Healthwatch Lancashire Report Sparks Action to Improve Mental Health Services

Last year Healthwatch Lancashire completed a project entitled ‘Waiting for Wellness’ which focussed on investigating people’s experiences and the accessibility of mental health services in Lancashire.

A phase 2 of this project was also launched which further investigated young people’s experiences and highlighted the accessibility and quality of mental health services in the region.

During phase 1 of the project, we asked Lancashire residents to share their experiences accessing support for mental health and gathered responses from an online survey, focus groups and 9 case studies.

In phase one we found that 47% (70) of respondents shared that they had accessed mental health support in the past 12 months. 72.5% of these respondents shared that their mental health had got worse in the last 12 months. (Waiting for Wellness Phase 1)

In phase two focussing on a younger demographic, data was captured through case studies and two online surveys. Feedback was received from 142 people (110 young people, 31 parents/carers and 1 college wellbeing officer). An additional 20 case studies were gathered from individuals who shared their experiences in detail. (Waiting for Wellness Phase 2)

We found that 90% of young people who took part shared that they had received support for their mental health with 79% receiving NHS support, 28% receiving private support and 24% receiving support from the community or charity.

When curating the final reports, Healthwatch Lancashire provided a list of critical recommendations for key decision-makers and stakeholders including the Lancashire and South Cumbria Foundation Trust.

Some of these recommendations included;

• Review waiting lists and frequency of contact for those who are waiting to receive information on their referral.
• Work with LSCft Youth Voices to co-produce a document on what to expect, your rights and questions to ask when transitioning from child to adult mental health service.
• Review the last six months of patient discharges to highlight areas for learning, including whether patients have been discharged at the appropriate time and if they were referred to a suitable service.

Following the release of the wellness report, the Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust has committed to a structured plan of action based on its recommendations.

They have;

• Worked to decrease the CAMHS waiting lists, with improved compliance to national targets (October 2024: 73.7% for first contact, 84.2% for second) and created welcome booklets to replace referral letters. They have introduced six-weekly check-ins to ensure timely support with a check-in template pending approval, and triage and assessment tools are now used consistently across the service.
• Continued to nurture their relationship with Youth Voices who continue to be involved in the development of the transition SOP (standard operating procedure) developed between CAMHS and adult providers and any reviews.
• Completed an audit of patient discharge, the results are being analysed and the report is being drafted. The project team will consider recommendations and improvement actions as part of the draft report.

Our work during the Waiting for Wellness project phase 1&2 was welcomed by the trust and provided a clear roadmap for improving mental health care for adults and young people across Lancashire.