The #AVeryDifferentConversation survey is now closed. Thank you to everyone who took part. We’re now reviewing the results and will reconsider the proposed changes in response to the feedback.
These pages contain information about the proposed changes to community mental health services. You can still use these pages to learn about the current plans. If you have any questions or comments, please contact us:
Email: wsh-tr.mhprogrammeteam@nhs.net
Phone number: 0800 389 6819
From November 2020, once we’ve heard what everybody thinks, we will work with our co-production partners to see if we need to adapt the plans and make changes. We’ll then let you know what changes have been made as a result of the feedback we received. This will be early next year.
The next stage will be to take these plans and make them a reality for service users, carers and staff. This will all take some time. The new services will start to become available from summer 2021.
What’s on this page:
- Animated video which explains the changes
- What we’re hoping to achieve with the new service
- Who we’ve worked with
- What the new service will look like
- Video messages from the project team
- Frequently asked questions
- The survey
Work in healthcare, social care or education? Take a look at our workforce page, which has some information for professionals.
We’ve tried our best to make sure everyone can take part. The information is presented in captioned videos with written transcripts. Also in written form and diagrams. Information about the Learning Disabilities and Autism Services is available in Easy Read. The survey can also be accessed in an Easy Read format.
If you would prefer to access the information in a different way, please get in touch.
Animated video which explains the changes
Watch our animated video for an overview of what you told us needed to be improved, the changes we’ve planned in response, and examples of how that will affect people living in Suffolk.
View this video full-size on Vimeo or read the full script.
What we’re hoping to achieve with the new service
Our new community service will focus on the needs of each individual patient and their families and concentrate on the prevention of ill-health as well as early intervention. It will also bring physical and mental health services together and be simple, inclusive, easy to navigate and comprehensive.
Specifically, our community mental health service will:
- Address rising levels of anxiety, depression and dementia. One way in which we’ll do this is by expanding upon the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) Wellbeing Service. This will give people in east and west Suffolk the tools they need to self-care and prevent becoming mentally unwell.
- Improve patient experience by ensuring you can access services quickly and locally. We also want to make sure you never need to tell your story more than once, to lots of different people. One way we’ll achieve this is by phasing out ‘siloed’ ways of working. This means services will be joined up, with mental health professionals liaising with each other, so you won’t be passed from service to service.
- Make sure there’s always enough resource to meet demand, avoiding capacity gaps in key areas such as assessments and within primary care.
- Make sure that all patients receive the same quality of service. For example, a patient with a dual diagnosis wouldn’t receive any lesser a service than a patient with a single diagnosis.
- Join up physical and mental healthcare.
- Address recruitment and morale challenges within our workforce.
- Be accessible for children and young people via schools and colleges, as well as their GP practices.
- Be accessible to anyone with a learning disability and/or autism, with reasonable adjustments made where necessary
Services will be delivered by three types of teams:
1. Enhanced Primary Care Mental Health Teams
These teams will work closely with GP practices and be part of Integrated Neighbourhood Teams. This will enable all mental health professionals to work as part of one extended team, to best support patients and their support networks.
2. Locality Recovery Teams
These teams will provide specialist evidence-based interventions.
3. Countywide Recovery Teams
These teams will provide evidence-based intervention and support for specifically identified needs such as eating disorders and perinatal mental health needs. They will also offer early intervention and support to people with psychosis.
Who have we worked with?
To make sure we could speak to as many people as possible, from as many of our different communities as possible, we worked with the following groups:
- Suffolk County Council
- Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation Trust
- East Suffolk and North East Essex Foundation Trust
- West Suffolk Foundation Trust
- Suffolk GP Federation
- Suffolk Parent Carer Network
- Suffolk Family Carers
- Suffolk User Forum
- GP Practices
We will continue to work with our co-production partners until the services have been made live. This is planned for summer 2021.
What the new service will look like
This diagram illustrates how the new services will actually meet the needs the population of Suffolk regardless of age.
If you need this diagram in an alternative format, please get in touch at wsh-tr.mhprogrammeteam@nhs.net.
Ways you can view this:
1. Click on the image to enlarge it
2. Pathway on a page Community
Additional notes on stages of this service (correlating to the numbers on the image):
1. People are supported to access the Enhanced Primary Care Team from practice reception, e-Consult/Ask my GP who have identified they need support but who are not in crisis, people in a crisis will be supported to contact the First Response crisis service.
The right person will be skilled to support people’s mental health in Suffolk, they could be from, Voluntary and Community Groups, Social Care, Housing providers or Mental Health teams. They will support people to get the right support they need.
The Enhanced Primary Care Mental Health Team will see people of any age with a mental health concern and are based in the locality. Same day contact will be made to further understand needs and who can best support them. They will make reasonable adjustment to meet the needs of people with learning disabilities and autism where possible.
The mental health practitioners can provide assessment, early intervention in addition to having access to specialist services, specialist recovery teams and wellbeing for advice, guidance, support, and direct access.
2. Timely direct access to specialist services will be at a point in a person’s journey that is right for them via a professional that understands their needs.
3. The Specialist Mental Health Recovery Team supports high risk, complex and actively unwell service users, who cannot be supported by the Enhanced Primary Care Teams. They will facilitate service user’s recovery by working closely with other professionals within the health and social care systems. They will make reasonable adjustment to meet the needs of people with learning disabilities and autism where possible.
4.The Wellbeing service provides a range of support for people with common mental health and emotional issues, such as low mood, depression, or stress. The service is available for people over the age of 16.
James Nilsen-Clarke explains the changes
James Nilsen-Clarke is the Community Services Lead for Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust.
View this video full-size on Vimeo or read the full script.
Dr Rosalind Tandy discusses our plans for Community Services
Dr Rosalind Tandy is a GP in Haverhill, and is clinical lead for mental health with the West Suffolk Clinical Commissioning Group.
View this video full-size on Vimeo or read the full script.
Frequently asked questions
We’ve put together a list of queries we think you might have. If you’ve got a question that’s not on this list, please email us at wsh-tr.mhprogrammeteam@nhs.net
We’ll answer your question as soon as we can. And if we think your query would be helpful to other people, we’ll add it to this list. Don’t worry, though, all questions asked will be anonymous.
1. Will I still have a care coordinator?
You may still have a named care coordinator however the approach to supporting people in community is more integrated and therefore you may work with a number of different professionals across your recovery journey. This enables all services users to access staff that can best support their identified needs.
2. Can I still see a psychiatrist?
Psychiatrists will still form part of the Mental Health teams and will work closely with all professionals to meet your needs. You may not directly see a psychiatrist, but they will be involved in your care when needed.
3. Do I have to be in the children’s pathway if I`m under 25?
Not necessarily. We are aiming to provide services that best meet the needs of the individual needing support. By ensuring that services are more integrated needs will be met, in agreement with the young person and family, by the right professional that is not dictated by age.
4. Who do I contact for support with my mental health?
By creating a no wrong door approach, you can contact anyone. If you are not known to service this may logically be your GP practice however you may be involved with other health and social care professionals that you can also approach, they can then support you to access what is right for your needs. Anyone that is receiving support will have a care plan which will clearly document who you have agreed to contact when.
5. How will I know what is happening with my care?
If you are currently receiving support for your mental health you will receive communications from the team that are supporting you. We are working closely to ensure that when any changes happen to the community services, service users and families are fully aware of what is happening and are clear about how their needs will be met going forward. It is anticipated that the changes will take place across a number of months.
6. I have a learning disability; can I use the new services?
Yes, those with a learning disability and or autism will be able to access the all aspects of the new model (both universal and specialist services) with reasonable adjustments.
Please note, this survey is now closed
The survey was available to complete digitally and in Easy Read format.
What happens now?
These plans are not yet finalised. We need to understand how the suggested service developments will feel for service users, carers and the workforce. That’s why your comments are so important to us. Your feedback will support the development of the plans for the future of Suffolk’s mental health services.
From November 2020, once we’ve heard what everybody thinks, we will work with our co-production partners to see if we need to adapt the plans and make changes. We’ll then let you know what changes have been made as a result of the feedback we received. This will be early 2021.
The next stage will be to take these plans and make them a reality for service users, carers and staff. This will all take some time. The new services will start to become available from summer 2021.
Go back to the main #AVeryDifferentConversation page, or visit one of the other priority pages:
