Mental health services in Coventry and Warwickshire given £11.9m boost

Just as experts warn that a mental health crisis is looming in the wake of the pandemic, news of a multi-million pound cash injection into the area’s services has been announced.

Coventry and Warwickshire Health and Care Partnership has successfully secured funding of £11.9 million over three years from NHS England/NHS Improvement.

The partnership has hailed it as a “once in a generation opportunity to boldly transform our community mental health services”.

Dr Richard Onyon, consultant psychiatrist and associate medical director at CWP NHS Trust, said: “Over the next three years, we aim to develop a sustainable community mental health care system that will provide individuals with seamless care across physical and mental health services.

“Our plans for this new system-wide provision of support for people’s mental health is an ambitious but exciting one. The work will include the establishment of invaluable, new roles including people who have lived experience of mental health difficulties. We have already begun to establish stronger links with GPs, with new mental health workers starting to be based in surgeries.

“Our aim is to better use all health, social care and community resources available and to reduce health inequalities which exist in some areas and for some more vulnerable groups

Claire Handy is a critical part of the transformation team, as a person with lived experience of mental health difficulties. Claire said: “I am delighted to be working on the development of this once in a lifetime opportunity to improve mental health services. I am passionate that we must place people at the heart of everything we do and work with all organisations available, not only the NHS or social care.”