Market statement – mental health

This page is about the mental health offer within Central Bedfordshire. It particularly looks what we are already working on and new areas for us to work on in the future.

Mental health is a term that covers a broad range of need, and this is shown by the range of services in this area. For some, preventing things from getting more difficult and supporting people with needs that are not as severe will help them to live a full and healthy life without needing formal services. Other people will need support that is more intense and specific to their needs. This may be in the community, or for a small number of people, in an accommodation service for a long or short period of time.

The support we offer is just one part of the wider range of help available from different places such as the NHS or voluntary organisations. There are other services available locally or nationally that residents of Central Bedfordshire can access like from the NHS, national charities, local groups, and national campaigns that focus on mental health.

Current market status 

The local population is predicted to continue to increase, similar to what is happening in the rest of the country. We expect our population will go up by 6% figures by 2030. Local data that is available (through organisations called PANSI and POPPI) tell us by 2030 the number of people in our area with a mental health disorder that are aged between 18 and 64 years will go up by 2%, and the number of people with a form of depression of dementia will go up by 20%.

Market data and insight 

As of September 2024, we were supporting over 360 people with mental health needs in different ways including help in the community and help in accommodation. Around half of the support for people is home support care packages which mean we can help people to remain living independently in their own home, and just over a quarter of the support is in accommodation including supported living and residential care.

In Central Bedfordshire, mental health accommodation in the form of supported living is limited as there is a lower volume of providers in our area who can support people’s needs. This means that sometimes we need to support someone in a place outside of Central Bedfordshire, and this is often within the Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes area, and sometimes further away due to demand or very specific need. We may also support someone outside of this area if they have a different reason why that is best, such as having family nearby. We have better availability for people who need a residential care home for their mental health support. This is because there is a higher number of providers that can support with people which means we can support people in this way closer to home. 

Services and support in Central Bedfordshire

We will be working with hard to make sure the different services and organisations who can support with mental health and joined up and it is clear where to go for help. This includes social care, primary care such as GPs, community health, mental health, hospitals and voluntary and community organisations.

At the moment we have these services: 

Preventative and non-statutory mental health support

Mental Health Preventative Service – this service supports people with their mental health to help them be more independent, cope better, and be able to attend local groups and activities. It helps with feeling less lonely, managing anxiety, employment, and information on different conditions.

Voluntary and community sector organisations – these organisations support residents with their mental wellbeing through wider support relating to their needs and life such as dementia or carers support.

Bedfordshire & Luton Recovery College – this is part of the Bedfordshire Mental Health Academy. The college is for adults living or working in Bedfordshire and Luton. Courses cover mental health, wellbeing, and recovery, and are delivered by people with lived experience of their own and professionals working in mental health.

Specialist mental health support

Recovery Lounge Service – these are places that are open in the evenings to support people in their mental health recovery, help to prevent their mental health worsening or seek support if experiencing severe mental distress.

Bedfordshire Talking Therapies – this includes wellbeing webinars, individual therapy, long term conditions and cognitive behavioural therapy.

Bedfordshire Mental Health, Learning Disabilities and Child & Adolescent Mental Health (CAMHs) Support Service – this includes mental health social care as part of a wider service delivered by the East London Foundation Trust across Bedfordshire and Luton.

Local networks

Bedfordshire Mental Health Alliance – a partnership of organisations across the local area, which aims to make support better and more accessible in Bedfordshire.

Prevention Concordat for Mental Health – this brings partners together to reduce mental health inequalities by looking at prevention.

Developments in progress

These include:

• supported living framework – We have recently started a new Framework for Support Living which included mental health, learning disabilities, and physical disabilities
• review of mental health accommodation pathway – this means we are looking at how we can make it easier and clearer for people to use different types of accommodation to support their mental health, and how people can move to different places depending on whether they need more support for a while, or can live more independently. We hope to have a pathway that supports people to recover
• working better with other organisations through a “Collaborative”. We hope to share aims, priorities, and outcomes by working together
• accommodation developments within Central Bedfordshire – we will keep working with developers and providers to look at possible new accommodation such as new buildings where support can be given to residents, and expanding our Shared Lives scheme to include people with mental health need

Commissioning intentions

We have agreed some key areas for us to work on which we think will help make our mental health support offer better in a way that gives value for money. Like most Councils, we know the cost of care is going up and this can make it harder to provide more within our budget. We need to make sure we think about what funding is available alongside the work we plan to do, as well as finding ways to save money. We know that other organisations, like building developers and care providers, are also seeing costs rise.

We will be working on:

• regularly looking at what the needs and gaps are locally by monitoring information and trends, working with key stakeholders to understand what areas are under pressure, and finding ways to support areas of improvement
• making sure the contracts we have in place are delivering good outcomes for local people which mean they can stay well, live active lives, and are as independent as they can be. We will also look at how we deliver our own services and care in the best way, such as social care services
• making sure people who need support with their mental health get the right care, at the right time, by staying linked in to everything else that is happening in our area as well as our own services. This means we can make sure any funding and work is focused on what local people most need
• getting the right homes in the right place for people. We want to grow the Supported Accommodation options for people with mental health through delivering our Accommodation Strategy. This will mean new provisions, giving people options, and making sure what we already have is good quality

For more detail or a discussion about any of the above information please contact: strategic.commissioning@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk.