A better service for people with complex needs
New ways of working will mean a better healthcare service for people in Suffolk whose mental ill health is further exacerbated by a drug or alcohol problem – or vice versa.
Historically, the work of healthcare teams providing mental health services and drug and alcohol services in the county has remained fairly separate.
But now, staff at Suffolk Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust have developed a new set of guidance which will encourage teams to work together more effectively. Additionally, the Trust is investing in a training programme based on that guidance so teams will have a better understanding of each other’s area of work and be able to pick up much earlier whether a person has a combination of mental health and substance misuse problems.
Occupational therapist Deborah Martin, who is based with the substance misuse service in Bury St Edmunds, said: “Starting in the new year, we will be carrying out a rolling programme of training for every single one of our practitioners so we can make sure this important, but hard-to-reach, group of people doesn’t fall through the net.”
The guidance and training plan is being launched at The Limes Hotel in Needham Market on Friday, December 14. The event, to which staff and colleagues from partner organisations, such as Mind and Norcas, have been invited, will include an overview of the dual diagnosis project, together with an introduction to a pilot scheme run by the regional Care Services Improvement Partnership (CSIP) and carried out by the Bury St Edmunds-based assertive outreach team.
Acute services manager Margaret Little, who oversees the Trust’s mental health inpatient wards, said: “It’s about changing the way we carry out assessments on people, and making sure the right staff are delivering the right services at the right time. Whereas before it was possible that, for example, mental health staff were not aware that a person had a drug problem, now there will be checks and balances put in place to make sure that all their needs are met.”
Nationally, the Department of Health has indicated that mental health trusts should lead the way in developing services for people with a dual diagnosis. CSIP is also carrying out a themed review into the care given to people with a dual diagnosis.
