A mental health professional from the island has been invited to work with colleagues in the Caribbean to develop psychiatric tele-health for the region.

Karen Grant Simmons, director of mental health services for the Bermuda Hospitals Board, gave a presentation on tele-health in psychiatry at a virtual meeting last month of the Nurses Association of the Bahamas.

More than 280 nurses attended the November 25 conference, including Paulette Cash, president of the Caribbean Nurses Organisation.

Ms Grant Simmons, a registered psychiatric nurse, said Dr Cash told her that the International Council of Nurses had called for the Caribbean national nurses associations to “get on board with tele-health”.

“She requested I work with the Caribbean Nurses Organisation and other Caribbean islands to move the initiative forward.

“After learning the extent to which we use tele-health at MWI, they are of the view that Bermuda is leading in the region.”

Ms Grant Simmons has agreed to serve on the Special Projects Committee of the Caribbean Nurses Organisation.

She will help structure and guide the creation of tele-health programmes in psychiatry and psychology for the Caribbean islands, BHB said.

Ms Grant Simmons said her presentation highlighted MWI’s use of phone consultation and online meetings with therapists.

Tele-health kept services running during the island’s Covid-19 lockdowns.

She said in many cases, MWI clients preferred virtual meetings to avoid the stigma of being seen at a mental health facility.