EndocrinologySupport Grows For New Home Based Service For Challenging Mental Patients
A new national service which will provide comprehensive care and support
for challenging mental health patients in their own homes following discharge
from hospital is being welcomed by lead clinicians and patient advocates.
Vicky Wadsworth, head of the mental health department at Roebucks
solicitors in Blackburn, which acts on behalf of hundreds of patients, said:
"There is a huge gap in care provision that this service can help fill.
Health service outreach teams are desperately overstretched and cannot
provide the sustained intensive treatment and rehabilitation support that
many patients require. In some cases, this means that patients can"t be moved
on into the community and so remain confined in secure facilities
unnecessarily."
Dr Christopher Findlay, a leading community psychiatrist working in
Runcorn, said: "There are limits to what Community Mental Health Teams can
provide. There are also limited in-patient beds. Any service that offers to
work alongside established NHS services to provide intensive safe
alternatives to in-patient care is to be welcomed, particularly those that
are individually tailored and committed to improved outcomes and the safe
social inclusion of patients with mental health difficulties. Working
alongside and not replacing existing services is an advantage for responsible
clinicians who hope to establish a long term relationship through the journey
towards recovery."
The service from Gray Healthcare
provides sustained support for people who may or may not have been sectioned
under the Mental Health Act but who typically have a history of admission,
medication and treatment, discharge and re-admission.
The service is designed to build self esteem and independence. Patients
will be helped to obtain their own tenancy and will then benefit from
appropriate support provided by a multidisciplinary team including
psychiatric nursing, occupational therapy and psychological services.
The majority of patients being referred to the new service are those
being considered for discharge from hospital by their responsible clinician
under a Community Treatment Order (CTO). This means that the Gray Healthcare
clinical team will work closely with NHS staff to create a bespoke care,
support and treatment package, tailored to meet the needs and safety of the
individual.
Jonathan Gray, Chief Executive of Gray Healthcare says: "The Mental
Health Act requires us to care for people in the least restrictive
environment that is possible and our aim is to help those who have suffered
mental illness move from a secure hospital/rehabilitation setting into their
own homes with the full range of support necessary to do this safely and
successfully. Our goal is a safe and sustainable return to living in the
community."
Gray Healthcare