The experience of young people within mental health services across Salford is being surveyed with the aim to improve the system.
Healthwatch Salford is an independent statutory body which helps to improve health and social care in Salford. They have the power to make sure NHS leaders and other decision makers listen to local feedback and use it to improve the standards of care.
Knowledge and support officer from Healthwatch Salford, Elyse Peacock, said: “Young people’s experience of mental health services is an area we have wanted to look into for a while. It was also a theme that came out of the previous year’s priority survey, where we asked the salford public what areas they would like us to look at.
“It’s incredibly important that young people’s mental health services are working to the best of their ability. And to do this, the services need to know what’s working well and what needs to improve.”
🗣️We are working on a project which will look at young people’s experiences of mental health services in #Salford. We want to know about your experience so we can work with commissioners to improve the service.https://t.co/jgpEHhMh5C pic.twitter.com/OGu3caH7sw
— Healthwatch Salford (@HWSalford) October 2, 2023
An example of the change Healthwatch Salford can make is shown in their recent report on home care services. They spoke to over 180 people and made seven recommendations for improvements including analysing the efficacy of 15-minute visits. All the recommendations were accepted and there has already been a reduction in the number of 15-minuite visits.
Maddie Hannam, 24, from Salford, has used mental health services throughout her life. She said: “I think they are doing the best with what they can offer. So, I think they need help to get more staff and resources.
“But saying that, I do think they need to recognise the people more, so that when someone does ring, they know that ‘ok this person genuinely does need help’ and they don’t just fill them up with drugs, or tell them to go pick them up in the morning because that person genuinely might not have until morning.”
Other members of the public, who wish to stay anonymous, have shared their experiences.
They said: “All I know is that it takes ages to get onto the register.” while another added: “It wasn’t the best back in the day, but I’m currently using a different service recommended by the NHS and it’s helped lots.”
Some people have decided to stop seeking help, an another anonymous person said: “In my personal experience, referrals get lost. People with disorders such as anxiety cannot be expected to be chasing up phone calls for their anxiety. That is what they’re meant to be helping with.”
Annie Inam is a mental health nurse from Salford. Annie said: “I believe the mental health system is great in principle as there are trained professionals with such passion and amazing knowledge to help and some amazing facilities and providers.
“However, the system is poorly funded and understaffed. This makes the system so poor and means that too many people are missed or failed by the system. There are many areas that need improving, the staffing levels of all services need to be increased to provide safer working environments and increase quality of care given.”
While it’s important to try and improve the system to help patients get better care, it’s easy to forget about the staff. Annie added: “Support for staff also needs to be improved in order to provide good retention of workers and decrease such as turnover of staff. I believe that the public think mental health nurses aren’t ‘proper’ nurses, and we don’t deserve the support or funding.”
To join the Healthwatch Salford project and have your input, you can find them here S.A.M project Salford Adolescent Minds | Healthwatch Salford.
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