.

Proposals approved to improve local mental health services

Yesterday (Tuesday 14 December 2021) plans were approved to invest in and improve the way adult mental health care is delivered across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland (LLR). The plans were discussed and approved by members of the Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Clinical Commissioning Groups’ (LLR CCGs) joint Governing Body at their meeting on Tuesday 14th December. 

The decision follows the Step Up to Great Mental Health public consultation to which 6,650 people across LLR responded. 

Andy Williams, Chief Executive of the LLR CCGs, said: “The consultation showed significant support from our communities for these proposals, which will improve urgent mental health and will deliver care closer to where people live. 

“At the same time as sharing their opinions on the proposals, many people – both service users and carers – also told us about their personal experiences of mental health services. We are really grateful to them for taking the time and effort to share their insights, and we would like to assure them that we have taken this on board and we are committed to ensuring that the learning from these insights will be incorporated into the design of future services.” 

Angela Hillery, Chief Executive of Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust, said: “It has been really encouraging to see the level of support for our proposals. We will now work hand in hand with our communities as we implement these improvements to services, to ensure that services are truly responsive and meet the needs of our local population, so people can access urgent care easily and receive more co-ordinated.

“We would like to thank everyone who shared their views through the consultation, especially the voluntary and community sector, who helped us to get responses from people that we have not heard from previously. We received feedback from a truly diverse range of people and one in four responses were from carers, whose views often do not get heard.” 

The multi-million pound investment will enable services to be both reorganised and strengthened. This will enable significant improvements to services to support the health and wellbeing of people and their families across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland. 

The full proposal document which was discussed at the Governing Body meeting on Tuesday 14 December can be found here . It includes the document that outlines the consultation changes and the revised work plan - the Decision-Making Business Case which can be found here.


Step-up to Great Mental Health Report of Findings 

Between Monday 24 May and Sunday 15 August, the Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland, in partnership with Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust ran the Step-up to Great Mental Health public consultation.

The public consultation asked people their views on proposals to invest in and improve adult mental health services for people living in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland, when their need is urgent, or they need planned care and treatment.

A total of 6,650 people participated in the public consultation using a variety of digital and non-digital ways to tell us what matters most to them.

People told us so much about their experiences and those of their family and friends. Everything that people told us has been independently analysed, by Midlands and Lancashire Commissioning Support Unit and today (Monday 22 November 2021). 

All of the experiences and real insights that we captured are being used to develop a document called a Decision-Making Business Case.  This document would outline how we have considered the public feedback and would use it to shape how we propose to implement the improvements.

The Report of Findings will now be discussed by the Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) in a Governing Body meeting along with the Decision-Making Business Case and a final decision made about implementing the proposals.

Although the Governing Body meeting is not a public meeting, it will be held in public session. Depending on any Covid-19 restrictions applicable at the time of the meeting, it may be held virtually or face-to-face.  We will ensure that this meeting, which will be in December 2021, is promoted widely across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.

When the CCGs Governing Body reach their decision, we will make this public. Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust would then undertake further work with service users, their families and carers, and staff to co-produce the improvements.

We would like to thank everyone who contributed the public consultation, as well as everyone who helped promote it.  

You can read a Summary Report of Findings (PDF document below), or you can read the Full Report of Findings (PDF document below), which also contains an Executive Summary. An Easyread version will also be published shortly. 

________________________________________________________________

This consultation has now closed. Thank you.

The ‘Step up to Great Mental Health’ consultation has now closed online (15 August 2021).  If you are completing a hard copy questionnaire and have not yet posted it, please use our Freepost address shown on the final page of the questionnaire.  To ensure that your feedback is included it must have reached us by post no later than Wednesday 25 August 2021.   

We would like to thank everyone who contributed the public consultation in which we asked people about proposals to invest in and improve adult mental health services for people in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland when their need is urgent or they need planned care and treatment.   We reached out to communities and heard the views of many people on the proposals put forward, as well as the likely impact. 

We would also like to thank everyone that helped promote the public consultation and arranged many events and activities over the 12-weeks. Given the extent of feedback and the need to ensure that everything we heard is captured, it will take a little while to undertake an independent analysis and evaluation. 

A Final Consultation Report of Findings will be produced and published.  This will be discussed by the Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) in a Governing Body meeting along with a Decision Making Business Case, which outlines the recommendations relating to the proposals based on the public feedback. The Governing Body will make a decision with regard to the proposals, which will also be made public.  Although the Governing Body meeting is not a public meeting, it is held in public session.  Depending on any Covid-19 restrictions applicable at the time of the meeting, it may be held virtually or face-to-face.  We will ensure that this meeting is promoted widely across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.

Depending on the decisions made by CCGs Governing Body, Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust would then undertake further work with service users, their families and carers, and staff to co-produce the improvements.

Step up to great mental health

Mental health problems represent the largest single cause of disability in the UK. One in four adults experiences at least one diagnosable mental health problem in any given year.

What is mental health? According to Mind: “Good mental health means being generally able to think, feel and react in the ways that you need and want to live your life. But if you go through a period of poor mental health you might find the ways you're frequently thinking, feeling or reacting become difficult, or even impossible, to cope with. This can feel just as bad as a physical illness, or even worse.”

We have been listening to what people want from their local mental health services. This public consultation focuses on proposals to invest in and improve adult mental health service for people in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland when their need is urgent or they need planned care and treatment. This consultation provides the opportunity to make your views known in helping shape how we can step up to great mental health.