Benefits
Mental health matters is so much more than a title. It sums up the commitment of the trust and its staff to mental health services for the people of Lancashire that are second to none.
It is about a transformation of mental health inpatient services that builds on what the trust already does well and develops its services in a way that delivers the greatest benefits to people who use those services and the staff who work in them. It is about changing roles and creating exciting new opportunities for staff to gain new skills and develop new, leading edge approaches to care and treatment. It is about ensuring the right treatment and interventions are delivered by the right people in the right place at the right time.
In short, Mental health matters is about spending less money on buildings and more on people. It is also an important signal that mental health is no longer a Cinderella service in Lancashire.
Mental health matters is all about benefits for:
- the people who use our services
- carers and advocates
- Trust staff
- Trust partners.
Key benefits for the people who use our services:
- Specialist skills and services delivered in modern, high quality facilities and therapeutic environments
- Safe outdoor spaces and grounds available for people to use when they are in hospital or visiting
- More privacy and dignity for people who use mental health services
- Appropriate facilities for people to express their faith and practise their customs
- A safe place for vulnerable people such as frail elderly people, those who are disabled and young people
- Inpatient services provided in buildings that are designed and located in such a way that they promote a positive image of mental health and maximise links with the community
- Specific care arrangements designed for defined patient groups through the development of integrated care pathways, which set out the options available to individuals at each stage of their care.
Key benefits for carers and advocates:
- Rooms for families and visitors to use during visits
- Ease of access by public transport for families and visitors
- Better respite facilities and support for carers
- New ways of working which will enable staff to spend more time in supporting carers and advocates
- Carers and advocates involved more closely than ever before in the way services are provided
Key benefits for trust staff:
- Specialist facilities in which to deliver appropriate care to groups of people with similar needs such as:
- functional and organic mental illness
- behavioural problems
- dual diagnosis
- early onset dementia
- personality disorder
- young people
- vulnerable adults
- women
- Best practice in bed management implemented with discharge planning commencing at the point of admission
- Enhanced opportunities for patient observation and more contact time with the people who use our services
- Ability to use resources in the most effective way
- Education and training plans to support new ways of delivering services within available resources
- Partnership working with staff and staff side representatives.
Benefits for trust partners:
- The new service will be developed to form part of a care pathway through a network of services, provided by different organisations to ensure effective partnership working and the best possible outcomes for patients
- The model will build on the comments and views of stakeholders, local need and what is known to be effective
- Jointly agreed high-level principles, expected outcomes and standards will underpin the new service
- Gaps in existing services across the mental health and social care network will be considered.