As part of a national review prompted by the recent tragic incident in Nottingham, each Integrated Care Board (ICB) is evaluating how services can better support high-risk individuals, particularly those who may be unknown to mental health services or require additional escalation to secondary care. The aim of local reviews is to ensure appropriate intensive and assertive mental health care and treatment is available to meet the needs and to support the wellbeing of a particular group of people with severe mental health illness.
This survey aims to identify any gaps in current processes, highlight areas for development, and gather insights on how VCFSE providers are supporting these individuals within the system. Your feedback will be invaluable in shaping the future approach and ensuring that our systems work effectively to meet the needs of this vulnerable group.
For the purpose of the survey NHSE describes the high risk group as individuals who:
- are presenting with psychosis (but not necessarily given a diagnosis of psychotic illness)
- may not respond to, want or may struggle to access and use ‘routine’ monitoring, support and treatment that would minimise harms
- are vulnerable to relapse and/or deterioration with serious related harms associated (esp. but not limited to violence & aggression)
- have multiple social needs (housing, finance, self-neglect, isolation etc)
- likely present with co-occurring problems (e.g. drug and alcohol use/dependence)
- may have had negative (e.g. harmful and/or traumatic) experiences of mental health services or other functions of the state (e.g. the criminal justice systems)
- concerns may have been raised by family/carers
This list is not exhaustive, and it is to be expected that many of the individuals described above will not be in contact with services currently. This group of people are often marginalised, very vulnerable at high risk of accommodation instability or homelessness, suicide and physical ill health.
This question requires an answer
This question requires an answer
2. Provider trust connected to? *
This question requires an answer
3. If a person fitting this high-risk group accesses your services and they are not known to other mental health services, are you able to refer them to the appropriate services? *
This question requires an answer
4. Do you know the process for making these referrals? *
This question requires an answer
5. For individuals already known to your services, especially those showing escalating risk, are you able to escalate concerns to secondary care mental health services? *
6. Are there any challenges or barriers you face when trying to escalate these concerns?