However, it took some planning, particularly
booking places to stay and eat along the way, as back then there was much less
choice of B&B and hotels on the route. I did use the fabulous Coast to
Coast Pack Horse service to move my luggage from place to place. They were
simply brilliant, and the bag was always there waiting for me at each stopover.
At the start of the walk, walkers
are encouraged to dip their boots into the Irish Sea, before walking uphill out
of St Bees, and then turning right before the town of Whitehaven, to cross Cleator
Moor. As is sometimes the way these days, this lovely memory was sparked by
something I read last week. It was the story of Hope Haven; this is a new
mental health community hub, located in the centre of Whitehaven.
Hope Haven is open 24 hours a
day, seven days a week. It opened in March this year. The service is one of six
hubs across England, piloting a new way of providing mental health and
wellbeing services. Hope Haven and the other hubs are testing out the ambitions
to transform mental health care, as outlined in the NHS 10 Year Health Plan.
Whilst I’m not sure, if the £343 million announced by Andy Burnham to support
this ambition is real or new monies, if the pilots evaluate well, another 100
such hubs will be commissioned.
I haven’t visited the service,
but the early reports from Hope Haven look good. Nearly half of the people, who
have accessed the services offered at Hope Haven have never previously been in
contact with mainstream NHS mental health services. Inpatient admissions have
reduced by 24% up to September this year, when compared to the same period in
2025. This is great news and I think already demonstrates that it is possible
to do things differently.
Folk accessing Hope Haven don’t
need to have a referral from their GP nor anyone else. Whatever the issue that
people are experiencing, staff at Hope Haven work with the individual to agree
what might be the best way forward for them; something many traditional mental
health services aspire to, but often don’t deliver.
Where this happens, the result
can often be long delays in folk receiving the care and help they need. This is
not good for people, who use mental health services, and equally disappointing
for those who strive to provide them. Hope Haven also provides a range of other
services, all of which can contribute to an individual’s health and wellbeing.
I have long sung the praises of my local health facility, which as well as
having two GP practices, has a Mental Health team, a Children and Young People’s
service, a Library, Swimming Pool, Cafe and a fully-furnished accessible gym, complete
with all the latest electronic gym equipment, and the most helpful Chemist I
have ever known. Additionally, it boasts an outdoor play area and therapeutic
gardens. It is not a community mental
health hub, but like Hope Haven, even if someone doesn’t have a health problem,
it is a place to go for lots of different reasons.
Like Whitehaven, Blackpool also has
its fair share of economic and social problems. Like Whitehaven, Blackpool also
has one of the highest rates of suicide in England. The rate of people dying by
suicide is 20 per 100,000 population in Whitehaven; in Blackpool it’s 17.1 per
100,000 people. Often people contemplate suicide because they have lost hope.
Hope Haven is an apt name for a service that, I hope, will be replicated across
the rest of England.
I have just 53 days left before my
role in my NHS Mental Health Foundation Trust finishes. I have started to think
about what comes next. Doing the Coast to Coast the ‘wrong way’ is a top
contender. I know it really would be good for my mental health and wellbeing,
so why not?