Community mental health transformation

The vision in Lancashire and South Cumbria is to make our region a mentally healthy place to live. A place where everyone is empowered to look after their own mental health, and able to access the right kind of compassionate support when required. Everyone will have the same opportunity to lead a mentally healthy life, no matter where they live, or who they are.

However, we know there are some people with mental health needs who don’t always receive the right care, at the right time, and in the right place. We know we need to work differently to make sure we support these people in the best possible way.

The NHS Long Term Plan and the NHS Mental Health Implementation Plan 2019/20 – 2023/24 have also highlighted a need for change. They have set expectations for health and care systems to develop new and integrated models of primary and community mental health care.

As such, we're changing the way we care for adults with complex mental health needs. We're calling it ‘community mental health transformation’.

What do we mean by complex mental health needs?

Complex mental health needs can cover a range of needs and diagnoses.

These can include, but are not limited to: psychosis, bipolar disorder, ‘personality disorder’ diagnosis, eating disorders, severe depression and mental health rehabilitation needs.

Some of these may be co-existing with other conditions such as frailty, cognitive impairment, neurodevelopmental conditions or substance use.