As last year came to a close, there have been two pieces of good news about our local NHS; recognition of the developments and advances made over the last year and details about a scheme that will make South Warwickshire a leader in mental health care.
Following an inspection by the Care Quality Commission, England’s Chief Inspector of Hospitals has rated the services provided by Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust as Good. This represents a marked improvement from the previous inspection results in several key areas, and is testament to the hard work of all those in the Trust. The Inspectors made particular mention of the kind and caring staff we have locally and some of the outstanding practices the Trust are engaged in.
Looking to the future, South Warwickshire Clinical Commissioning Group has been named one of the 25 trailblazer areas for improving child mental health support. With one in nine young people aged five to 15 suffering from a mental health condition in 2017, and teenagers with a mental disorder being more than two and a half times more likely to have a mental disorder in adulthood, it is important we take action to help those young people at an early stage. As part of the scheme, schools and colleges will work with the NHS to provide expert mental health support to children and young people where it is needed most, and new staff are starting their training this month.
Another announcement last year was the Government’s loneliness strategy, recognising the impact of loneliness on public health and following up on the work of my late parliamentary colleague Jo Cox. Now government departments, NHS, community organisations and businesses will work together to tackle loneliness, and £20 million has been announced for schemes and programmes that bring people together to benefit communities.
Congratulations for all that has been achieved so far by our local NHS, and here’s looking forward to further improvements to come.
