NHS England has praised Cornwall for making sure extra mental health cash goes to the right services.
The country’s most senior NHS mental health director has praised Cornwall for making sure that additional mental health investment is being used to improve the right services for people who need support for their mental health.
Claire Murdoch, national mental health director for NHS England, visited NHS Kernow to hear about the commitment and the challenges that are faced by Cornwall’s health and care partners when it comes to children and young people accessing services which support their emotional wellbeing and mental health.
Claire, a registered mental health nurse for more than 30 years, highlighted the great foundations that have been laid down by partnership working and the opening of Cove Ward in Redruth, a new 12 bedded rehabilitation and step down unit for adults commissioned Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (CFT) to support people with complex needs to safely and confidently return back into the community and stop all non-specialist out of area placements by providing close to home solutions.
She also congratulated Cornwall for embracing what was said about NHS mental health services at national level and ensuring that this translated into “real patient care on the frontline” as well as the “great plans” for ending out of area placements, giving special mention to the announcement that a new mental health unit for children and adolescents will be built in Bodmin, which will help to end out of area placements and how delighted she was to see children and young people shaping the way the new unit will look and feel.
Claire commented:
“I saw examples of great partnership between the CCG and the Trust to bring back people to deliver better care. Well done Cornwall for that.
“But I’ve also heard a lot about what is going on in the community, the wonderful BLOOM project that a GP talked to me about which is not so much a service but a way of getting services to work together in the third sector, the independent sector, primary care, the specialist sector around the actual the needs of children, young people and their families so another great example, well done Cornwall.”
Liz Cahill, Children and Young People’s Commissioner for NHS Kernow, said:
“We want to ensure all people can access services which support their mental health. For children and young people we are working to invest in the right services to ensure more young people access the help they need. Working in partnership with Cornwall Council and schools across the county there are now a range of projects to both raise awareness of mental health issues and identify and support children and young people at risk.
