A MENTAL health summit set to be hosted by Redditch MP Karen Lumley went ahead last Friday (January 20), despite Mrs Lumley being too ill to attend.
The meeting, at Grosvenor House in Redditch, came as a result of concerns for mental health provision in Worcestershire and involved representatives from a number of local stakeholders including NHS England, Redditch & Bromsgrove Clinical Commissioning Group, Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust, Redditch Borough Council, West Mercia Police and others.
The objective was to find out what improvements had been made to mental health services in Redditch and to establish what was being done to continue to improve and awareness of what is available.
Early in the New Year, Prime Minister Theresa May pledged the Government intended to transform attitudes to mental health, with a focus on children and young people.
As a result of the meeting in Redditch, a number of actions were decided upon, including a pledge for closer working between various agencies, providing training opportunities for front line staff, looking at promotional opportunities for the services offered, as well as to produce a joint improvement plan. There will also be a follow-up meeting in six months’ time.
“Mental health provision has until now been the poor relation in the health service, and unfortunately Redditch has seen poor provision within Worcestershire,” said Mrs Lumley.
“I am pleased that over recent years more money has been invested into our mental health services. Although there is more to be done, we have already started to see new services become available for local people, for example the Healthy Minds service giving people the opportunity to self-refer.
“I intend to do all I can to continue to improve services for the people of Redditch and the mental health summit provided a great springboard from which this can happen.”
