East Sussex County Council is conducting a public consultation to gather feedback on the accessibility and effectiveness of community mental health support services in the region. This consultation, open until October 11, 2024, invites residents to share their experiences, particularly from people with lived experience of accessing local mental health services for themselves or for others. This includes services provided by voluntary and community organisations, GP surgeries, specialist mental health, and adult social care.
The Council is particularly keen to hear from the certain groups because they hear less often from them. They are:
- people experiencing mental health challenges alongside difficulties relating to drugs and/or alcohol,
- older people,
- people living in the Rye/Camber area,
- people from minority ethnic and refugee groups, and
- members of the LGBTQI+ community.
The inputs will be used to improve mental health services and ensure they meet the needs of the community. They are particularly interested in understanding how services can be more accessible and supportive for everyone, regardless of background or personal circumstances.
Residents are encouraged to participate by completing an online survey, which takes about 15 minutes.
The insights gathered from this consultation will be shared with the multi-agency group of health professionals responsible for making improvements to local mental health services. The results and future course of action will be shared on their website.
For more details and to participate in the survey, visit the East Sussex consultation page.