Mental health service workers, people using the services and people working in voluntary and community services are working together to change how local mental health services are delivered so people with severe mental illness get the help, care, and support they need. The two-year NHS programme is called Community Mental Health Transformation.
This work is happening everywhere and will:
- make it easier for people with serious mental illness to get better coordinated mental and physical health support where they live, personal to them, regardless of their circumstances, cultural or racial background
- give care that makes the most of people’s health, wellbeing, and independence
- improve people’s experience of finding and getting care and improve the outcome of their care.
In West Yorkshire, our local teams in our five places, Bradford District and Craven, Calderdale, Kirklees, Leeds, and Wakefield, are doing this work because:
- they best understand what people who live in those places need – not everywhere is the same or has the same services
- they are closer to people. This means they can see who needs the most support and can get help to people early so that they get better sooner.
- they can act quickly to get support in place so that people don’t end up in a crisis situation
- they can make sure that people who use services have a chance to contribute their ideas to this work.
Teams of people from different organisations, professions and backgrounds are joining forces to make sure that the new way of doing things recognises that people have personal needs that have come about because of their past or present life situations and circumstances.
Our staff and people who work and volunteer in community-based services will also have their own wellbeing taken care of as a priority.
What does this mean for you?
You may become part of a new team, based in a local Primary Care Network.
The new teams will be made up of people who are already caring for and supporting people with serious mental illness as well as people who join in new roles that have been created for this work.
These teams will be made up of people from across the health, social care, voluntary, community and not for profit organisations. Your mental health neighbourhood team is working at pace to make this happen.