DRAFT Southwark Joint Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2017-2020
Vision for mental health and wellbeing We want to: Support everyone in Southwark to live healthy, happy and longer lives; Stop people from becoming unwell where possible; Support more people in the community and at home; Work together to share the money that is available across health and care in Southwark; and Give people the skills they need to stay well and support one another.
The Financial Context We want to improve mental health and wellbeing by getting the most from every pound we spend on health and care in Southwark; This strategy is the start of a process to consider how best to spend our money in this area; We will improve the care that people receive by working together across different organisations working in mental health and wellbeing in Southwark; and We will ask local residents in Southwark to help us decide how to spend our money so that we deliver the care that people want.
Mental Health in Southwark 3,800 people in Southwark have a serious mental illness. These people are most likely to be male, older and from a black ethnic background; Almost 1,200 people over 65 years old in Southwark have been diagnosed with dementia; 47,600 people are currently experiencing a common mental disorder in Southwark. This affects more women than men; 3,800 children in Southwark have a mental health condition; 22,000 people in Southwark have both a mental health condition and a long term physical health condition; and In 2013-15 there were 78 cases of suicide in Southwark.
Areas we will focus on Based on what people in Southwark have told us, these are the ways that we will address issues relating to poor mental health and wellbeing in Southwark: 1. Prevention and promotion of wellbeing 4. Improving recovery 2. Community based care and activating communities 3. Improving clinical and care services 5. Improving quality and outcomes
1. Prevention and promotion of wellbeing People have told us that we need to prevent people from becoming ill by supporting them to be healthy and provide more information. We will: Reduce the number of suicides in Southwark; Tackle stigma in the workplace; Tackle issues that cause mental illness including unemployment and social isolation; and Support families and children and young people in children s centres, libraries, schools and colleges.
2. Community based care and activating communities People have told us that they want to access care in the community. We will: Work with GPs to provide mental health support; Work with voluntary sector organisations to support local people in the community; and Build on models like the Southwark Wellbeing Hub.
3. Improving clinical care and services Everyone who comes into contact with services should be made to feel like they are the best person in the world and not just another person to walk through the door. (Female, 46) When in crisis don t always know what I need, I need some level of guidance of what is available and what may help so I can make a decision. (Female, 37) We will: Ensure there is more support in crisis including 24/7 support at A&E; Support people to live well with dementia; and Create housing in the community so that people can live independently.
4. Improving recovery People have told us that they don t want to be in hospital when they don t need to be. People also want to be respected and treated well. We will: Work with people recovering from mental illness and support them in the future; and Work with job centres, education and training centres to support people back into work.
5. Improving outcomes People have told us that they want more support to live healthily when they are ill, such as providing more support for healthy eating, diet and exercise. We will: Improve the physical health of people with mental health needs; Get more feedback so we can better understand the experiences of people who use services so that we can improve them; and Help people to stop smoking, exercise more and eat well.
What happens next? We will work with the NHS, Southwark Council, police, ambulance services, hospitals, transport and the voluntary and community sector to deliver an action plan over the next three years; We want to hear your views on the draft strategy until Sunday 10 September 2017 but we will continue to listen to people in Southwark and use their experiences to help us plan our work once the strategy has been published; Please give us your feedback on this strategy by completing the feedback form which is on the Consultation Hub - southwark.gov.uk/mentalwellbeing Or, please call Southwark CCG on 020 7525 7888.