Overall, service users rated the trust’s community mental health services at least seven out of ten on questions about their health and social care workers; talking therapies; their care co-ordinator; care review, and crisis care.
Respondents in Northamptonshire were generally positive about the health and social care workers they had seen most recently for their mental health condition. The majority said that staff listened carefully to them, gave them enough time for discussion and took their views into account. Also most people said they were treated with dignity and respect.
But the survey also showed that service users would like to have more involvement in their care plan, more information about their medication and its side effects, and more support with day-to-day living. This includes help with finding and keeping work, and accessing financial advice.
One area where Northamptonshire Healthcare has seen improvements over the past 12 months is in crisis care.
CATSS, Northamptonshire Healthcare’s crisis and telephone support service celebrated its first birthday in February this year. CATSS provides telephone support for community mental health service users who need immediate help or advice, particularly at weekends or evenings. The service is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and handles around 800 calls a month. Another beneficial service that CATSS provides is calling people as soon as they have been discharged from hospital to check they are alright and know about any follow-up outpatient appointments they have booked.
Paul Carr, head of community mental health services with Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust said: “We are very grateful to all the people who took part in the survey. We always aim to provide the best possible care and their views play an important part in helping us to identify how we can best improve the support we provide.
“We are particularly pleased with the positive response to our mental health workers, whose commitment is reflected in the high scores that service users gave us for listening, involving people and treating them with respect.
“The survey results have also confirmed how important support with day-to-day living is. This is an area we are focusing on this year as part of a review of the way mental health services in Northamptonshire organised.
“We believe that this can help us to help people make a better recovery, live more independently, get back into work or education, and generally make the most of their health and wellbeing.”
Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust provides a comprehensive range of community mental health services that includes eight community mental health teams, covering Corby, Daventry, East Northamptonshire, Kettering, Northampton, South Northamptonshire and Wellingborough, and specialist community mental health services, such as assertive outreach for people who find it difficult to engage with traditional services; early intervention for young adults experiencing psychosis for the first time; and crisis resolution and home treatment, which offers practical advice and care to people with serious mental illness, where possible, helping people stay in their own homes.
Adult mental health services in Northamptonshire are entering a new phase of development. Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust has been working with staff, service users and partners to design a new model for the way adult mental health services in the county are organised. The aim is to provide easier access to services when and where service users need them; more joined up support across the services they need, and more emphasis on rehabilitation and recovery to help people lead more independent lives. The trust intends to consult service users, carers, staff and partners on the proposals this autumn.
Northamptonshire Healthcare's results for the 2010 service user survey can be found on the Care Quality Commission website.
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