Ensuring that there is access to the right level of care and treatment for mental health problems, which meet the needs of our communities, has been and continues to be a priority in Fife.
Working with our stakeholders and with individuals at the centre of decisions, our focus will be to ensure the availability of support is as straightforward as possible, appropriate to the level of assistance being sought, and can be accessed as quickly as possible.
As well as delivering services differently there is also a need to improve our mental health in-patient facilities ensuring that environments provide opportunities for therapeutic intervention, meet the needs of patients and their families and support speedier recovery.
Over the coming weeks and months, NHS Fife and Fife Health and Social Care Partnership will be engaging with people who use and have used mental health in-patient services in the past, their families and staff about what is important to them and how we can improve on our current in-patient facilities.
Feedback from these discussions will help to develop options for consideration with the wider public.
Several workshops are being held in April and May 2022 with service users, their families and carers to develop and examine potential options in more detail.
Engaging with Service Users, Families and Staff
Workshops are being held in April and May 2022 with service users, families and staff to begin to consider how in-patient mental health services in Fife can be delivered in the future.
The workshops will examine current mental health in-patient sites at Stratheden Hospital, Whyteman’s Brae and Queen Margaret Hospital and any associated issues and challenges in the delivery of high-quality patient care.
This part of the process is called the Strategic Mental Health In-patient Option Appraisal.
Workshop participants will develop different options for services that are evidence-based, sustainable and consistent with all relevant standards and policies.
Independent facilitators will also run these workshops.
The Option Appraisal process is not a final decision on how future in-patient services are delivered. Once preferred options are available further work will be undertaken, including wide public engagement.
These web pages will bring you all the latest updates as the work on this programme develops.
