Mental Health Group Support Proposal

Easy read summary

Where did this start?

The people who buy services for the council and NHS Salford, along with Greater Manchester West who run some of Salford’s mental health services wanted more people to get a one to one service from Community Care Workers who support people with their recovery.

This would mean that Community Care Workers would no longer be able to run the drop ins and we need to think about how we run the service differently. This means that we are not intending to stop providing groups and drop ins but that these will be staffed differently.

What did we do?

We spoke to lots of people, some who are already using the drop ins, groups and activities, some who are using other services and some people who are not using any services other than the Community Mental Health teams. We also spoke with carers and staff.

We did this in three stages:

Stage 1: Getting information and listening to what people said (24 September 2012 – 29 October 2012)

We sent out a questionnaire to over 2,500 people who are currently receiving support from the Community Mental Health teams to make sure that we listened to their views. 203 people answered the questionnaire.

Stage 2: Helping to decide on a proposal (29 October 2012 – 10 January 2013)

We looked at the things people had told us in the questionnaire. We also listened to the things that people had told us in groups, emails, on telephone calls and face to face.

We asked a small number of people who represented larger groups to join a project group. The things people said in this group also helped us to write the proposal.

Stage 3: Asking people what they think about the proposal(14 January 2013 – 28 February 2013)

We are sharing the proposals with service users, carers, volunteers and the wider public to see what they think. Remember a proposal is not a final decision. People will have until 28 February 2013 to tell us what they think about the proposals. A final decision will then be made.

What did people tell us?

People told us some of the things that work well about drop ins, groups and activities. These included:

• Helping people to get and give support to others who have similar experiences (called peer support).

• Helping to stop people being lonely.• Building skills and self help ideas to manage a mental health

condition.• Having something to do.• Getting support from staff.

People said that the things that they didn’t like about groups, activities and drop ins were:

• When the service doesn’t help people to recover.• When there is too much unhelpful focus on mental health

problems.• When people had a bad experience.• Groups and drop ins made some people feel anxious or

uncomfortable.• People said that it was hard to know what was available.• Some people said it was hard to travel long distances, travel

alone or they would struggle getting to the activity on public transport.

People said that they were worried about stigma and feeling safe. Stigma is when you feel that you are treated in a way that makes you unhappy because you have a disability (in this case a mental health problem). Some people were worried that having groups in community buildings might mean that people would face more stigma. Other people felt that going to a group in a mental health team building would mean that they were more stigmatised.

Some people said that they were worried as they found some services were not helping them to recover from their mental health condition. People said that too much focus on their mental health could sometimes make things worse.

People were also worried about their support if groups, activities and drop ins changed. Some people worried about being left out of the group and other people worried about what they would do if the group stopped.

Some people said that they were worried about how they would get used to new people and places and felt that they would need support to do this.

Unpaid carers (like family members, partners, friends and neighbours) said that:

• They were worried about how they would get a break from caring if the person they cared for did not go to a group, activity or drop in.

• They also said that sometimes the groups and activities that were available were not suitable for the person they cared for.

• Some carers said that they were generally unhappy with the service.

• Some people said that they were worried about how they would get used to new people and places and felt that they would need support to do this.

What is a proposal?

A proposal is an idea of how we might do something. It is not a final decision. The things that you tell us could mean that the proposal is changed, added to, or changed altogether. This proposal was written after people told us what they thought.

What is the proposal?

We will develop community based services providing support, activities and contact in public buildings.

This means that groups, activities and drop ins will not run from Community Mental Health team buildings.

Support, activities and contact will have a focus on recovery and making sure that people are included in society.

We want to invest £20,000 in expanding groups, drop ins and activities. We will also appoint a dedicated member of staff from the council’s health improvement team to run and support them.

Support, activities and contact will help people with mental health problems to get support from each other and give support to others.

Service users will still be able to get support from staff when it is needed.

Service users will lead the service, making sure that it does the things that government tells us we must do such as:

• Support people to work towards recovery. • Focus people being involved and active in their own local

communities. • Make sure that people build meaningful relationships with

people who have mental health problems and people without mental health problems.

• Offer chances for people with mental health problems to give support to each other and to run their own services.

• Have more choice for people and support people to make their own choices.

• Meet the needs of diverse groups.• Make sure that people who are more seriously disabled by their

mental health problems are still able to access services.• Make sure that we involve users and carers.• Increase diversity of the services we run.• Improve the way we work together with different organisations

and services.

We will work with the Health Improvement Service where staff support will work with groups.

There will be good partnerships with Greater Manchester West NHS Foundation Trust to make sure that we do things in the same way across group based support; that we meet the individual needs of each service user and that skills and resources are shared to make sure people are supported in their recovery.

How can I get involved?

We will be trying to make sure that there are lots of ways for you to have a say about what you think. These include:

Focus groups for service users, carers, volunteers and the wider public to come along and have their say. The dates for these are:

• Wednesday 23 January 2013, 4.30pm to 5.30pm, Room 2, Pendleton Gateway

• Tuesday 29 January 2013, 2.30pm to 3.30pm, Room 3, Broughton Hub

• Wednesday 6 February 2013, 1.30pm to 2.30pm, Room 1, Eccles Gateway • Monday 25 February 2013, 1.30pm to 2.30pm, Room 3,

Pendleton Gateway.

You can also come along to the Salford Mental Health Forum where managers from Greater Manchester West and Commissioners from NHS Salford and Salford City Council can answer your questions.

All meetings for the Salford Mental Health Forum run from 12 noon until 2.00pm at Pendleton Gateway.

• Wednesday 30 January• Wednesday 27 February

Clare Mayo will be aiming to visit existing drop ins, activities and groups throughout the engagement and consultation period to listen to what you think.

You can post on Twitter, Facebook and Web pages (see information below)

Or you can let us know what you think by sending back the comment sheet attached to:

Clare Mayo, Development Worker for Mental HealthCommunity, Health and Social CareSalford Civic Centre, Chorley Road, Swinton, Salford M27 5BY

Clare Mayo is going to be organising the consultation and you can contact her to speak to her individually if you prefer. Her contact details are:

Telephone: 0161 793 3832Mobile: 07971495526Email: clare.mayo@salford.gov.uk

You can also share comments on:

Our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/SalfordMHViews

Through Twitter @SalfordMHViews

You can keep up to date on the engagement and consultation through the council’s web pages. www.salford.gov.uk/currentconsult

You can download a full copy of the proposal at www.salford.gov.uk/mh-group-support

Please send all comments back by Thursday 28 February 2013.

 

Comments sheet

What are the things that you like about the proposal?

What are the things that you don’t like about the proposal?

Do you have any ideas that would help to develop the service for the future?

Please send all comments back by Thursday 28 February 2013.

Community,HealthandSocialCareSalford Civic CentreChorley RoadSwintonSalfordM27 5BY

Phone01617933832

Webwww.salford.gov.ukwww

01617933832

This document can be provided in large print, audio, electronic and Braille formats. Please telephone 0161 793 3832.