The community mental health transformation partnership has been shortlisted for the General Practice Awards, in the ‘Clinical improvement in mental health’ category.

GP practice groups Modality AWC Partnership and Wharfedale, Airedale and Craven (WACA) Primary Care Network are part of a partnership providing mental health support to adults no matter where they live in Wharfedale, Airedale and Craven.

More than 1,500 people have benefited in the first 12 months and feedback so far has been overwhelmingly positive, with some users saying it’s “lifesaving”.

To access the service GP practice staff and social prescribers refer patients into specialist community services or groups for consistent, accessible, and local adult mental health and wellbeing support.

Local people helped design the service and this helped create a culturally appropriate service for South Asian women, provided specialist support to people facing drug and alcohol use, and set up wellbeing hubs in rural locations.

The community mental health transformation partnership is made up of Modality AWC Partnership, WACA Primary Care Network, Bradford District Health Care NHS Foundation Trust, and key community partners like Pioneer Projects, Keighley Healthy Living and 25 specialist local delivery partners.

Sasha Bhat, the priority director for Healthy Minds at Bradford District and Craven Health and Care Partnership said: “Airedale, Wharfedale and Craven is a huge area with lots of diversity and one size doesn’t fit all. WACA and Modality AWC have used local data, knowledge and insight to mould and deliver mental health and wellbeing services that suit our people, in partnership with grassroot organisations. This is a step forward in delivering care designed by people that provides them with support, hope and means no one is left behind. We want people to live a long, happy and healthy life that is tailored to their needs and close to where they live.”

Brendan Kennedy, a GP Partner at Modality said: “I am so glad this project is getting the recognition it deserves, our teams have worked tirelessly to reach those who need our help the most. It shows how working with organisations with different expertise can improve patient outcomes. The programme is seeing amazing results and patients can now access more specialist support quickly. We are actively sharing our learning with other areas and hope to see this rolled out more widely.”

You can see the full shortlist on the General Practice Awards website. The winners shortlisted in each category will be announced during the National GP Awards ceremony on Friday 6 December.