‘ We need to use data much more effectively and intelligently ... discrimination is a great source of stress but nothing is as powerful as true commitment and collabor ative work ...’ Jacqui Dyer users who are the experts – take from them what works and go back to them . They are the ones who are feeling it … Just because people have mental health issues or substance misuse issues doesn ’ t mean they don ’ t have hope too . We need to catch these issues before it becomes a crisis .’ A director from Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation Trust added : ‘ It ’ s about unity … people can ’ t afford to be little monoliths , doing things on their own .’
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‘ We need to use data much more effectively and intelligently ... discrimination is a great source of stress but nothing is as powerful as true commitment and collabor ative work ...’ Jacqui Dyer users who are the experts – take from them what works and go back to them . They are the ones who are feeling it … Just because people have mental health issues or substance misuse issues doesn ’ t mean they don ’ t have hope too . We need to catch these issues before it becomes a crisis .’ A director from Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation Trust added : ‘ It ’ s about unity … people can ’ t afford to be little monoliths , doing things on their own .’
‘ We need to understand what ’ s in front of us – there are people who are not mad , not bad , but need support ,’ said Commander Christine Jones , the National Police Chiefs ’ Council lead for mental health , address ing the conference on ‘ the imperative for change ’.
With the prospect of less money in the system , our joint health needs analysis needed to be a lot more sophisticated , instead of applying a ‘ sticking plaster approach ’ to people in crisis .
We were missing vital opportunities to coach young people ‘ at the point when they ’ re most malleable , most recoverable ,’ she said . ‘ Damage caused by entry into the criminal justice system at the age of 14 means they ’ ll be involved into their 30s . Things are easy to spot at an early stage and intervention points can change a life .’ Police had a ‘ huge part ’ to play in this , as they were often the first contact point , ‘ and if they don ’ t know how to respond , it can escalate ’. There were many reasons why people hadn ’ t come into services before crisis point , including stigma , fear and embarrassment .
Going forward , we needed to think about more efficient options , she said . ‘ We need to make decisions at the right place and the right time , to deal with a problem that ’ s been misunderstood and under-resourced for too long .’
‘ It ’ s about joint working and joint training ,’ commented a head of social care at question time . ‘ The criminal justice system doesn ’ t work with local authorities and health as well as it could . If police and health colleagues had more joint understanding , we could move the agenda forward .’
The afternoon sessions were dedicated to ‘ solutions ’ and Luciana Berger MP offered insights from her visits to mental health projects across the country .
‘ It ’ s worth reflecting that we have made some progress in the last three years , particularly on stigma ’ she said , mentioning the recent World Mental Health Day . ‘ Mental health is not a sign of weakness – we all have mental health .’
However , the BME community was disproportionately represented in our mental health wards , and the fact that you ’ re more likely to be sectioned or end up in prison if you ’ re black was ‘ one of the most glaring examples of inequality in our society ’. There was a gap in data from both physical and mental health services that was needed to collate a national picture , she said , and government was shirking its responsibility to know ‘ so much more ’ about BME mental health , to properly develop services .
The financial implications of not helping people early on were showing in mental health costs to the NHS of £ 105bn every year . Furthermore , Berger ’ s FOI
request to every clinical commissioning group in the country had showed disinvestment in mental health .
The ‘ fragmentation of our system ’ needed to change to ‘ seamless integration of mental health and social care ,’ she said , and this relied on everyone working together : ‘ If we ’ re thinking about these mental health issues through the prism of the NHS , we ’ re thinking about them too late . Our local auth orities should be supported in keeping services going .’
Dr Geraldine Strathdee of the Mental Health Intelligence Networks said that there was plenty of data and ‘ fantastic analysts working across the system ’, but a lack of representative leaders from the target population – the best way to find out about the needs of each area .
‘ We need to use data much more effectively and intelligently ,’ said Cllr Jacqui Dyer of the Mental Health Taskforce . Everyday discrimination was ‘ a great source of stress ’, but there was ‘ nothing as powerful as true commitment and collaborative work … solutions are possible in every level of the system , but what it takes is collaborative effort .’
And this effort needed to be made at a much earlier stage , according to Maria Kane , chief executive of Barnet , Enfield and Haringey Mental Health NHS Trust .
‘ We need to do services cradle to grave , sperm to worm !’ she said . ‘ Turning the crisis tap off is about introducing services much earlier – perinatal services . Those first 1,000 days are key to your mental wellbeing .’
Mental health relied on having ‘ somewhere to live , someone to love , something to do ,’ she said . ‘ We need to line up our services and outcomes to make sure this is what we ’ re giving to people ’.
There were ‘ fantastic ’ projects going on in many areas , but they depended on short-term funding and needed ‘ mainstreaming ’.
In the Q & A session at the end of the day , there were questions relating to many aspects of discussion , from recruitment of the right staff to better integration and communication . Asked about the poor experience of many people with substance issues within services , Leo Downey , Equinox director of operations , said referral to the right services could be difficult when mental health and substance misuse were so separate , and suggested that many mental health staff needed more training on substance misuse issues .
‘ We need to make sure we don ’ t keep this con versation to ourselves ,’ commented one delegate – a point underlined by the panel ’ s chair , Antony Miller .
‘ It ’ s about sharing the work now ,’ he said . ‘ We ’ ve heard of at least ten projects today that are making a change . We need to stop talking about this and start moving it forward .’ DDN
Pictures , left to right : Jacqui Dyer , Christine Jones , Antony Miller , Gill Arukpe , Norman Lamb , Maria Kane , Antony Miller , Geraldine Strathdee , Leo Downey .
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