Bristol mental health seminar a real HIT

A record number of people attended a recent seminar on how integrated teams of service users, public partners and health professionals have been working together to improve mental health care pathways across Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire.

 AWP clinicians from the Bristol Health Partners HITs (Health Integration Teams) were among those who presented at the seminar, which was chaired by AWP's Director of Research & Development, Julian Walker. 

Whilst the Bristol Health Partners 'HIT model' has been around for almost five years, over the last two years a growing number of HITs have evolved to address key mental health challenges for local populations.

The five HITs presenting at the seminar are working on:

• Psychological Therapies in Primary Care
• Improving Perinatal Mental Health
• Eating Disorders
• Improving Care in Self Harm
• Psychosis

Each gave a brief outline of why the HIT was set up, the benefits of working in an integrated team, achievements so far, and priorities for the future.

 The presentations were followed by a question and answer session where audience members were invited to submit their questions to the expert panel. Panel members were available also for informal questions and networking afterwards.

It was hoped the seminar would identify opportunities for collaboration, particularly around Sustainability and Transformation Plan priorities and to inform commissioning decisions.

 Thank you to Avon Primary Care Research Collaborative (APCRC) for hosting the seminar and due to its success it is hoped to repeat it in the future. 

More information on the mental health HITs can be found here.