Supporting people with mental health needs

Pathfinder West Sussex

Pathfinder is a group of voluntary sector organisations working as an alliance across West Sussex to offer a range of services to support people with their mental health and wellbeing. This includes advice, information and signposting to appropriate local services and tips for staying well.

The alliance also has access to a clinical service provided by Sussex Partnership Foundation Trust which works alongside Pathfinder colleagues to support people’s mental health needs. To find out more visit www.pathfinderwestsussex.org.uk/.

Our new service model

In 2020 we began a significant programme of improvement to create a new service model which has encouraged innovation and excellence in practice. This has resulted in a strong partnership appproach and an increase in assessments.

Funding from the Government Hospital Discharge Grant was used to develop a mental health discharge hub with the Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and on a Council-led joint international recruitment campaign to fill 40 vacancies across mental health teams in the Council and the Trust.

Working-age mental health services

We have three mental health teams that work with adults aged 18-65 years. Our teams work alongside colleagues from NHS mental health services and with professionals in housing and employment, to help identify and respond to the needs of people at an early stage wherever possible, to help improve people’s mental health outcomes and also to reduce the risk of crisis and more costly demands on acute health services.

Our staff take a strength-based approach to prevent and reduce a deterioration in people’s health and wellbeing and they work collaboratively with their family and wider social networks of support. They focus on supporting people to make decisions for themselves and work with them to sort out practical, health and legal issues. They fulfil a vital role in protecting the rights of people when they are in crisis or where a situation has deteriorated to such an extent that they may need help to keep themselves safe.

We also support young people who are starting to transition from Children’s to Adults’ Services, working with them from the age of 17 years to when they transition at 18 years. We also support colleagues who work with young care leavers up to the age of 25 years.

Older people's mental health

There are three teams across the county that work with people who are over the age of 65 years and have complex social care needs that are related to their mental health condition. We also work with people of all ages who have a diagnosis of dementia.

The teams work closely with NHS mental health services and other agencies to support people and their families in a way that focuses on their strengths and existing support networks and we support people to keep safe when they are at risk.

Approved Mental Health Professionals (AMHP)

An AMHP is a person who is authorised to undertake assessments in line with the Mental Health Act (1983). This can lead to a decision about whether a person should be admitted for mental health hospital care on a voluntary or compulsory basis. AMHPs are often social workers who have undertaken additional training, but these staff can also be psychiatric nurses, occupational therapists or clinical psychologists.  The service operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, including bank holidays.

During 2022-23:

• 1,252 Mental Health Act assessments were completed (1,312 in 2021-22)
• 283 Mental Health Act referrals were received from Emergency Departments in general hospitals (78 in 2021-22)
• 1,038 applications for detention under the Mental Health Act were completed (931 in 2021-22).

Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards Team

The Mental Capacity Act Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) ensures that people are deprived of their liberty only when there is no other way to care for them safely or to provide them with treatment. DoLS ensures people who cannot consent to their care arrangements in a care home or hospital, are protected if those arrangements deprive them of their liberty.

• Referrals received and outcomes: During 2022-23 the team was involved with 9,349 DoLS cases. Of these, 4,943 were granted and 2,745 were not. 1,661 had not been completed when this data was submitted.
• Gender, age and ethnicity: The majority of DoLS authorisations were for females. The majority of people where DoLS was granted were in the 85-94 years age group.