What is Mental Health Together?
Mental Health Together is a new service to improve the way people are supported with their mental health in the community. It gives people faster access to care that is more personalised, with support from one place so someone won’t deal with lots of different organisations for each part of the help they are offered.
Watch the animation video below to find out more about Mental Health Together:
Mental Health Together FAQs
As this is a brand new service, we are testing it on a smaller scale, starting with Thanet from 15th January 2024. This will ensure effective and smooth operation, and will help us provide the best care to people in the community who need it. The service will be available in other parts of Kent and Medway by the end of April 2024
The Community Mental Health Transformation is a nationwide NHS initiative, in line with the NHS Long Term Plan (2019). It focuses on reshaping mental health services for adults and older adults.
Explore further details about this national transformation in this NHS England video.
In Kent and Medway, the transformation focuses on putting individuals with mental illness and their families at the centre of care. It considers mental health in the context of a person's entire life, encourages collaboration between organisations, and aims for effective communication among mental health professionals.
The program includes four key areas:
- Complex Emotional Difficulties (CED) Pathway
- 16-25 year olds Transition
- Eating Disorders
- Community Rehabilitation.
This once in a generation project is changing how Community Mental Health teams operate in Kent and Medway. Our staff can shape future services and collaborate with different organisations, including the voluntary sector, Lived Experience, and Primary care, fostering partnerships during and after the transformation.
People with lived experience are those who have used current services. In the Kent and Medway transformation program, working closely with individuals who have accessed mental health services is essential. Their input significantly influences the decision-making process throughout the transformation.
Representatives from NHS Kent and Medway, Kent and Medway NHS Social Care Partnership Trust, and people with lived experience are working together with a number of other partners and organisations, including the voluntary sector, to create a new way to improve how people are supported with their mental health.
If you currently receive support from one of our community mental health teams, please be assured that the team you are working with will not change any of your care without speaking to you and agreeing it first. More answers to questions you may have can be found here: FAQs for existing patients of mental health services: Kent & Medway ICS (kmhealthandcare.uk)
