People across East Sussex are being asked for their views on proposals to change local mental health services so that more people are able to stay at home, rather than needing to go into hospital for care and treatment.
People who use mental health services say that they want to receive more treatment and care at home, and in the community if possible, rather than in hospital beds.
Clinicians (doctors, nurses and other health professionals) also believe that providing more and better mental health services outside of hospital helps people to recover quicker and stay healthier.
Community mental health services have benefited from significant investment in recent years and are continuing to develop.
They offer high quality support, close to people’s homes, ranging from open access services for people with mild to moderate mental health issues, to specialist 24-hour community services for people with more severe conditions who would in the past have been likely to need hospital admission.
The NHS in East Sussex wants people’s views on proposals to improve the range and performance of community mental health services, to introduce standards to make sure these improvements are measured and then to start reducing the number of mental health inpatient beds because fewer people will need to admitted to hospital.
We would like your feedback on the various options for the future for how many inpatient beds there could be in East Sussex and where they could be located.
We have been working with clinicians, service users and others with an interest in mental health to look at the ways we can improve services for local people.
It is important to stress that no changes to bed numbers will be made until suitable community services are in place to help and support people close to where they live.
Inpatient beds for people with dementia in East Sussex are not affected by the proposals set out in this consultation.
Over the next 12-18 months it is proposed that the number of beds in East Sussex is reduced from 122 to between 92 and 98 (removing between 24 and 30 beds).
Over the next 3-5 years the number of inpatient mental health beds could be reduced further to around to 80, with those beds provided in new ‘state of the art’ facilities.
Each of the options for the future would, if agreed, be implemented in a phased programme.
The full consultation document, which is being made widely available, contains much more detail about the options, including how they were developed.
Mike Wood, Chief Executive of NHS East Sussex Downs and Weald and NHS Hastings and Rother says:
“We want to hear the views of as many people as possible to help us make sure we make the best decision about where services are provided in the future.
The public consultation is running from 8 March to 1 June 2010.
There are a number of ways in which people can get involved, including public meetings and via our websites.”
During the consultation, all the feedback and responses will be collected and analysed by an independent organisation.
They will produce a report identifying the themes and issues raised which will be presented to the Boards of the East Sussex Primary Care Trusts, NHS East Sussex Downs and Weald and NHS Hastings and Rother, as well as Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust who provide a wide range of mental health services across Sussex.
The final decision will be made in public by the Boards of the East Sussex PCTs once they have had time to consider the consultation feedback and responses.
