Copy
View this email in your browser
SUTTON MENTAL HEALTH (SERVICE USER)
COMMISSIONING ADVISORY GROUP

Lockdown Update

Dear CAG member,
It seems like a long time since the last CAG meeting, so a newsletter seemed like a good way to keep in touch and help us all keep up to date.  I hope everyone has been keeping well and not finding this lengthy lockdown too frustrating - hopefully it will not be long before we can start to get back to something like normality.  Despite not being able to meet a lot has been going on:
Changes at the CCG and LBS
 
There have been a number of changes since we last met:  George Platts has left LBS and we welcome Stephanie Diffey who has stepped in as his replacement, at least in the short term.

On April 1st Sutton CCG became part of South West London CCG, as planned, but Jason Jongali has stayed as Mental Health Commissioning Lead (Sutton Borough) and will be with us for the foreseable future.  He has been joined by Lucky Hossain as Mental Health Manager (Sutton).

 
A new GP Comissioning Lead for Mental Health has been appointed: Dr Robert Calverley at Manor Practice.  GP practices are now working in 4 Primary Care Networks in the borough; Wallington Primary Care Network has responsibilty for mental health.
Hillcroome Road Suported Accomodation Report
Just before lockdown John Vodden and Lisa went to Hillcroome Road supported accomodation to speak to service users about their experience of living there.  Click here for a write up of the visit.

CAG Crisis Cafe Visit
Also in March, Gavin and John, along with two other service users, joined Ovie and Lisa to visit Richmond Crisis Cafe on a fact finding mission.  This visit was in response to an invitation from Jason Jongoli for CAG to help in the shaping of a crisis cafe service in Sutton.  The report from the visit can be read here.

Jason has now confirmed that he will commission Sutton Mental Health Foundation to pilot a crisis cafe in Sutton from early 2021 and will be looking for strong service user involvement in the shaping of the service over the autumn (Covid-19 permitting).
Sutton Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy - update

The strategy is still awaiting formal approval from the council, but is on track to obtain this in the summer, ready for a formal launch in the autumn.
Virtual CAG?
We would like to explore whether it is possible to for CAG to meet virtually using a video call on zoom or something similar.  However, we know not everyone has this technolgy or is familiar with how to use it.  We will be in contact in the next week or so to ask a few questions to see how feasible this would be and which would be the best platform to use.
Lockdown Services
The pandemic has given rise to new ways of working and new types of services.  Visit the SMHF coronavirus page for details of current mental health services available locally 
https://smhf.org.uk/coronavirus/
SMHF Telephone Service Evaluation
At the start of the lockdown, Sutton Mental Health Foundation closed the drop-in and moved to a telephone support service.  We have recently asked service users how useful they have found this support, and the results of this survey can be found here.

Similar questions were asked of those now recieving Intentional Peer Support by telelphone, and their responses can be found here
Information for Mental Health Service Users

The new CCG has a website at
www.swlondonccg.nhs.uk
We have discovered that their page on mental health services in Sutton is less than helpful to people looking for help with mental heatlh.  It is also a lot poorer than the similar pages for other boroughs.  I have raised it with staff at the CCG, but as yet no progress.  Perhaps other CAG members would like to take a look and give their thoughts?


If you have any thoughts or comments on anything mentioned above, or any news to share, please get in touch.

And if there's anything you think CAG should be covering, perhaps related to the pandemic, or otherwise, do let us know.

I look forward to seeing everybody as soon as we can,
take care and stay safe,


Lisa
Copyright © 2020 Sutton Mental Health Foundation, All rights reserved.


Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

Email Marketing Powered by Mailchimp