The Mayor of London has today announced a new £2.35m scheme to
support people with mental health needs sleeping rough in the
capital.
Last year, half of all people sleeping rough in London were
recorded as having mental health needs, but many do not have
access to the specialist support and treatment they need.
Co-ordinated by Imperial College Health Partners, supported by
UCL Partners and the Health Innovation Network, the two-year
project will test how new collaborative ways of working can
provide targeted support and help people leave the streets for
good.
Dedicated teams of mental health practitioners from NHS Mental
Health Trusts will join outreach workers on the streets from
organisations such as St Mungo’s, Thames Reach and Single
Homeless Project (SHP). The teams could also include specialist
input from a psychologist, psychiatrist or peer support worker.
They will provide people sleeping rough with flexible, accessible
mental health support, which better understands their needs and
ensures they receive the appropriate assessment and treatment.
, Mayor of London, said: “We will
continue to do everything we can to help rough sleepers off the
streets of London, including doubling City Hall’s outreach team
and opening new shelters. To go further, we are announcing today
a new pilot to ensure dedicated mental health professionals can
provide specialist support to people on the streets who need it
the most.
“It’s a scandal how many people living rough on the streets are
suffering severe mental ill health. I have been consistently
clear that the Government must stop ignoring the root causes of
homelessness and urgently invest far more in the services we need
to truly end homelessness, and that includes mental health care."
Christine Norman, Innovation Delivery Manager, Imperial College
Health Partners said: “We’re excited to be working with the Mayor
on this programme. It’s an opportunity to support partners from
across the system, including NHS trusts and outreach teams, to
work together to ensure rough sleepers have better access to
specialist mental health support.”
Kath Sims, Head of Outreach at St Mungo’s, said: “Poor mental
health can be a cause and a consequence of people sleeping rough.
What’s vital is getting people the support they need at the right
time. Partnerships such as these are important in helping people
move away from the streets long term so they can move forward
with their lives.”
Tackling homelessness is one of the Mayor’s top priorities and
this year City Hall has doubled its budget for pan-London rough
sleeping services from £8.5 million to at least £18 million. Last
year, the Mayor’s commissioned services supported more than 3,500
rough sleepers off the streets, and helped a further 1924 people
at risk of returning to rough sleeping. The Mayor also hailed
Londoners’ generosity earlier this year after they raised a
record £247,000 for vital services in response to his winter
rough sleeping campaign.
Funding for the new pilot will be awarded across four mental
health trusts to specialist services which have been co-designed
with local outreach teams and the 16 local authorities covered by
the project. The Mayor has allocated £1.25million to the pilot,
with £1.1million provided by the Ministry of Housing, Communities
and Local Government (MHCLG).
*ENDS*
Notes to editors
-
This is a two year pilot which aims to ensure that mental
health and homelessness services work in collaboration to
deliver better outcomes for people sleeping rough and learn
from each other’s expertise. There will be a strong focus on
evaluating the project to better understand what works and how
provision can be further improved in the future.
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Four Mental Health Trusts will be delivering the
services:
-
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East London NHS Foundation Trust (ELFT),
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North East London NHS Foundation trust
(NELFT),
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Central and North West London Foundation NHS Trust
(CNWL)
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West London NHS Trust (WLT)
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Imperial College Health Partners are coordinating the
project, supported by UCL Partners and the Health Innovation
Network. More information can be found here:
https://imperialcollegehealthpartners.com/
https://uclpartners.com/
https://healthinnovationnetwork.com
