Community Mental Health Transformation in Somerset
Rethink Mental Illness are the accountable body for the Voluntary and Community Sector within Open Mental Health (OMH). Three years into the Open Mental Health collaboration Rethink Mental Illness’s Chief Executive Mark Winstanley has been in Somerset to meet with partners and see the community mental health transformation in Somerset up close.
Mark visited Eastleigh Court in Taunton on Wednesday 29th June meeting Jonathan Higman, Andrew Keefe (Somerset CCG), Laura Perry, Jo Poole (OMH) and Paula Blight (SWEDA UK).
Winstanley said: “Open Mental Health in Somerset is offering people with mental illness joined up support. Rethink’s Communities that Care model sets out a long-term vision for mental health care and outlines what good community support looks like. We want a system that’s easier for people to navigate.”
In 2019 Rethink Mental Illness published their ‘Communities that Care‘ report which sets out a blueprint for supporting people severely affected by mental illness in their local communities. A key principle of the Open Mental Health approach has been to work with experts by experience to co-produce services, helping to transform social care and health provision.
Jo Poole an expert by experience for OMH said: “Co-production is at the heart of Open Mental Health and key to making sure services are designed to meet people’s needs.”
In the afternoon Mark also joined OMH partners from Somerset Activity and Sports Partnership (SASP) in Wellington to hear about an exciting new Open Mental Health project for young people aged 16-25. New OMH partners 2BU, Minehead Eye, Fuse Performance, Conquest and Young Somerset are all part of this new project which is coming soon.
On the following day Mark met with Will Higham (Rethink Mental Illness) Andrew Keefe (Somerset CCG) and Paula Blight (SWEDA UK) at Bridgwater Rugby Club, in Taunton to discuss the successes and challenges Open Mental Health partners have all faced together and to plan for the future. Open Mental Health recently won an NHS Improvement Award Winner in Collaborating for Improvement.
Mark then joined partners from the Somerset Mental Health Hub. The steering group behind the Hub is made up of organisations active in the field of mental health in Somerset. Current members include The Balsam Centre, Heads up Somerset, Mind in Somerset, Open Mental Health, the Watch Project, Young Somerset and Spark Somerset.
The visit concluded in Bridgwater with an opportunity to meet Peter Lewis, Dan Meron and Jane Yeandle from Somerset NHS Trust.
After the visit, Jane Yeandle said: “It was lovely to be able to welcome Mark and showcase the work we have done in Somerset. The partnership approach that has been developed is a credit to all involved. We have had the opportunity in Somerset to be bold and transformational and it is great to be able to share this as a model for future service development.”
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