Open Mental Health has featured in a recent BMJ article titled ‘Revitalising mental healthcare after covid-19′
Read an extract below or see the full article online >>
Speedier support and cultural change
On average, 3600 contacts a month are seen by Open Mental Health—and promptly: people wait an average of two days from contacting the service for support, while the national standard is four weeks.
Working in alliance, including local meetings held at least weekly, has been a “huge cultural change for all our staff,” says Yeandle. “It’s been important to learn to trust and work with one another and not work in silos.”
Trusts should “scope their local stakeholders and voluntary organisations, build those relationships, and see what opportunities there are to combine forces . . . listen to the people who use your services, and allow them to develop them,” she advises.
Will Higham, associate director of programme innovation at Rethink Mental Illness, tells The BMJ, “Post pandemic, the community approach is the right approach. In particular, the peer workforce can be a pathway to recovery for people, as well as being crucial to helping solve the workforce shortage, as there simply aren’t the clinical hours to deal with the level of need out there.”
Published 02 November 2022