SOUTHERN Health has won a bid to “improve care for adults with severe mental health problems who need to be cared for in a secure setting”.

Its successful application set out how

organisations would work together to coordinate inpatient and community-based services across Hampshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire, the Isle of Wight, Dorset, and Milton Keynes.

The new model of care for low and medium secure adult mental health services aims to provide care closer to the homes of patients and reduce the need for hospital admissions and out-of-area treatments.

The NHS trusts making up the network, along with Southern Health, are Solent; and Dorset HealthCare; Oxford Health (who led the bid); Berkshire Healthcare; Central and Northwest London; along with Response, a charity that provides home-based mental health care.

Dr Lesley Stevens, medical director at Southern Health, said: “We’re delighted to be part of the team that won this bid for transforming local secure services.

“The new model of care is very much focused on safe and effective treatment,

organised around each

patient’s needs, supporting their journey to recovery and reducing the risk they might pose to others.”