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Integrating Mental Health Services in several locations in S. England
Anne Radford
AI Practitioner
Londona, United Kingdom
2002
Annotation: Work began in 2002 -- S. England
Integrating Mental Health Services in several locations in S. England
Client Organization: Hampshire County Council Social Services Department
Client Objective:
The specific purpose of the project:
o To envision an integrated mental health service in each locality, jointly delivered by health and social service agencies
o To create this service by involving the psychiatrists, psychologists, nurses, social workers, art, occupational and behavioural therapists, administrators, clerks and secretaries who were engaged in delivering mental health services in the community
o To achieve this by maintaining stakeholder trust, integrity, co-operation and optimism
The organisational objective was to encourage and support a 'can do' culture where local creativity could flourish within the national mandates.
A wider objective was to develop regional joint agency health service and social service standards to meet national targets.
What Was Done:
A series of one-day events for all the stakeholders was held in each locality to:
o Discover the best of the two cultures in the health service and social services teams
o Envision a new integrated mental health service for the users and carers,
o Identify the key areas that will make that future happen.
While each locality developed its own set of images of an integrated service and systems to deliver that future, consistency across these localities was maintained by managers who had held national and regional perspectives. They also maintained a watching brief on the follow-on activities which were crafted for each locality.
At the regional level, there was a set of activities for health and social services executives to establish joint agency standards.
Outcomes:
In the initial events, professionals, managers and administrative staff in the Health service and Social service teams:
o Developed an appreciation for and understanding of each other's commitment to creating a quality integrated mental health service
o Described the skills, capabilities and qualities they shared as well as those that were complementary
o Became aware of their colleagues' support for the new team approach, for retaining their professional identities and for having a full role in creating the new integrated service
o Developed plans that built on current or earlier initiatives rather than replaced them
In the first locality, the integrated service has been launched with many of the key systems in place identified in the initial events. The other localities are gradually implementing their integrated service. At the joint agency level, budgets, plans and targets are being set with a much greater mutual transparency.
"Teams are feeling positive about the change and are looking forward to it… They know much more about each other's work and jobs than similar teams in the area.."
For Further Information:
Barbara Evans, Project Manager Mental Health Training, Hampshire County Council Social Services Department, Winchester
barbara.evans@hants.gov.uk
Anne Radford, organisational consultant,
AnneRadford@AiConsulting.org
Submitted by: Anne Radford (editor@aipractitioner.com)
Phone: 44+20 7633 9630
Online Resources:
AI Consulting
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