Call for Bedfordshire people to take part in mental health summit hosted in Luton

A summit is set to take place this month to help shape the future of mental health care planning and delivery across Bedford borough, Central Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes.

Service users, carers and any members of the public who have accessed the area’s primary or secondary mental health services are being encouraged to attend a mental health summit to identify priorities for the area.

Secondary care is services where people have been referred for support by healthcare professionals and includes community mental health services. Primary care covers mental health support by GPs, talking therapies and third sector organisations such as Mind BLMK.

The summit will be held from 10am to 3pm at Venue 360 in Luton on Friday, March 31.

The theme will be improving mental health services across BLMK and will cover all adult mental health services, including learning disability, autism, and older adult mental health services.

It is being held following the formation of a mental health provider collaborative within the Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes Integrated Care System (BLMK ICS).

It is being organised by service users, carers and staff from the two main providers of NHS mental health care for BLMK: East London NHS Foundation Trust (ELFT) and Central North West London NHS Foundation Trust (CNWL).

“This summit will directly form the priorities for our mental health services in BLMK moving forwards,” said Millie Smith, Head of People Participation for ELFT.

“We want to start as we mean to go on, with service user and carer priorities, leadership and voices front and centre.”

She added: “The summit is the start of that journey and an opportunity for people to share their views and experience about what is working well for mental health care and where it needs to improve. The day will be structured to help people do this easily and without any sense of pressure or expectation.”

You can register online here.