Have your say on future community mental health services in Essex
Health / Sun 8th Feb 2026 at 10:31am
PEOPLE across Essex are being invited to share their views on community mental health services, to help shape how services are provided in the future.
The NHS in Essex is reviewing how these services are currently delivered. At the moment, different services – such as Talking Therapy services (previously known as IAPT) – are provided under several separate contracts. The aim is to move to one county-wide service, so that people can expect the same standard of care wherever they live in Essex.
To help design this future service, the NHS wants to hear from:
people who have used mental health services
carers and families
community and voluntary organisations
What people say will be considered and help improve future services, alongside information about local health needs and service demand.
The future service will aim to:
make it easier for people to get help when they need it
reduce waiting times
provide consistent, high-quality support across all areas
offer more choice, including digital options such as online support
make sure care is sensitive to people’s experiences and backgrounds
Alfred Bandakpara-Taylor, Deputy Director Mental Health, NHS Mid and South Essex said: “People with lived experience of mental health services, and the professionals who support them, understand better than anyone what works and what doesn’t. Listening to these experiences will help us design services that are fair, accessible, and truly shaped around people’s needs.”
Details on how to share your views are available at: www.virtualviews.midandsouthessex.ics.nhs.uk/service-user-survey
David Forman
2026-02-08 11:05:35
Currently, the Lampard Inquiry is hearing the "lived experience" of mental health patients over a 24 period ending in 2023. The shocking neglect and incompetence exposed at hearings last week should mean the entire senior mental health management in Essex is sacked. Take for instance of testimony on February 4 of the mother of patient Tillie: "What if she's been admitted to the same mental health ward three times in the space of three months, all serious overdoses: do you let her discharge herself for the third time in a row, because she tells you "I'm fine now, I won't do it again"?" See page 16 of transcript at https://lampardinquiry.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Transcript-of-Hearing-4-February-2026.pdf
David Forman
2026-02-08 11:58:52
A good piece of advice for future service delivery in relation to depression and anxiety is to check for underlying health issues like an overactive thyroid and undiagnosed diabetes, both of which can be a cause of depression and the overactive thyroid also a cause of anxiety. For 10 years mental health services in Essex pumped me full of anti-depressants and even Lithium because nothing was really working. The only thing that helped was the beta-blocker Propanalol that was helping counteract the fast heart rate caused by the thyroid. Despite telling GPs and Psychiatrists that the Lithium made me feel dead inside and that I didn't want to continue living, the doctors said Lithium was good for my health. One day I stopped taking all the mental health medication, my weight dropped drastically and I could barely walk to the bus stop without being tired. A new GP at the Ross Practice diagnosed a thyroid condition and diabetes and so my life started to change for the better, but 10 years of my life had been hell, including for all those around me.
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