Moving into our sixth year as a partnership, we continue to focus on working much more in the community, tackling inequalities and providing evidence of the impact that we are having. All against a backdrop of increasing financial pressure, demand for our services and supporting people during these difficult economic times.
Community focus
We’re committed to having more of our staff working with people out in the community, alongside GPs and local voluntary and community groups. Our successful Staying Well programme is doing just that, with Living Well Network Alliance staff meeting regularly with their GP colleagues and other professionals, such as the new Mental Health Practitioners, based in GP surgeries. They’ve been joined by new posts including:
- transitions workers – to support young people with mental health issues and their families/carers with the often difficult transition to adulthood
- community reablement workers – to help people to get better and stay that way to avoid readmission.
- ‘mind and body’ workers – to support more people to stay well in their own homes and communities, both mentally and physically.
We aim to roll Staying Well out across the whole of Lambeth by March 2024.
Our workforce
We’ve launched a new workforce strategy, co-designed with staff, that includes plans to embed kindness and compassion in all our work, ensure that all of our staff can realise their full potential and make it easier to recruit and promote people.
We know that people who feel happy and cared for are better able to care for others. We want to make sure that everyone working for the Living Well Network Alliance is treated in the ‘Alliance Way’. This means supporting people in a kind, caring and respectful approach that builds on their strengths and assets, including their caring networks, and to meet their needs in the best, least restrictive way.
Equalities
Our highest priority is to ensure that people from all our communities – regardless of their ethnicity, gender or beliefs – have the same access, experience and outcomes from our services. Building on our award winning CAPSA (Culturally Appropriate Peer Support and Advocacy) service and pioneering PCREF (Patient and Carers’ Race Equity Framework) approach we aim to ensure Lambeth mental health services are trusted, welcoming and effective for all. For more details see the Equalities section of this report.
Service development and innovation
We’re reviewing our services to make sure they support people in the Alliance Way. This keeps them person-centred, focused on people’s strengths rather than what they can’t do, compassionate and respectful, whilst continuing to remain relevant and provide value for money.
We will continue to develop our new services – IPS (Individual Placement and Support), CAPSA (Culturally Appropriate Peer Support and Advocacy) and Staying Well – to maximise their impact and effectiveness across the whole of Lambeth.
We’re committed to innovation and working in partnership with those we support, staff, GPs, community and voluntary groups and providers to develop better ways of meeting increasingly complex needs. At the same time, we will manage the growing demand for day-to-day mental health support and strive for more people to remain independent in their homes and communities.
Can you help us?
We have a short survey that anyone who use our services is invited to complete. It will take less than three minutes and will tell us how well we are doing and what we need to improve.