Trust welcomes investment in specialist perinatal mental health community services

Funding to further develop services in Leeds and across the country

Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust is welcoming additional investment in specialist perinatal mental health community services.

It follows an announcement by NHS England today, confirming that new and expectant mums will be able to access specialist perinatal mental health community services in every part of the country by April next year.

The health service is now spending £23 million rolling out the second wave of community perinatal services to under-served parts of the country and is on course to achieve full geographical coverage.

This funding forms part of a package of measures, worth a total of £365 million by 2021, to transform specialist perinatal services so that at least 30,000 additional women can access evidence based treatment that is closer to home and when they need it, through specialist community services and inpatient mother and baby units.

Our Trust already runs community services for women in Leeds and recently submitted a bid for funding to support and further strengthen its team.

We are delighted that we have been successful in this bid, which amounts to £564,000, to further develop our services in Leeds.

Specialist community perinatal mental health teams can offer psychiatric and psychological assessments and care for women with complex or severe mental health conditions during the perinatal period. They can also provide pre-conception advice for women with a current or past severe mental illness who are planning a pregnancy.

Teams can be made up of doctors, nurses, social workers, psychologists, psychiatrists, occupational therapists, nursery nurses and administrative staff, who all work together to provide a comprehensive service to mums, depending on their individual needs.

Visit the NHS England website to read the announcement in full.

Read more about our perinatal service on the service pages of our website. 

An article about the service was recently published in the features section of the Yorkshire Post and Yorkshire Evening Post. Read it here.