Lambeth Living Well Collaborative

Ambition:

Borough wide mental health services on a co-production basis

The Lambeth Living Well Collaborative is working to enable people with severe mental illness and complex life problems to recover and stay well, and to participate fully and on an equal footing in family, community life and in the wider society.

They will deliver this vision by collaboratively redesigning mental health pathways in Lambeth based on an "easy in easy out" principle which works towards prompt discharge from secondary care combined with an easy route back in to see a consultant if the condition deteriorates. They expect that this will produce a greater supply of low and medium level services in the community, for example an information and referral "navigator" service for people who are experiencing mental health issues, a choice of services like talking therapies, peer support groups, exercise groups, health and wellbeing activities and a network of mutual support provided through timebanks.

This will create a preventative infrastructure that frees up capacity for secondary services to see the people they need to see right at the time when they need to be seen.  Recent developments include the launch of the Community Options Team which is working with 70 residents and the Primary Care Community Mental Health Service which increases the capacity of primary care to support individuals through a multi-disciplinary team including a GP with special interest in mental health. 

As part of the scaling up strategy Lambeth have also invested £90,000 into timebanking support and infrastructure across the borough.

For more on the project download the detailed People Powered Health project summaries