHS Innovator of the Year awards for her work helping troubled teenagers. Brigitte Squire, a consultant clinical psychologist, has been working on a highly successful t

A PSYCHOLOGIST working for Cambridgeshire County Council has reached the finals of the NHS Innovator of the Year awards for her work helping troubled teenagers.

Brigitte Squire, a consultant clinical psychologist, has been working on a highly successful therapy for troubled teenagers and was chosen as a finalist from over 700 applicants.

In 2001 she began to lead and supervise a pilot of Multisystemic Therapy (MST), offering a lifeline to young people with persistent and severe anti-social behaviour who were at high risk of going into custody or care.

The MST team became well-established and Brigitte has gone on to pioneer further new developments.

The service is offered throughout Cambridgeshire, and Peterborough is one of the 10 new sites recently funded by the government.

The NHS Innovator of the Year awards are aimed at people whose innovation has led to significant improvements in the quality or safety of patient care. They need to be able to demonstrate that they have tirelessly promoted the early identification, adoption and spread of new ideas.

Supported by colleagues at Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust (CPFT) and Cambridgeshire County Council, Brigitte worked with health, youth offending service and social care partners in groundbreaking delivery of intensive support programmes to troubled adolescents, their parents or carers and their wider families.

The awards ceremony will be held in London in November.