How did people living with mental ill health access services during the pandemic?

Healthwatch Swindon, Healthwatch Bath & North East Somerset and Healthwatch Wiltshire worked with the Care Quality Commission (CQC), the independent regulator, to support the delivery of a continuous programme of engagement to hear the experiences of people accessing a named health and/or social care service while suffering with severe mental ill health. They spoke to 109 people.

The most common theme was people living with mental ill health are unable to access mental health services.

People feel that mental health services should be preventative rather than reactive. Access is reliant on very high thresholds for receiving care; ongoing support should be provided that is more tailored to the individual. Waiting lists are very long and people felt they ‘get lost’ in the system. Some people reported that they found their mental health issues made it more difficult to access services, particularly when they were in crisis.

 The transition from children’s to adult services is problematic, with a perception that you have to start again. Carers feel they are not being listened to and as a result their own mental health is being adversely affected, which can impact negatively on the person they are caring for. Care coordinators are overstretched, with a high turnover, which further impacts on unpaid carers and service users. Feedback about individual services or types of service was very mixed. Voluntary and community organisations providing support services had more positive feedback, while health service providers received more negative feedback. GP services received a very mixed response. Many people recognised the lack of resources and staffing as the problem rather than a lack of will or intention.

Feedback also highlighted gaps in services. There is a gap in mental health services for people with autism and/or learning disabilities. It was felt that better mental health support is needed across the area for LGBTQ+ people. There is a gap in children’s mental health support, with long waiting lists, little or no support while waiting to be seen, home educated children falling through the gaps, and children under five not being catered for. People with eating disorders and those suffering from trauma/PTSD are getting limited support. The rural nature of Wiltshire and BaNES meant these areas had unique issues, with the bulk of the services not being available outside of the urban areas leading to isolation and a lack of access to services. There were comments on the CQC’s feedback process, with people finding questions off-putting, too formal and challenging to complete.

Recommendations include that significant training and additional support is provided, particularly across the less well-served areas, such as children’s services, eating disorders, and for people suffering from trauma.