Proposed redesign of Mental Health Services in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough

This consultation has now closed - please see below for next steps

Have your say on plans to transform mental health services throughout Cambridgeshire and Peterborough

Plans to completely transform mental health services in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough were consulted on with the public for 13 weeks. The consultation ran from Monday 17 October 2011 until midnight Monday 16 January 2012

NHS Cambridgeshire, NHS Peterborough and Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust have been working alongside GPs to develop the proposals which could see mental health services in the area radically transformed over the next three years.

The plans have been developed after patient feedback, GP experience and recent inspections revealed that current services are complicated, not always easy to access and do not meet local needs. If given the go-ahead the new services will focus on providing easy to access, high-quality preventative services in the community, helping to improve the services received by patients.  They will also help to ensure that inpatient services are delivered in modern, purpose built facilities that meet current standards of patient privacy and dignity.

The plans are:

• To open a  new 24/7 advice and brief intervention centre
• To redesign primary care mental health services
• To combine some inpatient wards for adults
• To combine some inpatient wards for older people
• To re-design community services for people of all ages

Over 200 people attended workshops and other events earlier this year to help develop the proposals and ensure that they met the needs of local patients and GPs.

The aims of the changes are to:

• Give patients faster access to support, advice and information at an earlier stage in their illness in order to try and prevent deterioration in their mental health at a later stage.
• Improve the responsiveness, quality, reliability and efficiency of community-based mental health services.
• Enable all patients who require an admission to hospital to be accommodated in modern purpose-built facilities where they can access the full range of treatments available.

Next steps

The consultation has now closed. A report on the consultation was taken to the NHS Cambridgeshire and NHS Peterborough Board at their meeting on 28 March 2012, at which a decision on the proposals was made. The Board endorsed proposals to:

• Set up an Advice and Brief Intervention Centre, subject to the PCT Cluster Executive Team ensuring there is robust engagement with local GPs, service users and carers, voluntary organisations and other key stakeholders during the design process.
• Set up a Primary Care Mental Health Service.
• Consolidate inpatient wards for adults, subject to ensuring plans are put in place to support patients, their carers and families with transportation to and from mental health services in Cambridge and Peterborough, for those who need it. Furthermore, to ensure that the Crisis Resolution Home Treatment Team continue to have a base in Huntingdon and that community support is enhanced to ensure there is sufficient capacity to provide a responsive service to patients being treated/supported in the community.
• To consolidate inpatient wards for older people.
• To monitor the progresss of changes in six months time.

The Board paper is available to download from the list of documents below in the 'related downloads' section.