Mental health services across Northern Trust area set for shake-up under new partnership model

Pictured at the Northern Area Mental Health Collaborative Board (NAMHCB) workshop are, back row,  Dr Alan Lewis and Dr Jeevan Jayaprakash, middle row William Gould (Rehability), Dr Petra Corr (Northern Trust Director of Mental Health, Learning Disability and Community Wellbeing Services), Helen McNally (Public Health Agency), Jackie McCaughey (MindWise), Sharon McVicker (Northern GP Federation Mental Health Manager), Sharon Bingham (Northern Trust Service Improvement Manager), front row: Hannah Bowyer (Building Communities Resource Centre), Emma Robinson (Ballymena Community Mental Health Team Leader), Cathy Malcolm (Service User Consultant), Caroline King (Department of Health Mental Health Lead), Jen Hood (Northern Trust Assistant Director, Mental Health Services).

People accessing mental health support across the Northern Trust area could see services become more joined-up and easier to navigate under plans for a new partnership bringing together health professionals, community organisations and people with lived experience.

The Northern Health and Social Care Trust is working alongside the community and voluntary sector and primary care providers to develop a more integrated approach to mental health provision across the region, in a move aimed at improving coordination and reducing gaps in support.

Central to the plans is the creation of the Northern Area Mental Health Collaborative Board, a new body designed to strengthen cooperation between organisations involved in delivering mental health services and ensure support is shaped by the needs of local communities.

New board aims to improve coordination of services

The proposed board will act as an overarching partnership body responsible for helping plan and deliver mental health services across primary care, hospital services, community organisations and the voluntary sector.

The intention is to move away from fragmented approaches and towards a system where services work more closely together, with the aim of making support more accessible and responsive to local need.

A key feature of the new approach will be the involvement of people with lived experience of mental health services, ensuring that those using support have a direct voice in shaping how services are designed and delivered.

The Trust says the collaborative model recognises that improving mental health outcomes requires action beyond traditional healthcare settings and depends on stronger connections between statutory services and local communities.

Ballymena workshop helped shape proposals

Development of the new model has already begun, with stakeholders recently coming together at a planning workshop in Ballymena as part of wider engagement work across the Northern area.

The workshop brought together representatives from the Northern Trust, primary care, community organisations and voluntary groups to begin shaping the future direction of the collaborative board.

According to the Trust, those discussions reinforced a shared view that closer working relationships between organisations will be essential if mental health services are to keep pace with growing and increasingly complex demand.

‘Mental health begins at neighbourhood level’

Dr Petra Corr, Director of Mental Health, Learning Disability and Psychological Services at the Northern Health and Social Care Trust, said the initiative had been built around partnership and collaboration from the outset.

She said:

“This collaboration is a partnership between people with lived experience, the community and voluntary sector and our primary care colleagues. All partners are committed to ensuring a broad range of perspectives inform the development of the Board.

“We are very grateful to everyone who attended our recent planning workshop in Ballymena and our previous engagement opportunities.

“We share a common understanding that a more integrated approach to mental health services is essential if we are to truly meet the needs of our population, and we are encouraged by the progress made to date.”

Dr Corr added:

“The establishment of the Board reflects our belief that mental health begins at neighbourhood level and by working together, we are demonstrating a shared commitment to delivering more joined-up, accessible mental health services.”

Focus on gaps in provision and unmet need

Among the board’s priorities will be identifying where gaps currently exist in local services and exploring opportunities to attract additional resources to areas of unmet need.

The collaborative will also seek to align existing services more effectively, avoiding duplication while improving the overall experience for people seeking support.

Its work will involve bringing together partners from across health, community and voluntary sectors to share intelligence on local priorities and agree collective actions aimed at improving mental health outcomes across the population.

Partners will also examine how this model of partnership working can become embedded within future service delivery and how it can support both existing and emerging approaches to mental health care.

For communities across the Northern Trust area, the success of the initiative will ultimately be judged by whether it can deliver faster access to support, better coordination between services and improved outcomes for those experiencing mental health difficulties.