Derbyshire leads the way in community mental health transformation
A major shift in the delivery of community mental health services is providing more support, more quickly, to people who need it.
Living Well – called Derby Wellbeing in the city council area – has been operating across Derby and Derbyshire since March 2024.
In its first 12 months it has:
- managed 9,200 new referrals and seen 170 cases reopened
- seen an increase in short-term caseloads, as more people are accessing the service
- led to a 16% reduction in the long-term caseloads – allowing people who need long term support to receive better support
- produced an 8% reduction in people presenting to Mental Health Liaison Teams and therefore to reduce likelihood of attendance at A&E
- seen 27 Living Well groups established
The Living Well service is a partnership between Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector and council adult social care.
For up to 12 sessions, people using the service can be supported by a multi-agency team.
This includes peer support workers, wellbeing coaches, social care practitioners, occupational therapists and community psychiatric nurses.
The model was co-designed with providers and commissioners across the system who provide mental health services and people and carers with lived experience.
They identified that people were falling through the gap between primary and secondary care.
It was also recognised that it was difficult and often upsetting for people to have to explain their mental health issues to different providers.
A key feature of Living Well is that people only need to tell their story once.
This information is shared with the multi-agency team who work together to decide how best to meet the person’s needs through a holistic approach.
This can include counselling, group work, access to training or education, housing support and more.
The new service has been developed in response to the 2019 Community Mental Health Framework and it is part of the biggest transformation of community mental health teams for over 30 years.
In Derbyshire the journey was already under way and, driven by recognition that more could be done to enhance the support available in communities, an innovative new service was created.
Co-production and the voice of lived experience remain at the heart of Living Well.
Kelia O’Brien, lived experience and coproduction lead, said: “Co-production isn’t just a tick-box exercise; it’s about creating meaningful change and developing services that truly reflect what people need.
“I bring my own lived experience of mental health to this role, alongside nearly three years of experience working in peer support.
“This background has shown me just how powerful shared experience can be in driving connection, understanding and service improvement.”
There are many inspiring stories emerging from the Living Well programme.
At the end of the programme, one person said: “You motivated me to become a counsellor. If I can do half of what you have done for me for other people, I will be winning.”
By taking holistic mental healthcare directly to the communities it serves, with a commitment to coproduction, inclusion and data-informed decision-making, Living Well Derbyshire is setting a standard which has the potential to inspire national change.
Living Well can currently be accessed via GP referral, although pathway expansion and development of community networks continue to be underway.