Lewisham and Addictions

Our Lewisham operations directorate provides core mental health services for adults of working age who live in Lewisham.

These include:

• Community mental health teams
• Promoting recovery services
• Talking therapies
• Psychiatric liaison services at University Hospital Lewisham
• Support for people who are in crisis

At Heather Close in Hither Green, we provide a complex rehabilitation service for up to 24 adults with long-term mental illness and challenging behaviour. We aim to support people’s recovery and their move towards greater independence in the community.

As a directorate we are proud of the work we do in partnership with social care and voluntary sector partners. This is evidenced by the well-developed hospital social work team. As a borough we have a low staff turnover with excellent working relationships between inpatient wards and community services.

We are developing a partnership model which will deliver integrated mental health services across the borough. The first service to develop this approach is the newly launched Primary Care Enhanced Service delivered in partnership with Mind

Our inpatient services are based at the Ladywell Unit, University Hospital Lewisham where we have six wards for adults, including a psychiatric intensive care unit, Johnson PICU.

Addictions

We provide addictions outpatient services for people across the UK. We deliver drug, alcohol and smoking cessation services in the community through GP surgeries, outpatient teams and specialist support clinics.

Substance misuse services are provided for people living in Lambeth, Bexley, Greenwich and Wandsworth.

We also provide specialist national services for adults and an alcohol liaison service within King’s College Hospital, Southwark.

Our National Addiction Centre (NAC) is a leading addictions research centre representing a network of clinicians, researchers and clinical teachers who have a shared commitment to excellence in the prevention and treatment of addiction.

We directly employ approximately 110 staff working in addictions, and subcontract a further 100 non-NHS staff within our treatment models. We are contracted to provide strong clinical leadership and governance within our established consortium models within the London boroughs of Wandsworth and Lambeth, an integrated system within Bexley and a complex service within Greenwich.