A three-year study into the transformation of community-based mental health services in Norfolk and Waveney has now drawn to a close, with Healthwatch Norfolk providing a number of recommendations for improvements in its final report.
In the final year of this project we focussed on adults with serious mental illness (SMI) who have used community-based mental health services within the past five years to determine whether they have seen any positive change.
What did we hear?
We found that whilst there have been some improvements, most people who participated in the study were negative about their experiences.
Those areas where patients felt there had been positive change included the level support received through GP surgeries, the introduction of wellbeing hubs in the community and the general understanding of the different forms of mental illness.
However, those who took part in the study highlighted a series of concerns such as crisis intervention management, physical health checks and the stigma faced by people with personality disorders and complex emotional needs.
People also told us they had faced difficulty trying to access services with waiting times, continuity of staff and the consistency of appointments cited as common frustrations.
Background
Healthwatch Norfolk was commissioned by Norfolk and Waveney Integrated Care Board (ICB) to conduct an independent evaluation of how well the Community Mental Health Transformation Steering Group is delivering on its plan to transform community-based mental health services in the area.
The group is made up of people from local health and social care providers, service users, staff who work in mental health services and the voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector. It is managed by Norfolk and Waveney ICB and Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust.
Years one and two of the project involved discussions with the steering group about the plans, as well as engagement with staff from the mental health workforce and wider stakeholders. We also spoke to adults with SMI and their carers during this time, so that we could understand how their experiences of community mental health care were changing over the course of the project.
Our recommendations
Based on the feedback received during this study, Healthwatch Norfolk has made the following recommendations:
- Ensure that adults with SMI have reliable and consistent support
- Ensure that adults with SMI have regular ongoing support to minimise the need for crisis intervention.
- Do not lose the valuable voice of people with lived experience
- Keep the mental health roles in primary care
- Finalise the strategy for a strong working partnership with the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector in supporting people with SMI
‘Much to do’
Alex Stewart, chief executive of Healthwatch Norfolk, said: “This report brings to a close a three-year comprehensive study into the level of transformation taking place within community-based mental health care in Norfolk and Waveney.
“Whilst it’s encouraging to see improvements have been made in some areas, there is clearly still much to do to ensure people living with serious mental illness in the area are given the support they need.
“We hope the Community Mental Health Transformation Steering Group welcome our findings and take on board the recommendations made within this final report”.
You can read the full report here.
