Talking to Matt Waters from the West London CCG
West London Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) is responsible for planning and buying health services for people registered with a GP in Kensington & Chelsea and Queens Park and Paddington. The organisation is made up of GP and health professional members.
The West London CCG not only commissions Community Living Well (CLW); they also work with CLW providers to ensure you have coordinated access to mental and physical health care and social wellbeing support.
We spoke to West London CCG’s Mental Health Delivery Manager, Matt Waters, who joined us last year in July, about his role and what is on the horizon for CLW and the CCG.
How did you get involved with CLW?
The opportunity came up and I was really interested as I felt that CLW promoted the ethos of integrated and collaborative approaches that I had previous experience of and wanted to develop further. I was especially keen to work in, and develop, NHS services because I feel it is a great institution that everyone in the UK should be proud of but we must also recognise that it can’t always do everything and be all things to everyone. To meet the needs of people in our local communities, it’s important to work with partners in the Voluntary Sector and Social care to develop holistic, wrap around services for service users and carers.
What does your role entail?
I’m responsible for managing the contracts and relationships with our Voluntary Sector partners who work within the Community Living Well network. I also look at the performance of the services and review the quality of what is delivered to ensure that the needs of the local communities are being met and considered whilst making sure that NHS resources and public money is being used appropriately and in the most effective way.
Have you always worked in the mental health sector?
I’ve worked in the mental health sector for a number of years now, both in inpatient settings and the community. I started my professional life as a Mental Health and Mental Capacity advocate in North West England. From there I worked in secure Forensic hospitals as well as general adult services as part of the respective psychology and medical teams. I’ve had the opportunity to work with some amazing professionals and service users who I have learnt a lot from that I feel has benefitted my practice.
What do you hope to achieve during your time here?
I want to gain a better insight into what the communities we serve actually need and want. I am keen to build on the great work that has been done and further championing the voice of service users, carers and members of the public to ensure that we continue to develop and deliver the best quality services that we can.
What do you enjoy about working for CLW?
Working in CLW is a great opportunity to work with a variety of people and professionals in order to come together and ensure that we design and deliver the services that our local communities actually want and need. I like that all staff, service users, carers or members of the public are considered and given a voice to represent their views which can be a challenge but, ensures that CLW continues to evolve and we have to think about different and innovative ways of working.
What is on the horizon for CLW?
The main development for CLW in the immediate future is about how we can make sure that mental health services provided by both CLW and the Community Mental Health Teams can work together in a more joined up way to ensure that people get the support they need. This goes hand in hand with the setting up of what are called ‘Primary Care Networks’ (PCN). In line with the NHS’ long term plan, PCNs will pull together groups of GP practices in the area, covering populations of 30-50,000, who will work together to improve the health of their population.
CLW has already pioneered a more joined up approach to services but we are looking forward to working more closely with local GPs through the PCNs to further develop these pathways and to improve the experience of people accessing mental health services. We want to do this together with people from our local communities so please make sure to keep aware of any opportunities that are coming up to contribute to these developments or you can speak to your GP to find out more.
This story was originally published in the Winter 2020 Community Living Well magazine. It has been edited for website purposes. Subscribe today to receive mental health and wellbeing tips straight to your inbox, four times a year!
Refer to the Community Living Well service here.
Find out more about the West London Clinical Commissioning Group.
Author: Michelle Jackson
Posted on: 18th February 2020
