Crisis café and lower waiting times key "focus" for mental health service in 2025

Thursday 14 November 2024

Further reductions in waiting times, the introduction of a ‘crisis café’ and a programme for better inpatient services are among the priorities being targeted for next year by Jersey's Mental Health Service, its director has revealed.

Andy Weir said that he was "so proud" of the efforts of the various mental health teams over the last two years, but acknowledged that some areas needed more work than others.

He led an open forum event at the Town Hall this week to provide service users with an update on the progress made since 2022, when he started overseeing a major overhaul of the service.

Outlining some of the main statistics for last year, Mr Weir noted that there were over 6,500 referrals to the service, with more than 4,000 service users, and around 200 admissions into inpatient wards in 2023.

Pictured: Some of the key service user statistics for last year were highlighted at the open forum evening.

Mr Weir also outlined a number of improvements made in the last two years.

This included a reduction in waiting times across most services, though he acknowledged there were exceptions in some areas such as ADHD.

"I'm so proud of it and so proud of the teams, because they are doing it consistently," he told Express.

Other changes included better access into mental health services, the introduction of peer support workers – involving those with lived experiences of mental health difficulties and illness – as well as the completion of Clinique Pinel and improved governance.

He also pointed to work with the police that has seen a substantial reduction in mental health incidents dealt with by officers, giving the force more time for day-to-day policing.

Pictured: Some of the achievements of the Mental Health Service over the last two years.

Mr Weir explained that one of the difficulties with reducing ADHD waiting times was the need for "highly specialist skills" that are currently in demand across the globe.

"It's not all psychiatrists that will diagnose and treat ADHD – it's a specialism," he told Express.

"So we are looking for a small group of people and competing with everybody, everywhere, who want those people."

Pictured: Mental Health Director Andy Weir revealed a number of priorities that the service would be targeting for 2025.

He continued: "We have to keep at it and we have to keep trying to attract people to come and do that work.

"We have to think about different people – we can't just rely on psychiatrists.

"So we are thinking about a specialist post for next year to work in that area."

During the talk, Mr Weir revealed a number of priorities that the service would be targeting for 2025 – such as an inpatient quality improvement programme, more accommodation options for service users undergoing rehabilitation, and an updated Mental Health Strategy.

Pictured: The Mental Health Service's key priorities for next year.

Earlier that evening, Mr Weir also noted that the Mental Health Crisis Team dealt with 103 referrals per month, but highlighted that a 'face-to-face' response was achieved within four hours around 98% of the time.

However, he reiterated his desire for a new ‘crisis café’ that could be launched to provide a safe space where people can attend if they urgently need out-of-hours wellbeing support.

"We would ideally have a place where people can come, get a drink and something to eat, but also get seen by the Crisis Team and get support," he said.