Posted on: 12 December 2022
This is the paper considered by the NWL Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 7 December; it is in the NW London ICS update report.
3.5 Gordon Hospital: The formal consultation on the Gordon wards is planned for 2023. This provides time to engage and jointly develop the strategy for the management of mental health demand in Westminster.
CNWL will use this time to continue engagement with local communities and work alongside the local authority to contribute to the Mental Health Strategy for Westminster, so that mental health pathways are effective and services meet the needs of local residents.
The Trust is working with the Performance Team at the ICS and with ICB colleagues to produce key metrics which evidence the direction of travel from treatment in acute inpatient beds to treatment in an enhanced community setting.
CNWL recognises that there is significant demand in the system but evidence from the last year suggests that creating alternative assessment and treatment spaces in the community produces better outcomes for service users compared to an increase in the number of acute inpatient beds.
The enhanced community offer includes a range of services providing intensive support to service users, including Crisis Houses offering 24-hour intensive support in the community, Step-Down houses which enable safe, timely discharge from hospital and enhanced Home Treatment providing face to face medical and nursing care up to twice a day in a service user’s home.
The Trust has already launched new initiatives including 15 beds in Crisis Houses in KCW, Brent and Hillingdon and 40 beds in Step-Down Houses across the CNWL London boroughs. New initiatives are planned over the winter, including the Mental Health Crisis and Assessment units at St Charles and St Mary’s Hospitals.
These new services need time to embed and demonstrate effectiveness. They will be evaluated using ‘breach’ and ‘admission’ data and feedback from patients and partners. The plan to launch the formal consultation in 2023 will provide time to show if the new developments have met their objectives.