The Mental Health Journey: Stories from users of Mental Health services in Sheffield
Download (PDF 915.74 KB)Summary of report content
Healthwatch Sheffield undertook research on mental health after hearing from lots of people that they would like Healthwatch Sheffield to focus on these services in early 2020.
They worked with Sheffield Flourish to gather 9 stories of people who used different mental health services during their journey through the system. They also used material gathered in a previous project, where they worked with a service which supports homeless people.
They found:
- Professionals across the system aren’t always good at identifying poor mental health.
- People wait a long time to be seen and it is difficult to get seen in times of crisis
- There are issues with the communication between GPs and other services
- Different treatments work for different people but choice is sometimes not offered or available
- Services aren’t delivered with sensitivity to different cultures and to individuals with particular needs.
There were a number of recommendations, including staff training and communication between services.