A new Horizon for specialist mental health services as adult secure care provider collaborative goes live

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Horizon – the South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw (SYB) NHS-led provider collaborative for adult secure care – went live from Sunday 1 May 2022.

NHS-Led provider collaboratives are new regional partnerships of organisations that provide specialised mental health, learning disability and autism services.

These partnerships are being established across England as part of a national programme of work that sees the responsibility for the commissioning of specialised mental health services transfer from the NHS England and NHS Improvement (NHSE/I) specialised commissioning team to the new regional provider collaboratives.

Horizon – the SYB provider collaborative for adult secure care – covers the following service areas:  adult low and medium secure mental illness, personality disorder, learning disability (LD) and autism/ASC services.

It is the third and final NHS-led provider collaborative to ‘go live’ across South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw. Two other SYB NHS-led provider collaboratives, for child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) and adult eating disorders (AED), previously launched in October last year.

Essentially, the commissioning of the above services will now be local rather than national – representing a significant shift of responsibility and new opportunities for providers to work more closely on improving services and care for patients.

NHS-led provider collaboratives comprise all the providers of specialist mental health and learning disability and autism services for the population within a specific area.

The SYB provider collaborative footprint covers Barnsley, Bassetlaw, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield. The following organisations will be working in partnership and together make up Horizon:

Collaborative provider partners:

  • Lead Provider: South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
  • Sheffield Health and Social Care NHS Foundation Trust – Forest Lodge
  • Cygnet Hospital Sheffield
  • Riverside Healthcare – Cheswold Park Hospital
  • Rotherham Doncaster and South Humber (RDaSH) NHS Foundation Trust – Amber Lodge
  • Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust – Wathwood Hospital

Together these organisations will seek to transform specialised mental health services in line with the priorities outlined in the NHS Long Term Plan.

Horizon will seek to transform services by streamlining referral and assessment pathways, ensuring the right community services are in place and addressing health inequalities to deliver better quality services for all. Horizon’s new clinical model for adult secure care will prioritise placements closer to home and reducing length of stay in low and medium secure services.

As the NHS lead provider of the adult secure collaborative our Trust has ultimate accountability to NHSEI for the commissioning and quality oversight of services provided by partner organisations in their collaboratives. We have been working closely with NHS England and Improvement to ensure a smooth transition to the new arrangements and responsibilities.

The provider collaborative is committed to involving patients, service-users and their families and carers in the development of services through on-going engagement.  Staff working within the services in scope will also help co-produce new initiatives and ways of working.

Mark Brooks, chief executive of South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust said: “The Horizon provider collaborative will give more power to those directly involved in caring for adults in low and medium secure care settings, allowing us to more effectively respond to the needs of patients and their families. Harnessing the lived experience of service-users, their families and carers, as well as our staff, will be crucial for successful service improvement and ensuring that our care has people at its centre. Horizon was named in partnership with our service users who suggested the name as an appropriate descriptor of our future ambitions.

“We have a vision of providing the highest quality adult secure care service as close to patients’ homes as possible, reducing the need for receiving care in hospital, and supporting people to lead successful lives in their community.”

Dr Vinaya Bhagat, clinical director for the SYB Mental Health Provider Collaborative Commissioning Hub said: The development of the SYB provider collaboratives has been an incredible journey during a challenging time for the health and social care system. Our progress is testament to the hard work, support, and collaboration by all our providers and stakeholders involved in delivering improved specialised services across South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw.

“It is just a starting point, and we have a huge task of delivering high quality, community-faced services for our service users closer to their families and friends. However, through our collaborative work with the providers, service users and wider stakeholders, we have built a very strong foundation to ensure best possible outcomes for individuals using our services.”

Michelle Fearon, provider collaborative director for the SYB Mental Health Provider Collaborative Commissioning Hub said: “It is a privilege to work even more closely together with other health organisations across South Yorkshire to deliver the best possible care to our patients.  Through Horizon and closer working arrangements we will be able to share best practice better and improve the delivery of care.”

A new Horizon for specialist mental health services as adult secure care provider collaborative goes live

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