Improvements have been made to adult mental health urgent care services in Hull and East Riding after care commissioners gave the provider vital additional funds.
Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust has invested the money after securing it from Hull and East Riding clinical commissioning groups and NHS England.
Trust managers hope the funding will reduce the pressure on hospital services and prevent patients from having to leave the area for care.
The money has paid for:
*Five new beds at Mill View Court, a ten-bed inpatient unit in Cottingham for men and women over 65. Four of the beds have opened this month and a fifth will be available in June;
*The continuation of the ‘Crisis Pad’, a sanctuary staffed by Humbercare in Hull for people suffering severe emotional distress. The daily sanctuary is continuing to open from 6pm until 2am, instead of from 8pm until 2am, following a successful winter trial;
*An additional bed at a ‘step-down’ service in Hull for patients who lack suitable accommodation or support to be discharged from inpatient units. Delivered by charity Hull and East Yorkshire Mind, the service is now offering five beds to patients following a successful pilot. Each patient can stay for up to 28 days and receive help with daily living, mental health and tenancy issues;
*An extended Mental Health Liaison Service for people with mental health problems at Hull Royal Infirmary, including those who attend the accident and emergency department and patients on general medical wards. Funding from NHS England has paid for extra staff including support workers, care co-ordinators, a psychologist, a consultant psychiatrist and a specialist practitioner.
Claire Holmes, the Trust’s Interim Transformation Lead for Adult Mental Health, said: “We have been working very closely with our commissioners to develop these services, which we hope will reduce pressure on inpatient beds and prevent people from having to go out of the area for treatment.
“We are fully committed to improving the way we deliver urgent care services for people with mental health issues and are delighted our commissioners have chosen to invest in services that deliver excellent outcomes for our patients.”
Melanie Bradbury, Hull Clinical Commissioning Group lead for Mental Health and Vulnerable People, said: “These new enhanced mental health crisis support services will be very much welcomed by patients, families and carers in Hull. We have worked closely with Humber Teaching NHS FT over the last six months, and invested more than £650,000 a year in the new schemes.
“With the extension of the inpatient beds, crisis pad and the new ‘step-down’ facilities, we are confident we will achieve our target of eliminating out-of-area mental health acute placements by summer 2018 – ahead of the NHS England timescale of 2021.”
Alex Seale, Director of Commissioning and Transformation at East Riding Clinical Commissioning Group, said: “We are committed to ensuring local patients are able to receive the best possible care when they need it most, and this funding will see improvements to urgent mental health services across the region.
“These significant changes will not only reduce pressure on vital hospital services, they will allow more patients to be supported locally and improve people’s experience of mental health care.”
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