Key Facts and Information

Key Facts and Information Around the Current Supply of Social Care Services for Adults of Working Age with Mental Ill Health in West Sussex

Residential and Nursing care

In July 2024 West Sussex County Council are contracting with 18 residential and 1 nursing care providers registered with CQC to provide services for adults of working age with mental ill health in West Sussex. Two of these are in the Northern region of West Sussex, nine in the Southern region and eight in the Western region. In July 2024 CQC information shows that there are 66 residential care providers registered to provide adult mental health services in West Sussex however, many of these 66 providers are also registered to provide older adult and or dementia and or physical disability and or learning disability care and whilst registered may not actively specialise, be taking or be currently suitable for adults of working age with mental ill health.

The map  shows the currently contracted and CQC registered services and clearly highlights a lack of suitable and or available service provision in the north of West Sussex.

In 2024-25 and 2025-26 WSCC are creating and procuring a new contract for mental health residential care services. This will replace the 2015 contract and is currently scheduled to complete in Autumn 2027.

Supported Living

West Sussex County Council have a Supported Living Framework which provides the contractual framework for the funding and provision of outreach, live in care services, accommodation-based support and intensive and specialist accommodation-based support for adults of working age with mental ill health. Providers bid to join the framework and must express interest and evidence meeting criteria and competency for different levels of support. These are:

• Lot 1: Outreach support
• Lot 1A: Live in Care Services
• Lot 2: Accommodation Based Support
• Lot 3: Intensive and Specialist Accommodation Based Support.

In June 2024 114 providers are contracted with WSCC under the Supported Living Framework contract, 69 of these providers have opted into provision of services for adults with mental health needs. Of these 69 providers, 35 providers are actively providing support to individuals with mental health needs.

The map below shows the location of currently contracted Lot 2 and Lot 3 accommodation based mental health supported living services. There is a broader spread of these contracted services across West Sussex but still less services in the coastal and Western areas of West Sussex than the North and Eastern areas.

In 2024/2025 and 2025/2026 WSCC is reviewing its Supported Living Framework Contract with the aim of improving outcomes for those within services.

Specifically in relation to accommodation-based support mental health commissioners have identified several key priorities for supported independent living in West Sussex. These are:

• Self-contained properties - there is a need for self-contained properties that can be supported by one staff team, preferably with a communal area. Services that can support more complex needs. Feedback from stakeholders indicates an increase in complexity, particularly where people have multiple health needs, neurodiversity, forensic needs under part 3 of the Mental Health Act, behaviours that challenge, substance use and/or self-harm, also needs for women only services as a consequence of this complexity. The Council are keen to work with providers to develop services with evidence of experience and recognised training in these areas.
• Services that target younger people making a transition to adulthood and where there is an additional focus on learning and developing life skills and increasing skills and confidence to live independently. These services could be provided as part of a pathway offer for older children (16+) up to the age of 25.
• Low need/ move on. Feedback from stakeholders has identified a lack of low needs services to support move-on from higher need services. Lower needs services are unlikely to require staff on site overnight and services would instead provide access to on-call out-of-hours support and/or technologies to enable independence when staff are off-site.
• Having providers who have a range of services including lower needs within a small geographical area, which can give more confidence to people who want to move on whilst maintaining relationships they have built in the community or with staff.
• The Council is keen to hear from any housing providers who wish to develop housing and accommodation which could be available to adults of working age with mental ill health.

Community Mental Health Services

Through joint commissioning arrangements the Council supports the provision of a mental health support offer provided by the Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) which is currently open to any West Sussex resident who wishes to access these services. Nine VCS providers are currently contracted by the NHS to provide these services which all currently operate under the brand name of Pathfinder. The NHS are undertaking a review and re-procurement of these services and expect new contracts to be in place by Autumn 2025.

In addition, the Council works with NHS, Voluntary and Community Sector and Borough and District Council services to provide a whole system of community mental health support services in West Sussex. Information about NHS services can be found on the Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust website.

There is currently a programme to transform these services across Sussex which the Council is involved in and up to date information about this can be found on the Sussex Health & Care website.

Individuals in Placements Outside of West Sussex

As a last resort, where there are no appropriate services in West Sussex, West Sussex County Council will place individuals in residential, nursing and supported living services outside of West Sussex. In July 2024 there were 82 adults of working age with mental ill health being funded by the Council in placements outside of West Sussex, largely in residential and supported living services. West Sussex are actively looking to develop the market in West Sussex to reduce use of services outside of West Sussex.