Mental health review fundings released
The findings of an in-depth report into mental health services across the city have been released today as part of Plymouth City Council’s ‘Caring Plymouth’ work.
The report set to be approved by Cabinet next week details the findings of a thorough city-wide review, which looked at all aspects of mental health services including how many people receive services, waiting times and satisfaction levels.
In 2012 approximately 3,500 5 to 15 year olds have been diagnosed with a mental health problem, over 26,000 18-64 year olds were estimated to have a common mental health disorder in Plymouth, and over 3,700 over 65s were estimated to suffer with depression.
The report shows that the predicted prevalence of mental health problems in the city is unlikely to change significantly over the next seven years. This is influenced by other factors including deprivation, employment status, educational achievement, housing and homelessness, levels of alcohol and drug use and dependence, which affect people’s mental health and wellbeing.
Performance information from commissioners and providers, plus a mental health needs assessment, was used to build up a complete picture of the mental health system in Plymouth. Surveys and consultation events were completed with service users, partners, providers and community groups to gather their feedback.
The review was able to map how much is currently spent on mental health services in Plymouth - £41,229,127 is spent across a range of commissioners including Plymouth City Council, Northern, Eastern and Western Devon Clinical Commissioning Group, and NHS England. There are also a large number of providers of mental health services and support ranges from specialist treatment through Plymouth Community Healthcare CIC, to low level community-based support to promote mental wellbeing through ‘Community Health in Keyham’.
The complex way services are currently managed and delivered means the report identifies opportunities for joining up and benchmarking performance across different commissioners and services. It makes 10 recommendations based on the findings which include:
1. The development and monitoring of a single mental health performance dashboard;
2. Raising awareness and reducing stigma of mental health;
3. Increasing promotion, prevention and early intervention services;
4. Remodelling the children and young people pathway for mental health services and support;
5. Developing services to ensure carers are well supported;
6. Developing understanding of mental health issues in the BME community;
7. Working co-operatively with the local mental health community to drive commissioning decisions;
8. Develop a more integrated approach to commissioning and service provision;
9. Develop an understanding of the mental health and wellbeing needs of veterans, particularly in relation to the transition back to civilian life and work in partnership to deliver the armed forces community covenant;
10. Ensuring that Pledge 90 feeds into and supports the work of the Fairness Commission.
The release of this report marks the completion of the last of the ‘Caring Plymouth’ pledges announced in May 2012, which promised to ‘Conduct a wide-ranging review of the adequacy of mental health services and support in the city alongside local mental health providers and charities.
Councillor Sue McDonald, Cabinet Member for Public Health and Adult Social Care, said: “This review of the city’s mental health services has been very thorough and we are now in a much better position to build on the things we do well and change the things that need to be improved.
“This was a vital piece of work and it will feed into decision-making and service development for the Council and our partners. One of the key themes highlighted in this review is the need to better coordinate our service commissioning and delivery.
“Having a city-wide view of our mental health system means service gaps and duplication have become much clearer. It’s also shown us that we spend far more in cure rather than prevention, and this is something that we need to address so that more services are geared towards early help and preventing crisis.
“Now we’ve got all this incredibly valuable information we’ll be wasting no time in acting upon it to ensure that we improve mental health services for those people who need them in the city.”
The review will be available for commissioners, decision-makers, providers, service users, carers and all members of the public to use for the purpose of improving mental health and wellbeing services for everyone.
Paul O’Sullivan, Managing Director of the Partnerships Directorate with Northern, Eastern and Western Devon Clinical Commissioning Group, said: “NEW Devon CCG are committed to working with Plymouth City Council to improve and integrate mental health services provision and commissioning.
“The pledge 90 review has been a positive and enlightening piece of work that has revealed a range of opportunities for improved joint working.
“It has informed the development of a mental health community strategy for Devon. There are clear joint responsibilities for addressing prevention, integration of commissioning and service delivery, supporting carers and improving access.”
The action to develop a single strategic response to mental health in Plymouth across all partners will be taken forward through the Health and Wellbeing Board, which is made up of politicians and senior managers from the Council, CCG, Devon Local Pharmaceutical Committee, the police, NHS England, police and crime commissioner, Plymouth NHS Hospitals Trust, Healthwatch Plymouth, Plymouth University, Plymouth Community Homes and Plymouth Community Healthcare.
For more information about the Health and Wellbeing Board visit: www.plymouth.gov.uk/healthandwellbeingboard
