A mental health services provider has assured users that it will continue to play an “important role” in supporting people in need.
Southdown, which operates the Preston Park Wellbeing Hub, in Brighton, made the comments after service users presented a petition to Brighton and Hove City Council, raising concerns about cuts to services.
Changes to Southdown’s services operating out of the Preston Park Avenue site have come as the Sussex Integrated Care Board (ICB), also known as NHS Sussex, reorganised after a merger with the Surrey Heartlands (ICB) this week.
The chief operating officer at the not-for-profit care and support provider, Matt Gough, said that there were no plans to reduce services from five days to six hours a week as stated in a petition and speech at the meeting of the full council on Thursday 26 March.
Mr Gough said: “Southdown has redesigned its community mental health services in Brighton and Hove so that more people can access support when they need it.
“The Preston Park Wellbeing Hub will continue to play an important role in supporting people’s mental health.
“Our crisis service, Staying Well, will continue to operate from the site seven evenings a week.
“A range of activities and groups will also continue for people who already use the hub as well as opportunities for new people to take part, with sessions running four days a week.
“The changes are part of a wider shift happening across mental health services nationally where support is increasingly organised around neighbourhoods and closer connections between NHS and voluntary sector services.
“The aim is to create neighbourhood wellbeing hubs that offer a wider mix of support.
“One of the key changes is opening up group support so that people who have previously been unable to access it can take part.
“We know how important the Preston Park Wellbeing Hub is to people who use it. It’s a place where people feel safe, connected and supported.
“At the same time, we are seeing more and more people in Brighton and Hove who need mental health support but can’t currently access it.
“This redesign is about using the funding and resources we have in an alternative and more effective way so we can continue supporting people who already rely on our services while also reaching others who need help.
“For people who currently use the Preston Park Wellbeing Hub, there will be a transition period from April to the end of June to help them engage with the new offer and explore the support that will be available to them.
“Southdown has listened carefully to feedback from people who use services, staff and partners, which has helped shape how the new model has developed.”
Southdown said that Staying Well, a walk-in service for over 18s who may be feeling overwhelmed, in distress or in need of urgent support, will operate from Monday to Friday from 5pm to 10.30pm and at weekends from 3pm to 10.30pm.
They also said that activities and groups would continue four days a week including peer support groups, creative activities, holistic sessions and opportunities to connect with others.
Southdown said: “The main change is that we’re introducing new focused time-limited groups and reducing the number of existing activities that have no time limits.
“This means more people will have the chance to take part throughout the year.
“At the same time, our existing clients can access a regular social space from Tuesday to Friday which includes existing activities such as the singing and art groups.”
Southdown added that a transition period for service users was currently under way until Tuesday 30 June.
One of the Wellbeing Hub clients who took part in the protest outside Hove Town Hall last week said that the petition wording was out of date because some services had been restored since complaints were lodged and the petition was started.
They said that the petition had focused on the reduction in the daytime preventative psychosocial service.
The campaigner said: “The Wellbeing Hub in its format we are trying to protect is the preventative daytime service.
“Southdown upper management presented this as ‘exciting changes’ when in fact it is a ‘devastating loss’ to us clients who use the daytime service.”
The council agreed to ask its Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee to support an immediate pause to any changes.
The committee is due to meet on Wednesday 22 April.
More information about the mental health redesign is available at mhredesign.org.
Anyone using the Preston Park Wellbeing Hub who has questions about their support can speak with the team there or contact mh.redesign@southdown.org.
Anyone who needs urgent mental health support can call NHS 111 and select the mental health option, call the Samaritans on 116 123, visit a Staying Well service, text the word SUSSEX to 85258, and / or download the Stay Alive app.
