Mental Health Crisis Report

In order to enable a diverse range of people to share their views and concerns about their local health and social care services, Healthwatch Derbyshire aim to pay specific attention to those who may otherwise struggle to be heard.  For this reason during May – July 2016 we agreed to focus our engagement activity on the experience that people in Derbyshire had when accessing health and social care services before, during and after mental health crisis.

The topic was selected by the Intelligence, Insight and Action Committee of Healthwatch Derbyshire, who regularly appraise all the comments and experiences received by the organisation. The committee recommended this engagement priority due to a number of comments relating to experiences before, during and after mental health crisis.

The Mental Health Crisis Concordat in Derbyshire became the framework for the engagement activity carried out by Healthwatch Derbyshire. The key principles from the concordat were captured on a prompt sheet for Engagement Officers to use, and refer to, when talking to participants, and so hearing how their experiences before, during and after mental health crisis compared to the key principles in the concordat. The Mental Health Crisis Concordat Delivery Group have been receptive to the work of Healthwatch Derbyshire and the insight that this independent source of patient feedback can offer, and have pledged to use the findings in this report to inform their 2017 action plan.