Integrated Isle Of Wight NHS Trust Mental Health Hub Continues Post-Covid

Over the last few months, the Integrated Mental Health Hub proved so successful that the Isle of Wight NHS Trust Mental Health Services will continue for Islanders.

From next Wednesday (2 September) the hub will be relocating to the South Block at St Mary’s Hospital. It was based at 7 Pyle Street, Newport.

At the start of the pandemic, the Isle of Wight NHS Trust needed to direct people away from the hospital so an Integrated Mental Health Hub was established with the following services joining together:

• Single Point of Access Team
• Dementia Outreach Team
• Admiral Nurses and Approved Mental Health Practitioner
• Older People and Rehab Team
• The Safe Haven.

The Safe Haven provided by Two Saints will be moving back to their previous location of 7 High Street, Newport and the other teams will move together into the new Hub based at St Mary’s Hospital site.

The Mental Health Hub has made a huge impact on service user experience, making it easier for residents to access mental health services they need when they need them.

The hub is enabling people who are experiencing mental health crisis to receive the support they need in an appropriate environment and away from the Emergency Department where they would previously have been seen.

Chris Ainsworth, Deputy Director of Mental Health and Learning Disabilities Services said:

“Prior to COVID-19, transformation work was underway to review a central hub for people to be able to access multiple services.

“In response to COVID-19 multiple teams were pulled together and other teams relocated to temporarily accommodate the new Integrated Mental Health Hub. This was a phenomenal effort by all parties involved and within only a few short days teams were relocated with minimal service interruption.

“The location on Pyle street was a short term solution in response to COVID-19 and now it is time for the hub to be relocated to the South Block at St Mary’s Hospital.

We are extremely pleased that the hub has proved to be benefical to not only the people that need our services but to our mental health teams”

Dr Michele Legg, GP and clinical chair of NHS Clinical Commissioning Group, said:

“The integrated mental health hub has been a huge success and the benefits have been evident to the staff who have come together during a particularly difficult and challenging time during Covid-19, to deliver a comprehensive, multi-disciplinary service. 

“Enabling staff to be work closer together and provide support around a patient is always the best approach for a patient and we are pleased to continue to support this vital service and ensure support for some of the most vulnerable people in our community is maintained.

“It’s important to remind adults or children and young people that if they are feeling worried, anxious or unsure about their mental health, then there is plenty of support available on the island. You can visit www.iwmentalhealth.co.uk to find out more, or call NHS 111.”

Hayley Territt, Contracts and Performance Manager for Two Saints said:

“Two Saints welcomed the opportunity to work more closely with our partner agencies within the Hub. Being in the same building enabled us to work more effectively with our partners to ensure that people experiencing a mental health crisis received the right support at the right time. 

“In our view, this has been a great success and we’ll continue to build on these partnerships and enhance our service delivery further by working in a more collaborative way with the Single Point of Access service.” 

You can access the hub by:

• Calling 111 to access the specialist mental health triage service
• Visiting the IOW Mental Health Community Hub website www.iwmentalhealth.co.uk 
• Dropping in to the Integrated Mental Health Hub

Both the 111 and online services are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, while the hub is open for drop-ins between 10am and 10pm every day, including weekends and bank holidays.

You can access the Safe Haven Service at: 01983 520168 or [email protected]​

As of the 2 September, our Safe Haven service will provide drop-in, telephone and email support from our non-clinical psychologically informed safe space at 7 High street, Newport PO30 1SS between the hours of 5pm to 10pm weekdays and 10am to 10pm weekends and Bank holidays.