26 January 2017
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.