Working together to transform our community mental health
Welcome to the first edition of Our Community Mental Health Newsletter.
My name is Sara Traynor and I am the newly appointed Co-Production Lead for the Community Mental Health Framework (CMHF) in Devon.
The CMHF is a national improvement programme and here in Devon we have successfully bid for an additional £15m of funding to implement the framework in a way which meets the different needs of our communities and is tailored to better meet the needs of individuals. It’s about working together to transform our community mental health.
One of the core principles of the framework is co-production and co-design with people who have lived experience of mental health issues. This is something that’s very close to my heart, not only because I am leading on this piece of work and have the opportunity to make a difference, but because I have experienced first-hand the difference and impact excellent, seamless, person-centred care can have. And I believe that when services are co-produced with people who have lived experience of mental illness or caring for loved ones, insights can be gained that can result in an improved patient experience.
You can find out more about the other core principles and features of our community mental health transformation below and some of the work that’s under way to make our ambitions a reality.
Please do subscribe to this newsletter by using the link at the bottom of the page if you want to stay updated, and share with anyone you think may be interested in finding out more and getting involved.
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In this issue
- What is the Community Mental Health Framework?
- Meet the team leading our changes at a locality level
- Closer working with our voluntary sector
- What's happening now?
- How to find out more and get involved
The Community Mental Health Framework (CMHF) is a once in a generation opportunity to change how we deliver community mental health services for adults (people aged 18 and over) with severe mental health needs across Devon.
We know that many of our community mental health teams have long waiting lists and there are gaps between services. We also know that people find it difficult to access the services they need and to navigate their way around a system that offers support from many different sources, including GPs, health and social care providers, local authorities and the voluntary sector. Furthermore, we know that mental health support is not as closely integrated as it needs to be with other key services, such as those providing help with housing and employment.
We are now in the process of implementing plans to tackle these issues and to deliver more consistent, joined-up support for people that better meets their personal needs and also the needs of their local communities.
This 18-month transformation supports the priorities set out within the NHS Long Term Plan and is being bolstered with the help of an additional £15million of national funding for Devon, to implement our approach.
Devon’s two mental health providers – Devon Partnership Trust and Livewell Southwest are leading the transformation to create this new proactive model of community mental health care based within each of Devon’s 31 Primary Care Networks, working in partnership with our GPs, local authorities, and voluntary and community organisations – alongside people with lived experience, their families and carers.
 Core features of our model include:
- Neighbourhood support aligned with Devon’s 31 Primary Care Networks, provided by multi-agency teams
- Recovery navigators and peer support roles to walk alongside people so they get help when and where it is needed
A specific focus on:
- Improving transition of young people to adult services
- Meeting the needs of younger adults (18-25 year olds)
- Meeting the specialist needs of older adults
- Improving the physical health of people with mental health needs
More targeted support for:
- People who have, or are at risk of, an eating disorder diagnosis
- People with complex emotional needs associated with a diagnosis of personality disorder
- Mental health rehabilitation for those who experience long-term problems associated with complex psychosis
- Far closer partnership working with the voluntary sector to meet local needs
Sara Mitchell, Associate Director and Strategic Mental Health lead at Livewell Southwest said: “We’re excited by the work taking place across the county to improve our community mental health services. We’re already gathering views, feedback and input from some of those who already access our services, their families and carers. We’re having fantastic discussions with our GPs and voluntary sector so that we can work together to make these changes happen and we’ve recruited to a number of posts to boost our workforce, including Peer Support Workers.
“There will be plenty of opportunities for people to get involved and have their say and we’ll be bringing more information on that soon.”
 Pictured: Beth Fisher, Livewell Southwest, Leanne Walker and Ali Kingdon from Devon Partnership Trust
A key part of delivering the framework is ensuring we meet the differing needs of each community. To make this happen, we now have Local Implementation Teams (LITs) up-and-running across the county, developing and implementing improved support for people with severe mental health problems. There are five LITs (north, south, east, west and Plymouth) and they are each working hard to make Devon’s Community Mental Health Framework a reality.
The LITs provide a place for everyone involved locally in the Framework to come together to decide what needs doing in their area. The priorities and ways of working vary across the county and the LITs are finding the best ways of delivering better and more joined-up care and support at a local level. All LITs include people with lived experience alongside those from primary care, community mental health services, social care and the voluntary, community, social enterprise and independent sector (VCSEI).
It is still early days for the LITs but they are already proving a useful forum and are beginning to shape the way communities are supporting people. Each LIT has a Locality Change Co-ordinator who is leading the work and forming important relationships with their communities.
Ali Kingdon, Locality Change Co-ordiantor for South and West Devon and Beth Fischer, Locality Change Co-ordinator for Plymouth recently attended the Community Wellbeing event at Butchers Hall in Tavistock to share information on the Framework, listen to feedback and answer questions from residents.
Ali said: “It was a brilliant day and we were delighted to be able to talk to so many people about the work we’re doing to try and improve community mental health across Devon. We know how important it is that services are as close-to-home as possible for people and that sometimes people have had to wait too long to receive help or have fallen through the gap between services and feedback from people on the day really reiterated some of these issues.
“The Framework really looks to address these issues so that by working together we can bring care and support closer to people’s homes and ensure that the right help is received at the right time and in the right place whether that’s attending a community group or benefitting from more structured treatment from a mental health team.”
In the east of the county, the LIT has three sub-groups that work at an even more localised level. Jane Dewar, Locality Change Co-ordinator for East Devon, comments: “The energy, enthusiasm and drive of our brilliant colleagues from across the mental health pathway has been humbling and I am confident this collaborative approach will bring about improvements in care and a better experience for people with severe mental health needs and their families – as well as for our dedicated colleagues delivering those services.”
The voluntary sector will play an important part of the additional support being offered to people within their local communities.
Extensive engagement over the past few months have helped shape how voluntary, community, social enterprise and independent sector (VCSEI) organisations can be at the forefront of Devon’s new Community Mental Health Framework. Those discussions have led to a point where an alliance of VCSEI organisations has formed. This alliance is now working collaboratively with statutory health services and local authorities to agree on a contract, with a view to signing this later this month (December). The alliance of charities will then be at the heart of plans to improve how people in Devon with severe mental health problems are supported.
The alliance comprises:
- Improving Lives Plymouth,
- Devon Mind,
- Shekinah,
- Step One,
- CoLab Exeter and
- Rethink Mental Illness
These organisations have a long track record of supporting people. Each will be able to bring particular knowledge and experience to make the combined force even stronger.
Commenting on the entering this final stage, Amanda Kilroy, Chief Executive of CoLab Exeter, says: “As an alliance of locally based organisations, we work with over 30,000 people a year to improve their mental health. This opportunity will provide a platform for us to increase the impact we make, and a framework to support wider VCSEI and statutory partners across the county who do such a great job in raising the wellbeing of Devon residents.”
Devon Clinical Commissioning Group’s Senior Commissioning Manager for Adult Mental Health, Justin Wiggin, says: “A lot of hard work has gone in to reaching this important stage. The response to our initial plans from the VCSEI sector has been amazing. We have now reached the stage where we can sit down together and get into the detail of the role Devon’s VCSEI will play in delivering the Framework and improving the support available across the county.”
Co-production is one of the core elements of the Framework, and throughout the process we’ve been ensuring to listen and involve those with personal experience of mental health issues to help design new services.
We recently appointed Sara Traynor as our Co-production Lead and work is now beginning in earnest to bring more people with lived experience on board to ensure we are more representative of the broader community and of particular groups at risk of marginalisation.
We’ve also begun the important work of forming our mutli-agency teams to work alongside Primary Care Networks so we can support them to provide better, more joined-up care that meets local needs. Multi-agency teams will be made up of different professions and expertise so that assessments and care can be managed jointly and ensure people only have to tell their story once to get the right help at the right time, whether that’s from a mental health team or support from a community group for example.
In total there will be around 140 more staff directly supporting people in the county with severe mental health needs and our recruitment push continues.
If you would like to receive updates about the programme, make sure you subscribe to this newsletter or to get involved, please email dpn-tr.communications@nhs.net
You can also stay up to date with the latest news by visiting https://www.icsdevon.co.uk/priorities/mental-health/
We'll be holding a number of engagement events across our communities in the New Year. Dates and times of these will be released soon.
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