South London and Maudsley Chair highlights the importance of community collaboration in Parliamentary evidence
Norman Lamb, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust Chair, was asked to give evidence to the Health and Social Care Committee for the Inquiry into Community Mental Health Services.
Norman shared plans for the pilot of a new model of care in Lewisham and the work of colleagues to establish this. He emphasised the importance of continuity of care and relationship building with service users, and how central this is to the pilot.
Norman also shared a number of challenges in delivering community mental health services, both at our Trust and nationally, and the importance of addressing these to meet the Government’s ambitions on moving from hospital care to a community model.
One area is the need for investment in community facilities and the need for innovative approaches to enable this. Norman also highlighted the importance of confronting the disproportionate impact of mental health issues on minoritised communities, in particular black men.
He said: “It was great to have the opportunity to tell the Health and Social Care Select Committee all about our plans for trialling a new model of care in Lewisham and the great work being done by those involved.
“It was important to share the very real, very difficult challenges that we, and others, are facing in delivering outstanding mental health care.
“I also stressed the importance of collaboration with community organisations and our partners in primary care and local government which is a key part of our approach at South London and Maudsley.
“We know there’s lots to do but we are already seeing great examples of innovative, collaborate approaches to these challenges.”
You can watch the session back via the link below. Norman’s evidence begins at around 10.45am.
