Across Hampshire and Isle of Wight community and mental health services are provided by several organisations working closely together. A key priority for the NHS in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight is ensuring that communities have equal access to services and experience the same outcomes. We know that over the coming years the demand for community and mental health services will increase. Our physical and mental health services are already responding to increasing need, both in terms of the number being referred and the complexity of issues they present with. Against this backdrop, continuing to improve and transform service provision as well as having an even greater focus on integration between mental and physical health is vitally important.
In January 2022 the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care System (ICS) commissioned a review of community and mental health services. The purpose of the review was to understand how to best meet the current and future demands of our local populations and how organisations might work better together to meet those demands. It was the first step in helping us to understand the strengths and weaknesses of existing services, and to identify any gaps and areas for further improvement.
This programme of work is at a very early stage. You can read the review here.