Combined announces biggest investment in its history

The £15 million investment dwarfs any previous single investment in acute and community mental health services across North Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent.  The results of this record investment will begin next year and continue until 2025.

The investment will deliver:

• Over £11m to reconfigure our inpatient estates, ensuring modern fit for purpose estate including the eradication of dormitories on our wards and modern Learning Disability services
• £1.3 million investment in a new CAMHS intensive support team to bridge the gap between our community teams and our inpatient unit. The team will work 7 days a week supporting CYP and their families/carers
• £750,000 investment in Early Intervention in Psychosis (EIP) services to expand the service and roll out an ‘At Risk Mental State’ (ARMS) pathway
• £550,000 to provide the first ever, dedicated service for Adult Eating Disorders, providing care that has simply not been available for our local residents previously
• £500,000 investment in our Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) to eliminate the need for patients to be sent out of the local area for this level of care
• £350,000 of new money to strengthen community pathways and access to treatment for those with Personality Disorders
• £160,000 to expand care for people with severe and enduring mental illness, rolling out annual physical health checks in order to help our service users take care of their physical health as well as their mental health

Commenting on the historic investment in mental health services, Combined Healthcare Chief Executive, Peter Axon, said:

“At a time when our communities and our health and care services are facing the unprecedented challenge of Covid-19, it’s simply amazing to be able to make history for all the right reasons.   

“This multi-million investment is beyond anything seen before in mental health acute and community services in North Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent.  It’s a once in a generation opportunity to deliver something truly remarkable which will benefit our communities and local people for decades to come. Many of the developments are being enabled through our our Clinical Commissioning Groups. This is a clear local statement of support for investment in Mental Health and Learning Disability services.

“We are determined not only to deliver the best services possible, but also to design and deliver them through the strongest ever engagement and partnership with our staff and service users.  For example, through an initiative introduced directly as a result of one of our Patient Stories, we will have a service user who has cerebral palsy and is a wheelchair user directly advising us on the specific design needs of people with similar needs.  Likewise, our CAMHS and Learning Disability Teams will be engaging with their service users to learn from their insights and experience, to ensure every penny of this investment is spent to the best possible benefit of the people and families we serve.”

Marcus Warnes Accountable Officer Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent CCGs, said:

“We have always been clear that mental health and physical wellbeing go hand-in-hand. We work closely with our mental health providers and this investment from central funding and the CCGs is much needed and timely as the pandemic has seen an inevitable increase in concerns about mental health.

“This investment will cover a wide spectrum of services, and it is particularly welcome that there will be specific support for adults living with an eating disorder for the first time.”

Simon Whitehouse, Director, Together We’re Better, said:

“People across Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent deserve to have the best mental health services and the investment we are seeing will help deliver those.

 “Awareness of the need to support people with their mental health is rising across all of our partners and together we are determined that it will be the priority it should be