Lambeth Living Well Network Alliance

Lambeth Living Well Network Alliance

The South East London Integrated Care System is a partnership of local organisations who are responsible for providing health and care services. This includes local NHS services, local councils and voluntary and community organisations.

Individual organisations cannot address the health and care needs of local people on their own, and people often need support from a number of organisations for not only their physical and mental health, but also with issues such as housing and finances.

That’s why local health and care organisations across south east London have come together to provide the care and support that people need in the right place, at the right time.

South East London Integrated Care system has outlined six priorities for delivering health and care services, to ensure that these services meet the needs of our diverse communities.

One of those priorities is to provide joined-up care across health and care services so that people who rely on support from multiple services can experience seamless care and support when they move from once service to another.

Lambeth Living Well Network Alliance: joined-up care for local people

The Lambeth Living Well Network Alliance, which supports people in Lambeth who are experiencing mental illness or distress, is just one example of local health and care organisations working in partnership to provide more joined-up care.

The Alliance, working at borough level as part of the Lambeth Together local care partnership, provides support that is quicker and easier to access. It focuses on offering people care and treatment earlier, before they reach crisis point and need to be admitted to hospital.

Available services include three Living Well Centres, with teams made up of psychiatrists, therapists, nurses, social workers and voluntary and community workers. The centres offer both short-term and long-term support to local people, depending on their needs.

Mourad’s story

One of the Living Well Network Alliance members is Certitude, who support people with learning disabilities, autism, or mental health needs to develop new skills, meet new people and live the life they want.

Mourad lives in Certitude supported accommodation, where teams support him to remain in a stable home and take an active part in his local community.

Mourad said: “I’ve been living here for about two years now. I can always talk to the staff. They seem approachable. If I ever had a problem I can just go to them.”

Certitude works in partnership with other organisations and professionals to make sure that people like Mourad have access to care and support across their whole range of needs, not just from a health perspective. This is supported by regular partnership meetings to make decisions together.

Jane Bowie, Director of Integrated Commissioning (Adults) at Lambeth Council and NHS South East London said: “Those relationships have enabled us to have rapid and effective conversations with the people that we need to. We can look at new and innovative solutions for issues that arise as well as looking to see what we can do to reduce inequalities for those people who are experiencing difficulties.”

Support workers have relationships with a number of local organisations and are on hand to link people up with the support they need.

Russell Foot, Support Worker at Certitude, said: “The people we support have the extra access to all these different types of services. We know and they know that we can have contact with other agencies, [who might be better placed] to answer the questions that they have.”

Mourad has benefitted from Certitude, who have supported not just with his mental health, but also with housing and benefits.

Mourad said: “It means a lot to me to get this help because there’s been a few occasions where I haven’t been able to do paperwork in regards to my benefits and the people that work can help me with it. I have a key worker here who helps me find things to do and activities to do.”

The Lambeth Living Well Network Alliance, working with partners like Certitude, is an excellent example of how joined-up care can make a real difference to people living in south east London.

With support like this, people spend less time attending appointments, telling professionals the same things and being referred to lots of different services. Instead, people can get the help that they need in one place, accessing help and support quicker and easier.

To read more about the Lambeth Living Well Network Alliance, please visit the Lambeth Together website.