Islanders invited to share experiences of mental health care

Friday 08 November 2024

The future of the island’s provision of mental health services will be discussed at a public meeting in St Helier next week.

The Town Hall meeting will offer islanders the chance to share their experience of mental health care with officials from Health and Community Services, and the Assistant Health Minister.

Andy Weir, Jersey's Director of Mental Health and Social Care, said the island was at an important stage – with a new mental-health strategy, deigned to cover the next two years, due to be launched soon.

Pictured: Andy Weir is Jersey's Director of Mental Health and Social Care.

“We want to hear from those who use our services, or those who are close to them, such as relatives or carers,” he said.

“But the meeting is open to anybody and we’d urge people to come forward, whether their feedback is positive or negative.

“There are areas that we hear a lot about where people indicate they’re not happy, but other areas get less focus and we want to cover the full range of services.”

Mr Weir said a similar meeting had taken place in 2022 and the intention was to review progress since then, covering what had gone well and considering the areas where improvements were required.

“Some groups of people are very engaged and we spend a lot of time talking to them, but we want to hear from everyone with an interest in this area,” he added.

The meeting will be attended by many of the clinicians working in mental health, as well as by Deputy Rose Binet, the Assistant Minister with responsibility for mental health.

It will take place at the St Helier Town Hall on Tuesday 12 November, with tea and coffee served from 17:30 ahead of a session running from 18:00-20:00.

FIND OUT MORE...

Further information on the Adult Mental Health Service is available online.