People in Stratford-upon-Avon who are experiencing mild to moderate mental health problems are to benefit from an innovative mental health service thanks to a special grant from Stratford Town Trust.
The grant, to the value of £140,000, will be used to offer an additional service for the adult population, over and above statutory mental health provision in the area, and will provide an essential evidence base to evaluate the scalability of the service across south Warwickshire in the future.
The service, called Active Monitoring, will be delivered by Springfield Mind, a local mental health charity based in Stratford-upon-Avon with over 30 years’ experience working with those living with low mental wellbeing and mental ill health across Warwickshire and Worcestershire. Active Monitoring is a needs based, early intervention programme developed and co-designed by the national charity Mind and GPs to provide support to people in Stratford-upon-Avon who visit their GP with symptoms of common mental health needs including stress, anxiety, depression and low self-esteem. Patients will benefit from five face-to-face sessions of guided self-help with a trained Springfield Mind practitioner delivered from within their GP practice.
National evidence shows that the service is helpful in improving mental health, with people being seen more quickly avoiding the need to come back repeatedly to see their GP while waiting for an appointment. It has also given GPs an alternative treatment to try with their patients, often avoiding the need for future interventions.
The Stratford Town Trust grant will very generously fund three Springfield Mind practitioners working across the four GP practices in Stratford- upon-Avon for an initial period of 12 months during which time the findings will be assessed and evaluated.
Jessica, a mother of three from a nearby practice who has used the service says, “I felt like I had been running on the treadmill for some time, lost my footing and fallen flat on my face. It was difficult on my children. I couldn’t be Mum and do the jobs I needed to do at home. When the GP talked to me about waiting lists for alternative services I remember feeling really despondent. I do feel really fortunate that the Active Monitoring service was able to see me at a time when I needed the most help. The sessions were great, enabled me to get some control back and really made such a difference.”
Dr Ian Allwood, GP at Bridgehouse Medical Centre in Stratford and Board Member of NHS South Warwickshire Clinical Commissioning Group, said:
“We are delighted to have been given this special funding from Stratford Town Trust so that our patients can benefit from this new innovative approach to mental health matters. The new Active Monitoring service has the potential to make a significant difference for patients with common mental health problems.
“Many people currently wait for mental health symptoms to pass or wait to access support services. Now people in Stratford-upon-Avon can get more timely support from Springfield Mind. The service is local, quick to access and face-to-face. We will be able to assess the findings from this pilot in Stratford with a view to opening up the service to a wider cohort of patients in the future.”
Rachel Jones, Head of Community Engagement for Stratford Town Trust, said: “We are delighted to be providing a grant to support the wellbeing of the people of Stratford. We believe it will make a real difference to people’s lives and we will continue to be involved in the assessment of the Active Monitoring service over 12 month period, working closely with our partners, NHS South Warwickshire Clinical Commissioning Group and Springfield Mind.”
Jo Min, Deputy Chief Executive of Springfield Mind, added: “Mental health can affect all of us at any time in our lives. The support we can give through Active Monitoring can be life changing for many individuals we work with. We treat people as a person not as an illness, with patience and empowerment, through self-guided exercises. We have already had some very positive results elsewhere in England and Wales and are thrilled to have the funding to run a pilot scheme with all the GP practices in the Stratford-upon-Avon area.”