About the project

Why are we doing this project?

In 2019, NHS England published three documents which explained how they would like mental health support to be improved. This included a Community Mental Health Framework which focused on improving support and helping people to live better within their community.

In response to this, health and care partners from across the city came together and created the Improving Mental Health in Portsmouth project.

We’re hoping to improve mental health support in the following ways:

• Improve waiting times and how people get support
• Make sure people only need to tell their story once, avoiding unnecessary repeat assessments and referrals
• Care based on a person’s needs
• Working together as one team
• No one is refused support due to their diagnosis or complex needs
• No one falls through the gaps when trying to get support
• Remove barriers between GPs and mental health services

Hannah Thomas, transformation manager, said:

“This is a really exciting project for the city, and it’s been great to come together as a community to discuss what mental health services should look like, and how we can improve. We’d like to thank everyone who has got involved so far, especially residents who have had the courage to share their own personal stories. We’ve received really valuable feedback from our recent workshops, which we’re using to make positive changes and create our new ways of working.”

Our journey so far

In summer 2021, we held three discovery events to help us really understand what matters most to people when they get mental health support, and how they would like to work with us in the future.

This included:

• Our first event on 8 July 2021 which focused on people with lived experience, and their carers.

See the feedback from the first event.

• Our second event on 4 August 2021 which focused on voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations.

See the feedback from the second event.

• Our third event on 26 August 2021 which included a mixture of people with lived experience, carers, partners and voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations.

See the feedback from the third event.

How you can get involved

We’re keen for more people to get involved, especially people with lived experience, carers, volunteers and professionals from across the city. We also welcome people who have an interest in mental health, and who are passionate about making a difference.

We want to make sure all voices are heard and that the changes we make are based on the experience of people in our community, and their needs.

There are lots of different ways you can get involved, such as:

• Taking part in workshops
• Joining our Lived Experience Networkand taking part in discussions with HIVE Portsmouth
• Sharing your thoughts on our ideas and suggestions

If you’d like to find out more, we’d would love to hear from you. Please call 023 9400 7124 or email HIVE Portsmouth.

Improving Mental Health in Portsmouth is a partnership between Portsmouth City Council, NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care Board, Solent NHS Trust and HIVE Portsmouth.