Today, Leeds Mental Wellbeing Service (LMWS) is taking an important step towards achieving its vision to make sure its services are more accessible and improving the mental health outcomes for the people of Leeds.
LMWS is a partnership which brings together some of Leeds’ most prominent mental health providers to offer a wide range of support options to those feeling stressed, anxious, depressed or worried. The service has launched an Action Plan setting out important steps LMWS will take to make services accessible to all of the diverse communities of Leeds. It sets out a long-term ambition for Leeds to be a healthy and caring city for all, where people who are the poorest improve their health the fastest.
Nick Burdett, Strategic Equalities Lead, said:
“Our plan which we are proud to launch, is an important step forward for LMWS.
“Health inequalities are avoidable, unfair and systemic differences in health between different groups of people.
“These can often be linked to people’s socio-economic status, where they live, their background, lived experience or communities that they belong to.
“At Leeds Mental Wellbeing Service, we are working to ensure that nobody who needs to access our services, is negatively impacted for any of these reasons. This plan outlines how we will do that.”
The Action Plan focuses on four areas: Leadership and Accountability, Workforce, Service Delivery, Population Health. It sets out practical steps which will be taken to make sure underrepresented groups have a voice in the development of services and can access the best possible quality of care available to them, and vital support when they need it most.
The plan provides a commitment to developing a workforce which is well trained in equality, diversity and inclusion and is a fair reflection of the Leeds community.
The Action Plan builds on wider work already being undertaken by LMWS. It has been developed with input from staff and service users from across Leeds.
Nick added:
“Co-creating this plan with a diverse range of input has been vital so that the right decisions can be made to support those who may have been disproportionately affected by mental health conditions, or through a lack of service support that is tailored to their needs.”
You can find out more about the plan by visit the Leeds Mental Wellbeing Service website:
www.leedscommunityhealthcare.nhs.uk/our-services-a-z/leeds-mental-wellbeing-service/home/
To read our Health Equity Action Plan, follow the link below:
Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust – Health Equity Action Plan
This post is based on a press release issued by Leeds Mental Wellbeing Service
Photo: Nick Burdett
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