I’d like to tell you about Max*. Max has been in and out of secondary care mental health services over the years. Sometimes getting support from his GP. Often escalating into crisis. Never really getting the support he needs to stay well.
One Monday morning a colleague working at a small local charity met Max who was in the street, in a state of distress and agitation. Max’s benefits had been stopped and he was without money or food. His mental health was deteriorating and he was escalating into crisis. Max was accompanied across the road to the local community mental health hub. Colleagues from the hub worked with Max to help him to ground himself and to de-escalate the situation. Subsequently a range of support was arranged:
- A food parcel from a local food bank
- Specialist Citizen’s Advice casework
- Voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) community crisis safe space
- Peer support
Within a few days, Max’s benefits had been reinstated and he was linked up with a multi-disciplinary team. A VCSE recovery and wellbeing worker worked with Max’s clinical team to create a single recovery plan. He was safe, his needs being met and on the path to recovery.
Max’s situation will be familiar to many people working within mental health systems across the country. Sadly, the story for many people living with mental illness has often been different. A&E, primary care and emergency services will frequently be the place people first seek help, but often won’t be able to provide the care that is really needed. While it may not be possible to prevent crisis escalation in every situation, we can and should be doing more to provide the right support in the right place at the right time.
It was Open Mental Health that was able to make a different, better outcome for Max possible.
Open Mental Health has been developed, not only by a group of NHS professionals sitting around a table but by mapping community assets that already exist. Collectively, we have built an alliance that not only includes local charities dedicated to helping improve mental health care, Somerset NHS Foundation Trust, Somerset Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and Somerset County Council but includes individuals who have lived experience of mental health. A ‘whole system’ workforce has been created to enable people to access the support they need when they need it, just like Max.
* Max’s name and some details of his story have been changed to protect his anonymity.