Mental Health Services
As the lead organisation for mental health services across Coventry and Warwickshire Health and Care Partnership, we have been working hard over the last 18 months, reviewing the challenges that we face and looking at how we can transform and improve our mental health services going into the future.
We have set a number of priorities for the Trust, including an increased focus on beter partnership working, prevention and early intervention, developing digital based solutions and providing more care within the community. We are also going to look at ways in which we can improve the mental health and emotional wellbeing support we provide.
Working closely with commissioners and other key stakeholders, we are delighted to have secured investment in our services for future transformation. Below are some of our key achievements over the last 18 months and our plans going forward.
Community Mental Health Services
Community mental health services play a crucial role in delivering mental health care for adults and older adults with severe mental health needs as close to home as possible. The Community Mental Health Transformation Programme brings together experience and support from all sectors across Coventry and Warwickshire. Colleagues across health, social care, our VSCE partners and Experts by Experience have been working together to develop a new clinical health and social care model for community mental health.
Read the Community Mental Health Transformation newsletters:
Community Mental Health Transformation Stakeholder newsletter Spring 2023.pdf
Community Mental Health Transformation Stakeholder Newsletter - Summer 2022.pdf
Community Mental Health Transformation Stakeholder Newsletter Spring 2022.pdf
Community Mental Health Transformation Stakeholder Newsletter Winter 2021.pdf [pdf] 2MB
Community Menatal Health Transformation Stakeholder Newsletter Autumn 2021.pdf [pdf] 376KB
Successful bid for new Primary and Community Mental Health Offer
New NHS England funding will allow the development and delivery of a new integrated primary and community mental health offer to residents of Coventry and Warwickshire, starting in April 2021.
It will support adults with severe enduring mental illness (SMI) in line with the NHS Long Term Plan which describes a ‘new community-based offer that will include access to psychological therapies, improve physical health care, employment support, personalised and trauma informed care, medicines management and support for self-harm and co-existing substance use, plus proactive work to address racial disparities’.
The delivery of place-based mental health care in Coventry and Warwickshire began in 2020 with the launch of three Community Mental Health Locality Pathway Allocation Hubs in Coventry, Warwick and Nuneaton (also covering Rugby). These ensure that adults needing specialist community mental health services are triaged and supported locally by a multi-disciplinary team to ensure they reach the right service first time. The Hubs also improve working with voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations in each area.
Also in 2020, the first three Primary Care Mental Health Liaison Workers were deployed in selected GP Primary Care Networks in Coventry, Nuneaton and Leamington Spa. Their objective is to join together patients’ mental health needs in Primary Care with Secondary Care, IAPT and VCSE organisations, to ensure that patients’ specific mental health needs are given the appropriate care for them at the earliest possible time.
Access information to local stakeholder training.
IAPT online referral and online therapy goes live
Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) now offer online psychological therapy through Silvercloud Health. This is ideal for those who prefer to receive treatment in the privacy of their own home or who have pressure on their time and require flexibility. Silvercloud is accessed from a computer, tablet device or mobile phone, and can also be offered to those on a waiting list for therapy.
In addition, IAPT have launched a new online self-referral portal. In less than a month of its launch it received 600 referrals, to compliment those still received through its telephone referral centre.
The service is also expanding its offer to support people suffering with anxiety or depression as a result of long term physical health conditions or employment challenges.
New Dimensions Tool to help mental health self-care 
An extension of the successful Dimensions Tool has been developed and launched. The tool allows both adults and children/young people to rate how they are feeling at any time and receive self-help guidance in the form of a list of local groups, websites, videos, apps and books for their particular challenges eg sleeping, anxiety, debt concerns. All resources have been validated by clinicians.
Supporting veterans
In 2020, our Trust was awarded ‘Veteran Aware’ status from the Veterans Covenant Hospital Alliance (VCHA) for leading the way in improving NHS care for members of the Armed Forces community.
Following this, a new mental health support service for veterans and their families was launched in January 2021 to complement our existing services. The Veterans' Mental Health Midlands High Intensity Service (HIS) delivers an intensive package of support to veterans in crisis and their families. This community service works in conjunction with the NHS Veterans' Mental Health Transition, Intervention and Liaison Service (TILS) and the Veterans’ Mental Health Complex Treatment Service (CTS).
Urgent Care Mental Health Services
Launch of Mental Health Access Hubs
In 2020, three locality Mental Health Access Hubs were launched in Coventry, Warwick and Nuneaton (also covering Rugby). This will mean that all referrals and self-referrals into our mental health services now come through one local point for each area.
The locality Mental Health Access Hubs mean closer working across all mental health services, ensuring that each patient is triaged and treated within their local area. Through closer links between urgent care and community mental health services, a smooth transition is ensured for patients.
In addition, each Hub will continue its close links with their local community, voluntary and charity sector, to ensure each patient has the right support for them at all times. Find out more about Mental Health Access Hubs.
AMHAT provides delivery of Core 24 mental health liaison
The Arden Mental Health Acute Team (AMHAT) service now delivers Core 24 model, a 24/7 service, into University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire and Warwick Hospital. It will shortly also be rolled out into George Eliot Hospital in Nuneaton, where AMHAT also operate.
AMHAT offers a psychiatric and risk assessment service in Accident and Emergency (A&E) department or wards of local hospitals. This ensures timely care and treatment for patients who have acute mental health issues, when they attend physical healthcare settings, like hospital.
Inpatient Mental Health Services
Cambio improves patient flow
The Cambio bed management system is now in use across many inpatient wards and is being rolled out to the others. By having all information in one place, which highlights when reviews are needed, patient flow will be improved.
Rise, Children and Young People’s Mental Health Service
Children and Young People Trailblazers
With funding secured from the national Trailblazer scheme, Mental Health in Schools Teams (MHST) have now rolled out across most primary and secondary schools in South Warwickshire and Coventry. It is hoped that funding can soon also be secured for North Warwickshire schools.
MHST provide low-intensity mental health interventions and support by working with schools to help deliver a ‘whole school approach’ to support positive emotional wellbeing. Find out more about MHST.
New Rise Think Family Outreach Team
Using Winter Pressure funding, the Think Family Outreach Team (TFOT) was set up in January 2021 to support a young person and their family, where the young person is in emotional distress and either at risk of requiring crisis intervention (Home Treatment or in hospital) or moving from the Home Treatment team into Rise community mental health services. The service will bridge the gap between Crisis and core Rise services to prevent a further mental health crisis for the young person. The offer will be tailored to each individual young person and their family’s needs and has proved vital given the pressures on young people’s mental health due to Covid-19 and lockdown.