Healthwatch Cornwall report into mental health provision will help to shape the focus of future mental health services across Cornwall and Isles of Scilly.

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The findings of an independent report from Healthwatch Cornwall into mental health provision will help to shape the focus of future mental health services across Cornwall and Isles of Scilly.

The report, which can be read here, presents a variety of experiences and insight following engagement with 514 people and service providers, which acknowledges that ‘Cornwall’s mental health services have seen significant expansion over the past three years, improving access to care across key areas.

Susan Bracefield, chief nursing officer for NHS Cornwall and Isles of Scilly, said: “Local people’s voices are vital in shaping our services. The recommendations align with our commitments to keep improving and reviewing the mental health support for local people. As demand for mental health support continues to rise, it is vital we understand, listen and make changes in response.

“We understand that the increased need for mental health support, especially since the pandemic, has led to longer waiting times, which is why we are investing into more local and digital access to mental health support to increase our capacity. 

“We know we have more to do, but the impact of the changes we are making are leading to improvements – we now have one of the best access rates in the country for children’s mental health.

“We also appreciate some children still wait longer than we would like, which is why this year we are investing in better access for children’s mental health problems, as well as working closely with our community partners to deliver more tailored mental health support.”

NHS Cornwall and Isles of Scilly supports the voluntary sector with investment to extend help for individuals experiencing mental health challenges.  

Emma Rowse, chief executive officer of Cornwall Voluntary Sector Forum, said: “As the report acknowledges, the provision of mental health support goes far beyond NHS services and across the voluntary community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector there are a raft of high quality and professional services delivering support for a wide range of people and communities. 

“The report provides a useful foundation for the continued integration of mental health support across Cornwall, and we hope it provides a platform for additional investment in VCSE mental health prevention services that are integrated with our NHS partners. 

“We look forward to collaborating with Healthwatch, Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and those with lived experience of mental health challenges to develop the broadest possible support for our communities.” 

Responding to the findings in the Healthwatch Report

The report comes at a time of increasing mental health need in the population and unprecedented demand on services, so hearing the priorities and reflection of those utilising or needing services we commission will support us in deciding our key focus points.

There are some important insights highlighted in this report, for example the ongoing challenges in the transitions from CAMHS to adult mental health services, and the importance of reducing the reliance of out of area inpatient admissions. We agree that these are priority areas for us to improve, and we have seen progress, including:

  • Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly has the best per capita access to child and adolescent mental health services in England.
  • Women and their young families have the second-best access per capita to specialist community perinatal services in the country.
  • During the last four year, the number of children and adults receiving a course of treatment from CFT’s specialist mental health services has doubled.
  • Building on the improvements made this year, we plan to halve the number of out of area placements in 25/26.

However, we know we have more to do and our future plans, including in our Joint Forward Plan set out how we will continue to make improvements to mental health services in the future.

We recognise the issues experienced in accessing services described in the report and this is largely due to ongoing increases in demand for all services. However, provision has received investment and capacity has grown. For example, in children’s mental health Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly are now one of the national leads in access to therapy per population. This has included a growth in the full range of evidence based treatment for example family therapy, dialectical behavioural therapy, psychotherapy and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing.

An important area raised in the report is assessments for ADHD and ASD. We have invested in Children and Young people ADHD to improve access to treatment for those already assessed and continue to develop plans to reduce waiting times for other neurodevelopmental disorders, such as ASD, whilst working with our system partners to ensure children are supported appropriately regardless of diagnosis.

Support and advice available for those waiting for an ADHD referral

There is community support available including a profiling tool and consultation process for neurodiversity that better supports identification, and if used correctly could avoid children who will not meet diagnostic criteria being referred and unnecessarily being on waiting lists.

For children and young people, the current waiting time for an ADHD diagnostic assessment may be shorter for those who have undertaken the new profiling tool and consultation process for the new neurodiversity strategy pathway. This is due to ADHD assessments without co-morbid mental health now being delivered by the neurodevelopmental assessment team as a single point of assessment. Children and young people who are open to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) and who may require an ADHD assessment will be assessed in CAMHS.

There is a range of information available to families and professionals on the neurodiversity hub website. This includes links for resources for needs led information, resources and strategies that does not require diagnosis to be accessed or implemented.

Other useful links:

Investing into more mental health community support

Mental health intervention has always been provided by a variety of organisation across the range of needs, and our VCSE providers are able to provide specialist provision with fully trained mental health professionals that add significant value to the portfolio of services. They are able to deliver flexible offers in community settings, for example, the adult mental health reablement service which support the reduction in out of area placements, and the open access drop-in clinics in further education, bridging the gap between child and adult services.

A collaborative approach to providing mental health support in local communities is being provided by the People in Mind service, which through voluntary organisations and community groups, provides support to people most at risk of poor mental health, self-harm, or suicide. In March 2025, an evaluation report showed the positive impact of the first year of awards from People in Mind’s Community Wellbeing Fund, which started in 2023.  The Community Wellbeing Fund (CWF) is managed by Cornwall Community Foundation (CCF) and forms part of the broader People in Mind (PiM) programme which is managed by Cornwall VSF.

Responding to the report’s recommendations

We recognise we still have more to do, in order to further support improved mental health of our population and we continue to pick up the challenge of service improvement and particularly welcome incorporating the insight from this report to further shape our plans, which include, as outlined by the Darzi report, providing more digital mental health support and a shift to prevention with the input of all our partners across the system.

The report’s recommendations align to work already underway to improve access and to personalise provision of mental health services set out in Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Operating plan for 2025/26, which sets out priorities for the delivery of local services in the year ahead, including specific priorities for mental health to:

  • Access for children and young people for mental health services.
  • Reduce length of stay in hospital for mental health 
  • Reduce out of area placements for people with acute mental health needs
  • Provide mental health crisis alternatives in the community
  • Local health and care plans also aim to support the physical and mental health of our local people throughout their lives which includes making access to mental health more equitable, ensuring that people  with complex needs receive appropriate, timely support, which aims to:
  • Enable more people to access a tailored service to meet their needs. 
  • Provide early intervention and continuous, assertive support to help prevent crises
  • Minimise hospital stays or reduce the number of people treated outside Cornwall by providing intensive, proactive interventions within community settings or through alternatives to admission.
  • Support children, young people and families in a range of settings
  • Link with the long-term conditions change programme to reduce early deaths from physical causes for people with severe mental illness 

Progress recognised by the Healthwatch report

Since December 2021

• Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) have doubled its reach, increasing from 4,050 to 8,130 children and young people receiving care annually.

• Community mental health services for adults have expandedfrom 3,095 to 6,205 people supported each year.

• The mental health crisis line (NHS 111 has now replaced the local 0800 number) has seen a 90% increase in demand, rising from 4,114 to 7,810 calls per month.

• Perinatal mental health services now support 760 women and families, more than doublingfrom 330 in 2021.

 Key areas such as waiting times, demand, referrals, diagnosis and assessment, innovative approaches and future plans were also explored.  

Mental health awareness month

May is Mental Health Awareness Month. To highlight the great work and support services in the county and Isles of Scilly, NHS Cornwall is running a month-long campaign.

It will focus on all areas of mental health and highlight the support, advice and services available.

Follow NHS Cornwall on Facebook for regular updates.  www.facebook.com/ciosicb/

Mental health support available in Cornwall and Isles of Scilly

You can find a full range of support services on our website here.

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