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The views of people with mental health and their carers have been sought on services in a number of ways in South Tyneside.

Secret shopper events took place with the aim of supporting local people to share their lived experience of services, helping the partnership to:

• Understand the extent to which they were aware of services prior to the engagement sessions on strategy development.
• Get their views on the current offer following attendance at the event.
• Seek their views how services need to adapt or gaps in the availability of provision services on offer.

General feedback overall -there was limited awareness of the services available.

• Many people thought that the only way to access MH services was via their GP.
• Some people preferred face to face than current online support.
• Information needs to be more accessible - local issues with numeracy and literacy highlighted and some people don't like using the telephone.
• Would be useful to have social services contacts in familiar community locations.
• Reduced confidence around talking about mental health due to lockdowns.
• Poverty on the increase.

This feedback was used in the development of the Mental Health Strategy.

Messages arising from the 'Mental Health - One Year on' event held in May 2023, which brought together local people and mental health support organisations based in South Tyneside following the launch of the strategy a year earlier showcased the development of mental health services in the borough.

This had been developed within the principles of the NHS Long Term Plan and the NHS Five Year Forward View and the local priorities of the South Tyneside Mental Health Strategy 2022.

It highlighted the Mental Health Transformation Programme which funds many aspects of new community based mental health provision. The event promoted networking with teams and local people to showcase their work and consider future opportunities of co-producing the development of new and existing services with people with mental health issues, families and carers.

Feedback from group sessions during the 'Mental Health - One Year on' highlighted areas of development to be:

• Employment
• Greater opportunities for joint working and developing a cohesive system
• Improve links between mental health services and the wider community
• Provide better information to people on waiting lists

Carers focus group sessions

As part of the development of the Carers Five-Year Strategy, the views were sought on the support carers of people with mental ill health and the support they need by undertaking a number of carer focus groups to suggest potential solutions and ideas raised raised by carers on what would make it better. This included;

• Recognising and 兔子先生ing carers
• Working Carers and those wishing to return to work after caring
• Keeping Carers connected
• Improving the Health and Wellbeing of carers