Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust (GMMH) is joining forces with a network of local voluntary and community organisations, and people with lived experience of mental health problems, to launch a new community mental health service for the people of Trafford.
Living Well Trafford – part of the national Living Well programme – will be jointly funded by members of the Trafford Integrated Care Partnership, including, GMMH, NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care, and Trafford’s Primary Care Networks. It will be delivered by GMMH in partnership with Bluseci and the wider Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise sector (VCSE).
The service, which officially launched on Tuesday 27th June 2023, will support people who are experiencing mental health problems that are too complex to be managed by their GP. It will work with people to understand their own personal goals, and empower them to achieve them in a holistic way.
Alongside a variety of dedicated mental health support and treatment from NHS clinicians, the service will also connect people with their local community, and help them tackle any social factors that they may be struggling with – which may also be having an impact on their mental health – such as: housing, employment, loneliness, debt, substance misuse, or family dynamics.
The service will take a ‘trauma-informed’ approach to care, meaning that it will seek to understand past traumatic events which an individual has experienced, how this may have had a lasting impact on their wellbeing, and what they may need to help them move forward.
Living Well Trafford was co-designed and co-produced by the Trafford Collaborative – a multi-sector partnership including clinical and non-clinical staff from GMMH, VCSE organisations, and most importantly people with lived experience of using community mental health services, to make sure that the service was fit for purpose for anyone who needs it.
The power of lived experience will continue to be a huge part of the Living Well Trafford offer. Peer Support Workers will act as experts by experience, able to connect with people from a place of understanding as they know what it is like to walk in their shoes.
An event on Tuesday 27th June officially marked the launch of Living Well Trafford. It was attended by people with lived experience, who helped design and develop the service, as well as representatives from multi-sector partner organisations, and staff who will be working at the service.
Sue Ellison, Individual Experience Lead at the Trafford Citizens’ Forum, and Non-Executive Director at Bluesci said:
“I have a long history working in healthcare. In 2012, I nursed my mum at home during a terminal illness. Following this, I was sleep-deprived and became very unwell with my mental health. I was severely depressed and experienced intrusive thoughts.
“I was an inpatient at Moorside – a mental health inpatient unit in Trafford, run by GMMH – for eight weeks, under the crisis team. Following that, I was under the community Home-Based Treatment Team, with psychologist support, for a year. I got better.
“Living Well is the opportunity of a lifetime to see mental health services transform in a meaningful way. It takes away some of the power from the mental health professionals and gives it back to the individual.. They, their family and friends, and the community become equal partners in their care, which is so important for recovery.
“We know that there are individuals in the community who are disadvantaged from accessing services, be it due to race, culture or lifestyle. We need to be brave to look at that, understand why they find it difficult to access services, and do something about it. I have every faith that Living Well Trafford will do this.
“Having a diagnosis doesn’t define who we are. GMMH saved my life, and Bluesci helped me to find a life worth living. It is this powerful combination that helps people to move on and live useful and fulfilling lives.”
