'Have your Say - It's Everybody's Business!'

12/07/2004

A public consultation will be launched on Monday 12 July, 2004 with the aim of involving service users and carers in thinking through the future of Older People's Mental Health Services.

The consultation document 'Everybody's Business', sets out the demands on services, proposals to meet the needs of service users and carers and the changes that would be required to make best use of the money and staffing available.

The proposals that form part of the consultation have been draw up following the feedback and involvement phase of the review, which included over 120 responses to a Service User and Carer questionnaire.

A number of events were also held across the county to receive feedback on how service users and carers view current services and how they would like to see services develop in the future.

Key issues identified included greater support for carers such as better access to information about services and support groups and increased opportunities for flexible breaks with support for carers in their own home.

The need for fully trained staff working at all levels in health and social services who understand the needs of older people with mental health needs was seen as important.

The majority of older people with mental health needs are cared for in their own homes and there was also support for an increase in community based services to reflect this.

Older People's Manager for West Gloucestershire Primary Care Trust, Helen Bown said:

"These important issues identified by service users, carers and by health and social services staff challenge the way we currently provide services. The consultation will consider whether current service provision relies too heavily on beds in hospitals in the county at the expense of supporting people in the community or at home."

Consultant Psychiatrist for Older People's Services at Gloucestershire Partnership NHS Trust, Dr Nick Ardagh-Walter said:

"With an ageing population, prevention is becoming more and more important. By strengthening community mental health teams and the training that is available to health care workers including staff who work in GP surgeries, many believe we would see earlier diagnosis, quicker access to appropriate drug treatments and closer monitoring of how an individuals disease is progressing. All this could help to reduce unnecessary hospital admissions and crisis situations arising."

Helen Bown:

"In work with service users and carers, the message comes through time and time again that people want to receive the necessary help and support to enable them to stay at home for as long as possible."

"We will always need in-patient facilities and beds, but we also need to think about how we can develop community mental health services closer to home so that service users do not reach the stage where a prolonged stay in hospital is necessary."

One of the key questions for the public consultation discussion is: 'does the NHS and Social Services invest too much money in beds and does it need to redistribute some of the resources it has to better support people within their own local communities?'

At the moment, there are 122 beds available for older people with mental health needs and on an average day 36 beds are not used. Of the occupied beds approximately 24 each day are only being used because the right services are not available in the community. This means that on an average day only half of the 122 beds are being used by older people who need specialist hospital mental health care.

Helen Bown:

"This public consultation does not make recommendations on specific facilities, but we do need to have a sensible, responsible and honest debate with our service users and carers about how we can respond to their needs more appropriately."

The public consultation document raises the issue of increasing the availability of short-term support to service users when they leave hospital. This kind of support provided by highly trained community based staff can help people to regain their independence more quickly.

There are also proposals for the development of services to maximise the level of independence for people who are no longer able to remain in their current homes.

County Councillor Mark Hendry, Portfolio Holder for adult care said:

"Extra care housing projects are now demonstrating successfully that people with mental health needs who would otherwise have been admitted to hospital can live more independent lives."

"The advantage of this approach includes the possibility of couples continuing to live together where they would otherwise face separation."

As well as care homes for the majority of people with mental health needs, the consultation document outlines the requirement for a smaller number of homes for the long-term care of people with the highest levels of need and who require support from highly skilled staff.

Mark Hendry added

"Increasing the range of long-term living arrangements in Gloucestershire, would support our aim of providing care in the most appropriate place and as close as possible to the service users' original home. Support for carers would also be developed by providing short breaks to older people with a wide range of needs."