South London Mental Health and Community Partnership (SLP)

The 'South London Mental Health and Community Partnership' is a new and innovative collaboration between three leading mental health trusts.

Mental illness is the single largest cause of disability in the UK and each year about one in four people suffer from a mental health problem. The cost to the economy is estimated to be around £100 billion annually and with physical and mental health closely linked , people with severe and prolonged mental illness die on average 15 to 20 years earlier than other people.

The NHS Five Year Forward View (October 2014), recognised that there is no one-size fits all and set out the challenge for leading NHS trusts to respond to the needs of the community by working together to deliver a better NHS for patients.

As a result Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and South West London and St. George’s Mental Health NHS Trust are working together to spearhead a better mental health service across south London. This partnership is called the South London Mental Health and Community Partnership.

The partnership is the first of its kind in London and brings together the clinical expertise of thousands of NHS staff to help identify areas of best practice that will be rolled out consistently across south London in order to deliver a shared vision to improve patient care, the foundation stone of this partnership.

The three chief executives are dedicated to leaing high quality changes across South London so that patients continue to receive high quality care for generations to come as a result of this partnership. They believe that this pro-active approach will no doubt become the blueprint for sustainable mental health services across the country, ensuring patients continue to receive high quality care for generations to come. By delivering a smarter, and more joined up way of working, quality can be increased and costs driven down whilst protecting service

Get involved - make a difference

If you want to help us make a difference, please think about getiing involved with the Trust services.

Getting involved means that you will be helping the Trust to develop services that really meet the needs of people with mental health problems and their carers. You can also help us to make sure that our services are safe, caring, effective, well-led and responsive.

Anyone who has lived experience of mental health problems or has experience of caring for a relative or friend is welcome to share their expertise with us in a number of ways:

Providing personal feedback on services
Joining our Patient Quality Forum or our Carer’s Friends and Family Reference Group
Joining our recruitment panels
Sharing your views in planning workshops
Joining research groups
Taking part in service visits such as 15 Steps and quality improvement reviews

Training and support is available, so if you are interested do get in touch! You can offer as much or as little time as works for you.

We also have a volunteering scheme for anyone who is interested in supporting people with mental health problems.

If you are interested just contact us on involvement@swlstg-tr.nhs.uk for more information

You could also consider becoming a member of the Trust.

Public consultation - inpatient mental health services in south west London

In 2014 a public consultation took place on the future locations of mental health inpatient facilities for the Kingston, Merton, Sutton, Richmond and Wandsworth areas. This included looking into a range of specialist mental-health inpatient services to serve a wider catchment area.

Feedback from the public consultation was used to make the clinical case for a change and the modernisation of mental health facilities in south west London.

New facilities for future care

Our new facilities will transform mental health services in south west London and create two state-of-the-art centres of excellence for mental health services in Springfield University Hospital and Tolworth hospital. Vulnerable people in the area will have access to some of the best services in the country.

The two centres will be wholly paid for with a £160million investment from the sale of surplus land on the current Springfield University Hospital site.

Some of the proposed improvements include:

Keeping adult deaf services on the Springfield site.
A Clinical Commissioning Group CCG commitment to increasing overall mental health spending by £20million to £157.2million over the next five years.
Working with patients and families via two travel steering groups to improve travel plans and access.
Improving facilities for families and carers by providing visitor rooms on every ward and overnight accommodation at Tolworth for people visiting children.
Adding in flexibility around bed numbers with contingency for a seventh adult mental health ward.
Ensuring excellent education provision is in place prior to the opening of children's inpatients services in Tolworth.
Working on plans to use part of Barnes Hospital for outpatient clinical services.

Springfield Hospital redevelopment - frequently asked questions

What are your proposals for Springfield University Hospital?

We want to redevelop the Springfield University Hospital site into a modern centre of excellence for the delivery of expert mental health care. The hospital will also become a community hub, with the development of housing and community spaces. The overall programme involves a multi-million pound investment.

Where has the money come from for this redevelopment?

The redevelopment is mainly funded through the sale of surplus land no longer required for NHS use.

Why do we need to redevelop Springfield University Hospital, is there a need?

The development of state of the art mental health facilities are crucial in ensuring people with mental health issues are treated the same as those people with physical health issues. We need to look again at our mental health inpatient facilities.

We are still delivering some mental health services using buildings which are 150 years old which means the Trust has less to spend on front line services and jobs. We have an opportunity to modernise these services and to replace our old and unsuitable accommodation. The new facilities would meet the latest and best standards for mental health care as suggested by the Care Quality Commission (the NHS regulator).

Has planning permission for Springfield University Hospital been granted?

We have had planning permission for Springfield University Hospital since 2012. The Trust has outline planning permission for 839 residential dwellings and up to 25,000 sq. m of replacement mental health facilities on the Springfield University Hospital site.

What is the first phase of the development?

The first phase of this development involves a parcel of land next to Hebdon Road, formerly the Corner House Building, on the Springfield University Hospital site. This has been sold to Bellway Homes. Construction is taking place now. Following this, the next stage should start construction in 2018, depending on whether our estate proposals need approval from NHS Improvement and Central Government.

How have service users and staff been involved in this work?

Many patients and staff have been involved in contributing towards designs and outline plans for the new hospitals. This process will continue so that our new facilities are built in conjunction with the people who are using them. The next stage of engagement will take place towards the end of September and more information can be found on our website events calendar.

What will the benefits be for the community overall?

The new hospital will be a vast improvement to NHS mental health inpatient services in the area. The development will also provide a high quality public area, including green space as well as pedestrian and cycle paths which will link the hospital with the wider community. The new buildings will be of the highest quality, with better safety and security for service users. There will also be a significant amount of new housing on the site, approximately 839 residential dwellings, including affordable housing.

Building a centre of excellence for impatient mental health care at Springfield University Hospital will help attract the best healthcare staff available as they will be working in the highest quality surroundings and within a first-class environment.

What will the impact be on the hospital during the redevelopment?

We want to be a good neighbour and will keep disruption to a minimum. As part of our outline planning permission, there are a number of conditions and obligations we will stick to, including submitting a Construction Management Plan. This plan states that the majority of construction traffic for the Springfield project would come to the site via the Burntwood Lane entrance.