A new model of mental health care approved in Westminster and Kensington & Chelsea

What does this new model of care look like?

Following an extensive public consultation and robust stakeholder engagement, the NHS North West London Integrated Care Board (ICB) has set out four main actions:

• The impatient wards at the Gordon Hospital will remain permanently closed, following their temporary closure during the pandemic;
• Community-based services will be maintained and expanded as they have been found particularly helpful in delivering person-centred care with a less restrictive approach;
• The Mental Health Crisis Assessment Service at St Charles Hospital will be maintained and improved following direct feedback from residents and partners.
• Together with Westminster City Council, the ICB will invest in five crisis beds along with five step-down beds in the south of Westminster. These aim to support those who are experiencing homelessness. 

Overall, this new model aims to move towards more compassionate, effective and modern mental health care. 

The main aims of the model include boosting community support and reducing avoidable hospital admissions to make sure that hospital beds are reserved for those who need them the most. 

With the closure of the Gordon Hospital in 2020, out-of-area placements – where patients are sent to mental health units outside the local area due to a lack of available local beds – have been reduced to zero. At the same time, new services such as crisis alternatives, enhanced community mental health hubs, and step-down support have played a key role in improving community mental health care. 

Why was the public consultation conducted? 

The consultation was initiated following the temporary closure of acute mental health services at the Gordon Hospital in 2020. At the time, there were concerns around funding being spent on inpatient beds and not enough on supporting people in the community and that facilities at the Gordon Hospital did not meet standards provided in other hospitals. 

As a result, funding was redirected to expand community services that could provide acute mental health care which meant that there were only 67 inpatient beds at St Charles Hospital for those experiencing a mental health crisis. In order to investigate whether these changes were working, the ICB carried out a public consultation to gather residents’ views. 

Our role in the consultation 

As part of the consultation, Healthwatch Westminster and Healthwatch Kensington & Chelsea led an online engagement session and a series of events from June 2023 - September 2023 to gather insights from133 service users, staff and stakeholders. 

Our discussions with residents revealed that, overall, there was an agreement that community-based and preventative care is important but does not substitute for inadequate acute mental health bed capacity. We also found that there was particular concern over the loss of services and knowledge on homeless healthcare. Read more about the work we carried out in response to the consultation. The ICB’s findings from the consultation can be found here.