MHICS Wokingham celebrates 1st Anniversary
The Mental Health Integrated Community Service (MHICS) which provides early interventions for people with significant mental illness celebrates 1 year since its launch in Wokingham last week.
At the anniversary event Irene Mjata, MHICS Wokingham Service Manager, Berkshire Healthcare said: “It has been an incredible and exciting journey with MHICS Wokingham, and I feel honoured to have had the opportunity to set up a new service within BHFT. Although there have been some challenges, the team remained focused on delivering good quality care to the community. The feedback received from patients and our stakeholders has been positive. I am very proud of all the team for their dedication and continued hard work in providing tailored patient care”
What is MHICS?
The Mental Health Integrated Community Service (MHICS) is a resilience and recovery-focused service which aims to support people with significant mental illness in the community and reduce the need for secondary care in inpatient units. Offering this specialist care in the community also aims to reduce repeat GP appointments.
GPs, Mental health professionals, pharmacists, community connectors, psychiatrists and psychologists work collaboratively with the voluntary sector and local authority to provide specialist support.
Natalie Chatham Community Mental Health Programme Manager, at Berkshire Healthcare says: "The Wokingham MHICS team has, in the first year, become a valued part of the community offering access to support that has previously been unavailable. The first year’s success showcases the effectiveness of combining clinical interventions with support for the other factors that can contribute to poor mental health such as housing and debt-related issues, isolation, poor physical health and employment issues. Both Wokingham and Reading MHICS teams will support the final implementation of West Berks MHICS, ensuring all people in Berkshire West can access this life-changing support.
Read more about the MHICS Service
The impact of MHICS in Wokingham
During this first year, 95% of people referred to MHICS Wokingham were offered an appointment within 28 days. One person who used the MHICS Wokingham Service commented “I cannot fault the experience that I had. I felt like I had the time and space to talk about how I was feeling which is often hard to get from a GP appointment. I was contacted throughout my treatment to see how I was getting on. The support was amazing".
What do the Wokingham Community think?
Dr Sharma from the Earley+ Primary Care Network commented, "From my perspective, it has been a useful resource for patients and we have had good feedback from the service. Patients have felt supported. They have been validated and then given support with moving forward with sensible direction."
Fatema Hafizji, also of the Earley+ Primary Care Network added, "We have found the MHICS service to be a supportive option for patients to be referred into for Mental Health support. The MHICS team have also attended our Health and Wellbeing Team meetings which we have found very useful. Thank you to the MHICS team for all of the support you provide."