Manchester Mental Health and Social Care Trust is currently conducting a review of its Adult Community Mental Health Services. The Trust provides a range of services to 10,500 people each year through community mental health services, inpatient and outpatient services.
The main focus of the review appears to be a reshuffle in the way that Community Mental Health Teams are structured and relate to other parts of mental health provision in Manchester. The Trust states that the benefits will be:
Continue to improve the quality of Adult CMHS delivered to the local population.
Improve the links between GPs (primary care) and the Trust (secondary care) making it easier for people who need support with their mental health to receive the care we provide.
Improve the transfer of service users between teams and externally to ensure their mental health needs are met at the right time by the right people.
Give our staff the opportunity to use their therapeutic skills more effectively to aid and assist our service users’ recovery.
Whilst all this sounds very positive - we know as a group that people can 'fall down a hole' between different service providers, and that a recovery focus is valuable approach - you won't be surprised to hear that a big driver is cost, or more specifically, cost-cutting. The Trust's own communique states: "These changes when fully implemented are likely to save around £1.9 million. This saving will be achieved by an overall reduction of approximately 46 posts."
Two representatives from the Trust are coming to our next meeting on Wednesday 9th November, so do come along if you'd like to find out more and discuss your views with the Trust.
If you'd like to read more about the review, there's some information at the bottom of this page on the Trust's website.
The main focus of the review appears to be a reshuffle in the way that Community Mental Health Teams are structured and relate to other parts of mental health provision in Manchester. The Trust states that the benefits will be:
Continue to improve the quality of Adult CMHS delivered to the local population.
Improve the links between GPs (primary care) and the Trust (secondary care) making it easier for people who need support with their mental health to receive the care we provide.
Improve the transfer of service users between teams and externally to ensure their mental health needs are met at the right time by the right people.
Give our staff the opportunity to use their therapeutic skills more effectively to aid and assist our service users’ recovery.
Whilst all this sounds very positive - we know as a group that people can 'fall down a hole' between different service providers, and that a recovery focus is valuable approach - you won't be surprised to hear that a big driver is cost, or more specifically, cost-cutting. The Trust's own communique states: "These changes when fully implemented are likely to save around £1.9 million. This saving will be achieved by an overall reduction of approximately 46 posts."
Two representatives from the Trust are coming to our next meeting on Wednesday 9th November, so do come along if you'd like to find out more and discuss your views with the Trust.
If you'd like to read more about the review, there's some information at the bottom of this page on the Trust's website.
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