To make sure we are delivering the best possible care for our service users, the community mental health team is changing the way it works. We have been working together with a range of staff, service users and others involved in mental health care to make sure these changes are the best for the people that use our services.

We know that making changes can make service users feel uncertain and concerned, so we are making sure we keep everyone informed and up-to-date about what will happen. This is to ensure disruption is kept to a minimum.

What will be different?

• Staff will work in four smaller care teams in the north of Sheffield and four smaller care teams in the south of the city. Each team will be linked to their local GP practice and wider primary care network. This will replace the current model of two teams (recovery service - north and recovery service - south)
• Each care team will have a wide range of mental health professionals working in them
• Service users will have a named worker in their care team rather than a care coordinator
• The care of service users will be reviewed regularly rather than having an annual care plan review

When will these changes happen?

Making these changes will take time to achieve and in the interim period nothing will change regarding the care of service users. Any appointments will continue as planned.

We will hold discussions with service users when things do change.

Why are we making these changes?

These changes are being made to ensure service users feel supported. And staff members told us that moving to this new format, instead of having two large teams working across wide areas, would help them to work and communicate as teams.

National changes to NHS mental health services have also influenced what we do locally, and we will provide more detail about this in consultation events we are holding with service users in February.

More information

More information about the community mental health team can be found here.