The Sheffield Primary and Community Mental Health Service (PCMH) has showcased a new tool which has been developed to break down barriers and to create more equal access to healthcare in the city.

Melanie Hall, head of service and Jodie Hall, clinical lead mental health occupational therapy, showcased the serious mental illness health inequalities tool at the national Community Mental Health Team transformation celebration event in London last week. 

Claire Murdock, national director for mental health, was keen to share the innovative working being delivered across the country and prompted the promotion of the new tool.

The tool has now been shared to NHS teams and services across the country. The aim is for general practices to be more aware of the patients with the greatest barriers to accessing healthcare and act to break down these barriers.

While at the event, Melanie and Jodie learned from other sites about key issues like moving away from Care Programme Approach and the new roles like the mental health wellbeing practitioner role.

Well done PCMH for sharing what works well. We look forward to hearing more!