Since we shared our last update in September, there has been further progress on the Community Mental Health Transformation programme.
Locality Community Partnerships (LCPs) are now up and running in the Forest of Dean and Gloucester. The inaugural Stroud and Berkley Vale introductory meetings took place on the 5th and 19th December with the first formal LCP planned for 9th January. The next LCP to be established will be in Cheltenham, with the introductory meetings planned for the 24th January and 7th February.
LCPs are multi-agency groups where statutory, voluntary and community organisations come together to discuss the needs of individuals and determine what can be done to better support their needs.
Other updates include:
Small Grants Programme
We have introduced a small grant programme for Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) organisations providing services within Gloucestershire. There were 24 applications for funding in the first round and we have selected 11 projects to benefit. We are taking stock of the thresholds and criteria applied in tranche one and the range of applications we received and anticipate a second round will soon be open for applications, so please look out for details being shared very soon. Grants are available to support small scale projects that aim to improve the lives and experiences of adults with a serious mental illness within Gloucestershire.
The small grant fund is delivered as a partnership between Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust and Gloucestershire VCS Alliance.
If you would like to be notified when the next grant round opens in January 2024, please email smallgrants.enquiries@ghc.nhs.uk
Care Planning
The project team has been working with VCSE members and experts by experience to review how care planning works within Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust. During a workshop, people with lived experience of having care plans drawn up to support their recovery discussed what worked well, what didn’t work so well and what improvements can be made. This will now form part of the work GHC is undertaking on their Assessment and Care Management policy, before a new approach to care planning is rolled out.
For more information please email the CMHT email at: CMHTransformation@ghc.nhs.uk
Co-production has been at the centre of the Community Mental Health Transformation. People who have received mental health services or supported others to do so have been involved from the very outset, in shaping developments. This film outlines how co-production has taken place and its impact: https://youtu.be/Q4Qi4uXRAes?si=krC3eysKUqNQ3n6H
What is Community Mental Health Transformation?
A reminder:
- Community Mental Health Transformation is part of a national programme
- It’s about providing easier access and better support for adults with serious mental illnesses (SMI)
- There’s a focus on shorter waiting times
- Physical health checks are being promoted to prevent people with SMI from developing serious physical health conditions
- There is a particular focus on conditions like eating disorders and personality disorders
- Housing and employment are key elements of the programme
- A new assessment tool called DIALOG is being introduced which will help people who use services tell us what goals they want to achieve
- Locality Community Partnerships are being formed, to bring NHS organisations and community and voluntary sector partners together to provide more joined up support to meet people’s needs
The programme is being led by Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust on behalf of NHS Gloucestershire, however it is a collaborative effort with partners and Voluntary and Community Sector organisations including the VCS Alliance, Inclusion Gloucestershire and the Independence Trust.
