Community Mental Health Transformation Evaluation
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Healthwatch County Durham undertook an independent evaluation of the Community Mental Health Transformation across County Durham. They spoke to 194 people.
Service users continue to face significant barriers to access, including long waiting times, fragmented pathways, poor communication, and lack of continuity. Individuals with moderate-to-high needs are most affected, often falling between primary and secondary care thresholds.
While awareness of services has improved slightly, fewer people report having all their needs met, and confidence in choice, control, and coordination has declined. Service providers identify capacity constraints, workforce pressures, and inconsistent referral criteria as key contributors to these challenges.
Providers report improvements in communication and multi-disciplinary team working, supported by huddles, steering groups, and the Gateway. However, inconsistent engagement, outdated IT systems, VCSE exclusion, and staff turnover continue to undermine coordination.
Both service users and providers report repeated storytelling, weak feedback loops, and referrals being rejected rather than jointly resolved.
Staff generally take a flexible, person-centred approach, but confidence in stepping up/down is mixed. Huddles are valued for networking but are unreliable as a referral mechanism due to poor attendance and follow-through.
The Gateway shows early promise as a single point of access, but awareness and uptake remain limited. A system gap for people with moderate-to-high needs is driving delays, inappropriate referrals, and unmet need.
Positive changes include improved relationships and collaboration between statutory and VCSE partners and greater awareness of local services and referral criteria.