Delivery of the VCSE Managing Emotions Group (MEG) sessions in Redditch began on 22nd August and are planned throughout September and October. There have been a number of challenges as to be expected from introducing new ways of working, numbers booking onto the courses are lower than expected and a number of solutions are being investigated to address this and utilise the sessions as effectively as possible, in collaboration with Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust. The joint learning that will come out of this project will be invaluable in developing future collaborative projects, a review will take place later in the year.
Work is also now currently being initiated to expand MEG outside of Redditch, and in addition develop the Community Mental Health Transformation Programme, with additional link workers and establishment of a Community Mental Health Peer Mentoring Programme over the next six months.
VCSE Mental Health Reporting and Quality Assurance policies and practices are being reviewed to enable development of an appropriate framework for all VCSE Alliance Mental Health Delivery, and enablement of the Alliance to present a collaborative picture of Mental Health Delivery & Quality of Services across the Region. This work will include clarifying triaging guidelines, differentiation between clinical and non-clinical work, complexity management and escalation policy and practices, and identifying training needs.
| Delivery | Summary | Details |
| Onside | CMH Peer Support Programme | Scoping and creation of materials has begun to develop and deliver the programme. |
| Onside | Expansion of CMH Link Workers | 1 x floating CMH link worker who will work county wide and provide additional resource to support the team to tackle backlogs and waiting lists across the County. |
| MIND | 2 Additional MH Link Workers | To increase coverage from October 2023 to March 2024 |
| WAC | Expansion of MH Link Workers | Additional role would enable attendance at more MDTs and more engagement on an individual basis to increase identification of carers and awareness of carers as partners to patients and other healthcare providers. Aims to create a network of Carer Champions across the MDTs. |
| The Old Needleworks Foundation | MEG online outside Redditch | 2 additional online MEG courses county wide, plus 1 prerecorded – good for people who do shift work who can access anytime during the week with tutor support via email |
| Sandycroft | MEG outside Redditch | 7 additional courses to be run across the region dependent on need |
The VCSE Tender mentioned in the previous update was withdrawn and a new revised tender is expected to be released early 2024.
The project is being run by the Mental Health Steering Group chaired by Steve Brewster, CEO of Active Herefordshire and Worcestershire and Sophie Wheeley, VCSE Mental Health Programme Manager.
*edited 08/09