Why change?

You may already be familiar with community mental health teams, or CMHTs. CMHTs have been around for more than 30 years and have played a crucial role in delivering mental health care. They have given people with mental health problems vital support closer to their homes and communities.

However, services haven’t always worked in the most joined up way – and this is very much needed for those people who would benefit from coordinated input from across professional groups and multiple agencies.

The aim of the community mental health transformation programme is to remove barriers to organisations working together to improve people’s experiences and support recovery. No one organisation can meet all the needs of the population it serves. A truly holistic and person-centred approach can only be achieved by partnership working with colleagues in the NHS, voluntary, community, faith and social enterprise (VCFSE) sector, and adult social care. It is important to note people can still access existing services they might be used to, such as community mental health teams, but this new way of working offers better support

A new way of working

A new community-based approach to supporting people with complex mental health needs has been developed. This involves a range of health and social care partners working together to deliver more joined-up mental health care across Lancashire and South Cumbria.

This means people will receive care which is tailored to their individual needs – often called personalised care. It gives people easier access to the mental health support they need, as well as support in other areas of their life. This may be employment support or support for their physical health, factors which we know can negatively impact a person’s mental health.

This new way of working as one multi-agency team allows people to move through the health and care system more easily. People will be assigned to a named mental health worker who will provide a single key point of contact throughout their care, meaning people shouldn’t have to repeat their story.

It stops people from being ‘bounced’ from one service to the next, and means that care can be stepped or up, or stepped down, in response to their changing needs in a seamless way. It allows people to manage their own condition better with support from their families, social networks, and local community.