Transcript Slide 1

Valuing physical and
mental health equally,
Parity of Esteem in Wessex
Dr Lesley Stevens
Director of Mental Health &
Learning Disabilities
What is parity of esteem?
NHSE:
“My family and I all have access to services
which enable us to maintain both our mental
and physical wellbeing.”
“If I become unwell I use services which assess
and treat mental health disorders or
conditions on a par with physical health
illnesses.”
What is parity of esteem?
Royal College of Psychiatrists:
‘Valuing mental health equally with physical
health’.
Martin McShane NHSE Director for LTCs:
…parity of esteem means tackling mental
health issues with the same energy and
priority as we have tackled physical illness.
Why is it important?
People with serious mental illness die earlier than
those with no SMI
Almost half of people with SMI have a physical
health long term condition, and around 1/3 with
LTCs have a mental illness – resulting in worse
outcomes and higher cost
Only half of those with terminal illness and
depression receive treatment for their depression.
Persisting institutional discrimination against mental
health services
Parity of Esteem in Wessex
5 Year Strategic Vision to embed parity of
esteem in all healthcare settings
Priorities include:
– Improving physical health care for people with SMI – eg
Wessex Health Passport, and extending cancer screening
and smoking cessation programmes to engage people with
SMI
– Delivery of the Crisis Concordat
What can we do?
Focus on the whole person in their unique context
Develop bio-psycho-social models of care across all parts of
the health and social care provision , supported by:
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Education and training
Commissioning
Clinical pathways
Research
Co-production with people who use services
Integration and Partnership working across primary care,
acute, community and mental health providers, social care,
police, third sector etc…..