Mental health provision in Wales is ‘inconsistent’
SIGNIFICANT improvements need to be made in the quality and accessibility of community mental health services across Wales, inspectors have found.
Healthcare Inspectorate Wales (HIW) and Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW) published a joint review of community mental health teams (CMHTs) and made 23 recommendations for improvement.
They found a “lack of clarity” on how people can access CMHTs, with its links to general practice needing to be strengthened.
Inspectors also voiced concerns over patients’ ability to access urgent support at a time of mental health crisis, with some paying a visit to A&E when having trouble contacting out-of-hours services.
They added that while CMHTs are meeting targets for the completion of assessments and care plans, the quality of documentation was not always good.
And in some parts of Wales, patients were having to wait up to two years to access psychology or therapeutic services.
But the organisations noted that “much work” was being carried out to improve services in Wales.
They warned that focus needs to be maintained on ensuring serviceusers continue to receive appropriate care while wider changes are being made.
HIW chief executive Dr Kate Chamberlain said: “This joint review has highlighted inconsistency in how care and support is being provided by community mental health teams across Wales.
“While we have noted the commitment of those working within these services to provide the best care they can, the challenge remains to ensure that people living with mental illness receive equitable care wherever they live.
“We hope that this review will promote improvement, and that the findings and recommendations are carefully considered by Welsh Government, health boards and local authorities.”
Inspectors said that IT and universal access to patient records was “a considerable problem” across CMHTs, with health and social care service systems not working together properly.
They said the working environments of CMHTs need improvement, adding that some clinical areas are “not fit for purpose”.
CIW chief inspector Gillian Baranski said: “Ensuring people with mental health needs and their carers receive seamless care and support from community mental health teams is essential.
“This review has highlighted areas where joint working between health boards and local authorities is working well and has also identified areas where joint working needs to improve to ensure people achieve positive outcomes.”
In response, a Welsh Government spokesman said: “We welcome that the report recognises that progress is being made in many areas.
“Community mental health teams are now in place across Wales and this review will inform our future actions in this area.
“Improving CMHTs will be a key priority in our Mental Health Delivery Plan 2019-22, which we will be consulting on in the spring.”