South London community leaders committed this week to train hundreds of people as “mental health champions”, among a series of measures that aim to prevent a “mental health crisis” after the pandemic.
About 500 community leaders and members of the public joined the virtual event on Wednesday night (16 June) to hear public sector leaders make a series of specific promises as part South London Listens, a listening campaign that started last year. More than 5,700 people spoke out about about the pandemic-related pressures on them and people close to them.
The initiative involved Citizens UK and other community groups working with the three NHS mental health trusts and twelve boroughs to ensure local people and communities recover from the pandemic together.
A survey found that 78% of people have been feeling isolated since the start of the pandemic and 76% have experienced loneliness. Some 81% of people have felt powerless.
Sir Norman Lamb, chairman of South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM), said: “South London Listens has been a demanding but inspiring exercise. It’s clear that we have started to recover together but last night we agreed a roadmap that will ensure we continue the journey. The community organisations and leaders did a fantastic job in capturing the pressures that the pandemic has piled on the people we serve in south London and suggesting how we can address those pressures.
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“Our responses to those ideas are the beginning, not the end, of making positive change together. We will continue to build trust with our communities which is why we have agreed to capture these commitments in an action plan and to meet regularly with community leaders to monitor progress.”
The commitments that the mental health trusts signed up to include:
• Working with community groups and local authorities to train hundreds of local people as mental health champions who can support others and help them get professional help
• Working with community organisations to become mental health hubs where people can talk and get up to date information on mental health support.
• Working with councils and community groups to develop a social isolation, loneliness and digital inclusion strategy
• Supporting parent groups to offer peer-to-peer and other mental health support
• Developing a ‘virtual waiting room’ where children and young people waiting for mental health treatment are kept better informed
• Training staff to understand and overcome barriers that black and ethnic minority people can face in getting mental health treatment
• Encouraging GP surgeries, clinical commissioning groups and hospitals to pay the living wage
These commitments may take some time to implement. A timetable for bringing them in should be ready by autumn this year, a spokesman for SLaM told the News. There will also be an accountability assembly next summer at which the community groups and public will be able to judge progress against those commitments.
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SLaM chief executive David Bradley said: “This was an inspiring event which has shown how much south Londoners and the organisations that serve them have already done to combat the worst effects of the pandemic. I am proud to confirm that SLaM wholeheartedly agrees to the proposals put forward by our community – including ensuring that young people referred for mental health support and their parents receive help and information while they are waiting for that treatment.
“I am proud that our organisation is a Living Wage employer – another key ask of the community – and we will continue to urge employers in our four boroughs to join us in that.”