Innovations

Each of our services have workers from other organisations embedded to provide integrated and varied support for our service users. These include:

• Information and Option Workers who are based within the Oxfordshire Adult Mental Health Teams (AMHT). They offer in-depth, one-off information and options sessions to help people to access appropriate support and maintain wellbeing after a period of engagement with AMHT
• Wellbeing Workers who are embedded within the Oxfordshire AMHTs. They offer up to six 1:1 sessions of person-centred support, signposting, and co-produced goal setting
• Support from the Benefits for Better Mental Health (BBMH) team is available for AMHT patients. The team can offer expertise in welfare benefits advice – from a simple benefits health check to support to appeal benefit decisions up to the point of tribunal
• Connection Support Mental Health Workers who are embedded within the AMHT. The role of the embedded worker is to support patients with housing and benefits, to resolve issues around debt and maximise income
• Restore Employment Specialist Workers within the Oxfordshire AMHTs. Based in Abingdon, Banbury, and Oxford City, they support service users to gain and retain employment
• Mind Wellbeing Workers who are placed within GP surgeries in Oxford City and South West Oxfordshire. They offer one-to-one sessions for patients in GP practices who might be experiencing a range of mental ill-health.
• Connection Support have a Worker based within the inpatient team to help support the step-down house
• Elmore have a Worker based within Accident and Emergency at the John Radcliffe Hospital in order to help those who frequently present at A&E but have no physical health issues

The Recovery College was one of the first OMHP initiatives setup in 2015. The Oxfordshire Recovery College is a place of learning, support, and discovery.

They offer a variety of courses focussing on mental health as well as other topics such as healthy eating, sleep, confidence, and many more. The Recovery College provides  an opportunity for staff, Carers, and service users to come together in an educational environment with no barriers.

Students come to the Recovery College from all walks of life, and find in the College a community of support and shared experiences, from which to draw strength and develop new ideas.

Courses aim to help you to take steps towards recovery, or to support someone you know in their own recovery journey.

The Recovery College believes it’s important to combine the most up-to-date knowledge and research with the voice of someone who has lived that story, so all of the courses are designed and delivered by both an Expert by Experience (someone with lived experience) and an Expert by Training (someone with a professional background in that area). They cover a wide range of topics, all relating to recovery, and try to ensure that there are practical tools that you can take away and use in your day-to-day life.

Whilst their office is based in Oxford, they run pop-up courses at a number of locations across Oxfordshire, so do check to see which of their ‘Spoke’ locations are nearest to you.

Whether you’re walking your own recovery journey, are walking alongside someone who is, or would simply like to learn a bit more about mental health and wellbeing, there’s a place for you at the Oxfordshire Recovery College. If you’d like to become a student, please complete an enrolment form on their website, or give them a call if you’d prefer a hard copy.

Website links

• Home page: www.oxfordshirerecoverycollege.org.uk
• Course dates: www.oxfordshirerecoverycollege.org.uk/i-am-a-student-see-course-dates
• Enrolment: www.oxfordshirerecoverycollege.org.uk/enrol-as-a-student

The Oxfordshire Recovery College also provides a virtual offering with some of their courses being ran online. They follow the same structure as the in person courses allowing the same experience, albeit in a virtual environment.

Since April 2018, Oxford Health have offered Peer Support training to those interested in the Peer Support Worker paid roles. and the Project has now been rolled out across all of Oxford Health’s Adult Mental Health Services in Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire.

The roles are suited to people with lived (first-hand) experience of poor mental health, who are willing and able to draw on their own experiences to help others on their recovery journey.

Peer Support Workers can introduce and improve recovery-focussed, strengths-based practices into teams, which can lead to more recovery-minded staff, ultimately benefiting service users. Their role helps to facilitate a change in culture within the service including to focus more  on recovery. Peer Support Workers help to breaks down the patient and staff barrier and gives the patients someone to identify with. This often increases engagement with harder to reach groups. Having Peer Support Workers within a team have also seen a reduction in use of services by some patients as well as a fewer crisis. The training and chance to applied for paid roles improves the lives of the peers as it increases their confidence, self esteem and sense of empowerment. It allows them to have the benefits of having a job in which they are free to disclose their difficulties.

People who complete the training will be able to apply for paid Peer Support Worker jobs in all our Oxfordshire Adult Inpatient and Community Teams.

Recruitment for cohort 3 of Peer Support Workers will begin in 2021.

Find more about Peer Support on our website here.

Walking for Wellbeing runs walking groups from a variety of starting points across Oxfordshire Mental Health Partnership sites. Since its beginning in August 2019, the Project  has gained popularity, particularly with the recent expansion to Banbury. Walking for Wellbeing is an accredited Walking for Health scheme, and they work closely with the city council health walks to signpost their walkers onto them. Walking for Wellbeing allows for people to undertake gentle exercise, meet new people, get outdoors, and experience new places.

Find out more about Walking for Wellbeing here.

This project is an important step forward in helping to develop housing options for people with serious enduring mental illness who have no other local housing options and therefore end up homeless or stranded on inpatient wards.

The Housing First model is designed for those who have experienced homelessness, chronic health or social needs care who need a stable home. Care is intensive, person centred, and holistic to provide people with the support they need. No conditions are placed on the individuals, just that they should have a desire to hold a tenancy.

The OMHP is in the process of creating 5 homes under the Housing First model; 3 x one-bed flats and 2 modular homes. This initiative has allowed us to house some of our most complex clients. The first 3 clients who moved into the one-bedroom flats in February and March 2020 have successfully maintained their tenancy – a significant achievement, given that for some it is the first time they have achieved this in many years. The remaining two modular homes will help move stranded patients off the inpatient wards quicker which will help prevent institutionalisation and consequently deteriorating mental health.

These modular homes are self-contained ‘pods’. These types of homes are increasingly being used within the UK to help tackle homelessness; however, this Project would be the first use them to help support those with severe mental illness. The homes are  robust and self-contained allowing for the service users to live independently.

Stepping into Wellbeing is a mixed-model day hospital helping people transition from inpatient care into the community.

Previously, the day hospital was fully run from a hospital site. Now, it is partly run in community wellbeing hubs. The Partnership recognised the importance of this transition into the community for service users rather that recovery through a static day hospital stay. Stepping into Wellbeing allows for the mainstream Wellbeing services at Oxfordshire Mind to be more easily accessed after a service user’s discharge from the day hospital.  The Project allows for greater partnership working between Oxford Health and Oxfordshire Mind creating a seamless and integrated approach for service users.

The Safe Haven was setup with the intention to offer short-term additional support out of hours for people in Oxfordshire, who are over 18 and experiencing a mental health crisis. Safe Haven offers an alternative to A&E for people who don’t have urgent medical needs, and who can keep themselves safe whilst there. Safe Haven provides a welcoming space, crisis planning support, space to be with others, a quiet room, and friendly staff who are always on hand. The Safe Haven first opened in Oxford and after the success it saw, expanded to second service in Banbury.

Find further details about the safe haven and how to access it here.

Response and Connection Support provide a Stepdown House within Oxford. Stepdown Houses provide short-term housing (for up to two weeks) for patients who lack suitable accommodation or a home to continue their recovery but are medically ready to be discharged from a hospital site. Their aim is to provide temporary respite care and a safe space for clients to start to tackle long term issues. When in the Stepdown House, residents receive support from Connection Support Workers who help with exploring the different housing options available to them.

Since the FACT team on the Response Recovery Campus started in November 2019, they have been able to implement many changes and take many positive risks with patients. The Team consists of 3 Care Coordinators, a Substance Misuse Worker, a Physical Health Lead and Assessment Pathway Coordinator to help residents move on. The Team are involved with crisis management and helping to reduce hospital admissions. They have also introduced onsite GP clinics to help make it more accessible for residents which has helped with physical and mental health outcomes.

Following on from a report looking at health inequalities within Oxfordshire, Oxford City Council and Oxfordshire Clinical Commixing Group agreed to help fund a project looking at these inequalities, including those surrounding mental health. As part of this, a sub-project was formed to look at clients who frequently have issues trying to sustain a tenancy usually due to mental ill-health. To achieve this the Oxfordshire Mental Health Partnership has a worker imbedded within the tenancy sustainment team to assist with clients with their mental health that might be contributing to the loss of a tenancy.

Once funding has been secured, an eco-conservation project with BBWOT is to be developed. In 2018 OHFT/OMHP formed an informal partnership with Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT) to develop OurSpace – An ecotherapy project for all adults experiencing some form of mental ill-health. OurSpace will be delivered by BBOWT across Oxfordshire, with a funding bid being put in at the end of 2020.